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diff --git a/28423.txt b/28423.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b38ff89 --- /dev/null +++ b/28423.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2642 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, March 30, 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, March 30, 1880 + An Illustrated Weekly + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 27, 2009 [EBook #28423] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, MAR 30, 1880 *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HARPER'S + +YOUNG PEOPLE + +AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.] + + + * * * * * + +VOL. I.--NO. 22. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR +CENTS. + +Tuesday, March 30, 1880. Copyright, 1880, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 +per Year, in Advance. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: A DELUSION AND A SNARE.] + + + + +"APRIL-FOOL!" + +BY MARGARET EYTINGE. + + +There was one boy in the Merrit Academy who never joined in any of the +games; never went skating; never went swimming; never made a snow man or +threw snow-balls; never came to the meetings of the debating society, +where such questions as, "If a fellow ask a fellow for a bite of a +fellow's apple, which is the politer way to give it to a fellow--to bite +off a piece yourself, or let a fellow bite for himself?" were debated +with much mock gravity and real fun. + +He looked with horror on all kinds of fighting; had no admiration for +great generals; thought war should be abolished; shuddered at tales of +cruelty and suffering; was constitutionally timid and extremely +credulous; hated thunder and lightning; liked birds, flowers, pretty +verses, and fairy tales; believed in ghosts and supernatural beings; was +very fair haired, very blue eyed, tall, slender, and named Harold Lord. +But after the first week or two of his attendance at school--he was a +day scholar--his real name was never heard, for his school-mates, +quickly finding out his peculiar characteristics, skillfully turned it +into "Lady Harriet," and Lady Harriet he remained for many a long +year. Of course, being so girlish in his appearance, ways, and tastes, +and of so reserved and gentle a disposition, the other boys rather +looked down upon him, and, after the manner of boys, made him the +subject of much chaff and many practical jokes; and so it came about +when Charley Bennet and Ned Morningstar and Hen Rowe began on the +afternoon of the 31st of March to talk about the 1st of April, they hit +upon Lady Harriet as a boy who would make a capital "April-fool." + +"We can have no end of fun with him," said Charley. "You know he lives +all alone with his grandmother--" + +"A Little Red Riding-hood," interrupted Hen Rowe. + +"--down by the cedar woods," continued Bennet. "But the question now in +order is, what kind of fun shall it be?" + +"Dress up like Indians, and pretend you're goin' to scalp him," proposed +little Al Smith, who had joined the party--a thing no other small boy in +that establishment would have dared to do; but then Alfred, as his aunt +called him--and a very cross old aunt she was, too--had no father nor +mother, and was such a good-natured, willing, reliable young chap that +his older school-mates made quite a pet of him, and allowed him many +liberties they would have allowed to no one else in his class. + +"Nonsense, Smithey," said Hen Rowe. "Ghosts is the thing;" and striking +an attitude, he quoted: + + "'I am thy father's spirit; + Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night; + And, for the day, confined to fast in fires.... + I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word + Would harrow up thy soul; fre-e-e-eze thy young blood; + Make thy--'" + +"That's quite enough of that, Rowe," said Bennet. "A band of young +desperadoes is my idea. The papers are full of 'em just now--fellows +living in caves and other queer places, and robbing right and left +(result of reading too many dime novels; heard the Professor say so this +morning). Been 'round here too; stole Uncle Jeff's calf day before +yesterday; and his grandmother goes to sewing society to-morrow night." + +"The calf's grandmother?" asked Hen Rowe. + +"Didn't know you had any grandmother," said Bennet. + +"Charley's hit on the very thing," declared Ned Morningstar. "We'll let +three or four other fellows into the joke, and I'll be captain, and +we'll wear masks, and all the old clothes we can beg, borrow, or take, +and get ourselves up prime as a No. 1 band of reg'lar young villains. +Aha! your money or your life!" making a lunge at small Al. + +"But you won't really hurt Lady Harriet?" said the little fellow, an +anxious look coming into his soft brown eyes. "He's good to me, and +gives me candy, and took me fishin' once." + +"Took you fishin'!" repeated Charley Bennet, counterfeiting the greatest +astonishment. "If he did, I'll bet he never let you catch a fish. He'd +'a fainted when he saw it a-wriggling on the hook." + +"He did too," answered Al, stoutly. "I caught four, and six crabs, and +he got eight," adding, frankly, "but he said he didn't like to catch +them, only his grandmother said he must." + +"Very reprehensible old lady," said Hen Rowe, gravely, "to allow her +greediness for fish to trample on the softest feelings of her grandson's +head--I mean heart. But don't be afraid, Smallbones"--stroking Al's dark +curls--"we won't hurt him, not a bit; make your mind easy about that. He +shall live to take you a-fishin' again. + +"It does him good to wake him up once in a while," added Ned +Morningstar, "he's such a turtle. I think I see his face when we all +shout 'April-fool'!" + + * * * * * + +At dusk the next evening, after Grandmother Lord had gone to the sewing +society, six or seven dreadful-looking objects came splashing through +the mud up the road which led to her cottage. They were dressed in +uncouth garments of all sizes and colors. Hats, brimless, or with brims +very much turned up or very much turned down, two flaming red turbans, +and a round handleless basket, through the open wicker-work of which the +hair of the wearer straggled in the most outlandish and porcupinish +manner, constituted their head-gear. The leader carried a gun. The +others were armed with hatchets, knives, and clubs. All their faces were +hidden by paper masks painted in various colors. "This is the house," +said one of them, in a voice that seemed to come out of the ground +beneath his feet, as they ranged themselves on the front porch, and he +rapped sharply on the door with the stick he carried. It opened, and +there stood Lady Harriet, gazing out with horror-stricken eyes upon the +motley gang. "Your money or your life!" demanded he of the gun, at the +same time pointing the weapon at the trembling boy. + +Lady Harriet turned pale, and shrank back. "I have no money," he said, +in a faltering voice. + +"Then we must have your life," was the gruff reply, "unless you consent +to become one of us. Seize him and search him!" + +"_Do_ go away, and leave me alone," implored the boy, falling upon his +knees and clasping his hands. "There is no use--making me--join your +gang," he continued, with chattering teeth. "I--couldn't be a--a--what +you are--to save--my life." + +But the young desperadoes paid no attention to his entreaties, and while +two of their number rifled his pockets, the others, lighting a couple of +lanterns they had brought with them, followed their leader on a tramp +through the house, with much noise and deep growling. On the return of +the latter, the pocket-searchers presented the captain with half a stick +of peppermint candy, a penknife, a dime, a small book (_The Language of +Flowers_), and some violets wrapped in a handkerchief. + +"Prisoner," said the captain, sternly--that is, as sternly as the pebble +he had under his tongue would allow--"if you make an attempt to escape, +the consequences be on your own head. Right about face! March!" + +And away they went, dragging poor Lady Harriet, begging and imploring to +be set free, with them. + +"Did you ever see any fellow so scared in all your life?" whispered +Charley Bennet to Hen Rowe, as their victim began to cry and scream. + +"Never," said Rowe. "I begin to feel sorry for him. But what a baby he +is! Why don't he break and run? He can make good time with those long +legs when he's a mind to." + +"Halt!" cried the captain, when they reached the cedar woods. "This has +gone quite far enough. We want no cowards among us. Boy, you are--" And +the mouths of his followers simultaneously opened for a tremendous +shout, when-- + +"I perfectly agree with you," interrupted the prisoner, quickly, +wresting himself at the same time with a dexterous movement from the +grasp of the two boys who had held him; and then he went on in his usual +soft voice and slow way: "I mean this joke's gone quite far enough. You +came half an hour or so before I expected you, but I think we've all +acted our parts first-rate. Good-evening, Captain Morningstar. +Good-evening, desperadoes. Farewell, April-fools." And he turned and +walked leisurely toward his home again. + +"Jiminy!" exclaimed Ned Morningstar, snatching off his mask and pulling +a long face. "Somebody has--" + +"Blundered," said Hen Rowe. + + "Fools to the right of me, + Fools to the left of me, + Fools ev'ry side of me-- + Oh, how they wondered! + +"what's the use of being glum about it. I've an idea it serves us right. +Three cheers for Lady Harriet. He's not such a fool as he looks." + +"As we look, I think," said Roy Wheeler. + +And then, like the jolly boys they really were, they gave the cheers +with a will, and followed them up with a roar of laughter that wakened +all the echoes for miles around. + + + + +GENERAL SCHUYLER AND THE TORIES. + +BY BENSON J. LOSSING. + + +The Tories of the Revolution were the most bitter and annoying foes of +the patriots who were struggling for their independence. The relation of +the Whigs and Tories was that of belligerents in a civil war--cruel and +uncompromising. + +General Philip Schuyler, whose sleepless vigilance acquired for him the +title of "the Eye of the Northern Department," was the terror of the +Tories in Northern New York, from Sir John Johnson down to Joe Bettys. +Schuyler was, for a long time, commander of the Northern Department. In +1781 he was not in military command. He lived at his country-seat at +Saratoga a part of the year, and the rest of the time at his fine +mansion situated in the southern suburbs of Albany. The British, under +Burgoyne, having destroyed his mansion at Saratoga, and that place being +exposed to incursions of the British and Indians, he made his residence +permanently at Albany. + +Early in August, 1781, an attempt was made by some Tories and Indians to +capture him, that he might be used in exchange for some prominent +British prisoner, and also to get rid of the watchfulness of that +dreaded "Eye." In Saratoga lived a man named Walter Myers, who knew +Schuyler well. He had eaten at his table in Albany, and knew the +character of his house and its surroundings. Myers had joined the Tory +Rangers of Colonel Robert Rodgers--a famous partisan on the northern +frontier. The British authorities in Canada employed Myers, who had +become a captain under Rodgers, to seize General Schuyler, Governor +Clinton, and other prominent patriots in the region of the Hudson River, +as far down as Poughkeepsie. Myers was at the head of the party of +Tories and Indians above alluded to, who attempted to carry off +Schuyler. I will let the General tell the story of that attempt in the +following letter to General Washington, dated "Albany, August 8, 1781." +I copied it from the original: + + "On Saturday, the 29th, while with the commissions for detecting + conspiracies, I received information that a certain Captain Myers, + of Rodgers's Rangers, from Canada, lurked in the vicinity of this + place, with an intent to take or assassinate me. This corroborated + intelligence given to General Clinton by a person escaped from + Canada. On the Monday following I was informed by a Tory (whose + gratitude for favors received surmounted the influence of his + principles) that a reward of 200 guineas had been offered by the + government in Canada to bring me there. + + "On Sunday last, Major McKinstry wrote me by express from Saratoga + that a party under Captain Jones had ambushed some time about + Saratoga, that he had certain intelligence that I was their + object, and that another party was down here with the same + intentions. I took every precaution, except that of requesting a + guard from General Clinton. + + "Last night, about nine o'clock, Myers, with about twenty others, + made the attempt. He forced the gate of a close court-yard, and + afterward my kitchen door, from which servants, who had taken + alarm, flew to their arms, and by a gallant opposition at the door + of my house, afforded me time to retire out of my hall, where I + was at supper, to my bedroom, where I kept my arms. After having + made prisoners of two of the white men, wounded a third, and + obliged the other to make his escape out of the house, some + surrounded it, and others entered it. Those in the quarter exposed + to my fire immediately retired. Those who had got up into the + saloon to attempt, I suppose, the room I was in, retreated with + precipitation as soon as they heard me call, '_Come on, my lads! + surround the house; the villains are in it._' This I did to make + them believe that succor was at hand, and it had the desired + effect. They carried off two of my men, and part of my plate. The + militia from the town and some of the troops ran to my assistance, + and pursued the enemy, but too late to overtake them." + +Thirty years ago, Mrs. C. V. R. Cochrane, of Oswego, the youngest child +of General Schuyler, told me the story substantially as it is told here. +Her father also related that when the family fled up stairs from the +hall, in affright, the baby was left behind in the cradle. Mrs. Schuyler +was about to rush down stairs for the child, when the General +interposed, saying, "_Your_ life is more valuable." Her daughter +Margaret, then about twelve years of age, hearing this, ran down for the +baby, snatched it from the cradle, and started up the stairs with it. An +Indian threw a tomahawk at her. It grazed the infant's head, cut a hole +in Margaret's dress, and lodged in the mahogany stair rail. That infant +became Mrs. Cochrane, and Margaret became the wife of Stephen Van +Rensselaer, the Patroon, at Albany. The mansion yet stands; and well up +the stairway may be seen the scar made by the keen blade of the tomahawk +in the rail. + + + + +YOUNG DIAMOND MERCHANTS. + + +A noted traveller, who wrote about the diamond mines of India a very +long time ago, describes the work done by the children. In speaking of a +visit to the principal mine of Golconda, he says: + +"A very pretty sight is that presented every morning by the children of +the master-miners and of other inhabitants of the district. The +boys--the eldest of whom is not yet over sixteen, or the youngest under +ten years of age--assemble, and sit under a large tree in the public +square of the village. Each has his diamond weight in a bag, hung on one +side of his girdle, and on the other a purse, containing sometimes as +much as five or six hundred pagodas. + +"Here they wait for such persons as have diamonds to sell, either from +the vicinity or from any other mine. When a diamond is brought to them, +it is immediately handed to the eldest boy, who is tacitly acknowledged +as the head of this little band. By him it is carefully examined, and +then passed to his next neighbor, who, having also inspected it, gives +it to the next boy. The diamond is thus passed from hand to hand, amidst +unbroken silence, until it returns to that of the eldest, who then asks +the price, and makes the bargain. If the eldest boy is thought by his +comrades to have given too high a price, he must keep the stone on his +own account. + +"In the evening the children take an account of their stock, examine +their purchases, and class the diamonds according to their water, size, +and purity, putting on each stone the price they expect to get for it. +These children are so perfectly acquainted with the value of all sorts +of gems, that if one of them, after buying a stone, is willing to lose +one-half per cent, upon it, a companion is always ready to take it." + +The diamond mines of Brazil were discovered by a curious circumstance in +1730. Some miners in searching for gold found some curious pebbles, +which they carried home to their masters as curiosities. Not being +considered of any value, they were given to the children to play with. +An officer who had spent some years in the East Indies saw these +pebbles, and sent a handful to a friend in Lisbon to be examined. They +proved to be diamonds. A few were collected and sent to Holland, and +were pronounced to be equal to those of Golconda. The news soon reached +Brazil, and those who possessed any of the "pebbles" soon realized large +sums of money. The Portuguese government laid a claim upon all diamonds +that might be found thereafter, a search was made, and mines were +discovered. + + + + +[Begun in No. 19 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, March 9.] + +ACROSS THE OCEAN; OR, A BOY'S FIRST VOYAGE. + +A True Story. + +BY J. O. DAVIDSON. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A DARING FEAT. + +Luckily for our hero, Mr. Hawkins, the first officer, was a shrewd, +clear-headed man, and had his own opinion of Master Monkey. The latter +told his tale confidently enough, but a few pointed questions confused +him at once: he stammered, contradicted himself, and was finally turned +out in disgrace. Austin then gave _his_ version, and the officer, after +questioning him closely, appeared satisfied. + +"Here, my lad," said he, writing a few lines on a slip of paper, "take +that to the chief engineer--you'll find him in his bunk, I reckon." + +In his bunk, sure enough, lay the "chief," groaning dismally. He was a +tall, fine-looking fellow, with bright blue eyes, and an arm like a +blacksmith's; but when a man is on his back from seasickness, how _can_ +he look heroic? + +"So, my boy, you've run away to sea, eh? Humph! that's just what _I_ did +when I was your age--and much good I've got by it! It was all through +reading those precious sea-stories, which made me think I'd only to +start to be made a captain at once. Wish I'd never learned to +read--ugh!" + +Here came a terrible spasm of sickness, to the great amazement of Frank, +who had never dreamed of such a thing as a seasick sailor. Such cases, +however, are not uncommon; and Nelson himself, one of the greatest +sailors on record, never got over this weakness at all. + +"This is how _I_ am for the first week of every voyage," resumed the +engineer; "and I always vow that every cruise shall be my last; but when +I get ashore, I can't be happy till I'm afloat again--ugh! oh!" + +And another spasm followed, worse than the first. + +Frank said nothing, but his pitying face spoke for him; and the sick +man, evidently touched by it, went on in a cheerer tone: + +"Well, youngster, you're lucky not to be sick like me. Your name's Frank +Austin, eh? Well, go and tell Mr. Harris to give you some work in the +engine-room." + +This promotion was the beginning of a new life for our hero. Now, at +last, there was a chance of learning something; and the men, in whose +estimation he had risen greatly since his defeat of Monkey, were always +ready to answer his eager questions. He was never weary of admiring the +huge machine which did with one smooth and regular movement the work of +hundreds of strong men, obeying the slightest turn of a tiny wheel, yet +capable of tearing the whole ship to pieces should its irresistible +strength ever break loose. + +And now, as they began to enter the tropics, everything grew warm and +bright. Flannels were doffed, and an awning spread over the after-deck. +The wind, though it still blew strongly, was now in their favor; and +foretopsail and mainsail, jib and spanker, were set to catch it, till +the ship staggered under her press of canvas, and careened as if about +to dip her very yards. + +So passed several days, during which nothing special occurred; for by +this time everything had got "shaken into its place," and the routine of +the ship's duties proceeded as regularly as clock-work. Frank, now +restored to his place at the mess table, and high in favor with the crew +(who henceforth reserved for Monkey the cuffs and jeers formerly +bestowed upon our hero), was beginning to feel quite at home in his new +life, when it was suddenly broken by a very startling adventure. + +One evening about dusk the machinery slackened suddenly, and an unusual +bustle was heard on deck. A man running past thrust an oil-can into +Frank's hand, and bade him carry it to one of the engineers upon the +starboard (right-hand) paddle-box. On deck all was confusion. Men were +rushing hurriedly to and fro, while the paddle-box itself was occupied +by an excited group of officers and engineers; and it was some time +before Frank could make out what was the matter. + +An obstruction of some kind had impeded the turning of the shaft in the +"outboard bearing," which had grown dangerously hot. It was this that +had caused the "slowing down" of the engine, which could not be set +working again till the impediment was removed, and the "bearing" oiled. + +Looking over the side, Austin saw a man hanging by a rope on the outer +face of the paddle-box, like a spider on its thread, and laboring +stoutly, with hammer and oil-can, to set matters to rights. Suddenly the +ship plunged, and the man disappeared into a surging wave. He rose +again, vanished a second time, reappeared once more, and again the +blows of his hammer were heard, and again the boiling whirl of foam +swallowed him up. At every plunge Death seemed to gape for him; but +drenched, gasping, and half stifled as he was, he still worked bravely +on. + +On the deck all was now deadly still; and in that grim silence the hard +breathing of the excited crew could be heard as they watched the +solitary man at his fearful task. Would it _never_ be over? Crash after +crash the cruel waves came bursting upon him, and all could see that his +strength was beginning to fail. + +But the work is nearly done! A few more hammer strokes and he is safe. +Already the anxious crew are beginning to breathe more freely, and even +to greet their hero with encouraging shouts, when suddenly a mountain +wave is seen coming right down upon him. + +"Look out, Allen!" roar the sailors, with one voice. + +Allen casts one glance up at the overhanging mass, and then twines his +arms and limbs around the "open-work" of the paddle-box with the +strength of desperation. The next moment there comes a stunning shock +and a deafening crash, and all is one whirl of blinding spray and +seething foam, amid which nothing can be heard and nothing seen. But +when the rush passes, the brave man is still there. + +A shout of joy arises, but is instantly followed by a terrible cry. _The +safety-line around Allen's body has parted!_ + +"Grapple him with boat-hooks, some o' ye!" roars the boatswain. "Fling +him a rope!--quick! or he's lost." + +[Illustration: MAN OVERBOARD!] + +But before any of the hands stretched toward the doomed man could reach +him, his stiffened fingers lost their hold. For one moment he was seen +balanced in mid-air, with his imploring glance cast upward at the stanch +comrades who were powerless to save him, and then down he went into the +roaring sea. + +There was an instant rush to the life-boat; but it was barely half way +to the water when a huge sea dashed it against the ship's side, crushing +it like an egg-shell. This was the last chance. An arm tossing wildly +through the foam of a distant wave, a faint cry borne past on the wind, +and poor Allen was gone forever. + +Then, amid the dismal silence, was heard, clear and strong, the firm +voice of the captain: + +"Lads, I won't _order_ any of you to run such a risk; but this job must +be done somehow, or we shall all go to the bottom together. Fifty +dollars to any man who'll volunteer!" + +A dozen men sprang forward at once; but quick as they were, there was +_one_ before them--and that one was Frank Austin. Unnoticed by all, he +had knotted a rope around his waist, fastened the other end to an iron +stanchion, and before any one could stop him, down he slid to the +perilous spot, escaping, as if by miracle, several heavy seas which came +rolling in, one upon another. + +[Illustration: OILING THE OUTBOARD BEARINGS.] + +For a moment the whole ship's company stood as if thunder-struck; and +then one of the sailors, muttering, "Guess he'll want _them_, anyhow," +lowered a hammer and oil-can, which Frank dexterously caught. The work +was so nearly done that a few blows of the hammer sufficed to complete +it; and a deafening cheer greeted the young hero as he prepared to climb +up again. + +"Smart, now, lad!" shouted half a dozen voices; "here's another sea +comin'." + +But Frank saw at once that the wave would be upon him before he could +reach the deck, and that there was only one way of escape. Thrusting his +slim figure between the beams of the open-work, where no full-grown man +could have passed, he held on with all his strength. Crash came the +great billow against the side, making the whole ship quiver from stem to +stern; but Austin remained unhurt. The next moment he was safe on deck. + +And now came a scene that might have served any painter for a study of +Horatius among the Romans after his defense of the bridge. Frank was +snatched up and carried shoulder-high to the forecastle by the cheering +crew, who kept shouting the news of his exploit to all that had not seen +it. His hands were shaken till they tingled, and his shoulder-blades +ached with friendly slaps on the back from the sledge-hammer fists of +his admirers. Every one was eager to give something to the hero of the +hour. Offers of pipes, clasp-knives, tobacco, etc., rained upon him from +the very men who had cuffed and kicked him like a dog but a few days +before; and even his refusal of these gifts, which would formerly have +been set down to conceit and "uppishness," was now taken in perfectly +good part. In fact, that one deed of promptitude and courage had raised +him from the last to one of the first among the whole crew. So true is +it that they who succeed best are not always the bravest, or the wisest, +or the strongest, but simply those who keep their wits about them, and +never miss a chance of doing something. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +A STRANGE FELLOW-VOYAGER. + + +I've had many a queer voyage in my time, said Captain M----, but the +queerest I ever had was one that I made (somewhat unexpectedly, as you +will see), upon the Great Fish River, in South Africa, on my way back +from a hunting excursion. + +As I neared the bank I saw that the river was in full flood, more than +twice its usual breadth, and running like a mill-race. I knew at once +that I should have a very tough job to get across, for a flooded African +river is no joke, I can tell you. But I knew also that my wife would be +terribly anxious if I didn't come back on the day I had fixed--South +Africa being a place where a good many things may happen to a man--and +so I determined to chance it. + +Just at the water's edge I found an old Bushman that I knew well, who +had a boat of his own; so I hailed him at once: + +"Well, Kaloomi, what will you take to put me across the river?" + +"No go fifty dollar this time, baas" (master), said the old fellow, in +his half-Dutch, half-English jargon. "Boat no get 'cross to-day; water +groed" (great). + +And never a bit could I persuade him, although I offered him money +enough to make any ordinary Bushman jump head-first down a precipice. +Money was good, he said, but it would be no use to him when he was +drowned; and in short he wouldn't budge. + +"Well, if you won't put me across," said I at last, "lend me your boat, +and I'll just do the job for myself; I can't very well take my horse +with me, so I'll just leave him here in pledge that I'll pay for the +boat when I come back." + +"Keep horse for you, master, quite willing; but s'pose you try cross +to-day, you never come back to ask for him." + +He spoke so positively that, although I'm not easily frightened, I +certainly did feel rather uncomfortable. However, when you've got to do +a thing of that sort, the less you think of it the better, so I jumped +into the boat and shoved off. + +I had barely got clear of the shore when I found that the old fellow was +right, for the boat shot down the stream like an arrow. I saw in a +moment that there was no hope of paddling her across, and that all I +could do was just to keep her head straight. But I hadn't the chance of +doing even that very long, for just then a big tree came driving along, +and hitting my boat full on the quarter, smashed her like an egg-shell. +I had just time to clutch the projecting roots, and whisk myself up on +to them, and then tree and I went away down stream together, at I don't +know how many miles an hour. + +At first I was so rejoiced at escaping just when all seemed over with +me, that I didn't think much of what was to come next; but before long I +got something to think about with a vengeance. The tree, as I've said, +was a large one, and the branch end (the opposite one to where I sat) +was all one mass of green leaves. All at once, just as I was shifting +myself to a safer place among the roots, the leaves suddenly shook and +parted, and out popped the great yellow head and fierce eyes of an +enormous lion. + +I don't think I ever got such a fright in my life. My gun had gone to +the bottom along with the boat, and the only weapon I had left was a +short hunting knife, which against such a beast as that would be of no +more use than a bodkin. I fairly gave myself up for lost, making sure +that in another moment he'd spring forward and tear me to bits. + +But whether it was that he had already gorged himself with prey, or +whether (as I suspect) he was really frightened at finding himself in +such a scrape, he showed no disposition to attack me, so long at least +as I remained still. The instant I made any movement, however, he would +begin roaring and lashing his tail, as if he were going to fall on me at +once. So, to avoid provoking him, I was forced to remain stock-still, +although sitting so long in one position cramped me dreadfully. + +There we sat, Mr. Lion and I, staring at each other with all our +might--a very picturesque group, no doubt, if there had been anybody +there to see it. Down, down the stream we went, the banks seeming to +race past us as if we were going by train, while all around broken +timber, wagon wheels, trees, bushes, and the carcasses of drowned horses +and cattle, went whirling past us upon the thick brown water. + +All at once I noticed that the lion seemed to be getting strangely +restless, turning his great head from side to side in a nervous kind of +way, as if he saw or heard something that he didn't like. At first I +couldn't imagine what on earth was the matter with him, but presently I +caught a sound which scared me much worse than it had done the lion. Far +in the distance I could hear a dull, booming roar, which I had heard too +often not to recognize at once: we were nearing a water-fall! + +I had seen the Great Falls of the Fish River more than once, and the +bare thought of being carried over those tremendous precipices made my +very blood run cold. Yet being devoured by a lion would hardly be much +of an improvement; and as I hadn't the ghost of a chance of being able +to swim ashore, there really seemed to be no other alternative. + +Faster and faster we went; louder and louder grew the roar of the +cataract. The lion seemed to have quite given himself up for lost, and +crouched down among the leaves, only uttering a low moaning whine every +now and then. I was fairly at my wits' end what to do, when all of a +sudden I caught sight of something that gave me a gleam of hope. + +A little way ahead of us the river narrowed suddenly, and a rocky +headland thrust itself out a good way into the stream. On one of the +lowest points of it grew a thick clump of trees, whose boughs overhung +the water; and it struck me that if we only passed near enough, I might +manage to catch hold of one of the branches, and swing myself up on to +the rock. + +No sooner said than done. I started up, hardly caring whether the lion +attacked me or not, and planted myself firmly upon one of the biggest +roots, where I could take a good spring when the time came. I knew that +this would be my last chance, for by this time we were so near the +precipice that I could see quite plainly, a little way ahead, the great +cloud of spray and vapor that hovered over the great water-fall. Even at +the best it was a desperate venture, and I can tell you that I felt my +heart beginning to thump like a sledge-hammer as we came closer and +closer to the point, and I thought of what would happen if I missed my +leap. + +Just as we neared it, it happened, by the special mercy of God, that our +tree struck against something, and turned fairly crosswise to the +current, the end with the lion on it swinging out into mid-stream, while +my end was driven close to the rock on which the clump of trees grew. + +Now or never! I made one spring (I don't think I ever made such another +before or since), and just clutched the lowest bough; and as I dragged +myself on to it I heard the last roar of the doomed lion mingling with +the thunder of the water-fall, as he vanished into the cloud of mist +that overhung the precipice. + +As for me, it was late enough that night before I got home, and I found +my poor wife in a fine fright about me; so I thought it just as well, on +the whole, to keep my adventure to myself, and it wasn't till nearly a +year later that she heard a word about my strange fellow-voyager. + + + + +EASY BOTANY. + +MARCH. + + +The delightful science of botany treats of the forms and habits of +plants. + +This study leads the steps away from the busy town to the quiet woods +and hills, giving a charm to every stroll, and making for each young +student hosts of friends whose sweet faces will greet him through life +with unaltering truth and beauty. + +Gathering wild flowers is a pleasure too well known to need dwelling +upon, but studying plants botanically involves more than this, as the +student will soon find out. And there are difficulties, such as hard +Latin words of many syllables which must be pronounced, and, worse +still, _spelled_--a trying process even to the experienced. Care must +also be taken to write down everything distinctly, and there must be +patience, faithfulness, and resolute perseverance. But the reward comes, +and one feels paid for his trouble when he is able to pick a flower, to +sit down and _find it out_, and give to it its hard botanical name. + +It is now spring, and the tears and smiles of April will quickly awaken +the sleeping wild flowers. Let me urge the young people to take up the +study of these "darlings of the forest." Gray's _First Lessons in +Botany_ will help along beginners, and before the flowers come we will +tell them where to find them. + +Let each one have a ruled blank book of _good size_ to write down the +botanical and common name of every flower. How many flowers do you think +you can find in April? and who will find the most? + + + + +NOBLESSE OBLIGE. + +BY V. G. SMITH. + + +Those of you who have studied French can translate this motto, and those +who have not may perhaps guess that it means "nobility obliges"; but it +is a favorite expression with so many different people, and it seems to +mean such different things to different persons, that perhaps it may be +worth while to tell a few anecdotes about what nobility has been +supposed to oblige us to do. + +When James I. of England was a little boy in Scotland, he had an +extremely clever tutor, George Buchanan. Now Buchanan was a great Latin +scholar. He wrote verses, and was called the Scotch Virgil. Of course he +was very ambitious that his royal pupil should be a good Latin scholar +too, and the books say he "_whipped_ so much knowledge into him" that +James was called the "British Solomon." This was the approved way in +Great Britain at that time to educate boys. But there is a fact about +which most of the books are silent: Buchanan and his friends reasoned +that though it was quite true that James could never learn Latin unless +some one was whipped, it would be a dreadful thing to strike a boy of +the blood royal, and so they arranged that another boy should live at +court, who should be whipped every time James failed in his declensions +and conjugations. + +This seems to have been a very satisfactory arrangement, and you see, in +this case, "nobility obliged" somebody else to be punished when the +"nobility" had done wrong. + +This is the sense in which a great many splendid and magnificent people, +with crowns on their heads and sceptres in their hands, have understood +the motto. + +Tradition does not say what James himself thought about it. Perhaps he +worked all the harder with his lessons, and felt that "nobility obliged" +him not to let any one else suffer for his faults. If that was so, it +was not a bad plan, after all. + +There is a better sense in which some have understood the motto. Perhaps +some of you have read the touching letter of the Prince Imperial before +he went to the fatal Zululand, where he was so cruelly murdered. The +poor boy felt as if he had no object in England. He thought of the great +deeds of the other Napoleons, and was stung at his own inaction. There +seemed to be no duty left for him to do, in the way of fighting; but +fight he must, to show he was as brave as the rest of his family. They +say he was a gentle, affectionate, noble-spirited boy, and it seems as +if he thought others would suppose he was weak unless he did some deed +of daring. _His_ nobility obliged him to be foremost in the most +desperate places; and so he died, and the world mourned for him. + +I think, as you read history more and more, you will believe, as I do, +that men, and even children, of high birth, are surer to be brave and +courageous than those in more obscure station. They may have other +faults--dreadful ones--but it seems as if they dare not be cowards, +because their whole race is looking at them, and expecting them to be +noble. In this country, where we know so little about our ancestors, we +need a still higher courage to make us do as grand things from yet +higher motives. + +For, much as I pity and admire the little Prince, I think there is even +a better way than his to understand the old motto. + +Perhaps you have been reading lately some account of the wedding +festivities of the young King Alfonso of Spain; but it is not very long +since he was married to his first wife, sweet little Princess Mercedes, +who died within a few months after her marriage. Indeed, their nobility +often obliges kings who lose their wives to be married again very soon. + +It is of Queen Mercedes I wish to tell you. When she was about thirteen +or fourteen years old she was sent to school to a convent in France. The +convent was full of lovely and noble ladies, who had gone there because +they had met with misfortunes of one kind or another. These ladies +taught the young girls under their care very gently; still, there were +certain light punishments for those who were careless or idle. I think +one of these was that the offender should stand in a corner for a +certain length of time. + +Although most of the girls were of high birth, the little Princess, soon +to be Queen, was of higher rank than any of the others. Her seat was a +little apart from theirs, and by various small tokens of this kind her +position was recognized. + +Now one day it happened that Mercedes committed some fault. Perhaps she +was late in rising, or failed in some other way to carry out the convent +rules. The fault was not serious, and the Sisters did not think it +necessary to enforce the punishment; but Mercedes, blushing very much, +went of her own accord to the corner where she knew she ought to stand, +and staid the appointed time. You see she felt that if she was of too +high rank to receive punishment from others, the duty of inflicting it +upon herself was her own. _Noblesse oblige._ + +Although the illustrations I have given you have all been from royal +families, where, I suppose, the motto originated, I am sure you will be +able to apply it to hundreds of other cases, and will believe that +nobility of character obliges us with still more force to do the best +things always, though we are bound by no outward law. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE SUN AT MIDNIGHT. + + +There are portions of our globe, away toward either pole, where the sun +remains above the horizon for about two months of the year, making one +long day. During this period the pleasant alternations of morning, day, +evening, and night, are unknown in those regions; and there is also a +long season of night, when the sun is not seen at all. This must be +still more unpleasant, because it is winter-time. The pale cold moon +sheds a chilling light at times over the snow and ice, and the aurora +borealis flashes its splendors through the heavens. The cold is so great +that old chroniclers, writing about the arctic regions, pretended that +when the inhabitants tried to speak, their very words froze in coming +out of their mouths, and did not thaw out till spring. It is not safe to +believe all that old chroniclers tell us, and perhaps in this case they +only tried, in an extravagant way, to make their readers understand how +very cold it was in that Northern land. + +[Illustration] + +Our next picture shows the pleasanter side of arctic life, when the sun +is above the horizon most of the time, and disappears from sight for +short periods only. Many travellers have gone as far as the famous North +Cape, in Norway, for the sake of seeing the sun at midnight. Among them +is Du Chaillu, whom many of our readers know through his interesting +books about Africa. He stood on the very edge of the cape one July +midnight--that is, it was midnight by the clock--and saw the sun descend +nearly to the horizon, and then begin to rise again. Far to the +northward stretched the deep blue waters of the Arctic Ocean; close +around him was a bleak, dreary, desolate landscape. A few blades of +grass sprouted at the edge of the cape. Further back, in places +sheltered from the winds, the ground was clothed in rich verdure, and +adorned with flowers. Still further inland were little patches of dwarf +birch, scarcely a foot high, crouching close to the ground to escape +being torn away by the furious winds that sweep over the land. There was +none of the abundant life that we see around us in our fields and woods. +A spider, a bumble-bee, and a poor little wanderer of a bird, were the +only living things Du Chaillu saw. + +But he beheld the sun at midnight. As the hour of twelve approached, the +pale orb sank almost to the horizon, the line of which it seemed to +follow for a few moments, as it shone serenely over the lonely sea and +desolate land. It was a sight never to be forgotten by one who had +travelled hundreds of miles to witness it. + +Sailors and explorers in the far Northern regions find it hard at first +to accustom themselves to the long arctic day; and animals carried on +board ship from lower latitudes are entirely at a loss when to go to +sleep. There is a curious story of an English rooster that seemed to be +utterly bewildered because it never came night. He appeared to think it +unnatural to sleep while the sun was shining, and staggered about until +he fell down from exhaustion. After a while he got into regular habits, +but was apparently so disgusted to wake up in broad daylight, instead of +the gray dawn to which he was accustomed, that he discontinued crowing. +Perhaps he thought he had over-slept himself, and was ashamed to crow so +late. + +It seems almost incredible that the dreary regions of which our pictures +afford a glimpse enjoyed, ages ago, a climate even warmer than our own. +The chilling waves that dash against the base of the dreary North Cape +once washed shores clothed in luxuriant vegetation. Stately forests +stood where now only stunted shrubs struggle a few inches above ground. +The mammoth, and other animals that require a warm climate, roamed in +multitudes through those regions. Their bones, found in great abundance +when the banks of the lakes and rivers thaw out and crumble away in the +spring, form an important article of traffic. + +The people who live in the dreary regions of the far North are, +generally speaking, industrious, sober, simple-minded, and contented. +They have few pleasures, and their lives are toilsome. But in whatever +region we find them--in the fishing villages of the northernmost coast +of Norway or Lapland, and even in Greenland--they fondly believe their +country to be the best and most favored part of the world. We must beg +leave to differ with them. We love our changing seasons, that gradually +come and go, the sweet succession of day and night, the joyous life that +fills our fields and woods, and the comforts, luxuries, and all the +advantages of civilization. But it is a great blessing to mankind that, +wherever our lot may be cast in this great and wonderful world, + + "Our first, best country ever is at home." + + + + +A BOARDING-SCHOOL CLUB. + +BY ELINOR ELLIOTT. + + +"Well, Mildred, what does she say?" asked Dr. Clifford of his pretty +eldest daughter, as she came to the end of her long letter; and the +shower of questions following showed how eager were all at the breakfast +table to hear from the sister away at boarding-school. + +"She says so much," laughs Mildred, "that I will read it to you." + + ELM BANK, ---- 13, 1880. + + DEAR MILLY,--I am rejoiced to know your first party was a success, + and that you were spared the ignominious fate of "full many a + flower born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness on + the"--ball-room wall. + + Your dress must have been a beauty, but I do not envy you. "Fine + clo'" I have forsworn, and I would not exchange my jolly + school-days for all your festive parties. + + Tell papa I must have some new boots--very thick, with broad soles + and low heels--and entreat him not to send them C. O. D., for I + truly can't pay the expressage. + + We girls have formed a club for the "Abolition and Extirpation of + Grotesque Idiotic Style." + + Our initials, A, E, G, I, S, as you see, spell "Aegis," which is + to be our shield (its literal meaning) from aristocratic scorn. I + dare say I shall not be received in polite circles when I go home, + but when I look at my ring, on which is engraved A E G I S, I + shall gain such invulnerability that all sneers will glance aside + ineffective. + + There is a curious fact about our club and motto. Like the old + English Cabal, we have five members whose initials form the name, + viz., + + Anna Clifford, + Enid Evans, + Gertrude Wood, + Ida Langford, + Sallie Peterson. + + I have given up curling my hair, and braid it. Of course it isn't + becoming, but we Aegises stoop not to vanity. I have gained five + pounds since Christmas; so when my spring suit is made, tell the + dress-maker to put the extra material into the waist, and not + waste it (a pun, but very poor) in puffs and paniers, for we have + abolished them. We try to get along with the bare necessities of + life. + + I'd give a good deal to see you all, but I'm not the least bit + homesick. + + Good-by. Give my double-and-twisted love to everybody, and kiss + the dear pink of a baby a hundred times for me. + + Lovingly, + ANNA I. CLIFFORD. + + P.S.--When you send the boots, perhaps if you put them in a + fair-sized box, there'll be room for a cooky or two. + + A. I. C. + +"Isn't that a happy letter!" + +"Think of our dainty, exquisite Anna so independent! her pretty brown +curls straightened out in a braid, and her dresses shorn of puffs and +ruffles!" + +"That's the kind of 'society' for school-girls to form," says papa. +"I'll order the thickest boots I can find to be sent up; also a chicken +for Bridget to roast; and as she has given us so delicate a hint, +perhaps you can find something else to put in the box." + +Afternoon finds the Clifford family again assembled in the dining-room, +intent upon packing the boots and "cookies"; and from the size of the +box on the table one would infer that the boots must be No. 17's, and +the cookies as large as cheeses, or, more correctly, that something more +is to be added. + +"Wouldn't it be fine to send five things for the club individually?" +asks one. + +"Capital!" "Good!" "Just the thing!" cry all. + +"And have their initials spell Aegis." + +"What shall the first be?" + +"A--Apples!" sounds a full chorus. + +"It is a vote. And the next?" + +"E--Eels," suggests fourteen-year-old Dick, whose suggestions are apt to +be more ludicrous than elegant. + +"Eggs; hard-boiled eggs are always dear to my heart in the scenes of my +childhood." + +"Bridget, put on a dozen eggs, to boil ten minutes." + +"G--Ginger-snaps." + +"Grapes." + +"Gum-arabic," from Dick. + +It takes so long to decide this important point that Dr. Clifford calls +out the fourth letter: + +"I." + +A hush falls upon them, but, as Dick would say, made no noise, and did +no damage in falling. No one can think of anything but ice-cream. And I +challenge you: put your hand over your eyes, and name two other edibles +beginning with "I." + +At last Dick, in an ecstasy of inspiration, starts up, and cries, +"Inch-worms!" + +A peal of laughter, and each one suggests some impossible or awful +article; and then the dauntless Richard again: "A few _I_deas." + +"If we had them to spare," says papa, dryly. + +"Irish potatoes would be like coals at Newcastle." + +"I feel it in my bones that Bridget would suggest '_I_sters.'" + +"Apropos of that," says Milly, "I think we shall have to adopt the +sound, and send Inglish walnuts, as Anna loves them dearly." + +"Now for the last letter." + +"S--Sardines." + +The things are collected, and stowed away in the box; it is sent off by +express, and in a few days the following letter announces its arrival. + + ELM BANK, ---- 16, 1880. + + DEAR, DEAR, DEAR FAMILY,--I know I can't show you my delight + better than by telling you all about it. + + Yesterday we Aegises were out walking all the afternoon, and when + we came home, hungry as wolves, were cheered by a chorus from the + piazza: + + "A Clifford box, a Wood box-- + A Clifford box, a Wood box." + + Perhaps you have no appetizing association with a wood-box, but + the news quickened our steps, and inspired us with the elasticity + of a quintette of rubber balls as we bounded up the steps, and + fell upon our boxes with all the love of a father upon a returned + prodigal. + + I sat down on my box, and Gertie on hers, and there we sat, as + happy as two enthroned queens, with serfs and vassals standing + near. How every girl in school idolized us last night! + + "George has driven Madame over to town, and won't be back till + late," said Enid, coming from her expedition to the basement in + search of George. (George is the man-servant who "does the chores" + and "plays hero" for the school.) + + "How can we ever get these up stairs?" asks Gertie. + + "Carry them ourselves," cried a brawny girl; "we'll all help." + + So, with a girl at each corner of each box, we struggled up + stairs. Mine was not very heavy, but Gertie's was; and one girl + let her corner slip, which threw us all into confusion, and in the + midst of the hurly-burly we became aware of a majestic presence at + the head of the stairs, and there stood--Miss Coningham, the first + assistant. Our hearts stood still, for we had not asked + permission; but Sallie, whom nothing overcomes, saved us. + + "Oh, Miss Coningham," she called, "_do_ come and help us;" and she + actually stepped down and caught it as the girls were losing + control of it, and engineered it into our sitting-room. + + You know we five Aegises have one sitting-room, with three + bedrooms opening out of it. As she turned to go, I thought I saw + in her face a longing to stay, and be a girl with the rest of us, + and I said, + + "Don't go, Miss Coningham; stay and see what is in the boxes." + + "Thank you; I know you will enjoy yourselves more alone. Madame + told me to give you five young ladies permission to have supper in + your own room to-night." + + "Why?" we all cried. "What made her?" + + "Because it is Miss Wood's birthday." + + "My birthday!" cried Gertie, in amaze. "I didn't once think of + it;" while the girls flew at her ears. + + "I don't see how any one could forget such a thing--do you, Miss + Coningham?" I asked, as she stood in the door. + + "No; I could not forget mine," she said. "This is mine too." + + When I told the girls it was Miss Coningham's birthday too, they + unanimously proposed to give her a present, and ran to their rooms + for their purses. + + "There are just ten of us," said Enid, counting. + + "Pass round a hat," said Ida. + + "This will do," cried Sallie, seizing an India rubber shoe, and + taking up the collection. "If you have little, give little, but if + you've got a lot, give a good deal. Six dollars and ninety cents," + said Sallie, counting it. "Now what shall we get?" + + "Flowers? They fade so quickly." + + "Let's get something she can keep." + + "Well, what?" + + "A gold thimble. You know hers rolled down the register, and was + lost." + + We agreed upon the thimble. Then Enid went to Miss Coningham, and + gained permission for us to go down to the jeweller's. So the five + other girls left the selection of the thimble to us, and went down + stairs. + + "Wasn't 'Cony' good?" said Sallie. "Little did she suspect our + object." + + "Would it be a bad idea to ask her to feast with us to-night?" + + "Not at all bad. Do you believe she'll come?" + + "Very doubtful. Who will ask Madame if we may have the feast?" + + "I," said Sallie; "my life for my country." + + We bought a beautiful gold thimble for six dollars, and spent the + rest for flowers; then hurried home to open the boxes, and get + everything ready before study hour. + + "What shall we do for a table-cloth?" + + "Take a fresh sheet," said Sallie. + + "Isn't there anything better?" asks Ida. + + "Positively nothing," answered Sallie, throwing a sheet at her. + "Take this, and be thankful it isn't sheet lightning that strikes + you. Now I start for my interview with Madame." + + "Good luck attend you! Enid, put the flowers in the centre, with a + lemon pie at one side and a mince at the other." + + "Here is a roast chicken," I cried. "Ida, put it at one end." + + "Enid," called Gertie, "here's a duck in my box; put him opposite + the chicken." + + "'Dido _et dux_,'" said Enid. + + "Well," answered Gertie, "I'm glad she didn't eat them all." + + Here Sallie came in, triumphant. + + "I showed her the thimble, girls, and told her all about + everything, and she says we five and the other five and Miss + Coningham--Elsie, she called her--can come up here right after + prayers, and stay till ten o'clock." + + "Could anything be jollier?" + + "She says Elsie was our age when she first came here, and was as + full of fun as we are." + + Then I found your note, saying there were _A_pples for Anna, + _E_ggs for Enid, _G_rapes for Gertie, _I_nglish walnuts for Ida, + and _S_ardines for Sallie. We saw how hard up you were for I's, + but we'd rather have the nuts than anything. + + We had just got everything in order when the study bell rang. You + can scarcely mention a "goody" that was not in one of those boxes. + Gertie had a birthday cake with fifteen tapers on it, which we + lighted. + + I can't begin to tell you what a jolly time we had when we came + back up stairs. All our invitations were accepted. Miss Coningham + was charmed with the thimble. We "toasted" all you good people at + home who were the cause of our joy, and sent the flowers to Madame + when our revelry was o'er. + + By-the-way, the boots are exactly right. Now, with the love and + thanks of all the Aegises, I must close, for I haven't touched a + lesson for to-morrow. + + Lovingly, gratefully, and thankfully yours, + ANNA I. CLIFFORD. + + + + +THE BABY ELEPHANT. + + +On the 10th of this month an event occurred in Philadelphia that has +aroused universal curiosity and interest. It was the birth of a baby +elephant, which immediately became famous as being the first of his +kind, so far as is known, ever born in captivity. All other elephants +brought to this country for exhibition, or used in Eastern countries as +beasts of burden, have been captured and tamed, and it has heretofore +been regarded as an unquestioned fact that they would not breed in +captivity. + +The mother of the cunning little fellow who is attracting so much +attention is a large black Asiatic elephant named Hebe, and belongs to +the Great London Circus. She is acknowledged by all the other elephants +of the circus as their queen, and they are all loyally devoted to her. +She and six other large elephants have been spending the winter in a +stable at the corner of Twenty-third Street and Ridge Avenue, +Philadelphia. Here the elephants stand in a large room, each with their +hind-legs chained to posts. + +[Illustration: THE EXCITED ELEPHANTS.] + +Immediately upon the birth of the little elephant the others seemed to +become crazy with joy. They had been very quiet, but they now set up the +most tremendous bellowing and trumpeting imaginable. Some of them broke +their chains, and danced about in the most grotesque manner, besides +performing all the tricks they had been taught in the circus ring. The +general excitement communicated itself to Hebe, and in a moment she +became the most frantic of them all. Snapping the chains that bound her +to the posts as though they were threads, and apparently becoming, for +the first time, aware of the presence of her baby, she seized him with +her trunk and threw him with great force, twenty yards or more, to the +opposite side of the room. He fell close beside a large stove, around +which was a railing of heavy timbers. Rushing after him, his crazy +mother beat down this railing, threw over the stove, and in her madness +would probably have killed her baby, had not her keeper, who had fled +for his life upon the first outbreak, returned with help, and attracted +her attention. With considerable difficulty she was secured and again +chained to the posts, and the other animals were also quieted. During +all the confusion the baby had stood motionless in the place to which +his mother had flung him, and had regarded the whole scene with a look +of wise solemnity such as only a baby can assume. + +When quiet was restored, he became very frisky, and was willing to make +friends with everybody. He ran about with his mouth wide open, and his +little trunk pointing upward in the funniest way possible. He blundered +about here and there, running against all sorts of things, and finally +seemed overjoyed to be taken back to his mother, who has ever since +shown the greatest fondness for him. He is thirty-five inches high, and +weighs 214 pounds, so that he is about the size of a large Newfoundland +dog. He is fed by means of a nursing-bottle made of a yard of rubber +hose and a large funnel. One end of the hose is put in his mouth, and +the other is attached to the funnel, into which the keepers pour warm +milk until the baby shows that he has had enough by throwing down his +end of the tube. + + + + +PRACTICAL JOKES. + +BY FRANK BELLEW. + + +As a general rule, practical jokes are a kind of fun that should not be +encouraged; but there are a few harmless ones which may be made the +means of a good deal of innocent merriment. + +Tom Hood, who was one of the most kindly and genial of men, as well as +one of the greatest of poets, was very fond of playing little practical +jokes on members of his own family and immediate circle of intimate +friends. On one occasion, when his wife had made a magnificent English +plum-pudding, as a Christmas present for some German friends, Hood +surreptitiously got hold of it, and filled it with wooden skewers, which +he ran through in every direction, and in this condition it was sent by +the unsuspicious Mrs. Hood to her friends in Germany, who no doubt +thought English cookery a most eccentric art. + +On another occasion he wrote as follows, from London, to an intimate +friend, one Lieutenant Franck, of the Prussian army: + +"I also send for yourself an imitation gold-fish. It appears that there +is something in the color or taste of the gold-fish which renders it +irresistible to other fish as a bait. They are quite mad after it. It +appears to be intended to be sunk with a weight, and pulled about under +water, or else to float on the top; but they say it is taken in anyway." + +[Illustration: Fig. 1.] + +This wonderful bait was made of wood, and painted yellow, or covered +with gilt paper, and presented an appearance like the annexed engraving. + +[Illustration: Fig. 2.] + +But under this innocent exterior lurked Tom Hood's joke. The fish was +made of two pieces of wood, like Fig. 2, glued or gummed together, only +one of which was attached to the line, and on this piece was burned, +with a red-hot knitting-needle, the words, "_O, you April fool!_" Of +course, after the sportsman had dragged this about in the water for some +time, the glue melted, the loose half of the bait floated away, and when +he hauled in his line to see how things were getting along, he +discovered the inscription, and at the same time that he had been made a +_fool_ of, whether it happened to be April or not. + + +THE CLOCK BEWITCHED. + +I was once at one of those little social gatherings which the Scotch +call a "cooky-shine," and the English a "tea-fight," where two young +ladies appeared escorted by a rustic beau (for be it known this was in +the country), who, like many beaux from both city and country, had a +very well-developed opinion of his own shrewdness and sagacity, of which +opinion he gave several rather obtrusive illustrations during the course +of the evening. This peculiarity, added to the fact that, quite early in +the festivities, he displayed an anxiety to hurry the young ladies home +in the midst of their enjoyment, made him anything but popular. The fact +was that the young man, having exhausted his limited stock of +conversation, grew bored and sleepy, and wanted to go home himself. Not +being able to accomplish this, he seated himself in an obscure corner +of the room, where he soon dropped off into a doze. Now among the +company was a little imp of a boy, a son of the hostess, who seemed to +feel himself called upon to amuse the rest of the guests. He whispered a +few words in his sister's ear, and then left the room. In about fifteen +minutes the drowsy beau woke up with a start, and asked what o'clock it +was. + +"I really don't know," responded one of the ladies. "What time was it +when you went to sleep?" + +"Sleep--sleep! I haven't been to sleep--'wake all the time." + +"Indeed you have," chorussed the party; "nearly two hours, and saying +all sorts of things." + +[Illustration: WHAT TIME IS IT?] + +The youth looked blank, and rather frightened, but tried to brave it +out. "Oh, pshaw! two hours. Sleep!--why, I haven't been to sleep +ten--that's to say, I've been awake the whole time. Now we'll see." And +he arose and walked into the next room, which was rather dimly lighted, +to look at the clock. He remained there a long time, shuffling about, +and emitting sundry whiffs and snorts, and then rejoined the company, +rubbing his eyes, and rumpling his hair all over his head, with an +expression of bewilderment on his countenance which set every one +present tittering. + +"All right," he said. "Guess't's 'bout time to start home." + +"Oh no, not yet," answered the hostess. "We are going to have some cider +and doughnuts." + +The cider and doughnuts were brought in and handed round, the sleepy +beau receiving his last. He took a good Irish bite. A pause. Something +was the matter. He pulled, he gnawed, he wrestled, he grunted, he +struggled: it was no use; that doughnut was too much for him. Suddenly, +with a quick motion worthy of the late lamented Mr. Grimaldi, he whipped +the doughnut out of his mouth and into his pocket. He thought he was +unobserved, but a roar of rustic laughter from all sides of the room +soon undeceived him. We will draw a veil over the scene, etc., etc., as +the novels say. In a few seconds his two fair charges, in charity, +proposed to go home; and they went. + +Now what was this all about? I will tell you. When the young imp left +the room, as before mentioned, he slipped into the back parlor, turned +down the lights, and carried the clock off into the kitchen, where with +some Indian ink and a brush he marked on its face half a dozen extra +hands. He then replaced the clock on the mantelpiece in the parlor, and +returning to the kitchen, procured two small balls of cotton batting, +which he soaked in some batter the cook was using for doughnuts, and +these he fried till they exactly resembled the genuine article the cook +had just made. He had previously let the ladies into the secret, so that +when the sleepy beau went into the back parlor to look at the clock, as +they took care he should, they perfectly knew the bewildered frame of +mind he was in while trying to find out the time. The sister, too, while +handing round the doughnuts, managed to reserve the cotton ones for the +same gentleman. + +The next day our hostess received a polite note from the discomfited +escort, thanking her for the gift of the doughnut, which he said had +been of infinite value to him, as he had given it to a neighbor's dog +which kept him awake all night, and the dog had since died. So he took +it good-naturedly, after all. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE JOLLY DOG'S PRACTICAL JOKE. + + + 'Twas near dinner-time, and the pudding was hot, + Nelly, her cheeks all aglow + (The master liked icy-cold pudding), ran out, + And popped the dish into the snow. + + For though on that morn smiling April was born, + A snow-heap that March left behind, + When he hastened away, in a dark corner lay + Of the garden, blown there by the wind. + + Singing merrily, back to the kitchen went Nell, + When a jolly dog came up the lane. + "Aha! something good!" and he stopped and he sniffed, + Looked around, cocked his ears, sniffed again. + + Then, the gate being open, he boldly walked in, + Going straight to the snowy spot where + The dish sat a-cooling--three great gulps he gave, + And a pudding no longer was there. + + Down the stoop flew the maid. "I must now take it in, + For I'm sure by this time it is cool." + Said the dog, running off, "Pray don't trouble yourself; + _I_ have taken it in--April-fool!" + + + + +[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.] + + + CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE. + + I wonder if the readers of YOUNG PEOPLE know how delightful the + climate and surroundings of Chattanooga are. Near the base of + Lookout Mountain, which has grown historical since the war, the + views in all directions are magnificent, that from the point on + the mountain being the grandest, where one can see places in seven + different States. Chattanooga is an Indian word, meaning eagle's + nest. + + PAUL DWIGHT MOROSS. + + * * * * * + + TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN. + + I live in a lonesome country, but it is very beautiful in the + summer. We have nice lakes and woods, and all kinds of birds. + There is a little bird which builds such a queer nest. It is like + a hanging cup, and so small you scarcely notice it. There are five + white eggs, with black spots on the ends, in it. The bird is + blackish color, with a round white spot in the middle of each + wing. There is a bird here called grosbeak. It is very handsome, + and a splendid singer. You can hear its clear note in the morning + above all the rest. My sister Julia found a nest, and took out a + male bird. It had hardly any feathers. She brought it up on bread + and milk, and it was so tame it would sit on her finger; but one + morning it flew away, and never came back. Perhaps some of the + readers of YOUNG PEOPLE have tamed the little yellow-birds. Julia + tamed one, and it was a great pet. I have a pet dove named Philip. + He will follow me about in the woods. When he misses me, he hunts + till he finds me. When we are eating dinner, if the door is open, + I often hear a pat-pat on the step, and in comes Philip, nodding + his head from side to side, and lights on my shoulder, for me to + give him his dinner. He is now two years old. I will send you his + portrait. I think Bertie Brown drew a first-rate picture. + + ALLIE VOORHEES. + + * * * * * + + TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN. + + The first hepaticas (liverwort) that I saw this year were picked + the first day of March. Has any one living in the same latitude + found them earlier? The arbutus is nearly in bloom. When we were + out in the woods the other day we saw a beautiful gray fox. + + MABEL BATES. + + * * * * * + + COLLEGE GROVE, TENNESSEE, _March 1, 1880_. + + I send you a violet, and also the earliest wild flower of this + section, _Erigenia_, or "daughter of the early spring" [a species + of groundsel]. We have had crocuses and daffodils ever since + Christmas. I have lots of pets. We have nine cats. One is fourteen + years old. And we have a shepherd dog that has a great deal of + sense. I have three white hens--one top-knot, one plain, and one + with pantalets. I have a chicken grave-yard, and we have funerals. + The red and blue birds, wrens, jays, and woodpeckers, staid with + us all winter. I found a nest of hatched partridge eggs, and the + large ends were all picked round even, and opened like box-tops. + We live in the woods, and I see many pretty things. + + ANNA RUCKER. + + * * * * * + + I am twelve years old. I live on the border of a large lake in the + province of New Brunswick, Canada. Though so far north, our + winters are often mild and pleasant. Father says it is because we + are not far from the sea. I have been ill with acute rheumatism + for six months past, and the weekly visits of YOUNG PEOPLE are a + great comfort and pleasure to me, as I am mostly confined to the + house. I found some willow "pussies" three days ago (March 4), and + I send a few, to let you see what New Brunswick can do in this + way. + + W. SCOTT BUTLER, Jun. + + * * * * * + + BETHANY, MISSOURI. + + I see so many little folks writing to you, I thought I would write + too. I am eight years old, and I live where the sun goes down. I + never saw a railroad in my life, and never went to school. Mamma + teaches us at home. I have a cream-colored pony, and sister Grace + has a pet lamb. She had to get a baby's nursing-bottle to raise + the lamb with, and it is just too funny to see her feed it. It + sucks away at the bottle as hard as ever it can, and wags its + little tail ever so fast. We have learned nearly all we know from + HARPER'S MAGAZINE and the BAZAR and WEEKLY, for papa and mamma + have taken them all our lives. We could not do without the + pictures. I wish you could see our stacks and heaps of the MONTHLY + and the papers. When we want a good old time, we get them all out, + and they are as good as new. We think there never was such a + splendid paper as YOUNG PEOPLE. My sister Grace wanted to write to + you too, but mamma said one nuisance was enough at a time. + + NELLIE BLACKBURN. + + * * * * * + + CROOKSTON, MINNESOTA. + + I borrowed HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE of one of my neighbors, and I + like it so much I intend to take it as soon as I can earn money + enough to pay for it. I am a cripple boy. I have no feet. One was + cut off below and one above the knee, and when I move round I have + to go on my hands. I want a pair of Newfoundland dogs for a team, + but I can not find where I can get them. I knit a pair of mittens, + and sold them to help pay for YOUNG PEOPLE, and now I am mending + grain bags to earn the rest of the money. I am fond of reading, + and feel lonesome without books and papers. + + ELMER R. BLANCHARD. + + * * * * * + + SALT LAKE, UTAH TERRITORY. + + Father wants me to tell you that he made me a telescope of + sheet-iron as you described in the first number of YOUNG PEOPLE, + and although my object-glass is only one and one-quarter inches in + diameter, we can plainly see Jupiter's four moons. Jupiter itself + appears as big as a nickel five-cent piece. We can also see the + rings of Saturn. But when we look at anything on the earth, it is + turned upside down. This glass gives us a great deal of pleasure. + + OLAF THOMASSEN. + + * * * * * + + TERRYVILLE, CONNECTICUT. + + My uncle caught two young gray squirrels in the woods, and brought + them home in a cage. We gave them walnuts and chestnuts, but they + were so cross they bit each other's tails, which when they were + little looked more like rats' tails than squirrels'. When we let + them out of the cage, they soon learned to go into my uncle's + pockets after nuts. Then they would sit on his head or shoulder + and eat them. When we gave them more than they could eat, they + would hide them on the ground, and cover them with leaves and dry + grass. They did it so neatly that even when we saw where they put + them, we would have to hunt a long time to find them. When it came + warm weather, they went back to the woods. What do squirrels live + on in summer before the nuts are ripe? + + ANGIE B. BALDWIN. + +Squirrels eat all kinds of berries, the tender twigs and bark of certain +trees, and grain. Corn fields are feasting grounds for them, as the +fresh tender stalks are as delicious food as the fully formed kernels. + + * * * * * + + CLARKSVILLE, NEBRASKA. + + I want to tell you about a ride I had the other day with papa and + mamma. We drove out about four miles from here, to a prairie-dog + town, where we saw hundreds of these little animals playing about + in the sunshine. The prairie-dogs are very curious little + creatures. They dig their holes, throwing out the earth so as to + make quite a mound. They look very cunning from a distance, + standing on their hind-legs. Some were near their holes, ready to + jump in as soon as we drove near. Others, which were a good way + off from their homes, scampered back as fast as they could. Their + town covered about a section of land, so you can see they have + quite a large city. + + PAUL BEARDSLEY. + + * * * * * + + BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. + + Last spring we had a pretty pair of canaries, and we raised five + little birds. They were dear little things, and before we gave any + of them away it was great fun to watch them play together. One was + very light yellow, nearly white, another was dark yellow, two were + spotted with green, and one was all very dark green. The green one + was the prettiest of all, but it always fought for the best place + in the cage, and pecked at all the others; but if they fought, + they always made up after it. The yellow one was very tame, and + would come right to our hands to eat. The lightest one died, and + the others we gave away, but we were very sorry to part with them. + + FROGGIE. + +The following was written in big printed letters: + + If you put Froggie's letter in your paper, I hope you will put + mine in. I can't write as he can, because I am only five years + old. I like your paper very much. Froggie reads it to me, and I + read the pictures myself. I like that picture of the pussy. + + FROGGIE'S LITTLE BROTHER. + + * * * * * + + READING, PENNSYLVANIA. + + We were very glad to see that story of Colonel Gregg in No. 19, + for he was one of our ancestors. We have a parrot from the Isle of + Pines, which seems to be a very smart bird. I would like to know + if there is any particular way by which we can teach it to talk. + + DAVID M. GREGG. + + * * * * * + + KANSAS. + + I live on the prairie between the Arkansas and Smoky Hill rivers. + My nearest playmate is a mile and a half away, and I am very glad + when YOUNG PEOPLE comes. Can you tell me who has been considered + the most famous man in the world? + + LULU A. G. + +There have been so many "famous men," that it would be difficult to +place any one among them at the head of the list. + + * * * * * + + I am ten years old, and I live in Dickinson County, Kansas. We + have three dogs--Queen, Cetchum, and Custer--and we have use for + them all. Pa uses Queen to hunt prairie-chickens with, and Queen + and Cetchum hunt rabbits by themselves. We have gray rabbits and + jack rabbits. The jack rabbits are very large, and have long ears. + Pa says they are very much like the English hare. We have a great + many peaches and grapes and water-melons, and there are bad men + and boys that sometimes steal them. In the summer I tie Queen in + the peach orchard every night. If she hears anything, she barks + very loud, and then Custer runs to help her. If any man is there, + he is sure to be bitten. Custer is an English bull-dog, and a + great fighter. He can whip a wolf. We have a great many wolves + here, and they are so bold that if we did not keep dogs, they + would come round the house in the daytime, and steal young pigs + and lambs and chickens. + + SIDNEY B. PRAY. + + * * * * * + + TAYLORSVILLE, TEXAS. + + I like YOUNG PEOPLE very much. It gives a great deal of + instruction. I live on the banks of the San Gabriel River, which + has some very large fish in it. I read all the letters in the + Post-office Box. I liked Gertrude Balch's letter very much, and I + like to draw the "Wiggles." + + J. L. PAXTON. + + * * * * * + + FAIRFIELD (STONE P. O.), PICKENS COUNTY, ALABAMA. + + I would like very much to exchange some of our native flower seeds + for flower seeds of other localities with any of the "Young + People." + + MAMIE JONES. + + * * * * * + + GALT, CALIFORNIA. + + Will any little girl press me some specimens of Eastern flowers? + If she will, I will press her some of our floral beauties here in + California, and send them to her. + + GENEVIEVE. + +If Genevieve will send her full address, no doubt some little girl in +the Eastern States will be glad to exchange pressed flowers with her. + + * * * * * + + NEW BRIGHTON. + + Can you tell me the longest word in the English language? + + K. POST. + +Valetudinarianism is a long word. Can any correspondent find a longer +one? + + * * * * * + + BUFFALO PAPER-MILL, NORTH CAROLINA. + + Would you kindly give a description of the animal called drill. I + would like to know the country of its nativity, and any other + information in regard to it. I have tried to find something about + it, and have failed. + + WILLIAM LIDDY. + +The drill (_Papio leucophaeus_) is a large baboon, and one of the ugliest +of its family. It has a heavy thick body covered with coarse +grayish-brown hair, a large head with a hideous black face, stout clumsy +legs, and a short stubbed tail. It lives in the woods and rocky regions +along the west coast of Africa. In Guinea it is so abundant as to be a +terror to man and beast, as its ferocity and strength render it a +dangerous foe. Great herds of the drill, when driven by hunger, +sometimes attack the negro villages, and have been known to kill women +and children. Specimens of this savage creature have been captured and +placed in zoological gardens in France and England, but all efforts to +tame it have been in vain. + + * * * * * + +REBECCA H.--Your puzzle was not noticed, because you failed to send the +answer. Meanwhile, one with the same solution has been received, and has +already been printed. It is, therefore, too late to make any use of +yours, which was very pretty, and neatly constructed. + + * * * * * + +C. B. F.--Grinnell Land is within the arctic circle, and is not claimed +by any nation. + + * * * * * + +S. H. M.--The letters in the corners of English postage stamps indicate +the year when the stamp was printed. + + * * * * * + +J. M. T.--Full directions for boat-building would occupy too much space +in our Post-office Box, but if you go to any good boat-builder, he will +no doubt give you the desired information. + + * * * * * + +F. S.--The custom of Easter eggs is very ancient, and it is not known +when it first arose. There are many pretty legends in regard to it, but +all are without foundation. + + * * * * * + +Favors are acknowledged from Allie B. W., Hermann H. Davis, Emily W. +Berry, Mamie W. Howe, Florence C., Minnie Shepard, Henry B. Teal, J. D. +Burroughs, Charles H. MacHenry, Fannie Wright, Ella Warren, George B. +Wendell, Lily Jones, Edith, Fannie C. Shuford, Stella and Fannie, W. K. +Grier, Mira K. Abbott, George Russell, J. A. P., Josie B., Eddie Hunter, +Daisy Brainard, F. W. Fenner, Harry Robertson, Willie Hughes, "Silly," +Vinie Summy, Herbert Meacham, Willie H. C., Willie Ellis, "Subscriber," +Lizzie L., Arthur Brumbach, Arthur E. T., Arthur Walcott, "Little +Agnes," Frankie Pratt, Louis C. S., G. R. A., Bessie Saunders. + + * * * * * + +Correct answers to puzzles are received from Eddie D. Raymond, Marion E. +Norcross, Birdie A. R., Robbie Reynolds, Harry Van A., S. G. Rosenbaum, +Alfie Welden, R. W. Dawson, William and Mary L., H. K. P., Louise +Nichols, A. H. Ellard, Angie Baldwin, Fannie Reeves, Alfred Opdyke, +Alma, Stella B., Sarah Zelnicker, "North Star," Istalina Beach, Minnie +Williams, Paul Beardsley, C. B. Howard, B. L. Townsend, Florence +Stilwell, S. Birdie D., Daisy, Walter Crull, G. C. MacIntosh, G. Vasa +Edwards, Cass Shelby, Alex and Lewis Mack, Mabel H. B., L. Fobes. + + * * * * * + +PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS. + +No. 1. + +ENIGMA. + + My first is in left, but not in came. + My second is in fire, but not in flame. + My third is in flour, but not in lard. + My fourth is in soft, but not in hard. + My fifth is in blue, but not in pink. + My sixth is in water, but not in ink. + My seventh is in wren, but not in bird. + My whole is a game of which you have heard. + + MARGARET. + + * * * * * + +No. 2. + +DOUBLE ACROSTIC. + +To wither. A proper name. A house of entertainment. Something every city +is full of. Annually. Answer--Two flowers. + + M. L. + + * * * * * + +No. 3. + +WORD SQUARE. + +First, crystallized vapor. Second, an appellation. Third, a foreboding. +Fourth, a part of the verb to go. + + STELLA. + + * * * * * + +No. 4. + +NUMERICAL CHARADE. + + I am composed of 13 letters. + My 10, 8, 4, 7 is a manner of walking. + My 3, 6, 5, 2, 1 is a fruit. + My 10, 12, 11, 13, 9 is a color. + My whole is a common Latin phrase. + Also the name of a flowering plant. + + W. F. B. + + * * * * * + +No. 5. + +DIAMOND PUZZLE. + +A vowel. An insect. A violent passion. A useful plant. A consonant. + + H. N. T. + + * * * * * + +No. 6. + +ENIGMA. + + My first is in wrong, but not in right. + My second is in nymph, but not in sprite. + My third is in Willie, but not in Ann. + My fourth is in tin, but not in can. + My fifth is in tinkle, but not in bell. + My sixth is in ill, but not in well. + My seventh is in see, but not in look. + My eighth is in read, but not in book. + My whole is the name of a poet. + + F. W. + + * * * * * + +ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN NO. 19. + +No. 1. + +Constantinople. + +No. 2. + + R ea M + A die U + P reache R + H agga I + A lcoho L + E ar L + L ared O + + Raphael, Murillo. + +No. 3. + +Bread. + +No. 4. + + W A R M + A R E A + R E A L + M A L E + +No. 5. + +Trifles often lead to serious results. + +No. 6. + + S + U T E + S T O R K + E R A + K + +Charade on page 248--Offend. + + * * * * * + +THE SOAPBOXTICON. + +We have received numerous letters from correspondents about the +Soapboxticon. Some report great success in making it, while others have +been unable to make it work right. To the unsuccessful ones we would say +that you probably do not remove your lens box far enough from the muslin +screen, your outer box not being quite long enough. In this case, you +can move the lens box out of the other box as far back as you please. +The lens we use is about two and a half inches in diameter, but the size +is of little consequence. The main conditions are to keep the light well +to one side, that no direct rays pass through the lens to illuminate the +screen, and to concentrate as bright a light as possible on the picture, +and on that alone. There should be no other light in the room when the +experiment is tried, and the picture should be very clear and distinct. +Two double convex lenses placed one at each end of a tube of card-board +will act better than one lens alone. + + + + +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. + + + + +=KEEP YOUR BIRD= IN HEALTH AND SONG by using =SINGER'S PATENT GRAVEL +PAPER=. Sold by Druggists and Bird Dealers. + +Depot, 582 Hudson St., N. Y. + + + + +FOR 1880. JUST OUT. + +[Illustration: SPALDING'S BASE BALL GUIDE] + +The highest authority on Base Ball. The only book published containing +the official =League Playing Rules=, under which every club in America +plays; also players' averages, illustrations on curve pitching, batting, +&c. Every lover of base ball should have a copy. Mailed, postpaid, upon +receipt of 10c. =A. G. SPALDING & BROS., Publishers, Chicago, Ill.= + + + + +OUR CHILDREN'S SONGS. + + * * * * * + +Our Children's Songs. Illustrated. 8vo, Ornamental Cover, $1.00. + + * * * * * + +The best compilation of songs for the children that we have ever +seen.--_New Bedford Mercury._ + +This is a large collection of songs for the nursery, for childhood, for +boys and for girls, and sacred songs for all. The range of subjects is a +wide one, and the book is handsomely illustrated.--_Philadelphia +Ledger._ + +It contains some of the most beautiful thoughts for children that ever +found vent in poesy, and beautiful "pictures to match."--_Chicago +Evening Journal._ + +An excellent anthology of juvenile poetry, covering the whole range of +English and American literature.--_Independent_, N. Y. + +Songs for the nursery, songs for childhood, for girlhood, boyhood, +and sacred songs--the whole melody of childhood and youth bound in +one cover. Full of lovely pictures; sweet mother and baby faces; +charming bits of scenery, and the dear old Bible story-telling +pictures.--_Churchman_, N. Y. + + * * * * * + +Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. + +HARPER & BROTHERS _will send the above work by mail, postage prepaid, to +any part of the United States, on receipt of the price_. + + + + +CHILDREN'S + +PICTURE-BOOKS. + + Square 4to, about 300 pages each, beautifully printed on Tinted + Paper, embellished with many Illustrations, bound in Cloth, $1.50 + per volume. + +The Children's Picture-Book of Sagacity of Animals. + + With Sixty Illustrations by HARRISON WEIR. + +The Children's Bible Picture-Book. + + With Eighty Illustrations, from Designs by STEINLE, OVERBECK, + VEIT, SCHNORR, &c. + +The Children's Picture Fable-Book. + + Containing One Hundred and Sixty Fables. With Sixty Illustrations + by HARRISON WEIR. + +The Children's Picture-Book of Birds. + + With Sixty-one Illustrations by W. HARVEY. + +The Children's Picture-Book of Quadrupeds and other Mammalia. + + With Sixty-one Illustrations by W. HARVEY. + + * * * * * + +Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. + +_Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on +receipt of the price._ + + + + +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 States, on +receipt of the price._ + + + + +[Illustration: Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 3.] + +MISFITS. + + +Bob has discovered another amusement. The other evening he suddenly +commanded me to "draw a head" on a piece of paper that he placed before +me. + +"Don't let me see it, nor anybody. Now fold it back, and leave a little +bit of the neck showing. Now I'll draw the body." + +Which he did, and again folded the paper. + +"Now, papa, you draw the legs." + +Papa obediently took the pencil, and had his turn at the paper. + +"Now, Mamie, you name it. Call it after somebody you know, if you like." + +So Mamie named it Miss Foot, in honor of her school-teacher, the most +stately of maiden ladies. Then Bob unfolded the paper, and displayed to +us a most comical mixture of flesh and fowl. + +"More like a _misfit_, than _Miss Foot_," said papa. + +"There! that's what I'll call 'em," exclaimed Bob--"_misfits_. That's +just what they are, you know--misfits." + +"She's a duck, anyway," said Mamie. + +"Looks more like a goose," said Bob. + +We afterward tried another, in which Mamie had a hand with the pencil. I +named it after myself, and was rewarded for my vanity by finding "Nelly" +a more ungainly object than even "Miss Foot." + +In making "Misfits" you must remember to leave a small piece of one +picture projecting into the other, in order to have them join properly. +You will also find it better to draw them on a larger scale than the +pictures we give. + + + + +CHARADE. + + + A nimble spring, a noiseless tread, + A playful poise of the restless head, + A sleepy song of sweet content, + While slyly on schemes of mischief bent-- + 'Tis thus the days of my _first_ are spent. + + To do my _second_ is surely human; + They say the fault was first with a woman. + 'Tis a little word, but its power was great, + To change the course of a happy fate. + + My _third_ is seen in many a land, + Where ancient temples ruined stand, + Like a grim sentry, placed before, + To guard an open palace door. + + My _whole_, with slow and measured grace, + Among the lowly takes its place: + Nor dreams its future yet shall be + A wondrous thing of mystery. + + + + +[Illustration] + +SOLUTION OF CHICKEN PUZZLE. + + +The Chicken Puzzle given on page 216 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, No. 17, +has proved too difficult for any of our readers to solve, and not a +single correct answer to it has been sent us. The puzzle was to make a +chicken out of an orange with four cuts of the scissors and the prick of +a pin. In Fig. 1 of the above diagram the dotted lines on the stalk and +the white lines on the orange show where the cuts with the scissors are +to be made, and Fig. 2 shows the pieces put together, and the chicken +complete. + + + + +[Illustration: LITTLE TOMMY'S NIGHTMARE, AFTER SPENDING AN UNUSUALLY +BUSY DAY KITE-FLYING.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, March 30, 1880, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, MAR 30, 1880 *** + +***** This file should be named 28423.txt or 28423.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/4/2/28423/ + +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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