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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/28353-8.txt b/28353-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..880c200 --- /dev/null +++ b/28353-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2657 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, February 17, 1880, 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: Harper's Young People, February 17, 1880 + An Illustrated Weekly + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 18, 2009 [EBook #28353] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, FEB 17, 1880 *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HARPER'S + +YOUNG PEOPLE + +AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.] + + + * * * * * + +VOL. I.--NO. 16. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR +CENTS. + +Tuesday, February 17, 1880. Copyright, 1880, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 +per Year, in Advance. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: "DON'T YOU WISH YOU COULD GET IT?"] + + + + +GENERAL PRESCOTT AND THE YANKEE BOY. + +BY BENSON J. LOSSING. + + +General Prescott, commanding the British forces on Rhode Island in 1777, +was a petty tyrant, imperious, irascible, and cruel. He would command +citizens of Newport who met him on the streets to take off their hats in +deference to him, and if not obeyed, he would knock them off with his +cane. If he saw a group of citizens talking together, he would shake his +cane at them, and shout, "Disperse, you rebels!" For slight offenses +citizens were imprisoned and otherwise ill-treated. This unworthy +conduct made the people despise and hate him. His tyranny became +unbearable. + +Prescott's summer quarters were at Mr. Overing's house, on the borders +of Narragansett Bay, a few miles from Newport. On a warm but showery +night in July, 1777, Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, with a few resolute men, +went down the bay from Providence, in a whale-boat, landed near +Prescott's quarters at about midnight, secured the sentinels, entered +the house, and ascended to the door of his bedroom in the second story. +It was locked. A stout colored man who accompanied Barton, making a +battering-ram of his head, burst open the door. The General, in +affright, sprang from his bed, but was instantly seized, and without +being allowed to dress himself, was conveyed to the boat, and taken +quickly across the bay to Warwick. Thence he was sent, under guard, to +Washington's head-quarters in New Jersey. + +In the spring of 1778 Prescott was exchanged for General Charles Lee, +and returned to Rhode Island. Soon afterward the British Admiral invited +the General to dine with him and his officers on board his ship, then +lying in front of Newport. Martial law yet prevailed on the Island, and +men and boys were frequently sent by the authorities on shore to be +confined in the ship as a punishment for slight offenses. There were +several on board at that time. + +After dinner the free use of wine made the company hilarious, and toasts +and songs were frequently called for. A lieutenant remarked to the +Admiral, "There is a Yankee lad confined below who can shame any of us +in singing." + +"Bring him up," said the Admiral. + +"Yes, bring him up," said Prescott. + +The boy was brought into the cabin. He was pale and slender, and about +thirteen years of age. Abashed by the presence of great officers, with +their glittering uniforms, he timidly approached, when the Admiral, +seeing his embarrassment, spoke kindly to him, and asked him to sing a +song. + +"I can't sing any but Yankee songs," said the trembling boy. + +"Come, my little fellow, don't be afraid," said the Admiral. "Sing one +of your Yankee songs--any one you can recollect." + +The boy still hesitated, when the brutal Prescott, who was a stranger to +the lad, roared out, + +"Give us a song, you little rebel, or I'll give you a dozen lashes." + +This cruel salutation was innocently met most severely by the child, +when, encouraged by kind words from the Admiral, he sang, with a sweet +voice and modest manner, the following ballad, composed by a sailor of +Newport: + + "Twas on a dark and stormy night-- + The wind and waves did roar-- + Bold Barton then, with twenty men, + Went down upon the shore. + + "And in a whale-boat they set off + To Rhode Island fair, + To catch a redcoat General + Who then resided there. + + "Through British fleets and guard-boats strong + They held their dangerous way, + Till they arrived unto their port, + And then did not delay. + + "A tawny son of Afric's race + Them through the ravine led, + And entering then the Overing house, + They found him in his bed. + + "But to get in they had no means + Except poor Cuffee's head, + Who beat the door down, then rushed in, + And seized him in his bed. + + "Stop! let me put my clothing on!" + The General then did pray; + 'Your clothing, massa, I will take; + For dress we can not stay.' + + "Then through rye stubble him they led, + With shoes and clothing none, + And placed him in their boat quite snug, + And from the shore were gone. + + "Soon the alarm was sounded loud: + 'The Yankees they have come, + And stolen Prescott from his bed, + And him have carried hum.' + + "The drums were beat, sky-rockets flew, + The soldiers shouldered arms, + And marched around the grounds they knew, + Filled with most dire alarms. + + "But through the fleet with muffled oars + They held their devious way, + And landed him on 'Gansett shores, + Where Britons held no sway. + + "When unto land the captors came, + Where rescue there was none, + 'A bold push this,' the General cried; + 'Of prisoners I am one.'" + +The boy was frequently interrupted by roars of laughter at Prescott's +expense, which strengthened the child's nerves and voice; and when he +had concluded his song, "I thought," wrote a gentleman who was present, +"the deck would go through with the stamping." General Prescott joined +heartily in the merriment produced by the song, and thrusting his hand +into his pocket, he pulled out a coin, and handed it to the boy, saying, + +"Here, you young dog, is a guinea for you." + +The boy was set at liberty the next morning, and sent ashore. + + + + +CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN THREE MILES HIGH. + + +The ice-bound peak of the Alps known as the Matterhorn, situated between +Switzerland and Italy, forty miles northeast of Mont Blanc, and twelve +miles west of Monte Rosa, towers skyward nearly 15,000 feet, presenting +an appearance imposing beyond description. The peak rises abruptly, by a +series of cliffs which may properly be termed precipices, a clear 5000 +feet above the glaciers which surround its base. There seemed to the +superstitious natives in the surrounding valleys to be a line drawn +around it, up to which one might go, but no farther. Within that +invisible line good and evil spirits were supposed to exist. They spoke +of a ruined city on its summit wherein the spirits dwelt; and if you +laughed, they gravely shook their heads, told you to look yourself to +see the castles and the walls, and warned you against a rash approach, +lest the infuriate demons from their impregnable heights should hurl +down vengeance for your audacity. + +Previous to 1865 several attempts had been made by daring tourists to +reach its summit, but no one got beyond 13,000 feet, the remaining 2000 +feet being generally regarded as inaccessible. But in the year just +mentioned a little party of hardy English climbers accomplished the +ascent. The achievement was made, however, at the cost of four human +lives. + +The story, as told by one of the leaders of the party, Mr. Edward +Whymper, who had already made seven unsuccessful attempts, is an +exciting one. + +The ascent was made in July, in company with Lord Francis Douglas, Mr. +Hudson, Mr. Hadow, and three guides. On the first day they did not +ascend to a great height, and on the second day they resumed their +journey with daylight, as they were anxious to outstrip a party of +Italians who had set out before them by a different route. Difficulty +after difficulty was surmounted. The higher they rose, the more intense +became the excitement. What if they should be beaten at the last moment? +The slope eased off; at length they could be detached from the rope +which bound the party together; and Croz and Mr. Whymper, dashing away, +ran a neck-and-neck race, which ended in a dead-heat. At 1.40 P.M. the +world was at their feet, and the Matterhorn was conquered. Hurrah! They +had beaten the party of Italians, whom they saw on the southwest ridge, +1250 feet below, and who did not prosecute the ascent farther. For an +hour the successful climbers revelled in the scene which lay at their +feet. There were black and gloomy forests, bright and cheerful meadows; +bounding water-falls and tranquil lakes; fertile lands and savage +wastes; sunny plains and frigid _plateaux_. There were the most rugged +forms and the most graceful outlines; low perpendicular cliffs and +gentle undulating slopes; rocky mountains and snowy mountains, sombre +and solemn, or glittering and white, with walls, turrets, pinnacles, +pyramids, domes, cones, and spires. There was every combination that the +world can give, and every contrast that the heart could desire. + +Alas! their naturally triumphant feeling of pleasure was but +short-lived. They had commenced their descent, again tied together with +ropes. Croz, a most accomplished guide and a brave fellow, went first; +Hadow, second; Hudson, as an experienced mountaineer, and reckoned as +good as a guide, third; Lord F. Douglas, fourth; followed by Mr. Whymper +between the two remaining guides, named Jaugwalder, father and son. They +were commencing the difficult part of the descent, and Croz was cutting +steps in the ice for the feet of Mr. Hadow, who was immediately behind +him. A few minutes later a sharp-eyed lad ran into the Monte Rosa Hotel, +saying that he had seen an avalanche fall from the summit of the +Matterhorn on to the Matterhorngletscher. The boy was reproved for +telling idle stories; he was right, nevertheless, and this was what he +saw: Michel Croz had laid aside his axe, and in order to give Mr. Hadow +greater security, was taking hold of his legs, and putting his feet one +by one into their proper positions. "At this moment," says Mr. Whymper, +"Mr. Hadow slipped, fell against him, and knocked him over. I heard one +startled exclamation from Croz, then saw him and Mr. Hadow flying +downward; in another moment Hudson was dragged from his steps, and Lord +F. Douglas immediately after him. All this was the work of a moment. +Immediately we heard Croz's exclamation, old Peter and I planted +ourselves as firmly as the rocks would permit; the rope was taut between +us, and the jerk came on us both as one man. We held; but the rope broke +midway between Jaugwalder and Lord Francis Douglas. For a few seconds we +saw our unfortunate companions sliding downward on their backs, and +spreading out their hands, endeavoring to save themselves. They passed +from our sight uninjured, disappeared one by one, and fell from +precipice to precipice on to the Matterhorngletscher below--a distance +of nearly 4000 feet in height. From the moment the rope broke, it was +impossible to help them. So perished our comrades." + +The bodies of three of the men who thus miserably perished were +afterward recovered; but that of Lord Francis Douglas was never again +seen. It was a melancholy ending, and may well excite a feeling of +surprise that so many brave and useful men can thus be found year by +year hazarding their lives for what is in many cases no higher purpose +than that of pleasure or sport. + + + + +THE GOLD DIGGINGS OF IRELAND. + + +Although Ireland is not generally regarded as one of the gold-producing +countries of the world, gold has been found there in paying quantities, +especially in the county of Wicklow. + +Tradition commonly attributes the original discovery of the Wicklow gold +mines to a poor school-master, who, while fishing in one of the small +streams which descend from the Croghan mountains, picked up a piece of +shining metal, and having ascertained that it was gold, gradually +enriched himself by the success of his researches in that and the +neighboring streams, cautiously disposing of the produce of his labor to +a goldsmith in Dublin. He is said to have preserved the secret for +upward of twenty years, but marrying a young wife, he imprudently +confided his discovery to her, and she, believing her husband to be mad, +immediately revealed the circumstance to her relations, through whose +means it was made public. This was toward the close of the year 1795, +and the effect it produced was remarkable. Thousands of people of every +age and sex hurried to the spot, and from the laborer who could wield a +spade or pickaxe to the child who scraped the rock with a rusty nail, +all eagerly engaged in the search after gold. The Irish are a people +possessed of a rich and quick fancy, and the very name of a gold mine +carried with it ideas of inexhaustible wealth. + +During the interval which elapsed between the public announcement of the +gold discovery and the taking possession of the mine by the +government--a period of about two months--it is supposed that upward of +two thousand five hundred ounces of gold were collected by the peasants, +principally from the mud and sand of Ballinvally stream, and disposed of +for about ten thousand pounds, a sum far exceeding the produce of the +mine during the government operations, which amounted to little more +than three thousand five hundred pounds. + +The gold was found in pieces of all forms and sizes, from the smallest +perceptible particle to the extraordinary mass of twenty-two ounces, +which sold for eighty guineas. This large piece was of an irregular +form; it measured four inches in its greatest length, and three in +breadth, and in thickness it varied from half an inch to an inch; a gilt +cast of it may be seen in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin. So pure +was the gold generally found, that it was the custom of the Dublin +goldsmiths to put gold coin in the opposite scale to it, and give weight +for weight. + +The government works were carried on until 1798, when all the machinery +was destroyed in the insurrection. The mining was renewed in 1801, but +not being found sufficiently productive to pay the expenses, the search +was abandoned. There prevails yet, however, a lingering belief among the +peasants that there is still gold in Kinsella, and only the "lucky man" +is wanting. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE SUMMER BOARDER, MOSES, AND THE TWO VISITORS. + +BY THE FAMILY STORY-TELLER. + + +I warn you, said Family Story-Teller, looking round upon the family +circle the next evening, that this is a story of mistakes. It will be a +hard story to follow, and unless you pay close attention, you will +forget which is Evelyn and which is the other girl, and why it was that +Mrs. Stimpcett thought her boy Moses had broken his leg. I mean, of +course, Mrs. Stimpcett of the village of Gilead. + +Mrs. Stimpcett's summer boarder, Mr. St. Clair, was forgetful. He liked +well to gaze at a brook, a pond, the clouds, the blue sky, the flowery +fields, and often he forgot to stop doing so, and kept on gazing when it +was meal time, or bed-time, or some other time. + +Mrs. Stimpcett took also another summer boarder, a rich lady of the name +of Odell. Mrs. Odell was tall, and slim, and pale, and in her cap, just +above her forehead, was set in a row three pink muslin roses. Mrs. Odell +was silly enough to be proud of being rich, and stingy enough to like to +save her own money at other people's expense. + +[Illustration: EVELYN.] + +Mrs. Odell had a six-year-old niece named Evelyn, a pale, delicate +little girl, who lived in the city, and this Evelyn was coming to Gilead +to visit her aunt Odell. She was coming in the cars to Mill Village in +care of the conductor, and her aunt Odell was to send a carriage to the +station to fetch her to Gilead. If the carriage was not there when the +cars arrived, she was to stay with the station-man till it should +arrive. I trust my story is plain thus far. + +It happened that Mr. Stimpcett was going to Mill Village that same day, +to get some corn ground, and Mrs. Odell, though it would take him very +far out of his way, asked him to go round by the station and get Evelyn. +This would save hiring a carriage. + +Now Mr. St. Clair thought it would be a pleasant thing to go to mill, +and asked if he might go in the place of Mr. Stimpcett. Mr. Stimpcett +said, "Oh yes, if you will be sure to bring back the meal." So Mr. St. +Clair went to mill; and Moses Stimpcett, a boy about nine years old, +went with him, for the sake of the ride, and to see his aunt Debby, who +lived not far from the mill. + +They set off soon after the hour of noon. Moses wore his Zouave cap, and +his second-best summer clothes, and Mr. St. Clair wore a black alpaca +coat, a blue neck-tie tied in a bow, a broad-brimmed straw hat, a white +vest, and white trousers. Moses drove the horse, and they reached the +mill without accident. While the miller was taking in the corn, Moses +bought a roll of lozenges at a store near by, and as he came out with +them a man passed that way, leading a small but valuable dog. Said this +man to Moses, "I wish you would hold my dog while I step into the mill;" +and Moses took the string. + +Mr. St. Clair hitched his horse a little way from the mill, and then +said to Moses, "When the man takes his dog, you can go to your aunt +Debby's. I will call for you there, after I have been to the station and +got the little girl." Mr. St. Clair then walked up the bank of the +stream to see the waters flow. + +[Illustration: MOSES LETS THE DOG FALL.] + +Moses led the dog along to the mill, and leaned against the building +awhile; then sat down on a barrel. Soon the barrel began to move. The +reason of this was that it stood on an elevator. Moses had not noticed +that the barrel stood on an elevator. First he wondered what the matter +was, and second, he thought he would jump; but by that time the barrel +was quite a way off the ground, and, besides, he was troubled by holding +the string of the dog, and the lozenges. The barrel rose higher and +higher, and when the little dog found himself swinging in the air, he +kicked and yelped, and jerked the string so that Moses was obliged to +let it go, and also to drop the lozenges, for he had to grasp the barrel +with both hands. The dog fell, and broke one of his legs. [Please +remember that it was the _dog_, and not Moses.] Moses and the barrel +were taken in at the third story. A traveller passing through the place +heard of this elevator accident, and told of it that afternoon at a +house in Gilead. But this person understood that it was the _boy_ who +broke his leg--"a Stimpcett boy," he said, in telling the news. Mrs. +Stimpcett heard of it soon after milking-time; but this will be spoken +of farther on in the story. + +Mr. St. Clair walked far up the bank of the stream, and when he came +back, the miller told him that his bag of meal had been put into his +cart. He went out, and seeing a cart with a bag of meal lying at the +bottom, he stepped in, and drove around to the station. + +Now this cart which Mr. St. Clair took belonged to a man who came from +Cherry Valley. Here, you see, was a mistake. But Mr. St. Clair not only +took the wrong cart, he took the wrong little girl, as will now be told. +He drove in haste to the station, knowing he had staid too long walking +up the bank of the stream. On the platform of the station sat a +roly-poly, chubby-cheeked little girl, with a carpet-bag and a heavy +bundle. He asked her, "Are you waiting for some one to come for you?" +"Yes, sir," she answered. "All right," said Mr. St. Clair; and he helped +her into the cart. I hope you understand that this very fleshy child was +not Evelyn Odell. She was Maggie Brien. Maggie Brien lived with her +grandmother, not far from the station. Her mother did the cooking in a +family two miles away, and she had promised to send that day for Maggie +to come and make her a visit, and Maggie was sitting on the platform +waiting for the man to take her. + +Mr. St. Clair took her, and drove from the station, thinking to go to +Aunt Debby's and get Moses, and set off for Gilead; but while he was +gazing up at the sky, the horse--which you will remember was not Mr. +Stimpcett's horse--turned into a road which led to his own master's +house at Cherry Valley. Mr. St. Clair had now the wrong horse and cart, +the wrong meal, the wrong girl, and the wrong road. Presently the horse +trotted up to the door of a farm-house, and stopped. Three heads of +three young maidens popped out of three chamber windows, and a +bare-armed woman, wiping her hands on her apron, rushed to the door. +"Where is my husband?" she cried. "Is he hurt? Is he killed? Tell me the +truth at once!" + +"I assure you, madam," answered Mr. St. Clair, mildly, "that I have not +seen your husband." + +"Why, then, have you come with his horse and cart?" she asked. + +"This horse and cart, madam," said Mr. St. Clair, still mildly, "belongs +to Mr. Stimpcett, of Gilead." + +"Do you think I don't know our horse and cart?" cried the woman, in an +angry tone. "Besides, here's my husband's name on the bag--I. Ellison." + +"I must have taken the wrong horse and cart," said Mr. St. Clair. "I +will go back at once and find Mr. Ellison." + +"The quicker the better," said the woman, as he turned the horse. + +Just after Mr. St. Clair had passed from the Cherry Valley road into the +mill road, a man came out of a wood path and sprang at the horse, +crying, "Stop thief!" + +"Where is the thief?" asked Mr. St. Clair, looking all around. + +"You are the thief!" cried the man. "You have stolen my horse and cart." + +Maggie Brien began to cry. + +"Are you Mr. I. Ellison?" asked Mr. St. Clair. + +"Yes, I am," said the man, angrily. + +Mr. St. Clair explained his mistake, and gave up the horse and cart to +Mr. I. Ellison. He then took Maggie's carpet-bag and heavy bundle, and +walked all the way to Aunt Debby's. + +By the time they reached Aunt Debby's it was nearly dark, and as for +Moses, he was already travelling home in his father's cart. It happened +in this way. Aunt Debby heard that Mr. St. Clair had been seen driving +off, and knew he must have taken the wrong horse and cart, for Mr. +Stimpcett's was still standing near the mill. Therefore, as Moses had +already waited until after supper, she let him take his father's horse +and cart and drive home behind a man with an ox team who was going by a +roundabout way to Gilead. + +Now as soon as Moses had driven off, Aunt Debby locked her doors and +went to an evening meeting, so that when Mr. St. Clair came there on +foot, with Maggy Brien and her bag and bundle, to find Moses, he found +no one. He questioned some boys standing by a fence, and they told him +that Moses had gone home in his father's cart, behind an ox team. Maggy +Brien began to cry again. "Don't cry, dear," said Mr. St. Clair. "I'll +hire a buggy." + +He hired from the stable a buggy, a fast horse, and a driver, and away +they started for Gilead, and reached Mr. Stimpcett's house at about half +past eight o'clock in the evening. Moses had not arrived. + +Mr. St. Clair found Mrs. Stimpcett, with her bonnet and shawl on, +walking the floor, sobbing and sighing and wringing her hands. Grandma, +also crying, was wrapping a bottle of the Sudden Remedy in a piece of +newspaper. + +"Oh, how _is_ Moses?" cried Mrs. Stimpcett. "_Will_ it have to be taken +off?" + +"Is not Moses here?" asked Mr. St. Clair, in a mild voice. + +"Here!" cried Mrs. Stimpcett. "How can he be here, when he has broken +his leg? I am going to him as soon as Mr. Stimpcett can borrow a horse." + +Mr. St. Clair thought that Moses must have fallen from the cart on his +way home; but before he had time to speak, Mrs. Odell came in. + +"Where is my niece?" she cried. "Where is Evelyn?" + +[Illustration: "'HERE SHE IS,' SAID MR. ST. CLAIR."] + +"Here she is," said Mr. St. Clair, presenting Maggie Brien. + +"What do you mean?" shrieked Mrs. Odell. "That my niece? No! no! no! Oh, +Evelyn! Evelyn! Evelyn! Dear child, where are you?" + +Maggie Brien began to cry bitterly. + +"Alas! what a wretch I am, to have made this mistake!" cried Mr. St. +Clair. "But I'll find your Evelyn. I'll go for a horse. I'll take this +child back. Don't cry, little girl. I won't rest till I find your +Evelyn;" and he rushed from the house, almost knocking down several +children in the passageway--the Stimpcett children; for Obadiah, Debby, +and little Cordelia had been awakened by the noise, and had come down in +their night-gowns. + +But the lost Evelyn was near, and coming nearer every moment. You will +remember that Maggie's mother, Mrs. Brien, was to send for Maggie to +come and visit her. The man whom she sent went back and told her that he +could not find Maggie, and that her grandmother was afraid she had been +stolen from the station. Mrs. Brien hired a horse and wagon, and drove +to the station, and inquired of the station-master. A stable-boy who +stood near told her he saw a little girl who looked like Maggie riding +off in a buggy with a man, and that the man hired the buggy to go to +Gilead. + +"The wretch!" cried Mrs. Brien; "to be stealing away my child! I will +keep on to Gilead. I will follow him up." + +"I wish you would let this little girl ride with you to Gilead," said +the station-master. "She has been waiting a long time for some one to +call and take her to Mr. Stimpcett's, and Mr. Stimpcett will help you +find your Maggie." He then brought out a slender, flaxen-haired little +girl, and placed her in Mrs. Brien's wagon. This child was Evelyn Odell, +and Mrs. Brien took her to Gilead. + +It happened that they reached Mr. Stimpcett's just as Moses was driving +into the yard with his father's horse and cart, and they three, Mrs. +Brien, Moses, and Evelyn, went into the house together. + +Scarcely had they entered before Mr. Stimpcett, and then Mr. St. Clair, +arrived in haste, each with a horse and wagon. Mr. Stimpcett rushed in +to get his wife, and Mr. St. Clair to get Maggie. There they found Mrs. +Stimpcett with her arms around Moses, Mrs. Odell with hers around +Evelyn, and Mrs. Brien with hers around Maggie; and there were huggings +and kissings and laughings and cryings, and it was, "Oh, you dear!" and, +"Oh, you darling!" and "Oh, my child!" and, oh other things! Grandma +held the Sudden Remedy bottle, looking at Moses's legs as if not quite +sure yet that they did not need some of it rubbed on, while Obadiah, and +Deborah, and little Cordelia stood staring and sniffling and smiling, +now and then wiping their eyes with their night-gown sleeves. + +"Will nobody hug me?" cried Mr. Stimpcett. Upon this little Cordelia +climbed into his arms, and they two hugged each other. + +Mr. St. Clair told his part of the story, Moses his part, and Mrs. Brien +her part. + +"After all," said Mr. Stimpcett, "Mr. St. Clair did not bring back the +meal!" + + + + +THE FAIRY PAINTERS. + + +The Fairy Queen had built herself a palace of gold and crystal. The +rooms were hung with tapestry of rose leaves, and the floors were +carpeted with moss. The great hall was the grandest part of all. The +ceiling was made of mother-of-pearl, and the walls of ivory, and the +lights which hung from the roof sparkled with diamonds. These ivory +walls were to be covered with paintings; so the Queen called the fairy +artists, and bade them all paint a picture for her by a certain day. "He +whose picture is best," she said, "shall paint my hall, to his +everlasting renown, and I will raise him, besides, to the highest fairy +honors." The youngest of the fairy painters was Tintabel. He could draw +a face so exquisite, that it was happiness only to gaze at it, or so sad +that no one could see it without tears. No fairy longed as he did for +the glory and renown of painting the Queen's palace. + +He wandered out into the wood to dream his idea into loveliness before +he wrought it with his hand. "Never shall be picture like my picture," +he said aloud; "I will steal the colors of heaven, and trace spirit +forms." But Orgolino, that wicked fairy, heard him. Now Orgolino painted +very grandly. He could draw wild and strong and terrible beings, which +thrilled the gazer with wonder and awe. Of all his rivals he feared +Tintabel only. So, when he saw him alone in the wood, he rejoiced +wickedly, and said, "Now I will rid myself of a foe;" and he flew down +upon the poor Tintabel, and being a more powerful fairy, he caught him, +and pinned his wings together with magic thorns, and fastened him down +with them among the fungus and toad-stools of the damp wood. Then he +flew away exulting, and painted day and night. It was a magnificent +picture, with stately figures, powerful and triumphant, and Orgolino's +heart swelled with pride at his work, and he said to himself, "I might +have left that poor wretch alone. The weakling could do nothing like +this." + +Meanwhile Tintabel cried bitterly, because his hope was lost, his praise +would never be heard among the fairies, and the beauty he had hoped to +create he should never see. The elf that lived in the toad-stool looked +up as the tears fell upon him, and gathered them up from his fungous +coat, where they sparkled like dew. + +"What sweet water!" he said. + +"Alas!" sighed Tintabel--"alas for my vanished hopes! Oh! how lovely +should my picture have been, and now I am bound down here to +uselessness;" and he could not feel the pain of his bruised and bound +wings because of the pain at his heart. The elf in the toad-stool looked +up and said, + +"Fairy, paint me a picture, here on the smooth surface of the +toad-stool, for I have never seen one." + +Tintabel stopped his wailing to think how wretched was the elf who had +never seen a picture. + +"Ah! elf," he said, "I have neither pencil nor colors. How can I paint?" + +But the elf pointed to one of the thorns which fastened Tintabel's +wings. The end was long, so that the fairy could reach it. + +"There is a pencil," said the elf; and the artist's longing came upon +the fairy, and he seized the thorn. Poor hurt wings! how they quivered +and pained as the point of their fastenings pressed hither and thither +over the surface of the toad-stool, and crushed and dragged and rent +them in its course! But the thorn had a magic in it, and Tintabel found +it possessed more than fairy power. The sharper his pain, the more +perfect the stroke he could make. As the delicate film of the wing was +torn, the rainbow tints dropped off, and gave him lovelier colors than +the hues of heaven; and the elf held up his tears as water for the +painting. He painted his remembrance of fairy-land and his weariness of +earth. + +When the appointed day came, the Fairy Queen called her painters +together. The great hall was filled with them, but of all the pictures +none was so great as Orgolino's. He had painted "The Triumph of +Strength." Then said the Queen, "Where is Tintabel?" and no one knew. + +"He has not cared to obey your Majesty's command," said Orgolino. + +But the Queen looked at him steadily, and said, "Tintabel must be +found." + +Then all the fairies went in search of him. Soon one returned and said, +"Tintabel is bound in the wood among the fungus and toad-stools, and +before him is a picture more beautiful than any fairy ever saw." + +"Come," said the Queen; and her subjects followed her to the wood. + +There, on the white toad-stool's top, was a tiny picture, lovelier and +grander at once than any fancy could dream, and it showed "The Triumph +of Pain." + +Then Orgolino was turned out into the wood among the cold and creeping +things, and Tintabel was taken to great honor. + + + + +A WIDE-AWAKE RUSSIAN SENTRY. + +BY DAVID KER. + + +Eighty or ninety years ago, when the Russians had a good many wars upon +their hands, their best general was Marshal Alexander Suvoroff, whose +name is still famous in Russia. Any old soldier you meet there will tell +you plenty of stories about him, and strange enough stories too, for he +was a very curious kind of man. In the coldest weather, when even the +hardiest soldiers were wrapping themselves up, he would go about in his +shirt sleeves just as if it were summer; and very often he would be up +before any one else in the camp was astir, and startle the first officer +whom he saw coming out of his tent by crowing like a rooster as loud as +he could, just as if to say, "You ought to have been out before." Then, +too, Count and General though he was, dining with the Empress herself +almost every week, and going about the palace as he pleased, he dressed +as plainly as any peasant, and slept on straw like a common soldier. +Once or twice the palace servants, seeing this untidy little fellow +coming up to the grand entrance, took him for a tramp, and wanted to +drive him away; but they soon found out that _that_ would not do. + +Another of his queer ways was to try and puzzle any one he met by asking +him all sorts of strange questions, such as how many stars there were in +the sky, how many drops of water in the sea, and so forth. He _did_ +puzzle a good many people in this way, but once or twice he got an +answer quite as smart as his questions, and that was just what he liked. + +One day a soldier came to him with a dispatch, and Suvoroff, seeing that +he was quite a young, simple-looking fellow, thought it would be good +fun to try his hand upon _him_. + +"How many fish are there in the sea?" he asked. + +"Just exactly as many as haven't been caught yet," answered the lad at +once. + +The General was rather taken aback, but he went on, nevertheless: + +"If you were in a besieged town, without food, how would you supply +yourself?" + +"From the enemy." + +"How far is it from here to the moon?" + +"Two of your Excellency's forced marches." + +Suvoroff smiled and looked pleased, for he was very proud of being able +to move his men so quickly, and had won many a victory by it. + +"Which of your officers do you like best?" was the next question. + +"Captain Masloff." + +Now this Captain Masloff happened to be a very handsome young fellow, +while Suvoroff himself was frightfully ugly, so he thought he would +catch the soldier in a trap by asking him, "What's the difference +between your captain and myself?" + +"Why," said the soldier, looking slyly at him, "my captain can't make me +a corporal, but your Excellency has only to say the word." + +The General burst into a loud laugh, and clapping him on the shoulder, +said, "Well, then, I _do_ say the word: you're a corporal from this day +forth, and a right good one you'll make. If I can find another man as +smart as you, I'll make him a sergeant." + +Two or three months after this adventure, Suvoroff and his army were +down on the Lower Danube, keeping watch over the Turks, in the middle of +the hardest winter that had been known in that country for many a year. +But of course, being Russians, they didn't mind _that_ much, and +Suvoroff went about in the snow and the frost as if he didn't know what +cold was. + +Well, one bitter night in the beginning of January, the old General was +making the round of the camp, as usual, to see that his sentinels were +all keeping good watch at the outposts, when suddenly he came upon a +sentry who seemed to have got the coldest place of all, for he was right +down upon the bank of the river, with the cold wind blowing through him +as if it would cut him in two. + +"Good-evening, brother," said the General, speaking as if _he_ were only +a common soldier too. + +"Good-evening," answered the sentinel, pretending not to know him, +although he had recognized the General's voice in a moment. + +"Plenty of stars out to-night," went on Suvoroff, looking up at the +frosty sky. "Can you tell me how many of them there are altogether?" + +"Just wait a bit, and I'll count," said the soldier, quite coolly. And +forthwith he began: "One, two, three, four, five, six," and so on, as if +he were never going to leave off. + +At first Suvoroff was rather amused at his smartness; but he soon found +the game getting much too cold to be pleasant, for he was in his usual +light dress, while the sentry at least had on a good thick frieze coat. +Keener and keener blew the bitter night wind, till the poor old General +felt as if he should never be warm again. For a while he bore up +manfully, hoping the soldier would get tired and leave off; but when the +man got up to a thousand, and was still counting away as if he meant to +keep it up all night, Suvoroff could stand it no longer. + +"What's your name, my fine fellow?" asked he, as well as his chattering +teeth would let him. + +"Vasili [Basil] Pushkin,"[1] answered the soldier, "private in the +Seventh Foot." + +"Very good," said the Marshal; "I won't forget you. Good-night." + +The next morning Pushkin was sent for to the General's quarters; and +Suvoroff, turning to his staff officers, said: + +"Gentlemen, here's a man whom I tried to fool last night, but I met my +match, and something more. I said I'd make any man a sergeant who was +smart enough for that, and I must keep my word." + +And he did so that very day. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +1 All purely Russian names end either in "off" or "in," the +"ski's" being all Polish, and the "ko's" all Cossack. + + + + +THE SONG OF THE WREN. + +BY MRS. MARGARET EYTINGE. + + +[Illustration: BIRDIE AND HER LITTLE FRIENDS.] + +In a certain wild but beautiful country place, far from this great +city, stood a little white cottage all by itself, there being no other +house for ten or twelve miles, over which, in summer-time, the wild +rose vines clambered until they reached the very chimney, where, +clinging to the red bricks, they flung out in merry triumph slender +flower-laden branches like pennons on the breeze. Under the cottage +eaves some swallows built their nests every spring, and to the garden +came, as soon as the yellow and white honeysuckles and blue larkspurs +and many-colored four-o'clocks bloomed, myriads of humming-birds, +looking like rubies, and diamonds, and opals, and emeralds, and topazes, +and sapphires, that had taken to themselves wings, and flown from all +parts of the world to visit the living gems in this lovely spot. In the +autumn, when the leaves, dressed in their gayest dress, were bidding +farewell to the sunshine and the wind and each other, hundreds of +robin-redbreasts--"God's birds"--hopped like little flames about the +ground, and in a hollow tree near the cottage door a pretty red-brown +wren and his mate had found shelter for a long time, and reared several +broods. As for the saucy, chattering, busy, fearless sparrows, they had +feather-lined nests wherever a sparrow's nest could be placed, and that +is almost everywhere--on the pump, behind the wood-pile, in the barn, +among the trees--and these nests they never forsook all the year round. +What wonder that the cottage was called Bird House, and the dear wee +girl whose home it was answered to the name of Birdie? No brothers or +sisters had the innocent, blue-eyed child, and, save the birds, no +little friends. But they loved her dearly, and were always near her; so +she never grew lonely, but was happy and contented from morning until +night. At early dawn, when a soft light in the eastern sky told that the +sun was coming, they tapped on her window-panes to waken her; and when +she appeared at the cottage door, they flew to meet her, lighting on her +fair head, her shoulders, her outstretched hands, with loud, sweet, +twittering welcomes. Even strange birds just passing that way would join +the merry throng, and joyfully and gratefully partake of the crumbs the +dear one scattered for her friends. And often at night, when Birdie +awoke from a pleasant dream, and found her room filled with the silver +of the moon, she would hear the sparrows and swallows say--still +dreaming they--"Birdie, sweet Birdie!" + +She had learned their language when she was but a babe, and knew when +they were glad or sad; when they praised or scolded; when they gave +warning that the spirits of the storm were abroad; when they said to +their young, "Courage, little ones; it is time to try your wings"; when +they softly chirped, "To sleep, to sleep"; and when they sang songs of +love or farewell. + +And so it happened that she understood every word of the song that the +wren sang to her that winter afternoon. The snow had been falling, and +the sunshine was just coming back, when she went out in the garden, in +her Little Red Riding-hood cloak, to share her bread with the sparrows +and snow-birds. Around her they flew, uttering cries of joy, when +suddenly the wren, forgetting his shyness, appeared among them; and this +is the song he sang: + + "In the time of violets, + When the Spring came dancing + O'er the meadow, through the wood, + Sunbeams round her glancing-- + 'Birdie's sweet, sweet, sweet, + Sweet,' sang the swallow, + 'And where'er her footsteps roam, + I will follow, follow.' + + "When the roses bloomed and blushed, + And the fragrant Summer + Kisses warm and sparkling smiles + Gave to each new-comer-- + 'Birdie's sweet, sweet, sweet,' + Sang the blackbird clearly; + 'Sweet as daisy-buds, and I + Love her dearly, dearly.' + + "When the autumn leaves began + Gold and crimson turning, + Robin-Redbreast sang--his breast + Bright as sunset burning-- + 'Birdie's sweet, sweet, sweet, + Sweet as dewy clover, + And her praises shall be sung + All the wide world over.' + + "Wrens and sparrows--all the birds, + Dear, that fly above thee, + For thy gentle words and ways, + For thy beauty, love thee. + Birdie sweet, sweet, sweet-- + Happy be forever! + While the birds can guard thee, sweet, + Harm shall reach thee never." + +"Thank you, dear wren--thank you, dear birds," said Birdie, with tears +in her beautiful blue eyes, when the song was ended; and she went away +to her own little room and said a prayer of thankfulness. + +And from that time the child's heart was lighter than ever, and she sang +all day long like a tuneful mocking-bird, blending all the sweet strains +of her friends in one delightful song, until winter passed away, and the +snow melted, and the snow-drop peeped out of the ground, and said, +timidly, "I am here: spare me, O Wind!" and while the spring covered the +earth with daisies and dandelions and May buds and brave honest grass, +and flung delicate blossoms all over the orchards. Then came the summer +once more, and started millions of lovely "green things a-growing," and +filled the trees with thousands of joyous young birds. + +And one glowing July day, early in the morning, Birdie wandered off to +the woods, as she had often done before, to look for wild flowers, and +gather some green food for her feathered pets. "I'll be back again in a +little while, mamma," she said, as she left the cottage. But the hours +went by, and noon came, and she had not returned. + +"Where is my little maid?" called her father, cheerily, as he came in to +dinner from the field where he had been working; but no little maid +replied. + +"She has gone for bird weeds and flowers," said her mother. "She will be +here in a few moments." + +But the dinner was eaten, and the father went back to his work, and +still no Birdie came. + +The clock struck one--struck two--struck three, and then, her heart +growing heavier and heavier at every step, the frightened mother started +out to look for her darling. North, south, east, west, half a mile each +way from the cottage, she ran, stopping every few minutes to call, +"Birdie! Birdie!" but only the echoes answered her call. At last to the +field where her husband was working she flew. "Leave the plough," she +cried, wringing her hands, "and look for the child." + +North, east, south, west, a mile each way from his home, went the +father, shouting, "Birdie! Birdie, little maid!" and the echoes +repeated, "Birdie! Birdie, little maid!" but no other sound he heard +except the rustling of the leaves and the whir of insect wings. The sun +was beginning to sink in the west when, tired and heart-sick, he came +back again. "Perhaps she is there now," he thought, a ray of hope +lighting up his face as he neared the garden gate; but a glance at his +wife's tearful eyes as she came to meet him told him he had hoped in +vain. "I'll saddle the horse and ride to the village," he said, "and +every father there will join me in the search for my child. And we'll +find her, never fear." + +"God grant that you may--and alive!" sobbed the poor mother. "My +darling! oh, my darling!" + +At that moment a flock of birds came in sight--so large a flock that, +wheeling around the head of the sorrowing mother, it almost shut out +from her the light of day. + +Round and round her the birds circled, uttering strange, eager sounds; +then flew away a short distance, to return with louder calls than ever. + +"They miss her," said the father, who was just about to mount his horse. +"They have come to be fed." + +"They have come to lead us to her," cried his wife, her whole face +growing glad and bright. "Look at them! They are asking us to follow." + +And the birds turned as she made a few steps forward, and flew slowly +before her. To a narrow path up the nearest hill they led--so narrow +that the horse had to be left behind, and the father, who in his +impatience had ridden on in front, was obliged to dismount and follow on +foot. Over the hill and across a bridge that spanned a wide stream they +went, then up some steep rocks, and down, down into a tiny green valley, +from which another flock of birds arose with welcoming cries; and there, +in a little cave, imprisoned by a huge stone that had fallen from the +rock above across its mouth, the trees and shrubs around her black with +watching birds, sat Birdie, her little hands patiently folded in her +lap, a smile on her pale lips, and faith shining from her heaven-blue +eyes. And for once--her heart being full to overflowing with love for +her wee daughter, and gratitude to the good God and them--the mother too +understood the language of the birds as they sang, + + "Birdie, sweet, sweet, sweet, + Happy be forever! + While the birds can guard thee, sweet, + Harm shall reach thee never." + + + + +WILD BOARS. + + +The wild boar is one of the most dangerous of beasts. Although it +belongs to the same great family as the lazy, good-natured pig that lies +in utter contentment in the farmer's pen, it is an altogether different +creature, and few animals are so difficult to hunt. + +In appearance it has the same general characteristics as domestic swine, +with the difference that it is larger, covered with coarser bristles, +has fiery, glowing eyes, and is armed with two terrible tusks, sometimes +ten inches long, with which it can inflict dangerous wounds. + +Formerly wild boars roamed in great numbers through the forests of Great +Britain, but for many years they have been extinct in that country. They +are still found in some parts of France and Spain, and are very numerous +in Germany and the wild jungles of India. They are also found in Poland, +Southern Russia, and Africa. Du Chaillu, the African traveller, mentions +encountering a hideous red-haired wild hog in the wondrous equatorial +forests of the "dark continent." Notwithstanding its size it was +tremendously savage, and very agile, jumping and running like a cat. + +Wild hogs are gregarious, and are found in herds. They are fond of +living near water, in which they like to roll and wallow; indeed, a bath +appears almost indispensable to them, as they will sometimes travel +miles to obtain it. Their food consists of roots, nuts, and all kinds of +fruits and grains. In Egypt and India they do much injury to the vast +tracts of sugar-cane, the thick growth affording them excellent +hiding-places and shelter against attack. + +It is said that wild hogs will not attack a man unless hunted or +enraged; but as they are not only daring, but also very cautious and +watchful, they suspect the least approach to be offensive, and proceed +to defend themselves. + +The sow guards her little ones with great care, and becomes wild with +fury if they are touched. She will run with great speed if she hears +them call, and few hunters have succeeded in capturing young specimens +without first killing the parent. A man once riding through a forest in +Germany came upon two little wild pigs which had strayed into the +pathway. Delighted with his prize, he rolled the piggies in his +horse-blanket, sprang to his saddle, and hastened on his road. But the +smothered squealing of her babies reached the ears of the mother, and +the man soon heard a loud grunting. On turning round he saw a furious +sow, with gleaming eyes, coming after him at full speed. Being unarmed, +he was compelled to fling the little pigs on the ground, and ride for +his life. + +The wolf, the lynx, and even the sly fox are terrible enemies of wild +hogs, for with patience and cunning watchfulness they often succeed in +making off with very young pigs, which form a most savory repast. + +Wild-boar hunting has been held for ages as a royal sport, and in former +times no banquet was considered perfect unless the table was graced by a +boar's head. Kings and emperors rode to the hunt in those days with +numerous followers and huntsmen, all armed with the cross-bow and +boar-spear, in search of this royal game. At present wild-boar hunting +is carried on to some extent in Germany; but in India it is a favorite +sport, as the boar of that country is the largest and fiercest of any in +the world, not fearing even the tiger, its savage companion of the +jungles. Stories are told of dead boars and tigers being found together, +each bearing the marks of a terrible and evenly balanced fight. + +[Illustration: A WILD BOAR AT BAY.] + +In India boars are hunted on horseback, the chief weapon used being a +spear with a stout two-edged blade. A horse must be thoroughly trained +to this sport, and must possess great fleetness of foot, as the boar is +a very rapid runner. The time chosen for the hunt is at daybreak, as +the boar has probably been eating sugar-cane or other food all night, +and is sleepy and heavy in the morning, and less capable of a long run. +Savage and powerful dogs are used in the chase, which often prove +serviceable in bringing the beast to bay. For dogs the boar has a most +violent hatred, and will rush at them blindly often, with its superior +strength and formidable tusks overpowering them, unless the hunter be +near to use a spear or send a bullet through its heart. + +In this country the hog was unknown originally in a natural condition, +having been introduced by settlers from the Old World; and the wild boar +in our Western and Southern States, and in Canada, is merely the +domestic animal relapsed into a primitive state of wild ferocity. + + + + +TAKING--NOT STEALING. + +BY HANNAH SHEPPARD. + + +"So that's your game, is it, my lads? Guess I can help you a bit. I'll +try, anyhow, if it's only for the love I bore your fathers before you. +And you're fine fellows too; but you've got a wrong twist somewhere, or +you'd never in the world do such a thing as that." And quickening his +step at the close of his soliloquy, "Captain Dan," as he was called, +came up behind two boys who were standing in front of the principal +fruit and candy store of the busy town of Hamilton. + +A large bag of pea-nuts, with many other things, was displayed outside +under the window, and the old man's attention had been attracted by +seeing the elder of the boys carelessly pick up a nut as he chatted with +his companion, who soon followed his example. Evidently neither one had +any thought of doing wrong as they stood eating the nuts and crushing +the shells in their fingers. + +They started as he laid a hand heavily upon the shoulder of each, but +answered his greeting so cordially that it was easy to see they were +warm friends. He stopped them, as, linking their arms in his, they began +to turn him around, by saying: "Going toward home, are ye? Well, I don't +mind if I do go a piece with you after a bit, if you'll go down to the +shore first, for I want to take another look at that vessel I had a +sight of a good hour ago, and see if I can find out where she hails +from. There'll be a fine sunset, too, with the clouds piled like +yon"--as he pointed seaward. "I 'most wonder you're not out in the +_Firefly_. How is it, Dick?"--turning to the lad on his right hand. + +"Why, you see, Captain Dan," replied the boy, slowly, as if bringing his +thoughts back from a long distance, "Ethel wanted Maurice to row her +over to the Island, though I don't think he knows much more about a boat +than May." + +"Did they take her with them?" asked the captain, eagerly. + +"Yes," answered Dick; "and I'm sure mamma would not have let her go if +she'd been at home. But she was out riding with papa, and May begged so +hard that Ethel would take her in spite of all I could say." + +"Oh, well, there's no great harm done that I know of," quoth Captain +Dan, "though I'm free to confess that I don't think your cousin knows as +much of boats as he does of his books. However, as you feel uneasy, +we'll wait about the landing till they come, and they can climb the +cliff with us if they like. Many's the time little 'May bird' has gone +up it on my shoulder, little pet!" Then, as he noticed how intently Dick +was watching, he added, "They'll surely be back before long, and it +won't hurt us to talk here awhile, 'specially as I've a word to say to +you, my hearties." + +"That's all right," responded Dick, good-humoredly; "for you know Theo +and I like nothing better than to have you spin us a yarn--eh, Theo?" + +"Yes, indeed," chimed in Theodore Murray, giving a vigorous kick to a +stone which lay in the captain's path. + +By this time they had reached the shore, and after looking off toward +the Island and seeing nothing of their boat, they all sat down on a +rock, which seemed almost as though it might have been shaped for a +seat, only that it was rather roughly finished. + +"You really needn't look so anxious, my boy," said Captain Dan, turning +to Dick, "for I don't think your party could possibly come to harm. Why, +the water is as smooth as glass, and we can see them the moment they +round the corner of the cove." + +"If Ethel only wasn't so awfully polite," groaned Dick, "but would just +take the oars herself, I'd not mind a bit, for she can row beautifully; +but Maurice hasn't an idea how to manage a boat, though he's first rate +on land. We're all ready for your yarn, though, captain, as soon as +you've got your breath ready to begin to spin it." + +Captain Dan smiled, half sadly. "It's no 'yarn' to-night, my lads. But, +Dick, what would you call a man who took what didn't belong to him?" + +"Why, a thief, of course," answered the boy, promptly. + +"'And what would you say if any one called your father's son a thief?" +pursued the old man. + +"Tell him he lied!" exclaimed Dick, quickly, springing to his feet, and +confronting his questioner with flashing eyes. "What ever _do_ you mean, +sir, by such strange talk?" + +"Sit down quietly again, and I'll tell you; for though I saw both you +and Theo helping yourselves to what didn't belong to you this afternoon, +yet I never could find it in my heart to call you thieves; for I suppose +you would say it was only 'taking,' and not 'stealing.'" + +"What do you mean?" asked Theodore, who had been listening in silence, +but with a most puzzled face. + +"Just this--that as I walked up the street I saw each of you take a nut +or so from the bag which stands in front of Mr. Baker's store." + +"Oh," said Dick, drawing a long breath of relief, "that was all, was +it?" + +"Why, that wasn't _stealing_, Captain Dan," broke in Theodore, eagerly. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," observed their friend, dryly. "I didn't know +you'd paid for the nuts, or I'd not have mentioned the matter." + +"Paid for them!" exclaimed both boys at once. "Of course we'd not paid +for them; but then that's not stealing, you know, for we only each took +one or two, and we were right there in open sight. It's a totally +different thing." + +"I beg leave to differ entirely from you," answered the captain, in his +slow way. "But suppose there'd been a water-melon lying there on the +step, would either of you have carried it off without paying for it, or +eaten it there, either?" + +"Of course not," said Dick, indignantly; but Theodore broke in, +abruptly, as he sprang up, his cheeks glowing with shame: + +"I never thought of it so before! Why, it's just dreadful, Dick; for +Captain Dan is right--we were stealing, though we never meant it. Oh, +what would my mother say?" he added, with a choke in his voice. + +"I don't see it in that light at all," persisted Dick, sturdily; "it was +only a pea-nut or so, and we didn't do it 'on the sly,' as we would if +we'd been 'stealing,' as you say. Why, the very word makes me mad all +over"--doubling up his fists as he paced up and down before them, now +and then giving himself a shake like a great dog. + +"Hold on a minute, my son," said the old man, gently, "and I think I can +make it clearer. Suppose a basket of apples was standing in Smith's +grocery store. On my way home I stop in to buy a pound of tea, and while +it is being weighed out I pick up an apple to eat. You drop in next to +get some crackers, and you take one while waiting. Then Theo's mother +sends him for a pound of cheese, and he also helps himself. Others +follow our example, and though no person takes more than a single one, +yet by night the basket is emptied, without a cent of profit to the +grocer, though he has paid the farmer for them. Yet you say we have not +been stealing. How is it?" + +The color had been slowly mounting in Dick's frank face as he stood +before his friend with folded arms, and looking far out to sea. But the +instant he heard the question with which the speaker concluded, he +turned and said, impulsively: "You're right, Captain Dan, and I'm all +wrong. It _is_ stealing, and nothing else, just as you said; but I never +thought of it so before, and it's just dreadful. I can't bear to think +of it, even though I've hardly ever done it; still, the part I hate just +the worst kind is that I've done it at all, and never saw the harm of it +till now." + +"Tell you what, Dick," exclaimed Theodore, hurriedly, "I mean to go in +and tell Mr. Baker about it on my way home to-night; will you go with +me?" + +"Of course I will; and we'll pay him for everything we can possibly +remember. But I say, old fellow, what if Jack Stretch saw us, or any of +those other street chaps? They could turn the tables on us splendidly, +you know, after our asking them to go to Sunday-school with us. They'd +be likely to tell us we'd borrowed their trade, and would say we needn't +preach to them again." + +Theodore looked troubled, and then brightened somewhat as a happy +thought struck him. "I mean to tell my mother the whole thing before I +go to sleep this night," he said, "and I'm sure she'll help us out." + +"You're right, my boy," observed the captain, nodding his head with a +pleased air. "Your mother's a wise woman; so is yours, Dick, and I +advise you to adopt the same plan; for when boys get too old--or too +something--to talk over their troubles and their pleasures with their +mothers, you may be pretty sure they're going wrong somehow; at least +that has always been my experience." + +"But, Captain Dan, there are lots of people who surely can't look at +this thing as you do, and as we do too, now that you've shown us," +remarked Dick, thoughtfully, "for I've seen men, and women too, pick up +little things to taste in the stores, and never seem to think of paying +for them." + +The old man sighed wearily. "I know it, lad," he answered; "and I can +tell you more than that. For I've heard of some cases--I hope and trust +they're rare ones, though--where boarding-house keepers in large cities, +who were poorly off, would go from one store to another, and from stand +to stand in the markets, pricing and buying in a small way, while all +the time they would be picking up a nut or so here, an apple or orange +there, or a few raisins over yonder, and in this manner get enough for a +dessert, till their tricks came to be well known, and they were watched +carefully." + +"How dreadful!" cried the boys. + +"And perhaps," added Theodore, "they began as we did, without thinking +anything about it, and I'm ever so much obliged to you, Captain Dan, for +telling us." + +"Yes, indeed!" struck in Dick, earnestly, giving himself a shake; "I see +it exactly now; and I don't mind telling mamma about it half so much as +I do thinking to myself that I ever did such a mean thing, don't you +see." + +"Yes," responded his friend, as he looked up into the pure manly face, +feeling that so long as the fact of losing his own self-respect was so +much worse than to lose that of others, he would always have a +safeguard--"yes, I understand. But isn't that the _Firefly_ off yonder?" + +The boys ran down to the water's edge, followed at a slower pace by the +captain. + +"Dear me! why don't Ethel take the oars and show him how to row?" burst +forth Dick, impatiently, as they watched the tiny craft moving +irregularly toward them. + +"Gently, laddie," said the captain; "remember we must all have a +learning; and no doubt you did as badly as that when you began, even +though you're such a crack sailor now; and you know Miss Ethel mightn't +like to give a lesson unless she was asked to do so." + +The little boat gradually neared them, though in a very jerky fashion, +showing how unskilled the rower was, till, unhappily, glancing over his +shoulder, he caught sight of the group awaiting them, and raised his +oars by way of salute. But, in lowering them, one fell from his hand, +tired with the unusual exertion; he leaned over too far to reach it, and +the next moment they were all struggling in the water. + +In an instant the boys' coats were off, and they dashed in to the +rescue; nor was Captain Dan much behind them, while it was truly +wonderful to see how agile he was, when swimming, for after his slow +steps on land, the water appeared like his native element. Fortunately +the boat was not far from the shore when the accident happened, and the +captain's powerful strokes soon put him ahead of his younger companions. +He reached the spot just in time to catch May--his "baby," as he always +called the five-year-old prattler--as she was sinking for the last time, +in spite of the frantic efforts made by Maurice, who, though no swimmer, +had retained his presence of mind, and had caught the edge of the +overturned boat, which he was trying to float toward Ethel, while +holding May tightly with the other arm. But the child had struck her +head against the oar as she fell, and was stunned so as to be quite +insensible. + +"Keep your hold of the boat," called the captain; "I've got the baby all +safe, and the boys have reached Miss Ethel. Hullo, Dick!" he shouted, +suddenly; "let Theo help your sister, and bear a hand here, will you?" +For he saw that Maurice was fast giving out, though the gallant old man +was supporting him with one hand, while holding the child firmly with +the other; and encumbered in this way, swimming was slow work. + +"Here we are!" sang out Dick, who soon reached them; and remembering +"Nan the Newsboy's" directions, with the captain's aid managed to turn +Maurice upon his back, for by this time he had quite lost consciousness, +and then struck out steadily for the land. In the course of a few more +moments the little party were anxiously gathered around Maurice and May, +who were still insensible. Theo had started off for help, which soon +came, and they were carried to the nearest house, where Maurice after a +time revived. But poor little May remained so long unconscious that they +had almost given up hope, when Dick, who had been helping to rub her, +and would give up his post to no one, exclaimed he was sure he felt her +heart beating, which, to his great delight, proved to be the case, and a +while afterward she opened her eyes, and looked around vacantly. + +But the blow on her head had been a very severe one; the shock to the +little frame was so great that it was followed by a serious illness; and +though she recovered after weeks of suffering, and was her own bright +self again, yet the boys agreed that Captain Dan's kindly sermon had +been followed by enough to make that day one of the most eventful in +their lives, and never to be forgotten. + +And though they could not go to the store that night, yet they went +early the next morning, told the whole story, and were most kindly +received by Mr. Baker, with whom Captain Dan had had a private +conference just before their arrival, so that he was fully prepared for +them. + +In spite of their urging, he would not take their money, though he +thanked them "for coming in such a manly way to confess their fault," +adding, as he shook hands with them, that while they had only done what +was right, yet he wished men as well as boys would have the moral +courage to confess when they had done wrong, for so often these little +beginnings of evil lead the way to greater sins. + + + + +THE FIRST VALENTINE. + + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + "Ah, Jamie, don't you understand + The little heart that's in my hand? + The plain white heart with rosy band; + Can you not read the simple sign? + It is your first sweet Valentine. + + "Come here and take it from me, dear; + It will not hurt, you need not fear; + You'll see, if you will come more near, + It only bears one little line, + 'To Jamie! My first Valentine!'" + + Then Cupid, laughing, said, "Ah me! + How calm this baby beau can be! + But wait awhile, and we shall see + What toys, with gold and jewels fine, + He'll send to some sweet Valentine. + + "Just leave your heart, Miss Leonore, + He'll take it soon, and long for more: + The little lad is only four. + Some day, a hero bold and fine, + He'll send full many a Valentine." + + + + +THE KING'S BABY. + +BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE CATSKILL FAIRIES." + + +The baby was put to bed as usual, in his wooden cradle, and his mother +had rocked him to sleep, singing some national cradle song, like the +mothers of all lands. He was a stout little fellow of five months old, +with dimples in his brown cheeks, curly dark hair as soft as silk, and +great black eyes, such as the children of Spain and Italy alone possess. +When the baby was asleep, his parents busied themselves with their +duties of the evening, and at an early hour also went to bed. + +Their home was located in the province of Murcia, in Spain. The house +was built of stone, half in ruins, and was surrounded by a poor little +farm. Before going to bed the father had looked out of the door to see +that all was safe for the night. Spain is a country where little rain +falls, because armies long ago destroyed the forests covering mountain +slopes, in time of war. Now the traveller sees these hills as bare +rocks, with deserted towns on their sides, and the beds of rivers become +heaps of dry stones for the majority of the year, parched with summer +drought. In the city of Alicante two years sometimes pass without a drop +of rain falling. The season of the year (1879) was very different. In +the late summer and autumn fearful storms of thunder and lightning burst +over several provinces usually so dusty and arid; persistent rains +followed, until the channels of the rivers became filled with rushing +torrents from the heights where springs have their source. The waters of +the Guadalquivir rose five meters in a few days. + +The baby's father looked out of the door on a valley flooded by one of +these swollen rivers which had overflowed its banks, and felt safe, as +his home was perched on a slope, and the village, with its church, +convent, and steep streets of old houses, was between the farm and the +stream. Then he had gone to rest, and sleep soon settled on the +household. The night was dark, and no sound was to be heard except the +drip of the rain or the rustling murmur of the distant river. + +At two o'clock in the morning the church bell pealed wildly. "Quick! +Danger is at hand, good people; save yourselves!" the bell seemed to +say, and its vibrating note rang out on the awful darkness, chilling all +hearts with sudden fear. + +Stupid with sleep, the baby's father rose. Water was trickling along the +floor of the chamber; outside was a deep sound of roaring waves, the +crashing of trees, and the fall of buildings, mingled with the clang of +the bell and the cries of human beings. Nothing could be more terrible. +An embankment had given way, and the river, which already had spread +over the lowlands, now deluged the village, sweeping away many houses, +and surrounding the poor little farm, where the baby slumbered +peacefully in his cradle. Already the cottage swayed and shook on its +foundations. The mother awoke, and wept. She had no time to snatch the +baby in her arms, for the father opened the door, and lifted the cradle +near it. He returned for his wife; and just then a wave entered the +door, and washed away the baby. It was not a moment too soon. There was +a snapping, grinding sound, and the house fell apart and slid into the +dark waters as if it had been a house of cards. The whole country was +like a sea, and the church bell no longer rang, because the bell-ringer +strove to save himself from being drowned. + +The little waif, cast to the mercy of the wind and the flood, did not +sink. God watched over it. The wooden cradle became a tiny boat; the +baby waked up, stretched out his little hands, and cried; then, in the +midst of frightful peril, fell asleep again, rocked by the motion of the +stream. + +At length the day broke, a cold gray mist seeming to blot out everything +except the sheet of water, which was of a muddy and yellow color, and +rolled along with giddy swiftness, gathering everything in its course. +In some places the trees had their roots under water, and their +branches, still dry, gave shelter to whole families. These cried out: + +"Oh, look at the little baby! Who will save it?" + +But the cradle sailed on, while the trees often bent beneath the wave. +The boiling eddies of the current swallowed many objects, and caught the +cradle, and spun it about in circles as if it had been a walnut shell, +until the baby cried with fear; but then a friendly wave was sure to +rescue it, and once more bear it onward. + +Ah, at last! The poor baby must be drowned. A great tree had fallen into +the river, with all its tangled roots high in the air, and the stream +snapped off the smaller twigs and branches as it moved along. Every +moment it struck some floating object with its gnarled roots and forest +of branches; occasionally the shock was so great that the trunk rolled +from side to side; but the object always sank, whether broken boat or +dead animal; while the tree floated on. The baby's cradle was alone on +the waste of waters; the tree approached slowly and surely. The cradle +tossed up and down, and then--the forked branches caught and held it +firmly just above the water-line. The tree became a raft. + +The young King Alfonso of Spain stood on the shore, near a town, +surrounded by officers in brilliant uniforms. Large boats full of his +guards had ventured out from shore to try to save objects swept down +from the country. They saw a tree with a cradle caught in the branches. +Was the cradle empty? No, a little black head could be distinguished +inside. Bravely the boat approached; the tree swerved about, and struck +it so rudely that it nearly upset; but at that moment the soldier in the +bow leaned over, and caught the baby by his little gown. Away whirled +the tree on the swift tide, and the cradle, detached by the shock, +drifted apart, overturned. + +How the people ran about and talked! How the women cried, and caressed +the little stranger thus safely brought to shore! The King saw it all, +and approached. + +"He shall be my child, and I will adopt him," he said. + +"May he grow up to serve you, sire!" said one of the councillors, who +wore a glittering star on his breast. + +Then the "King's Baby," saved in a little wooden cradle from the perils +of the night, crowed and smiled. + + + + +[Illustration: ME AND MY LITTLE WIFE.] + + + + +[Illustration] + +GEORGE WASHINGTON. + + He was black as the ace of spades, you see, + And scarcely as high as a tall man's knee; + He wore a hat that was minus a brim, + But that, of course, mattered nothing to him; + His jacket--or what there was left of it-- + _Scorned_ his little black shoulders to fit; + And as for stockings and shoes, dear me! + Nothing about such things knew he. + + He sat on the curb-stone one pleasant day, + Placidly passing the hours away; + His hands in the _holes_ which for pockets were meant, + His thoughts on the clouds overhead were intent; + When down the street suddenly, marching along, + Came soldiers and horses, and such a great throng + Of boys and of men, as they crowded the street, + With a "Hip, hip, hurrah!" the lad sprang to his feet, + + And joined the procession, his face in a grin, + For here was a good time that "_dis chile_ is in!" + How he stretched out his legs to the beat of the drum, + Thinking surely at last 'twas the _jubilee_ come! + Then suddenly wondering what 'twas about-- + The soldiers, the music, and all--with a shout + He hailed a small comrade, "Hi, Cæsar, _you_ know + What all dis purcession's a marchin' fur so?" + + "Go 'long, you George Washington," Cæsar replied, + "In dis yere great kentry _you_ ain't got no pride! + Dis is Washington's Birfday; you oughter know dat, + Wid yer head growed so big, burst de brim off yer hat." + For a moment George Washington stood in surprise, + While plainer to view grew the whites of his eyes; + Then swift to the front of the ranks scampered he, + This mite of a chap hardly high as your knee. + + The soldiers looked stern, and an officer said, + As he rapped with his sword on the black woolly head, + "Come, boy, clear the road; what a figure you are!" + Came the ready reply, "_I'se George Washington_, sah! + But I didn't know nuffin about my birfday + 'Till a feller jist tole me. Oh, golly! it's gay!" + + Just then a policeman--of course it was mean-- + Removed young George Washington far from the scene. + + + + +[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX] + + + SOUTH GROVELAND, MASSACHUSETTS. + + I have been gathering a cabinet of curiosities since I was nine + years old (I am now fourteen), and I have stones and shells and + pieces of wood from a great many of the States, from the arctic + regions, from South America, Oceanica, and Europe--more than two + hundred in all. Among the rest is a Proteus (_Menobranchus + maculatus_) taken from the Winooski River by Thompson, once State + Geologist of Vermont. I would like to know if any other of your + correspondents has got a Proteus, and also if any has a cabinet. + + EDWIN A. H. + + * * * * * + + MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS, _January 25_. + + I found some willow "pussies" yesterday. I hope I have found them + first. + + A. L. H. + +Yes, you have found them first. It is very remarkable to find them at +all in January in the locality where you live, but as the buds set in +the autumn, the singularly mild weather of January has made them swell +and burst thus early in the season. Thank you for so promptly reporting +these first signs that spring is near. Now let us see when the "pussies" +will appear in other sections of the country. + + * * * * * + + DOVER, NEW JERSEY. + + I was five years old the 21st of January, and I had such a happy + birthday. In the morning when I got up I found at the foot of my + crib six books of natural history full of pictures for little + folks, a piano, a box of colors, and two dancing bears, one black + and one brown. And when I went down to the dining-room, on my tray + was a beautiful cup and saucer, and on the cup, in gold letters, "A + Gift." And in my chair was a box with twenty-five things in it from + my auntie Lou; and in the afternoon I had a tea party. I wish all + little boys and girls had such happy birthdays. To-day I am sick, + and I tell mamma just what to say, and she is writing it for me. + + LOUIS C. VOGT. + + * * * * * + + STERLING, KANSAS. + + I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE since Christmas, and I find it very nice + indeed. I have a nice young uncle in Washington who sends it to me, + and told me to write to you. I have a pony named Ben, who is only + four feet and a half high, and is very wild sometimes, but I can + ride him without either bridle or saddle. + + NELLIE S. + + * * * * * + + CLINTON, MASSACHUSETTS. + + I have a bird. It is a bullfinch. It is real pretty, and whistles + like a boy. It likes potatoes and corn very much, and eats them out + of my mouth and hand. When it whistles it says "Pretty Poll" just + as plain as a parrot, and when it bathes it spatters me all over. + + LENA E. SCHMIDT. + + * * * * * + + DES MOINES, IOWA. + + I want to tell you about a cat-bird or mocking-bird that built its + nest in the tree near our house last summer. I have three brothers, + and when we all go off to play, mamma could not always make us hear + when she called. She bought a whistle, and when she blew it once, + it was for me, and two, three, and four times for my brothers. The + mocking-bird learned to imitate the whistle so well that we could + not always tell whether it was mamma calling or the bird. It would + also imitate the squeaks of the saw when the men were sawing wood. + We hope it will come back again next spring. + + M. I. WATROUS. + + * * * * * + + TROY, NEW YORK. + + I am a little girl nine years old, and take YOUNG PEOPLE, and I + watch for it every week. I have three pets--two cats and one + squirrel. The cats are twins; one is named Girofle, and the other + Girofla. They were born on Palm-Sunday, and are nearly three years + old. They are so much alike that you can not tell them apart. My + squirrel's name is Prince. + + GRACE MACLEOD. + + * * * * * + + WAYNE, ILLINOIS. + + I am a boy ten years old, and I have a cat older than myself. Its + name is Noah. One day last summer it caught a rat in the yard as + big as a half-grown kitten. The rat squealed so loud that a large + Newfoundland dog at the store across the street heard it, and came + running over to see what was the matter. The dog scared old Noah so + much that it let the rat go, and ran under the shed. I think that + dog better mind his own affairs hereafter, and let my old Noah + catch rats. + + ALLE TRULL. + + * * * * * + + SCOTTSVILLE, NEW YORK. + + I am nine years old, and I go to school nearly every day. All the + pet I have now is a white kitten. I did have an oriole, which was + caught when very young. We put it in a cage and hung it in the + cherry-tree, and its mother came and fed it every day until it was + time for the birds to go to a warmer climate. It used to be very + fond of bread and milk. + + MARY L. MACVEAN. + + * * * * * + +Maggie M. M. has a big Newfoundland dog, just her own age, nine years, +which is her faithful friend. + + * * * * * + +Belle Metzgar, Jessie Edna, C. F. Cooper, Harry B., and Charles Bentley +all send pretty accounts of domestic pets, which we would be glad to +print if there was space to spare. + + * * * * * + +EVA MITCHELL.--_The Virginians in Texas_ is published in "Harper's +Library of American Fiction," and will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, +to any part of the United States on receipt of seventy-five cents. + + * * * * * + +L. K.--Chapman's Drawing-Books are the best to use in beginning your +studies. + + * * * * * + + PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. + + I once had three pigeons, and when I fed them they would turn round + and round. Will you tell me how to feed guinea-pigs? + + MARK FRANCIS. + +You can feed guinea-pigs on cabbage leaves, bits of bread and cake, and +all kinds of fruit. They like carrot tops better than any other food, +especially in the spring, when the green is fresh and tender. You must +give them plenty of water. + + * * * * * + +N. L. COLLAMER.--Your monthly magazine is very well edited. It is +difficult to determine the correct spelling of Shakspeare's name, as +equally reliable authorities disagree. + + * * * * * + +"LITTLE MARIE."--Your puzzle is very neatly done; but as "every large +city" is not so favored as the one where you live, we fear it would not +be easy to solve. + + * * * * * + +ELLA W.--You may send the one entirely original, and if it is pretty and +very short, we might use it. + + * * * * * + +RICHARD S. C.--Your plan for a magnetic motor is very ingenious, and the +machine would no doubt make a pretty and curious toy. + + * * * * * + +WILLIE H. S.--We will endeavor to send you the solution of your puzzle. + + * * * * * + +Eddie L. A., Minnesota, after expressing great pleasure in YOUNG PEOPLE, +writes: "My papa thinks I am a pretty smart boy. I am eleven years old, +and I milk the cow, and do most of the work, and go to school besides." +You are a smart boy, Eddie, if you do all that, and do it well. If you +persevere in that course, always attending to school duties and home +work besides, there is every prospect that you will grow to be a smart +man. + + * * * * * + + BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. + + Will you please tell me why the land north of Behring Strait is + called Wrangell Land? + + MAMIE E. F. + +Ferdinand Wrangell, a Russian baron and traveller, who was born near the +close of the last century, and died in 1870, commanded a sledge +expedition which explored the polar sea north of East Siberia about +1822. In 1867 Captain Long, in traversing that part of the sea navigated +by Wrangell, discovered a large tract of land which the Russian explorer +had vainly endeavored to reach, and which he named Wrangell Land. + + * * * * * + +HENRY W. R.--Every harpoon thrown into a whale before he dies is +entitled to a share of the oil. + + * * * * * + +W. B. AITKIN.--The sun is supposed to be moving slowly through space, +carrying the earth and all the planets along with him. The great +astronomer Herschel assigned the constellation Hercules as that toward +which we are moving, and the calculations of more recent astronomers +have also pointed to that same direction. + + * * * * * + +ANITA R. N.--The "good news" mentioned in the ballad is not recorded in +history, and although many inquiries have been made concerning it, no +satisfactory conclusion has yet been arrived at. + + * * * * * + +G. FUNNELL.--The oldest inhabited building in the territory of the +United States is an ancient house built of adobes, or sun-dried brick, +in the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before the annexation of New +Mexico, St. Augustine, Florida, which was settled in 1565, was the +oldest town, and contained the most ancient buildings. + + * * * * * + +Welcome favors are acknowledged from Edward Haines, Lillie Hathaway, +Arthur G. Wedge, Alice Y., Marion Frisbie, Fannie G., Maggie W. C., +H. J. Perkins, Mattie E. Church, Mabel G. Nash, Ernest F. Hill, +George and Belle Hume, J. Edwards H., Louie D. M., Eddy Lock, Belle +Mandeville, Lizzie F., Ethel M. R., Frank Griffin. + + * * * * * + +Correct answers to puzzles received from Kittie A. C., Edith A. M., +Lilian Forbes, Lillie McCrea, M. I. Watrous, E. J. Gould, Robie +Caldwell, Mary Chapel, George, Mary Bemis, Hattie L. S., Stella M., +G. K. Richards, Mamie E. F., Frederick C., Edith E. Jones, Frank +Coggswell, Kitty E., Lulu Craft, P. S. S., Alma Hoffmann, G. W. R., +Herbert R. H., G. S. S., Theodore E., J. S., A. H. Patterson. + +We acknowledge only those answers to puzzles which are mailed previous +to date of publication of solution. + + * * * * * + +PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS. + +No. 1. + +NUMERICAL CHARADE. + + My 9, 14, 5, 3, 13, 8 is a division of land. + My 10, 2, 12, 7, 14 is a game. + My 1, 3, 11, 6 is something good to eat. + My 7, 9, 4 is a form of address. + My whole is the name of a distinguished author. + + MAMIE M. + + * * * * * + +No. 2. + +WORD SQUARE. + +First. A Salutation.--Second. A Girl's Name.--Third. Taverns.--Fourth. +Latest. + + E. S. C. M. + + * * * * * + +No. 3. + +ENIGMA. + + My first is in break, but not in tear. + My second is in rabbit, also in hare. + My third is in pay, but not in trust. + My fourth is in earth, but not in dust. + My fifth is in spring, but not in fall. + My sixth is in great, but not in small. + My whole is a poet of world-wide fame. + Now see if you can guess his name. + + LETTIE. + + * * * * * + +No. 4. + +NUMERICAL CHARADE. + + I am composed of 9 letters. + My 5, 4, 8 is to hit gently. + My 3, 6, 1 is to snatch. + My 7, 2, 9 is an animal. + My whole is the name of a great general. + + ERNEST B. COOPER. + + * * * * * + +No. 5. + +DOUBLE ACROSTIC. + +A sounding vessel of metal. A river in Spain. To come back. A metal. A +color. A woman devoted to a religions life. + +Answer--two cities of Europe. + + E. ALLEN CUSHING (12 years). + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS. + + + + +HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. + +HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE will be issued every Tuesday, and may be had at +the following rates--_payable in advance, postage free_: + + SINGLE COPIES $0.04 + ONE SUBSCRIPTION, _one year_ 1.50 + FIVE SUBSCRIPTIONS, _one year_ 7.00 + +Subscriptions may begin with any Number. When no time is specified, it +will be understood that the subscriber desires to commence with the +Number issued after the receipt of order. + +Remittances should be made by POST-OFFICE MONEY ORDER or DRAFT, to avoid +risk of loss. + +ADVERTISING. + +The extent and character of the circulation of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE +will render it a first-class medium for advertising. A limited number of +approved advertisements will be inserted on two inside pages at 75 cents +per line. + + Address + HARPER & BROTHERS, + Franklin Square, N. Y. + + + + +CANDY + +Send one, two, three, or five dollars for a sample box, by express, of +the best Candies in America, put up elegantly and strictly pure. Refers +to all Chicago. Address + + C. F. GUNTHER, + Confectioner, + 78 MADISON STREET, CHICAGO. + + + + +WOODEN WEDDING PRESENTS + +Ready-made and to order. + +SCROLL SAWS, DESIGNS, AND WOOD, + +At LITTLE'S TOOL STORE, 59 Fulton St., N. Y. City. + +Circulars free by mail. + + + + +113 FOREIGN Stamps, all different, 25c.; 400 assorted European, 25c.: 60 +U. S. Stamps, all different, 25c.; a nice _Stamp Album_, 40c.; 60 U. S. +Revenues, all different, 25c. Illustrated Catalogue, 3c. + +EDWARDS, PEEK, & CO., Box 384, Chicago, Ill. + + + + +SEND 25 CTS. TO JNO. A. HADDOCK, + +104 South 8th Street, Philadelphia, + +and receive by return mail + +EIGHTY BEAUTIFUL PICTURE-CARDS. + + + + +Old Books for Young Readers. + + * * * * * + +Arabian Nights' Entertainments. + + The Thousand and One Nights; or, The Arabian Nights' + Entertainments. Translated and Arranged for Family Reading, with + Explanatory Notes, by E. W. LANE. 600 Illustrations by Harvey. 2 + vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3.50. + +Robinson Crusoe. + + The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, + Mariner. By DANIEL DEFOE. With a Biographical Account of Defoe. + Illustrated by Adams. Complete Edition. 12mo, Cloth, $1.50. + +The Swiss Family Robinson. + + The Swiss Family Robinson; or Adventures of a Father and Mother and + Four Sons on a Desert Island. Illustrated. 2 vols., 18mo, Cloth, + $1.50. + + The Swiss Family Robinson--Continued: being a Sequel to the + Foregoing. 2 vols., 18mo, Cloth, $1.50. + +Sandford and Merton. + + The History of Sandford and Merton. By THOMAS DAY. 18mo, Half + Bound, 75 cents. + + * * * * * + +Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. + +_Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United Slates, on +receipt of the price._ + + + + +BOOKS FOR YOUNG MEN. + + * * * * * + +Character. + + Character. By SAMUEL SMILES. 12mo, Cloth, $1.00. + +It is, in design and execution, more like his "Self-Help" than any +of his other works. Mr. Smiles always writes pleasantly, but he writes +best when he is telling anecdotes, and using them to enforce a moral +that he is too wise to preach about, although he is not afraid to +state it plainly. By means of it "Self-Help" at once became a standard +book, and "Character" is, in its way, quite as good as "Self-Help." +It is a wonderful storehouse of anecdotes and biographical +illustrations.--_Examiner_, London. + + * * * * * + +Self-Help. + + Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character, Conduct, and + Perseverance. By SAMUEL SMILES. New Edition, Revised and Enlarged. + 12mo, Cloth, $1.00. + +The writings of Samuel Smiles are a valuable aid in the education of +boys. His style seems to have been constructed entirely for their +tastes; his topics are admirably selected, and his mode of communicating +excellent lessons of enterprise, truth, and self-reliance might be +called insidious and ensnaring if these words did not convey an idea +which is only applicable to lessons of an opposite character and +tendency taught in the same attractive style. The popularity of this +book, "Self-Help," abroad has made it a powerful instrument of good, and +many an English boy has risen from its perusal determined that his life +will be moulded after that of some of those set before him in this +volume. It was written for the youth of another country, but its wealth +of instruction has been recognized by its translation into more than one +European language, and it is not too much to predict for it a popularity +among American boys.--_N. Y. World._ + + * * * * * + +Thrift. + + Thrift. By SAMUEL SMILES. 12mo, Cloth, $1.00. + +The mechanic, farmer, apprentice, clerk, merchant, and a large circle of +readers outside of these classes will find in the volume a wide range of +counsel and advice, presented in perspicuous language, and marked +throughout by vigorous good sense; and who, while deriving from it +useful lessons for the guidance of their personal affairs, will also be +imbibing valuable instruction in an important branch of political +economy. We wish it could be placed in the hands of all our +youth--especially those who expect to be merchants, artisans, or +farmers.--_Christian Intelligencer_, N. Y. + +In this useful and sensible work, which should be in the hands of all +classes of readers, especially of those whose means are slender, the +author does for private economy what Smith and Ricardo and Bastiat have +done for national economy. * * * The one step which separates +civilization from savagery--which renders civilization possible--is +labor done in excess of immediate necessity. * * * To inculcate this +most necessary and most homely of all virtues, we have met with no +better teacher than this book.--_N. Y. World._ + + * * * * * + +Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. + +_Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on +receipt of the price._ + + + + +MRS. MORTIMER'S + +BOOKS FOR THE NURSERY. + + * * * * * + +Lines Left Out. + + Lines Left Out; or, Some of the Histories Left Out in "Line upon + Line." The First Part relates Events in the Times of the Patriarchs + and the Judges. Illustrated. By Mrs. ELIZABETH MORTIMER. 16mo, + Cloth, 75 cents. + +The volume is an attractive juvenile book, handsomely brought out, +rendering Scripture incidents into pleasant paraphrases.--_Northwestern +Christian Advocate_, Chicago. + + * * * * * + +More about Jesus. + + More about Jesus. Illustrations and a Map. By Mrs. ELIZABETH + MORTIMER. 16mo, Cloth, 75 cents. + +It consists of a series of stories, embracing the whole of the events in +the life of our Blessed Lord, told in a plain, simple style, suited to +the capacities of children of seven or eight years of age. But better +still, all good children's books are good for adults; and this will be +found equally useful to put into the hands of very ignorant grown-up +people, who may from this learn the story of man's redemption in an +intelligent manner. Many of the lessons are illustrated with pictures of +the places mentioned. + + * * * * * + +Streaks of Light. + + Streaks of Light; or, Fifty-two Facts from the Bible for Fifty-two + Sundays of the Year. Illustrated. By Mrs. ELIZABETH MORTIMER. 16mo, + Cloth, 75 cents. + +"This little work," says the author, "has received the distinguished +honor of being appointed to be one of the class-books of the Samoan +Collegians, and has been made to subserve the highest of all +purposes--the preaching of the Gospel. To that purpose it is adapted +when the hearers are untaught, untrained, and unreflecting. Each lesson +can be understood by those who have no previous knowledge, and each is +calculated to be the first address to one who has never before heard of +God or his Christ." + + * * * * * + +Reading without Tears. + + Reading without Tears; or, A Pleasant Mode of Learning to Read. + Illustrated. Small 4to, Cloth. By Mrs. ELIZABETH MORTIMER. Two + Parts. Part I., 49 cents; Part II., 62 cents; complete in One + Volume, $1.03. + +An easy, simple, and pleasant book for the tiny scholars of the +nursery-room. It contains a picture for every word of spelling capable +of pictorial explanation. The reading-lessons have been carefully +selected, being composed of the preceding spelling-lessons, by which +means, together with the picture meanings, the words are easily +impressed on the memory of a very young child.--_Athenæum_, London. + + * * * * * + +Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. + +_Harper & Brothers will send any of the above works by mail, postage +prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price._ + + + + +[Illustration] + +TOO FAT AND TOO THIN. + + + A fat cat sat + On the parlor mat, + When through the room came whirring, + Right up to where the cat was purring, + A strange and ill-conditioned rat, + As though to tempt the pussy fat. + But, "No," said Puss, "this is too thin; + Such shams may take Skye-terriers in. + _I've_ had too many first-class meals + To try to eat a rat on wheels." + + * * * * * + +=The Ribbon Dance.=--Children's balls are now in great vogue in France. +The latest novelty for them is the ribbon dance. Eight ribbons of +different colors are attached to a ring in the ceiling. Four girls and +four boys hold the ends of the ribbons. The orchestra strikes up, and +the eight children dance a measure which enables them to plait the +ribbons. The orchestra then starts another measure, the children another +step, and the plait is unplaited. Each of the dancers may be dressed +according to the color of the ribbon that he or she holds, and the +mingling of the colors will be all the more brilliant. The idea might +easily be taken for a cotillion figure. + + + + +[Illustration] + + +A CAUSE FOR WORRIMENT. + +ADA,(_on the morning of her birthday party, looking at the clock and +feeling her pulse_). "Oh dear! I wonder if I will be well enough for the +party to-night?" + + + + +[Illustration] + + + Search, if you like, the wide world over, + Barnum's the very best fellow that's known; + Now that we young ones are left here in clover, + Here's for a jolly good show of our own. + + + + +BROKEN RHYMES. + + +[Behead the word that completes the first line, and you have the word +necessary to complete the second. This in turn beheaded gives the word +that will complete the third line.] + + "Beware the ice!" I heard him ____, + "Which is not safe unless 'tis ____: + Take my advice, for I am ____, + And do not venture here." + "But, oh! we want so much to ____. + He's like the dog," said saucy ____, + "Who could not eat what others ____, + Yet barked when they came near." + + "But do not go so near the ____; + 'Tis safer far within the ____; + The water here's as dark as ____: + To go would be a sin." + They heeded not, and in a ____, + Like little birds that feed on ____, + The merry girls flew o'er the ____; + And now, alas! they're in. + + But when he heard the dreadful ____, + And saw the drowning maidens ____, + He hurried with his stick of ____ + Along the slippery ground. + And others came, and with a ____ + They crept around the dangerous ____, + And lifted dripping o'er the ____ + The maids so nearly drowned. + + + + +[Illustration] + +SHADOWS OF GREAT MEN. + + +Who can turn this old woman into the Duke of Wellington, and the +rough-looking man with a broken nose into Napoleon III.? You will not +need any fairy wand nor magic sentence to do it; just trace the heads +upon a piece of thick paper, and cut them out carefully with a pair of +sharp scissors; then place them so that their shadows may fall clearly +upon a sheet of paper, and the change is complete. You can make many +different surprises of the same kind by drawing other heads yourselves. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's Young People, February 17, +1880, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, FEB 17, 1880 *** + +***** This file should be named 28353-8.txt or 28353-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/5/28353/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire + +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. 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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: Harper's Young People, February 17, 1880 + An Illustrated Weekly + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 18, 2009 [EBook #28353] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, FEB 17, 1880 *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#GENERAL_PRESCOTT_AND_THE_YANKEE_BOY"><b>GENERAL PRESCOTT AND THE YANKEE BOY.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CLIMBING_A_MOUNTAIN_THREE_MILES_HIGH"><b>CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN THREE MILES HIGH.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_GOLD_DIGGINGS_OF_IRELAND"><b>THE GOLD DIGGINGS OF IRELAND.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_STORY_OF_THE_SUMMER_BOARDER_MOSES_AND_THE_TWO_VISITORS"><b>THE STORY OF THE SUMMER BOARDER, MOSES, AND THE TWO VISITORS.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_FAIRY_PAINTERS"><b>THE FAIRY PAINTERS.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#A_WIDE-AWAKE_RUSSIAN_SENTRY"><b>A WIDE-AWAKE RUSSIAN SENTRY.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_SONG_OF_THE_WREN"><b>THE SONG OF THE WREN.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#WILD_BOARS"><b>WILD BOARS.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#TAKING_NOT_STEALING"><b>TAKING—NOT STEALING.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_FIRST_VALENTINE"><b>THE FIRST VALENTINE.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_KINGS_BABY"><b>THE KING'S BABY.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#GEORGE_WASHINGTON"><b>GEORGE WASHINGTON.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#OUR_POST_OFFICE_BOX"><b>OUR POST-OFFICE BOX</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#TOO_FAT_AND_TOO_THIN"><b>TOO FAT AND TOO THIN.</b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 1000px;"> +<img src="images/ill_001.jpg" width="1000" height="386" alt="Banner: Harper's Young People" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="100%" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Vol</span>. I.—<span class="smcap">No</span>. 16.</td><td align='center'><span class="smcap">Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York</span>.</td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">Price Four Cents</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Tuesday, February 17, 1880.</td><td align='center'>Copyright, 1880, by <span class="smcap">Harper & Brothers</span>.</td><td align='right'>$1.50 per Year, in Advance.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/ill_002.jpg" width="700" height="396" alt=""DON'T YOU WISH YOU COULD GET IT?"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"DON'T YOU WISH YOU COULD GET IT?"</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="GENERAL_PRESCOTT_AND_THE_YANKEE_BOY" id="GENERAL_PRESCOTT_AND_THE_YANKEE_BOY"></a>GENERAL PRESCOTT AND THE YANKEE BOY.</h2> + +<h3>BY BENSON J. LOSSING.</h3> + +<p>General Prescott, commanding the British forces on Rhode Island in 1777, +was a petty tyrant, imperious, irascible, and cruel. He would command +citizens of Newport who met him on the streets to take off their hats in +deference to him, and if not obeyed, he would knock them off with his +cane. If he saw a group of citizens talking together, he would shake his +cane at them, and shout, "Disperse, you rebels!" For slight offenses +citizens were imprisoned and otherwise ill-treated. This unworthy +conduct made the people despise and hate him. His tyranny became +unbearable.</p> + +<p>Prescott's summer quarters were at Mr. Overing's house, on the borders +of Narragansett Bay, a few miles from Newport. On a warm but showery +night in July, 1777, Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, with a few resolute men, +went down the bay from Providence, in a whale-boat, landed near +Prescott's quarters at about midnight, secured the sentinels, entered +the house, and ascended to the door of his bedroom in the second story. +It was locked. A stout colored man who accompanied Barton, making a +battering-ram of his head, burst open the door. The General, in +affright, sprang from his bed, but was instantly seized, and without +being allowed to dress himself, was conveyed to the boat, and taken +quickly across the bay to Warwick. Thence he was sent, under guard, to +Washington's head-quarters in New Jersey.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1778 Prescott was exchanged for General Charles Lee, +and returned to Rhode Island. Soon afterward the British Admiral invited +the General to dine with him and his officers on board his ship, then +lying in front of Newport. Martial law yet prevailed on the Island, and +men and boys were frequently sent by the authorities on shore to be +confined in the ship as a punishment for slight offenses. There were +several on board at that time.</p> + +<p>After dinner the free use of wine made the company hilarious, and toasts +and songs were frequently called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> for. A lieutenant remarked to the +Admiral, "There is a Yankee lad confined below who can shame any of us +in singing."</p> + +<p>"Bring him up," said the Admiral.</p> + +<p>"Yes, bring him up," said Prescott.</p> + +<p>The boy was brought into the cabin. He was pale and slender, and about +thirteen years of age. Abashed by the presence of great officers, with +their glittering uniforms, he timidly approached, when the Admiral, +seeing his embarrassment, spoke kindly to him, and asked him to sing a +song.</p> + +<p>"I can't sing any but Yankee songs," said the trembling boy.</p> + +<p>"Come, my little fellow, don't be afraid," said the Admiral. "Sing one +of your Yankee songs—any one you can recollect."</p> + +<p>The boy still hesitated, when the brutal Prescott, who was a stranger to +the lad, roared out,</p> + +<p>"Give us a song, you little rebel, or I'll give you a dozen lashes."</p> + +<p>This cruel salutation was innocently met most severely by the child, +when, encouraged by kind words from the Admiral, he sang, with a sweet +voice and modest manner, the following ballad, composed by a sailor of +Newport:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Twas on a dark and stormy night—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">The wind and waves did roar—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">Bold Barton then, with twenty men,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Went down upon the shore.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"And in a whale-boat they set off</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">To Rhode Island fair,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">To catch a redcoat General</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Who then resided there.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Through British fleets and guard-boats strong</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">They held their dangerous way,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">Till they arrived unto their port,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">And then did not delay.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"A tawny son of Afric's race</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Them through the ravine led,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">And entering then the Overing house,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">They found him in his bed.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"But to get in they had no means</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Except poor Cuffee's head,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">Who beat the door down, then rushed in,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">And seized him in his bed.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Stop! let me put my clothing on!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">The General then did pray;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">'Your clothing, massa, I will take;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">For dress we can not stay.'</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Then through rye stubble him they led,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">With shoes and clothing none,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">And placed him in their boat quite snug,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">And from the shore were gone.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Soon the alarm was sounded loud:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">'The Yankees they have come,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">And stolen Prescott from his bed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">And him have carried hum.'</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"The drums were beat, sky-rockets flew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">The soldiers shouldered arms,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">And marched around the grounds they knew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Filled with most dire alarms.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"But through the fleet with muffled oars</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">They held their devious way,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">And landed him on 'Gansett shores,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Where Britons held no sway.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"When unto land the captors came,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Where rescue there was none,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">'A bold push this,' the General cried;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">'Of prisoners I am one.'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>The boy was frequently interrupted by roars of laughter at Prescott's +expense, which strengthened the child's nerves and voice; and when he +had concluded his song, "I thought," wrote a gentleman who was present, +"the deck would go through with the stamping." General Prescott joined +heartily in the merriment produced by the song, and thrusting his hand +into his pocket, he pulled out a coin, and handed it to the boy, saying,</p> + +<p>"Here, you young dog, is a guinea for you."</p> + +<p>The boy was set at liberty the next morning, and sent ashore.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CLIMBING_A_MOUNTAIN_THREE_MILES_HIGH" id="CLIMBING_A_MOUNTAIN_THREE_MILES_HIGH"></a>CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN THREE MILES HIGH.</h2> + +<p>The ice-bound peak of the Alps known as the Matterhorn, situated between +Switzerland and Italy, forty miles northeast of Mont Blanc, and twelve +miles west of Monte Rosa, towers skyward nearly 15,000 feet, presenting +an appearance imposing beyond description. The peak rises abruptly, by a +series of cliffs which may properly be termed precipices, a clear 5000 +feet above the glaciers which surround its base. There seemed to the +superstitious natives in the surrounding valleys to be a line drawn +around it, up to which one might go, but no farther. Within that +invisible line good and evil spirits were supposed to exist. They spoke +of a ruined city on its summit wherein the spirits dwelt; and if you +laughed, they gravely shook their heads, told you to look yourself to +see the castles and the walls, and warned you against a rash approach, +lest the infuriate demons from their impregnable heights should hurl +down vengeance for your audacity.</p> + +<p>Previous to 1865 several attempts had been made by daring tourists to +reach its summit, but no one got beyond 13,000 feet, the remaining 2000 +feet being generally regarded as inaccessible. But in the year just +mentioned a little party of hardy English climbers accomplished the +ascent. The achievement was made, however, at the cost of four human +lives.</p> + +<p>The story, as told by one of the leaders of the party, Mr. Edward +Whymper, who had already made seven unsuccessful attempts, is an +exciting one.</p> + +<p>The ascent was made in July, in company with Lord Francis Douglas, Mr. +Hudson, Mr. Hadow, and three guides. On the first day they did not +ascend to a great height, and on the second day they resumed their +journey with daylight, as they were anxious to outstrip a party of +Italians who had set out before them by a different route. Difficulty +after difficulty was surmounted. The higher they rose, the more intense +became the excitement. What if they should be beaten at the last moment? +The slope eased off; at length they could be detached from the rope +which bound the party together; and Croz and Mr. Whymper, dashing away, +ran a neck-and-neck race, which ended in a dead-heat. At 1.40 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> the +world was at their feet, and the Matterhorn was conquered. Hurrah! They +had beaten the party of Italians, whom they saw on the southwest ridge, +1250 feet below, and who did not prosecute the ascent farther. For an +hour the successful climbers revelled in the scene which lay at their +feet. There were black and gloomy forests, bright and cheerful meadows; +bounding water-falls and tranquil lakes; fertile lands and savage +wastes; sunny plains and frigid <i>plateaux</i>. There were the most rugged +forms and the most graceful outlines; low perpendicular cliffs and +gentle undulating slopes; rocky mountains and snowy mountains, sombre +and solemn, or glittering and white, with walls, turrets, pinnacles, +pyramids, domes, cones, and spires. There was every combination that the +world can give, and every contrast that the heart could desire.</p> + +<p>Alas! their naturally triumphant feeling of pleasure was but +short-lived. They had commenced their descent, again tied together with +ropes. Croz, a most accomplished guide and a brave fellow, went first; +Hadow, second; Hudson, as an experienced mountaineer, and reckoned as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +good as a guide, third; Lord F. Douglas, fourth; followed by Mr. Whymper +between the two remaining guides, named Jaugwalder, father and son. They +were commencing the difficult part of the descent, and Croz was cutting +steps in the ice for the feet of Mr. Hadow, who was immediately behind +him. A few minutes later a sharp-eyed lad ran into the Monte Rosa Hotel, +saying that he had seen an avalanche fall from the summit of the +Matterhorn on to the Matterhorngletscher. The boy was reproved for +telling idle stories; he was right, nevertheless, and this was what he +saw: Michel Croz had laid aside his axe, and in order to give Mr. Hadow +greater security, was taking hold of his legs, and putting his feet one +by one into their proper positions. "At this moment," says Mr. Whymper, +"Mr. Hadow slipped, fell against him, and knocked him over. I heard one +startled exclamation from Croz, then saw him and Mr. Hadow flying +downward; in another moment Hudson was dragged from his steps, and Lord +F. Douglas immediately after him. All this was the work of a moment. +Immediately we heard Croz's exclamation, old Peter and I planted +ourselves as firmly as the rocks would permit; the rope was taut between +us, and the jerk came on us both as one man. We held; but the rope broke +midway between Jaugwalder and Lord Francis Douglas. For a few seconds we +saw our unfortunate companions sliding downward on their backs, and +spreading out their hands, endeavoring to save themselves. They passed +from our sight uninjured, disappeared one by one, and fell from +precipice to precipice on to the Matterhorngletscher below—a distance +of nearly 4000 feet in height. From the moment the rope broke, it was +impossible to help them. So perished our comrades."</p> + +<p>The bodies of three of the men who thus miserably perished were +afterward recovered; but that of Lord Francis Douglas was never again +seen. It was a melancholy ending, and may well excite a feeling of +surprise that so many brave and useful men can thus be found year by +year hazarding their lives for what is in many cases no higher purpose +than that of pleasure or sport.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_GOLD_DIGGINGS_OF_IRELAND" id="THE_GOLD_DIGGINGS_OF_IRELAND"></a>THE GOLD DIGGINGS OF IRELAND.</h2> + +<p>Although Ireland is not generally regarded as one of the gold-producing +countries of the world, gold has been found there in paying quantities, +especially in the county of Wicklow.</p> + +<p>Tradition commonly attributes the original discovery of the Wicklow gold +mines to a poor school-master, who, while fishing in one of the small +streams which descend from the Croghan mountains, picked up a piece of +shining metal, and having ascertained that it was gold, gradually +enriched himself by the success of his researches in that and the +neighboring streams, cautiously disposing of the produce of his labor to +a goldsmith in Dublin. He is said to have preserved the secret for +upward of twenty years, but marrying a young wife, he imprudently +confided his discovery to her, and she, believing her husband to be mad, +immediately revealed the circumstance to her relations, through whose +means it was made public. This was toward the close of the year 1795, +and the effect it produced was remarkable. Thousands of people of every +age and sex hurried to the spot, and from the laborer who could wield a +spade or pickaxe to the child who scraped the rock with a rusty nail, +all eagerly engaged in the search after gold. The Irish are a people +possessed of a rich and quick fancy, and the very name of a gold mine +carried with it ideas of inexhaustible wealth.</p> + +<p>During the interval which elapsed between the public announcement of the +gold discovery and the taking possession of the mine by the +government—a period of about two months—it is supposed that upward of +two thousand five hundred ounces of gold were collected by the peasants, +principally from the mud and sand of Ballinvally stream, and disposed of +for about ten thousand pounds, a sum far exceeding the produce of the +mine during the government operations, which amounted to little more +than three thousand five hundred pounds.</p> + +<p>The gold was found in pieces of all forms and sizes, from the smallest +perceptible particle to the extraordinary mass of twenty-two ounces, +which sold for eighty guineas. This large piece was of an irregular +form; it measured four inches in its greatest length, and three in +breadth, and in thickness it varied from half an inch to an inch; a gilt +cast of it may be seen in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin. So pure +was the gold generally found, that it was the custom of the Dublin +goldsmiths to put gold coin in the opposite scale to it, and give weight +for weight.</p> + +<p>The government works were carried on until 1798, when all the machinery +was destroyed in the insurrection. The mining was renewed in 1801, but +not being found sufficiently productive to pay the expenses, the search +was abandoned. There prevails yet, however, a lingering belief among the +peasants that there is still gold in Kinsella, and only the "lucky man" +is wanting.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_STORY_OF_THE_SUMMER_BOARDER_MOSES_AND_THE_TWO_VISITORS" id="THE_STORY_OF_THE_SUMMER_BOARDER_MOSES_AND_THE_TWO_VISITORS"></a>THE STORY OF THE SUMMER BOARDER, MOSES, AND THE TWO VISITORS.</h2> + +<h3>BY THE FAMILY STORY-TELLER.</h3> + +<p>I warn you, said Family Story-Teller, looking round upon the family +circle the next evening, that this is a story of mistakes. It will be a +hard story to follow, and unless you pay close attention, you will +forget which is Evelyn and which is the other girl, and why it was that +Mrs. Stimpcett thought her boy Moses had broken his leg. I mean, of +course, Mrs. Stimpcett of the village of Gilead.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Stimpcett's summer boarder, Mr. St. Clair, was forgetful. He liked +well to gaze at a brook, a pond, the clouds, the blue sky, the flowery +fields, and often he forgot to stop doing so, and kept on gazing when it +was meal time, or bed-time, or some other time.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Stimpcett took also another summer boarder, a rich lady of the name +of Odell. Mrs. Odell was tall, and slim, and pale, and in her cap, just +above her forehead, was set in a row three pink muslin roses. Mrs. Odell +was silly enough to be proud of being rich, and stingy enough to like to +save her own money at other people's expense.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 288px;"> +<img src="images/ill_003.jpg" width="288" height="400" alt="EVELYN." title="" /> +<span class="caption">EVELYN.</span> +</div> + +<p>Mrs. Odell had a six-year-old niece named Evelyn, a pale, delicate +little girl, who lived in the city, and this Evelyn was coming to Gilead +to visit her aunt Odell. She was coming in the cars to Mill Village in +care of the conductor, and her aunt Odell was to send a carriage to the +station to fetch her to Gilead. If the carriage was not there when the +cars arrived, she was to stay with the station-man till it should +arrive. I trust my story is plain thus far.</p> + +<p>It happened that Mr. Stimpcett was going to Mill Village that same day, +to get some corn ground, and Mrs. Odell, though it would take him very +far out of his way, asked him to go round by the station and get Evelyn. +This would save hiring a carriage.</p> + +<p>Now Mr. St. Clair thought it would be a pleasant thing to go to mill, +and asked if he might go in the place of Mr. Stimpcett. Mr. Stimpcett +said, "Oh yes, if you will be sure to bring back the meal." So Mr. St. +Clair went to mill; and Moses Stimpcett, a boy about nine years old, +went with him, for the sake of the ride, and to see his aunt Debby, who +lived not far from the mill.</p> + +<p>They set off soon after the hour of noon. Moses wore his Zouave cap, and +his second-best summer clothes, and Mr. St. Clair wore a black alpaca +coat, a blue neck-tie tied in a bow, a broad-brimmed straw hat, a white +vest, and white trousers. Moses drove the horse, and they reached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> the +mill without accident. While the miller was taking in the corn, Moses +bought a roll of lozenges at a store near by, and as he came out with +them a man passed that way, leading a small but valuable dog. Said this +man to Moses, "I wish you would hold my dog while I step into the mill;" +and Moses took the string.</p> + +<p>Mr. St. Clair hitched his horse a little way from the mill, and then +said to Moses, "When the man takes his dog, you can go to your aunt +Debby's. I will call for you there, after I have been to the station and +got the little girl." Mr. St. Clair then walked up the bank of the +stream to see the waters flow.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 269px;"> +<img src="images/ill_004.jpg" width="269" height="400" alt="MOSES LETS THE DOG FALL." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MOSES LETS THE DOG FALL.</span> +</div> + +<p>Moses led the dog along to the mill, and leaned against the building +awhile; then sat down on a barrel. Soon the barrel began to move. The +reason of this was that it stood on an elevator. Moses had not noticed +that the barrel stood on an elevator. First he wondered what the matter +was, and second, he thought he would jump; but by that time the barrel +was quite a way off the ground, and, besides, he was troubled by holding +the string of the dog, and the lozenges. The barrel rose higher and +higher, and when the little dog found himself swinging in the air, he +kicked and yelped, and jerked the string so that Moses was obliged to +let it go, and also to drop the lozenges, for he had to grasp the barrel +with both hands. The dog fell, and broke one of his legs. [Please +remember that it was the <i>dog</i>, and not Moses.] Moses and the barrel +were taken in at the third story. A traveller passing through the place +heard of this elevator accident, and told of it that afternoon at a +house in Gilead. But this person understood that it was the <i>boy</i> who +broke his leg—"a Stimpcett boy," he said, in telling the news. Mrs. +Stimpcett heard of it soon after milking-time; but this will be spoken +of farther on in the story.</p> + +<p>Mr. St. Clair walked far up the bank of the stream, and when he came +back, the miller told him that his bag of meal had been put into his +cart. He went out, and seeing a cart with a bag of meal lying at the +bottom, he stepped in, and drove around to the station.</p> + +<p>Now this cart which Mr. St. Clair took belonged to a man who came from +Cherry Valley. Here, you see, was a mistake. But Mr. St. Clair not only +took the wrong cart, he took the wrong little girl, as will now be told. +He drove in haste to the station, knowing he had staid too long walking +up the bank of the stream. On the platform of the station sat a +roly-poly, chubby-cheeked little girl, with a carpet-bag and a heavy +bundle. He asked her, "Are you waiting for some one to come for you?" +"Yes, sir," she answered. "All right," said Mr. St. Clair; and he helped +her into the cart. I hope you understand that this very fleshy child was +not Evelyn Odell. She was Maggie Brien. Maggie Brien lived with her +grandmother, not far from the station. Her mother did the cooking in a +family two miles away, and she had promised to send that day for Maggie +to come and make her a visit, and Maggie was sitting on the platform +waiting for the man to take her.</p> + +<p>Mr. St. Clair took her, and drove from the station, thinking to go to +Aunt Debby's and get Moses, and set off for Gilead; but while he was +gazing up at the sky, the horse—which you will remember was not Mr. +Stimpcett's horse—turned into a road which led to his own master's +house at Cherry Valley. Mr. St. Clair had now the wrong horse and cart, +the wrong meal, the wrong girl, and the wrong road. Presently the horse +trotted up to the door of a farm-house, and stopped. Three heads of +three young maidens popped out of three chamber windows, and a +bare-armed woman, wiping her hands on her apron, rushed to the door. +"Where is my husband?" she cried. "Is he hurt? Is he killed? Tell me the +truth at once!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I assure you, madam," answered Mr. St. Clair, mildly, "that I have not +seen your husband."</p> + +<p>"Why, then, have you come with his horse and cart?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"This horse and cart, madam," said Mr. St. Clair, still mildly, "belongs +to Mr. Stimpcett, of Gilead."</p> + +<p>"Do you think I don't know our horse and cart?" cried the woman, in an +angry tone. "Besides, here's my husband's name on the bag—I. Ellison."</p> + +<p>"I must have taken the wrong horse and cart," said Mr. St. Clair. "I +will go back at once and find Mr. Ellison."</p> + +<p>"The quicker the better," said the woman, as he turned the horse.</p> + +<p>Just after Mr. St. Clair had passed from the Cherry Valley road into the +mill road, a man came out of a wood path and sprang at the horse, +crying, "Stop thief!"</p> + +<p>"Where is the thief?" asked Mr. St. Clair, looking all around.</p> + +<p>"You are the thief!" cried the man. "You have stolen my horse and cart."</p> + +<p>Maggie Brien began to cry.</p> + +<p>"Are you Mr. I. Ellison?" asked Mr. St. Clair.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am," said the man, angrily.</p> + +<p>Mr. St. Clair explained his mistake, and gave up the horse and cart to +Mr. I. Ellison. He then took Maggie's carpet-bag and heavy bundle, and +walked all the way to Aunt Debby's.</p> + +<p>By the time they reached Aunt Debby's it was nearly dark, and as for +Moses, he was already travelling home in his father's cart. It happened +in this way. Aunt Debby heard that Mr. St. Clair had been seen driving +off, and knew he must have taken the wrong horse and cart, for Mr. +Stimpcett's was still standing near the mill. Therefore, as Moses had +already waited until after supper, she let him take his father's horse +and cart and drive home behind a man with an ox team who was going by a +roundabout way to Gilead.</p> + +<p>Now as soon as Moses had driven off, Aunt Debby locked her doors and +went to an evening meeting, so that when Mr. St. Clair came there on +foot, with Maggy Brien and her bag and bundle, to find Moses, he found +no one. He questioned some boys standing by a fence, and they told him +that Moses had gone home in his father's cart, behind an ox team. Maggy +Brien began to cry again. "Don't cry, dear," said Mr. St. Clair. "I'll +hire a buggy."</p> + +<p>He hired from the stable a buggy, a fast horse, and a driver, and away +they started for Gilead, and reached Mr. Stimpcett's house at about half +past eight o'clock in the evening. Moses had not arrived.</p> + +<p>Mr. St. Clair found Mrs. Stimpcett, with her bonnet and shawl on, +walking the floor, sobbing and sighing and wringing her hands. Grandma, +also crying, was wrapping a bottle of the Sudden Remedy in a piece of +newspaper.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how <i>is</i> Moses?" cried Mrs. Stimpcett. "<i>Will</i> it have to be taken +off?"</p> + +<p>"Is not Moses here?" asked Mr. St. Clair, in a mild voice.</p> + +<p>"Here!" cried Mrs. Stimpcett. "How can he be here, when he has broken +his leg? I am going to him as soon as Mr. Stimpcett can borrow a horse."</p> + +<p>Mr. St. Clair thought that Moses must have fallen from the cart on his +way home; but before he had time to speak, Mrs. Odell came in.</p> + +<p>"Where is my niece?" she cried. "Where is Evelyn?"</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 289px;"> +<img src="images/ill_005.jpg" width="289" height="400" alt=""'HERE SHE IS,' SAID MR. ST. CLAIR."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'HERE SHE IS,' SAID MR. ST. CLAIR."</span> +</div> + +<p>"Here she is," said Mr. St. Clair, presenting Maggie Brien.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" shrieked Mrs. Odell. "That my niece? No! no! no! Oh, +Evelyn! Evelyn! Evelyn! Dear child, where are you?"</p> + +<p>Maggie Brien began to cry bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Alas! what a wretch I am, to have made this mistake!" cried Mr. St. +Clair. "But I'll find your Evelyn. I'll go for a horse. I'll take this +child back. Don't cry, little girl. I won't rest till I find your +Evelyn;" and he rushed from the house, almost knocking down several +children in the passageway—the Stimpcett children; for Obadiah, Debby, +and little Cordelia had been awakened by the noise, and had come down in +their night-gowns.</p> + +<p>But the lost Evelyn was near, and coming nearer every moment. You will +remember that Maggie's mother, Mrs. Brien, was to send for Maggie to +come and visit her. The man whom she sent went back and told her that he +could not find Maggie, and that her grandmother was afraid she had been +stolen from the station. Mrs. Brien hired a horse and wagon, and drove +to the station, and inquired of the station-master. A stable-boy who +stood near told her he saw a little girl who looked like Maggie riding +off in a buggy with a man, and that the man hired the buggy to go to +Gilead.</p> + +<p>"The wretch!" cried Mrs. Brien; "to be stealing away my child! I will +keep on to Gilead. I will follow him up."</p> + +<p>"I wish you would let this little girl ride with you to Gilead," said +the station-master. "She has been waiting a long time for some one to +call and take her to Mr. Stimpcett's, and Mr. Stimpcett will help you +find your Maggie." He then brought out a slender, flaxen-haired little +girl, and placed her in Mrs. Brien's wagon. This child was Evelyn Odell, +and Mrs. Brien took her to Gilead.</p> + +<p>It happened that they reached Mr. Stimpcett's just as Moses was driving +into the yard with his father's horse and cart, and they three, Mrs. +Brien, Moses, and Evelyn, went into the house together.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>Scarcely had they entered before Mr. Stimpcett, and then Mr. St. Clair, +arrived in haste, each with a horse and wagon. Mr. Stimpcett rushed in +to get his wife, and Mr. St. Clair to get Maggie. There they found Mrs. +Stimpcett with her arms around Moses, Mrs. Odell with hers around +Evelyn, and Mrs. Brien with hers around Maggie; and there were huggings +and kissings and laughings and cryings, and it was, "Oh, you dear!" and, +"Oh, you darling!" and "Oh, my child!" and, oh other things! Grandma +held the Sudden Remedy bottle, looking at Moses's legs as if not quite +sure yet that they did not need some of it rubbed on, while Obadiah, and +Deborah, and little Cordelia stood staring and sniffling and smiling, +now and then wiping their eyes with their night-gown sleeves.</p> + +<p>"Will nobody hug me?" cried Mr. Stimpcett. Upon this little Cordelia +climbed into his arms, and they two hugged each other.</p> + +<p>Mr. St. Clair told his part of the story, Moses his part, and Mrs. Brien +her part.</p> + +<p>"After all," said Mr. Stimpcett, "Mr. St. Clair did not bring back the +meal!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_FAIRY_PAINTERS" id="THE_FAIRY_PAINTERS"></a>THE FAIRY PAINTERS.</h2> + +<p>The Fairy Queen had built herself a palace of gold and crystal. The +rooms were hung with tapestry of rose leaves, and the floors were +carpeted with moss. The great hall was the grandest part of all. The +ceiling was made of mother-of-pearl, and the walls of ivory, and the +lights which hung from the roof sparkled with diamonds. These ivory +walls were to be covered with paintings; so the Queen called the fairy +artists, and bade them all paint a picture for her by a certain day. "He +whose picture is best," she said, "shall paint my hall, to his +everlasting renown, and I will raise him, besides, to the highest fairy +honors." The youngest of the fairy painters was Tintabel. He could draw +a face so exquisite, that it was happiness only to gaze at it, or so sad +that no one could see it without tears. No fairy longed as he did for +the glory and renown of painting the Queen's palace.</p> + +<p>He wandered out into the wood to dream his idea into loveliness before +he wrought it with his hand. "Never shall be picture like my picture," +he said aloud; "I will steal the colors of heaven, and trace spirit +forms." But Orgolino, that wicked fairy, heard him. Now Orgolino painted +very grandly. He could draw wild and strong and terrible beings, which +thrilled the gazer with wonder and awe. Of all his rivals he feared +Tintabel only. So, when he saw him alone in the wood, he rejoiced +wickedly, and said, "Now I will rid myself of a foe;" and he flew down +upon the poor Tintabel, and being a more powerful fairy, he caught him, +and pinned his wings together with magic thorns, and fastened him down +with them among the fungus and toad-stools of the damp wood. Then he +flew away exulting, and painted day and night. It was a magnificent +picture, with stately figures, powerful and triumphant, and Orgolino's +heart swelled with pride at his work, and he said to himself, "I might +have left that poor wretch alone. The weakling could do nothing like +this."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Tintabel cried bitterly, because his hope was lost, his praise +would never be heard among the fairies, and the beauty he had hoped to +create he should never see. The elf that lived in the toad-stool looked +up as the tears fell upon him, and gathered them up from his fungous +coat, where they sparkled like dew.</p> + +<p>"What sweet water!" he said.</p> + +<p>"Alas!" sighed Tintabel—"alas for my vanished hopes! Oh! how lovely +should my picture have been, and now I am bound down here to +uselessness;" and he could not feel the pain of his bruised and bound +wings because of the pain at his heart. The elf in the toad-stool looked +up and said,</p> + +<p>"Fairy, paint me a picture, here on the smooth surface of the +toad-stool, for I have never seen one."</p> + +<p>Tintabel stopped his wailing to think how wretched was the elf who had +never seen a picture.</p> + +<p>"Ah! elf," he said, "I have neither pencil nor colors. How can I paint?"</p> + +<p>But the elf pointed to one of the thorns which fastened Tintabel's +wings. The end was long, so that the fairy could reach it.</p> + +<p>"There is a pencil," said the elf; and the artist's longing came upon +the fairy, and he seized the thorn. Poor hurt wings! how they quivered +and pained as the point of their fastenings pressed hither and thither +over the surface of the toad-stool, and crushed and dragged and rent +them in its course! But the thorn had a magic in it, and Tintabel found +it possessed more than fairy power. The sharper his pain, the more +perfect the stroke he could make. As the delicate film of the wing was +torn, the rainbow tints dropped off, and gave him lovelier colors than +the hues of heaven; and the elf held up his tears as water for the +painting. He painted his remembrance of fairy-land and his weariness of +earth.</p> + +<p>When the appointed day came, the Fairy Queen called her painters +together. The great hall was filled with them, but of all the pictures +none was so great as Orgolino's. He had painted "The Triumph of +Strength." Then said the Queen, "Where is Tintabel?" and no one knew.</p> + +<p>"He has not cared to obey your Majesty's command," said Orgolino.</p> + +<p>But the Queen looked at him steadily, and said, "Tintabel must be +found."</p> + +<p>Then all the fairies went in search of him. Soon one returned and said, +"Tintabel is bound in the wood among the fungus and toad-stools, and +before him is a picture more beautiful than any fairy ever saw."</p> + +<p>"Come," said the Queen; and her subjects followed her to the wood.</p> + +<p>There, on the white toad-stool's top, was a tiny picture, lovelier and +grander at once than any fancy could dream, and it showed "The Triumph +of Pain."</p> + +<p>Then Orgolino was turned out into the wood among the cold and creeping +things, and Tintabel was taken to great honor.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="A_WIDE-AWAKE_RUSSIAN_SENTRY" id="A_WIDE-AWAKE_RUSSIAN_SENTRY"></a>A WIDE-AWAKE RUSSIAN SENTRY.</h2> + +<h3>BY DAVID KER.</h3> + +<p>Eighty or ninety years ago, when the Russians had a good many wars upon +their hands, their best general was Marshal Alexander Suvoroff, whose +name is still famous in Russia. Any old soldier you meet there will tell +you plenty of stories about him, and strange enough stories too, for he +was a very curious kind of man. In the coldest weather, when even the +hardiest soldiers were wrapping themselves up, he would go about in his +shirt sleeves just as if it were summer; and very often he would be up +before any one else in the camp was astir, and startle the first officer +whom he saw coming out of his tent by crowing like a rooster as loud as +he could, just as if to say, "You ought to have been out before." Then, +too, Count and General though he was, dining with the Empress herself +almost every week, and going about the palace as he pleased, he dressed +as plainly as any peasant, and slept on straw like a common soldier. +Once or twice the palace servants, seeing this untidy little fellow +coming up to the grand entrance, took him for a tramp, and wanted to +drive him away; but they soon found out that <i>that</i> would not do.</p> + +<p>Another of his queer ways was to try and puzzle any one he met by asking +him all sorts of strange questions, such as how many stars there were in +the sky, how many drops of water in the sea, and so forth. He <i>did</i> +puzzle a good many people in this way, but once or twice he got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> an +answer quite as smart as his questions, and that was just what he liked.</p> + +<p>One day a soldier came to him with a dispatch, and Suvoroff, seeing that +he was quite a young, simple-looking fellow, thought it would be good +fun to try his hand upon <i>him</i>.</p> + +<p>"How many fish are there in the sea?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Just exactly as many as haven't been caught yet," answered the lad at +once.</p> + +<p>The General was rather taken aback, but he went on, nevertheless:</p> + +<p>"If you were in a besieged town, without food, how would you supply +yourself?"</p> + +<p>"From the enemy."</p> + +<p>"How far is it from here to the moon?"</p> + +<p>"Two of your Excellency's forced marches."</p> + +<p>Suvoroff smiled and looked pleased, for he was very proud of being able +to move his men so quickly, and had won many a victory by it.</p> + +<p>"Which of your officers do you like best?" was the next question.</p> + +<p>"Captain Masloff."</p> + +<p>Now this Captain Masloff happened to be a very handsome young fellow, +while Suvoroff himself was frightfully ugly, so he thought he would +catch the soldier in a trap by asking him, "What's the difference +between your captain and myself?"</p> + +<p>"Why," said the soldier, looking slyly at him, "my captain can't make me +a corporal, but your Excellency has only to say the word."</p> + +<p>The General burst into a loud laugh, and clapping him on the shoulder, +said, "Well, then, I <i>do</i> say the word: you're a corporal from this day +forth, and a right good one you'll make. If I can find another man as +smart as you, I'll make him a sergeant."</p> + +<p>Two or three months after this adventure, Suvoroff and his army were +down on the Lower Danube, keeping watch over the Turks, in the middle of +the hardest winter that had been known in that country for many a year. +But of course, being Russians, they didn't mind <i>that</i> much, and +Suvoroff went about in the snow and the frost as if he didn't know what +cold was.</p> + +<p>Well, one bitter night in the beginning of January, the old General was +making the round of the camp, as usual, to see that his sentinels were +all keeping good watch at the outposts, when suddenly he came upon a +sentry who seemed to have got the coldest place of all, for he was right +down upon the bank of the river, with the cold wind blowing through him +as if it would cut him in two.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening, brother," said the General, speaking as if <i>he</i> were only +a common soldier too.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening," answered the sentinel, pretending not to know him, +although he had recognized the General's voice in a moment.</p> + +<p>"Plenty of stars out to-night," went on Suvoroff, looking up at the +frosty sky. "Can you tell me how many of them there are altogether?"</p> + +<p>"Just wait a bit, and I'll count," said the soldier, quite coolly. And +forthwith he began: "One, two, three, four, five, six," and so on, as if +he were never going to leave off.</p> + +<p>At first Suvoroff was rather amused at his smartness; but he soon found +the game getting much too cold to be pleasant, for he was in his usual +light dress, while the sentry at least had on a good thick frieze coat. +Keener and keener blew the bitter night wind, till the poor old General +felt as if he should never be warm again. For a while he bore up +manfully, hoping the soldier would get tired and leave off; but when the +man got up to a thousand, and was still counting away as if he meant to +keep it up all night, Suvoroff could stand it no longer.</p> + +<p>"What's your name, my fine fellow?" asked he, as well as his chattering +teeth would let him.</p> + +<p>"Vasili [Basil] Pushkin,"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> answered the soldier, "private in the +Seventh Foot."</p> + +<p>"Very good," said the Marshal; "I won't forget you. Good-night."</p> + +<p>The next morning Pushkin was sent for to the General's quarters; and +Suvoroff, turning to his staff officers, said:</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, here's a man whom I tried to fool last night, but I met my +match, and something more. I said I'd make any man a sergeant who was +smart enough for that, and I must keep my word."</p> + +<p>And he did so that very day.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_SONG_OF_THE_WREN" id="THE_SONG_OF_THE_WREN"></a>THE SONG OF THE WREN.</h2> + +<h3>BY MRS. MARGARET EYTINGE.</h3> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/ill_006.jpg" width="400" height="394" alt="BIRDIE AND HER LITTLE FRIENDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">BIRDIE AND HER LITTLE FRIENDS.</span> +</div> + +<p>In a certain wild but beautiful country place, far from this great +city, stood a little white cottage all by itself, there being no other +house for ten or twelve miles, over which, in summer-time, the wild +rose vines clambered until they reached the very chimney, where, +clinging to the red bricks, they flung out in merry triumph slender +flower-laden branches like pennons on the breeze. Under the cottage +eaves some swallows built their nests every spring, and to the garden +came, as soon as the yellow and white honeysuckles and blue larkspurs +and many-colored four-o'clocks bloomed, myriads of humming-birds, +looking like rubies, and diamonds, and opals, and emeralds, and topazes, +and sapphires, that had taken to themselves wings, and flown from all +parts of the world to visit the living gems in this lovely spot. In the +autumn, when the leaves, dressed in their gayest dress, were bidding +farewell to the sunshine and the wind and each other, hundreds of +robin-redbreasts—"God's birds"—hopped like little flames about the +ground, and in a hollow tree near the cottage door a pretty red-brown +wren and his mate had found shelter for a long time, and reared several +broods. As for the saucy, chattering, busy, fearless sparrows, they had +feather-lined nests wherever a sparrow's nest could be placed, and that +is almost everywhere—on the pump, behind the wood-pile, in the barn, +among the trees—and these nests they never forsook all the year round. +What wonder that the cottage was called Bird House, and the dear wee +girl whose home it was answered to the name of Birdie? No brothers or +sisters had the innocent, blue-eyed child, and, save the birds, no +little friends. But they loved her dearly, and were always near her; so +she never grew lonely, but was happy and contented from morning until +night. At early dawn, when a soft light in the eastern sky told that the +sun was coming, they tapped on her window-panes to waken her; and when +she appeared at the cottage door, they flew to meet her, lighting on her +fair head, her shoulders, her outstretched hands, with loud, sweet, +twittering welcomes. Even strange birds just passing that way would join +the merry throng, and joyfully and gratefully partake of the crumbs the +dear one scattered for her friends. And often at night, when Birdie +awoke from a pleasant dream, and found her room filled with the silver +of the moon, she would hear the sparrows and swallows say—still +dreaming they—"Birdie, sweet Birdie!"</p> + +<p>She had learned their language when she was but a babe, and knew when +they were glad or sad; when they praised or scolded; when they gave +warning that the spirits of the storm were abroad; when they said to +their young, "Courage, little ones; it is time to try your wings"; when +they softly chirped, "To sleep, to sleep"; and when they sang songs of +love or farewell.</p> + +<p>And so it happened that she understood every word of the song that the +wren sang to her that winter afternoon. The snow had been falling, and +the sunshine was just<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> coming back, when she went out in the garden, in +her Little Red Riding-hood cloak, to share her bread with the sparrows +and snow-birds. Around her they flew, uttering cries of joy, when +suddenly the wren, forgetting his shyness, appeared among them; and this +is the song he sang:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"In the time of violets,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">When the Spring came dancing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">O'er the meadow, through the wood,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Sunbeams round her glancing—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">'Birdie's sweet, sweet, sweet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Sweet,' sang the swallow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">'And where'er her footsteps roam,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">I will follow, follow.'</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"When the roses bloomed and blushed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">And the fragrant Summer</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">Kisses warm and sparkling smiles</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Gave to each new-comer—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">'Birdie's sweet, sweet, sweet,'</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Sang the blackbird clearly;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">'Sweet as daisy-buds, and I</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Love her dearly, dearly.'</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"When the autumn leaves began</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Gold and crimson turning,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">Robin-Redbreast sang—his breast</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Bright as sunset burning—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">'Birdie's sweet, sweet, sweet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Sweet as dewy clover,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">And her praises shall be sung</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">All the wide world over.'</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Wrens and sparrows—all the birds,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Dear, that fly above thee,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">For thy gentle words and ways,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">For thy beauty, love thee.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">Birdie sweet, sweet, sweet—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Happy be forever!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">While the birds can guard thee, sweet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Harm shall reach thee never."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Thank you, dear wren—thank you, dear birds," said Birdie, with tears +in her beautiful blue eyes, when the song was ended; and she went away +to her own little room and said a prayer of thankfulness.</p> + +<p>And from that time the child's heart was lighter than ever, and she sang +all day long like a tuneful mocking-bird, blending all the sweet strains +of her friends in one delightful song, until winter passed away, and the +snow melted, and the snow-drop peeped out of the ground, and said, +timidly, "I am here: spare me, O Wind!" and while the spring covered the +earth with daisies and dandelions and May buds and brave honest grass, +and flung delicate blossoms all over the orchards. Then came the summer +once more, and started millions of lovely "green things a-growing," and +filled the trees with thousands of joyous young birds.</p> + +<p>And one glowing July day, early in the morning, Birdie wandered off to +the woods, as she had often done before, to look for wild flowers, and +gather some green food for her feathered pets. "I'll be back again in a +little while, mamma," she said, as she left the cottage. But the hours +went by, and noon came, and she had not returned.</p> + +<p>"Where is my little maid?" called her father, cheerily, as he came in to +dinner from the field where he had been working; but no little maid +replied.</p> + +<p>"She has gone for bird weeds and flowers," said her mother. "She will be +here in a few moments."</p> + +<p>But the dinner was eaten, and the father went back to his work, and +still no Birdie came.</p> + +<p>The clock struck one—struck two—struck three, and then, her heart +growing heavier and heavier at every step, the frightened mother started +out to look for her darling. North, south, east, west, half a mile each +way from the cottage, she ran, stopping every few minutes to call, +"Birdie! Birdie!" but only the echoes answered her call. At last to the +field where her husband was working she flew. "Leave the plough," she +cried, wringing her hands, "and look for the child."</p> + +<p>North, east, south, west, a mile each way from his home, went the +father, shouting, "Birdie! Birdie, little maid!" and the echoes +repeated, "Birdie! Birdie, little maid!" but no other sound he heard +except the rustling of the leaves and the whir of insect wings. The sun +was beginning to sink in the west when, tired and heart-sick, he came +back again. "Perhaps she is there now," he thought, a ray of hope +lighting up his face as he neared the garden gate; but a glance at his +wife's tearful eyes as she came to meet him told him he had hoped in +vain. "I'll saddle the horse and ride to the village," he said, "and +every father there will join me in the search for my child. And we'll +find her, never fear."</p> + +<p>"God grant that you may—and alive!" sobbed the poor mother. "My +darling! oh, my darling!"</p> + +<p>At that moment a flock of birds came in sight—so large a flock that, +wheeling around the head of the sorrowing mother, it almost shut out +from her the light of day.</p> + +<p>Round and round her the birds circled, uttering strange, eager sounds; +then flew away a short distance, to return with louder calls than ever.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> + +<p>"They miss her," said the father, who was just about to mount his horse. +"They have come to be fed."</p> + +<p>"They have come to lead us to her," cried his wife, her whole face +growing glad and bright. "Look at them! They are asking us to follow."</p> + +<p>And the birds turned as she made a few steps forward, and flew slowly +before her. To a narrow path up the nearest hill they led—so narrow +that the horse had to be left behind, and the father, who in his +impatience had ridden on in front, was obliged to dismount and follow on +foot. Over the hill and across a bridge that spanned a wide stream they +went, then up some steep rocks, and down, down into a tiny green valley, +from which another flock of birds arose with welcoming cries; and there, +in a little cave, imprisoned by a huge stone that had fallen from the +rock above across its mouth, the trees and shrubs around her black with +watching birds, sat Birdie, her little hands patiently folded in her +lap, a smile on her pale lips, and faith shining from her heaven-blue +eyes. And for once—her heart being full to overflowing with love for +her wee daughter, and gratitude to the good God and them—the mother too +understood the language of the birds as they sang,</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">"Birdie, sweet, sweet, sweet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Happy be forever!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">While the birds can guard thee, sweet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Harm shall reach thee never."</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="WILD_BOARS" id="WILD_BOARS"></a>WILD BOARS.</h2> + +<p>The wild boar is one of the most dangerous of beasts. Although it +belongs to the same great family as the lazy, good-natured pig that lies +in utter contentment in the farmer's pen, it is an altogether different +creature, and few animals are so difficult to hunt.</p> + +<p>In appearance it has the same general characteristics as domestic swine, +with the difference that it is larger, covered with coarser bristles, +has fiery, glowing eyes, and is armed with two terrible tusks, sometimes +ten inches long, with which it can inflict dangerous wounds.</p> + +<p>Formerly wild boars roamed in great numbers through the forests of Great +Britain, but for many years they have been extinct in that country. They +are still found in some parts of France and Spain, and are very numerous +in Germany and the wild jungles of India. They are also found in Poland, +Southern Russia, and Africa. Du Chaillu, the African traveller, mentions +encountering a hideous red-haired wild hog in the wondrous equatorial +forests of the "dark continent." Notwithstanding its size it was +tremendously savage, and very agile, jumping and running like a cat.</p> + +<p>Wild hogs are gregarious, and are found in herds. They are fond of +living near water, in which they like to roll and wallow; indeed, a bath +appears almost indispensable to them, as they will sometimes travel +miles to obtain it. Their food consists of roots, nuts, and all kinds of +fruits and grains. In Egypt and India they do much injury to the vast +tracts of sugar-cane, the thick growth affording them excellent +hiding-places and shelter against attack.</p> + +<p>It is said that wild hogs will not attack a man unless hunted or +enraged; but as they are not only daring, but also very cautious and +watchful, they suspect the least approach to be offensive, and proceed +to defend themselves.</p> + +<p>The sow guards her little ones with great care, and becomes wild with +fury if they are touched. She will run with great speed if she hears +them call, and few hunters have succeeded in capturing young specimens +without first killing the parent. A man once riding through a forest in +Germany came upon two little wild pigs which had strayed into the +pathway. Delighted with his prize, he rolled the piggies in his +horse-blanket, sprang to his saddle, and hastened on his road. But the +smothered squealing of her babies reached the ears of the mother, and +the man soon heard a loud grunting. On turning round he saw a furious +sow, with gleaming eyes, coming after him at full speed. Being unarmed, +he was compelled to fling the little pigs on the ground, and ride for +his life.</p> + +<p>The wolf, the lynx, and even the sly fox are terrible enemies of wild +hogs, for with patience and cunning watchfulness they often succeed in +making off with very young pigs, which form a most savory repast.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/ill_007.jpg" width="400" height="284" alt="A WILD BOAR AT BAY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A WILD BOAR AT BAY.</span> +</div> + +<p>Wild-boar hunting has been held for ages as a royal sport, and in former +times no banquet was considered perfect unless the table was graced by a +boar's head. Kings and emperors rode to the hunt in those days with +numerous followers and huntsmen, all armed with the cross-bow and +boar-spear, in search of this royal game. At present wild-boar hunting +is carried on to some extent in Germany; but in India it is a favorite +sport, as the boar of that country is the largest and fiercest of any in +the world, not fearing even the tiger, its savage companion of the +jungles. Stories are told of dead boars and tigers being found together, +each bearing the marks of a terrible and evenly balanced fight.</p> + +<p>In India boars are hunted on horseback, the chief weapon used being a +spear with a stout two-edged blade. A horse must be thoroughly trained +to this sport, and must possess great fleetness of foot, as the boar is +a very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> rapid runner. The time chosen for the hunt is at daybreak, as +the boar has probably been eating sugar-cane or other food all night, +and is sleepy and heavy in the morning, and less capable of a long run. +Savage and powerful dogs are used in the chase, which often prove +serviceable in bringing the beast to bay. For dogs the boar has a most +violent hatred, and will rush at them blindly often, with its superior +strength and formidable tusks overpowering them, unless the hunter be +near to use a spear or send a bullet through its heart.</p> + +<p>In this country the hog was unknown originally in a natural condition, +having been introduced by settlers from the Old World; and the wild boar +in our Western and Southern States, and in Canada, is merely the +domestic animal relapsed into a primitive state of wild ferocity.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="TAKING_NOT_STEALING" id="TAKING_NOT_STEALING"></a>TAKING—NOT STEALING.</h2> + +<h3>BY HANNAH SHEPPARD.</h3> + +<p>"So that's your game, is it, my lads? Guess I can help you a bit. I'll +try, anyhow, if it's only for the love I bore your fathers before you. +And you're fine fellows too; but you've got a wrong twist somewhere, or +you'd never in the world do such a thing as that." And quickening his +step at the close of his soliloquy, "Captain Dan," as he was called, +came up behind two boys who were standing in front of the principal +fruit and candy store of the busy town of Hamilton.</p> + +<p>A large bag of pea-nuts, with many other things, was displayed outside +under the window, and the old man's attention had been attracted by +seeing the elder of the boys carelessly pick up a nut as he chatted with +his companion, who soon followed his example. Evidently neither one had +any thought of doing wrong as they stood eating the nuts and crushing +the shells in their fingers.</p> + +<p>They started as he laid a hand heavily upon the shoulder of each, but +answered his greeting so cordially that it was easy to see they were +warm friends. He stopped them, as, linking their arms in his, they began +to turn him around, by saying: "Going toward home, are ye? Well, I don't +mind if I do go a piece with you after a bit, if you'll go down to the +shore first, for I want to take another look at that vessel I had a +sight of a good hour ago, and see if I can find out where she hails +from. There'll be a fine sunset, too, with the clouds piled like +yon"—as he pointed seaward. "I 'most wonder you're not out in the +<i>Firefly</i>. How is it, Dick?"—turning to the lad on his right hand.</p> + +<p>"Why, you see, Captain Dan," replied the boy, slowly, as if bringing his +thoughts back from a long distance, "Ethel wanted Maurice to row her +over to the Island, though I don't think he knows much more about a boat +than May."</p> + +<p>"Did they take her with them?" asked the captain, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Dick; "and I'm sure mamma would not have let her go if +she'd been at home. But she was out riding with papa, and May begged so +hard that Ethel would take her in spite of all I could say."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, there's no great harm done that I know of," quoth Captain +Dan, "though I'm free to confess that I don't think your cousin knows as +much of boats as he does of his books. However, as you feel uneasy, +we'll wait about the landing till they come, and they can climb the +cliff with us if they like. Many's the time little 'May bird' has gone +up it on my shoulder, little pet!" Then, as he noticed how intently Dick +was watching, he added, "They'll surely be back before long, and it +won't hurt us to talk here awhile, 'specially as I've a word to say to +you, my hearties."</p> + +<p>"That's all right," responded Dick, good-humoredly; "for you know Theo +and I like nothing better than to have you spin us a yarn—eh, Theo?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," chimed in Theodore Murray, giving a vigorous kick to a +stone which lay in the captain's path.</p> + +<p>By this time they had reached the shore, and after looking off toward +the Island and seeing nothing of their boat, they all sat down on a +rock, which seemed almost as though it might have been shaped for a +seat, only that it was rather roughly finished.</p> + +<p>"You really needn't look so anxious, my boy," said Captain Dan, turning +to Dick, "for I don't think your party could possibly come to harm. Why, +the water is as smooth as glass, and we can see them the moment they +round the corner of the cove."</p> + +<p>"If Ethel only wasn't so awfully polite," groaned Dick, "but would just +take the oars herself, I'd not mind a bit, for she can row beautifully; +but Maurice hasn't an idea how to manage a boat, though he's first rate +on land. We're all ready for your yarn, though, captain, as soon as +you've got your breath ready to begin to spin it."</p> + +<p>Captain Dan smiled, half sadly. "It's no 'yarn' to-night, my lads. But, +Dick, what would you call a man who took what didn't belong to him?"</p> + +<p>"Why, a thief, of course," answered the boy, promptly.</p> + +<p>"'And what would you say if any one called your father's son a thief?" +pursued the old man.</p> + +<p>"Tell him he lied!" exclaimed Dick, quickly, springing to his feet, and +confronting his questioner with flashing eyes. "What ever <i>do</i> you mean, +sir, by such strange talk?"</p> + +<p>"Sit down quietly again, and I'll tell you; for though I saw both you +and Theo helping yourselves to what didn't belong to you this afternoon, +yet I never could find it in my heart to call you thieves; for I suppose +you would say it was only 'taking,' and not 'stealing.'"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked Theodore, who had been listening in silence, +but with a most puzzled face.</p> + +<p>"Just this—that as I walked up the street I saw each of you take a nut +or so from the bag which stands in front of Mr. Baker's store."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Dick, drawing a long breath of relief, "that was all, was +it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, that wasn't <i>stealing</i>, Captain Dan," broke in Theodore, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I beg your pardon," observed their friend, dryly. "I didn't know +you'd paid for the nuts, or I'd not have mentioned the matter."</p> + +<p>"Paid for them!" exclaimed both boys at once. "Of course we'd not paid +for them; but then that's not stealing, you know, for we only each took +one or two, and we were right there in open sight. It's a totally +different thing."</p> + +<p>"I beg leave to differ entirely from you," answered the captain, in his +slow way. "But suppose there'd been a water-melon lying there on the +step, would either of you have carried it off without paying for it, or +eaten it there, either?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not," said Dick, indignantly; but Theodore broke in, +abruptly, as he sprang up, his cheeks glowing with shame:</p> + +<p>"I never thought of it so before! Why, it's just dreadful, Dick; for +Captain Dan is right—we were stealing, though we never meant it. Oh, +what would my mother say?" he added, with a choke in his voice.</p> + +<p>"I don't see it in that light at all," persisted Dick, sturdily; "it was +only a pea-nut or so, and we didn't do it 'on the sly,' as we would if +we'd been 'stealing,' as you say. Why, the very word makes me mad all +over"—doubling up his fists as he paced up and down before them, now +and then giving himself a shake like a great dog.</p> + +<p>"Hold on a minute, my son," said the old man, gently, "and I think I can +make it clearer. Suppose a basket of apples was standing in Smith's +grocery store. On my way home I stop in to buy a pound of tea, and while +it is being weighed out I pick up an apple to eat. You drop in next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> to +get some crackers, and you take one while waiting. Then Theo's mother +sends him for a pound of cheese, and he also helps himself. Others +follow our example, and though no person takes more than a single one, +yet by night the basket is emptied, without a cent of profit to the +grocer, though he has paid the farmer for them. Yet you say we have not +been stealing. How is it?"</p> + +<p>The color had been slowly mounting in Dick's frank face as he stood +before his friend with folded arms, and looking far out to sea. But the +instant he heard the question with which the speaker concluded, he +turned and said, impulsively: "You're right, Captain Dan, and I'm all +wrong. It <i>is</i> stealing, and nothing else, just as you said; but I never +thought of it so before, and it's just dreadful. I can't bear to think +of it, even though I've hardly ever done it; still, the part I hate just +the worst kind is that I've done it at all, and never saw the harm of it +till now."</p> + +<p>"Tell you what, Dick," exclaimed Theodore, hurriedly, "I mean to go in +and tell Mr. Baker about it on my way home to-night; will you go with +me?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I will; and we'll pay him for everything we can possibly +remember. But I say, old fellow, what if Jack Stretch saw us, or any of +those other street chaps? They could turn the tables on us splendidly, +you know, after our asking them to go to Sunday-school with us. They'd +be likely to tell us we'd borrowed their trade, and would say we needn't +preach to them again."</p> + +<p>Theodore looked troubled, and then brightened somewhat as a happy +thought struck him. "I mean to tell my mother the whole thing before I +go to sleep this night," he said, "and I'm sure she'll help us out."</p> + +<p>"You're right, my boy," observed the captain, nodding his head with a +pleased air. "Your mother's a wise woman; so is yours, Dick, and I +advise you to adopt the same plan; for when boys get too old—or too +something—to talk over their troubles and their pleasures with their +mothers, you may be pretty sure they're going wrong somehow; at least +that has always been my experience."</p> + +<p>"But, Captain Dan, there are lots of people who surely can't look at +this thing as you do, and as we do too, now that you've shown us," +remarked Dick, thoughtfully, "for I've seen men, and women too, pick up +little things to taste in the stores, and never seem to think of paying +for them."</p> + +<p>The old man sighed wearily. "I know it, lad," he answered; "and I can +tell you more than that. For I've heard of some cases—I hope and trust +they're rare ones, though—where boarding-house keepers in large cities, +who were poorly off, would go from one store to another, and from stand +to stand in the markets, pricing and buying in a small way, while all +the time they would be picking up a nut or so here, an apple or orange +there, or a few raisins over yonder, and in this manner get enough for a +dessert, till their tricks came to be well known, and they were watched +carefully."</p> + +<p>"How dreadful!" cried the boys.</p> + +<p>"And perhaps," added Theodore, "they began as we did, without thinking +anything about it, and I'm ever so much obliged to you, Captain Dan, for +telling us."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed!" struck in Dick, earnestly, giving himself a shake; "I see +it exactly now; and I don't mind telling mamma about it half so much as +I do thinking to myself that I ever did such a mean thing, don't you +see."</p> + +<p>"Yes," responded his friend, as he looked up into the pure manly face, +feeling that so long as the fact of losing his own self-respect was so +much worse than to lose that of others, he would always have a +safeguard—"yes, I understand. But isn't that the <i>Firefly</i> off yonder?"</p> + +<p>The boys ran down to the water's edge, followed at a slower pace by the +captain.</p> + +<p>"Dear me! why don't Ethel take the oars and show him how to row?" burst +forth Dick, impatiently, as they watched the tiny craft moving +irregularly toward them.</p> + +<p>"Gently, laddie," said the captain; "remember we must all have a +learning; and no doubt you did as badly as that when you began, even +though you're such a crack sailor now; and you know Miss Ethel mightn't +like to give a lesson unless she was asked to do so."</p> + +<p>The little boat gradually neared them, though in a very jerky fashion, +showing how unskilled the rower was, till, unhappily, glancing over his +shoulder, he caught sight of the group awaiting them, and raised his +oars by way of salute. But, in lowering them, one fell from his hand, +tired with the unusual exertion; he leaned over too far to reach it, and +the next moment they were all struggling in the water.</p> + +<p>In an instant the boys' coats were off, and they dashed in to the +rescue; nor was Captain Dan much behind them, while it was truly +wonderful to see how agile he was, when swimming, for after his slow +steps on land, the water appeared like his native element. Fortunately +the boat was not far from the shore when the accident happened, and the +captain's powerful strokes soon put him ahead of his younger companions. +He reached the spot just in time to catch May—his "baby," as he always +called the five-year-old prattler—as she was sinking for the last time, +in spite of the frantic efforts made by Maurice, who, though no swimmer, +had retained his presence of mind, and had caught the edge of the +overturned boat, which he was trying to float toward Ethel, while +holding May tightly with the other arm. But the child had struck her +head against the oar as she fell, and was stunned so as to be quite +insensible.</p> + +<p>"Keep your hold of the boat," called the captain; "I've got the baby all +safe, and the boys have reached Miss Ethel. Hullo, Dick!" he shouted, +suddenly; "let Theo help your sister, and bear a hand here, will you?" +For he saw that Maurice was fast giving out, though the gallant old man +was supporting him with one hand, while holding the child firmly with +the other; and encumbered in this way, swimming was slow work.</p> + +<p>"Here we are!" sang out Dick, who soon reached them; and remembering +"Nan the Newsboy's" directions, with the captain's aid managed to turn +Maurice upon his back, for by this time he had quite lost consciousness, +and then struck out steadily for the land. In the course of a few more +moments the little party were anxiously gathered around Maurice and May, +who were still insensible. Theo had started off for help, which soon +came, and they were carried to the nearest house, where Maurice after a +time revived. But poor little May remained so long unconscious that they +had almost given up hope, when Dick, who had been helping to rub her, +and would give up his post to no one, exclaimed he was sure he felt her +heart beating, which, to his great delight, proved to be the case, and a +while afterward she opened her eyes, and looked around vacantly.</p> + +<p>But the blow on her head had been a very severe one; the shock to the +little frame was so great that it was followed by a serious illness; and +though she recovered after weeks of suffering, and was her own bright +self again, yet the boys agreed that Captain Dan's kindly sermon had +been followed by enough to make that day one of the most eventful in +their lives, and never to be forgotten.</p> + +<p>And though they could not go to the store that night, yet they went +early the next morning, told the whole story, and were most kindly +received by Mr. Baker, with whom Captain Dan had had a private +conference just before their arrival, so that he was fully prepared for +them.</p> + +<p>In spite of their urging, he would not take their money, though he +thanked them "for coming in such a manly way to confess their fault," +adding, as he shook hands with them, that while they had only done what +was right, yet he wished men as well as boys would have the moral +courage to confess when they had done wrong, for so often these little +beginnings of evil lead the way to greater sins.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_FIRST_VALENTINE" id="THE_FIRST_VALENTINE"></a>THE FIRST VALENTINE.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/ill_008.jpg" width="600" height="386" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 284px;"> +<img src="images/ill_009.jpg" width="284" height="400" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Ah, Jamie, don't you understand</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">The little heart that's in my hand?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">The plain white heart with rosy band;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Can you not read the simple sign?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">It is your first sweet Valentine.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">"Come here and take it from me, dear;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">It will not hurt, you need not fear;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">You'll see, if you will come more near,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">It only bears one little line,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">'To Jamie! My first Valentine!'"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Then Cupid, laughing, said, "Ah me!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">How calm this baby beau can be!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">But wait awhile, and we shall see</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">What toys, with gold and jewels fine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">He'll send to some sweet Valentine.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">"Just leave your heart, Miss Leonore,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">He'll take it soon, and long for more:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">The little lad is only four.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Some day, a hero bold and fine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">He'll send full many a Valentine."</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_KINGS_BABY" id="THE_KINGS_BABY"></a>THE KING'S BABY.</h2> + +<h3>BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE CATSKILL FAIRIES."</h3> + +<p>The baby was put to bed as usual, in his wooden cradle, and his mother +had rocked him to sleep, singing some national cradle song, like the +mothers of all lands. He was a stout little fellow of five months old, +with dimples in his brown cheeks, curly dark hair as soft as silk, and +great black eyes, such as the children of Spain and Italy alone possess. +When the baby was asleep, his parents busied themselves with their +duties of the evening, and at an early hour also went to bed.</p> + +<p>Their home was located in the province of Murcia, in Spain. The house +was built of stone, half in ruins, and was surrounded by a poor little +farm. Before going to bed the father had looked out of the door to see +that all was safe for the night. Spain is a country where little rain +falls, because armies long ago destroyed the forests covering mountain +slopes, in time of war. Now the traveller sees these hills as bare +rocks, with deserted towns on their sides, and the beds of rivers become +heaps of dry stones for the majority of the year, parched with summer +drought. In the city of Alicante two years sometimes pass without a drop +of rain falling. The season of the year (1879) was very different. In +the late summer and autumn fearful storms of thunder and lightning burst +over several provinces usually so dusty and arid; persistent rains +followed, until the channels of the rivers became filled with rushing +torrents from the heights where springs have their source. The waters of +the Guadalquivir rose five meters in a few days.</p> + +<p>The baby's father looked out of the door on a valley flooded by one of +these swollen rivers which had overflowed its banks, and felt safe, as +his home was perched on a slope, and the village, with its church, +convent, and steep streets of old houses, was between the farm and the +stream. Then he had gone to rest, and sleep soon settled on the +household. The night was dark, and no sound was to be heard except the +drip of the rain or the rustling murmur of the distant river.</p> + +<p>At two o'clock in the morning the church bell pealed wildly. "Quick! +Danger is at hand, good people; save yourselves!" the bell seemed to +say, and its vibrating note rang out on the awful darkness, chilling all +hearts with sudden fear.</p> + +<p>Stupid with sleep, the baby's father rose. Water was trickling along the +floor of the chamber; outside was a deep sound of roaring waves, the +crashing of trees, and the fall of buildings, mingled with the clang of +the bell and the cries of human beings. Nothing could be more terrible. +An embankment had given way, and the river, which already had spread +over the lowlands, now deluged the village, sweeping away many houses, +and surrounding the poor little farm, where the baby slumbered +peacefully in his cradle. Already the cottage swayed and shook on its +foundations. The mother awoke, and wept. She had no time to snatch the +baby in her arms, for the father opened the door, and lifted the cradle +near it. He returned for his wife; and just then a wave entered the +door, and washed away the baby. It was not a moment too soon. There was +a snapping, grinding sound, and the house fell apart and slid into the +dark waters as if it had been a house of cards. The whole country was +like a sea, and the church bell no longer rang, because the bell-ringer +strove to save himself from being drowned.</p> + +<p>The little waif, cast to the mercy of the wind and the flood, did not +sink. God watched over it. The wooden cradle became a tiny boat; the +baby waked up, stretched out his little hands, and cried; then, in the +midst of frightful peril, fell asleep again, rocked by the motion of the +stream.</p> + +<p>At length the day broke, a cold gray mist seeming to blot out everything +except the sheet of water, which was of a muddy and yellow color, and +rolled along with giddy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> swiftness, gathering everything in its course. +In some places the trees had their roots under water, and their +branches, still dry, gave shelter to whole families. These cried out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at the little baby! Who will save it?"</p> + +<p>But the cradle sailed on, while the trees often bent beneath the wave. +The boiling eddies of the current swallowed many objects, and caught the +cradle, and spun it about in circles as if it had been a walnut shell, +until the baby cried with fear; but then a friendly wave was sure to +rescue it, and once more bear it onward.</p> + +<p>Ah, at last! The poor baby must be drowned. A great tree had fallen into +the river, with all its tangled roots high in the air, and the stream +snapped off the smaller twigs and branches as it moved along. Every +moment it struck some floating object with its gnarled roots and forest +of branches; occasionally the shock was so great that the trunk rolled +from side to side; but the object always sank, whether broken boat or +dead animal; while the tree floated on. The baby's cradle was alone on +the waste of waters; the tree approached slowly and surely. The cradle +tossed up and down, and then—the forked branches caught and held it +firmly just above the water-line. The tree became a raft.</p> + +<p>The young King Alfonso of Spain stood on the shore, near a town, +surrounded by officers in brilliant uniforms. Large boats full of his +guards had ventured out from shore to try to save objects swept down +from the country. They saw a tree with a cradle caught in the branches. +Was the cradle empty? No, a little black head could be distinguished +inside. Bravely the boat approached; the tree swerved about, and struck +it so rudely that it nearly upset; but at that moment the soldier in the +bow leaned over, and caught the baby by his little gown. Away whirled +the tree on the swift tide, and the cradle, detached by the shock, +drifted apart, overturned.</p> + +<p>How the people ran about and talked! How the women cried, and caressed +the little stranger thus safely brought to shore! The King saw it all, +and approached.</p> + +<p>"He shall be my child, and I will adopt him," he said.</p> + +<p>"May he grow up to serve you, sire!" said one of the councillors, who +wore a glittering star on his breast.</p> + +<p>Then the "King's Baby," saved in a little wooden cradle from the perils +of the night, crowed and smiled.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 384px;"> +<img src="images/ill_010.jpg" width="384" height="400" alt="ME AND MY LITTLE WIFE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">ME AND MY LITTLE WIFE.</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 391px;"><a name="GEORGE_WASHINGTON" id="GEORGE_WASHINGTON"></a> +<img src="images/ill_011.jpg" width="391" height="500" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>GEORGE WASHINGTON.</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He was black as the ace of spades, you see,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And scarcely as high as a tall man's knee;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He wore a hat that was minus a brim,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">But that, of course, mattered nothing to him;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">His jacket—or what there was left of it—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Scorned</i> his little black shoulders to fit;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And as for stockings and shoes, dear me!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Nothing about such things knew he.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He sat on the curb-stone one pleasant day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Placidly passing the hours away;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">His hands in the <i>holes</i> which for pockets were meant,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">His thoughts on the clouds overhead were intent;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">When down the street suddenly, marching along,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Came soldiers and horses, and such a great throng</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Of boys and of men, as they crowded the street,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">With a "Hip, hip, hurrah!" the lad sprang to his feet,</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">And joined the procession, his face in a grin,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">For here was a good time that "<i>dis chile</i> is in!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">How he stretched out his legs to the beat of the drum,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Thinking surely at last 'twas the <i>jubilee</i> come!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Then suddenly wondering what 'twas about—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">The soldiers, the music, and all—with a shout</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">He hailed a small comrade, "Hi, Cæsar, <i>you</i> know</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">What all dis purcession's a marchin' fur so?"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"Go 'long, you George Washington," Cæsar replied,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"In dis yere great kentry <i>you</i> ain't got no pride!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Dis is Washington's Birfday; you oughter know dat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Wid yer head growed so big, burst de brim off yer hat."</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">For a moment George Washington stood in surprise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">While plainer to view grew the whites of his eyes;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Then swift to the front of the ranks scampered he,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">This mite of a chap hardly high as your knee.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">The soldiers looked stern, and an officer said,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">As he rapped with his sword on the black woolly head,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"Come, boy, clear the road; what a figure you are!"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Came the ready reply, "<i>I'se George Washington</i>, sah!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">But I didn't know nuffin about my birfday</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">'Till a feller jist tole me. Oh, golly! it's gay!"</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Just then a policeman—of course it was mean—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Removed young George Washington far from the scene.</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="OUR_POST_OFFICE_BOX" id="OUR_POST_OFFICE_BOX"></a> +<img src="images/ill_012.jpg" width="600" height="257" alt="OUR POST-OFFICE BOX" title="" /> +</div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">South Groveland, Massachusetts</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I have been gathering a cabinet of curiosities since I was nine +years old (I am now fourteen), and I have stones and shells and +pieces of wood from a great many of the States, from the arctic +regions, from South America, Oceanica, and Europe—more than two +hundred in all. Among the rest is a Proteus (<i>Menobranchus +maculatus</i>) taken from the Winooski River by Thompson, once State +Geologist of Vermont. I would like to know if any other of your +correspondents has got a Proteus, and also if any has a cabinet.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">Edwin A. H.</span></span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Melrose, Massachusetts</span>, <i>January 25</i>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I found some willow "pussies" yesterday. I hope I have found them +first.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">A. L. H.</span></span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Yes, you have found them first. It is very remarkable to find them at +all in January in the locality where you live, but as the buds set in +the autumn, the singularly mild weather of January has made them swell +and burst thus early in the season. Thank you for so promptly reporting +these first signs that spring is near. Now let us see when the "pussies" +will appear in other sections of the country.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Dover, New Jersey</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I was five years old the 21st of January, and I had such a happy +birthday. In the morning when I got up I found at the foot of my +crib six books of natural history full of pictures for little +folks, a piano, a box of colors, and two dancing bears, one black +and one brown. And when I went down to the dining-room, on my tray +was a beautiful cup and saucer, and on the cup, in gold letters, "A +Gift." And in my chair was a box with twenty-five things in it from +my auntie Lou; and in the afternoon I had a tea party. I wish all +little boys and girls had such happy birthdays. To-day I am sick, +and I tell mamma just what to say, and she is writing it for me.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">Louis C. Vogt</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Sterling, Kansas</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I have taken <span class="smcap">Young People</span> since Christmas, and I find it very nice +indeed. I have a nice young uncle in Washington who sends it to me, +and told me to write to you. I have a pony named Ben, who is only +four feet and a half high, and is very wild sometimes, but I can +ride him without either bridle or saddle.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">Nellie S.</span></span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Clinton, Massachusetts</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I have a bird. It is a bullfinch. It is real pretty, and whistles +like a boy. It likes potatoes and corn very much, and eats them out +of my mouth and hand. When it whistles it says "Pretty Poll" just +as plain as a parrot, and when it bathes it spatters me all over.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">Lena E. Schmidt</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Des Moines, Iowa</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I want to tell you about a cat-bird or mocking-bird that built its +nest in the tree near our house last summer. I have three brothers, +and when we all go off to play, mamma could not always make us hear +when she called. She bought a whistle, and when she blew it once, +it was for me, and two, three, and four times for my brothers. The +mocking-bird learned to imitate the whistle so well that we could +not always tell whether it was mamma calling or the bird. It would +also imitate the squeaks of the saw when the men were sawing wood. +We hope it will come back again next spring.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">M. I. Watrous</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Troy, New York</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I am a little girl nine years old, and take <span class="smcap">Young People</span>, and I +watch for it every week. I have three pets—two cats and one +squirrel. The cats are twins; one is named Girofle, and the other +Girofla. They were born on Palm-Sunday, and are nearly three years +old. They are so much alike that you can not tell them apart. My +squirrel's name is Prince.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">Grace MacLeod</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Wayne, Illinois</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I am a boy ten years old, and I have a cat older than myself. Its +name is Noah. One day last summer it caught a rat in the yard as +big as a half-grown kitten. The rat squealed so loud that a large +Newfoundland dog at the store across the street heard it, and came +running over to see what was the matter. The dog scared old Noah so +much that it let the rat go, and ran under the shed. I think that +dog better mind his own affairs hereafter, and let my old Noah +catch rats.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">Alle Trull</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Scottsville, New York</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I am nine years old, and I go to school nearly every day. All the +pet I have now is a white kitten. I did have an oriole, which was +caught when very young. We put it in a cage and hung it in the +cherry-tree, and its mother came and fed it every day until it was +time for the birds to go to a warmer climate. It used to be very +fond of bread and milk.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">Mary L. MacVean</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Maggie M. M. has a big Newfoundland dog, just her own age, nine years, +which is her faithful friend.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Belle Metzgar, Jessie Edna, C. F. Cooper, Harry B., and Charles Bentley +all send pretty accounts of domestic pets, which we would be glad to +print if there was space to spare.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class="smcap">Eva Mitchell</span>.—<i>The Virginians in Texas</i> is published in "Harper's +Library of American Fiction," and will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, +to any part of the United States on receipt of seventy-five cents.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class="smcap">L. K.</span>—Chapman's Drawing-Books are the best to use in beginning your +studies.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Philadelphia, Pennsylvania</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I once had three pigeons, and when I fed them they would turn round +and round. Will you tell me how to feed guinea-pigs?</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">Mark Francis</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>You can feed guinea-pigs on cabbage leaves, bits of bread and cake, and +all kinds of fruit. They like carrot tops better than any other food, +especially in the spring, when the green is fresh and tender. You must +give them plenty of water.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class="smcap">N. L. Collamer</span>.—Your monthly magazine is very well edited. It is +difficult to determine the correct spelling of Shakspeare's name, as +equally reliable authorities disagree.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Little Marie</span>."—Your puzzle is very neatly done; but as "every large +city" is not so favored as the one where you live, we fear it would not +be easy to solve.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class="smcap">Ella W.</span>—You may send the one entirely original, and if it is pretty and +very short, we might use it.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class="smcap">Richard S. C.</span>—Your plan for a magnetic motor is very ingenious, and the +machine would no doubt make a pretty and curious toy.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class="smcap">Willie H. S.</span>—We will endeavor to send you the solution of your puzzle.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Eddie L. A., Minnesota, after expressing great pleasure in <span class="smcap">Young People</span>, +writes: "My papa thinks I am a pretty smart boy. I am eleven years old, +and I milk the cow, and do most of the work, and go to school besides." +You are a smart boy, Eddie, if you do all that, and do it well. If you +persevere in that course, always attending to school duties and home +work besides, there is every prospect that you will grow to be a smart +man.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Brooklyn, New York</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Will you please tell me why the land north of Behring Strait is +called Wrangell Land?</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 42em;"><span class="smcap">Mamie E. F.</span></span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Ferdinand Wrangell, a Russian baron and traveller, who was born near the +close of the last century, and died in 1870, commanded a sledge +expedition which explored the polar sea north of East Siberia about +1822. In 1867 Captain Long, in traversing that part of the sea navigated +by Wrangell, discovered a large tract of land which the Russian explorer +had vainly endeavored to reach, and which he named Wrangell Land.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class="smcap">Henry W. R.</span>—Every harpoon thrown into a whale before he dies is +entitled to a share of the oil.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class="smcap">W. B. Aitkin</span>.—The sun is supposed to be moving slowly through space, +carrying the earth and all the planets along with him. The great +astronomer Herschel assigned the constellation Hercules as that toward +which we are moving, and the calculations of more recent astronomers +have also pointed to that same direction.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class="smcap">Anita R. N.</span>—The "good news" mentioned in the ballad is not recorded in +history, and although many inquiries have been made concerning it, no +satisfactory conclusion has yet been arrived at.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class="smcap">G. Funnell</span>.—The oldest inhabited building in the territory of the +United States is an ancient house built of adobes, or sun-dried brick, +in the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before the annexation of New +Mexico, St. Augustine, Florida, which was settled in 1565, was the +oldest town, and contained the most ancient buildings.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Welcome favors are acknowledged from Edward Haines, Lillie Hathaway, +Arthur G. Wedge, Alice Y., Marion Frisbie, Fannie G., Maggie W. C., H. J. +Perkins, Mattie E. Church, Mabel G. Nash, Ernest F. Hill, George and +Belle Hume, J. Edwards H., Louie D. M., Eddy Lock, Belle Mandeville, +Lizzie F., Ethel M. R., Frank Griffin.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Correct answers to puzzles received from Kittie A. C., Edith A. M., +Lilian Forbes, Lillie McCrea, M. I. Watrous, E. J. Gould, Robie +Caldwell, Mary Chapel, George, Mary Bemis, Hattie L. S., Stella M., G. K. +Richards, Mamie E. F., Frederick C., Edith E. Jones, Frank Coggswell, +Kitty E., Lulu Craft, P. S. S., Alma Hoffmann, G. W. R., Herbert R. H., +G. S. S., Theodore E., J. S., A. H. Patterson.</p> + +<p>We acknowledge only those answers to puzzles which are mailed previous +to date of publication of solution.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.</h3> + +<h4>No. 1.</h4> + +<h4>NUMERICAL CHARADE.</h4> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My 9, 14, 5, 3, 13, 8 is a division of land.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My 10, 2, 12, 7, 14 is a game.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My 1, 3, 11, 6 is something good to eat.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My 7, 9, 4 is a form of address.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My whole is the name of a distinguished author.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Mamie M.</span></span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>No. 2.</h4> + +<h4>WORD SQUARE.</h4> + +<p class="center">First. A Salutation.—Second. A Girl's Name.—Third. Taverns.—Fourth. +Latest.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">E. S. C. M.</span></span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>No. 3.</h4> + +<h4>ENIGMA.</h4> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My first is in break, but not in tear.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My second is in rabbit, also in hare.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My third is in pay, but not in trust.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My fourth is in earth, but not in dust.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My fifth is in spring, but not in fall.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My sixth is in great, but not in small.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">My whole is a poet of world-wide fame.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">Now see if you can guess his name.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Lettie</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>No. 4.</h4> + +<h4>NUMERICAL CHARADE.</h4> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">I am composed of 9 letters.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">My 5, 4, 8 is to hit gently.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">My 3, 6, 1 is to snatch.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">My 7, 2, 9 is an animal.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">My whole is the name of a great general.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Ernest B. Cooper</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>No. 5.</h4> + +<h4>DOUBLE ACROSTIC.</h4> + +<p class="center">A sounding vessel of metal. A river in Spain. To come back. A metal. A +color. A woman devoted to a religions life.</p> + +<p class="center">Answer—two cities of Europe.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">E. Allen Cushing</span> (12 years).</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ADVERTISEMENTS.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.</h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">Harper's Young People</span> will be issued every Tuesday, and may be had at +the following rates—<i>payable in advance, postage free</i>:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Single Copies</span></td><td align='right'>$0.04</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">One Subscription</span>, <i>one year</i></td><td align='right'>1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Five Subscriptions</span>, <i>one year</i></td><td align='right'>7.00</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Subscriptions may begin with any Number. When no time is specified, it +will be understood that the subscriber desires to commence with the +Number issued after the receipt of order.</p> + +<p>Remittances should be made by POST-OFFICE MONEY ORDER or DRAFT, to avoid +risk of loss.</p> + +<h3>ADVERTISING.</h3> + +<p>The extent and character of the circulation of <span class="smcap">Harper's Young People</span> +will render it a first-class medium for advertising. A limited number of +approved advertisements will be inserted on two inside pages at 75 cents +per line.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Address</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 30em;">HARPER & BROTHERS,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 35em;">Franklin Square, N. Y.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>CANDY</h1> + +<p>Send one, two, three, or five dollars for a sample box, by express, of +the best Candies in America, put up elegantly and strictly pure. Refers +to all Chicago. Address</p> + +<h3>C. F. GUNTHER,</h3> + +<h4>Confectioner,</h4> + +<h4>78 MADISON STREET, CHICAGO.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>WOODEN WEDDING PRESENTS</h2> + +<h4>Ready-made and to order.</h4> + +<h3>SCROLL SAWS, DESIGNS, AND WOOD,</h3> + +<h3>At LITTLE'S TOOL STORE, 59 Fulton St., N. Y. City.</h3> + +<h4>Circulars free by mail.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><b><big>113 FOREIGN Stamps</big></b>, all different, 25c.; 400 assorted European, 25c.: 60 +U. S. Stamps, all different, 25c.; a nice <i>Stamp Album</i>, 40c.; 60 U. S. +Revenues, all different, 25c. Illustrated Catalogue, 3c.</p> + +<h3>EDWARDS, PEEK, & CO., Box 384, Chicago, Ill.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>SEND 25 CTS. TO JNO. A. HADDOCK,</h3> + +<h4>104 South 8th Street, Philadelphia,</h4> + +<p class="center">and receive by return mail</p> + +<h4>EIGHTY BEAUTIFUL PICTURE-CARDS.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Old Books for Young Readers.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Arabian Nights' Entertainments.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Thousand and One Nights; or, The Arabian Nights' +Entertainments. Translated and Arranged for Family Reading, with +Explanatory Notes, by <span class="smcap">E. W. Lane</span>. 600 Illustrations by Harvey. 2 +vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3.50.</p></div> + +<h3>Robinson Crusoe.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, +Mariner. By <span class="smcap">Daniel Defoe</span>. With a Biographical Account of Defoe. +Illustrated by Adams. Complete Edition. 12mo, Cloth, $1.50.</p></div> + +<h3>The Swiss Family Robinson.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Swiss Family Robinson; or Adventures of a Father and Mother and +Four Sons on a Desert Island. Illustrated. 2 vols., 18mo, Cloth, +$1.50.</p> + +<p>The Swiss Family Robinson—Continued: being a Sequel to the +Foregoing. 2 vols., 18mo, Cloth, $1.50.</p></div> + +<h3>Sandford and Merton.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The History of Sandford and Merton. By <span class="smcap">Thomas Day</span>. 18mo, Half +Bound, 75 cents.</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.</h3> + +<h4>☞ <i>Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the +United Slates, on receipt of the price.</i></h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>BOOKS FOR YOUNG MEN.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Character.</h3> + +<p class="center">Character. By <span class="smcap">Samuel Smiles</span>. 12mo, Cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<p>It is, in design and execution, more like his "Self-Help" than any of +his other works. Mr. Smiles always writes pleasantly, but he writes +best when he is telling anecdotes, and using them to enforce a moral +that he is too wise to preach about, although he is not afraid to +state it plainly. By means of it "Self-Help" at once became a standard +book, and "Character" is, in its way, quite as good as "Self-Help." +It is a wonderful storehouse of anecdotes and biographical +illustrations.—<i>Examiner</i>, London.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Self-Help.</h3> + +<p class="center">Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character, Conduct, and +Perseverance. By <span class="smcap">Samuel Smiles</span>. New Edition, Revised and Enlarged. +12mo, Cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<p>The writings of Samuel Smiles are a valuable aid in the education of +boys. His style seems to have been constructed entirely for their +tastes; his topics are admirably selected, and his mode of communicating +excellent lessons of enterprise, truth, and self-reliance might be +called insidious and ensnaring if these words did not convey an idea +which is only applicable to lessons of an opposite character and +tendency taught in the same attractive style. The popularity of this +book, "Self-Help," abroad has made it a powerful instrument of good, and +many an English boy has risen from its perusal determined that his life +will be moulded after that of some of those set before him in this +volume. It was written for the youth of another country, but its wealth +of instruction has been recognized by its translation into more than one +European language, and it is not too much to predict for it a popularity +among American boys.—<i>N. Y. World</i>.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Thrift.</h3> + +<p class="center">Thrift. By <span class="smcap">Samuel Smiles</span>. 12mo, Cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<p>The mechanic, farmer, apprentice, clerk, merchant, and a large circle of +readers outside of these classes will find in the volume a wide range of +counsel and advice, presented in perspicuous language, and marked +throughout by vigorous good sense; and who, while deriving from it +useful lessons for the guidance of their personal affairs, will also be +imbibing valuable instruction in an important branch of political +economy. We wish it could be placed in the hands of all our +youth—especially those who expect to be merchants, artisans, or +farmers.—<i>Christian Intelligencer</i>, N. Y.</p> + +<p>In this useful and sensible work, which should be in the hands of all +classes of readers, especially of those whose means are slender, the +author does for private economy what Smith and Ricardo and Bastiat have +done for national economy. * * * The one step which separates +civilization from savagery—which renders civilization possible—is +labor done in excess of immediate necessity. * * * To inculcate this +most necessary and most homely of all virtues, we have met with no +better teacher than this book.—<i>N. Y. World.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.</h3> + +<h4>☞ <i>Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the +United States, on receipt of the price.</i></h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>MRS. MORTIMER'S</h2> + +<h2>BOOKS FOR THE NURSERY.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Lines Left Out.</h3> + +<p class="center">Lines Left Out; or, Some of the Histories Left Out in "Line upon +Line." The First Part relates Events in the Times of the Patriarchs +and the Judges. Illustrated. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Mortimer</span>. 16mo, +Cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p>The volume is an attractive juvenile book, handsomely brought out, +rendering Scripture incidents into pleasant paraphrases.—<i>Northwestern +Christian Advocate</i>, Chicago.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>More about Jesus.</h3> + +<p class="center">More about Jesus. Illustrations and a Map. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Elizabeth +Mortimer</span>. 16mo, Cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p>It consists of a series of stories, embracing the whole of the events in +the life of our Blessed Lord, told in a plain, simple style, suited to +the capacities of children of seven or eight years of age. But better +still, all good children's books are good for adults; and this will be +found equally useful to put into the hands of very ignorant grown-up +people, who may from this learn the story of man's redemption in an +intelligent manner. Many of the lessons are illustrated with pictures of +the places mentioned.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Streaks of Light.</h3> + +<p class="center">Streaks of Light; or, Fifty-two Facts from the Bible for Fifty-two +Sundays of the Year. Illustrated. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Mortimer</span>. 16mo, +Cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p>"This little work," says the author, "has received the distinguished +honor of being appointed to be one of the class-books of the Samoan +Collegians, and has been made to subserve the highest of all +purposes—the preaching of the Gospel. To that purpose it is adapted +when the hearers are untaught, untrained, and unreflecting. Each lesson +can be understood by those who have no previous knowledge, and each is +calculated to be the first address to one who has never before heard of +God or his Christ."</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Reading without Tears.</h3> + +<p class="center">Reading without Tears; or, A Pleasant Mode of Learning to Read. +Illustrated. Small 4to, Cloth. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Mortimer</span>. Two +Parts. Part I., 49 cents; Part II., 62 cents; complete in One +Volume, $1.03.</p> + +<p>An easy, simple, and pleasant book for the tiny scholars of the +nursery-room. It contains a picture for every word of spelling capable +of pictorial explanation. The reading-lessons have been carefully +selected, being composed of the preceding spelling-lessons, by which +means, together with the picture meanings, the words are easily +impressed on the memory of a very young child.—<i>Athenæum</i>, London.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.</h3> + +<h4>☞ <i>Harper & Brothers will send any of the above works by +mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of +the price.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="TOO_FAT_AND_TOO_THIN" id="TOO_FAT_AND_TOO_THIN"></a> +<img src="images/ill_013.jpg" width="600" height="432" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>TOO FAT AND TOO THIN.</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">A fat cat sat</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">On the parlor mat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">When through the room came whirring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Right up to where the cat was purring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">A strange and ill-conditioned rat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">As though to tempt the pussy fat.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">But, "No," said Puss, "this is too thin;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Such shams may take Skye-terriers in.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;"><i>I've</i> had too many first-class meals</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">To try to eat a rat on wheels."</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>The Ribbon Dance.</b>—Children's balls are now in great vogue in France. +The latest novelty for them is the ribbon dance. Eight ribbons of +different colors are attached to a ring in the ceiling. Four girls and +four boys hold the ends of the ribbons. The orchestra strikes up, and +the eight children dance a measure which enables them to plait the +ribbons. The orchestra then starts another measure, the children another +step, and the plait is unplaited. Each of the dancers may be dressed +according to the color of the ribbon that he or she holds, and the +mingling of the colors will be all the more brilliant. The idea might +easily be taken for a cotillion figure.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_014.jpg" width="500" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h3>A CAUSE FOR WORRIMENT.</h3> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Ada</span>,(<i>on the morning of her birthday party, looking at the clock and +feeling her pulse</i>). "Oh dear! I wonder if I will be well enough for the +party to-night?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_015.jpg" width="500" height="326" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 23em;">Search, if you like, the wide world over,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">Barnum's the very best fellow that's known;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 23em;">Now that we young ones are left here in clover,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 24em;">Here's for a jolly good show of our own.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>BROKEN RHYMES.</h2> + +<p>[Behead the word that completes the first line, and you have the word +necessary to complete the second. This in turn beheaded gives the word +that will complete the third line.]</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"Beware the ice!" I heard him ____,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"Which is not safe unless 'tis ____:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Take my advice, for I am ____,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 26em;">And do not venture here."</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"But, oh! we want so much to ____.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">He's like the dog," said saucy ____,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"Who could not eat what others ____,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 26em;">Yet barked when they came near."</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">"But do not go so near the ____;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">'Tis safer far within the ____;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">The water here's as dark as ____:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 26em;">To go would be a sin."</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">They heeded not, and in a ____,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">Like little birds that feed on ____,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">The merry girls flew o'er the ____;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 26em;">And now, alas! they're in.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">But when he heard the dreadful ____,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">And saw the drowning maidens ____,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">He hurried with his stick of ____</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 26em;">Along the slippery ground.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">And others came, and with a ____</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">They crept around the dangerous ____,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;">And lifted dripping o'er the ____</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 26em;">The maids so nearly drowned.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_016.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h3>SHADOWS OF GREAT MEN.</h3> + +<p>Who can turn this old woman into the Duke of Wellington, and the +rough-looking man with a broken nose into Napoleon III.? You will not +need any fairy wand nor magic sentence to do it; just trace the heads +upon a piece of thick paper, and cut them out carefully with a pair of +sharp scissors; then place them so that their shadows may fall clearly +upon a sheet of paper, and the change is complete. You can make many +different surprises of the same kind by drawing other heads yourselves.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> All purely Russian names end either in "off" or "in," the +"ski's" being all Polish, and the "ko's" all Cossack.</p></div> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's Young People, February 17, +1880, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, FEB 17, 1880 *** + +***** This file should be named 28353-h.htm or 28353-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/5/28353/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire + +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. 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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: Harper's Young People, February 17, 1880 + An Illustrated Weekly + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 18, 2009 [EBook #28353] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, FEB 17, 1880 *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HARPER'S + +YOUNG PEOPLE + +AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.] + + + * * * * * + +VOL. I.--NO. 16. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR +CENTS. + +Tuesday, February 17, 1880. Copyright, 1880, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 +per Year, in Advance. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: "DON'T YOU WISH YOU COULD GET IT?"] + + + + +GENERAL PRESCOTT AND THE YANKEE BOY. + +BY BENSON J. LOSSING. + + +General Prescott, commanding the British forces on Rhode Island in 1777, +was a petty tyrant, imperious, irascible, and cruel. He would command +citizens of Newport who met him on the streets to take off their hats in +deference to him, and if not obeyed, he would knock them off with his +cane. If he saw a group of citizens talking together, he would shake his +cane at them, and shout, "Disperse, you rebels!" For slight offenses +citizens were imprisoned and otherwise ill-treated. This unworthy +conduct made the people despise and hate him. His tyranny became +unbearable. + +Prescott's summer quarters were at Mr. Overing's house, on the borders +of Narragansett Bay, a few miles from Newport. On a warm but showery +night in July, 1777, Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, with a few resolute men, +went down the bay from Providence, in a whale-boat, landed near +Prescott's quarters at about midnight, secured the sentinels, entered +the house, and ascended to the door of his bedroom in the second story. +It was locked. A stout colored man who accompanied Barton, making a +battering-ram of his head, burst open the door. The General, in +affright, sprang from his bed, but was instantly seized, and without +being allowed to dress himself, was conveyed to the boat, and taken +quickly across the bay to Warwick. Thence he was sent, under guard, to +Washington's head-quarters in New Jersey. + +In the spring of 1778 Prescott was exchanged for General Charles Lee, +and returned to Rhode Island. Soon afterward the British Admiral invited +the General to dine with him and his officers on board his ship, then +lying in front of Newport. Martial law yet prevailed on the Island, and +men and boys were frequently sent by the authorities on shore to be +confined in the ship as a punishment for slight offenses. There were +several on board at that time. + +After dinner the free use of wine made the company hilarious, and toasts +and songs were frequently called for. A lieutenant remarked to the +Admiral, "There is a Yankee lad confined below who can shame any of us +in singing." + +"Bring him up," said the Admiral. + +"Yes, bring him up," said Prescott. + +The boy was brought into the cabin. He was pale and slender, and about +thirteen years of age. Abashed by the presence of great officers, with +their glittering uniforms, he timidly approached, when the Admiral, +seeing his embarrassment, spoke kindly to him, and asked him to sing a +song. + +"I can't sing any but Yankee songs," said the trembling boy. + +"Come, my little fellow, don't be afraid," said the Admiral. "Sing one +of your Yankee songs--any one you can recollect." + +The boy still hesitated, when the brutal Prescott, who was a stranger to +the lad, roared out, + +"Give us a song, you little rebel, or I'll give you a dozen lashes." + +This cruel salutation was innocently met most severely by the child, +when, encouraged by kind words from the Admiral, he sang, with a sweet +voice and modest manner, the following ballad, composed by a sailor of +Newport: + + "Twas on a dark and stormy night-- + The wind and waves did roar-- + Bold Barton then, with twenty men, + Went down upon the shore. + + "And in a whale-boat they set off + To Rhode Island fair, + To catch a redcoat General + Who then resided there. + + "Through British fleets and guard-boats strong + They held their dangerous way, + Till they arrived unto their port, + And then did not delay. + + "A tawny son of Afric's race + Them through the ravine led, + And entering then the Overing house, + They found him in his bed. + + "But to get in they had no means + Except poor Cuffee's head, + Who beat the door down, then rushed in, + And seized him in his bed. + + "Stop! let me put my clothing on!" + The General then did pray; + 'Your clothing, massa, I will take; + For dress we can not stay.' + + "Then through rye stubble him they led, + With shoes and clothing none, + And placed him in their boat quite snug, + And from the shore were gone. + + "Soon the alarm was sounded loud: + 'The Yankees they have come, + And stolen Prescott from his bed, + And him have carried hum.' + + "The drums were beat, sky-rockets flew, + The soldiers shouldered arms, + And marched around the grounds they knew, + Filled with most dire alarms. + + "But through the fleet with muffled oars + They held their devious way, + And landed him on 'Gansett shores, + Where Britons held no sway. + + "When unto land the captors came, + Where rescue there was none, + 'A bold push this,' the General cried; + 'Of prisoners I am one.'" + +The boy was frequently interrupted by roars of laughter at Prescott's +expense, which strengthened the child's nerves and voice; and when he +had concluded his song, "I thought," wrote a gentleman who was present, +"the deck would go through with the stamping." General Prescott joined +heartily in the merriment produced by the song, and thrusting his hand +into his pocket, he pulled out a coin, and handed it to the boy, saying, + +"Here, you young dog, is a guinea for you." + +The boy was set at liberty the next morning, and sent ashore. + + + + +CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN THREE MILES HIGH. + + +The ice-bound peak of the Alps known as the Matterhorn, situated between +Switzerland and Italy, forty miles northeast of Mont Blanc, and twelve +miles west of Monte Rosa, towers skyward nearly 15,000 feet, presenting +an appearance imposing beyond description. The peak rises abruptly, by a +series of cliffs which may properly be termed precipices, a clear 5000 +feet above the glaciers which surround its base. There seemed to the +superstitious natives in the surrounding valleys to be a line drawn +around it, up to which one might go, but no farther. Within that +invisible line good and evil spirits were supposed to exist. They spoke +of a ruined city on its summit wherein the spirits dwelt; and if you +laughed, they gravely shook their heads, told you to look yourself to +see the castles and the walls, and warned you against a rash approach, +lest the infuriate demons from their impregnable heights should hurl +down vengeance for your audacity. + +Previous to 1865 several attempts had been made by daring tourists to +reach its summit, but no one got beyond 13,000 feet, the remaining 2000 +feet being generally regarded as inaccessible. But in the year just +mentioned a little party of hardy English climbers accomplished the +ascent. The achievement was made, however, at the cost of four human +lives. + +The story, as told by one of the leaders of the party, Mr. Edward +Whymper, who had already made seven unsuccessful attempts, is an +exciting one. + +The ascent was made in July, in company with Lord Francis Douglas, Mr. +Hudson, Mr. Hadow, and three guides. On the first day they did not +ascend to a great height, and on the second day they resumed their +journey with daylight, as they were anxious to outstrip a party of +Italians who had set out before them by a different route. Difficulty +after difficulty was surmounted. The higher they rose, the more intense +became the excitement. What if they should be beaten at the last moment? +The slope eased off; at length they could be detached from the rope +which bound the party together; and Croz and Mr. Whymper, dashing away, +ran a neck-and-neck race, which ended in a dead-heat. At 1.40 P.M. the +world was at their feet, and the Matterhorn was conquered. Hurrah! They +had beaten the party of Italians, whom they saw on the southwest ridge, +1250 feet below, and who did not prosecute the ascent farther. For an +hour the successful climbers revelled in the scene which lay at their +feet. There were black and gloomy forests, bright and cheerful meadows; +bounding water-falls and tranquil lakes; fertile lands and savage +wastes; sunny plains and frigid _plateaux_. There were the most rugged +forms and the most graceful outlines; low perpendicular cliffs and +gentle undulating slopes; rocky mountains and snowy mountains, sombre +and solemn, or glittering and white, with walls, turrets, pinnacles, +pyramids, domes, cones, and spires. There was every combination that the +world can give, and every contrast that the heart could desire. + +Alas! their naturally triumphant feeling of pleasure was but +short-lived. They had commenced their descent, again tied together with +ropes. Croz, a most accomplished guide and a brave fellow, went first; +Hadow, second; Hudson, as an experienced mountaineer, and reckoned as +good as a guide, third; Lord F. Douglas, fourth; followed by Mr. Whymper +between the two remaining guides, named Jaugwalder, father and son. They +were commencing the difficult part of the descent, and Croz was cutting +steps in the ice for the feet of Mr. Hadow, who was immediately behind +him. A few minutes later a sharp-eyed lad ran into the Monte Rosa Hotel, +saying that he had seen an avalanche fall from the summit of the +Matterhorn on to the Matterhorngletscher. The boy was reproved for +telling idle stories; he was right, nevertheless, and this was what he +saw: Michel Croz had laid aside his axe, and in order to give Mr. Hadow +greater security, was taking hold of his legs, and putting his feet one +by one into their proper positions. "At this moment," says Mr. Whymper, +"Mr. Hadow slipped, fell against him, and knocked him over. I heard one +startled exclamation from Croz, then saw him and Mr. Hadow flying +downward; in another moment Hudson was dragged from his steps, and Lord +F. Douglas immediately after him. All this was the work of a moment. +Immediately we heard Croz's exclamation, old Peter and I planted +ourselves as firmly as the rocks would permit; the rope was taut between +us, and the jerk came on us both as one man. We held; but the rope broke +midway between Jaugwalder and Lord Francis Douglas. For a few seconds we +saw our unfortunate companions sliding downward on their backs, and +spreading out their hands, endeavoring to save themselves. They passed +from our sight uninjured, disappeared one by one, and fell from +precipice to precipice on to the Matterhorngletscher below--a distance +of nearly 4000 feet in height. From the moment the rope broke, it was +impossible to help them. So perished our comrades." + +The bodies of three of the men who thus miserably perished were +afterward recovered; but that of Lord Francis Douglas was never again +seen. It was a melancholy ending, and may well excite a feeling of +surprise that so many brave and useful men can thus be found year by +year hazarding their lives for what is in many cases no higher purpose +than that of pleasure or sport. + + + + +THE GOLD DIGGINGS OF IRELAND. + + +Although Ireland is not generally regarded as one of the gold-producing +countries of the world, gold has been found there in paying quantities, +especially in the county of Wicklow. + +Tradition commonly attributes the original discovery of the Wicklow gold +mines to a poor school-master, who, while fishing in one of the small +streams which descend from the Croghan mountains, picked up a piece of +shining metal, and having ascertained that it was gold, gradually +enriched himself by the success of his researches in that and the +neighboring streams, cautiously disposing of the produce of his labor to +a goldsmith in Dublin. He is said to have preserved the secret for +upward of twenty years, but marrying a young wife, he imprudently +confided his discovery to her, and she, believing her husband to be mad, +immediately revealed the circumstance to her relations, through whose +means it was made public. This was toward the close of the year 1795, +and the effect it produced was remarkable. Thousands of people of every +age and sex hurried to the spot, and from the laborer who could wield a +spade or pickaxe to the child who scraped the rock with a rusty nail, +all eagerly engaged in the search after gold. The Irish are a people +possessed of a rich and quick fancy, and the very name of a gold mine +carried with it ideas of inexhaustible wealth. + +During the interval which elapsed between the public announcement of the +gold discovery and the taking possession of the mine by the +government--a period of about two months--it is supposed that upward of +two thousand five hundred ounces of gold were collected by the peasants, +principally from the mud and sand of Ballinvally stream, and disposed of +for about ten thousand pounds, a sum far exceeding the produce of the +mine during the government operations, which amounted to little more +than three thousand five hundred pounds. + +The gold was found in pieces of all forms and sizes, from the smallest +perceptible particle to the extraordinary mass of twenty-two ounces, +which sold for eighty guineas. This large piece was of an irregular +form; it measured four inches in its greatest length, and three in +breadth, and in thickness it varied from half an inch to an inch; a gilt +cast of it may be seen in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin. So pure +was the gold generally found, that it was the custom of the Dublin +goldsmiths to put gold coin in the opposite scale to it, and give weight +for weight. + +The government works were carried on until 1798, when all the machinery +was destroyed in the insurrection. The mining was renewed in 1801, but +not being found sufficiently productive to pay the expenses, the search +was abandoned. There prevails yet, however, a lingering belief among the +peasants that there is still gold in Kinsella, and only the "lucky man" +is wanting. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE SUMMER BOARDER, MOSES, AND THE TWO VISITORS. + +BY THE FAMILY STORY-TELLER. + + +I warn you, said Family Story-Teller, looking round upon the family +circle the next evening, that this is a story of mistakes. It will be a +hard story to follow, and unless you pay close attention, you will +forget which is Evelyn and which is the other girl, and why it was that +Mrs. Stimpcett thought her boy Moses had broken his leg. I mean, of +course, Mrs. Stimpcett of the village of Gilead. + +Mrs. Stimpcett's summer boarder, Mr. St. Clair, was forgetful. He liked +well to gaze at a brook, a pond, the clouds, the blue sky, the flowery +fields, and often he forgot to stop doing so, and kept on gazing when it +was meal time, or bed-time, or some other time. + +Mrs. Stimpcett took also another summer boarder, a rich lady of the name +of Odell. Mrs. Odell was tall, and slim, and pale, and in her cap, just +above her forehead, was set in a row three pink muslin roses. Mrs. Odell +was silly enough to be proud of being rich, and stingy enough to like to +save her own money at other people's expense. + +[Illustration: EVELYN.] + +Mrs. Odell had a six-year-old niece named Evelyn, a pale, delicate +little girl, who lived in the city, and this Evelyn was coming to Gilead +to visit her aunt Odell. She was coming in the cars to Mill Village in +care of the conductor, and her aunt Odell was to send a carriage to the +station to fetch her to Gilead. If the carriage was not there when the +cars arrived, she was to stay with the station-man till it should +arrive. I trust my story is plain thus far. + +It happened that Mr. Stimpcett was going to Mill Village that same day, +to get some corn ground, and Mrs. Odell, though it would take him very +far out of his way, asked him to go round by the station and get Evelyn. +This would save hiring a carriage. + +Now Mr. St. Clair thought it would be a pleasant thing to go to mill, +and asked if he might go in the place of Mr. Stimpcett. Mr. Stimpcett +said, "Oh yes, if you will be sure to bring back the meal." So Mr. St. +Clair went to mill; and Moses Stimpcett, a boy about nine years old, +went with him, for the sake of the ride, and to see his aunt Debby, who +lived not far from the mill. + +They set off soon after the hour of noon. Moses wore his Zouave cap, and +his second-best summer clothes, and Mr. St. Clair wore a black alpaca +coat, a blue neck-tie tied in a bow, a broad-brimmed straw hat, a white +vest, and white trousers. Moses drove the horse, and they reached the +mill without accident. While the miller was taking in the corn, Moses +bought a roll of lozenges at a store near by, and as he came out with +them a man passed that way, leading a small but valuable dog. Said this +man to Moses, "I wish you would hold my dog while I step into the mill;" +and Moses took the string. + +Mr. St. Clair hitched his horse a little way from the mill, and then +said to Moses, "When the man takes his dog, you can go to your aunt +Debby's. I will call for you there, after I have been to the station and +got the little girl." Mr. St. Clair then walked up the bank of the +stream to see the waters flow. + +[Illustration: MOSES LETS THE DOG FALL.] + +Moses led the dog along to the mill, and leaned against the building +awhile; then sat down on a barrel. Soon the barrel began to move. The +reason of this was that it stood on an elevator. Moses had not noticed +that the barrel stood on an elevator. First he wondered what the matter +was, and second, he thought he would jump; but by that time the barrel +was quite a way off the ground, and, besides, he was troubled by holding +the string of the dog, and the lozenges. The barrel rose higher and +higher, and when the little dog found himself swinging in the air, he +kicked and yelped, and jerked the string so that Moses was obliged to +let it go, and also to drop the lozenges, for he had to grasp the barrel +with both hands. The dog fell, and broke one of his legs. [Please +remember that it was the _dog_, and not Moses.] Moses and the barrel +were taken in at the third story. A traveller passing through the place +heard of this elevator accident, and told of it that afternoon at a +house in Gilead. But this person understood that it was the _boy_ who +broke his leg--"a Stimpcett boy," he said, in telling the news. Mrs. +Stimpcett heard of it soon after milking-time; but this will be spoken +of farther on in the story. + +Mr. St. Clair walked far up the bank of the stream, and when he came +back, the miller told him that his bag of meal had been put into his +cart. He went out, and seeing a cart with a bag of meal lying at the +bottom, he stepped in, and drove around to the station. + +Now this cart which Mr. St. Clair took belonged to a man who came from +Cherry Valley. Here, you see, was a mistake. But Mr. St. Clair not only +took the wrong cart, he took the wrong little girl, as will now be told. +He drove in haste to the station, knowing he had staid too long walking +up the bank of the stream. On the platform of the station sat a +roly-poly, chubby-cheeked little girl, with a carpet-bag and a heavy +bundle. He asked her, "Are you waiting for some one to come for you?" +"Yes, sir," she answered. "All right," said Mr. St. Clair; and he helped +her into the cart. I hope you understand that this very fleshy child was +not Evelyn Odell. She was Maggie Brien. Maggie Brien lived with her +grandmother, not far from the station. Her mother did the cooking in a +family two miles away, and she had promised to send that day for Maggie +to come and make her a visit, and Maggie was sitting on the platform +waiting for the man to take her. + +Mr. St. Clair took her, and drove from the station, thinking to go to +Aunt Debby's and get Moses, and set off for Gilead; but while he was +gazing up at the sky, the horse--which you will remember was not Mr. +Stimpcett's horse--turned into a road which led to his own master's +house at Cherry Valley. Mr. St. Clair had now the wrong horse and cart, +the wrong meal, the wrong girl, and the wrong road. Presently the horse +trotted up to the door of a farm-house, and stopped. Three heads of +three young maidens popped out of three chamber windows, and a +bare-armed woman, wiping her hands on her apron, rushed to the door. +"Where is my husband?" she cried. "Is he hurt? Is he killed? Tell me the +truth at once!" + +"I assure you, madam," answered Mr. St. Clair, mildly, "that I have not +seen your husband." + +"Why, then, have you come with his horse and cart?" she asked. + +"This horse and cart, madam," said Mr. St. Clair, still mildly, "belongs +to Mr. Stimpcett, of Gilead." + +"Do you think I don't know our horse and cart?" cried the woman, in an +angry tone. "Besides, here's my husband's name on the bag--I. Ellison." + +"I must have taken the wrong horse and cart," said Mr. St. Clair. "I +will go back at once and find Mr. Ellison." + +"The quicker the better," said the woman, as he turned the horse. + +Just after Mr. St. Clair had passed from the Cherry Valley road into the +mill road, a man came out of a wood path and sprang at the horse, +crying, "Stop thief!" + +"Where is the thief?" asked Mr. St. Clair, looking all around. + +"You are the thief!" cried the man. "You have stolen my horse and cart." + +Maggie Brien began to cry. + +"Are you Mr. I. Ellison?" asked Mr. St. Clair. + +"Yes, I am," said the man, angrily. + +Mr. St. Clair explained his mistake, and gave up the horse and cart to +Mr. I. Ellison. He then took Maggie's carpet-bag and heavy bundle, and +walked all the way to Aunt Debby's. + +By the time they reached Aunt Debby's it was nearly dark, and as for +Moses, he was already travelling home in his father's cart. It happened +in this way. Aunt Debby heard that Mr. St. Clair had been seen driving +off, and knew he must have taken the wrong horse and cart, for Mr. +Stimpcett's was still standing near the mill. Therefore, as Moses had +already waited until after supper, she let him take his father's horse +and cart and drive home behind a man with an ox team who was going by a +roundabout way to Gilead. + +Now as soon as Moses had driven off, Aunt Debby locked her doors and +went to an evening meeting, so that when Mr. St. Clair came there on +foot, with Maggy Brien and her bag and bundle, to find Moses, he found +no one. He questioned some boys standing by a fence, and they told him +that Moses had gone home in his father's cart, behind an ox team. Maggy +Brien began to cry again. "Don't cry, dear," said Mr. St. Clair. "I'll +hire a buggy." + +He hired from the stable a buggy, a fast horse, and a driver, and away +they started for Gilead, and reached Mr. Stimpcett's house at about half +past eight o'clock in the evening. Moses had not arrived. + +Mr. St. Clair found Mrs. Stimpcett, with her bonnet and shawl on, +walking the floor, sobbing and sighing and wringing her hands. Grandma, +also crying, was wrapping a bottle of the Sudden Remedy in a piece of +newspaper. + +"Oh, how _is_ Moses?" cried Mrs. Stimpcett. "_Will_ it have to be taken +off?" + +"Is not Moses here?" asked Mr. St. Clair, in a mild voice. + +"Here!" cried Mrs. Stimpcett. "How can he be here, when he has broken +his leg? I am going to him as soon as Mr. Stimpcett can borrow a horse." + +Mr. St. Clair thought that Moses must have fallen from the cart on his +way home; but before he had time to speak, Mrs. Odell came in. + +"Where is my niece?" she cried. "Where is Evelyn?" + +[Illustration: "'HERE SHE IS,' SAID MR. ST. CLAIR."] + +"Here she is," said Mr. St. Clair, presenting Maggie Brien. + +"What do you mean?" shrieked Mrs. Odell. "That my niece? No! no! no! Oh, +Evelyn! Evelyn! Evelyn! Dear child, where are you?" + +Maggie Brien began to cry bitterly. + +"Alas! what a wretch I am, to have made this mistake!" cried Mr. St. +Clair. "But I'll find your Evelyn. I'll go for a horse. I'll take this +child back. Don't cry, little girl. I won't rest till I find your +Evelyn;" and he rushed from the house, almost knocking down several +children in the passageway--the Stimpcett children; for Obadiah, Debby, +and little Cordelia had been awakened by the noise, and had come down in +their night-gowns. + +But the lost Evelyn was near, and coming nearer every moment. You will +remember that Maggie's mother, Mrs. Brien, was to send for Maggie to +come and visit her. The man whom she sent went back and told her that he +could not find Maggie, and that her grandmother was afraid she had been +stolen from the station. Mrs. Brien hired a horse and wagon, and drove +to the station, and inquired of the station-master. A stable-boy who +stood near told her he saw a little girl who looked like Maggie riding +off in a buggy with a man, and that the man hired the buggy to go to +Gilead. + +"The wretch!" cried Mrs. Brien; "to be stealing away my child! I will +keep on to Gilead. I will follow him up." + +"I wish you would let this little girl ride with you to Gilead," said +the station-master. "She has been waiting a long time for some one to +call and take her to Mr. Stimpcett's, and Mr. Stimpcett will help you +find your Maggie." He then brought out a slender, flaxen-haired little +girl, and placed her in Mrs. Brien's wagon. This child was Evelyn Odell, +and Mrs. Brien took her to Gilead. + +It happened that they reached Mr. Stimpcett's just as Moses was driving +into the yard with his father's horse and cart, and they three, Mrs. +Brien, Moses, and Evelyn, went into the house together. + +Scarcely had they entered before Mr. Stimpcett, and then Mr. St. Clair, +arrived in haste, each with a horse and wagon. Mr. Stimpcett rushed in +to get his wife, and Mr. St. Clair to get Maggie. There they found Mrs. +Stimpcett with her arms around Moses, Mrs. Odell with hers around +Evelyn, and Mrs. Brien with hers around Maggie; and there were huggings +and kissings and laughings and cryings, and it was, "Oh, you dear!" and, +"Oh, you darling!" and "Oh, my child!" and, oh other things! Grandma +held the Sudden Remedy bottle, looking at Moses's legs as if not quite +sure yet that they did not need some of it rubbed on, while Obadiah, and +Deborah, and little Cordelia stood staring and sniffling and smiling, +now and then wiping their eyes with their night-gown sleeves. + +"Will nobody hug me?" cried Mr. Stimpcett. Upon this little Cordelia +climbed into his arms, and they two hugged each other. + +Mr. St. Clair told his part of the story, Moses his part, and Mrs. Brien +her part. + +"After all," said Mr. Stimpcett, "Mr. St. Clair did not bring back the +meal!" + + + + +THE FAIRY PAINTERS. + + +The Fairy Queen had built herself a palace of gold and crystal. The +rooms were hung with tapestry of rose leaves, and the floors were +carpeted with moss. The great hall was the grandest part of all. The +ceiling was made of mother-of-pearl, and the walls of ivory, and the +lights which hung from the roof sparkled with diamonds. These ivory +walls were to be covered with paintings; so the Queen called the fairy +artists, and bade them all paint a picture for her by a certain day. "He +whose picture is best," she said, "shall paint my hall, to his +everlasting renown, and I will raise him, besides, to the highest fairy +honors." The youngest of the fairy painters was Tintabel. He could draw +a face so exquisite, that it was happiness only to gaze at it, or so sad +that no one could see it without tears. No fairy longed as he did for +the glory and renown of painting the Queen's palace. + +He wandered out into the wood to dream his idea into loveliness before +he wrought it with his hand. "Never shall be picture like my picture," +he said aloud; "I will steal the colors of heaven, and trace spirit +forms." But Orgolino, that wicked fairy, heard him. Now Orgolino painted +very grandly. He could draw wild and strong and terrible beings, which +thrilled the gazer with wonder and awe. Of all his rivals he feared +Tintabel only. So, when he saw him alone in the wood, he rejoiced +wickedly, and said, "Now I will rid myself of a foe;" and he flew down +upon the poor Tintabel, and being a more powerful fairy, he caught him, +and pinned his wings together with magic thorns, and fastened him down +with them among the fungus and toad-stools of the damp wood. Then he +flew away exulting, and painted day and night. It was a magnificent +picture, with stately figures, powerful and triumphant, and Orgolino's +heart swelled with pride at his work, and he said to himself, "I might +have left that poor wretch alone. The weakling could do nothing like +this." + +Meanwhile Tintabel cried bitterly, because his hope was lost, his praise +would never be heard among the fairies, and the beauty he had hoped to +create he should never see. The elf that lived in the toad-stool looked +up as the tears fell upon him, and gathered them up from his fungous +coat, where they sparkled like dew. + +"What sweet water!" he said. + +"Alas!" sighed Tintabel--"alas for my vanished hopes! Oh! how lovely +should my picture have been, and now I am bound down here to +uselessness;" and he could not feel the pain of his bruised and bound +wings because of the pain at his heart. The elf in the toad-stool looked +up and said, + +"Fairy, paint me a picture, here on the smooth surface of the +toad-stool, for I have never seen one." + +Tintabel stopped his wailing to think how wretched was the elf who had +never seen a picture. + +"Ah! elf," he said, "I have neither pencil nor colors. How can I paint?" + +But the elf pointed to one of the thorns which fastened Tintabel's +wings. The end was long, so that the fairy could reach it. + +"There is a pencil," said the elf; and the artist's longing came upon +the fairy, and he seized the thorn. Poor hurt wings! how they quivered +and pained as the point of their fastenings pressed hither and thither +over the surface of the toad-stool, and crushed and dragged and rent +them in its course! But the thorn had a magic in it, and Tintabel found +it possessed more than fairy power. The sharper his pain, the more +perfect the stroke he could make. As the delicate film of the wing was +torn, the rainbow tints dropped off, and gave him lovelier colors than +the hues of heaven; and the elf held up his tears as water for the +painting. He painted his remembrance of fairy-land and his weariness of +earth. + +When the appointed day came, the Fairy Queen called her painters +together. The great hall was filled with them, but of all the pictures +none was so great as Orgolino's. He had painted "The Triumph of +Strength." Then said the Queen, "Where is Tintabel?" and no one knew. + +"He has not cared to obey your Majesty's command," said Orgolino. + +But the Queen looked at him steadily, and said, "Tintabel must be +found." + +Then all the fairies went in search of him. Soon one returned and said, +"Tintabel is bound in the wood among the fungus and toad-stools, and +before him is a picture more beautiful than any fairy ever saw." + +"Come," said the Queen; and her subjects followed her to the wood. + +There, on the white toad-stool's top, was a tiny picture, lovelier and +grander at once than any fancy could dream, and it showed "The Triumph +of Pain." + +Then Orgolino was turned out into the wood among the cold and creeping +things, and Tintabel was taken to great honor. + + + + +A WIDE-AWAKE RUSSIAN SENTRY. + +BY DAVID KER. + + +Eighty or ninety years ago, when the Russians had a good many wars upon +their hands, their best general was Marshal Alexander Suvoroff, whose +name is still famous in Russia. Any old soldier you meet there will tell +you plenty of stories about him, and strange enough stories too, for he +was a very curious kind of man. In the coldest weather, when even the +hardiest soldiers were wrapping themselves up, he would go about in his +shirt sleeves just as if it were summer; and very often he would be up +before any one else in the camp was astir, and startle the first officer +whom he saw coming out of his tent by crowing like a rooster as loud as +he could, just as if to say, "You ought to have been out before." Then, +too, Count and General though he was, dining with the Empress herself +almost every week, and going about the palace as he pleased, he dressed +as plainly as any peasant, and slept on straw like a common soldier. +Once or twice the palace servants, seeing this untidy little fellow +coming up to the grand entrance, took him for a tramp, and wanted to +drive him away; but they soon found out that _that_ would not do. + +Another of his queer ways was to try and puzzle any one he met by asking +him all sorts of strange questions, such as how many stars there were in +the sky, how many drops of water in the sea, and so forth. He _did_ +puzzle a good many people in this way, but once or twice he got an +answer quite as smart as his questions, and that was just what he liked. + +One day a soldier came to him with a dispatch, and Suvoroff, seeing that +he was quite a young, simple-looking fellow, thought it would be good +fun to try his hand upon _him_. + +"How many fish are there in the sea?" he asked. + +"Just exactly as many as haven't been caught yet," answered the lad at +once. + +The General was rather taken aback, but he went on, nevertheless: + +"If you were in a besieged town, without food, how would you supply +yourself?" + +"From the enemy." + +"How far is it from here to the moon?" + +"Two of your Excellency's forced marches." + +Suvoroff smiled and looked pleased, for he was very proud of being able +to move his men so quickly, and had won many a victory by it. + +"Which of your officers do you like best?" was the next question. + +"Captain Masloff." + +Now this Captain Masloff happened to be a very handsome young fellow, +while Suvoroff himself was frightfully ugly, so he thought he would +catch the soldier in a trap by asking him, "What's the difference +between your captain and myself?" + +"Why," said the soldier, looking slyly at him, "my captain can't make me +a corporal, but your Excellency has only to say the word." + +The General burst into a loud laugh, and clapping him on the shoulder, +said, "Well, then, I _do_ say the word: you're a corporal from this day +forth, and a right good one you'll make. If I can find another man as +smart as you, I'll make him a sergeant." + +Two or three months after this adventure, Suvoroff and his army were +down on the Lower Danube, keeping watch over the Turks, in the middle of +the hardest winter that had been known in that country for many a year. +But of course, being Russians, they didn't mind _that_ much, and +Suvoroff went about in the snow and the frost as if he didn't know what +cold was. + +Well, one bitter night in the beginning of January, the old General was +making the round of the camp, as usual, to see that his sentinels were +all keeping good watch at the outposts, when suddenly he came upon a +sentry who seemed to have got the coldest place of all, for he was right +down upon the bank of the river, with the cold wind blowing through him +as if it would cut him in two. + +"Good-evening, brother," said the General, speaking as if _he_ were only +a common soldier too. + +"Good-evening," answered the sentinel, pretending not to know him, +although he had recognized the General's voice in a moment. + +"Plenty of stars out to-night," went on Suvoroff, looking up at the +frosty sky. "Can you tell me how many of them there are altogether?" + +"Just wait a bit, and I'll count," said the soldier, quite coolly. And +forthwith he began: "One, two, three, four, five, six," and so on, as if +he were never going to leave off. + +At first Suvoroff was rather amused at his smartness; but he soon found +the game getting much too cold to be pleasant, for he was in his usual +light dress, while the sentry at least had on a good thick frieze coat. +Keener and keener blew the bitter night wind, till the poor old General +felt as if he should never be warm again. For a while he bore up +manfully, hoping the soldier would get tired and leave off; but when the +man got up to a thousand, and was still counting away as if he meant to +keep it up all night, Suvoroff could stand it no longer. + +"What's your name, my fine fellow?" asked he, as well as his chattering +teeth would let him. + +"Vasili [Basil] Pushkin,"[1] answered the soldier, "private in the +Seventh Foot." + +"Very good," said the Marshal; "I won't forget you. Good-night." + +The next morning Pushkin was sent for to the General's quarters; and +Suvoroff, turning to his staff officers, said: + +"Gentlemen, here's a man whom I tried to fool last night, but I met my +match, and something more. I said I'd make any man a sergeant who was +smart enough for that, and I must keep my word." + +And he did so that very day. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +1 All purely Russian names end either in "off" or "in," the +"ski's" being all Polish, and the "ko's" all Cossack. + + + + +THE SONG OF THE WREN. + +BY MRS. MARGARET EYTINGE. + + +[Illustration: BIRDIE AND HER LITTLE FRIENDS.] + +In a certain wild but beautiful country place, far from this great +city, stood a little white cottage all by itself, there being no other +house for ten or twelve miles, over which, in summer-time, the wild +rose vines clambered until they reached the very chimney, where, +clinging to the red bricks, they flung out in merry triumph slender +flower-laden branches like pennons on the breeze. Under the cottage +eaves some swallows built their nests every spring, and to the garden +came, as soon as the yellow and white honeysuckles and blue larkspurs +and many-colored four-o'clocks bloomed, myriads of humming-birds, +looking like rubies, and diamonds, and opals, and emeralds, and topazes, +and sapphires, that had taken to themselves wings, and flown from all +parts of the world to visit the living gems in this lovely spot. In the +autumn, when the leaves, dressed in their gayest dress, were bidding +farewell to the sunshine and the wind and each other, hundreds of +robin-redbreasts--"God's birds"--hopped like little flames about the +ground, and in a hollow tree near the cottage door a pretty red-brown +wren and his mate had found shelter for a long time, and reared several +broods. As for the saucy, chattering, busy, fearless sparrows, they had +feather-lined nests wherever a sparrow's nest could be placed, and that +is almost everywhere--on the pump, behind the wood-pile, in the barn, +among the trees--and these nests they never forsook all the year round. +What wonder that the cottage was called Bird House, and the dear wee +girl whose home it was answered to the name of Birdie? No brothers or +sisters had the innocent, blue-eyed child, and, save the birds, no +little friends. But they loved her dearly, and were always near her; so +she never grew lonely, but was happy and contented from morning until +night. At early dawn, when a soft light in the eastern sky told that the +sun was coming, they tapped on her window-panes to waken her; and when +she appeared at the cottage door, they flew to meet her, lighting on her +fair head, her shoulders, her outstretched hands, with loud, sweet, +twittering welcomes. Even strange birds just passing that way would join +the merry throng, and joyfully and gratefully partake of the crumbs the +dear one scattered for her friends. And often at night, when Birdie +awoke from a pleasant dream, and found her room filled with the silver +of the moon, she would hear the sparrows and swallows say--still +dreaming they--"Birdie, sweet Birdie!" + +She had learned their language when she was but a babe, and knew when +they were glad or sad; when they praised or scolded; when they gave +warning that the spirits of the storm were abroad; when they said to +their young, "Courage, little ones; it is time to try your wings"; when +they softly chirped, "To sleep, to sleep"; and when they sang songs of +love or farewell. + +And so it happened that she understood every word of the song that the +wren sang to her that winter afternoon. The snow had been falling, and +the sunshine was just coming back, when she went out in the garden, in +her Little Red Riding-hood cloak, to share her bread with the sparrows +and snow-birds. Around her they flew, uttering cries of joy, when +suddenly the wren, forgetting his shyness, appeared among them; and this +is the song he sang: + + "In the time of violets, + When the Spring came dancing + O'er the meadow, through the wood, + Sunbeams round her glancing-- + 'Birdie's sweet, sweet, sweet, + Sweet,' sang the swallow, + 'And where'er her footsteps roam, + I will follow, follow.' + + "When the roses bloomed and blushed, + And the fragrant Summer + Kisses warm and sparkling smiles + Gave to each new-comer-- + 'Birdie's sweet, sweet, sweet,' + Sang the blackbird clearly; + 'Sweet as daisy-buds, and I + Love her dearly, dearly.' + + "When the autumn leaves began + Gold and crimson turning, + Robin-Redbreast sang--his breast + Bright as sunset burning-- + 'Birdie's sweet, sweet, sweet, + Sweet as dewy clover, + And her praises shall be sung + All the wide world over.' + + "Wrens and sparrows--all the birds, + Dear, that fly above thee, + For thy gentle words and ways, + For thy beauty, love thee. + Birdie sweet, sweet, sweet-- + Happy be forever! + While the birds can guard thee, sweet, + Harm shall reach thee never." + +"Thank you, dear wren--thank you, dear birds," said Birdie, with tears +in her beautiful blue eyes, when the song was ended; and she went away +to her own little room and said a prayer of thankfulness. + +And from that time the child's heart was lighter than ever, and she sang +all day long like a tuneful mocking-bird, blending all the sweet strains +of her friends in one delightful song, until winter passed away, and the +snow melted, and the snow-drop peeped out of the ground, and said, +timidly, "I am here: spare me, O Wind!" and while the spring covered the +earth with daisies and dandelions and May buds and brave honest grass, +and flung delicate blossoms all over the orchards. Then came the summer +once more, and started millions of lovely "green things a-growing," and +filled the trees with thousands of joyous young birds. + +And one glowing July day, early in the morning, Birdie wandered off to +the woods, as she had often done before, to look for wild flowers, and +gather some green food for her feathered pets. "I'll be back again in a +little while, mamma," she said, as she left the cottage. But the hours +went by, and noon came, and she had not returned. + +"Where is my little maid?" called her father, cheerily, as he came in to +dinner from the field where he had been working; but no little maid +replied. + +"She has gone for bird weeds and flowers," said her mother. "She will be +here in a few moments." + +But the dinner was eaten, and the father went back to his work, and +still no Birdie came. + +The clock struck one--struck two--struck three, and then, her heart +growing heavier and heavier at every step, the frightened mother started +out to look for her darling. North, south, east, west, half a mile each +way from the cottage, she ran, stopping every few minutes to call, +"Birdie! Birdie!" but only the echoes answered her call. At last to the +field where her husband was working she flew. "Leave the plough," she +cried, wringing her hands, "and look for the child." + +North, east, south, west, a mile each way from his home, went the +father, shouting, "Birdie! Birdie, little maid!" and the echoes +repeated, "Birdie! Birdie, little maid!" but no other sound he heard +except the rustling of the leaves and the whir of insect wings. The sun +was beginning to sink in the west when, tired and heart-sick, he came +back again. "Perhaps she is there now," he thought, a ray of hope +lighting up his face as he neared the garden gate; but a glance at his +wife's tearful eyes as she came to meet him told him he had hoped in +vain. "I'll saddle the horse and ride to the village," he said, "and +every father there will join me in the search for my child. And we'll +find her, never fear." + +"God grant that you may--and alive!" sobbed the poor mother. "My +darling! oh, my darling!" + +At that moment a flock of birds came in sight--so large a flock that, +wheeling around the head of the sorrowing mother, it almost shut out +from her the light of day. + +Round and round her the birds circled, uttering strange, eager sounds; +then flew away a short distance, to return with louder calls than ever. + +"They miss her," said the father, who was just about to mount his horse. +"They have come to be fed." + +"They have come to lead us to her," cried his wife, her whole face +growing glad and bright. "Look at them! They are asking us to follow." + +And the birds turned as she made a few steps forward, and flew slowly +before her. To a narrow path up the nearest hill they led--so narrow +that the horse had to be left behind, and the father, who in his +impatience had ridden on in front, was obliged to dismount and follow on +foot. Over the hill and across a bridge that spanned a wide stream they +went, then up some steep rocks, and down, down into a tiny green valley, +from which another flock of birds arose with welcoming cries; and there, +in a little cave, imprisoned by a huge stone that had fallen from the +rock above across its mouth, the trees and shrubs around her black with +watching birds, sat Birdie, her little hands patiently folded in her +lap, a smile on her pale lips, and faith shining from her heaven-blue +eyes. And for once--her heart being full to overflowing with love for +her wee daughter, and gratitude to the good God and them--the mother too +understood the language of the birds as they sang, + + "Birdie, sweet, sweet, sweet, + Happy be forever! + While the birds can guard thee, sweet, + Harm shall reach thee never." + + + + +WILD BOARS. + + +The wild boar is one of the most dangerous of beasts. Although it +belongs to the same great family as the lazy, good-natured pig that lies +in utter contentment in the farmer's pen, it is an altogether different +creature, and few animals are so difficult to hunt. + +In appearance it has the same general characteristics as domestic swine, +with the difference that it is larger, covered with coarser bristles, +has fiery, glowing eyes, and is armed with two terrible tusks, sometimes +ten inches long, with which it can inflict dangerous wounds. + +Formerly wild boars roamed in great numbers through the forests of Great +Britain, but for many years they have been extinct in that country. They +are still found in some parts of France and Spain, and are very numerous +in Germany and the wild jungles of India. They are also found in Poland, +Southern Russia, and Africa. Du Chaillu, the African traveller, mentions +encountering a hideous red-haired wild hog in the wondrous equatorial +forests of the "dark continent." Notwithstanding its size it was +tremendously savage, and very agile, jumping and running like a cat. + +Wild hogs are gregarious, and are found in herds. They are fond of +living near water, in which they like to roll and wallow; indeed, a bath +appears almost indispensable to them, as they will sometimes travel +miles to obtain it. Their food consists of roots, nuts, and all kinds of +fruits and grains. In Egypt and India they do much injury to the vast +tracts of sugar-cane, the thick growth affording them excellent +hiding-places and shelter against attack. + +It is said that wild hogs will not attack a man unless hunted or +enraged; but as they are not only daring, but also very cautious and +watchful, they suspect the least approach to be offensive, and proceed +to defend themselves. + +The sow guards her little ones with great care, and becomes wild with +fury if they are touched. She will run with great speed if she hears +them call, and few hunters have succeeded in capturing young specimens +without first killing the parent. A man once riding through a forest in +Germany came upon two little wild pigs which had strayed into the +pathway. Delighted with his prize, he rolled the piggies in his +horse-blanket, sprang to his saddle, and hastened on his road. But the +smothered squealing of her babies reached the ears of the mother, and +the man soon heard a loud grunting. On turning round he saw a furious +sow, with gleaming eyes, coming after him at full speed. Being unarmed, +he was compelled to fling the little pigs on the ground, and ride for +his life. + +The wolf, the lynx, and even the sly fox are terrible enemies of wild +hogs, for with patience and cunning watchfulness they often succeed in +making off with very young pigs, which form a most savory repast. + +Wild-boar hunting has been held for ages as a royal sport, and in former +times no banquet was considered perfect unless the table was graced by a +boar's head. Kings and emperors rode to the hunt in those days with +numerous followers and huntsmen, all armed with the cross-bow and +boar-spear, in search of this royal game. At present wild-boar hunting +is carried on to some extent in Germany; but in India it is a favorite +sport, as the boar of that country is the largest and fiercest of any in +the world, not fearing even the tiger, its savage companion of the +jungles. Stories are told of dead boars and tigers being found together, +each bearing the marks of a terrible and evenly balanced fight. + +[Illustration: A WILD BOAR AT BAY.] + +In India boars are hunted on horseback, the chief weapon used being a +spear with a stout two-edged blade. A horse must be thoroughly trained +to this sport, and must possess great fleetness of foot, as the boar is +a very rapid runner. The time chosen for the hunt is at daybreak, as +the boar has probably been eating sugar-cane or other food all night, +and is sleepy and heavy in the morning, and less capable of a long run. +Savage and powerful dogs are used in the chase, which often prove +serviceable in bringing the beast to bay. For dogs the boar has a most +violent hatred, and will rush at them blindly often, with its superior +strength and formidable tusks overpowering them, unless the hunter be +near to use a spear or send a bullet through its heart. + +In this country the hog was unknown originally in a natural condition, +having been introduced by settlers from the Old World; and the wild boar +in our Western and Southern States, and in Canada, is merely the +domestic animal relapsed into a primitive state of wild ferocity. + + + + +TAKING--NOT STEALING. + +BY HANNAH SHEPPARD. + + +"So that's your game, is it, my lads? Guess I can help you a bit. I'll +try, anyhow, if it's only for the love I bore your fathers before you. +And you're fine fellows too; but you've got a wrong twist somewhere, or +you'd never in the world do such a thing as that." And quickening his +step at the close of his soliloquy, "Captain Dan," as he was called, +came up behind two boys who were standing in front of the principal +fruit and candy store of the busy town of Hamilton. + +A large bag of pea-nuts, with many other things, was displayed outside +under the window, and the old man's attention had been attracted by +seeing the elder of the boys carelessly pick up a nut as he chatted with +his companion, who soon followed his example. Evidently neither one had +any thought of doing wrong as they stood eating the nuts and crushing +the shells in their fingers. + +They started as he laid a hand heavily upon the shoulder of each, but +answered his greeting so cordially that it was easy to see they were +warm friends. He stopped them, as, linking their arms in his, they began +to turn him around, by saying: "Going toward home, are ye? Well, I don't +mind if I do go a piece with you after a bit, if you'll go down to the +shore first, for I want to take another look at that vessel I had a +sight of a good hour ago, and see if I can find out where she hails +from. There'll be a fine sunset, too, with the clouds piled like +yon"--as he pointed seaward. "I 'most wonder you're not out in the +_Firefly_. How is it, Dick?"--turning to the lad on his right hand. + +"Why, you see, Captain Dan," replied the boy, slowly, as if bringing his +thoughts back from a long distance, "Ethel wanted Maurice to row her +over to the Island, though I don't think he knows much more about a boat +than May." + +"Did they take her with them?" asked the captain, eagerly. + +"Yes," answered Dick; "and I'm sure mamma would not have let her go if +she'd been at home. But she was out riding with papa, and May begged so +hard that Ethel would take her in spite of all I could say." + +"Oh, well, there's no great harm done that I know of," quoth Captain +Dan, "though I'm free to confess that I don't think your cousin knows as +much of boats as he does of his books. However, as you feel uneasy, +we'll wait about the landing till they come, and they can climb the +cliff with us if they like. Many's the time little 'May bird' has gone +up it on my shoulder, little pet!" Then, as he noticed how intently Dick +was watching, he added, "They'll surely be back before long, and it +won't hurt us to talk here awhile, 'specially as I've a word to say to +you, my hearties." + +"That's all right," responded Dick, good-humoredly; "for you know Theo +and I like nothing better than to have you spin us a yarn--eh, Theo?" + +"Yes, indeed," chimed in Theodore Murray, giving a vigorous kick to a +stone which lay in the captain's path. + +By this time they had reached the shore, and after looking off toward +the Island and seeing nothing of their boat, they all sat down on a +rock, which seemed almost as though it might have been shaped for a +seat, only that it was rather roughly finished. + +"You really needn't look so anxious, my boy," said Captain Dan, turning +to Dick, "for I don't think your party could possibly come to harm. Why, +the water is as smooth as glass, and we can see them the moment they +round the corner of the cove." + +"If Ethel only wasn't so awfully polite," groaned Dick, "but would just +take the oars herself, I'd not mind a bit, for she can row beautifully; +but Maurice hasn't an idea how to manage a boat, though he's first rate +on land. We're all ready for your yarn, though, captain, as soon as +you've got your breath ready to begin to spin it." + +Captain Dan smiled, half sadly. "It's no 'yarn' to-night, my lads. But, +Dick, what would you call a man who took what didn't belong to him?" + +"Why, a thief, of course," answered the boy, promptly. + +"'And what would you say if any one called your father's son a thief?" +pursued the old man. + +"Tell him he lied!" exclaimed Dick, quickly, springing to his feet, and +confronting his questioner with flashing eyes. "What ever _do_ you mean, +sir, by such strange talk?" + +"Sit down quietly again, and I'll tell you; for though I saw both you +and Theo helping yourselves to what didn't belong to you this afternoon, +yet I never could find it in my heart to call you thieves; for I suppose +you would say it was only 'taking,' and not 'stealing.'" + +"What do you mean?" asked Theodore, who had been listening in silence, +but with a most puzzled face. + +"Just this--that as I walked up the street I saw each of you take a nut +or so from the bag which stands in front of Mr. Baker's store." + +"Oh," said Dick, drawing a long breath of relief, "that was all, was +it?" + +"Why, that wasn't _stealing_, Captain Dan," broke in Theodore, eagerly. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," observed their friend, dryly. "I didn't know +you'd paid for the nuts, or I'd not have mentioned the matter." + +"Paid for them!" exclaimed both boys at once. "Of course we'd not paid +for them; but then that's not stealing, you know, for we only each took +one or two, and we were right there in open sight. It's a totally +different thing." + +"I beg leave to differ entirely from you," answered the captain, in his +slow way. "But suppose there'd been a water-melon lying there on the +step, would either of you have carried it off without paying for it, or +eaten it there, either?" + +"Of course not," said Dick, indignantly; but Theodore broke in, +abruptly, as he sprang up, his cheeks glowing with shame: + +"I never thought of it so before! Why, it's just dreadful, Dick; for +Captain Dan is right--we were stealing, though we never meant it. Oh, +what would my mother say?" he added, with a choke in his voice. + +"I don't see it in that light at all," persisted Dick, sturdily; "it was +only a pea-nut or so, and we didn't do it 'on the sly,' as we would if +we'd been 'stealing,' as you say. Why, the very word makes me mad all +over"--doubling up his fists as he paced up and down before them, now +and then giving himself a shake like a great dog. + +"Hold on a minute, my son," said the old man, gently, "and I think I can +make it clearer. Suppose a basket of apples was standing in Smith's +grocery store. On my way home I stop in to buy a pound of tea, and while +it is being weighed out I pick up an apple to eat. You drop in next to +get some crackers, and you take one while waiting. Then Theo's mother +sends him for a pound of cheese, and he also helps himself. Others +follow our example, and though no person takes more than a single one, +yet by night the basket is emptied, without a cent of profit to the +grocer, though he has paid the farmer for them. Yet you say we have not +been stealing. How is it?" + +The color had been slowly mounting in Dick's frank face as he stood +before his friend with folded arms, and looking far out to sea. But the +instant he heard the question with which the speaker concluded, he +turned and said, impulsively: "You're right, Captain Dan, and I'm all +wrong. It _is_ stealing, and nothing else, just as you said; but I never +thought of it so before, and it's just dreadful. I can't bear to think +of it, even though I've hardly ever done it; still, the part I hate just +the worst kind is that I've done it at all, and never saw the harm of it +till now." + +"Tell you what, Dick," exclaimed Theodore, hurriedly, "I mean to go in +and tell Mr. Baker about it on my way home to-night; will you go with +me?" + +"Of course I will; and we'll pay him for everything we can possibly +remember. But I say, old fellow, what if Jack Stretch saw us, or any of +those other street chaps? They could turn the tables on us splendidly, +you know, after our asking them to go to Sunday-school with us. They'd +be likely to tell us we'd borrowed their trade, and would say we needn't +preach to them again." + +Theodore looked troubled, and then brightened somewhat as a happy +thought struck him. "I mean to tell my mother the whole thing before I +go to sleep this night," he said, "and I'm sure she'll help us out." + +"You're right, my boy," observed the captain, nodding his head with a +pleased air. "Your mother's a wise woman; so is yours, Dick, and I +advise you to adopt the same plan; for when boys get too old--or too +something--to talk over their troubles and their pleasures with their +mothers, you may be pretty sure they're going wrong somehow; at least +that has always been my experience." + +"But, Captain Dan, there are lots of people who surely can't look at +this thing as you do, and as we do too, now that you've shown us," +remarked Dick, thoughtfully, "for I've seen men, and women too, pick up +little things to taste in the stores, and never seem to think of paying +for them." + +The old man sighed wearily. "I know it, lad," he answered; "and I can +tell you more than that. For I've heard of some cases--I hope and trust +they're rare ones, though--where boarding-house keepers in large cities, +who were poorly off, would go from one store to another, and from stand +to stand in the markets, pricing and buying in a small way, while all +the time they would be picking up a nut or so here, an apple or orange +there, or a few raisins over yonder, and in this manner get enough for a +dessert, till their tricks came to be well known, and they were watched +carefully." + +"How dreadful!" cried the boys. + +"And perhaps," added Theodore, "they began as we did, without thinking +anything about it, and I'm ever so much obliged to you, Captain Dan, for +telling us." + +"Yes, indeed!" struck in Dick, earnestly, giving himself a shake; "I see +it exactly now; and I don't mind telling mamma about it half so much as +I do thinking to myself that I ever did such a mean thing, don't you +see." + +"Yes," responded his friend, as he looked up into the pure manly face, +feeling that so long as the fact of losing his own self-respect was so +much worse than to lose that of others, he would always have a +safeguard--"yes, I understand. But isn't that the _Firefly_ off yonder?" + +The boys ran down to the water's edge, followed at a slower pace by the +captain. + +"Dear me! why don't Ethel take the oars and show him how to row?" burst +forth Dick, impatiently, as they watched the tiny craft moving +irregularly toward them. + +"Gently, laddie," said the captain; "remember we must all have a +learning; and no doubt you did as badly as that when you began, even +though you're such a crack sailor now; and you know Miss Ethel mightn't +like to give a lesson unless she was asked to do so." + +The little boat gradually neared them, though in a very jerky fashion, +showing how unskilled the rower was, till, unhappily, glancing over his +shoulder, he caught sight of the group awaiting them, and raised his +oars by way of salute. But, in lowering them, one fell from his hand, +tired with the unusual exertion; he leaned over too far to reach it, and +the next moment they were all struggling in the water. + +In an instant the boys' coats were off, and they dashed in to the +rescue; nor was Captain Dan much behind them, while it was truly +wonderful to see how agile he was, when swimming, for after his slow +steps on land, the water appeared like his native element. Fortunately +the boat was not far from the shore when the accident happened, and the +captain's powerful strokes soon put him ahead of his younger companions. +He reached the spot just in time to catch May--his "baby," as he always +called the five-year-old prattler--as she was sinking for the last time, +in spite of the frantic efforts made by Maurice, who, though no swimmer, +had retained his presence of mind, and had caught the edge of the +overturned boat, which he was trying to float toward Ethel, while +holding May tightly with the other arm. But the child had struck her +head against the oar as she fell, and was stunned so as to be quite +insensible. + +"Keep your hold of the boat," called the captain; "I've got the baby all +safe, and the boys have reached Miss Ethel. Hullo, Dick!" he shouted, +suddenly; "let Theo help your sister, and bear a hand here, will you?" +For he saw that Maurice was fast giving out, though the gallant old man +was supporting him with one hand, while holding the child firmly with +the other; and encumbered in this way, swimming was slow work. + +"Here we are!" sang out Dick, who soon reached them; and remembering +"Nan the Newsboy's" directions, with the captain's aid managed to turn +Maurice upon his back, for by this time he had quite lost consciousness, +and then struck out steadily for the land. In the course of a few more +moments the little party were anxiously gathered around Maurice and May, +who were still insensible. Theo had started off for help, which soon +came, and they were carried to the nearest house, where Maurice after a +time revived. But poor little May remained so long unconscious that they +had almost given up hope, when Dick, who had been helping to rub her, +and would give up his post to no one, exclaimed he was sure he felt her +heart beating, which, to his great delight, proved to be the case, and a +while afterward she opened her eyes, and looked around vacantly. + +But the blow on her head had been a very severe one; the shock to the +little frame was so great that it was followed by a serious illness; and +though she recovered after weeks of suffering, and was her own bright +self again, yet the boys agreed that Captain Dan's kindly sermon had +been followed by enough to make that day one of the most eventful in +their lives, and never to be forgotten. + +And though they could not go to the store that night, yet they went +early the next morning, told the whole story, and were most kindly +received by Mr. Baker, with whom Captain Dan had had a private +conference just before their arrival, so that he was fully prepared for +them. + +In spite of their urging, he would not take their money, though he +thanked them "for coming in such a manly way to confess their fault," +adding, as he shook hands with them, that while they had only done what +was right, yet he wished men as well as boys would have the moral +courage to confess when they had done wrong, for so often these little +beginnings of evil lead the way to greater sins. + + + + +THE FIRST VALENTINE. + + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + "Ah, Jamie, don't you understand + The little heart that's in my hand? + The plain white heart with rosy band; + Can you not read the simple sign? + It is your first sweet Valentine. + + "Come here and take it from me, dear; + It will not hurt, you need not fear; + You'll see, if you will come more near, + It only bears one little line, + 'To Jamie! My first Valentine!'" + + Then Cupid, laughing, said, "Ah me! + How calm this baby beau can be! + But wait awhile, and we shall see + What toys, with gold and jewels fine, + He'll send to some sweet Valentine. + + "Just leave your heart, Miss Leonore, + He'll take it soon, and long for more: + The little lad is only four. + Some day, a hero bold and fine, + He'll send full many a Valentine." + + + + +THE KING'S BABY. + +BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE CATSKILL FAIRIES." + + +The baby was put to bed as usual, in his wooden cradle, and his mother +had rocked him to sleep, singing some national cradle song, like the +mothers of all lands. He was a stout little fellow of five months old, +with dimples in his brown cheeks, curly dark hair as soft as silk, and +great black eyes, such as the children of Spain and Italy alone possess. +When the baby was asleep, his parents busied themselves with their +duties of the evening, and at an early hour also went to bed. + +Their home was located in the province of Murcia, in Spain. The house +was built of stone, half in ruins, and was surrounded by a poor little +farm. Before going to bed the father had looked out of the door to see +that all was safe for the night. Spain is a country where little rain +falls, because armies long ago destroyed the forests covering mountain +slopes, in time of war. Now the traveller sees these hills as bare +rocks, with deserted towns on their sides, and the beds of rivers become +heaps of dry stones for the majority of the year, parched with summer +drought. In the city of Alicante two years sometimes pass without a drop +of rain falling. The season of the year (1879) was very different. In +the late summer and autumn fearful storms of thunder and lightning burst +over several provinces usually so dusty and arid; persistent rains +followed, until the channels of the rivers became filled with rushing +torrents from the heights where springs have their source. The waters of +the Guadalquivir rose five meters in a few days. + +The baby's father looked out of the door on a valley flooded by one of +these swollen rivers which had overflowed its banks, and felt safe, as +his home was perched on a slope, and the village, with its church, +convent, and steep streets of old houses, was between the farm and the +stream. Then he had gone to rest, and sleep soon settled on the +household. The night was dark, and no sound was to be heard except the +drip of the rain or the rustling murmur of the distant river. + +At two o'clock in the morning the church bell pealed wildly. "Quick! +Danger is at hand, good people; save yourselves!" the bell seemed to +say, and its vibrating note rang out on the awful darkness, chilling all +hearts with sudden fear. + +Stupid with sleep, the baby's father rose. Water was trickling along the +floor of the chamber; outside was a deep sound of roaring waves, the +crashing of trees, and the fall of buildings, mingled with the clang of +the bell and the cries of human beings. Nothing could be more terrible. +An embankment had given way, and the river, which already had spread +over the lowlands, now deluged the village, sweeping away many houses, +and surrounding the poor little farm, where the baby slumbered +peacefully in his cradle. Already the cottage swayed and shook on its +foundations. The mother awoke, and wept. She had no time to snatch the +baby in her arms, for the father opened the door, and lifted the cradle +near it. He returned for his wife; and just then a wave entered the +door, and washed away the baby. It was not a moment too soon. There was +a snapping, grinding sound, and the house fell apart and slid into the +dark waters as if it had been a house of cards. The whole country was +like a sea, and the church bell no longer rang, because the bell-ringer +strove to save himself from being drowned. + +The little waif, cast to the mercy of the wind and the flood, did not +sink. God watched over it. The wooden cradle became a tiny boat; the +baby waked up, stretched out his little hands, and cried; then, in the +midst of frightful peril, fell asleep again, rocked by the motion of the +stream. + +At length the day broke, a cold gray mist seeming to blot out everything +except the sheet of water, which was of a muddy and yellow color, and +rolled along with giddy swiftness, gathering everything in its course. +In some places the trees had their roots under water, and their +branches, still dry, gave shelter to whole families. These cried out: + +"Oh, look at the little baby! Who will save it?" + +But the cradle sailed on, while the trees often bent beneath the wave. +The boiling eddies of the current swallowed many objects, and caught the +cradle, and spun it about in circles as if it had been a walnut shell, +until the baby cried with fear; but then a friendly wave was sure to +rescue it, and once more bear it onward. + +Ah, at last! The poor baby must be drowned. A great tree had fallen into +the river, with all its tangled roots high in the air, and the stream +snapped off the smaller twigs and branches as it moved along. Every +moment it struck some floating object with its gnarled roots and forest +of branches; occasionally the shock was so great that the trunk rolled +from side to side; but the object always sank, whether broken boat or +dead animal; while the tree floated on. The baby's cradle was alone on +the waste of waters; the tree approached slowly and surely. The cradle +tossed up and down, and then--the forked branches caught and held it +firmly just above the water-line. The tree became a raft. + +The young King Alfonso of Spain stood on the shore, near a town, +surrounded by officers in brilliant uniforms. Large boats full of his +guards had ventured out from shore to try to save objects swept down +from the country. They saw a tree with a cradle caught in the branches. +Was the cradle empty? No, a little black head could be distinguished +inside. Bravely the boat approached; the tree swerved about, and struck +it so rudely that it nearly upset; but at that moment the soldier in the +bow leaned over, and caught the baby by his little gown. Away whirled +the tree on the swift tide, and the cradle, detached by the shock, +drifted apart, overturned. + +How the people ran about and talked! How the women cried, and caressed +the little stranger thus safely brought to shore! The King saw it all, +and approached. + +"He shall be my child, and I will adopt him," he said. + +"May he grow up to serve you, sire!" said one of the councillors, who +wore a glittering star on his breast. + +Then the "King's Baby," saved in a little wooden cradle from the perils +of the night, crowed and smiled. + + + + +[Illustration: ME AND MY LITTLE WIFE.] + + + + +[Illustration] + +GEORGE WASHINGTON. + + He was black as the ace of spades, you see, + And scarcely as high as a tall man's knee; + He wore a hat that was minus a brim, + But that, of course, mattered nothing to him; + His jacket--or what there was left of it-- + _Scorned_ his little black shoulders to fit; + And as for stockings and shoes, dear me! + Nothing about such things knew he. + + He sat on the curb-stone one pleasant day, + Placidly passing the hours away; + His hands in the _holes_ which for pockets were meant, + His thoughts on the clouds overhead were intent; + When down the street suddenly, marching along, + Came soldiers and horses, and such a great throng + Of boys and of men, as they crowded the street, + With a "Hip, hip, hurrah!" the lad sprang to his feet, + + And joined the procession, his face in a grin, + For here was a good time that "_dis chile_ is in!" + How he stretched out his legs to the beat of the drum, + Thinking surely at last 'twas the _jubilee_ come! + Then suddenly wondering what 'twas about-- + The soldiers, the music, and all--with a shout + He hailed a small comrade, "Hi, Caesar, _you_ know + What all dis purcession's a marchin' fur so?" + + "Go 'long, you George Washington," Caesar replied, + "In dis yere great kentry _you_ ain't got no pride! + Dis is Washington's Birfday; you oughter know dat, + Wid yer head growed so big, burst de brim off yer hat." + For a moment George Washington stood in surprise, + While plainer to view grew the whites of his eyes; + Then swift to the front of the ranks scampered he, + This mite of a chap hardly high as your knee. + + The soldiers looked stern, and an officer said, + As he rapped with his sword on the black woolly head, + "Come, boy, clear the road; what a figure you are!" + Came the ready reply, "_I'se George Washington_, sah! + But I didn't know nuffin about my birfday + 'Till a feller jist tole me. Oh, golly! it's gay!" + + Just then a policeman--of course it was mean-- + Removed young George Washington far from the scene. + + + + +[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX] + + + SOUTH GROVELAND, MASSACHUSETTS. + + I have been gathering a cabinet of curiosities since I was nine + years old (I am now fourteen), and I have stones and shells and + pieces of wood from a great many of the States, from the arctic + regions, from South America, Oceanica, and Europe--more than two + hundred in all. Among the rest is a Proteus (_Menobranchus + maculatus_) taken from the Winooski River by Thompson, once State + Geologist of Vermont. I would like to know if any other of your + correspondents has got a Proteus, and also if any has a cabinet. + + EDWIN A. H. + + * * * * * + + MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS, _January 25_. + + I found some willow "pussies" yesterday. I hope I have found them + first. + + A. L. H. + +Yes, you have found them first. It is very remarkable to find them at +all in January in the locality where you live, but as the buds set in +the autumn, the singularly mild weather of January has made them swell +and burst thus early in the season. Thank you for so promptly reporting +these first signs that spring is near. Now let us see when the "pussies" +will appear in other sections of the country. + + * * * * * + + DOVER, NEW JERSEY. + + I was five years old the 21st of January, and I had such a happy + birthday. In the morning when I got up I found at the foot of my + crib six books of natural history full of pictures for little + folks, a piano, a box of colors, and two dancing bears, one black + and one brown. And when I went down to the dining-room, on my tray + was a beautiful cup and saucer, and on the cup, in gold letters, "A + Gift." And in my chair was a box with twenty-five things in it from + my auntie Lou; and in the afternoon I had a tea party. I wish all + little boys and girls had such happy birthdays. To-day I am sick, + and I tell mamma just what to say, and she is writing it for me. + + LOUIS C. VOGT. + + * * * * * + + STERLING, KANSAS. + + I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE since Christmas, and I find it very nice + indeed. I have a nice young uncle in Washington who sends it to me, + and told me to write to you. I have a pony named Ben, who is only + four feet and a half high, and is very wild sometimes, but I can + ride him without either bridle or saddle. + + NELLIE S. + + * * * * * + + CLINTON, MASSACHUSETTS. + + I have a bird. It is a bullfinch. It is real pretty, and whistles + like a boy. It likes potatoes and corn very much, and eats them out + of my mouth and hand. When it whistles it says "Pretty Poll" just + as plain as a parrot, and when it bathes it spatters me all over. + + LENA E. SCHMIDT. + + * * * * * + + DES MOINES, IOWA. + + I want to tell you about a cat-bird or mocking-bird that built its + nest in the tree near our house last summer. I have three brothers, + and when we all go off to play, mamma could not always make us hear + when she called. She bought a whistle, and when she blew it once, + it was for me, and two, three, and four times for my brothers. The + mocking-bird learned to imitate the whistle so well that we could + not always tell whether it was mamma calling or the bird. It would + also imitate the squeaks of the saw when the men were sawing wood. + We hope it will come back again next spring. + + M. I. WATROUS. + + * * * * * + + TROY, NEW YORK. + + I am a little girl nine years old, and take YOUNG PEOPLE, and I + watch for it every week. I have three pets--two cats and one + squirrel. The cats are twins; one is named Girofle, and the other + Girofla. They were born on Palm-Sunday, and are nearly three years + old. They are so much alike that you can not tell them apart. My + squirrel's name is Prince. + + GRACE MACLEOD. + + * * * * * + + WAYNE, ILLINOIS. + + I am a boy ten years old, and I have a cat older than myself. Its + name is Noah. One day last summer it caught a rat in the yard as + big as a half-grown kitten. The rat squealed so loud that a large + Newfoundland dog at the store across the street heard it, and came + running over to see what was the matter. The dog scared old Noah so + much that it let the rat go, and ran under the shed. I think that + dog better mind his own affairs hereafter, and let my old Noah + catch rats. + + ALLE TRULL. + + * * * * * + + SCOTTSVILLE, NEW YORK. + + I am nine years old, and I go to school nearly every day. All the + pet I have now is a white kitten. I did have an oriole, which was + caught when very young. We put it in a cage and hung it in the + cherry-tree, and its mother came and fed it every day until it was + time for the birds to go to a warmer climate. It used to be very + fond of bread and milk. + + MARY L. MACVEAN. + + * * * * * + +Maggie M. M. has a big Newfoundland dog, just her own age, nine years, +which is her faithful friend. + + * * * * * + +Belle Metzgar, Jessie Edna, C. F. Cooper, Harry B., and Charles Bentley +all send pretty accounts of domestic pets, which we would be glad to +print if there was space to spare. + + * * * * * + +EVA MITCHELL.--_The Virginians in Texas_ is published in "Harper's +Library of American Fiction," and will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, +to any part of the United States on receipt of seventy-five cents. + + * * * * * + +L. K.--Chapman's Drawing-Books are the best to use in beginning your +studies. + + * * * * * + + PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. + + I once had three pigeons, and when I fed them they would turn round + and round. Will you tell me how to feed guinea-pigs? + + MARK FRANCIS. + +You can feed guinea-pigs on cabbage leaves, bits of bread and cake, and +all kinds of fruit. They like carrot tops better than any other food, +especially in the spring, when the green is fresh and tender. You must +give them plenty of water. + + * * * * * + +N. L. COLLAMER.--Your monthly magazine is very well edited. It is +difficult to determine the correct spelling of Shakspeare's name, as +equally reliable authorities disagree. + + * * * * * + +"LITTLE MARIE."--Your puzzle is very neatly done; but as "every large +city" is not so favored as the one where you live, we fear it would not +be easy to solve. + + * * * * * + +ELLA W.--You may send the one entirely original, and if it is pretty and +very short, we might use it. + + * * * * * + +RICHARD S. C.--Your plan for a magnetic motor is very ingenious, and the +machine would no doubt make a pretty and curious toy. + + * * * * * + +WILLIE H. S.--We will endeavor to send you the solution of your puzzle. + + * * * * * + +Eddie L. A., Minnesota, after expressing great pleasure in YOUNG PEOPLE, +writes: "My papa thinks I am a pretty smart boy. I am eleven years old, +and I milk the cow, and do most of the work, and go to school besides." +You are a smart boy, Eddie, if you do all that, and do it well. If you +persevere in that course, always attending to school duties and home +work besides, there is every prospect that you will grow to be a smart +man. + + * * * * * + + BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. + + Will you please tell me why the land north of Behring Strait is + called Wrangell Land? + + MAMIE E. F. + +Ferdinand Wrangell, a Russian baron and traveller, who was born near the +close of the last century, and died in 1870, commanded a sledge +expedition which explored the polar sea north of East Siberia about +1822. In 1867 Captain Long, in traversing that part of the sea navigated +by Wrangell, discovered a large tract of land which the Russian explorer +had vainly endeavored to reach, and which he named Wrangell Land. + + * * * * * + +HENRY W. R.--Every harpoon thrown into a whale before he dies is +entitled to a share of the oil. + + * * * * * + +W. B. AITKIN.--The sun is supposed to be moving slowly through space, +carrying the earth and all the planets along with him. The great +astronomer Herschel assigned the constellation Hercules as that toward +which we are moving, and the calculations of more recent astronomers +have also pointed to that same direction. + + * * * * * + +ANITA R. N.--The "good news" mentioned in the ballad is not recorded in +history, and although many inquiries have been made concerning it, no +satisfactory conclusion has yet been arrived at. + + * * * * * + +G. FUNNELL.--The oldest inhabited building in the territory of the +United States is an ancient house built of adobes, or sun-dried brick, +in the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before the annexation of New +Mexico, St. Augustine, Florida, which was settled in 1565, was the +oldest town, and contained the most ancient buildings. + + * * * * * + +Welcome favors are acknowledged from Edward Haines, Lillie Hathaway, +Arthur G. Wedge, Alice Y., Marion Frisbie, Fannie G., Maggie W. C., +H. J. Perkins, Mattie E. Church, Mabel G. Nash, Ernest F. Hill, +George and Belle Hume, J. Edwards H., Louie D. M., Eddy Lock, Belle +Mandeville, Lizzie F., Ethel M. R., Frank Griffin. + + * * * * * + +Correct answers to puzzles received from Kittie A. C., Edith A. M., +Lilian Forbes, Lillie McCrea, M. I. Watrous, E. J. Gould, Robie +Caldwell, Mary Chapel, George, Mary Bemis, Hattie L. S., Stella M., +G. K. Richards, Mamie E. F., Frederick C., Edith E. Jones, Frank +Coggswell, Kitty E., Lulu Craft, P. S. S., Alma Hoffmann, G. W. R., +Herbert R. H., G. S. S., Theodore E., J. S., A. H. Patterson. + +We acknowledge only those answers to puzzles which are mailed previous +to date of publication of solution. + + * * * * * + +PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS. + +No. 1. + +NUMERICAL CHARADE. + + My 9, 14, 5, 3, 13, 8 is a division of land. + My 10, 2, 12, 7, 14 is a game. + My 1, 3, 11, 6 is something good to eat. + My 7, 9, 4 is a form of address. + My whole is the name of a distinguished author. + + MAMIE M. + + * * * * * + +No. 2. + +WORD SQUARE. + +First. A Salutation.--Second. A Girl's Name.--Third. Taverns.--Fourth. +Latest. + + E. S. C. M. + + * * * * * + +No. 3. + +ENIGMA. + + My first is in break, but not in tear. + My second is in rabbit, also in hare. + My third is in pay, but not in trust. + My fourth is in earth, but not in dust. + My fifth is in spring, but not in fall. + My sixth is in great, but not in small. + My whole is a poet of world-wide fame. + Now see if you can guess his name. + + LETTIE. + + * * * * * + +No. 4. + +NUMERICAL CHARADE. + + I am composed of 9 letters. + My 5, 4, 8 is to hit gently. + My 3, 6, 1 is to snatch. + My 7, 2, 9 is an animal. + My whole is the name of a great general. + + ERNEST B. COOPER. + + * * * * * + +No. 5. + +DOUBLE ACROSTIC. + +A sounding vessel of metal. A river in Spain. To come back. A metal. A +color. A woman devoted to a religions life. + +Answer--two cities of Europe. + + E. ALLEN CUSHING (12 years). + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS. + + + + +HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. + +HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE will be issued every Tuesday, and may be had at +the following rates--_payable in advance, postage free_: + + SINGLE COPIES $0.04 + ONE SUBSCRIPTION, _one year_ 1.50 + FIVE SUBSCRIPTIONS, _one year_ 7.00 + +Subscriptions may begin with any Number. When no time is specified, it +will be understood that the subscriber desires to commence with the +Number issued after the receipt of order. + +Remittances should be made by POST-OFFICE MONEY ORDER or DRAFT, to avoid +risk of loss. + +ADVERTISING. + +The extent and character of the circulation of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE +will render it a first-class medium for advertising. A limited number of +approved advertisements will be inserted on two inside pages at 75 cents +per line. + + Address + HARPER & BROTHERS, + Franklin Square, N. Y. + + + + +CANDY + +Send one, two, three, or five dollars for a sample box, by express, of +the best Candies in America, put up elegantly and strictly pure. Refers +to all Chicago. Address + + C. F. GUNTHER, + Confectioner, + 78 MADISON STREET, CHICAGO. + + + + +WOODEN WEDDING PRESENTS + +Ready-made and to order. + +SCROLL SAWS, DESIGNS, AND WOOD, + +At LITTLE'S TOOL STORE, 59 Fulton St., N. Y. City. + +Circulars free by mail. + + + + +113 FOREIGN Stamps, all different, 25c.; 400 assorted European, 25c.: 60 +U. S. Stamps, all different, 25c.; a nice _Stamp Album_, 40c.; 60 U. S. +Revenues, all different, 25c. Illustrated Catalogue, 3c. + +EDWARDS, PEEK, & CO., Box 384, Chicago, Ill. + + + + +SEND 25 CTS. TO JNO. A. HADDOCK, + +104 South 8th Street, Philadelphia, + +and receive by return mail + +EIGHTY BEAUTIFUL PICTURE-CARDS. + + + + +Old Books for Young Readers. + + * * * * * + +Arabian Nights' Entertainments. + + The Thousand and One Nights; or, The Arabian Nights' + Entertainments. Translated and Arranged for Family Reading, with + Explanatory Notes, by E. W. LANE. 600 Illustrations by Harvey. 2 + vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3.50. + +Robinson Crusoe. + + The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, + Mariner. By DANIEL DEFOE. With a Biographical Account of Defoe. + Illustrated by Adams. Complete Edition. 12mo, Cloth, $1.50. + +The Swiss Family Robinson. + + The Swiss Family Robinson; or Adventures of a Father and Mother and + Four Sons on a Desert Island. Illustrated. 2 vols., 18mo, Cloth, + $1.50. + + The Swiss Family Robinson--Continued: being a Sequel to the + Foregoing. 2 vols., 18mo, Cloth, $1.50. + +Sandford and Merton. + + The History of Sandford and Merton. By THOMAS DAY. 18mo, Half + Bound, 75 cents. + + * * * * * + +Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. + +_Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United Slates, on +receipt of the price._ + + + + +BOOKS FOR YOUNG MEN. + + * * * * * + +Character. + + Character. By SAMUEL SMILES. 12mo, Cloth, $1.00. + +It is, in design and execution, more like his "Self-Help" than any +of his other works. Mr. Smiles always writes pleasantly, but he writes +best when he is telling anecdotes, and using them to enforce a moral +that he is too wise to preach about, although he is not afraid to +state it plainly. By means of it "Self-Help" at once became a standard +book, and "Character" is, in its way, quite as good as "Self-Help." +It is a wonderful storehouse of anecdotes and biographical +illustrations.--_Examiner_, London. + + * * * * * + +Self-Help. + + Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character, Conduct, and + Perseverance. By SAMUEL SMILES. New Edition, Revised and Enlarged. + 12mo, Cloth, $1.00. + +The writings of Samuel Smiles are a valuable aid in the education of +boys. His style seems to have been constructed entirely for their +tastes; his topics are admirably selected, and his mode of communicating +excellent lessons of enterprise, truth, and self-reliance might be +called insidious and ensnaring if these words did not convey an idea +which is only applicable to lessons of an opposite character and +tendency taught in the same attractive style. The popularity of this +book, "Self-Help," abroad has made it a powerful instrument of good, and +many an English boy has risen from its perusal determined that his life +will be moulded after that of some of those set before him in this +volume. It was written for the youth of another country, but its wealth +of instruction has been recognized by its translation into more than one +European language, and it is not too much to predict for it a popularity +among American boys.--_N. Y. World._ + + * * * * * + +Thrift. + + Thrift. By SAMUEL SMILES. 12mo, Cloth, $1.00. + +The mechanic, farmer, apprentice, clerk, merchant, and a large circle of +readers outside of these classes will find in the volume a wide range of +counsel and advice, presented in perspicuous language, and marked +throughout by vigorous good sense; and who, while deriving from it +useful lessons for the guidance of their personal affairs, will also be +imbibing valuable instruction in an important branch of political +economy. We wish it could be placed in the hands of all our +youth--especially those who expect to be merchants, artisans, or +farmers.--_Christian Intelligencer_, N. Y. + +In this useful and sensible work, which should be in the hands of all +classes of readers, especially of those whose means are slender, the +author does for private economy what Smith and Ricardo and Bastiat have +done for national economy. * * * The one step which separates +civilization from savagery--which renders civilization possible--is +labor done in excess of immediate necessity. * * * To inculcate this +most necessary and most homely of all virtues, we have met with no +better teacher than this book.--_N. Y. World._ + + * * * * * + +Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. + +_Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on +receipt of the price._ + + + + +MRS. MORTIMER'S + +BOOKS FOR THE NURSERY. + + * * * * * + +Lines Left Out. + + Lines Left Out; or, Some of the Histories Left Out in "Line upon + Line." The First Part relates Events in the Times of the Patriarchs + and the Judges. Illustrated. By Mrs. ELIZABETH MORTIMER. 16mo, + Cloth, 75 cents. + +The volume is an attractive juvenile book, handsomely brought out, +rendering Scripture incidents into pleasant paraphrases.--_Northwestern +Christian Advocate_, Chicago. + + * * * * * + +More about Jesus. + + More about Jesus. Illustrations and a Map. By Mrs. ELIZABETH + MORTIMER. 16mo, Cloth, 75 cents. + +It consists of a series of stories, embracing the whole of the events in +the life of our Blessed Lord, told in a plain, simple style, suited to +the capacities of children of seven or eight years of age. But better +still, all good children's books are good for adults; and this will be +found equally useful to put into the hands of very ignorant grown-up +people, who may from this learn the story of man's redemption in an +intelligent manner. Many of the lessons are illustrated with pictures of +the places mentioned. + + * * * * * + +Streaks of Light. + + Streaks of Light; or, Fifty-two Facts from the Bible for Fifty-two + Sundays of the Year. Illustrated. By Mrs. ELIZABETH MORTIMER. 16mo, + Cloth, 75 cents. + +"This little work," says the author, "has received the distinguished +honor of being appointed to be one of the class-books of the Samoan +Collegians, and has been made to subserve the highest of all +purposes--the preaching of the Gospel. To that purpose it is adapted +when the hearers are untaught, untrained, and unreflecting. Each lesson +can be understood by those who have no previous knowledge, and each is +calculated to be the first address to one who has never before heard of +God or his Christ." + + * * * * * + +Reading without Tears. + + Reading without Tears; or, A Pleasant Mode of Learning to Read. + Illustrated. Small 4to, Cloth. By Mrs. ELIZABETH MORTIMER. Two + Parts. Part I., 49 cents; Part II., 62 cents; complete in One + Volume, $1.03. + +An easy, simple, and pleasant book for the tiny scholars of the +nursery-room. It contains a picture for every word of spelling capable +of pictorial explanation. The reading-lessons have been carefully +selected, being composed of the preceding spelling-lessons, by which +means, together with the picture meanings, the words are easily +impressed on the memory of a very young child.--_Athenaeum_, London. + + * * * * * + +Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. + +_Harper & Brothers will send any of the above works by mail, postage +prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price._ + + + + +[Illustration] + +TOO FAT AND TOO THIN. + + + A fat cat sat + On the parlor mat, + When through the room came whirring, + Right up to where the cat was purring, + A strange and ill-conditioned rat, + As though to tempt the pussy fat. + But, "No," said Puss, "this is too thin; + Such shams may take Skye-terriers in. + _I've_ had too many first-class meals + To try to eat a rat on wheels." + + * * * * * + +=The Ribbon Dance.=--Children's balls are now in great vogue in France. +The latest novelty for them is the ribbon dance. Eight ribbons of +different colors are attached to a ring in the ceiling. Four girls and +four boys hold the ends of the ribbons. The orchestra strikes up, and +the eight children dance a measure which enables them to plait the +ribbons. The orchestra then starts another measure, the children another +step, and the plait is unplaited. Each of the dancers may be dressed +according to the color of the ribbon that he or she holds, and the +mingling of the colors will be all the more brilliant. The idea might +easily be taken for a cotillion figure. + + + + +[Illustration] + + +A CAUSE FOR WORRIMENT. + +ADA,(_on the morning of her birthday party, looking at the clock and +feeling her pulse_). "Oh dear! I wonder if I will be well enough for the +party to-night?" + + + + +[Illustration] + + + Search, if you like, the wide world over, + Barnum's the very best fellow that's known; + Now that we young ones are left here in clover, + Here's for a jolly good show of our own. + + + + +BROKEN RHYMES. + + +[Behead the word that completes the first line, and you have the word +necessary to complete the second. This in turn beheaded gives the word +that will complete the third line.] + + "Beware the ice!" I heard him ____, + "Which is not safe unless 'tis ____: + Take my advice, for I am ____, + And do not venture here." + "But, oh! we want so much to ____. + He's like the dog," said saucy ____, + "Who could not eat what others ____, + Yet barked when they came near." + + "But do not go so near the ____; + 'Tis safer far within the ____; + The water here's as dark as ____: + To go would be a sin." + They heeded not, and in a ____, + Like little birds that feed on ____, + The merry girls flew o'er the ____; + And now, alas! they're in. + + But when he heard the dreadful ____, + And saw the drowning maidens ____, + He hurried with his stick of ____ + Along the slippery ground. + And others came, and with a ____ + They crept around the dangerous ____, + And lifted dripping o'er the ____ + The maids so nearly drowned. + + + + +[Illustration] + +SHADOWS OF GREAT MEN. + + +Who can turn this old woman into the Duke of Wellington, and the +rough-looking man with a broken nose into Napoleon III.? You will not +need any fairy wand nor magic sentence to do it; just trace the heads +upon a piece of thick paper, and cut them out carefully with a pair of +sharp scissors; then place them so that their shadows may fall clearly +upon a sheet of paper, and the change is complete. You can make many +different surprises of the same kind by drawing other heads yourselves. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's Young People, February 17, +1880, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, FEB 17, 1880 *** + +***** This file should be named 28353.txt or 28353.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/5/28353/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire + +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. 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