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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/33054-8.txt b/33054-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8236582 --- /dev/null +++ b/33054-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3806 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's Round Table, July 9, 1895, 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 Round Table, July 9, 1895 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: July 2, 2010 [EBook #33054] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, JULY 9, 1895 *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HARPER'S ROUND TABLE] + +Copyright, 1895, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All Rights Reserved. + + * * * * * + +PUBLISHED WEEKLY. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1895. FIVE CENTS A COPY. + +VOL. XVI.--NO. 819. TWO DOLLARS A YEAR. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE RALEIGH REDS. + +BY JULIANA CONOVER. + + +"Attention! Right dress! Front! Order arms! Carry arms! Present arms! +Right shoulder arms! Carry arms! Stand straighter, Billy. Can't you +fellows keep in line? Right face! Left face! About face! Oh, all right, +I won't go on with the drill if you don't try harder than that." + +"Let us off this afternoon, Tommy? There's a good fellow," begged Billy +Atkins, a fat little chap of twelve, who, between the heat and his +exertions to keep his round body erect, was nearly used up. + +"You won't ever learn to drill decently, then," answered the discouraged +Sergeant. + +"Oh, yes, we will, in double-quick time; but it is so hot, and we all +want to be in good shape for to-morrow." + +"What do you say, fellows?" asked Tommy, turning to the other panting +recruits. + +"Let's stop," they all responded, briskly, "and try to fix up some +scheme for the Fourth." + +"Very well," answered the Sergeant, a little reluctantly. "I did want to +try the bayonet exercise; but I suppose we can do that some other time." +Then drawing himself up in true martial style: "Port arms! Dismissed!" + +The boys took instant advantage of the command, and hastily stacking +their arms, they squatted on the grass to try and cool off by means of +mumble-the-peg and a discussion of Fourth-of-July plans. + +Tom Porter, aged twelve, had spent a year at a military academy, and had +come home for his summer holidays burning with military ardor, and +primed with tactics from the latest manual of arms. + +He soon fired the ambition of the other boys, and in a week had +organized a company--or "squad," as he decided it really was--composed +of ten raw recruits and a band of two, mustered under the banner of the +Raleigh Reds. + +They drilled faithfully day after day under the command of their +enthusiastic Sergeant, and the discordant sounds from the fife and drum +became a nuisance to the neighborhood. + +But now that the novelty of the drill was wearing off, the boys began to +pine for active service, and wild plans of campaigns, with long +marches, bloody battles, and glorious victories, floated through Tommy's +brain, as he nightly revolved the future of the Raleigh Reds. + + * * * * * + +"Well, how are we going to celebrate the Fourth?" asked Lilly Atkins, +throwing down the knife in disgust, after failing ignominiously in the +delicate operation known as "eating oysters." "It's no fun just marching +at the tail end of a parade." + +"We might make another raid on old Jones's cattle," suggested Herbert +Day; "we know a lot more tactics and manoeuvres now." + +"Not much, unless Tommy teaches us some slick barbed-wire-fence drill," +said Dick. "I'm on my last pair of trousers." + +"That _was_ a pretty big fizzle," Tommy said, shaking his head. "And how +they did jolly me at home! Did you ever hear the poem my sister wrote +about it?" + +"No; what was it?" + +"Well, it was sort of like 'Half a League,' only different, about us, +instead of the 'Six Hundred.' It's pretty good," modestly. + +"Can't you say it?" asked Herbert. + +"Yes, go ahead, Tommy," chimed in the others. + +Tommy blushed. It seemed conceited to recite his sister's verses, and +yet he was genuinely proud of them. + +"It's a grind on us, you know," he said, warningly. + +"Oh, that's all right; we're used to it; fire away." + +Thus pressed, Tommy began: + + "'Half a mile, half a mile, + Dust-choked and solemn, + Straight for old Jones's field + Marched the brave column. + + "Forward, the Raleigh Red! + Charge for the bull!" he said. + Into the grazing herd + Marched the firm column. + + "'Forward the squad brigade.' + +"That's wrong, you know," he stopped to explain, "but Alice wouldn't +change it; she said it didn't matter." + +"It doesn't a bit," Dick answered. "Go on; it's great!" + + "'Forward the squad brigade.'" + +Went on Tommy. + + "'Was there a man afraid? + Not though the privates knew + Jones's bull's bad manners. + Theirs not to make a row, + Theirs not to question how, + Theirs but to charge the cow, + Into the grazing herd + Marched the red banners. + + "'Cows to the right of them. + Cows to the left of them, + Cows still in front of them, + Peacefully chewing. + Gazed at in wild surprise, + Boldly, with steady eyes, + Marched on at double-quick + Shouting their battle-cries, + To their undoing.' + + "'Whisked all the tails so bare, + Whisked in the sultry air, + Staring, as cows do stare, + Chewing the cud the while. + When from the close ranks + Broke forth a muffled beat. + _Not_ of bass drums, but feet, + Jersey and Alderney + Gazed on this mad retreat, + Gazed on the gay pranks + Of the old bull, who had + Broken the phalanx. + + "'Fence to the right of them, + Fence to the left of them, + Jones's bull behind them. + Pawing and bellowing. + What need commands to tell? + Boldly they ran and well, + Not one small private fell. + + "'Out of the horns of death, + Sergeant and squad pellmell, + Through the barbed-wire fence + Crawled the torn column. + When can their glory fade, + Oh, the retreat they made, + All Raleigh applauded! + Honor the Sergeant's feet, + Honor the squad's retreat, + Long be it lauded!'" + +"Guy, that's fine!" ejaculated little Billy. "Isn't it, Dick?" +enthusiastically. + +"Slickest thing I've ever heard," answered Dick. + +"We did get to that fence quick, and no mistake. And, George! I woke up +every night for a week dreaming that the old bull was just running his +horns into me." + +"We'll have to do something to get a better 'rep,'" said Tommy; "we've +done nothing but retreat so far. Old Farmer Applegate sent us flying, +when he had nothing but cow-hide boots and a pitchfork." + +"It was his garden," reflected Fatty Simmons; "that was why I ran." + +"Well, what are we going to do to-morrow, that's what I want to know?" +said Jack Green. + +"I have it!" exclaimed the Sergeant, his eyes sparkling. "The very +thing, fellows! I heard Davis and Jim White talking yesterday (they +didn't know I was there), and they were arranging a scheme for the +Fourth, which it would be dandy fun to break up." + +"What was it?" the others asked, eagerly. + +"You know the little cannon in Mr. Scott's field? He thinks no end of +it; it's a Revolutionary relic or Waterloo or something. Well, those +fellows are going to steal it to-night and have a great time to-morrow. +Five of them are in it." + +"Whew!" whistled Herbert Day. "I shouldn't like to be in their shoes +when Mr. Scott finds it out; he'll make it hot for them! But how's that +going to help us, Tommy; we're not in it?" + +"I know; but what we want to do," answered the Sergeant, "is to guard +the cannon and spoil their little game. It would be great to get ahead +of Davis for once." + +"Wouldn't they punch our heads?" said Billy, doubtfully; "they're +bigger." + +"I'd like to see them," blustered Fatty; "we'd run them through with our +bayonets." + +"What time did they agree to take the cannon, Tommy?" asked Bert. + +"After dark, about nine, I suppose. They said they could drag it across +the field to Davis's barn, and that nobody would catch on." + +"What sport!" chuckled Green. "We'll go early, then, and form in single +file round the old cannon, and I'd like to see the man who could take it +from us." + +"Mr. Scott has a big mastiff, hasn't he?" asked Billy. + +"What of that?" scornfully, and Billy was silenced. The boys forgot +their heat and fatigue in their eagerness to prepare for such a great +undertaking, and over and over again the Sergeant's commands rang out: +"Load! squad, ready! aim! _fire!_ Order arms! Load! ready! aim! recover +arms! _fire!_" etc., for a full hour. + +At half past eight that same evening the Raleigh Reds, with fife and +drum silent, marched through the lane leading to Mr. Scott's field. + +"Squad, halt!" was the command when they reached the fence. Then after a +whispered consultation and a stealthy glance round, lest the enemy might +attack them in the rear, they climbed carefully over the rails, and came +down cautiously on the other side. + +"Forward, march!" ordered the Sergeant, and his squad started by twos up +the field. + +The cannon was mounted at the other end, and the shadows which the moon +cast across their path looked to the boys' excited fancy like figures +rising from the ground. + +"A little faster step--hep, hep!" urged the Sergeant, as they lagged. +"Double time!" he commanded; but alas! a low ferocious growl, followed +by a loud bark, caused a sudden panic in the dauntless Reds. + +"The mastiff!" cried Joe Morris; "cut for your lives!" + +"Don't you do it! Charge bayonets!" shouted Tom, dismayed by this +breaking of the close-locked ranks. + +"About face!" yelled Fatty Simmons, assuming the command in his terror: +"quick to the fence, fellows--run!" and as the big dark object bounded +towards them, the squad for the second time in its short history took to +its heels without waiting further orders. Before the Sergeant could +collect his scattered wits, a rough hand seized him by the collar, and a +grim voice said, "I've caught you, hev I? You'll just come to Mr. Scott, +young man; he's waitin' for you." + +"Call that dog off; he'll chew them fellows up," gasped Tommy, trying to +wriggle away from the tight grip. + +"Sarve 'em right for sneaking in after dark and stealing the old cannon +that's stood here over a hundred years." + +"We didn't steal it," said the indignant Sergeant. "We came to guard +it!" + +"To guard it! Well, you didn't have much luck, then, for it's been gone +this half-hour. Mr. Scott, he's in a terrible way about it." + +"My, how early they must have come!" exclaimed Tom. + +"They? Who?" + +"Why, the fellows we came to keep from taking it." And then he explained +to the astonished farmer. + +The result was that the "Raleigh Reds" were recalled, trembling, from +their refuge behind the rail breastwork. Dom Pedro was quieted down, and +the demoralized squad was marched sheepishly to the house as prisoners +of war of the tall farmer. + +Mr. Scott interviewed them, and his anger gave way to amusement as the +boys told, in shamefaced confusion, of their part in the evening's work. + +"What your men need, Captain, is experience," he said; "so I will make a +bargain with you. If you manage to bring the cannon back by twelve +o'clock to-morrow morning, I will promise to furnish the finest display +of fireworks ever seen in this town, to celebrate the valor of the +'Raleigh Reds.'" + +The boys blushed as crimson as their colors at these words, but Tom +replied, stoutly: + +"We'll do it, Mr. Scott. Just see if we don't. I know we deserve to be +locked up in the guard-house for desertion; but give us one more chance, +and if we can't do anything but retreat, and in disorder too, then we'd +better give up the soldier business altogether." + +And so Mr. Scott clinched the bargain. + +How the little Sergeant racked his brains that night, as he tossed from +side to side, trying to hit upon some plan by which they could get the +field-gun away from its triumphant capturers! + +It would be no easy matter to drag the heavy cannon so far even if they +had a fair field; but when it was held by the enemy--five big +boys--Tommy shook his head in doubt, for he had no longer confidence in +the courage of his squad. + +The more he thought of it, the more he felt convinced that the only +thing to do was to decoy the guard in some way; but how? Suddenly he sat +up in bed and looked out of the window. It was moonlight, and he could +see some distance through the trees into a large field at the end of the +garden. + +"Yes, that will work," he murmured. "I don't want to do it, but it's the +only thing I can think of, and we've _got_ to get that field-gun +somehow." + +So, having at last made up his mind, he turned over and fell asleep. + + * * * * * + +"Fire! fire! fire!" clanged the great iron bell, putting all the toy +cannons to shame. + +"Fire! fire!" shouted the men and boys as they dropped their pipes and +their fire-crackers, and started in the direction from which a volume of +smoke rose black and dense against the clear sky. There were not many +fires in Raleigh, and this looked like a promising one. From all parts +of the little town the people swarmed, eager for any excitement that +would help to celebrate the holiday. + +"Now's our chance," whispered Tommy to the "Reds," as, ensconced behind +a hedge, they watched the crowd assemble. "We've got to hustle, for the +fire won't last long." + +"The fellows are all there, except Jim White," returned Dick, "and there +he comes, puffing like a steam-engine." + +"Then we're safe. Have you got the rope all ready, Billy?" + +"Yes, slip-knot and all." + +"Then come on, fellows." + +And the boys cast one lingering glance at the crackling flames, the +fire-engine, and the crowd, then turned round and started heroically in +the opposite direction. They knew well where the cannon was, for had not +the victorious party jeered at them from the top of the shed, when they +went to reconnoitre early in the morning? They looked cautiously over +the gate of Davis's barn-yard. All was quiet. They opened the gate, and +walked softly in. Yes, there stood the bone of contention, alone, +unguarded, its mouth pointed towards the barn. + +"Hurry up, Bert; you understand about putting on the rope," said the +nervous Sergeant, as he watched the smoke against the sky growing +perceptibly less. + +"They'll suspect us, sure," replied Joe, "when they find we're not +there." + +"Think of missing a fire!" groaned Bert; "and such a beauty too!" + +By the time the boys were ready to start the smoke had almost died away, +and the shouts had entirely subsided. + +"We must fight to-day, fellows, or break up the company," said Tommy, as +they toiled up the field dragging the gun after them over the rough +ground. + +"Does Pat Kinney know we're coming?" asked Dick. + +"Yes; and he's going to bring Dom Pedro to back us up," answered +"Fatty," straining away on the rope. + +"Lucky for us," said Billy, his spirits rising. + +Just as they reached the end of the field where the cannon always stood, +a shout from the fence made them grasp their arms and fall quickly in +line with bayonets fixed. + +"Steady!" cried the Sergeant, his knees beginning to shake--"steady, +fellows; don't run." + +On the big boys came. Six or seven of them, headed by Davis, bearing +down on the trembling squad with yells like wild Indians. + +"Steady," said the Sergeant again, and immovable as the Inchcape Rock +the line received the charge. + +"Get out of here or we'll break your necks!" cried White, as the squad +closed in round the cannon. + +"Throw a pack of big crackers at them," said a rough-looking boy; "that +will break their ranks," and a shower of fire-crackers followed these +words. + +Still the squad stood firm. + +"All right, then," said Harvey, solemnly; "if you don't surrender we'll +have to wade in and do you up. Won't we, Davis?" + +"Yield!" shouted Davis, flourishing a big stick; "the cannon or your +life!" + +"Come on," cried the undaunted little Sergeant, as a twenty-five-cent +cracker went off under his nose. "We'll never surrender!" + +"We'll never surrender!" echoed the rest of the squad, spurred on to +resistance by their leader. "Come on!" + +And the next moment the bayonets were shattered by the charge, the guns +wrenched from the boys' hands, and down they went on the ground a +wriggling mass of arms and legs. + +It began to look very bad for the Raleigh Reds, when, to their great +relief, the reserve force came up on a full gallop, urged on by the +command of, "At 'em, Pedro, at 'em!" + +This time Dom Pedro discriminated between his allies and the foe, for he +dashed at Davis with a growl that struck terror to the stoutest heart. + +"Here comes Mr. Scott, boys!" cried White, scrambling up from Dick's +prostrate form; "we'd better skip;" and leaving the still unconquered +squad fighting manfully on their backs, the big boys made for the fence, +with Dom Pedro in hot pursuit. + +The Reds picked themselves up, and looked ruefully for their scattered +arms. They were pretty well battered and broken, but the cannon was +safe. + +"Fall in," commanded the Sergeant, as Mr. Scott walked up, holding Pedro +by the collar. + +"Good for you, boys," he said, smiling; "you held your own well. I +watched from behind the fence, and was delighted with the way you stood +up to those big fellows." + +Tommy blushed with pride and pleasure. "They would have whipped us," he +replied, modestly, "if Dom Pedro hadn't scared them off." + +"At any rate you brought the field-gun back, and you deserve great +credit for the way you stuck to your colors. But what is this that +Kinney tells me about setting a barn on fire?" + +"It belonged to Tommy," said the others. "It was an old tool-house which +his father gave him to keep our things in. It made a beautiful fire." +Regretfully. + +"And you burnt it up just so as to decoy the boys?" Incredulously. + +"It was the only way to get the cannon," Tommy answered. "And the roof +leaked, anyway." + +"It certainly was a clever scheme, though rather a risky one," said Mr. +Scott. + +"I asked my father," Tommy hastened to explain. "And first he said no, +we mustn't do it, but when I told him that it was military tactics, and +how we wanted to prove to you that we were not such miserable cowards, +he gave in and said to go ahead." + +"Well, you certainly have proved it, and fulfilled your part of the +contract with honor, so now I want to do my part. So you may invite +everybody you want--the whole town, if you wish--in my name, to a grand +exhibition of fireworks in honor of the Raleigh Reds." + +The little Sergeant beamed from ear to ear. "Guy!" he ejaculated, +fervently, "what a slick old time we'll have!" Then, turning to the +smiling and embarrassed line, he cried, "Squad, _salute_!" and every +hand went up while the demoralized fife and drum favored Mr. Scott with +their wildest and most discordant tones. + +Then down the field they marched triumphantly, with torn banner flying, +and Dom Pedro stalking gravely on ahead. + + + + +THE LITTLE MINUTE-MAN. + +BY H. G. PAINE. + + +All during the winter Brinton had been saying what he would do if the +redcoats came, and grieving because his age, which was eight, prevented +him from going with his father to fight under General Washington. + +Every night, when his mother tucked him in his bed and kissed him +good-night, he told her not to be afraid, that he had promised his +father to protect her, and he proposed to do it. + +His plan of action, in event of the sudden appearance of the enemy, +varied somewhat from day to day, but in general outline it consisted of +a bold show of force at the front gate and a flank attack by Towser, the +dog. Should these tactics fail to discourage the British, he intended to +retire behind a stone fort he had built on the lawn, between the two +tall elms, and to fire stones at the invaders until they fell back in +confusion, while his mother would look on and encourage him from the +front porch. + +When the redcoats unexpectedly appeared in the distance, one afternoon +in May, what Brinton really did was to run helter-skelter down the road, +up the broad path to the house, through the front hall into the library, +close the door, and then peep out of the window to watch them go by. + +When he first caught sight of the soldiers Brinton was sure that there +was at least a regiment of them, but when they were opposite the front +gate all that he could see were a corporal and three privates. Instead +of keeping on their way, however, they turned up the path toward the +house, and then it seemed to Brinton that they were the most gigantic +human beings that he had ever seen. + +His mother was away for the day, and had taken Towser with her. This, +together with the fact that the enemy were now between him and his fort, +entirely spoiled Brinton's plan of campaign, and he decided to seek at +once some more secluded spot, and there to devise something to meet the +changed conditions. But when he started to run out of the room, he found +that in his hurry he had left the front door open, so that any one in +the hall would be in plain sight of the soldiers, who were now very +near. + +Unfortunately there was no other door by which Brinton could leave the +room. What was worse, there was no closet in which he could hide. The +soldiers were now so close at hand that he could hear their voices, and +a glance through the window showed him that two of them were going +around to the back of the house, as if to cut off any possible escape in +that direction. + +And his mother would not be back until six o'clock. Instinctively his +eyes sought the face of the tall time-piece in the corner. It was just +three; and he could hear the soldiers' steps on the front porch! + +The clock! + +Surely there was room within its generous case for a very small boy. + +[Illustration: THE MINUTE-MAN TAKES HIS POSITION.] + +In less time than it takes to write it Brinton was inside, and had +turned the button with which the door was fastened. As he pressed +himself close against the door, so that there should be room for the +pendulum to swing behind him, he heard the corporal enter the room. He +knew it must be the corporal, because he ordered the other man to go up +stairs and look around there, while he searched the room on the other +side of the hall. + +Brinton could hear the footsteps of the men as they walked about the +house, and their voices as they talked to each other. Then all was quiet +for a long while. He was just on the point of peeping out, when all four +men entered the room. + +"Well," said a voice that he recognized as the corporal's, "it is plain +there is no one at 'ome. Me own himpression is that the bird's flown. +'E's probably started back for camp, and the wife and the kid with 'im. +I don't believe in payink no hattention to w'at them Tories says, nohow, +goink back on their own neighbors--and kin, too, like as not. It's just +to curry favor with the hofficers, it's me own hopinion. 'Ow did 'e know +the Major was comink 'ome to-day, anyhow?" + +Nobody answered him. Perhaps he didn't expect any one to. + +The Major! Brinton's own father! He was coming home! This, then, was the +surprise that his mother had said she would bring him when she went off +with Towser in the morning to go to Colonel Shepard's. And now those +redcoats were going to sit there and wait until he came, and then-- +Brinton did not know what would happen, whether he would be shot on the +spot, or merely put in prison for the rest of his life. + +Oh, if he could only get out and run to meet his father and warn him! +But the men seemed to give no signs of leaving the room. + +"Perhaps he haven't come at all yet," suggested one of the privates. + +"Perhaps 'e hasn't," answered the voice of the corporal; "but w'y, then, +wouldn't his folks be 'ere a-waitink for 'im? 'Owever, I'll give 'im +hevery chance. It's now five-and-twenty minutes after three. I'll give +'im huntil six, but if 'e doesn't turn hup by then, we'll start away for +the shore without 'im." + +"Six o'clock!" thought the boy in the clock. The very time his mother +had told him she was going to be home again "with something very nice +for him." And now she and his brave papa would walk right into the arms +of these dreadful English soldiers, and he could not stop them! + +_Whang!_ + +What a noise! It startled Brinton so much that he nearly knocked the +clock over; and then he realized that it was only the clock striking +half past three. + +Half past three! He had been in there only half an hour, and already he +was so tired he could hardly stand up. How could he ever endure it until +four, until half past four, five, six? + +"If only something, some accident even, will happen to detain papa and +mamma!" he thought. But how much more likely, it occurred to him, that +his father, having but a short leave of absence, would hasten, and +arrive before six. + +"Tick-tock," went the clock. + +"How slow, how very slow!" thought Brinton, and he wished there were +only some way of hurrying up the time, so that the soldiers would go +away. + +Still the soldiers staid in the room, all but one, who had gone into the +kitchen to watch from there. + +"Tick-tock," went the clock, and "whang-whang-whang-whang!" Only four +o'clock. Brinton began to fear that he could not hold out much longer. + +"Tick-tock," went the clock. Each swing of the pendulum marked one +second, Brinton's mother had told him. If he could only make it swing +quicker, so that the seconds would fly a little faster! + +"Why not try to?" Brinton was on the point of breaking down. He was +desperate. He felt that he must do something. He took hold of the +pendulum and gave it a little push. It yielded readily to his pressure. +None of the soldiers seemed to notice it. He gave it another push. The +result was the same. Brinton began to pick up courage, and he pushed the +pendulum to and fro, to and fro, to and fro. + +He tried to keep it swinging at a perfectly even rate, and apparently he +succeeded. At any rate, the soldiers appeared to notice nothing +different. Yet Brinton was sure that he was causing the old clock to +tick off its seconds at a considerably livelier gait than usual. Half +past four came almost before he knew it, but by five o'clock Brinton +began to realize that he was very, very tired. He had already stood +absolutely still in that cramped, dark, close case, and he had pushed +the pendulum first with one hand and then with the other in that narrow +space until both felt sore and lame. Yet now that he had once begun, he +did not dare leave off, and still it did not seem possible that he could +keep it up. + +The soldiers had kept very quiet for a long time. Brinton thought that +two of them must be napping. + +At five o'clock the soldier who was awake aroused the corporal and the +other private, whom the corporal sent to relieve the man on guard in the +kitchen. + +"I must 'ave slept mighty sound," remarked the corporal. "I'd never +believe I'd been asleep an hour, if I didn't see it hon the clock." + +"No soigns av any wan yit," reported the man who had been in the +kitchen, whom Brinton judged to be an Irishman. "Be's ye going to wait +till six?" + +"Yes," answered the corporal. "But no longer." + +Then they began talking about the British fleet that was cruising in +Long Island Sound, and about the ship on which they were temporarily +quartered until they could join the main body of the army, and how a +neighbor of Brinton's father's and mother's had been down at the store +when a ship's boat had put in for water, and how he had told the officer +in charge that Major Hall, Brinton's father, was expected home for a few +hours that day, and what a fine opportunity it would be to make an +important capture. + +The clock struck half past five. + +"H'm!" grunted the corporal. "It doesn't seem that late; but, you know, +you can't tell anythink about anythink in this blaisted country." + +Brinton now began to be very much afraid that his father would come +before the soldiers left. He wanted to move the pendulum faster and +faster, but after what the corporal had said he did not dare to. Then, +when the men lapsed into silence, it suddenly came over Brinton how +dreadfully weary he was, how all his bones ached, and how much, how very +much, he wanted to cry. But he felt that his father's only chance of +safety lay in his keeping the pendulum swinging to and fro, to and fro. + +At last, however, came the welcome sound of the corporal's voice bidding +the men get ready to start. + +Whang-whang-whang-whang-whang-whang! + +"Fall in!" ordered the corporal. "Forward, march!" + +As the sound of their footsteps died away, Brinton, all of a tremble, +opened the door of the clock and stumbled out. He knelt at the window +and watched the retreating forms of the redcoats. As they disappeared +down the road he heard a noise behind him, and jumped up with a start. + +There stood his father! + +The next instant Brinton was sobbing in his arms. + +Brinton's mother came into the room. "Dear me!" she said; "what ever can +be the matter with the clock? It's half an hour fast." + + + + +SNOW-SHOES AND SLEDGES.[1] + +BY KIRK MUNROE. + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +BIG AMOOK AND THE CHILKAT HUNTERS. + +"A goat is a good thing so far as it goes," remarked Phil, gravely, "but +one goat divided among one man, two boys, a little chap, and three +awfully hungry dogs isn't likely to last very long. With plenty of goats +ready to come and be killed as we wanted them, we might hold out here, +after a fashion, until the arrival of a tourist steamer. Wouldn't that +be fun, though? And wouldn't we astonish the tourists? But how we should +hate goat by that time! Still, I don't think there is the slightest +chance of our having that experience, for I understand that the +mountain-goats are among the shyest and most difficult to kill of all +wild animals. + +"Which being the case," continued Phil, "it won't do for us to live as +though we had goats to squander. Consequently, we must make an effort to +get out of here before our provision is exhausted. As we have no boat in +which to go to Sitka, and the nearest point at which we can obtain one +is Chilkat; that is the place we have got to reach somehow. So I propose +that Serge and I take a prospecting trip into the mountains to-morrow +and see what chance there is for our crossing them." + +As no better plan than this was offered, Phil and Serge started early +the following morning on their tedious climb. Each carried a gun, and +they took Musky and Luvtuk with them in the hope of getting a bear, as +Serge had heard that bears were plentiful in those mountains. Nel-te was +left to take care of the hospital, in which Jalap Coombs, with his many +aches, and Amook, with his cut feet, were the patients. + +That afternoon was so warm that the door of the little cabin stood wide +open. Before a fire that smouldered on the broad hearth Jalap Coombs +dozed in a big chair, while Nel-te romped with Amook on the floor. Now +the little chap was tantalizing the dog with the fur-seal's tooth, +which, still attached to its buckskin thong, he had taken from his neck. +He would dangle it close to Amook's nose, and when the dog snapped at +it, snatch it away with a shout of laughter. + +While the occupants of the cabin were thus engaged the heads of several +Indians were suddenly but cautiously lifted above the beach ridge. After +making certain that no one was in the vicinity of the house, one of +their number swiftly but noiselessly approached it. Crouching under a +side wall, he slowly raised his head. + +This Indian was one of a party of Chilkat hunters who had come to +Glacier Bay in pursuit of hair seals, which in the early spring delight +to float lazily about on the drifting ice-cakes. They had camped at the +mouth of Muir Inlet the night before, and during the day had slowly +hunted their way almost to the foot of the great glacier. While there +they discovered a thin spiral of smoke curling from the cabin chimney. +This so aroused their curiosity that they determined to investigate its +cause. They imagined that some of the interior Indians, who were +strictly forbidden by the Chilkats to visit the coast, had disobeyed +orders, and come to this unfrequented place to surreptitiously gather in +a few seals. In that case the hunters would immediately declare war, and +the prospect of scalps caused their stolid faces to light and their dull +eyes to glitter. + +When it was discovered that a white man was in the cabin, the Indians +were greatly disappointed, but concluded to withdraw without allowing +him to suspect their presence, for the Chilkats have no love for white +men. But for Nel-te and Amook they would have succeeded in this, and our +travellers would never have known of their dusky visitors, or the chance +for escape offered by their canoes. + +If the fur-seal's tooth had been able to speak just then, it would have +said, "I am disgusted with the ways of white people. In their hands I am +treated with no respect. They lose me and find me again with +indifference. They even give me to children and dogs as a plaything. How +different was my position among the noble Chilkats! By their Shamans and +chiefs I was venerated; by the common people I was feared; while all +recognized my extraordinary powers. To them I am determined to return." + +With this the fur-seal's tooth, which was at that moment dangling from +Nel-te's hand, gave itself such a vigorous forward swing, that Amook was +able to seize the buckskin thong, which immediately slipped into a +secure place between two of his sharp teeth. As Nel-te attempted to +snatch back his plaything, the dog sprang up and darted from the open +doorway. + +At that moment the Indian who had inspected the cabin was just +disappearing over the beach ridge. At sight of him Amook uttered a yelp, +and started in pursuit. The Indian heard him, and ran. He sprang into +the canoe, already occupied by his fellows, and shoved it off as Amook, +barking furiously, gained the water's edge. Lying a few feet away, and +resting on their paddles, the Indians taunted him. Suddenly one of their +number called attention to the curious white object dangling from the +dog's mouth. They gazed at it with ever-increasing excitement, and +finally one of them began to load his gun with the intention of shooting +the dog, and so securing the coveted trophy that so miraculously +appeared hanging from his jaws. Ere he could carry out his cruel +intention little Nel-te appeared over the ridge in hot pursuit of his +playmate. Without paying the slightest heed to the Indians he ran to the +dog, disengaged the buckskin thong from his teeth, slipped it over his +own head, tucked the tooth carefully inside his little parka, and +started back toward the cabin. Amook followed him, while the Indians +regarded the whole transaction with blank amazement. + +Both Nel-te and Amook regained the cabin, and were engaged in another +romp on its floor before Jalap Coombs awoke from his nap. An hour later, +when he was surprised by the appearance of half a dozen Indians before +the door, he thrust the child and dog behind him, and standing in the +opening, axe in hand, boldly faced the newcomers. In vain did they talk, +shout, point to Nel-te, and gesticulate. The only idea they conveyed to +the sailorman was that they had come to carry Cap'n Kid back to the +wilderness. + +"Which ye sha'n't have him, ye bloody pirates! Not so long as old Jalap +can swing an axe!" he cried, at length wearied of their vociferations +and slamming the door in their faces. + +In spite of this the Indians were so determined to attain their object, +that they were planning for an attack on the cabin, when all at once +there came a barking of other dogs, and, looking in that direction, they +saw two more white men, armed with guns, coming rapidly toward them. + +"Hello in the house! Are you safe? What is the meaning of this?" cried +Phil, in front of the closed door. + +"Ay, ay, sir!" replied Jalap Coombs, joyfully, flinging it open. "We're +safe enough so far; but them black swabs overhauled us awhile ago, and +gave out as how they'd got to have Cap'n Kid. I double-shotted the guns, +stationed the crew at quarters, and returned reply that they couldn't +have him; then they run up the black-flag and allowed they'd blow the +ship out of water. With that I declined to hold further communication, +cleared for action, and prepared to repel boarders." + +In the mean time Serge was talking to the natives in Chinook jargon. +Suddenly he exclaimed: + +"They are Chilkats, Phil, and they want something that they seem to +think is in Nel-te's possession." + +"In Nel-te's possession?" repeated Phil, in a puzzled tone. "What can +they mean? I don't see how they can know anything about Nel-te, anyway. +They can't mean the fur-seal's tooth, can they?" + +"That is exactly what they do mean!" replied Serge, after asking the +natives a few more questions. "They say it is hanging about his neck, +inside of his parka." + +"How long have these people been here, Mr. Coombs?" queried Phil. + +"Not more 'n ten minutes." + +"Have they seen Nel-te?" + +"No, for he hain't been outside the door." + +"Could they have seen him at any time during the day?" + +"Not without me knowing it; for he hain't left my side sence you boys +went away." + +"Then it is more certain than ever that there is magic connected with +the fur-seal's tooth, and that the Chilkats are in some way involved in +it. How else could they possibly have known that it was in our +possession, just where to find us, and, above all, the exact position of +the tooth at this moment?" + +"It surely does look ridicerlous," meditated Jalap Coombs; while Serge +said he was glad Phil was becoming so reasonable and willing to see +things in a true light. + +"How did these fellows get here?" asked Phil. + +"They say they came in canoes," replied Serge. + +"Ask them if they will take us to Sitka, provided we will give them the +fur-seal's tooth." + +"No; the Indians could not do that." + +"Will they give us a canoe in exchange for it?" + +"They say they will," replied Serge, "if we will go with them to their +village and allow their Shaman (medicine-man) to examine the tooth, and +see whether or not it is the genuine article." + +"Won't that be awfully out of our way?" + +"Yes. I should think about seventy-five miles; but then we may find a +steamer there that will take us to Juneau, or even to Sitka itself." + +"It would certainly be better than staying here," reflected Phil. "And I +know that neither Serge nor I want to try the mountain trail again after +what we have seen to-day. So I vote for going to Chilkat." + +"So do I," assented Serge. + +"Same here," said Jalap Coombs; "though ef anybody had told me half an +hour ago I'd been shipping for a cruise along with them black pirates +before supper-time, I'd sartainly doubted him. It only goes to prove +what my old friend Kite Roberson useter say, which were, 'Them as don't +expect nothing is oftenest surprised.'" + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE TREACHEROUS SHAMAN OF KLUKWAN. + +So delighted were the Chilkat hunters to know that they were to have the +honor of conveying the fur-seal's tooth back to their tribe, that they +wished to start at once. The whites, however, refused to go before +morning, and so the Indians returned down the inlet to their camp of the +preceding night, where they would cache what seals they had obtained in +order to make room in the canoes for their unexpected passengers. They +agreed to be back by day-light. + +After they were gone, and our travellers had disposed of their simple +but highly appreciated meal of goat meat and tea, they gathered about +the fire for the last of those "dream-bag talks," as Phil called them, +that had formed so pleasant a feature of their long journey. Without +saying a word, but with a happy twinkle in his eyes, Jalap Coombs +produced a pipe and a small square of tobacco, which he began with great +care to cut into shavings. + +"Where on earth did you get them?" asked Phil. + +"Found the pipe in yonder rubbish," replied the sailorman; "and Cap'n +Kid give me the 'baccy just now." + +"Nel-te gave you the tobacco! Where did he get it?" + +"Dunno. I were too glad to get it to ask questions." + +"Well," said Phil, "the mysteries of this place are beyond finding out." + +"This one isn't," laughed Serge; "though I suppose it would be if I +hadn't happened to see one of the Indians slip that bit of tobacco into +Nel-te's hand." + +"What could have been his object in giving such a thing as that to a +child?" + +"Oh, the Chilkat children use it as well as their elders; and I suppose +he wanted to gain Nel-te's good-will, seeing that he is the guardian of +the fur-seal's tooth. I shouldn't be surprised if he hoped in some way +to get it from the child before we reached the village." + +"Which suggests an idea," said Phil, removing the trinket in question +from Nel-te's neck and handing it to Serge. "It is hard to say just who +the tooth does belong to now, it has changed hands so frequently, but it +will be safer for the next day or two with you than anywhere else. +Besides, it is only fair that, as it came directly from the Chilkats to +you, or, rather, to your father, you should have the satisfaction of +restoring it to them." + +So Serge accepted from Phil the mysterious bit of ivory that he had +given the latter more than a year before in distant New London, and hung +it about his neck. + +"Last night," said Phil, after this transfer had taken place, "Mr. +Coombs and I only needed a pipeful of tobacco and a knowledge of how we +were to escape from here to make us perfectly happy. Now we have both." + +"The blamed pipe won't draw at all," growled Jalap Coombs. + +"While I," continued Phil, "am bothered. I know we must go with those +fellows, but I don't trust them, and shall feel uneasy so long as we are +in their power." + +"Do you think," asked Serge, "that these things go to prove that there +isn't any such thing in this world as perfect happiness?" + +"No," answered Phil; "only that it is extremely rare. How is it with +you, old man? Does the approaching end of our journey promise you +perfect happiness?" + +"No indeed!" cried Serge, vehemently. "In spite of its hardships, I have +enjoyed it too much to be glad that it is nearly ended. But most of all, +Phil, is the fear that its end means a parting from you; for I suppose +you will go right on to San Francisco, while I must stay behind." + +"I'm afraid so," admitted Phil. "But, at any rate, old fellow, this +journey has given me one happiness that will last as long as I live, for +it has given me your friendship, and taught me to appreciate it at its +true worth." + +"Thank you, Phil," replied Serge, simply. "I value those words from you +more than I should from any one else in the world. Now, I want to tell +you what I have to thank the journey for besides a friendship. I believe +it has shown me what is to be my life-work. You know that missionary at +Anvik said he was more in need of teachers than anything else. While I +don't know very much, I do know more than those Indian and Eskimo boys, +and I did enjoy teaching them. So, if I can get my mother to consent, I +am going back to Anvik as soon as I can and offer my services as a +teacher." + +"It is perfectly splendid of you to think of it," cried Phil, heartily, +"and all I can say is that the boys who get you for a teacher are to be +envied." + +So late did the lads sit up that night talking over their plans and +hopes that on the following morning the Indians had arrived and were +clamorous for them to start before they were fairly awake. By sunrise +they, together with the three dogs, were embarked in a great long-beaked +and marvellously-carved Chilkat canoe, hewn from a single cedar log, and +painted black. Two of the Indians occupied it with them, while the +others and the sledge went in a second but smaller canoe of the same +ungraceful design as the first. + +As with sail set and before the brisk north breeze that ever sweeps down +the glacier the canoes sped away among the ice floes and bergs of the +inlet, our boys cast many a lingering backward glance at the little +cabin that had proved such a haven to them, and at the stupendous +ice-wall gleaming in frozen splendor on their horizon. Under other +conditions they would gladly have staid and explored its mysteries. Now +they rejoiced at leaving it. + +So favoring were the winds that they left Glacier Bay, passed Icy +Strait, and headed northward as far as the mouth of Lynn Canal before +sunset of that day. During the second day they ran the whole fifty-mile +length of the canal, which is the grandest of Alaska's rock-walled +fiords, entered Chilkat Inlet, passed the canneries at Pyramid Harbor +and Chilkat, which would not be opened until the beginning of the salmon +season in June, entered the river, and finally reached Klukwan, the +principal Chilkat village. + +[Illustration: THEY WERE WELCOMED BY THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF KLUKWAN.] + +Here, as the smaller canoe had preceded them and announced their coming, +our travellers were welcomed by the entire population of the village. +These thronged the beach in a state of wildest excitement, for it was +known to all that the long-lost fur-seal's tooth was at last come back +to them. Even the village dogs were there, a legion of snarling, +flea-bitten curs. Ere the canoe touched the beach, Musky, Luvtuk, and +big Amook were among them, and a battle was in progress that completely +drowned the cries of the spectators with its uproar. The fighting was +continued with only brief intervals throughout the night; but in the +morning the three champions from the Yukon were masters of the +situation, and roamed the village with bushy tails proudly curled over +their backs, and without interference. "For all the world," said Phil, +"like the Three Musketeers." + +The guests of the village were escorted to the council-house, to which +were also taken their belongings. Here they were supplied with venison, +salmon, partridges, and dried berries; and here, after supper, they +received many visitors all anxious for a sight of the magic tooth. Most +prominent of these were the head Shaman of the village, and the +principal woman of the tribe, whose name was so unpronounceable that +Phil called her "The Princess," a title with which she seemed well +pleased. + +She was the widow of Kloh-kutz, most famous of Chilkat chiefs, and the +one who had presented the fur-seal's tooth to Serge Belcofsky's father. +On the occasion of this visit she wore a beautifully embroidered dress, +together with a Chilkat blanket of exquisite fineness thrown over her +shoulders like a shawl, and fastened at the throat with a stout +safety-pin. The Princess devoted herself to Serge, whom she evidently +considered the most important person in the party, and to little Nel-te, +who took to her at once. While she pronounced the fur-seal's tooth to be +the same that had belonged to her husband, the Shaman shook his head +doubtfully. Then it was handed from one to another of a number of lesser +Shamans and chiefs for inspection. Suddenly one of these dropped it to +the floor, and, when search was made, it could not be found. + +Phil was furious at the impudence of this trick. Even Serge was +indignant, while Jalap Coombs said it was just what might be expected +from land sharks and pirates. + +The Shaman insisted that the tooth was not lost, but had disappeared of +its own accord. If it were not the same fur-seal's tooth that belonged +to their tribe in former years, it would not be seen again. If it were, +it would appear within a few days attached to a hideously carved +representation of Hutle, the thunder-bird that stood in one of +Kloh-kutz's houses, now used as a place for incantation. + +"We don't care anything about all that!" exclaimed Phil, when this was +translated to him. "Tell him he can do as he pleases with the tooth, so +long as he gives us the canoe we have bargained for." + +To this the Shaman replied that they should surely have a canoe as soon +as the tooth proved its genuineness by reappearing. In the mean time, if +they were in such a hurry to get away that they did not care to wait, he +had a very fine canoe that he would let them have at once in exchange +for their guns and their dogs. "You may tell him that we will wait," +replied Phil, grimly, "but you need not tell him what is equally true +that we shall only wait until we find a chance to help ourselves to the +best canoe and take French leave." + +So they waited, though very impatiently, in Klukwan for nearly a week, +during which time Phil had ample opportunities for studying Chilkat +architecture and totem poles. The houses of the village were all built +of heavy hewn planks set on end. They had bark or plank roofs, with a +square opening in each for the egress of smoke. Many of them had glass +windows and ordinary doors; but in others the doors were placed so high +from the ground as to be reached by ladders on both outside and inside. +The great totem poles that stood before every house were ten, twenty, or +thirty feet tall, and covered with heraldic carvings from bottom to top. + +During this time of waiting the Shaman made repeated offers to sell the +strangers a canoe, all of which were indignantly declined. That they did +not appropriate one to their own use was for the very simple reason that +all, except a few very small or leaky canoes, mysteriously disappeared +from the village that first night. + +At length the tricky medicine-man was forced to yield to the threats of +the Princess, who had taken the part of our travellers from the first, +and to popular clamor. He therefore announced one evening that he had +been informed during a vision that the fur-seal's tooth would reappear +among them on the morrow. + +On the following morning Phil and his companions were aroused by a +tremendous shouting and firing of guns, all of which announced that the +happy event had taken place. + +"Now," cried Phil, "perhaps we will get our canoe." + +But there were no canoes to be seen on the beach, and the Shaman coolly +informed them that, though the precious tooth had indeed come back to +dwell with the Chilkats, they would still be obliged to wait until some +of the canoes returned from the hunting expeditions on which they had +all been taken. + +At this Phil fell into such a rage that, regardless of consequences, he +was on the point of giving the old fraud a most beautiful thrashing, +when his uplifted arm was startlingly arrested by the deep boom of a +heavy gun that seemed to come from the mouth of the river. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Begun in HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE No. 801. + + + + +OAKLEIGH. + +BY ELLEN DOUGLAS DELAND. + + +CHAPTER III. + +When Cynthia asked at Mrs. Parker's door if that lady were at home it +was not necessary for her to give her name. The maid recognized Miss +Trinkett at once. + +"Yes, she's at home, ma'am. And won't you please step into the parlor, +Miss Trinkett? Mrs. Parker'll be glad to see you." + +Mrs. Parker came hurrying down. + +"Dear Miss Trinkett, how are you? Why, I should scarcely have known you! +What have you done to yourself?" + +Cynthia laughed her great-aunt's high _staccato_ laugh. + +"Well, now, I want to know, Mrs. Parker! Don't you see what it is? Why, +my nieces at Oakleigh, they saw right away what the difference was. I +thought 'twas about time I was keeping up with the fashions, and so I +bought me a fine new piece of hair for my front. I was growing somewhat +gray, and I thought 'twas best to keep young on Silas's account. It +isn't that I care for myself, but you have to be particular about +men-folks, as you'll know when you've seen as much of them as I have." + +Cynthia was a good actress, and she carried herself precisely as Miss +Betsey did, and imitated her voice to perfection. + +She repeated some of her aunt's best-known tales, and good Mrs. Parker +never dreamed of the possibility of her caller being any one but worthy +Miss Betsey Trinkett, of Wayborough, whom she had known for years. + +Mrs. Parker was a great talker, and usually she was obliged to fight +hard to surpass Miss Trinkett in that respect. During the first part of +the call to-day it was as difficult as usual, but Mrs. Parker presently +made a remark which reduced her visitor to a state of alarming silence. + +"I suppose you have come to announce the news," said the hostess, +smiling sympathetically. + +"Now I don't know a bit of news. Why, my dear Mrs. Parker, Silas and I +we never--" + +"Ah, but this has nothing to do with Silas, though it may affect you, +more or less. Surely you know what I am alluding to?" + +"I haven't the least idea." + +And Cynthia bridled with curiosity on her own account as well as Aunt +Betsey's. She thought something interesting must be coming. + +"Well, now, to think of my being the one to tell you something about +your own family! I don't know whether I ought to, but I think it must be +true, and you'll hear it in other ways soon enough. You know I have +relatives in Albany, where she lives." + +"Where who lives?" + +"Miss Gordon, Hester Gordon. They say--but, of course, I don't know that +it's true, it may be just report, but they do say-- I don't know whether +I ought to tell you, I declare! that it won't be long before she's Mrs. +Franklin." + +"Mrs. Franklin!" + +"Yes, Mrs. John Franklin. Hasn't your nephew told you? Well, well, these +men! They do beat all for keeping things quiet." + +"Is it true?" + +It was Cynthia's natural voice that asked this question. She quite +forgot that she was supposed to be Miss Betsey Trinkett. + +[Illustration: "YOUR VOICE SOUNDS SORT OF UNNATURAL, TOO," ADDED MRS. +PARKER.] + +"I suppose it is. But, dear me, Miss Trinkett, don't be worried! Seems +to me you look very queer, though I can't see your face very well +through that veil, and you with your back to the light. Your voice +sounds sort of unnatural, too," added Mrs. Parker. "Let me get you some +water." + +"Oh no, it is nothing," said Cynthia, who had quickly recovered herself, +and was now summoning all her energy to finish the call in a proper +manner. "You surprised me, that's all, and I never did care much for +surprises. But I think there's not much truth in that, Mrs. Parker. I +don't believe my fa--nephew is going to be married again. In fact, I'm +very sure he is not." And she nodded her head emphatically. + +"Ah, my dear Miss Trinkett, you never can tell. Sometimes a man's family +is the last to hear those things. And it will be a good match, too. She +comes of an old family, and she has a great deal of money. The Gordons +are all rich." + +"Do you suppose he'd care for that?" exclaimed her visitor, wrathfully. + +"Well, well, one never knows! And think how much better it would be for +the children. Edith is too young to have so much care, and they say +Cynthia runs wild most of the time, just like a boy. Indeed, I call it a +very good thing. Though I must say she is a pretty brave woman to take +on herself the care of that family." + +Here "Miss Betsey" suddenly darted for the door. It could be endured no +longer. Mrs. Parker bade her farewell, and then went back to tell her +daughters that Miss Trinkett was sadly changed. Though she was still so +young in appearance, she was evidently very much broken. + +For some time Jack could obtain no reply to his questions, but at last +Cynthia's resolution broke down, and she burst into tears. They had +turned into a shady lane instead of going directly home, and there was +no danger of meeting any one. + +"Jack, Jack!" she moaned, "I'll have to tell you. Mrs. Parker says papa +is going to be married again! What shall we do! What shall we do!" + +For answer Jack indulged in a prolonged whistle. + +"Isn't it the most dreadful thing you ever heard of? Jack, how shall we +ever endure it?" + +"Well, it mayn't be as bad as you think. If she's nice--" + +"Oh, Jack, she won't be! Stepmothers are never nice. I never in my life +heard of one that was. She'll be horrid to us all." + +"Oh, I say, that's nonsense. If you were to marry a widower with a lot +of children you'd be nice to them." + +"Jack, the very idea! _I_ marry a widower with a lot of children! I'd +like to see myself doing such a thing!" + +Cynthia almost forgot her present troubles in her wrath at her brother's +suggestion. + +"Well, after all it may not be true. Because Mrs. Parker says so, +doesn't prove it. Where did she hear it?" + +"From some of her Albany relations, I suppose. The--the lady lives +there. But, oh, Jack! Do you think there is any chance of its not being +true?" cried Cynthia, catching at the least straw of hope. + +"Why, of course! Father hasn't told us, and you can't believe all the +gossip you hear," said Jack, loftily. + +"Perhaps it isn't true, after all," exclaimed Cynthia, drying her eyes +and smiling once more, "and I've been boo-hooing all for nothing! I +sha'n't say a word about it to Edith, and don't you either, Jack. It +isn't worth while to worry her, and Mrs. Parker is a terrible gossip." + +They went home, and Cynthia gave her sister a gay account of her visit, +carefully omitting all exciting items, and then she helped Edith put +away some of the things, and finally was free to go on the river in the +afternoon. Jack, boylike, had forgotten all about Mrs. Parker's news. He +did not believe it, and therefore it was not worth thinking of. But +Cynthia's mind was not so easily diverted. She did not believe it, +either, but then it might be true, and if it were, what was to be done? +It seemed as if a worse calamity could not happen. + +Jack, her usual companion on the river, was busy with some carpentry. He +was making a "brooder" like one he had bought, to serve as a home for +the little chicks when they should be hatched. He used the "barn +chamber" for a workshop, and the sound of his saw and his hammer could +be heard through the open window. + +Cynthia was deeply interested in poultry-raising, but she wished it did +not consume so much of her brother's time and attention. + +Edith was going to the village to an afternoon tea at the Morgans'. +Gertrude Morgan was her most intimate friend, and all the nicest girls +and boys would be there to talk over a tennis tournament. Cynthia was +rather sorry that she had not been asked. She said to herself that she +would be of more value in the discussion than Edith, for she really +played tennis, while Edith merely stood about looking graceful and +pretty. However, she had not been invited, and, after all, the river was +more fun than any afternoon tea. + +One of the men put the canoe in the water for her, and, with a huge +stone to act as ballast, she paddled up stream, browsing along the banks +looking for wild flowers, or steering her way through the rocks, of +which the river was very full just at this point. + +Cynthia, fond as she was of companionship, being of an extremely +sociable disposition, was never lonely on her beloved river. + +Edith dressed herself carefully and drove off to the tea. She looked +very attractive in her spring gown of gray and her large black hat, and +as she studied herself in the small old-fashioned mirror that hung in +her room she felt quite pleased with her appearance. + +"If I only had more nice gloves I should be satisfied," she thought. "It +is so horrid to be saving up one pair, and having to wear such old +things for driving and whisk them off just before I get to a place and +put on the good ones. And a handsome parasol would be so nice. I don't +think I'll take this old thing. I don't really need one to-day. I wonder +where the children are. I ought to look them up, I suppose, but they are +all right, somewhere, and it is getting late. After all, why should I +always be the one to run after those children?" + +And then she drove away to Brenton, leaving housekeeping cares behind +her, and prepared for a pleasant afternoon. + +About half a dozen boys and girls had already arrived at the Morgans' +when Edith drove in. It was a fine old house standing far back from the +road, and surrounded with shady grounds. The river was at the back. A +smooth and well-kept tennis-court was on the left of the drive as one +approached the house, and here the guests were assembled. + +"Oh, here's Edith Franklin at last!" cried Gertrude Morgan, while her +brother went forward, and, after helping Edith to alight, took her horse +and drove down to the stable. + +Presently all the tongues were buzzing, each one suggesting what he or +she considered the very best plan for holding a tournament. It was +finally arranged to have it at the tennis club rather than at the +Morgans', as had at first been thought best, and it would be open to all +the comers who had reached the age of fourteen. + +"That is very young," said Gertrude, "but we really ought to have it +open to Cynthia Franklin. She is one of the best players in Brenton." + +"By all means," said her brother, who was always on the side of the +Franklins, "and, Edith, you'll play with me, won't you, in mixed +doubles?" + +"Oh, I don't play well enough!" exclaimed Edith. "Thank you ever so +much, Dennis, but you had better ask some one else. I don't think I'll +play." + +Every one objected to this, but it was finally settled that Edith should +act as one of the hostesses for the important occasion, which was +greatly to her satisfaction. She rather enjoyed moving slowly and +gracefully about, pouring tea and lemonade, and handing it to the poor, +heated players, who were obliged to work so hard for their fun. + +They were startled by the sound of the clock on the church across the +road. It struck six, and Edith rose in haste. + +"I must go," she said. "I had no idea it was so late! Those children +have probably gotten into all kinds of mischief while I've been away, +and papa will not be home until late, so I am not to wait in the village +for him." + +The others looked after her as she drove away. + +"Isn't she the sweetest, dearest girl?" cried Gertrude. "And won't it be +hard for her if her father marries again, as every one says he is going +to do? But, after all, it may be a good thing, for then Edith wouldn't +have to do so much for the children. I wonder if she knows about it? +She hasn't breathed a word of it, even to me." + +Janet and Willy, the inseparable but ever-fighting pair, came in at the +side door, not very long after Edith went to the village. They found the +house empty and the coast clear, and their active brains immediately set +to work to solve the question of what mischief they could do. + +They wandered into the big silent kitchen. The servants were upstairs, +and beyond the buzzing of a fly on the window-pane and the singing of +the kettle on the range perfect quiet reigned. + +"Let's go down and see the inkerbaker," suggested Willy. + +"All right," returned Janet, affably, and down they pattered as fast as +their sturdy little legs could carry them. + +They peered in through the glass front at the eggs, which lay so +peacefully within. + +"It must be turrible stupid in there," said Janet, pityingly. "Shouldn't +you think those chickens would be tired of waiting to come out?" + +"Yes. We might crack a lot and help 'em out." + +"Oh, no. Jack says they won't be ready for two days. But I'll tell you +what we might do. We might see whether it's hot enough for 'em in there. +I guess Jack's forgotten all about 'em. I don't believe he's been near +'em to-day, nor Martha, either." + +"How d'yer find out whever it's hot enough?" + +"I don't know. Guess you open the door, and put your hand in and feel." + +For Janet had never been taught the significance of the thermometer +inside, and knew nothing of the proper means of ventilating the machine. + +No sooner said than done. One of the doors was promptly opened, and two +fat hands were thrust into the chamber. + +"My goodies, it's hot there!" cried Janet. "We ought to cool it off. +Let's leave the door open and turn down the lamp, and open the cellar +window." + +Mounted on an old barrel, Janet, at the risk of her life, struggled in +vain with the window. She chose one that was never used, and it refused +to respond to her efforts. Then she descended, and returned to the +incubator. + +"Can't do it," she said. "But I'll tell you what we'll do." + +"What?" asked the ever-ready Willy. + +"Pour some ice water over 'em. That'll cool 'em nicely." + +They travelled up the cellar stairs to the "cooler," which stood in the +hall. + +"Wish we had a pitcher," said Janet. "You take the tum'ler, and I'll get +a dipper." + +It required several journeys to and fro to sufficiently cool the eggs, +according to their way of thinking, but at last it was accomplished, +with much dripping of water and splashing of clean clothes. + +The water-cooler was left empty, and the incubator was in a state of +dampness alarming to behold. + +"There; I guess it's cool enough now!" said Janet, when the last trip +had been taken. + +Alas, the mercury, which should have remained at 103°, had dropped +quietly down to 70°. + +"I'd like to see what's in those eggs," said Willy, meditatively. "D'yer +s'pose they're chickies yet?" + +"I guess so. I'd like to see, too. I'll tell you what, Willy? Let's take +one, and carry it off and see." + +"All right. I'll be the one to take it. What'll Jack say?" + +"He won't mind. Just one egg, and he has such a lot. And we've been +helping him lots this afternoon, cooling 'em off so nicely. But I'll be +the one to take it." + +"No, me!" + +"Let's both do it," said Janet, for once anxious to avoid a quarrel. "I +speak for that big one over there," and she abstracted one from the +"thermometer row," the row that was most important and precious in the +eyes of the owner of the machine. + +"And I'll take dis one. It's awful heavy, and I guess de dear little +chicken'll he glad to get out and have some nice fresh air." + +"Let's go down behind the carriage-house and look at 'em." + +They fastened the door of the incubator, and departed with their +treasures. + +Half an hour later, Jack, having finished his work, came whistling into +the house. He would go down and have a look at the machine, and then +walk up the river-bank to meet Cynthia, whom he had seen as she paddled +off early in the afternoon. + +His first glance at the thermometer gave him a shock--75° it registered. +What had happened? He looked at the lamp which heated the chambers, and +found that it had been turned down very low. What could Martha have been +thinking of, when he told her it was so important to keep up the +temperature this last day or so? The day after to-morrow he expected the +hatching to begin, and he had closed the door of the incubator that +morning. It was not to be opened again until the chicks were out. + +Jack was on tiptoe with excitement. If they came out well, what a +triumph it would be! If they failed, what would his father say? + +He looked again, and a most unexpected sight met his eyes. Water was +dripping from the trays, and the fine gravel beneath had become mud. + +And there was a vacant space in the tray. An egg had gone--and it was +from the third row, the row which he had been so careful about, which +contained the best eggs. + +And, yes, surely there was another hole. Another egg gone! What could +have happened? + +He ran up stairs three steps at a time, shouting for Martha. + +"What have you been doing, Martha?" he cried. "Two eggs are gone, and +the thermometer way below 80°, and all that water!" + +"Sure, Mr. Jack, I haven't been there at all! You were at home yourself +to-day, and I never go near the place of a Saturday." + +"Well, some one has been at it. Where's Cynthia? Where's Edith? Why +isn't somebody at home to attend to things?" + +No one could be found. Jack rushed frantically about, and at last heard +the sound of wheels. Edith was returning from the tea. And at the same +moment, around the corner of the house came Cynthia, leading two crying +children. + +They all met on the front porch. + +"They've been up to mischief, Jack," said Cynthia; "I hope they haven't +done much harm. I found them on the bank behind the carriage-house. They +must have been at the incubator, for they had two eggs and the chickens +are dead. And they are two bad, naughty children!" + +Even Cynthia the peacemaker had been stirred to righteous wrath by the +sight on the river-bank. + +"You rascals!" cried Jack, in a fury, shaking them each in turn; "I'd +like to lick you to pieces! You've ruined the whole hatch." + +"Go straight to bed," said Edith, sternly; "you are the very worst +children I ever knew. I ought not to leave the house a minute. You can't +be trusted at all." + +They all went in, scolding, storming, and crying. In the midst of the +confusion Mr. Franklin arrived, earlier than he had been expected. It +was some minutes before he could understand the meaning of the uproar. + +He looked about from one to the other. + +"It only serves to justify me in a conclusion that I have reached," he +said. "You are all too young to be without some one to look after you. +Take the children to bed, Edith, and then come to me. I have something +to tell you." + +Edith, wondering, did as she was told. Cynthia gave Jack one despairing +look and fled from the room. Her worst fears were on the point of being +realized. + +And after tea, when they were sitting as usual in the long parlor, Mr. +Franklin, with some hesitation and much embarrassment, informed them +that he was engaged to be married to Miss Hester Gordon, of Albany. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +[Illustration: TWO FAIRY SPONGES] + +BY WILLIAM HAMILTON GIBSON. + + +[Illustration: Decorative T] + +he pretty works of my fairy and his companions in mischief are seen on +every hand from spring until winter, but few of us have ever seen the +fay, for Puck is no myth nor Ariel a creature of the poet's fancy. Their +prototype existed in entomological entity and demoralizing +mischievousness ages before the traditional fay, in diminutive human +form, had been dreamt of. The quaint bow-legged little "brownies" which +have brought our entire land beneath the witching spell of their +drollery can scarce claim prestige in the ingenuity of their mischief, +nor can the droll doings of imps and elves chronicled in the folk-lore +of many an ancient people begin to match the actual doings of the real, +live, busy little fairy whose works abound in meadow, wood, and copse, +and which any of us may discover if we can once be brought to realize +that our imp is visible. Then we must not forget that ideal type of the +true "fairy"--a paragon of beauty and goodness, with golden hair and +dazzling crown of brilliants, with her airy costume of gossamer begemmed +and spangled, her dainty twinkling feet and gorgeously painted butterfly +wings. And we all remember that wonderful wand which she carried so +gracefully, and whose simple touch could evoke such a train of +surprising consequences. + +And who shall say that our pretty fay is a myth, or her magic wand a +wild creation of the fancy? May we not see the wonder-workings of that +potent wand on every hand, even though our fairy has eluded us while she +cast the spell? There are a host of these wee fairies continually +flitting about among the trees plotting all sorts of mischief, and +leaving an astonishing witness of their visitation in their trail as +they pass from leaf to leaf or twig to twig. But these fairies, like +those of Grimm and Laboulaye, are agile little atoms, and are not to be +caught in their pranks if they know it, and even though our eye chanced +to rest on one of them, it is doubtful whether we would recognize him, +so different is the guise of these _real_ fairies from those invented +Creatures of the books. Once, when a mere boy, I caught one of the +little imps at work, and watched her for several minutes without +dreaming that I had been looking at a real fairy all this time. What did +I see? I was sitting in a clearing, partly in the shade of a sapling +growth of oak which sprang from the trunk of a felled tree. While thus +half reclining I noticed a diminutive black wasplike insect upon one of +the oak leaves close to my face. + +The insect seemed almost stationary and not inclined to resent my +intrusion, so I observed her closely. I soon discovered that she was +inserting her sting into the midstem of the leaf, or, perhaps, +withdrawing it therefrom, for in a few moments the midge flew away. I +remember wondering what the insect was trying to do, and not until years +later did I realize that I had been witnessing the secret arts of the +magician of the insect world--a very Puck or Ariel, as I have said--a +fairy with a magic wand which any sprite in elfindom might covet. + +The wand of Hermann never wrought such a wonder as did this magic touch +of the little black fly upon the oak leaf. Had I chanced to visit the +spot a few weeks later, what a beautiful red-cheeked apple could I have +plucked from that hemstitched leaf! + +This was but one of a veritable swarm of mischief-making midges +everywhere flitting among the trees; and while they are quite as various +in their shapes as the traditional forms of fairies--the ouphes and +imps, the gnomes and elves of quaintest mien, as well as the dainty fays +and sylphs and sprites--there is one feature common to them all which +annihilates the ideal of all the pictorial authorities on fairydom. +Neither Grimm, nor Laboulaye, nor any of the masters of fairy lore seems +to have discovered that a fairy has no right to those butterfly wings +which the pages of books show us. Those of the real fairy are quite +different, being narrow and glassy, and bear the magician's peculiar +sign in their crisscross veins. + +What a world of mischief is going on here in the fields! Here is one of +the witching sprites among the drooping blossoms of the oak. "You would +fain be an acorn," she says, as she pierces the tender blossoms with her +wand, "but I charge thee bring forth a string of currants"; and +immediately the blossoms begin to obey the behest, and erelong a mimic +string of currants droops upon the stem. Upon another tender branch near +by a jet-black gauze-winged elf is casting a similar spell, which is +this time followed by a tiny downy pink-cheeked peach. And here alights +a tiny sprite, whose magic touch evokes even from the _same_ leaf a +cherry, or a coral bead, perhaps a huge green apple! How many of us have +seen the little elf that spends her life among the tangles of creeping +cinque-foil, and decks its stems with those brilliant scarlet beads +which we may always find upon them, looking verily like tempting +berries. + +[Illustration: THE INHABITED ROSE SPONGE.] + +We see here about us swarms of these busy elves in obedience to their +own peculiar mischievous promptings. What whispers this glittering midge +to the oak twig here to which she clings so closely? We may not guess; +but if we pass this way a month or so hence what a beautiful response in +the glistening rosy-clouded sponge which encircles the stem! "But this +sponge is not pretty enough by half," exclaims a rival fairy. "Wait +until you see what yonder sweet-brier rose will do for _me_." Hovering +thither among its thorns she imparts her spell, and, lo! within a month +the stem is clothed in emerald fringe, which grows apace, until it has +become a dense pompon of deep crimson--a sponge worthy the toilet of the +fairy queen herself! + +[Illustration: THE ELFIN SPONGE OF THE BRIER ROSE.] + +[Illustration: THE ELFIN SPONGE OF THE OAK.] + +Who shall still say that the fairy is a myth! These two fairy sponges +are familiar to us all, at least to those of us who dwell for even a +small part of the year in the country and use our eyes. Indeed, we need +go no further than our city parks, or even our "back-yard" gardens to +find at least one of them, for the sweet-brier is rarely neglected by +this particular fairy. + +So many specimens of both of these sponges have been sent to me by ROUND +TABLE correspondents and others, that I have begun to wonder how many of +those other young people who have seen them and kept silence have +wondered at their secret. + +[Illustration: THE ROSE MISCHIEF-MAKER.] + +The two fairies which are responsible for these sponges have been +captured by the inquisitive scientist, and have had their portraits +taken for the rogues' gallery, and now we see them stuck upon tiny +little three-cornered pieces of paper, and pinned in the specimen case +as mere _insects_--gall-flies. The one is labelled _Cynips seminator_, +the other, _Cynips rosæ_. + +[Illustration: THE FAIRY USING HER MAGIC WAND.] + +And now the prosaic entomologist proceeds to supplant fact for fancy. +This gall-fly is a sort of cousin to the wasps, but what we would call +its sting is more than a mere sting. Like a sting, it seems to puncture +the bark or leaf, and at the same time probably to inject its drop of +venom; but at the same time it conveys to the depths of the wound a tiny +egg, or perhaps a host of them. One gall-fly is thus a magician in +chemistry, at least, for no sooner are these eggs deposited than the +wounded branch begins to swell and form a cellular growth or tumor about +them, the character of this abnormal growth depending upon the peculiar +charm of the venomous touch--to one a tiny coral globe, to another a +cluster of spines, to another a curved horn, and to our cynips of the +white or scrub oak a peculiar globular spongy growth which completely +envelops the stem, sometimes to the size of a small apple. In its prime +it is a beautiful object, with its fibrous glistening texture studded +with pink points. But this condition lasts but a few days, when the +entire mass becomes brownish and woolly, which fact has given this +insect the common name of "wool-sower." + +[Illustration: THE REAL FAIRY OF THE OAK SPONGE. + +A. One of the points detached. B. Section of the base. +C, D. Cynips emerging.] + +And now we must lose no time if we would follow its history to its +complete cycle. If we put one of these faded sponges in a tight-closed +box, we shall in a few days learn the secret of its being. For this +singular mimic fruit, which has sprung at the behest of the gall-fly, +like other fruits, has its seeds--seeds which are animated with peculiar +life, and which sprout in a way we would hardly expect. Within a +fortnight after gathering, perhaps, we find our box swarming with tiny +black flies, while if we dissect the sponge we find its long-beaked +seeds entirely empty, and each with a clean round hole gnawed through +its shell, explaining this host of gall-flies, all similar to the parent +of a few weeks since, and all bent on the same mischief when you shall +let them loose at the window. + +The beautiful sponge of the sweet-brier has been called into being by +exactly similar means. And its hard woody centre is packed full of +cells, at first each with its tiny egg, and then with its plump larva, +followed by the chrysalis, and at length by the emergence of the +full-fledged _Cynips rosæ_. + +This sponge-gall of the rose is commonly known as the Bedegnar, and like +all other members of its tribe, as with the familiar oak-apple, was long +supposed to be a regular accessory fruit of its parent stalk. Among +early students were many superstitions connected with the Bedegnar, the +nature of which may readily be inferred from its other common name of +"Robin's Pin-cushion." + + + + +[Illustration: STAMPS] + + This Department is conducted in the interest of Stamp and Coin + Collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question + on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should + address Editor Stamp Department. + + +A LIST OF DON'TS FOR STAMP COLLECTORS. + +Don't paste your stamps into your albums, but use "stickers" or +"hinges." + +Don't use any old copy-book if you can afford to buy an album. Dealers +can supply albums at any price from twenty-five cents upward. + +Don't trim your stamps. Many valuable stamps have been ruined by this +process. + +Don't cut envelope stamps to shape. Cut them out square, leaving a good +margin on all sides. + +Don't handle your stamps any more than you can help. + +Don't buy rare stamps from any but responsible dealers. Some +counterfeits resemble the genuine stamps marvellously. No one not an +expert could tell them apart. + +Don't buy Chinese locals, "Seebecks," and other philatelic trash, which +is made purposely for sale to stamp collectors. + +Don't expect to get something for nothing. + + FRANK P. HELSEL.--The U. S. 12c. 1872 issue is worth 15 cents. The + 50c. green Mauritius 1880 issue is worth 60 cents, unused; 85 + cents, used. The "U.S. Post" is the 1864 issue; worth 15 cents. + + W. L. L. P.--Most of the Heligoland stamps sold are reprints. They + are worth 3 cents each. Originals are worth from 15 cents to $5 + each. + + JAMES H. CREIGHTON.--The two stamps are the 3c. 1861 and 1872. + They are sold by stamp-dealers at 1 cent each. + + J. A. M.--There is no premium on the 1872 U. S. 1c. coin. + + R. F. B.--The U. S. 2c. stamp bearing a representation of a + horseman is the 1869 issue, worth 8 cents used, 25 cents unused. + + J. DUFF.--The coin-dealers ask $1.50 for good copies of the 1877 + trade dollar. There are several varieties of the 1801 and 1797 + copper cents worth from 25 cents to $3 each, according to + condition. There is no premium on the Canadian coin. + + G. G. BEATTIE.--Write to any stamp-dealer whose address you find + in our advertising columns. We cannot give addresses in this + Department. The German coin mentioned has no premium. + + HARRY RILEY, Brunswick, Maine, wants to correspond with some + members of the ROUND TABLE living in Central or South America. + Most of the Hamburg stamps in albums are reprints. When the word + "cancelled" is printed on a stamp it cannot be used for postage. + It is simply a "specimen" or fac-simile. The Hong-Kong stamps + mentioned by you have not yet been catalogued. + + G. KNAUFF.--Many thanks for calling my attention to the three + varieties of the present 2c. U. S. (1) The variety in which the + horizontal lines run across the triangular ornaments in uniform + thickness. (2) That in which the horizontal lines between the + outer and inner lines of the ornaments are deepened. (3) That in + which the lines are entirely missing between the outer and inner + lines of the ornaments. All three were known, and in addition + there is the variety showing a flaw in the forehead. This is + sometimes found strongly marked; in others it is more or less + distinct. I advise philatelists to collect all these varieties, as + well as all the shades of color, which are almost innumerable. + + LAURA WELCH.--Both the stamp and the embossed envelope were used + by the War Department for several years. This use has been + discontinued many years. The stamp is worth 5 cents, the 1c. + envelope, if on white paper, is worth $2.50, if on amber paper + $35, if on manila paper 5 cents + + L. P. DODGE.--The stamp you describe is one of the German locals + which are not collected in this country. There are many + counterfeits of the New Orleans Confederate local. It is + impossible to say whether your copy is genuine or counterfeit + without examination. + + H. R. C.--The present blue Special Delivery is collected as a new + variety. The Sedang stamps are worthless. Your complaint will be + investigated if you will send the Stamp Editor your full name and + address. + + F. E. WELSH, JUN.--"Regular" perforations cut out little circles + of white paper between each stamp on the sheet. "Pin" perforations + are simply holes punched into the spaces between the stamps + without removing the little circles of white paper. Saw-tooth + perforations are simply cuts into the spaces between the stamps + somewhat like this--v v v v v v. When the stamps are torn apart + the margins look just like the teeth on a saw. The Columbian + stamps are rapidly advancing in value. The 8c. Sherman has dropped + in value during the past year from 4 cents to a 1/2 cent each. + + JAMES F. ANDERSON.--The stamp you describe is the New Orleans + local. It is worth at least $1.50. + + A. W. DUNCAN.--The 1830 half-dollar is not at a premium. + + R. B. H.--The 3c. green U.S. is worth 1 cent. + + F. LOCKE.--The 1853 dime is worth face value only. + + GEO. H.--We cannot answer questions regarding dealers in this + column. + + B. W. LEAVITT.--The 50c. revenue-stamps mentioned are sold by + dealers at 2 cents each. + + C. C. COONER.--The 1c. blue 1861 is worth 3 cents; the others are + worth 1 cent each. + +PHILATUS. + + + + +THAT SLEIGHT-OF-HAND PERFORMANCE. + +BY CHARLES M. SHELDON. + + +It had been a very dull winter at Colby, and when we college boys came +home for our Christmas vacation we determined we would liven it up for +the village. + +As it happened, curiously enough, a funeral was the cause of the lively +time that followed our determination. + +Old Father Colby, one of the original settlers, had died the week +before, leaving a wife and three orphaned grandchildren in the old +homestead, and, as it turned out, very destitute. So the idea occurred +to us to get up a benefit entertainment, and turn over the proceeds to +the widow Colby and her family of grandchildren. + +The idea took with the neighborhood. And we at once rented the +Town-hall, and proceeded to bill the village and every barn in the +township with the notices of our performance. + +There were three of us: Tom Chandler, Jonas Willitts, and myself, Peter +Samuels. We were the only village boys who had ever been to college, and +we were the envy of all the farmers' boys and the admiration of all the +village girls. So we made the most of our brief vacations to get into +public notice. + +We determined to give a sleight-of-hand performance. Tom sent down to +Boston for materials, and we all practised diligently, keeping +everything as secret as if we were in a conspiracy against the United +States. + +Our announcements, which were scattered all over the township, were +certainly very attractive. They read as follows: + +"Extraordinary Performance to be given at the Town-hall, Colby, December +20, 18--. Marvellous Feats of Prestidigitatorism! The Egg and the +Handkerchief! The Watch Mortar and Magic Pistol! + +"The Handkerchief that will not Burn! The Pudding in the Hat! The +Inexhaustible Bottle! And Numerous other Marvels and Mysteries lately +Imported from India and the East! + +"The above Unrivalled Performance will be given for only 25 cents +admission. Proceeds to be devoted to Benevolent Cause. Doors open at +7.30. Performance to begin at 8. Come early and avoid being turned away. +No reserved seats. Carriages may be ordered for ten o'clock." + +We debated some over the last line on the handbills, but finally decided +to let it go in. It made the bills look more cosmopolitan and did no +harm. + +Tom and Jonas were to be the principal performers. I was general ticket +agent and business and stage manager. We all had our dress suits with +us, and, of course, we wore them when the time came. + +Well, that was the largest crowd that ever came to an entertainment in +Colby. There hadn't been anything going on all winter. Most of the young +people had never seen any sleight-of-hand tricks, and all the old people +turned out to help Grandma Colby. Before eight o'clock the hall was +jammed. Every seat was taken, and people crowded into the broad aisle +and sat on the platform, and stood up all around in a black fringe +against the wall. + +We had rigged up a curtain in front of the narrow platform, and at eight +o'clock, when the hall was so full that no more people could get into +it, the curtain was pulled aside by Peter Samuels, the stage director, +and revealed the Magician's Home. + +The first trick on the programme was "The Egg and the Handkerchief." +Jonas was behind the table acting as Tom's assistant, while I was +stationed just out of sight behind a fold of the curtain, ready to step +in at the right moment, for the trick required the use of three persons. + +It was simple enough, and yet Tom's blunder at the start led to the +ridiculous accident which was the first of a series that made that +sleight-of-hand performance a thing for Colby people to reckon time +from. + +The trick was, first, for Tom to produce an egg from Jonas's month by +rapping him on the back of his head, Jonas already having been provided +with a guinea-hen's egg secreted in his mouth for the purpose. Then, +when the egg appeared, Tom was to pretend to place it in a handkerchief, +really substituting for it a china egg of the same size, and slipping +the real egg into a little pochette of his dress-coat. What he did, +however, was to drop the real egg into the handkerchief, because, as he +afterwards said, the china egg stuck in his pochette, and he could not +get it out. The next part of the trick was to gather up the four corners +of the handkerchief and whirl it around rapidly, saying, "Ladies and +gentlemen, keep your eyes on my assistant yonder." At that point I +stepped out, holding on a plate a very nice-looking sponge-cake +previously prepared. Then Tom was to say: "I will now cause the egg in +the handkerchief to pass into the cake. Watch closely, ladies and +gentlemen." + +At that point Tom should have brought the handkerchief around in such a +way as to slip the china egg out into his other hand. Then I was to come +forward and cut open the cake, displaying an egg (also china), +previously placed within. And then Tom was to have produced the real +egg, and in order to prove that it was a real egg within the cake +(exchanging the two by palming one of them), he was to break the real +one into a dish. + +All this, which sounds so complex to describe, was simple enough as we +had rehearsed it, and even with Tom's blunder of dropping the real egg +in the handkerchief, might have turned out all right if he had not let +go one of the corners of the handkerchief as he whirled it around his +head. I, Peter Samuels, stage manager and director of that extraordinary +performance of "Marvellous Feats of Prestidigitatorism," will never +forget my sensations when, as I advanced solemnly with the cake, a white +body whizzed through the air and struck me full on my expansive shirt +bosom, breaking with a splash, and running down over my vest and +trousers in a yellow stream. + +I remember the scared look on Jonas's face, the perfectly horrified +expression that Tom wore, and also remember dimly wondering if a +guinea-fowl's egg would make as large an omlet as that of an ostrich. +For it seemed to me as if I was swimming in egg batter. + +The next instant the audience broke into a perfect roar of laughter. I +threw the cake down on the table and rushed back of the curtain again, +leaving Tom and Jonas to get out of the blunder as best they could, +while I wiped off the egg as best I could with my handkerchief. + +How that audience did roar! Tom stood with a knife in his hand waiting +to cut the cake. He said afterwards he felt mad enough to jump down off +the platform and pummel half a dozen big boys on the front seat. But he +kept his temper, and when the laugh died down he cut the cake open and +showed the egg, saying something about its being a small-sized egg on +account of spilling a part of it on the way. So that mystified the +people a little and restored the reputation of the performance, at least +for a while. + +The next trick was an easy one, and went off without any slip, and was +applauded. Tom and Jonas had the stage to themselves for a while, and I +staid out of sight and scrubbed at the egg. But do what I could, my +shirt bosom was ruined. + +Then came the "Watch Mortar" trick, and to my dying day I shall never +forget how that turned out. Neither will Tom. + +We had an apparatus made to resemble an old-fashioned druggists' mortar. +It was really made of tin, in two compartments, so that any heavy object +dropped into it would depress a false bottom and drop through on a shelf +back of the magician's table, at the same time letting into the upper +part of the mortar the fragments of an old watch previously pounded into +bits. Then Tom was to pretend to smash the borrowed watch, and +afterwards fire a pistol at me and take the real watch from my vest +pocket, where he would place it when he went back of the scenes for his +pistol. + +He described his intentions and asked for a watch from the audience. +Uncle Job Cavendish, the village barber, handed up an old silver-case +time-piece that was worth perhaps $3. + +Tom took it, and after a good deal of talk, dropped it down into the +mortar, picked up the ridiculous club used for a pestle, and began to +pound away. There was a great smashing sound, and poor Uncle Job looked +serious. But he did not begin to look half so serious as Tom did, and I +saw in a minute that something was wrong. + +He dropped the pestle, and said hurriedly to the audience, "Ladies and +gentlemen, I find I have left my pistol in the other room. Excuse me +while I run after it." + +Then Tom came into the wing where I stood, and jerking his own gold +watch out of his pocket, thrust it into mine, and whispered to me +fiercely, "That mortar stuck in some way, and I smashed Uncle Job's +watch into chicken-feed! Here is mine! I'll have to give him something +back, or we'll be mobbed out of the village!" + +Then he grabbed up the stage pistol and hurried back. He rammed the +remains of Uncle Job's poor watch down the big mouth of the pistol, and +I stepped forth, baring my egg-stained bosom to the pistol shot. Bang! +went the powder from the false chamber of the pistol, and Tom, with a +ghastly smile, stepped up to me and pulled his watch out of my pocket, +and with the utmost courage leaned out over the edge of the platform and +handed the watch to Uncle Job, saying, "Here you are, sir! Not only as +good as new, but changed from silver to gold!" + +Uncle Job was so taken by surprise that he sat with open mouth. He took +the watch and looked at it in dumb astonishment. The audience was taken +as much by surprise as he was. + +Tom and Jonas held a hurried consultation, and at once announced the +next trick. There was a great deal of confusion in the hall. Several +voices shouted out, "Show the silver watch!" Tom paid no attention, and +the next half-dozen tricks were so well done that the people applauded, +and we began to gain fresh courage. + +But alas! The next on the programme was the "Handkerchief that will not +burn." + +Almost any one with a little practice can pass a handkerchief obliquely +through the flame of a candle without burning it. All that is needed is +the proper dexterity. And this caution must be heeded. The handkerchief +must be free from cologne or perfumery, which contains spirits, and is +very inflammable. + +This was Jonas's trick. He called for a lady's handkerchief, and who +should hand one up but Sally Conners, the prettiest girl in the village, +and the one of all with whom Jonas was smitten. + +But to the grief of Jonas, Sally was very much addicted to perfumery, +and had that evening drenched her handkerchief with it. Jonas lighted +the candle, keeping up a running talk about making the handkerchief +enchanted, and then he passed it through the flame. + +The effect could not have been more certain if he had poured kerosene on +the candle. Poor Sally's delicate perfume-drenched handkerchief blazed +up in an instant like a display of fireworks. Jonas squeezed his hands +around the fragments that were left, and danced around the stage, +howling at the sudden pain of the burn. And the audience went wild. I +thought it never would stop laughing. Tom was desperate. I could see he +meant to conclude the performance before we had ruined our reputations +forever. + +With becoming modesty he addressed himself to the audience when it had +tired of laughing, and announced that the entertainment would close with +the startling trick, "The pudding in the hat." + +He and Jonas had practised this until they felt sure of it. Like all +sleight-of-hand tricks, it is easy enough if properly done. + +First Jonas prepared a dish of batter made of eggs broken in, shells and +all, a little flour, milk, raisins, and molasses. A ridiculous mixture, +from which, he assured the audience, would come forth a beautiful +pudding, nicely baked in a stovepipe hat, which he would wear on his own +head to prove that there was nothing in it. A sentence which had a +double meaning, and to which Jonas fully assented in every particular +before the evening was over. + +Well, the dish that held the batter was poured into the hat, apparently. +Of course it was really poured into a tin which exactly fitted into the +hat, and which contained also a second tin concealing the pudding, +tipped into it by Tom at the proper moment. Then the next part of the +trick consisted in placing the hat on Jonas's head, while he was to +strut about the stage jauntily. Then the hat would be removed, and lo! +in the centre of it would be found the pudding nicely baked. + +[Illustration: THEN THE WHOLE HAT SEEMED TO LET GO LIKE A BROKEN +RESERVOIR.] + +Now, whether Tom made some mistake in getting those tins canted into the +hat properly or not will never be known. Perhaps he pulled the hat down +too hard over Jonas's brows when he put it on him, and so loosened +something. At any rate, Jonas had not taken two steps before a streak of +batter was seen running down over his face. Then the whole hat seemed to +let go like a broken reservoir, and the milk and molasses and egg and +flour streamed down in a shower over the miserable Jonas. + +He tried to pull the hat off, and did so, leaving on his head, however, +the tins, which gave him the most astonishing appearance possible. Tom +fell back on the table in an agony of laughter, and in doing so sat down +on the dish that had contained the batter. The audience simply cried +itself hoarse with laughter. Sally Conners screamed with all her might, +and all the farmers' boys, who were present for miles around, haw-hawed, +and the old folks almost died looking at poor Jonas. In the midst of it +all, I, Peter Samuels, stage director, drew the curtain, and with the +other two performers stole down the back stairs, and made a run for +home, and so the great sleight-of-hand performance came to an end. + +The Colby people never forgot that performance. We never did, either. +Uncle Job kept Tom's watch until he left for college, and then gave it +back to him, and Tom bought him a new silver time-piece. The widow Colby +and her grandchildren realized a good sum from the entertainment, and +the next vacation we three boys spent in the city. I am afraid Jonas has +lost the favor of Sally Conners, for she never can speak of him without +laughing. But then Sally always did laugh on almost any provocation. + + + + +[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT] + + +So far as is known, no schedule of interscholastic track and field +records has ever before been printed, and although the table published +in this issue is as accurate as can be made under the circumstances, +still there are doubtless a few errors scattered around in it somewhere +that will be discovered by sharp-eyed readers in the very near future. +If the latter will inform this Department of the mistakes as soon as +they are found out, the table may be depended upon to be absolutely +exact the next time it is printed--and it certainly will be offered in +better form. To-day I have been obliged to put two bicycle events and +two hammer and shot events on the list, because the interscholastic +associations in the various parts of the country are about evenly +divided in the choice of distances and the use of weights. I have left +out entirely such acrobatic events as the hop, step, and jump, and +throwing the baseball, because they are not athletic, and do not deserve +to be recognized on any interscholastic programme. Perhaps a year from +now the school associations will have come to the conclusion that, take +it all in all, it is really better to have a uniform measure of +efficiency in sport as well as in anything else, and then a comparative +table will be of more value. + +INTERSCHOLASTIC RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1895. + + Event. Record. Maker. + + 100-yard dash 10-1/5 sec. F. H. Bigelow. + 220-yard run 22-2/5 " F. H. Bigelow. + 440-yard run 50-3/5 " T. E. Burke. + Half-mile inn 2 m. 4-1/5 " J. A. Meehan. + Mile run 4 " 34-2/5 " W. T. Laing. + Mile walk 7 " 17-3/5 " A. N. Butler. + 120-yard hurdle 15-3/5 " A. F. Beers. + 220-yard hurdle 26-1/2 " Field. + Mile bicycle 2 " 34-1/5 " I. A. Powell. + Two-mile bicycle 5 " 18-2/5 " Baker. + Running high jump 5 ft. 11 in. S. A. W. Baltazzi. + Running broad jump 21 " 6 " C. Brewer. + Pole vault 10 " 7 " B. Johnson. + Throwing 12-lb. hammer 125 " R. F. Johnson. + Throwing 16-lb. hammer 111 " 10 " F. G. Beck. + Putting 12-lb. shot 40 " 3/4 " A. C. Ayres. + Putting 16-lb. shot 39 " 3 " M. O'Brien. + + Event. School. + + 100-yard dash Worcester H.-S. + 220-yard run Worcester H.-S. + 440-yard run Boston English H.-S. + Half-mile inn Condon, N.Y. + Mile run Phillips Academy, Andover. + Mile walk Hillhouse H.-S., New Haven. + 120-yard hurdle De La Salle, N.Y. + 220-yard hurdle Hartford H.-S. + Mile bicycle Cutler, N.Y. + Two-mile bicycle Hotchkiss, Lakeville, Conn. + Running high jump Harvard, N.Y. + Running broad jump Hopkinson, Boston. + Pole vault Worcester Academy. + Throwing 12-lb. hammer Brookline H.-S. + Throwing 16-lb. hammer Hillhouse H.-S. + Putting 12-lb. shot Condon, N.Y. + Putting 16-lb. shot Boston English H.-S. + + Event. Time and place. + + 100-yard dash N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + 220-yard run N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + 440-yard run N.E.I S.A.A. games, 1894. + Half-mile inn N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Mile run N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894 + Mile walk Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895 + 120-yard hurdle N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + 220-yard hurdle Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895. + Mile bicycle N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Two-mile bicycle Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895. + Running high jump N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Running broad jump N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1890. + Pole vault N.E.I.S.A.A. games, June 15, 1895. + Throwing 12-lb. hammer N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + Throwing 16-lb. hammer Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895. + Putting 12-lb. shot N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Putting 16-lb. shot N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + +INTER-COLLEGIATE RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1895. + + Event. Record. Made by. + + { E. J. Wendell, Harvard; W. + { Baker, Harvard; C. H. + 100-yard dash 10 sec. { Sherrill, Yale; L. Cary, + { Princeton; E. S. Ramsdell, + { Penn. + 220-yard dash 21-4/5 " L. H. Cary, Princeton. + Quarter-mile run 47-3/4 " W. Baker, Harvard. + Half-mile run 1 m. 55-1/4 " W. C. Dohm, Princeton. + Mile run 4 " 23-2/5 " G. W. Orton, Penn. + Mile walk 6 " 42-4/5 " F. A. Borcheling, Princeton. + 120-yard hurdle 15-4/5 " H. L. Williams, Yale. + 220-yard hurdle 24-3/5 " J. L. Bremer, Harvard. + Two-mile bicycle 4 " 10 " W. D. Osgood, Penn. + Running high jump 6 ft. 4 in. W. B. Page, Penn. + Running broad jump 23 " L. P. Sheldon, Yale. + Pole vault 11 " 2-3/4 " C. T. Buckholz, Penn. + Throwing 16-lb. ham'r 135 " 7-1/2 " W. O. Hickok, Yale. + Putting 16-lb. shot 44 " 1-1/2 " W. O. Hickok, Yale. + +How is it possible to gauge the performances of school champions with +those of others--college-men and athletic club amateurs--when we have no +common ratio? We cannot, of course. For instance, take Beers's record of +15-3/5 sec. in the high hurdles, made at the New York Interscholastics +last May. On paper this looks very well. It apparently beats the +inter-collegiate record made by Harry Williams in 1891, by one-fifth of +a second. But it really does not. Beers ran his race over lower hurdles, +and so it is not possible to make a comparison. The hurdles used by the +N.Y.I.S.A.A. are only 3 feet high, whereas the inter-collegiate sticks +are 3 ft. 6 in. Some of the interscholastic associations use the +standard 3 ft. 6 in. hurdles, but as it was impossible to ascertain +exactly what the records were that had been made over these at school +meetings in the past, I took the fastest time over the dwarfed hurdles, +and let it go in as a fit companion for the 12-lb. shot and hammer and +the mile bicycle-race. + +In the future, however, I shall give little attention to these one-eyed +records. The college associations have set up a standard of distance and +weight which experience has shown to be a good one. A sufficient number +of interscholastic associations have adopted the same standard, thereby +making it clearly evident that it is none too high for school-boy +athletes. Therefore, in making out a comparative table of college and +school records, this Department will accept the standard established by +the I.C.A.A.A. and adopted by the majority of the interscholastic +associations. If in the near future a general interscholastic league is +formed, I feel sure that its legislators will agree with me in this, and +will adopt the same course when they lay out their programme. + +It is to be regretted that the Oakland, Cal., High-School athletic team +was unable to accept the Stockton High-School's challenge for dual games +to be held on June 15th last, but unless something unforeseen turns up +the meeting will be held soon after the next school term begins, which +is in August. The California schools open about five weeks earlier than +our Eastern institutions, and the football season with them, therefore, +starts in the closing days of summer. There will also be the semi-annual +field day of the Academic Athletic League at about that time, or in +September, and bicycle road races, in which teams from the several +schools of the A.A.L. will be matched against one another. At the field +day there will be a contest for the all 'round championship of the +Pacific Coast Association. Five or six events will be selected from the +programme, and every competitor for the championship will have to +compete in each one, the champion to be the winner of the greatest +number of points. + +The object of this athletic Department in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE is not +only to criticise and comment upon the various sports of the calender, +but also to explain any intricate points of these games, to answer +questions on matters of sport and athletics, and to give all such +information as shall justly come under the head of Interscholastic +Sport. A number of correspondents have requested that some space be +devoted to an explanation of the "100-up" method of scoring in tennis, +and to give the rules for odds. This "100-up" method, sometimes called +the "Pastime" system, was devised a few years ago to meet the defects of +the old system of scoring, which had been handed down to us from the +ancient English game of tennis. The latter has a good many disadvantages +in spite of its universal use, the chief objection being that it +frequently happens in a match that a player scores more strokes, or even +more games, than his antagonist, and yet is beaten. This, of course, is +manifestly unfair; and as for handicaps, in which more than two players +are competing, the complex and unsatisfactory system of adjusting the +odds according to the old way is unnecessarily complicated. + +The rules for the "100-up" method are comparatively simple and very +easily remembered after having been used once or twice. The player who +serves first must serve six times in succession, and then his opponent +does the same, the service changing always after each one has served six +consecutive times. One fault and one good service; two faults; or one +good service counts as a service. After the first, third, fifth, or, in +other words, every alternate series of service, the players change +courts, thus making each six successive services one series of services. +The first player to score one hundred points wins the game; but the +match can be played for any number of points--more or less than a +hundred--as the contestants may agree upon beforehand. The usual figure, +however, is one hundred. If the score comes to be 99-all, play goes on +as before, until one of the players has a majority of two points. He +then wins; but no game can be won by a lesser majority than two points. + +The odds in the regular old-fashioned method of counting are, briefly, +thus: A "bisque" is one point that can be taken by the receiver of the +odds at any time during the set except after a service is delivered, or, +if he is serving, after a fault. "Half fifteen" is one stroke given at +the beginning of the second, fourth, and every alternate game of a set, +and "fifteen" is one stroke given at the beginning of every game. In the +same way "thirty" is two strokes given at the beginning of every game, +whereas "half thirty" is one stroke given at the beginning of the first +game, two at the beginning of the second, one at the beginning of the +third, and so on, two and one, alternately, until the end of the set. +"Forty" is three strokes before every game, "half forty" three and two, +alternately, as before. "Owed odds" signifies that the giver of the odds +starts behind scratch. Thus "owe half fifteen" means that one stroke is +owed at the beginning of the first, third, fifth, and every alternate +game of the set. Other "owed odds" are reckoned inversely in the same +manner as given odds. If a player gives odds of "half court," he agrees +to play in a certain half of the court, either the right or the left, +and he loses a stroke whenever he returns a ball outside any of the +lines that bound that half court. + +But the newest of all the systems of odds, and the one now most +generally used by experts, is called the "quarter" system. In this +method fifteen is divided into four quarters, and thus a closer handicap +may be obtained. "One quarter" of fifteen is one stroke given at the +beginning of the second, sixth, and every fourth game thereafter in the +set. "Two quarters" (the "half fifteen" spoken of above) is one stroke +at the beginning of the second, fourth, sixth, etc., games. "Three +quarters" is one stroke at the beginning of the second, third, fourth, +sixth, seventh, and eighth games, and so on. When it is "odds owed," as +before, "one quarter" is one stroke in the first and fifth games; "two +quarters" is one stroke in the first and third; and "three quarters" is +one stroke in the first, third, and fourth games, and so on to the end +of the set. In order to get odds at a similar ratio when the match is +being scored on the "100-up" system, the following table of equivalents +has been adopted: + + 1 quarter of 15 = 5 points per 100 + 2 quarters " 11 " " + 3 " " 16 " " + 15 " " 22 " " + 15.1 " " 27 " " + 15.2 " " 32 " " + 15.3 " " 38 " " + 30 " " 43 " " + 30.1 " " 49 " " + 30.2 " " 54 " " + 30.3 " " 59 " " + 40 " " 65 " " + +The principal difficulty about this new system of odds, except for +experts and for those who play constantly, is the difficulty of +remembering it. It certainly takes more study to become familiar with it +than with the old half-point system. In that the odds change at every +game, and change directly back again even when most complicated, so that +really all there is to remember is which odds came with the service. The +chief advantage of the "quarter" system is that it affords greater +accuracy, and to experts this is a sufficient compensation for its +intricacy. I should not advise the average player, however, to bother +with it, for, unless he intends to try for a national championship, life +is too short to devote many hours of study to the "quarter" system. + +Another correspondent asks for information as to the best way to get up +a tennis tournament, and now that we are on the subject of tennis, his +query might just as well be disposed of. A tournament, like anything +else, demands time and care in preparation if it is to be a success. +Don't put off everything until the last moment, or the day will surely +be a failure; whereas, if thought is given to all the small details that +go to make such an occasion enjoyable, everything will go as easily as +rolling off a log. In the first place, those who want to arrange a +tournament, or the committee which has been chosen to make the +arrangements, should get together and discuss the situation and decide +what they want to do and how they want to do it. In this preliminary +talk a calculation of expenses should first be made. Find out how much +money will probably be required, and then, as a measure of safety, add +about ten per cent. to that, for expenses are usually underestimated. +Having determined how much money will be needed, make arrangements for +securing that amount either by subscription, entrance fees, or sale of +tickets. If the tournament is to be conducted by a club, there will +probably be some money in the treasury that can be used. It is not +usually advisable, and seldom practicable at an impromptu summer tennis +tournament, to demand admission fees of the spectators. + +The financial part of the enterprise having now been attended to, a +treasurer should be appointed to take charge of the funds, and to keep +an account of all receipts and expenditures. Of course, if, as I have +said before, the tournament is being held by a club, many of these +details are already fulfilled by previous organization. The date should +be the next thing decided. In each instance there will be many +circumstances affecting this date. If the idea of having a tournament is +being discussed with a view to holding it later in the summer, find out +what players will be in the neighborhood at that time, and try to invite +players to visit the locality at about that period. If you only have a +week or ten days in which to make your preparations (for a small +tournament), try to fix on a day when there will be nothing else of +importance going on near by. The chief object of the managers or of the +committee should be to secure as large an attendance as possible, for a +crowd will encourage the players to better effort. + +The date having been settled upon, send out notices. State clearly all +the facts. Say at what place, on what date, and at what time of day the +tournament is to be held; and also under whose auspices. Give a list of +the events--such as men's singles, doubles, women's singles, mixed +doubles, or whatever there is to be; state the requirements for +entrances, and give the date when entries close. Be sure to give the +name and address of the person who has been assigned to receive these +entries. State also in the notice the hours of play, the number of sets +to the match, the kind of balls that are to be used, and announce any +special regulations that it may have been found necessary to adopt. +Finally, enumerate the prizes; but remember that it is always in better +taste to make these inexpensive and more in the nature of souvenirs of +the occasion than trophies. + +The notices disposed of and sent out, the managers should now see that +the courts are rolled and otherwise put in order, so that they may be in +the best possible condition on the day set for the tournament. There +should be a plentiful supply of balls, for sometimes an entire box is +used in a match. In large tournaments I have seen the players dispose of +a box every set. At each end of the net put up a couple of chairs on +boxes for the umpires, and arrange seats about the court for the +spectators. If there are not enough chairs and benches handy, lay boards +on boxes, and so produce impromptu settees. Don't fail to hire a couple +of boys to pick up the balls. + +All these details are necessary ones; there are a few others that might +be termed luxuries, such as having printed tickets and programmes, and +an awning stretched along one side of the court to shelter the ladies +from the sun. One more necessary point, however, is to secure competent +judges and umpires, otherwise something might occur during play that +would mar the pleasure of the day. Of course it would be a +misunderstanding, but this can be easily avoided by having officials +fully conversant with the game and familiar with the duties required of +them. + +After all the entries have been received, make the drawings, and, if +possible, post them somewhere where all those interested in the coming +tournament will be able to see them. When, on the day set, the hour to +begin play arrives, start promptly. Delay is always fatal to the success +of any sporting event. People don't like to sit around and wait. But all +that I have said here is merely in the line of suggestion. Many little +matters crop up as soon as any enterprise of this kind is entered into, +and these questions have to be settled according to the emergency. Let +the central idea be to anticipate anything that might happen; then, as a +rule, nothing will happen. + + THE GRADUATE. + + + + +[Illustration: THE CAMERA CLUB] + + This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin + collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question + on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should + address Editor Stamp Department. + + +HOW TO CATCH CLOUDS. + + 7th. About + 11th. this + 14th. time + 17th. look + 21st. out + 28th. for + 31st. storms. + +This was usually the weather warning in the old-time almanacs which the +farmer was in the habit of consulting nightly, in order to make his +plans for his haying or harvesting, his sowing or reaping, the success +of which depended on the state of the weather. + +The amateur photographer who makes a specialty of landscapes should put +this warning in his note-book, substituting the word clouds for that of +storms, changing it to read, "About this time look out for clouds." + +A picture of a landscape with clouds in the sky is much finer than where +the sky is perfectly white, and cloud pictures themselves are very +interesting. + +It is not an easy matter to catch the clouds even when the sky is full +of them. If they are obtained in the negative, they are usually lost in +the printing, as the landscape portion of the negative, being less dense +than the sky, prints much more quickly, and to obtain a print of the +clouds the lines of the landscape would be almost black from +over-printing. + +There is a device called a "cloud-catcher," which is a shutter so +arranged with adjustable disks that the foreground or landscape part of +the picture is given a time exposure, while the sky is taken +instantaneously. This is supposed to give the proper time of exposure +for each part of the picture. + +The amateur cannot always afford such an attachment, and, in order to +obtain clouds in his landscapes, must resort to various devices of +developing and printing. + +The most common method is to take two pictures, one exposed for the sky, +and the other for the landscape, and print from both negatives. In +printing from a "sky"-and-"landscape" negative, print the sky first, +covering the part of the sensitive paper on which the landscape is to be +printed. After printing the sky, place the other negative in the frame +and print the landscape. It does not matter if the opaque paper which +covers the landscape does not follow the horizon lines exactly, as the +darker tones of the landscape will blot out the outlines of the clouds +if they lap on the horizon. + +If one has a negative where the clouds are good but will not print out +unless the rest of the picture is over-printed, a good print may be +obtained by this simple device: Take an empty tin-can a little longer +than the printing-frame. Cut off the top and bottom, and cut the can in +two the long way. This will give you a piece of rolled tin. Flatten one +edge, leaving the other curved. Attach the flat edge to the side of the +printing-frame so as to shield the landscape part of the negative. This +will make a shade for this part of the negative, which prints the +fastest, and thus retard the printing, allowing the denser portions a +longer time to print. A shaded negative should always be printed in +diffused light, not in the direct rays of the sun. + +Pictures of clouds, or rather, _false_ clouds, are made by holding the +negative over the flame of a candle and letting the glass side become +covered with lamp-black. Then, with a soft tuft of cotton, wipe off the +smoke in places, leaving the outlines of clouds on the glass. Very good +clouds can be made by this method with a little practice. Another way is +to attach a piece of fine tissue-paper to the negative and sketch clouds +in the sky portion, unless the sky is very dense. A thin sky is often +improved by these sham clouds. + +[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN THE TYROL, SHOWING CLOUD EFFECT.] + +The picture which we reproduce here was taken by Sir Knight Sidney +Stearns, of Cleveland, Ohio. It was taken at Halle in the Tyrol, time +nearly sunset. The sun, as may be seen by looking at the picture, is at +the left of the camera and well toward the front. This is usually the +best direction from which the strongest light should fall, either from +the left or right and near the front of the camera. One should seldom or +never take a picture with the sun directly behind the camera. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS. + + + + +Highest of all in Leavening Power.--Latest U. S. Gov't Report. + +[Illustration: Royal Baking Powder] + + + + +[Illustration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE +WATER] + + + + +[Illustration] + +WONDER CABINET =FREE=. Missing Link Puzzle, Devil's Bottle, Pocket +Camera, Latest Wire Puzzle, Spook Photos, Book of Sleight of Hand. Total +Value 60c. Sent free with immense catalogue of 1000 Bargains for 10c. +for postage. + +INGERSOLL & BRO., 65 Cortlandt Street N. Y. + + + + +[Illustration: BICYCLING] + + This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the + Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our + maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from the + official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen. + Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L. A. W., the + Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership + blanks and information so far as possible. + + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers] + +The final run into Albany on the road from New York, according to the +plan which we have been following--that is, of making the journey in +four days--is from Hudson to Albany, a distance of twenty-eight to +thirty miles. Leaving Hudson, which was the northernmost point reached +on last week's map, the rider goes out on to the main road by the way of +Fourth Street and Pond Road, and thence follows the telegraph poles +direct to Stockport, passing through Stottville. The road is hilly while +running from the town of Hudson, and about half-way from Stottville to +Stockport there is another rather stiff hill. The distance is a little +over five miles, and the road is poor, on the whole, owing to its +rolling nature and the fact that the road-bottom is largely clay. From +Stockport to Stuyvesant Falls it improves a little, though it is +somewhat hilly. The rider should follow the telegraph poles all the way, +and keep a sharp lookout for L.A.W. signs, which will be of great +assistance wherever they are found. This run is about three and +three-quarters or four miles, and the next stage, from Stuyvesant Falls +to Kinderhook, is four miles. There is no difficulty in following the +road, with the possible exception of an abrupt fork about one and +one-half or two miles out of Stuyvesant Falls. Here, of course, the +rider should keep to the right on the main road. From Kinderhook to Pine +Grove is a little under five miles. Keep to the left at Kinderhook after +leaving the Kinderhook Hotel, keeping always to the Albany Post Road +with the telegraph poles. Thence continue from Pine Grove to Schodack +Centre, and when you have made four and one-half miles, and crossed two +small bridges, turn to the right at Willow Trees, whence the run to +Schodack Centre is clearly marked, a distance, in all, of a little over +eight miles. From here the run to the Hudson, opposite Albany, passes +through East Greenbush, three miles away, and finally brings up at the +Hudson at South Bridge, a little less than five miles further. This last +stage of the journey is somewhat hilly again, and there is a bad descent +just before reaching Greenbush, where the rider should take the utmost +care, owing to the fact that the hill itself is bad, and the difficulty +complicated by a railroad crossing. On reaching the Hudson the rider +should cross on South Bridge, and running into Albany turn into +Broadway, thence to State Street, thence to North Pearl Street, and +finally put up at the Kenmore Hotel. + +While this run from New York to Albany is in parts hilly, and while +occasionally the rider will strike a bit of difficult road, it is +nevertheless one of the best bicycle trips in the United States, not +only on account of the condition of the roads, but on account of its +picturesque and historical interest. As was said last week, any one who +intends to take the trip, or who can give the time to it, is strongly +advised to take a week to do it in, to cross the Hudson several times on +the way, and make short runs into the country on the other side. It is +possible in this way for a rider of reasonable experience to see +practically the whole of the Hudson River valley between these two +points, and to have a fine outing without doing too much "scorching," +or, on the other hand, taking the journey too slowly. The distance from +New York to Albany, or rather from Central Park and 110th Street to the +Kenmore Hotel, is one hundred and fifty-three and three-quarter miles, +and by taking seven or eight days to the trip, the rider can easily +cover three to four hundred miles in his excursions off the main route. + + NOTE.--Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of + route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, + Connecticut, in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New + Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814. + Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816. + Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in + No. 818. + + + + +[Illustration: THE PUDDING STICK] + + This Department is conducted in the interest of Girls and Young + Women, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on + the subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address + Editor. + + +I have talked to you about notes and letters in a previous number of the +paper, but some of my ROUND TABLE readers ask to have the subject +treated again, with special attention to correspondence of a ceremonious +character. + +A note of invitation should be very cordial, affectionate, and explicit. +You should state clearly in such a note the day and train which you +would like your friend to take, and the length of time you expect her to +stay with you. Formerly it was regarded as inhospitable to limit in any +way the duration of a friend's visit, but we understand now that it is +more convenient and comfortable for all concerned to have the precise +number of days or weeks indicated. This arrangement enables your friends +to make other engagements, and leaves you free to invite other friends +if, as often happens, you can have the pleasure of entertaining +successive guests during a summer. Let me give you some examples. + +Mary Hills wishes to ask Abby Lewis to spend a week with her at Dove's +Nest in the Catskills, Mary's country home. Her letter of invitation +might be written as follows: + + DOVE'S NEST, TANNERSVILLE P.O., NEW YORK. + + DEAREST ABBY,--It seems very long since I saw you. Mamma and I + were talking last night about the delightful visit we had at your + home just before the Van Blarcoms went abroad. It is very lovely + at Dove's Nest now, and we are anxious to have you see the place + while our sweet-pease and nasturtiums are in bloom. Won't you come + on Thursday, the twentieth, by the ten-o'clock train (West Shore), + and stay with me till Monday, the thirty-first? I will meet you at + the station on Thursday afternoon. We have a new golf course, and + all sorts of pleasant things are going on. + + Hoping soon to see you, I am, dear Abby, + + Yours lovingly, + MARY HILLS. + July fifteenth, eighteen-- + +Abby's reply would probably be somewhat like this: + + 182 SEVENTY-EIGHTH STREET, NEW YORK. + + DEAR, DEAR MARY,--How good you are to ask me for so charming a + visit! It will give me the greatest pleasure to go to you on the + twentieth and to stay for ten days, as you suggest. You may expect + to see me flying down the station to meet you when the ten-o'clock + train reaches the mountains on that afternoon. I can hardly wait + for the blissful time to arrive. Mamma sends her love, and I am, + as ever, + + Devotedly yours, + ABBY LEWIS. + +A household critic suggests to me at this point that "Dearest Abby" and +"Dear, dear Mary," are rather gushing, and not quite in the approved +literary style which ought to be shown to girls. But I am talking to +real girls, and I know how they write, and I don't mind in the least a +little effervescence in the way of adjectives. I like girls to call me +"Dearest" when they write to me, and I don't mind their saying "Dear" to +one another over and over again. + +How much luggage you must take when going on a visit depends on the +length of the visit and the number of engagements it will include. As a +rule, in our changeable climate you will need, in going away from home, +something thick and something thin. A trunk is a great comfort, though +one can manage with a large bag or a telescope, while a man's suit-case +lends itself finely to the folding of a girl's gown. + +With two or three pretty shirt-waists and a nice skirt, a simple dress +for evenings, and a warm stuff costume of serge or flannel for cool or +rainy mornings, a girl will be supplied for every needful requirement. +One's own dainty home wardrobe is sufficient for a visit, and if the +sailor hat be trim, the shoes and gloves in order, and the girl carry +herself gracefully, nobody will think a second time about her dress. + +As soon as possible after a journey lay aside your travelling dress, and +make a fresh toilette before joining the family. Try to ascertain the +family habits, and conform to them. + +I heard not long ago of a girl, said to be very clever and bright, who +exclaimed: "Make my own bed! Why, I wouldn't know how to begin! I +couldn't get the sheets on straight!" She wasn't a Pudding Stick girl of +mine, I'm happy to say. More on this subject next time. + +[Illustration: Signature] + + * * * * * + +SICKNESS AMONG CHILDREN + +is prevalent at all seasons of the year, but can be avoided largely when +they are properly cared for. _Infant Health_ is the title of a valuable +pamphlet accessible to all who will send address to the New York +Condensed Milk Co., N. Y. City.--[_Adv._] + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS. + + + + +Arnold + +Constable & Co + + * * * * * + +MISSES' AND CHILDREN'S + +Wash Suits + +GREATLY REDUCED PRICES. + + * * * * * + +Broadway & 19th st. + +NEW YORK. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Trilby's Foot + +was perfect (perhaps yours is), but even perfect feet get tired, and +nothing takes out the tired aches like Pond's Extract. + +Avoid substitutes; accept genuine only, with buff wrapper and yellow +label. + +POND'S EXTRACT CO., 76 Fifth Ave., New York. + + + + +Postage Stamps, &c. + + + + +[Illustration] + +100 all dif. Venezuela, Costa Rica, etc., only 10c.; 200 all dif. Hayti, +Hawaii, etc., only 50c. Ag'ts wanted at 50 per ct. com. List FREE! + +=C. A. Stegmann=, 2722 Eads Av., St. Louis, Mo. + + + + +=100= all different, China, etc., 10c.; 5 Saxony, 10c.; 40 Spain, 40c.; +6 Tunis, 14c.; 10 U. S. Revenues, 10c. Agts. wtd., 50% com.; '95 list +free. + +CRITTENDEN & BORGMAN CO., Detroit, Mich. + + + + +[Illustration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE +WATER] + + + + +Commit to Memory + +the best things in Prose and Poetry, always including good Songs and +Hymns. It is surprising how little good work of this kind seems to be +done in the Schools, if one must judge from the small number of people +who can repeat, without mistake or omission, as many as =Three= good +songs or hymns. + +Clear, Sharp, Definite, + +and accurate Memory work is a most excellent thing, whether in School or +out of it, among all ages and all classes. But let that which is so +learned be worth learning and worth retaining. The Franklin Square Song +Collection presents a large number of + +Old and New Songs + +and Hymns, in great variety and very carefully selected, comprising +Sixteen Hundred in the Eight Numbers thus far issued, together with much +choice and profitable Reading Matter relating to Music and Musicians. In +the complete and varied + +Table of Contents, + +which is sent free on application to the Publishers, there are found +dozens of the best things in the World, which are well worth committing +to memory; and they who know most of such good things, and appreciate +and enjoy them most, are really among the best educated people in any +country. They have the best result of Education. For above Contents, +with sample pages of Music, address + +Harper & Brothers, New York. + + + + +PRIZE-STORY COMPETITION. + +SECOND-PRIZE STORY. + +An Exciting Game. By Nancy Howe Wood. + + +It was when I was a struggling young physician in a small country town +that I passed through an adventure which I would not care to repeat, +although now I can plainly see its humorous aspect. + +I had but shortly before graduated from a medical college, and was +trying hard to get my living in a little village where there were two +other older and more experienced doctors. I was becoming greatly +disheartened, when one day, on my return from a visit to a poor woman of +the village, I found an official-looking letter awaiting me. I opened it +with some degree of excitement, and was astonished to find that it was +an offer to me of the position of resident physician in the Blankville +Insane Asylum, situated about two miles away. A salary was named which +seemed a fortune to me, poverty-stricken as I then was. (I afterwards +learned that the offer was made to me through the efforts of an +influential friend.) + +At first the letter gave me unlimited joy, and I shouted like a +school-boy; but when I began to think what it would actually mean my +heart sank. All my life I had had a nervous horror of insane persons, +and if I should accept this offer I would be obliged to stay with them, +eat with them, and live among them almost as one of themselves. At this +thought I fairly shuddered, and was forced to confess to myself that I +could never endure such a strain on my nerves, doctor though I was. + +The next morning, however, when I again read the letter, the offer +seemed so tempting that I said to myself: "Pshaw! I will not be +conquered by an attack of nerves. Come, brace yourself up, man. Why, a +few years at that salary will be enough to set you up for life!" +Nevertheless, I determined to go up the following day, and _look over_ +the place before deciding on my final answer. + +So early the next morning I presented myself at the asylum, all my +nervousness gone. I was so politely shown about, and everything looked +so orderly and well cared for, and the grounds without seemed so +peaceful and quiet, that I was delighted with it all. My misgivings had +almost vanished, and I had so nearly made up my mind to accept the +lucrative offer, that I said to the smiling and complaisant guard who +was acting as my guide: + +"Tell the superintendent that if he will kindly allow me to stroll in +the garden and think the matter over, I will give him my final answer +within the hour." So saying, I began to pace up and down the +flower-bordered walks. + +I was by this time in such a well-satisfied frame of mind that I +promptly dispelled the last remnants of my former nervousness. + +I was just on the point of re-entering the asylum to say to the +Superintendent that I gratefully accepted his offer when I was startled +by the sound of crackling twigs behind me. Turning quickly, I found +myself face to face with a man whom I supposed at first to be one of the +guards. But as soon as I moved away from him to go toward the house he +sprang forward with hand outstretched to clutch me, uttering an idiotic +chuckle. Cold shivers chased up and down my back as the thought flashed +upon me that it was an escaped patient! With a shriek I ran down the +path at the top of my speed, my fear increased by the sound of pursuing +steps behind me. + +I doubled and turned on the track, striving to distance or elude my +dreaded pursuer, but in spite of my frantic efforts, he kept closely at +my heels. Finally in one of my windings I was confronted by the six-foot +stone wall that surrounded the asylum on every side. Glancing backward, +I saw that the maniac--as I now knew him to be--was almost upon me, and, +making a desperate effort, I succeeded in reaching the top of the wall. +For a moment I fancied myself secure: but my pursuer darted behind the +shrubbery, and pulled out a small ladder, evidently used by the +gardeners. Seeing him thus prepared to follow me, I hurriedly dropped to +the ground outside, and scrambled to my feet just as the lunatic's head +appeared above the top of the wall. Again I had only a short start +before he was once more on my track. + +And now began an exciting race "over brush, brake, and brier"; sometimes +I stumbled over a protruding root and fell headlong, but was up again in +a twinkling; sometimes my pursuer was so close upon me that I could +easily hear his panting breath. At the end of the first mile and a +quarter I thought myself done for, but my college training, which, +luckily, I had not forgotten, stood me in good stead, and I desperately +ran on. + +"Oh," thought I, wildly, "where are the villagers? Isn't anybody near? +But there was no road leading out of the village in that direction, and +few people passed that way. At last, after years, it seemed to me, we +entered the village, and tore at full speed down the main street. If I +had longed before for some human soul to help me, I now as earnestly +prayed that I might unobserved gain my own door, and so be safe. But no; +some small boy, busily engaged doing nothing, soon raised the cry, + +"Say, here comes the fresh young doctor a-tearing down the street like a +steam-engine!" + +Then, almost tired out, and seeing the door of a small house standing +open, I dashed in, passed through the hall and dining-room, where the +astonished family were sitting at dinner, and out into the back yard, +where, completely exhausted, and utterly unable to run a step further, I +dropped behind a barrel. + +My hope had been that the people of the house would have understood my +predicament and stopped the madman, but they evidently had not taken in +the situation, or else he had been too quick for them, for from behind +the barrel where I had concealed myself I could hear him come through +the open doorway and search the yard for me. + +And now I feared that my panting breath would betray me--and it did, for +I heard his stealthy steps approach the spot where I lay quaking, and +his ugly, leering face peered round at me, and he sprang forward and +touched me, calling out, as I fell back almost fainting with terror: +"_Tag! You're it!_" + +In an instant the meaning of his words flashed over me, and I cursed +myself for my foolish nervousness. The confounded fool had taken it for +a game of tag! + +By this time quite a little crowd of villagers had gathered around me, +and the escaped lunatic was secured to wait for the arrival of his +keeper, and I managed to reach my home, after being fortified by a glass +of wine. + +It was several days before my nerves recovered their usual steadiness, +and it is perhaps needless to add that I did not accept the situation. + + + + +The Helping Hand. + + +The Lancelot Chapter, of Newtonville, Mass., has nine members, and each +earned twenty-five cents. Then the Chapter added a little, and the +secretary forwarded $3 with the best of Lancelot wishes Names of the +contributors are Ella A. Gould, Marion Drew Bassett, Adella J. +Saunderson, Ethel T. Gammons, Alice L. Harrison, Esther H. Dyson, Lulu +Ulmer, Mabel Glazier, and Hazel L. Bobbins. + +The Edison Chapter, of Bangor, Me., send $2 for the Fund. This Fund is, +you know, to help build the Round Table Industrial School-house at Good +Will Farm, where poor boys are educated. The Table is raising this Fund, +and it asks contributions from all who want, first, to help chivalrous +young persons who are trying to help others, and second, to help in the +best possible way boys who need help. + +Any sums, sent by anybody, will be thankfully received and acknowledged +in the Table. Members of the Edison Chapter, which sent the $2 the other +day, earned the money folding and carrying papers, getting out ashes, +and washing dishes--truly practical methods of being truly generous. + +Founders of the Order of the Round Table want $1000 to complete this +School Fund. Who will help them? + + + + +From Some Far-Away Members. + + +The Table loves to hear from far-distant places, and to have members +tell us how their country looks, and what the people do. Here is news +from three friends: + + SPRING CREEK, MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND. + + New Zealand is a far-away country to you, yet I have seen some + letters from here. The town I live near is not very large. It is + subject to floods, and last year the water came thirteen times + into some of the shops. I have not travelled about much, so I + cannot describe to you my journeys as many other girls do. The + North Island of New Zealand is very volcanic, especially near the + centre. There are many hot springs there, some just warm, and + others boiling. The Maories, as the natives are called, boil their + potatoes in them, by letting them down into the springs in + baskets. + + Out of one of the volcanic mountains the lava that streamed down + the sides was a pale pink. It was formed into terraces all down + the mountainside. On another mountain it was much the same, only + the terraces were white. A few years ago a great eruption caused + them to entirely disappear. Since then some brown ones have begun + to form, but they are very inferior to the former ones. When the + eruption took place there were loud noises heard almost all over + New Zealand. Many people who lived near were wellnigh smothered + with mud, and for miles the country was covered with ashes and + mud, in many places several feet thick. Most of the deposit was of + a steel-gray color, and just like knife-polish in texture. My + younger sister and I collect stamps. As yet we have very few. I + have seen letters asking for girls to write and exchange stamps. I + would much like some girls to write to me, and send the stamps of + their countries. In return I will send them New Zealand ones. + + JEAN CHAYTOR. + + * * * * * + + BLENHEIM, MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND. + + I am collecting stamps, and would be glad if any girls would write + to me and send me some stamps of their country, and I will send + them some of mine. There is a Maori pah about two miles from here. + Some time ago the chief died, and they had a great tangi, which + lasted for a fortnight. In old times Maoris used to bury their + dead head down and all their goods with them, and then stick a + canoe at the head of the grave. + + CONSTANCE CHAYTOR. + + * * * * * + + BLENHEIM, MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND. + + There was a chrysanthemum show here last Thursday, and there were + some lovely flowers at it. I think the chrysanthemums are + beautiful flowers, especially the Japanese ones. We have big + floods in Blenheim. I think they are great fun, but they do great + damage, especially to the farms. Once when we had a big flood my + sister was sitting on the bed taking off her boots. She forgot + about the water, and dropped her boots into it, and they floated + about the house all night. + + A month ago Rev. Mr. Brittain, a Melanesian missionary, and + twenty-two Melanesian boys came to Blenheim; only a few of the + boys could speak English. The others speak Mota. It was + interesting hearing all about the islands. At Norfolk Island there + is a large college. There is also a beautiful church. All the + seats are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Last summer all our family + and several others went down to White's Bay, which is about ten + miles from Blenheim, camping. We had three tents. We staid two + weeks, and had a splendid time. I collect stamps, and would be + very glad if any of the girls would write to me and send some, and + I in return would send them some New Zealand ones. + + MILLIE DOBSON. + + + + +Chin-Kiang, China. + + I wrote a long letter which was accepted for publication in the + Table, and every time I get a new number I look for it, but am + always disappointed. In the last one there was a letter from + Juliet Bredon, with whom I spent several weeks in Japan, which + interested me very much, and made me wish all the more to see mine + in print. It will be soon, won't it? I will write something more + about Chin-Kiang by-and-by if it will interest other members of + the Table. + + MILDRED C. JONES. + +Your letter shall appear in due time. Yes, tell us more about China and +the Chinese. We are much interested--all of us. + + + + +[Illustration: Ivory Soap] + +When you pack for the sea shore or the mountains, fill a tray of your +trunk with Ivory Soap and require your laundress to use it. Light summer +garments should be washed only with a pure white soap. + +THE PROCTER & GAMBLE CO., CIN'TI. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Not of the preparations of coloring matter and essential oils so often +sold under the name of rootbeer, but of the purest, most delicious, +health-giving beverage possible to produce. One gallon of Hires' is +worth ten of the counterfeit kind. Suppose an imitation extract costs +five cents less than the genuine Hires; the same amount of sugar and +trouble is required; you save one cent a gallon, and--get an unhealthful +imitation in the end. Ask for HIRES and _get_ it. + +[Illustration: HIRES' Rootbeer] + +THE CHAS. E. HIRES CO., Philadelphia. + + + + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +Carry in pocket. Takes 25 perfect pictures in one loading--re-loading +costs 20c. Ask your dealer for it, or send for free booklet "All About +the Kombi." + +ALFRED C. KEMPER, + +Branches: London, Berlin. 132-134 Lake Street, Chicago + + + + +[Illustration] + +CARD PRINTER =FREE= + +Sets any name in one minute; prints 500 cards an hour. YOU can make +money with it. A font of pretty type, also Indelible Ink, Type Holder, +Pads and Tweezers. Best Linen Marker; worth $1.00. Sample mailed FREE +for 10c. stamps for postage on outfit and large catalogue of 1000 +Bargains. + +R. H. Ingersoll & Bro. 65 Cortlandt St. N.Y. City + + + + +=DEAFNESS & HEAD NOISES CURED= by my =INVISIBLE= Tubular Cushions. Have +helped more to good =HEAR=ing than all other devices combined. Whispers +=HEAR=d. Help ears as glasses do eyes. =F. Hiscox=, 853 B'dway, N.Y. +Book of proofs FREE + + + + +[Illustration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE +WATER] + + + + +Harper's Catalogue, + +Thoroughly revised, classified, and indexed, will be sent by mail to any +address on receipt of ten cents. + + + + +By W. J. HENDERSON + + * * * * * + +Elements of Navigation + + With Diagrams. 16mo, Cloth, $1.00. + +Afloat with the Flag + + Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental. $1.25. + +Sea Yarns for Boys + + SPUN BY AN OLD SALT. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, + $1.25. + + * * * * * + +Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York + +_For sale by all booksellers, or will be mailed by the publishers, +postage prepaid, on receipt of the price._ + + + + +[Illustration: THE BABY ELEPHANT'S MISADVENTURE, OR THE SATISFACTION OF +HAVING AN EFFICIENT PARENT.] + + + + +A SAFE METHOD. + + +The treasures of the Bank of France are said to be better guarded than +those of any other bank in the world. At the close of business hours +every day, when the money is put into the vaults in the cellar, masons +at once wall up the doors with hydraulic mortar. Water is then turned on +and kept running until the cellar is flooded. A burglar would have to +work in a diving suit and break down a cement wall before he could even +start to loot the vaults. When the officers arrive the next morning, the +water is drawn off, the masonry is torn down, and the vaults opened. + + + + +AN INDIAN TRADITION. + + +Here is an Indian version of the story of the flood, as it was taken by +a writer connected with an Australian journal. Says he: "All of the +northern coast Indians have a tradition of a flood which destroyed all +mankind except a pair from which the earth was peopled. Each tribe gives +the story a local coloring, but the plot of the story is much the same. +The Bella Coola tradition is as follows: The Creator of the universe, +Mes-mes-sa-la-nik, had great difficulty in the arrangement of the land +and water. The earth persisted in sinking out of sight. At last he hit +upon a plan which worked very well. Taking a long line of twisted walrus +hide, he tied it around the dry land, and fastened the other end to the +corner of the moon. Everything worked well for a long time; but at last +the Spirit became very much offended at the action of mankind, and in a +fit of anger one day seized his great stone knife, and with a mighty +hack severed the rope of twisted skin. Immediately the land began to +sink into the sea. The angry waves rushed in torrents up the valleys, +and in a short time nothing was visible except the peak of a very high +mountain. All mankind perished in the whelming waters, with the +exception of two, a man and his wife, who were out fishing in a great +canoe. These two succeeded in reaching the top of the mountain, and +proceeded to make themselves at home. Here they remained for some time, +until the anger of Mes-mes-sa-la-nik had cooled, which resulted in his +fishing up the severed thong and again fastening it to the moon. From +this pair thus saved the earth was again populated." + + + + +WHERE IT WENT. + + +Lunatics often assume a superiority of intellect to others which is +quite amusing. A gentleman travelling in England some years ago, while +walking along the road not far from the side of which there ran a +railway, encountered a number of insane people out for exercise in +charge of a keeper. With a nod toward the railway tracks, he said to one +of the lunatics, + +"Where does this railway go to?" + +The lunatic looked at him scornfully a moment, and then replied: + +"It don't go anywhere. We keep it here to run trains on." + + + + +A HUGE PIE. + + +The largest pie ever known was that described in the Newcastle +_Chronicle_ for the 6th January, 1770. It was shipped to Sir Henry Gray, +Baronet, London, Mrs. Dorothy Patterson, housekeeper at Hawic, being the +maker. Into the composition of this great pie entered two bushels of +flour, twenty pounds of butter, four geese, two turkeys, two rabbits, +four wild ducks, two woodcocks, six snipe, four partridges, two neats' +tongues, two curlews, seven black-birds, and six pigeons. It weighed +twelve stone, and was nine feet in circumference at the bottom. It was +furnished with a case on wheels, for convenience in passing it round to +the guests. + +The receipt for this pie is given here as a hint to those of our readers +who may be thinking of getting up a picnic within the next two or three +weeks. A half dozen pies of this size ought to be enough for at least +one picnic. + + + + +A STRANGE SUIT. + + +According to the Pittsburg _Journal_, Peter Gruber, the Rattlesnake King +of Venango County, has made the most unique costume any man ever wore. +It consists of coat, vest, trousers, hat, shoes, and shirt, and is made +entirely of the skins of rattlesnakes. Seven hundred snakes, all caught +and skinned by Gruber during the past five years, provided the material +for this novel costume. To preserve the brilliancy and the flexibility +of the skins in the greatest possible degree, the snakes were skinned +alive, first being made unconscious by chloroform. They were then tanned +by a method peculiar to Gruber, and are as soft and elastic as woollen +goods. The different articles for this outfit were made by Oil City +tailors, shoemakers and hatters, and the costume is valued at $1000. + + + + +A FEW NOTES ABOUT COINS. + + +The rei of Brazil, like the mill of our own money table, is an imaginary +coin, no piece of that denomination being coined. Ten thousand reis +equal $5.45. + +Vermont was the first State to issue a coinage on its own authority. +Copper coins were issued in 1785. + +The first woman's face represented on a coin was that of Pulcheria, the +Empress of the Eastern Empire. + +The Chinese stamp bars or ingots of gold or silver with their weight and +fineness, and pass them from hand to hand as coin. + +The first Maryland coins were minted in 1662, and were put in +circulation by act of Council ordering every householder to bring in +sixty pounds of tobacco and receive ten shillings of the new money in +exchange for it. + +In 1634 the Massachusetts General Assembly made bullets a legal tender +by the following enactment: "It is likewise ordered that muskett +bulletts of a full boare shall pass currently for a farthing apiece. +Provided that noe man be compelled to take above XIId att a tyme in +them." + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Round Table, July 9, 1895, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, JULY 9, 1895 *** + +***** This file should be named 33054-8.txt or 33054-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/0/5/33054/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Harper's Round Table, July 9, 1895 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: July 2, 2010 [EBook #33054] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, JULY 9, 1895 *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_RALEIGH_REDS"><b>THE RALEIGH REDS.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_LITTLE_MINUTE-MAN"><b>THE LITTLE MINUTE-MAN.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#SNOW-SHOES_AND_SLEDGES1"><b>SNOW-SHOES AND SLEDGES.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#OAKLEIGH"><b>OAKLEIGH.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#TWO_FAIRY_SPONGES"><b>TWO FAIRY SPONGES</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#STAMPS"><b>STAMPS</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THAT_SLEIGHT-OF-HAND_PERFORMANCE"><b>THAT SLEIGHT-OF-HAND PERFORMANCE.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#INTERSCHOLASTIC_SPORT"><b>INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_CAMERA_CLUB"><b>THE CAMERA CLUB</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#BICYCLING"><b>BICYCLING</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_PUDDING_STICK"><b>THE PUDDING STICK</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#AN_EXCITING_GAME"><b>AN EXCITING GAME.</b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_689" id="Page_689">[Pg 689]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 1000px;"> +<img src="images/ill_001.jpg" width="1000" height="331" alt="HARPER'S ROUND TABLE" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">Copyright, 1895, by <span class="smcap">Harper & Brothers</span>. All Rights Reserved.</p> + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="100%" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>PUBLISHED WEEKLY.</td><td align='center'>NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1895.</td><td align='right'>FIVE CENTS A COPY.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>VOL. XVI.—NO. 819.</td><td align='center'></td><td align='right'>TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"><a name="THE_RALEIGH_REDS" id="THE_RALEIGH_REDS"></a> +<img src="images/ill_002.jpg" width="700" height="444" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>THE RALEIGH REDS.</h2> + +<h3>BY JULIANA CONOVER.</h3> + +<p>"Attention! Right dress! Front! Order arms! Carry arms! Present arms! +Right shoulder arms! Carry arms! Stand straighter, Billy. Can't you +fellows keep in line? Right face! Left face! About face! Oh, all right, +I won't go on with the drill if you don't try harder than that."</p> + +<p>"Let us off this afternoon, Tommy? There's a good fellow," begged Billy +Atkins, a fat little chap of twelve, who, between the heat and his +exertions to keep his round body erect, was nearly used up.</p> + +<p>"You won't ever learn to drill decently, then," answered the discouraged +Sergeant.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, we will, in double-quick time; but it is so hot, and we all +want to be in good shape for to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"What do you say, fellows?" asked Tommy, turning to the other panting +recruits.</p> + +<p>"Let's stop," they all responded, briskly, "and try to fix up some +scheme for the Fourth."</p> + +<p>"Very well," answered the Sergeant, a little reluctantly. "I did want to +try the bayonet exercise; but I suppose we can do that some other time." +Then drawing himself up in true martial style: "Port arms! Dismissed!"</p> + +<p>The boys took instant advantage of the command, and hastily stacking +their arms, they squatted on the grass to try and cool off by means of +mumble-the-peg and a discussion of Fourth-of-July plans.</p> + +<p>Tom Porter, aged twelve, had spent a year at a military academy, and had +come home for his summer holidays burning with military ardor, and +primed with tactics from the latest manual of arms.</p> + +<p>He soon fired the ambition of the other boys, and in a week had +organized a company—or "squad," as he decided it really was—composed +of ten raw recruits and a band of two, mustered under the banner of the +Raleigh Reds.</p> + +<p>They drilled faithfully day after day under the command of their +enthusiastic Sergeant, and the discordant sounds from the fife and drum +became a nuisance to the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>But now that the novelty of the drill was wearing off, the boys began to +pine for active service, and wild plans<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_690" id="Page_690">[Pg 690]</a></span> of campaigns, with long +marches, bloody battles, and glorious victories, floated through Tommy's +brain, as he nightly revolved the future of the Raleigh Reds.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>"Well, how are we going to celebrate the Fourth?" asked Lilly Atkins, +throwing down the knife in disgust, after failing ignominiously in the +delicate operation known as "eating oysters." "It's no fun just marching +at the tail end of a parade."</p> + +<p>"We might make another raid on old Jones's cattle," suggested Herbert +Day; "we know a lot more tactics and manœuvres now."</p> + +<p>"Not much, unless Tommy teaches us some slick barbed-wire-fence drill," +said Dick. "I'm on my last pair of trousers."</p> + +<p>"That <i>was</i> a pretty big fizzle," Tommy said, shaking his head. "And how +they did jolly me at home! Did you ever hear the poem my sister wrote +about it?"</p> + +<p>"No; what was it?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it was sort of like 'Half a League,' only different, about us, +instead of the 'Six Hundred.' It's pretty good," modestly.</p> + +<p>"Can't you say it?" asked Herbert.</p> + +<p>"Yes, go ahead, Tommy," chimed in the others.</p> + +<p>Tommy blushed. It seemed conceited to recite his sister's verses, and +yet he was genuinely proud of them.</p> + +<p>"It's a grind on us, you know," he said, warningly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right; we're used to it; fire away."</p> + +<p>Thus pressed, Tommy began:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"'Half a mile, half a mile,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Dust-choked and solemn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Straight for old Jones's field</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Marched the brave column.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"Forward, the Raleigh Red!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Charge for the bull!" he said.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Into the grazing herd</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Marched the firm column.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"'Forward the squad brigade.'</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"That's wrong, you know," he stopped to explain, "but Alice wouldn't +change it; she said it didn't matter."</p> + +<p>"It doesn't a bit," Dick answered. "Go on; it's great!"</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"'Forward the squad brigade.'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Went on Tommy.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"'Was there a man afraid?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Not though the privates knew</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Jones's bull's bad manners.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Theirs not to make a row,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Theirs not to question how,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Theirs but to charge the cow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Into the grazing herd</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Marched the red banners.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"'Cows to the right of them.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Cows to the left of them,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Cows still in front of them,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Peacefully chewing.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Gazed at in wild surprise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Boldly, with steady eyes,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Marched on at double-quick</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Shouting their battle-cries,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">To their undoing.'</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"'Whisked all the tails so bare,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Whisked in the sultry air,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Staring, as cows do stare,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Chewing the cud the while.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">When from the close ranks</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Broke forth a muffled beat.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Not</i> of bass drums, but feet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Jersey and Alderney</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Gazed on this mad retreat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Gazed on the gay pranks</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Of the old bull, who had</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Broken the phalanx.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"'Fence to the right of them,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Fence to the left of them,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Jones's bull behind them.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Pawing and bellowing.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">What need commands to tell?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Boldly they ran and well,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Not one small private fell.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">"'Out of the horns of death,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Sergeant and squad pellmell,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Through the barbed-wire fence</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Crawled the torn column.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">When can their glory fade,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Oh, the retreat they made,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">All Raleigh applauded!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Honor the Sergeant's feet,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Honor the squad's retreat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Long be it lauded!'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Guy, that's fine!" ejaculated little Billy. "Isn't it, Dick?" +enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>"Slickest thing I've ever heard," answered Dick.</p> + +<p>"We did get to that fence quick, and no mistake. And, George! I woke up +every night for a week dreaming that the old bull was just running his +horns into me."</p> + +<p>"We'll have to do something to get a better 'rep,'" said Tommy; "we've +done nothing but retreat so far. Old Farmer Applegate sent us flying, +when he had nothing but cow-hide boots and a pitchfork."</p> + +<p>"It was his garden," reflected Fatty Simmons; "that was why I ran."</p> + +<p>"Well, what are we going to do to-morrow, that's what I want to know?" +said Jack Green.</p> + +<p>"I have it!" exclaimed the Sergeant, his eyes sparkling. "The very +thing, fellows! I heard Davis and Jim White talking yesterday (they +didn't know I was there), and they were arranging a scheme for the +Fourth, which it would be dandy fun to break up."</p> + +<p>"What was it?" the others asked, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"You know the little cannon in Mr. Scott's field? He thinks no end of +it; it's a Revolutionary relic or Waterloo or something. Well, those +fellows are going to steal it to-night and have a great time to-morrow. +Five of them are in it."</p> + +<p>"Whew!" whistled Herbert Day. "I shouldn't like to be in their shoes +when Mr. Scott finds it out; he'll make it hot for them! But how's that +going to help us, Tommy; we're not in it?"</p> + +<p>"I know; but what we want to do," answered the Sergeant, "is to guard +the cannon and spoil their little game. It would be great to get ahead +of Davis for once."</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't they punch our heads?" said Billy, doubtfully; "they're +bigger."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see them," blustered Fatty; "we'd run them through with our +bayonets."</p> + +<p>"What time did they agree to take the cannon, Tommy?" asked Bert.</p> + +<p>"After dark, about nine, I suppose. They said they could drag it across +the field to Davis's barn, and that nobody would catch on."</p> + +<p>"What sport!" chuckled Green. "We'll go early, then, and form in single +file round the old cannon, and I'd like to see the man who could take it +from us."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Scott has a big mastiff, hasn't he?" asked Billy.</p> + +<p>"What of that?" scornfully, and Billy was silenced. The boys forgot +their heat and fatigue in their eagerness to prepare for such a great +undertaking, and over and over again the Sergeant's commands rang out: +"Load! squad, ready! aim! <i>fire!</i> Order arms! Load! ready! aim! recover +arms! <i>fire!</i>" etc., for a full hour.</p> + +<p>At half past eight that same evening the Raleigh Reds, with fife and +drum silent, marched through the lane leading to Mr. Scott's field.</p> + +<p>"Squad, halt!" was the command when they reached the fence. Then after a +whispered consultation and a stealthy glance round, lest the enemy might +attack them in the rear, they climbed carefully over the rails, and came +down cautiously on the other side.</p> + +<p>"Forward, march!" ordered the Sergeant, and his squad started by twos up +the field.</p> + +<p>The cannon was mounted at the other end, and the shadows which the moon +cast across their path looked to the boys' excited fancy like figures +rising from the ground.</p> + +<p>"A little faster step—hep, hep!" urged the Sergeant, as they lagged. +"Double time!" he commanded; but alas! a low ferocious growl, followed +by a loud bark, caused a sudden panic in the dauntless Reds.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_691" id="Page_691">[Pg 691]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The mastiff!" cried Joe Morris; "cut for your lives!"</p> + +<p>"Don't you do it! Charge bayonets!" shouted Tom, dismayed by this +breaking of the close-locked ranks.</p> + +<p>"About face!" yelled Fatty Simmons, assuming the command in his terror: +"quick to the fence, fellows—run!" and as the big dark object bounded +towards them, the squad for the second time in its short history took to +its heels without waiting further orders. Before the Sergeant could +collect his scattered wits, a rough hand seized him by the collar, and a +grim voice said, "I've caught you, hev I? You'll just come to Mr. Scott, +young man; he's waitin' for you."</p> + +<p>"Call that dog off; he'll chew them fellows up," gasped Tommy, trying to +wriggle away from the tight grip.</p> + +<p>"Sarve 'em right for sneaking in after dark and stealing the old cannon +that's stood here over a hundred years."</p> + +<p>"We didn't steal it," said the indignant Sergeant. "We came to guard +it!"</p> + +<p>"To guard it! Well, you didn't have much luck, then, for it's been gone +this half-hour. Mr. Scott, he's in a terrible way about it."</p> + +<p>"My, how early they must have come!" exclaimed Tom.</p> + +<p>"They? Who?"</p> + +<p>"Why, the fellows we came to keep from taking it." And then he explained +to the astonished farmer.</p> + +<p>The result was that the "Raleigh Reds" were recalled, trembling, from +their refuge behind the rail breastwork. Dom Pedro was quieted down, and +the demoralized squad was marched sheepishly to the house as prisoners +of war of the tall farmer.</p> + +<p>Mr. Scott interviewed them, and his anger gave way to amusement as the +boys told, in shamefaced confusion, of their part in the evening's work.</p> + +<p>"What your men need, Captain, is experience," he said; "so I will make a +bargain with you. If you manage to bring the cannon back by twelve +o'clock to-morrow morning, I will promise to furnish the finest display +of fireworks ever seen in this town, to celebrate the valor of the +'Raleigh Reds.'"</p> + +<p>The boys blushed as crimson as their colors at these words, but Tom +replied, stoutly:</p> + +<p>"We'll do it, Mr. Scott. Just see if we don't. I know we deserve to be +locked up in the guard-house for desertion; but give us one more chance, +and if we can't do anything but retreat, and in disorder too, then we'd +better give up the soldier business altogether."</p> + +<p>And so Mr. Scott clinched the bargain.</p> + +<p>How the little Sergeant racked his brains that night, as he tossed from +side to side, trying to hit upon some plan by which they could get the +field-gun away from its triumphant capturers!</p> + +<p>It would be no easy matter to drag the heavy cannon so far even if they +had a fair field; but when it was held by the enemy—five big +boys—Tommy shook his head in doubt, for he had no longer confidence in +the courage of his squad.</p> + +<p>The more he thought of it, the more he felt convinced that the only +thing to do was to decoy the guard in some way; but how? Suddenly he sat +up in bed and looked out of the window. It was moonlight, and he could +see some distance through the trees into a large field at the end of the +garden.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that will work," he murmured. "I don't want to do it, but it's the +only thing I can think of, and we've <i>got</i> to get that field-gun +somehow."</p> + +<p>So, having at last made up his mind, he turned over and fell asleep.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>"Fire! fire! fire!" clanged the great iron bell, putting all the toy +cannons to shame.</p> + +<p>"Fire! fire!" shouted the men and boys as they dropped their pipes and +their fire-crackers, and started in the direction from which a volume of +smoke rose black and dense against the clear sky. There were not many +fires in Raleigh, and this looked like a promising one. From all parts +of the little town the people swarmed, eager for any excitement that +would help to celebrate the holiday.</p> + +<p>"Now's our chance," whispered Tommy to the "Reds," as, ensconced behind +a hedge, they watched the crowd assemble. "We've got to hustle, for the +fire won't last long."</p> + +<p>"The fellows are all there, except Jim White," returned Dick, "and there +he comes, puffing like a steam-engine."</p> + +<p>"Then we're safe. Have you got the rope all ready, Billy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, slip-knot and all."</p> + +<p>"Then come on, fellows."</p> + +<p>And the boys cast one lingering glance at the crackling flames, the +fire-engine, and the crowd, then turned round and started heroically in +the opposite direction. They knew well where the cannon was, for had not +the victorious party jeered at them from the top of the shed, when they +went to reconnoitre early in the morning? They looked cautiously over +the gate of Davis's barn-yard. All was quiet. They opened the gate, and +walked softly in. Yes, there stood the bone of contention, alone, +unguarded, its mouth pointed towards the barn.</p> + +<p>"Hurry up, Bert; you understand about putting on the rope," said the +nervous Sergeant, as he watched the smoke against the sky growing +perceptibly less.</p> + +<p>"They'll suspect us, sure," replied Joe, "when they find we're not +there."</p> + +<p>"Think of missing a fire!" groaned Bert; "and such a beauty too!"</p> + +<p>By the time the boys were ready to start the smoke had almost died away, +and the shouts had entirely subsided.</p> + +<p>"We must fight to-day, fellows, or break up the company," said Tommy, as +they toiled up the field dragging the gun after them over the rough +ground.</p> + +<p>"Does Pat Kinney know we're coming?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"Yes; and he's going to bring Dom Pedro to back us up," answered +"Fatty," straining away on the rope.</p> + +<p>"Lucky for us," said Billy, his spirits rising.</p> + +<p>Just as they reached the end of the field where the cannon always stood, +a shout from the fence made them grasp their arms and fall quickly in +line with bayonets fixed.</p> + +<p>"Steady!" cried the Sergeant, his knees beginning to shake—"steady, +fellows; don't run."</p> + +<p>On the big boys came. Six or seven of them, headed by Davis, bearing +down on the trembling squad with yells like wild Indians.</p> + +<p>"Steady," said the Sergeant again, and immovable as the Inchcape Rock +the line received the charge.</p> + +<p>"Get out of here or we'll break your necks!" cried White, as the squad +closed in round the cannon.</p> + +<p>"Throw a pack of big crackers at them," said a rough-looking boy; "that +will break their ranks," and a shower of fire-crackers followed these +words.</p> + +<p>Still the squad stood firm.</p> + +<p>"All right, then," said Harvey, solemnly; "if you don't surrender we'll +have to wade in and do you up. Won't we, Davis?"</p> + +<p>"Yield!" shouted Davis, flourishing a big stick; "the cannon or your +life!"</p> + +<p>"Come on," cried the undaunted little Sergeant, as a twenty-five-cent +cracker went off under his nose. "We'll never surrender!"</p> + +<p>"We'll never surrender!" echoed the rest of the squad, spurred on to +resistance by their leader. "Come on!"</p> + +<p>And the next moment the bayonets were shattered by the charge, the guns +wrenched from the boys' hands, and down they went on the ground a +wriggling mass of arms and legs.</p> + +<p>It began to look very bad for the Raleigh Reds, when, to their great +relief, the reserve force came up on a full gallop, urged on by the +command of, "At 'em, Pedro, at 'em!"</p> + +<p>This time Dom Pedro discriminated between his allies and the foe, for he +dashed at Davis with a growl that struck terror to the stoutest heart.</p> + +<p>"Here comes Mr. Scott, boys!" cried White, scrambling up from Dick's +prostrate form; "we'd better skip;" and leaving the still unconquered +squad fighting manfully on their backs, the big boys made for the fence, +with Dom Pedro in hot pursuit.</p> + +<p>The Reds picked themselves up, and looked ruefully for their scattered +arms. They were pretty well battered and broken, but the cannon was +safe.</p> + +<p>"Fall in," commanded the Sergeant, as Mr. Scott walked up, holding Pedro +by the collar.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_692" id="Page_692">[Pg 692]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good for you, boys," he said, smiling; "you held your own well. I +watched from behind the fence, and was delighted with the way you stood +up to those big fellows."</p> + +<p>Tommy blushed with pride and pleasure. "They would have whipped us," he +replied, modestly, "if Dom Pedro hadn't scared them off."</p> + +<p>"At any rate you brought the field-gun back, and you deserve great +credit for the way you stuck to your colors. But what is this that +Kinney tells me about setting a barn on fire?"</p> + +<p>"It belonged to Tommy," said the others. "It was an old tool-house which +his father gave him to keep our things in. It made a beautiful fire." +Regretfully.</p> + +<p>"And you burnt it up just so as to decoy the boys?" Incredulously.</p> + +<p>"It was the only way to get the cannon," Tommy answered. "And the roof +leaked, anyway."</p> + +<p>"It certainly was a clever scheme, though rather a risky one," said Mr. +Scott.</p> + +<p>"I asked my father," Tommy hastened to explain. "And first he said no, +we mustn't do it, but when I told him that it was military tactics, and +how we wanted to prove to you that we were not such miserable cowards, +he gave in and said to go ahead."</p> + +<p>"Well, you certainly have proved it, and fulfilled your part of the +contract with honor, so now I want to do my part. So you may invite +everybody you want—the whole town, if you wish—in my name, to a grand +exhibition of fireworks in honor of the Raleigh Reds."</p> + +<p>The little Sergeant beamed from ear to ear. "Guy!" he ejaculated, +fervently, "what a slick old time we'll have!" Then, turning to the +smiling and embarrassed line, he cried, "Squad, <i>salute</i>!" and every +hand went up while the demoralized fife and drum favored Mr. Scott with +their wildest and most discordant tones.</p> + +<p>Then down the field they marched triumphantly, with torn banner flying, +and Dom Pedro stalking gravely on ahead.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_LITTLE_MINUTE-MAN" id="THE_LITTLE_MINUTE-MAN"></a>THE LITTLE MINUTE-MAN.</h2> + +<h3>BY H. G. PAINE.</h3> + +<p>All during the winter Brinton had been saying what he would do if the +redcoats came, and grieving because his age, which was eight, prevented +him from going with his father to fight under General Washington.</p> + +<p>Every night, when his mother tucked him in his bed and kissed him +good-night, he told her not to be afraid, that he had promised his +father to protect her, and he proposed to do it.</p> + +<p>His plan of action, in event of the sudden appearance of the enemy, +varied somewhat from day to day, but in general outline it consisted of +a bold show of force at the front gate and a flank attack by Towser, the +dog. Should these tactics fail to discourage the British, he intended to +retire behind a stone fort he had built on the lawn, between the two +tall elms, and to fire stones at the invaders until they fell back in +confusion, while his mother would look on and encourage him from the +front porch.</p> + +<p>When the redcoats unexpectedly appeared in the distance, one afternoon +in May, what Brinton really did was to run helter-skelter down the road, +up the broad path to the house, through the front hall into the library, +close the door, and then peep out of the window to watch them go by.</p> + +<p>When he first caught sight of the soldiers Brinton was sure that there +was at least a regiment of them, but when they were opposite the front +gate all that he could see were a corporal and three privates. Instead +of keeping on their way, however, they turned up the path toward the +house, and then it seemed to Brinton that they were the most gigantic +human beings that he had ever seen.</p> + +<p>His mother was away for the day, and had taken Towser with her. This, +together with the fact that the enemy were now between him and his fort, +entirely spoiled Brinton's plan of campaign, and he decided to seek at +once some more secluded spot, and there to devise something to meet the +changed conditions. But when he started to run out of the room, he found +that in his hurry he had left the front door open, so that any one in +the hall would be in plain sight of the soldiers, who were now very +near.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately there was no other door by which Brinton could leave the +room. What was worse, there was no closet in which he could hide. The +soldiers were now so close at hand that he could hear their voices, and +a glance through the window showed him that two of them were going +around to the back of the house, as if to cut off any possible escape in +that direction.</p> + +<p>And his mother would not be back until six o'clock. Instinctively his +eyes sought the face of the tall time-piece in the corner. It was just +three; and he could hear the soldiers' steps on the front porch!</p> + +<p>The clock!</p> + +<p>Surely there was room within its generous case for a very small boy.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 370px;"> +<img src="images/ill_003.jpg" width="370" height="500" alt="THE MINUTE-MAN TAKES HIS POSITION." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE MINUTE-MAN TAKES HIS POSITION.</span> +</div> + +<p>In less time than it takes to write it Brinton was inside, and had +turned the button with which the door was fastened. As he pressed +himself close against the door, so that there should be room for the +pendulum to swing behind him, he heard the corporal enter the room. He +knew it must be the corporal, because he ordered the other man to go up +stairs and look around there, while he searched the room on the other +side of the hall.</p> + +<p>Brinton could hear the footsteps of the men as they walked about the +house, and their voices as they talked to each other. Then all was quiet +for a long while. He was just on the point of peeping out, when all four +men entered the room.</p> + +<p>"Well," said a voice that he recognized as the corporal's, "it is plain +there is no one at 'ome. Me own himpression is that the bird's flown. +'E's probably started back for camp, and the wife and the kid with 'im. +I don't believe in payink no hattention to w'at them Tories says, nohow, +goink back on their own neighbors—and kin, too, like as not. It's just +to curry favor with the hofficers, it's me own hopinion. 'Ow did 'e know +the Major was comink 'ome to-day, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>Nobody answered him. Perhaps he didn't expect any one to.</p> + +<p>The Major! Brinton's own father! He was coming home! This, then, was the +surprise that his mother had said she would bring him when she went off +with Towser in the morning to go to Colonel Shepard's. And now those +redcoats were going to sit there and wait until he came, and then— +Brinton did not know what would happen, whether he would be shot on the +spot, or merely put in prison for the rest of his life.</p> + +<p>Oh, if he could only get out and run to meet his father and warn him! +But the men seemed to give no signs of leaving the room.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he haven't come at all yet," suggested one of the privates.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps 'e hasn't," answered the voice of the corporal; "but w'y, then, +wouldn't his folks be 'ere a-waitink for 'im? 'Owever, I'll give 'im +hevery chance. It's now five-and-twenty minutes after three. I'll give +'im huntil six, but if 'e doesn't turn hup by then, we'll start away for +the shore without 'im."</p> + +<p>"Six o'clock!" thought the boy in the clock. The very time his mother +had told him she was going to be home again "with something very nice +for him." And now she and his brave papa would walk right into the arms +of these dreadful English soldiers, and he could not stop them!</p> + +<p><i>Whang!</i></p> + +<p>What a noise! It startled Brinton so much that he nearly knocked the +clock over; and then he realized that it was only the clock striking +half past three.</p> + +<p>Half past three! He had been in there only half an hour, and already he +was so tired he could hardly stand up. How could he ever endure it until +four, until half past four, five, six?</p> + +<p>"If only something, some accident even, will happen to detain papa and +mamma!" he thought. But how much more likely, it occurred to him, that +his father, having but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_693" id="Page_693">[Pg 693]</a></span> a short leave of absence, would hasten, and +arrive before six.</p> + +<p>"Tick-tock," went the clock.</p> + +<p>"How slow, how very slow!" thought Brinton, and he wished there were +only some way of hurrying up the time, so that the soldiers would go +away.</p> + +<p>Still the soldiers staid in the room, all but one, who had gone into the +kitchen to watch from there.</p> + +<p>"Tick-tock," went the clock, and "whang-whang-whang-whang!" Only four +o'clock. Brinton began to fear that he could not hold out much longer.</p> + +<p>"Tick-tock," went the clock. Each swing of the pendulum marked one +second, Brinton's mother had told him. If he could only make it swing +quicker, so that the seconds would fly a little faster!</p> + +<p>"Why not try to?" Brinton was on the point of breaking down. He was +desperate. He felt that he must do something. He took hold of the +pendulum and gave it a little push. It yielded readily to his pressure. +None of the soldiers seemed to notice it. He gave it another push. The +result was the same. Brinton began to pick up courage, and he pushed the +pendulum to and fro, to and fro, to and fro.</p> + +<p>He tried to keep it swinging at a perfectly even rate, and apparently he +succeeded. At any rate, the soldiers appeared to notice nothing +different. Yet Brinton was sure that he was causing the old clock to +tick off its seconds at a considerably livelier gait than usual. Half +past four came almost before he knew it, but by five o'clock Brinton +began to realize that he was very, very tired. He had already stood +absolutely still in that cramped, dark, close case, and he had pushed +the pendulum first with one hand and then with the other in that narrow +space until both felt sore and lame. Yet now that he had once begun, he +did not dare leave off, and still it did not seem possible that he could +keep it up.</p> + +<p>The soldiers had kept very quiet for a long time. Brinton thought that +two of them must be napping.</p> + +<p>At five o'clock the soldier who was awake aroused the corporal and the +other private, whom the corporal sent to relieve the man on guard in the +kitchen.</p> + +<p>"I must 'ave slept mighty sound," remarked the corporal. "I'd never +believe I'd been asleep an hour, if I didn't see it hon the clock."</p> + +<p>"No soigns av any wan yit," reported the man who had been in the +kitchen, whom Brinton judged to be an Irishman. "Be's ye going to wait +till six?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the corporal. "But no longer."</p> + +<p>Then they began talking about the British fleet that was cruising in +Long Island Sound, and about the ship on which they were temporarily +quartered until they could join the main body of the army, and how a +neighbor of Brinton's father's and mother's had been down at the store +when a ship's boat had put in for water, and how he had told the officer +in charge that Major Hall, Brinton's father, was expected home for a few +hours that day, and what a fine opportunity it would be to make an +important capture.</p> + +<p>The clock struck half past five.</p> + +<p>"H'm!" grunted the corporal. "It doesn't seem that late; but, you know, +you can't tell anythink about anythink in this blaisted country."</p> + +<p>Brinton now began to be very much afraid that his father would come +before the soldiers left. He wanted to move the pendulum faster and +faster, but after what the corporal had said he did not dare to. Then, +when the men lapsed into silence, it suddenly came over Brinton how +dreadfully weary he was, how all his bones ached, and how much, how very +much, he wanted to cry. But he felt that his father's only chance of +safety lay in his keeping the pendulum swinging to and fro, to and fro.</p> + +<p>At last, however, came the welcome sound of the corporal's voice bidding +the men get ready to start.</p> + +<p>Whang-whang-whang-whang-whang-whang!</p> + +<p>"Fall in!" ordered the corporal. "Forward, march!"</p> + +<p>As the sound of their footsteps died away, Brinton, all of a tremble, +opened the door of the clock and stumbled out. He knelt at the window +and watched the retreating forms of the redcoats. As they disappeared +down the road he heard a noise behind him, and jumped up with a start.</p> + +<p>There stood his father!</p> + +<p>The next instant Brinton was sobbing in his arms.</p> + +<p>Brinton's mother came into the room. "Dear me!" she said; "what ever can +be the matter with the clock? It's half an hour fast."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="SNOW-SHOES_AND_SLEDGES1" id="SNOW-SHOES_AND_SLEDGES1"></a>SNOW-SHOES AND SLEDGES.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h2> + +<h3>BY KIRK MUNROE.</h3> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h3> + +<h3>BIG AMOOK AND THE CHILKAT HUNTERS.</h3> + +<p>"A goat is a good thing so far as it goes," remarked Phil, gravely, "but +one goat divided among one man, two boys, a little chap, and three +awfully hungry dogs isn't likely to last very long. With plenty of goats +ready to come and be killed as we wanted them, we might hold out here, +after a fashion, until the arrival of a tourist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_694" id="Page_694">[Pg 694]</a></span> steamer. Wouldn't that +be fun, though? And wouldn't we astonish the tourists? But how we should +hate goat by that time! Still, I don't think there is the slightest +chance of our having that experience, for I understand that the +mountain-goats are among the shyest and most difficult to kill of all +wild animals.</p> + +<p>"Which being the case," continued Phil, "it won't do for us to live as +though we had goats to squander. Consequently, we must make an effort to +get out of here before our provision is exhausted. As we have no boat in +which to go to Sitka, and the nearest point at which we can obtain one +is Chilkat; that is the place we have got to reach somehow. So I propose +that Serge and I take a prospecting trip into the mountains to-morrow +and see what chance there is for our crossing them."</p> + +<p>As no better plan than this was offered, Phil and Serge started early +the following morning on their tedious climb. Each carried a gun, and +they took Musky and Luvtuk with them in the hope of getting a bear, as +Serge had heard that bears were plentiful in those mountains. Nel-te was +left to take care of the hospital, in which Jalap Coombs, with his many +aches, and Amook, with his cut feet, were the patients.</p> + +<p>That afternoon was so warm that the door of the little cabin stood wide +open. Before a fire that smouldered on the broad hearth Jalap Coombs +dozed in a big chair, while Nel-te romped with Amook on the floor. Now +the little chap was tantalizing the dog with the fur-seal's tooth, +which, still attached to its buckskin thong, he had taken from his neck. +He would dangle it close to Amook's nose, and when the dog snapped at +it, snatch it away with a shout of laughter.</p> + +<p>While the occupants of the cabin were thus engaged the heads of several +Indians were suddenly but cautiously lifted above the beach ridge. After +making certain that no one was in the vicinity of the house, one of +their number swiftly but noiselessly approached it. Crouching under a +side wall, he slowly raised his head.</p> + +<p>This Indian was one of a party of Chilkat hunters who had come to +Glacier Bay in pursuit of hair seals, which in the early spring delight +to float lazily about on the drifting ice-cakes. They had camped at the +mouth of Muir Inlet the night before, and during the day had slowly +hunted their way almost to the foot of the great glacier. While there +they discovered a thin spiral of smoke curling from the cabin chimney. +This so aroused their curiosity that they determined to investigate its +cause. They imagined that some of the interior Indians, who were +strictly forbidden by the Chilkats to visit the coast, had disobeyed +orders, and come to this unfrequented place to surreptitiously gather in +a few seals. In that case the hunters would immediately declare war, and +the prospect of scalps caused their stolid faces to light and their dull +eyes to glitter.</p> + +<p>When it was discovered that a white man was in the cabin, the Indians +were greatly disappointed, but concluded to withdraw without allowing +him to suspect their presence, for the Chilkats have no love for white +men. But for Nel-te and Amook they would have succeeded in this, and our +travellers would never have known of their dusky visitors, or the chance +for escape offered by their canoes.</p> + +<p>If the fur-seal's tooth had been able to speak just then, it would have +said, "I am disgusted with the ways of white people. In their hands I am +treated with no respect. They lose me and find me again with +indifference. They even give me to children and dogs as a plaything. How +different was my position among the noble Chilkats! By their Shamans and +chiefs I was venerated; by the common people I was feared; while all +recognized my extraordinary powers. To them I am determined to return."</p> + +<p>With this the fur-seal's tooth, which was at that moment dangling from +Nel-te's hand, gave itself such a vigorous forward swing, that Amook was +able to seize the buckskin thong, which immediately slipped into a +secure place between two of his sharp teeth. As Nel-te attempted to +snatch back his plaything, the dog sprang up and darted from the open +doorway.</p> + +<p>At that moment the Indian who had inspected the cabin was just +disappearing over the beach ridge. At sight of him Amook uttered a yelp, +and started in pursuit. The Indian heard him, and ran. He sprang into +the canoe, already occupied by his fellows, and shoved it off as Amook, +barking furiously, gained the water's edge. Lying a few feet away, and +resting on their paddles, the Indians taunted him. Suddenly one of their +number called attention to the curious white object dangling from the +dog's mouth. They gazed at it with ever-increasing excitement, and +finally one of them began to load his gun with the intention of shooting +the dog, and so securing the coveted trophy that so miraculously +appeared hanging from his jaws. Ere he could carry out his cruel +intention little Nel-te appeared over the ridge in hot pursuit of his +playmate. Without paying the slightest heed to the Indians he ran to the +dog, disengaged the buckskin thong from his teeth, slipped it over his +own head, tucked the tooth carefully inside his little parka, and +started back toward the cabin. Amook followed him, while the Indians +regarded the whole transaction with blank amazement.</p> + +<p>Both Nel-te and Amook regained the cabin, and were engaged in another +romp on its floor before Jalap Coombs awoke from his nap. An hour later, +when he was surprised by the appearance of half a dozen Indians before +the door, he thrust the child and dog behind him, and standing in the +opening, axe in hand, boldly faced the newcomers. In vain did they talk, +shout, point to Nel-te, and gesticulate. The only idea they conveyed to +the sailorman was that they had come to carry Cap'n Kid back to the +wilderness.</p> + +<p>"Which ye sha'n't have him, ye bloody pirates! Not so long as old Jalap +can swing an axe!" he cried, at length wearied of their vociferations +and slamming the door in their faces.</p> + +<p>In spite of this the Indians were so determined to attain their object, +that they were planning for an attack on the cabin, when all at once +there came a barking of other dogs, and, looking in that direction, they +saw two more white men, armed with guns, coming rapidly toward them.</p> + +<p>"Hello in the house! Are you safe? What is the meaning of this?" cried +Phil, in front of the closed door.</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay, sir!" replied Jalap Coombs, joyfully, flinging it open. "We're +safe enough so far; but them black swabs overhauled us awhile ago, and +gave out as how they'd got to have Cap'n Kid. I double-shotted the guns, +stationed the crew at quarters, and returned reply that they couldn't +have him; then they run up the black-flag and allowed they'd blow the +ship out of water. With that I declined to hold further communication, +cleared for action, and prepared to repel boarders."</p> + +<p>In the mean time Serge was talking to the natives in Chinook jargon. +Suddenly he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"They are Chilkats, Phil, and they want something that they seem to +think is in Nel-te's possession."</p> + +<p>"In Nel-te's possession?" repeated Phil, in a puzzled tone. "What can +they mean? I don't see how they can know anything about Nel-te, anyway. +They can't mean the fur-seal's tooth, can they?"</p> + +<p>"That is exactly what they do mean!" replied Serge, after asking the +natives a few more questions. "They say it is hanging about his neck, +inside of his parka."</p> + +<p>"How long have these people been here, Mr. Coombs?" queried Phil.</p> + +<p>"Not more 'n ten minutes."</p> + +<p>"Have they seen Nel-te?"</p> + +<p>"No, for he hain't been outside the door."</p> + +<p>"Could they have seen him at any time during the day?"</p> + +<p>"Not without me knowing it; for he hain't left my side sence you boys +went away."</p> + +<p>"Then it is more certain than ever that there is magic connected with +the fur-seal's tooth, and that the Chilkats are in some way involved in +it. How else could they possibly have known that it was in our +possession, just where to find us, and, above all, the exact position of +the tooth at this moment?"</p> + +<p>"It surely does look ridicerlous," meditated Jalap Coombs; while Serge +said he was glad Phil was becoming so reasonable and willing to see +things in a true light.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_695" id="Page_695">[Pg 695]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How did these fellows get here?" asked Phil.</p> + +<p>"They say they came in canoes," replied Serge.</p> + +<p>"Ask them if they will take us to Sitka, provided we will give them the +fur-seal's tooth."</p> + +<p>"No; the Indians could not do that."</p> + +<p>"Will they give us a canoe in exchange for it?"</p> + +<p>"They say they will," replied Serge, "if we will go with them to their +village and allow their Shaman (medicine-man) to examine the tooth, and +see whether or not it is the genuine article."</p> + +<p>"Won't that be awfully out of our way?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I should think about seventy-five miles; but then we may find a +steamer there that will take us to Juneau, or even to Sitka itself."</p> + +<p>"It would certainly be better than staying here," reflected Phil. "And I +know that neither Serge nor I want to try the mountain trail again after +what we have seen to-day. So I vote for going to Chilkat."</p> + +<p>"So do I," assented Serge.</p> + +<p>"Same here," said Jalap Coombs; "though ef anybody had told me half an +hour ago I'd been shipping for a cruise along with them black pirates +before supper-time, I'd sartainly doubted him. It only goes to prove +what my old friend Kite Roberson useter say, which were, 'Them as don't +expect nothing is oftenest surprised.'"</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h3> + +<h3>THE TREACHEROUS SHAMAN OF KLUKWAN.</h3> + +<p>So delighted were the Chilkat hunters to know that they were to have the +honor of conveying the fur-seal's tooth back to their tribe, that they +wished to start at once. The whites, however, refused to go before +morning, and so the Indians returned down the inlet to their camp of the +preceding night, where they would cache what seals they had obtained in +order to make room in the canoes for their unexpected passengers. They +agreed to be back by day-light.</p> + +<p>After they were gone, and our travellers had disposed of their simple +but highly appreciated meal of goat meat and tea, they gathered about +the fire for the last of those "dream-bag talks," as Phil called them, +that had formed so pleasant a feature of their long journey. Without +saying a word, but with a happy twinkle in his eyes, Jalap Coombs +produced a pipe and a small square of tobacco, which he began with great +care to cut into shavings.</p> + +<p>"Where on earth did you get them?" asked Phil.</p> + +<p>"Found the pipe in yonder rubbish," replied the sailorman; "and Cap'n +Kid give me the 'baccy just now."</p> + +<p>"Nel-te gave you the tobacco! Where did he get it?"</p> + +<p>"Dunno. I were too glad to get it to ask questions."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Phil, "the mysteries of this place are beyond finding out."</p> + +<p>"This one isn't," laughed Serge; "though I suppose it would be if I +hadn't happened to see one of the Indians slip that bit of tobacco into +Nel-te's hand."</p> + +<p>"What could have been his object in giving such a thing as that to a +child?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the Chilkat children use it as well as their elders; and I suppose +he wanted to gain Nel-te's good-will, seeing that he is the guardian of +the fur-seal's tooth. I shouldn't be surprised if he hoped in some way +to get it from the child before we reached the village."</p> + +<p>"Which suggests an idea," said Phil, removing the trinket in question +from Nel-te's neck and handing it to Serge. "It is hard to say just who +the tooth does belong to now, it has changed hands so frequently, but it +will be safer for the next day or two with you than anywhere else. +Besides, it is only fair that, as it came directly from the Chilkats to +you, or, rather, to your father, you should have the satisfaction of +restoring it to them."</p> + +<p>So Serge accepted from Phil the mysterious bit of ivory that he had +given the latter more than a year before in distant New London, and hung +it about his neck.</p> + +<p>"Last night," said Phil, after this transfer had taken place, "Mr. +Coombs and I only needed a pipeful of tobacco and a knowledge of how we +were to escape from here to make us perfectly happy. Now we have both."</p> + +<p>"The blamed pipe won't draw at all," growled Jalap Coombs.</p> + +<p>"While I," continued Phil, "am bothered. I know we must go with those +fellows, but I don't trust them, and shall feel uneasy so long as we are +in their power."</p> + +<p>"Do you think," asked Serge, "that these things go to prove that there +isn't any such thing in this world as perfect happiness?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered Phil; "only that it is extremely rare. How is it with +you, old man? Does the approaching end of our journey promise you +perfect happiness?"</p> + +<p>"No indeed!" cried Serge, vehemently. "In spite of its hardships, I have +enjoyed it too much to be glad that it is nearly ended. But most of all, +Phil, is the fear that its end means a parting from you; for I suppose +you will go right on to San Francisco, while I must stay behind."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid so," admitted Phil. "But, at any rate, old fellow, this +journey has given me one happiness that will last as long as I live, for +it has given me your friendship, and taught me to appreciate it at its +true worth."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Phil," replied Serge, simply. "I value those words from you +more than I should from any one else in the world. Now, I want to tell +you what I have to thank the journey for besides a friendship. I believe +it has shown me what is to be my life-work. You know that missionary at +Anvik said he was more in need of teachers than anything else. While I +don't know very much, I do know more than those Indian and Eskimo boys, +and I did enjoy teaching them. So, if I can get my mother to consent, I +am going back to Anvik as soon as I can and offer my services as a +teacher."</p> + +<p>"It is perfectly splendid of you to think of it," cried Phil, heartily, +"and all I can say is that the boys who get you for a teacher are to be +envied."</p> + +<p>So late did the lads sit up that night talking over their plans and +hopes that on the following morning the Indians had arrived and were +clamorous for them to start before they were fairly awake. By sunrise +they, together with the three dogs, were embarked in a great long-beaked +and marvellously-carved Chilkat canoe, hewn from a single cedar log, and +painted black. Two of the Indians occupied it with them, while the +others and the sledge went in a second but smaller canoe of the same +ungraceful design as the first.</p> + +<p>As with sail set and before the brisk north breeze that ever sweeps down +the glacier the canoes sped away among the ice floes and bergs of the +inlet, our boys cast many a lingering backward glance at the little +cabin that had proved such a haven to them, and at the stupendous +ice-wall gleaming in frozen splendor on their horizon. Under other +conditions they would gladly have staid and explored its mysteries. Now +they rejoiced at leaving it.</p> + +<p>So favoring were the winds that they left Glacier Bay, passed Icy +Strait, and headed northward as far as the mouth of Lynn Canal before +sunset of that day. During the second day they ran the whole fifty-mile +length of the canal, which is the grandest of Alaska's rock-walled +fiords, entered Chilkat Inlet, passed the canneries at Pyramid Harbor +and Chilkat, which would not be opened until the beginning of the salmon +season in June, entered the river, and finally reached Klukwan, the +principal Chilkat village.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_004.jpg" width="500" height="395" alt="THEY WERE WELCOMED BY THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF KLUKWAN." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THEY WERE WELCOMED BY THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF KLUKWAN.</span> +</div> + +<p>Here, as the smaller canoe had preceded them and announced their coming, +our travellers were welcomed by the entire population of the village. +These thronged the beach in a state of wildest excitement, for it was +known to all that the long-lost fur-seal's tooth was at last come back +to them. Even the village dogs were there, a legion of snarling, +flea-bitten curs. Ere the canoe touched the beach, Musky, Luvtuk, and +big Amook were among them, and a battle was in progress that completely +drowned the cries of the spectators with its uproar. The fighting was +continued with only brief intervals throughout the night; but in the +morning the three champions from the Yukon were masters of the +situation, and roamed the village with bushy tails proudly curled over +their backs, and without interference. "For all the world," said Phil, +"like the Three Musketeers."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_696" id="Page_696">[Pg 696]</a></span></p> + +<p>The guests of the village were escorted to the council-house, to which +were also taken their belongings. Here they were supplied with venison, +salmon, partridges, and dried berries; and here, after supper, they +received many visitors all anxious for a sight of the magic tooth. Most +prominent of these were the head Shaman of the village, and the +principal woman of the tribe, whose name was so unpronounceable that +Phil called her "The Princess," a title with which she seemed well +pleased.</p> + +<p>She was the widow of Kloh-kutz, most famous of Chilkat chiefs, and the +one who had presented the fur-seal's tooth to Serge Belcofsky's father. +On the occasion of this visit she wore a beautifully embroidered dress, +together with a Chilkat blanket of exquisite fineness thrown over her +shoulders like a shawl, and fastened at the throat with a stout +safety-pin. The Princess devoted herself to Serge, whom she evidently +considered the most important person in the party, and to little Nel-te, +who took to her at once. While she pronounced the fur-seal's tooth to be +the same that had belonged to her husband, the Shaman shook his head +doubtfully. Then it was handed from one to another of a number of lesser +Shamans and chiefs for inspection. Suddenly one of these dropped it to +the floor, and, when search was made, it could not be found.</p> + +<p>Phil was furious at the impudence of this trick. Even Serge was +indignant, while Jalap Coombs said it was just what might be expected +from land sharks and pirates.</p> + +<p>The Shaman insisted that the tooth was not lost, but had disappeared of +its own accord. If it were not the same fur-seal's tooth that belonged +to their tribe in former years, it would not be seen again. If it were, +it would appear within a few days attached to a hideously carved +representation of Hutle, the thunder-bird that stood in one of +Kloh-kutz's houses, now used as a place for incantation.</p> + +<p>"We don't care anything about all that!" exclaimed Phil, when this was +translated to him. "Tell him he can do as he pleases with the tooth, so +long as he gives us the canoe we have bargained for."</p> + +<p>To this the Shaman replied that they should surely have a canoe as soon +as the tooth proved its genuineness by reappearing. In the mean time, if +they were in such a hurry to get away that they did not care to wait, he +had a very fine canoe that he would let them have at once in exchange +for their guns and their dogs. "You may tell him that we will wait," +replied Phil, grimly, "but you need not tell him what is equally true +that we shall only wait until we find a chance to help ourselves to the +best canoe and take French leave."</p> + +<p>So they waited, though very impatiently, in Klukwan for nearly a week, +during which time Phil had ample opportunities for studying Chilkat +architecture and totem poles. The houses of the village were all built +of heavy hewn planks set on end. They had bark or plank roofs, with a +square opening in each for the egress of smoke. Many of them had glass +windows and ordinary doors; but in others the doors were placed so high +from the ground as to be reached by ladders on both outside and inside. +The great totem poles that stood before every house were ten, twenty, or +thirty feet tall, and covered with heraldic carvings from bottom to top.</p> + +<p>During this time of waiting the Shaman made repeated offers to sell the +strangers a canoe, all of which were indignantly declined. That they did +not appropriate one to their own use was for the very simple reason that +all, except a few very small or leaky canoes, mysteriously disappeared +from the village that first night.</p> + +<p>At length the tricky medicine-man was forced to yield to the threats of +the Princess, who had taken the part of our travellers from the first, +and to popular clamor. He therefore announced one evening that he had +been informed during a vision that the fur-seal's tooth would reappear +among them on the morrow.</p> + +<p>On the following morning Phil and his companions were aroused by a +tremendous shouting and firing of guns, all of which announced that the +happy event had taken place.</p> + +<p>"Now," cried Phil, "perhaps we will get our canoe."</p> + +<p>But there were no canoes to be seen on the beach, and the Shaman coolly +informed them that, though the precious tooth had indeed come back to +dwell with the Chilkats, they would still be obliged to wait until some +of the canoes returned from the hunting expeditions on which they had +all been taken.</p> + +<p>At this Phil fell into such a rage that, regardless of consequences, he +was on the point of giving the old fraud a most beautiful thrashing, +when his uplifted arm was startlingly arrested by the deep boom of a +heavy gun that seemed to come from the mouth of the river.</p> + +<h4>[<span class="smcap">to be continued</span>.]</h4> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_697" id="Page_697">[Pg 697]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="OAKLEIGH" id="OAKLEIGH"></a>OAKLEIGH.</h2> + +<h3>BY ELLEN DOUGLAS DELAND.</h3> + +<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3> + +<p>When Cynthia asked at Mrs. Parker's door if that lady were at home it +was not necessary for her to give her name. The maid recognized Miss +Trinkett at once.</p> + +<p>"Yes, she's at home, ma'am. And won't you please step into the parlor, +Miss Trinkett? Mrs. Parker'll be glad to see you."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parker came hurrying down.</p> + +<p>"Dear Miss Trinkett, how are you? Why, I should scarcely have known you! +What have you done to yourself?"</p> + +<p>Cynthia laughed her great-aunt's high <i>staccato</i> laugh.</p> + +<p>"Well, now, I want to know, Mrs. Parker! Don't you see what it is? Why, +my nieces at Oakleigh, they saw right away what the difference was. I +thought 'twas about time I was keeping up with the fashions, and so I +bought me a fine new piece of hair for my front. I was growing somewhat +gray, and I thought 'twas best to keep young on Silas's account. It +isn't that I care for myself, but you have to be particular about +men-folks, as you'll know when you've seen as much of them as I have."</p> + +<p>Cynthia was a good actress, and she carried herself precisely as Miss +Betsey did, and imitated her voice to perfection.</p> + +<p>She repeated some of her aunt's best-known tales, and good Mrs. Parker +never dreamed of the possibility of her caller being any one but worthy +Miss Betsey Trinkett, of Wayborough, whom she had known for years.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Parker was a great talker, and usually she was obliged to fight +hard to surpass Miss Trinkett in that respect. During the first part of +the call to-day it was as difficult as usual, but Mrs. Parker presently +made a remark which reduced her visitor to a state of alarming silence.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you have come to announce the news," said the hostess, +smiling sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"Now I don't know a bit of news. Why, my dear Mrs. Parker, Silas and I +we never—"</p> + +<p>"Ah, but this has nothing to do with Silas, though it may affect you, +more or less. Surely you know what I am alluding to?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't the least idea."</p> + +<p>And Cynthia bridled with curiosity on her own account as well as Aunt +Betsey's. She thought something interesting must be coming.</p> + +<p>"Well, now, to think of my being the one to tell you something about +your own family! I don't know whether I ought to, but I think it must be +true, and you'll hear it in other ways soon enough. You know I have +relatives in Albany, where she lives."</p> + +<p>"Where who lives?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Gordon, Hester Gordon. They say—but, of course, I don't know that +it's true, it may be just report, but they do say— I don't know whether +I ought to tell you, I declare! that it won't be long before she's Mrs. +Franklin."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Franklin!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mrs. John Franklin. Hasn't your nephew told you? Well, well, these +men! They do beat all for keeping things quiet."</p> + +<p>"Is it true?"</p> + +<p>It was Cynthia's natural voice that asked this question. She quite +forgot that she was supposed to be Miss Betsey Trinkett.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 462px;"> +<img src="images/ill_005.jpg" width="462" height="500" alt=""YOUR VOICE SOUNDS SORT OF UNNATURAL, TOO," ADDED MRS. PARKER." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"YOUR VOICE SOUNDS SORT OF UNNATURAL, TOO," ADDED MRS. PARKER.</span> +</div> + +<p>"I suppose it is. But, dear me, Miss Trinkett, don't be worried! Seems +to me you look very queer, though I can't see your face very well +through that veil, and you with your back to the light. Your voice +sounds sort of unnatural, too," added Mrs. Parker. "Let me get you some +water."</p> + +<p>"Oh no, it is nothing," said Cynthia, who had quickly recovered herself, +and was now summoning all her energy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_698" id="Page_698">[Pg 698]</a></span> to finish the call in a proper +manner. "You surprised me, that's all, and I never did care much for +surprises. But I think there's not much truth in that, Mrs. Parker. I +don't believe my fa—nephew is going to be married again. In fact, I'm +very sure he is not." And she nodded her head emphatically.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my dear Miss Trinkett, you never can tell. Sometimes a man's family +is the last to hear those things. And it will be a good match, too. She +comes of an old family, and she has a great deal of money. The Gordons +are all rich."</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose he'd care for that?" exclaimed her visitor, wrathfully.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, one never knows! And think how much better it would be for +the children. Edith is too young to have so much care, and they say +Cynthia runs wild most of the time, just like a boy. Indeed, I call it a +very good thing. Though I must say she is a pretty brave woman to take +on herself the care of that family."</p> + +<p>Here "Miss Betsey" suddenly darted for the door. It could be endured no +longer. Mrs. Parker bade her farewell, and then went back to tell her +daughters that Miss Trinkett was sadly changed. Though she was still so +young in appearance, she was evidently very much broken.</p> + +<p>For some time Jack could obtain no reply to his questions, but at last +Cynthia's resolution broke down, and she burst into tears. They had +turned into a shady lane instead of going directly home, and there was +no danger of meeting any one.</p> + +<p>"Jack, Jack!" she moaned, "I'll have to tell you. Mrs. Parker says papa +is going to be married again! What shall we do! What shall we do!"</p> + +<p>For answer Jack indulged in a prolonged whistle.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it the most dreadful thing you ever heard of? Jack, how shall we +ever endure it?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it mayn't be as bad as you think. If she's nice—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Jack, she won't be! Stepmothers are never nice. I never in my life +heard of one that was. She'll be horrid to us all."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I say, that's nonsense. If you were to marry a widower with a lot +of children you'd be nice to them."</p> + +<p>"Jack, the very idea! <i>I</i> marry a widower with a lot of children! I'd +like to see myself doing such a thing!"</p> + +<p>Cynthia almost forgot her present troubles in her wrath at her brother's +suggestion.</p> + +<p>"Well, after all it may not be true. Because Mrs. Parker says so, +doesn't prove it. Where did she hear it?"</p> + +<p>"From some of her Albany relations, I suppose. The—the lady lives +there. But, oh, Jack! Do you think there is any chance of its not being +true?" cried Cynthia, catching at the least straw of hope.</p> + +<p>"Why, of course! Father hasn't told us, and you can't believe all the +gossip you hear," said Jack, loftily.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it isn't true, after all," exclaimed Cynthia, drying her eyes +and smiling once more, "and I've been boo-hooing all for nothing! I +sha'n't say a word about it to Edith, and don't you either, Jack. It +isn't worth while to worry her, and Mrs. Parker is a terrible gossip."</p> + +<p>They went home, and Cynthia gave her sister a gay account of her visit, +carefully omitting all exciting items, and then she helped Edith put +away some of the things, and finally was free to go on the river in the +afternoon. Jack, boylike, had forgotten all about Mrs. Parker's news. He +did not believe it, and therefore it was not worth thinking of. But +Cynthia's mind was not so easily diverted. She did not believe it, +either, but then it might be true, and if it were, what was to be done? +It seemed as if a worse calamity could not happen.</p> + +<p>Jack, her usual companion on the river, was busy with some carpentry. He +was making a "brooder" like one he had bought, to serve as a home for +the little chicks when they should be hatched. He used the "barn +chamber" for a workshop, and the sound of his saw and his hammer could +be heard through the open window.</p> + +<p>Cynthia was deeply interested in poultry-raising, but she wished it did +not consume so much of her brother's time and attention.</p> + +<p>Edith was going to the village to an afternoon tea at the Morgans'. +Gertrude Morgan was her most intimate friend, and all the nicest girls +and boys would be there to talk over a tennis tournament. Cynthia was +rather sorry that she had not been asked. She said to herself that she +would be of more value in the discussion than Edith, for she really +played tennis, while Edith merely stood about looking graceful and +pretty. However, she had not been invited, and, after all, the river was +more fun than any afternoon tea.</p> + +<p>One of the men put the canoe in the water for her, and, with a huge +stone to act as ballast, she paddled up stream, browsing along the banks +looking for wild flowers, or steering her way through the rocks, of +which the river was very full just at this point.</p> + +<p>Cynthia, fond as she was of companionship, being of an extremely +sociable disposition, was never lonely on her beloved river.</p> + +<p>Edith dressed herself carefully and drove off to the tea. She looked +very attractive in her spring gown of gray and her large black hat, and +as she studied herself in the small old-fashioned mirror that hung in +her room she felt quite pleased with her appearance.</p> + +<p>"If I only had more nice gloves I should be satisfied," she thought. "It +is so horrid to be saving up one pair, and having to wear such old +things for driving and whisk them off just before I get to a place and +put on the good ones. And a handsome parasol would be so nice. I don't +think I'll take this old thing. I don't really need one to-day. I wonder +where the children are. I ought to look them up, I suppose, but they are +all right, somewhere, and it is getting late. After all, why should I +always be the one to run after those children?"</p> + +<p>And then she drove away to Brenton, leaving housekeeping cares behind +her, and prepared for a pleasant afternoon.</p> + +<p>About half a dozen boys and girls had already arrived at the Morgans' +when Edith drove in. It was a fine old house standing far back from the +road, and surrounded with shady grounds. The river was at the back. A +smooth and well-kept tennis-court was on the left of the drive as one +approached the house, and here the guests were assembled.</p> + +<p>"Oh, here's Edith Franklin at last!" cried Gertrude Morgan, while her +brother went forward, and, after helping Edith to alight, took her horse +and drove down to the stable.</p> + +<p>Presently all the tongues were buzzing, each one suggesting what he or +she considered the very best plan for holding a tournament. It was +finally arranged to have it at the tennis club rather than at the +Morgans', as had at first been thought best, and it would be open to all +the comers who had reached the age of fourteen.</p> + +<p>"That is very young," said Gertrude, "but we really ought to have it +open to Cynthia Franklin. She is one of the best players in Brenton."</p> + +<p>"By all means," said her brother, who was always on the side of the +Franklins, "and, Edith, you'll play with me, won't you, in mixed +doubles?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't play well enough!" exclaimed Edith. "Thank you ever so +much, Dennis, but you had better ask some one else. I don't think I'll +play."</p> + +<p>Every one objected to this, but it was finally settled that Edith should +act as one of the hostesses for the important occasion, which was +greatly to her satisfaction. She rather enjoyed moving slowly and +gracefully about, pouring tea and lemonade, and handing it to the poor, +heated players, who were obliged to work so hard for their fun.</p> + +<p>They were startled by the sound of the clock on the church across the +road. It struck six, and Edith rose in haste.</p> + +<p>"I must go," she said. "I had no idea it was so late! Those children +have probably gotten into all kinds of mischief while I've been away, +and papa will not be home until late, so I am not to wait in the village +for him."</p> + +<p>The others looked after her as she drove away.</p> + +<p>"Isn't she the sweetest, dearest girl?" cried Gertrude. "And won't it be +hard for her if her father marries again, as every one says he is going +to do? But, after all, it may be a good thing, for then Edith wouldn't +have to do so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_699" id="Page_699">[Pg 699]</a></span> much for the children. I wonder if she knows about it? +She hasn't breathed a word of it, even to me."</p> + +<p>Janet and Willy, the inseparable but ever-fighting pair, came in at the +side door, not very long after Edith went to the village. They found the +house empty and the coast clear, and their active brains immediately set +to work to solve the question of what mischief they could do.</p> + +<p>They wandered into the big silent kitchen. The servants were upstairs, +and beyond the buzzing of a fly on the window-pane and the singing of +the kettle on the range perfect quiet reigned.</p> + +<p>"Let's go down and see the inkerbaker," suggested Willy.</p> + +<p>"All right," returned Janet, affably, and down they pattered as fast as +their sturdy little legs could carry them.</p> + +<p>They peered in through the glass front at the eggs, which lay so +peacefully within.</p> + +<p>"It must be turrible stupid in there," said Janet, pityingly. "Shouldn't +you think those chickens would be tired of waiting to come out?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. We might crack a lot and help 'em out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no. Jack says they won't be ready for two days. But I'll tell you +what we might do. We might see whether it's hot enough for 'em in there. +I guess Jack's forgotten all about 'em. I don't believe he's been near +'em to-day, nor Martha, either."</p> + +<p>"How d'yer find out whever it's hot enough?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. Guess you open the door, and put your hand in and feel."</p> + +<p>For Janet had never been taught the significance of the thermometer +inside, and knew nothing of the proper means of ventilating the machine.</p> + +<p>No sooner said than done. One of the doors was promptly opened, and two +fat hands were thrust into the chamber.</p> + +<p>"My goodies, it's hot there!" cried Janet. "We ought to cool it off. +Let's leave the door open and turn down the lamp, and open the cellar +window."</p> + +<p>Mounted on an old barrel, Janet, at the risk of her life, struggled in +vain with the window. She chose one that was never used, and it refused +to respond to her efforts. Then she descended, and returned to the +incubator.</p> + +<p>"Can't do it," she said. "But I'll tell you what we'll do."</p> + +<p>"What?" asked the ever-ready Willy.</p> + +<p>"Pour some ice water over 'em. That'll cool 'em nicely."</p> + +<p>They travelled up the cellar stairs to the "cooler," which stood in the +hall.</p> + +<p>"Wish we had a pitcher," said Janet. "You take the tum'ler, and I'll get +a dipper."</p> + +<p>It required several journeys to and fro to sufficiently cool the eggs, +according to their way of thinking, but at last it was accomplished, +with much dripping of water and splashing of clean clothes.</p> + +<p>The water-cooler was left empty, and the incubator was in a state of +dampness alarming to behold.</p> + +<p>"There; I guess it's cool enough now!" said Janet, when the last trip +had been taken.</p> + +<p>Alas, the mercury, which should have remained at 103°, had dropped +quietly down to 70°.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see what's in those eggs," said Willy, meditatively. "D'yer +s'pose they're chickies yet?"</p> + +<p>"I guess so. I'd like to see, too. I'll tell you what, Willy? Let's take +one, and carry it off and see."</p> + +<p>"All right. I'll be the one to take it. What'll Jack say?"</p> + +<p>"He won't mind. Just one egg, and he has such a lot. And we've been +helping him lots this afternoon, cooling 'em off so nicely. But I'll be +the one to take it."</p> + +<p>"No, me!"</p> + +<p>"Let's both do it," said Janet, for once anxious to avoid a quarrel. "I +speak for that big one over there," and she abstracted one from the +"thermometer row," the row that was most important and precious in the +eyes of the owner of the machine.</p> + +<p>"And I'll take dis one. It's awful heavy, and I guess de dear little +chicken'll he glad to get out and have some nice fresh air."</p> + +<p>"Let's go down behind the carriage-house and look at 'em."</p> + +<p>They fastened the door of the incubator, and departed with their +treasures.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later, Jack, having finished his work, came whistling into +the house. He would go down and have a look at the machine, and then +walk up the river-bank to meet Cynthia, whom he had seen as she paddled +off early in the afternoon.</p> + +<p>His first glance at the thermometer gave him a shock—75° it registered. +What had happened? He looked at the lamp which heated the chambers, and +found that it had been turned down very low. What could Martha have been +thinking of, when he told her it was so important to keep up the +temperature this last day or so? The day after to-morrow he expected the +hatching to begin, and he had closed the door of the incubator that +morning. It was not to be opened again until the chicks were out.</p> + +<p>Jack was on tiptoe with excitement. If they came out well, what a +triumph it would be! If they failed, what would his father say?</p> + +<p>He looked again, and a most unexpected sight met his eyes. Water was +dripping from the trays, and the fine gravel beneath had become mud.</p> + +<p>And there was a vacant space in the tray. An egg had gone—and it was +from the third row, the row which he had been so careful about, which +contained the best eggs.</p> + +<p>And, yes, surely there was another hole. Another egg gone! What could +have happened?</p> + +<p>He ran up stairs three steps at a time, shouting for Martha.</p> + +<p>"What have you been doing, Martha?" he cried. "Two eggs are gone, and +the thermometer way below 80°, and all that water!"</p> + +<p>"Sure, Mr. Jack, I haven't been there at all! You were at home yourself +to-day, and I never go near the place of a Saturday."</p> + +<p>"Well, some one has been at it. Where's Cynthia? Where's Edith? Why +isn't somebody at home to attend to things?"</p> + +<p>No one could be found. Jack rushed frantically about, and at last heard +the sound of wheels. Edith was returning from the tea. And at the same +moment, around the corner of the house came Cynthia, leading two crying +children.</p> + +<p>They all met on the front porch.</p> + +<p>"They've been up to mischief, Jack," said Cynthia; "I hope they haven't +done much harm. I found them on the bank behind the carriage-house. They +must have been at the incubator, for they had two eggs and the chickens +are dead. And they are two bad, naughty children!"</p> + +<p>Even Cynthia the peacemaker had been stirred to righteous wrath by the +sight on the river-bank.</p> + +<p>"You rascals!" cried Jack, in a fury, shaking them each in turn; "I'd +like to lick you to pieces! You've ruined the whole hatch."</p> + +<p>"Go straight to bed," said Edith, sternly; "you are the very worst +children I ever knew. I ought not to leave the house a minute. You can't +be trusted at all."</p> + +<p>They all went in, scolding, storming, and crying. In the midst of the +confusion Mr. Franklin arrived, earlier than he had been expected. It +was some minutes before he could understand the meaning of the uproar.</p> + +<p>He looked about from one to the other.</p> + +<p>"It only serves to justify me in a conclusion that I have reached," he +said. "You are all too young to be without some one to look after you. +Take the children to bed, Edith, and then come to me. I have something +to tell you."</p> + +<p>Edith, wondering, did as she was told. Cynthia gave Jack one despairing +look and fled from the room. Her worst fears were on the point of being +realized.</p> + +<p>And after tea, when they were sitting as usual in the long parlor, Mr. +Franklin, with some hesitation and much embarrassment, informed them +that he was engaged to be married to Miss Hester Gordon, of Albany.</p> + +<h4>[<span class="smcap">to be continued</span>.]</h4> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_700" id="Page_700">[Pg 700]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"><a name="TWO_FAIRY_SPONGES" id="TWO_FAIRY_SPONGES"></a> +<img src="images/ill_006.jpg" width="800" height="348" alt="TWO FAIRY SPONGES" title="" /> +</div> + +<h3>BY WILLIAM HAMILTON GIBSON.</h3> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/ill_007.jpg" width="200" height="184" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>he pretty works of my fairy and his companions in mischief are seen on +every hand from spring until winter, but few of us have ever seen the +fay, for Puck is no myth nor Ariel a creature of the poet's fancy. Their +prototype existed in entomological entity and demoralizing +mischievousness ages before the traditional fay, in diminutive human +form, had been dreamt of. The quaint bow-legged little "brownies" which +have brought our entire land beneath the witching spell of their +drollery can scarce claim prestige in the ingenuity of their mischief, +nor can the droll doings of imps and elves chronicled in the folk-lore +of many an ancient people begin to match the actual doings of the real, +live, busy little fairy whose works abound in meadow, wood, and copse, +and which any of us may discover if we can once be brought to realize +that our imp is visible. Then we must not forget that ideal type of the +true "fairy"—a paragon of beauty and goodness, with golden hair and +dazzling crown of brilliants, with her airy costume of gossamer begemmed +and spangled, her dainty twinkling feet and gorgeously painted butterfly +wings. And we all remember that wonderful wand which she carried so +gracefully, and whose simple touch could evoke such a train of +surprising consequences.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/ill_008.jpg" width="400" height="342" alt="THE INHABITED ROSE SPONGE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE INHABITED ROSE SPONGE.</span> +</div> + +<p>And who shall say that our pretty fay is a myth, or her magic wand a +wild creation of the fancy? May we not see the wonder-workings of that +potent wand on every hand, even though our fairy has eluded us while she +cast the spell? There are a host of these wee fairies continually +flitting about among the trees plotting all sorts of mischief, and +leaving an astonishing witness of their visitation in their trail as +they pass from leaf to leaf or twig to twig. But these fairies, like +those of Grimm and Laboulaye, are agile little atoms, and are not to be +caught in their pranks if they know it, and even though our eye chanced +to rest on one of them, it is doubtful whether we would recognize him, +so different is the guise of these <i>real</i> fairies from those invented +Creatures of the books. Once, when a mere boy, I caught one of the +little imps at work, and watched her for several minutes without +dreaming that I had been looking at a real fairy all this time. What did +I see? I was sitting in a clearing, partly in the shade of a sapling +growth of oak which sprang from the trunk of a felled tree. While thus +half reclining I noticed a diminutive black wasplike insect upon one of +the oak leaves close to my face.</p> + +<p>The insect seemed almost stationary and not inclined to resent my +intrusion, so I observed her closely. I soon discovered that she was +inserting her sting into the midstem of the leaf, or, perhaps, +withdrawing it therefrom, for in a few moments the midge flew away. I +remember wondering what the insect was trying to do, and not until years +later did I realize that I had been witnessing the secret arts of the +magician of the insect world—a very Puck or Ariel, as I have said—a +fairy with a magic wand which any sprite in elfindom might covet.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 463px;"> +<img src="images/ill_009.jpg" width="463" height="500" alt="THE ELFIN SPONGE OF THE BRIER ROSE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE ELFIN SPONGE OF THE BRIER ROSE.</span> +</div> + +<p>The wand of Hermann never wrought such a wonder as did this magic touch +of the little black fly upon the oak leaf. Had I chanced to visit the +spot a few weeks later, what a beautiful red-cheeked apple could I have +plucked from that hemstitched leaf!</p> + +<p>This was but one of a veritable swarm of mischief-making midges +everywhere flitting among the trees; and while they are quite as various +in their shapes as the traditional forms of fairies—the ouphes and +imps, the gnomes and elves of quaintest mien, as well as the dainty fays +and sylphs and sprites—there is one feature common to them all which +annihilates the ideal of all the pictorial authorities on fairydom. +Neither Grimm, nor Laboulaye, nor any of the masters of fairy lore seems +to have discovered that a fairy has no right to those butterfly wings +which the pages of books show us. Those of the real fairy are quite +different, being narrow and glassy, and bear the magician's peculiar +sign in their crisscross veins.</p> + +<p>What a world of mischief is going on here in the fields! Here is one of +the witching sprites among the drooping blossoms of the oak. "You would +fain be an acorn," she says, as she pierces the tender blossoms with her +wand, "but I charge thee bring forth a string of currants"; and +immediately the blossoms begin to obey the behest, and erelong a mimic +string of currants droops upon the stem. Upon another tender branch near +by a jet-black gauze-winged elf is casting a similar spell, which is +this time followed by a tiny downy pink-cheeked peach. And here alights +a tiny sprite, whose magic touch evokes even from the <i>same</i> leaf a +cherry, or a coral bead, perhaps a huge green apple! How many of us have +seen the little elf<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_701" id="Page_701">[Pg 701]</a></span> that spends her life among the tangles of creeping +cinque-foil, and decks its stems with those brilliant scarlet beads +which we may always find upon them, looking verily like tempting +berries.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 271px;"> +<img src="images/ill_010.jpg" width="271" height="400" alt="THE ELFIN SPONGE OF THE OAK." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE ELFIN SPONGE OF THE OAK.</span> +</div> + +<p>We see here about us swarms of these busy elves in obedience to their +own peculiar mischievous promptings. What whispers this glittering midge +to the oak twig here to which she clings so closely? We may not guess; +but if we pass this way a month or so hence what a beautiful response in +the glistening rosy-clouded sponge which encircles the stem! "But this +sponge is not pretty enough by half," exclaims a rival fairy. "Wait +until you see what yonder sweet-brier rose will do for <i>me</i>." Hovering +thither among its thorns she imparts her spell, and, lo! within a month +the stem is clothed in emerald fringe, which grows apace, until it has +become a dense pompon of deep crimson—a sponge worthy the toilet of the +fairy queen herself!</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/ill_011.jpg" width="300" height="218" alt="THE ROSE MISCHIEF-MAKER." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE ROSE MISCHIEF-MAKER.</span> +</div> + +<p>Who shall still say that the fairy is a myth! These two fairy sponges +are familiar to us all, at least to those of us who dwell for even a +small part of the year in the country and use our eyes. Indeed, we need +go no further than our city parks, or even our "back-yard" gardens to +find at least one of them, for the sweet-brier is rarely neglected by +this particular fairy.</p> + +<p>So many specimens of both of these sponges have been sent to me by <span class="smcap">Round +Table</span> correspondents and others, that I have begun to wonder how many of +those other young people who have seen them and kept silence have +wondered at their secret.</p> + +<p>The two fairies which are responsible for these sponges have been +captured by the inquisitive scientist, and have had their portraits +taken for the rogues' gallery, and now we see them stuck upon tiny +little three-cornered pieces of paper, and pinned in the specimen case +as mere <i>insects</i>—gall-flies. The one is labelled <i>Cynips seminator</i>, +the other, <i>Cynips rosæ</i>.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/ill_012.jpg" width="300" height="200" alt="THE FAIRY USING HER MAGIC WAND." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE FAIRY USING HER MAGIC WAND.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 406px;"> +<img src="images/ill_013.jpg" width="406" height="500" alt="THE REAL FAIRY OF THE OAK SPONGE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE REAL FAIRY OF THE OAK SPONGE.<br /><br />A. One of the points detached. B. Section of the base.<br />C, D. Cynips emerging.</span> +</div> + +<p>And now the prosaic entomologist proceeds to supplant fact for fancy. +This gall-fly is a sort of cousin to the wasps, but what we would call +its sting is more than a mere sting. Like a sting, it seems to puncture +the bark or leaf, and at the same time probably to inject its drop of +venom; but at the same time it conveys to the depths of the wound a tiny +egg, or perhaps a host of them. One gall-fly is thus a magician in +chemistry, at least, for no sooner are these eggs deposited than the +wounded branch begins to swell and form a cellular growth or tumor about +them, the character of this abnormal growth depending upon the peculiar +charm of the venomous touch—to one a tiny coral globe, to another a +cluster of spines, to another a curved horn, and to our cynips of the +white or scrub oak a peculiar globular spongy growth which completely +envelops the stem, sometimes to the size of a small apple. In its prime +it is a beautiful object, with its fibrous glistening texture studded +with pink points. But this condition lasts but a few days, when the +entire mass becomes brownish and woolly, which fact has given this +insect the common name of "wool-sower."</p> + +<p>And now we must lose no time if we would follow its history to its +complete cycle. If we put one of these faded sponges in a tight-closed +box, we shall in a few days learn the secret of its being. For this +singular mimic fruit, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_702" id="Page_702">[Pg 702]</a></span> has sprung at the behest of the gall-fly, +like other fruits, has its seeds—seeds which are animated with peculiar +life, and which sprout in a way we would hardly expect. Within a +fortnight after gathering, perhaps, we find our box swarming with tiny +black flies, while if we dissect the sponge we find its long-beaked +seeds entirely empty, and each with a clean round hole gnawed through +its shell, explaining this host of gall-flies, all similar to the parent +of a few weeks since, and all bent on the same mischief when you shall +let them loose at the window.</p> + +<p>The beautiful sponge of the sweet-brier has been called into being by +exactly similar means. And its hard woody centre is packed full of +cells, at first each with its tiny egg, and then with its plump larva, +followed by the chrysalis, and at length by the emergence of the +full-fledged <i>Cynips rosæ</i>.</p> + +<p>This sponge-gall of the rose is commonly known as the Bedegnar, and like +all other members of its tribe, as with the familiar oak-apple, was long +supposed to be a regular accessory fruit of its parent stalk. Among +early students were many superstitions connected with the Bedegnar, the +nature of which may readily be inferred from its other common name of +"Robin's Pin-cushion."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="STAMPS" id="STAMPS"></a> +<img src="images/ill_014.jpg" width="600" height="200" alt="STAMPS" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This Department is conducted in the interest of Stamp and Coin +Collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question +on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should +address Editor Stamp Department.</p></div> + +<h3>A LIST OF DON'TS FOR STAMP COLLECTORS.</h3> + +<p>Don't paste your stamps into your albums, but use "stickers" or +"hinges."</p> + +<p>Don't use any old copy-book if you can afford to buy an album. Dealers +can supply albums at any price from twenty-five cents upward.</p> + +<p>Don't trim your stamps. Many valuable stamps have been ruined by this +process.</p> + +<p>Don't cut envelope stamps to shape. Cut them out square, leaving a good +margin on all sides.</p> + +<p>Don't handle your stamps any more than you can help.</p> + +<p>Don't buy rare stamps from any but responsible dealers. Some +counterfeits resemble the genuine stamps marvellously. No one not an +expert could tell them apart.</p> + +<p>Don't buy Chinese locals, "Seebecks," and other philatelic trash, which +is made purposely for sale to stamp collectors.</p> + +<p>Don't expect to get something for nothing.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Frank P. Helsel</span>.—The U. S. 12c. 1872 issue is worth 15 cents. The +50c. green Mauritius 1880 issue is worth 60 cents, unused; 85 +cents, used. The "U.S. Post" is the 1864 issue; worth 15 cents.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">W. L. L. P</span>.—Most of the Heligoland stamps sold are reprints. They +are worth 3 cents each. Originals are worth from 15 cents to $5 +each.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">James H. Creighton</span>.—The two stamps are the 3c. 1861 and 1872. +They are sold by stamp-dealers at 1 cent each.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">J. A.M</span>.—There is no premium on the 1872 U. S. 1c. coin.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">R. F. B</span>.—The U. S. 2c. stamp bearing a representation of a +horseman is the 1869 issue, worth 8 cents used, 25 cents unused.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">J. Duff</span>.—The coin-dealers ask $1.50 for good copies of the 1877 +trade dollar. There are several varieties of the 1801 and 1797 +copper cents worth from 25 cents to $3 each, according to +condition. There is no premium on the Canadian coin.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">G. G. Beattie</span>.—Write to any stamp-dealer whose address you find +in our advertising columns. We cannot give addresses in this +Department. The German coin mentioned has no premium.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Harry Riley</span>, Brunswick, Maine, wants to correspond with some +members of the <span class="smcap">Round Table</span> living in Central or South America. +Most of the Hamburg stamps in albums are reprints. When the word +"cancelled" is printed on a stamp it cannot be used for postage. +It is simply a "specimen" or fac-simile. The Hong-Kong stamps +mentioned by you have not yet been catalogued.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">G. Knauff</span>.—Many thanks for calling my attention to the three +varieties of the present 2c. U. S. (1) The variety in which the +horizontal lines run across the triangular ornaments in uniform +thickness. (2) That in which the horizontal lines between the +outer and inner lines of the ornaments are deepened. (3) That in +which the lines are entirely missing between the outer and inner +lines of the ornaments. All three were known, and in addition +there is the variety showing a flaw in the forehead. This is +sometimes found strongly marked; in others it is more or less +distinct. I advise philatelists to collect all these varieties, as +well as all the shades of color, which are almost innumerable.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Laura Welch</span>.—Both the stamp and the embossed envelope were used +by the War Department for several years. This use has been +discontinued many years. The stamp is worth 5 cents, the 1c. +envelope, if on white paper, is worth $2.50, if on amber paper +$35, if on manila paper 5 cents</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">L. P. Dodge</span>.—The stamp you describe is one of the German locals +which are not collected in this country. There are many +counterfeits of the New Orleans Confederate local. It is +impossible to say whether your copy is genuine or counterfeit +without examination.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">H. R. C</span>.—The present blue Special Delivery is collected as a new +variety. The Sedang stamps are worthless. Your complaint will be +investigated if you will send the Stamp Editor your full name and +address.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F. E. Welsh, Jun</span>.—"Regular" perforations cut out little circles +of white paper between each stamp on the sheet. "Pin" perforations +are simply holes punched into the spaces between the stamps +without removing the little circles of white paper. Saw-tooth +perforations are simply cuts into the spaces between the stamps +somewhat like this—v v v v v v. When the stamps are torn apart +the margins look just like the teeth on a saw. The Columbian +stamps are rapidly advancing in value. The 8c. Sherman has dropped +in value during the past year from 4 cents to a 1/2 cent each.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">James F. Anderson</span>.—The stamp you describe is the New Orleans +local. It is worth at least $1.50.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A. W. Duncan</span>.—The 1830 half-dollar is not at a premium.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">R. B.H</span>.—The 3c. green U.S. is worth 1 cent.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F. Locke</span>.—The 1853 dime is worth face value only.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Geo. H</span>.—We cannot answer questions regarding dealers in this +column.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">B. W. Leavitt</span>.—The 50c. revenue-stamps mentioned are sold by +dealers at 2 cents each.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">C. C. Cooner</span>.—The 1c. blue 1861 is worth 3 cents; the others are +worth 1 cent each.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Philatus</span>.</span> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THAT_SLEIGHT-OF-HAND_PERFORMANCE" id="THAT_SLEIGHT-OF-HAND_PERFORMANCE"></a>THAT SLEIGHT-OF-HAND PERFORMANCE.</h2> + +<h3>BY CHARLES M. SHELDON.</h3> + +<p>It had been a very dull winter at Colby, and when we college boys came +home for our Christmas vacation we determined we would liven it up for +the village.</p> + +<p>As it happened, curiously enough, a funeral was the cause of the lively +time that followed our determination.</p> + +<p>Old Father Colby, one of the original settlers, had died the week +before, leaving a wife and three orphaned grandchildren in the old +homestead, and, as it turned out, very destitute. So the idea occurred +to us to get up a benefit entertainment, and turn over the proceeds to +the widow Colby and her family of grandchildren.</p> + +<p>The idea took with the neighborhood. And we at once rented the +Town-hall, and proceeded to bill the village and every barn in the +township with the notices of our performance.</p> + +<p>There were three of us: Tom Chandler, Jonas Willitts, and myself, Peter +Samuels. We were the only village boys who had ever been to college, and +we were the envy of all the farmers' boys and the admiration of all the +village girls. So we made the most of our brief vacations to get into +public notice.</p> + +<p>We determined to give a sleight-of-hand performance. Tom sent down to +Boston for materials, and we all practised diligently, keeping +everything as secret as if we were in a conspiracy against the United +States.</p> + +<p>Our announcements, which were scattered all over the township, were +certainly very attractive. They read as follows:</p> + +<p>"Extraordinary Performance to be given at the Town-hall, Colby, December +20, 18—. Marvellous Feats of Prestidigitatorism! The Egg and the +Handkerchief! The Watch Mortar and Magic Pistol!</p> + +<p>"The Handkerchief that will not Burn! The Pudding in the Hat! The +Inexhaustible Bottle! And Numerous other Marvels and Mysteries lately +Imported from India and the East!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_703" id="Page_703">[Pg 703]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The above Unrivalled Performance will be given for only 25 cents +admission. Proceeds to be devoted to Benevolent Cause. Doors open at +7.30. Performance to begin at 8. Come early and avoid being turned away. +No reserved seats. Carriages may be ordered for ten o'clock."</p> + +<p>We debated some over the last line on the handbills, but finally decided +to let it go in. It made the bills look more cosmopolitan and did no +harm.</p> + +<p>Tom and Jonas were to be the principal performers. I was general ticket +agent and business and stage manager. We all had our dress suits with +us, and, of course, we wore them when the time came.</p> + +<p>Well, that was the largest crowd that ever came to an entertainment in +Colby. There hadn't been anything going on all winter. Most of the young +people had never seen any sleight-of-hand tricks, and all the old people +turned out to help Grandma Colby. Before eight o'clock the hall was +jammed. Every seat was taken, and people crowded into the broad aisle +and sat on the platform, and stood up all around in a black fringe +against the wall.</p> + +<p>We had rigged up a curtain in front of the narrow platform, and at eight +o'clock, when the hall was so full that no more people could get into +it, the curtain was pulled aside by Peter Samuels, the stage director, +and revealed the Magician's Home.</p> + +<p>The first trick on the programme was "The Egg and the Handkerchief." +Jonas was behind the table acting as Tom's assistant, while I was +stationed just out of sight behind a fold of the curtain, ready to step +in at the right moment, for the trick required the use of three persons.</p> + +<p>It was simple enough, and yet Tom's blunder at the start led to the +ridiculous accident which was the first of a series that made that +sleight-of-hand performance a thing for Colby people to reckon time +from.</p> + +<p>The trick was, first, for Tom to produce an egg from Jonas's month by +rapping him on the back of his head, Jonas already having been provided +with a guinea-hen's egg secreted in his mouth for the purpose. Then, +when the egg appeared, Tom was to pretend to place it in a handkerchief, +really substituting for it a china egg of the same size, and slipping +the real egg into a little pochette of his dress-coat. What he did, +however, was to drop the real egg into the handkerchief, because, as he +afterwards said, the china egg stuck in his pochette, and he could not +get it out. The next part of the trick was to gather up the four corners +of the handkerchief and whirl it around rapidly, saying, "Ladies and +gentlemen, keep your eyes on my assistant yonder." At that point I +stepped out, holding on a plate a very nice-looking sponge-cake +previously prepared. Then Tom was to say: "I will now cause the egg in +the handkerchief to pass into the cake. Watch closely, ladies and +gentlemen."</p> + +<p>At that point Tom should have brought the handkerchief around in such a +way as to slip the china egg out into his other hand. Then I was to come +forward and cut open the cake, displaying an egg (also china), +previously placed within. And then Tom was to have produced the real +egg, and in order to prove that it was a real egg within the cake +(exchanging the two by palming one of them), he was to break the real +one into a dish.</p> + +<p>All this, which sounds so complex to describe, was simple enough as we +had rehearsed it, and even with Tom's blunder of dropping the real egg +in the handkerchief, might have turned out all right if he had not let +go one of the corners of the handkerchief as he whirled it around his +head. I, Peter Samuels, stage manager and director of that extraordinary +performance of "Marvellous Feats of Prestidigitatorism," will never +forget my sensations when, as I advanced solemnly with the cake, a white +body whizzed through the air and struck me full on my expansive shirt +bosom, breaking with a splash, and running down over my vest and +trousers in a yellow stream.</p> + +<p>I remember the scared look on Jonas's face, the perfectly horrified +expression that Tom wore, and also remember dimly wondering if a +guinea-fowl's egg would make as large an omlet as that of an ostrich. +For it seemed to me as if I was swimming in egg batter.</p> + +<p>The next instant the audience broke into a perfect roar of laughter. I +threw the cake down on the table and rushed back of the curtain again, +leaving Tom and Jonas to get out of the blunder as best they could, +while I wiped off the egg as best I could with my handkerchief.</p> + +<p>How that audience did roar! Tom stood with a knife in his hand waiting +to cut the cake. He said afterwards he felt mad enough to jump down off +the platform and pummel half a dozen big boys on the front seat. But he +kept his temper, and when the laugh died down he cut the cake open and +showed the egg, saying something about its being a small-sized egg on +account of spilling a part of it on the way. So that mystified the +people a little and restored the reputation of the performance, at least +for a while.</p> + +<p>The next trick was an easy one, and went off without any slip, and was +applauded. Tom and Jonas had the stage to themselves for a while, and I +staid out of sight and scrubbed at the egg. But do what I could, my +shirt bosom was ruined.</p> + +<p>Then came the "Watch Mortar" trick, and to my dying day I shall never +forget how that turned out. Neither will Tom.</p> + +<p>We had an apparatus made to resemble an old-fashioned druggists' mortar. +It was really made of tin, in two compartments, so that any heavy object +dropped into it would depress a false bottom and drop through on a shelf +back of the magician's table, at the same time letting into the upper +part of the mortar the fragments of an old watch previously pounded into +bits. Then Tom was to pretend to smash the borrowed watch, and +afterwards fire a pistol at me and take the real watch from my vest +pocket, where he would place it when he went back of the scenes for his +pistol.</p> + +<p>He described his intentions and asked for a watch from the audience. +Uncle Job Cavendish, the village barber, handed up an old silver-case +time-piece that was worth perhaps $3.</p> + +<p>Tom took it, and after a good deal of talk, dropped it down into the +mortar, picked up the ridiculous club used for a pestle, and began to +pound away. There was a great smashing sound, and poor Uncle Job looked +serious. But he did not begin to look half so serious as Tom did, and I +saw in a minute that something was wrong.</p> + +<p>He dropped the pestle, and said hurriedly to the audience, "Ladies and +gentlemen, I find I have left my pistol in the other room. Excuse me +while I run after it."</p> + +<p>Then Tom came into the wing where I stood, and jerking his own gold +watch out of his pocket, thrust it into mine, and whispered to me +fiercely, "That mortar stuck in some way, and I smashed Uncle Job's +watch into chicken-feed! Here is mine! I'll have to give him something +back, or we'll be mobbed out of the village!"</p> + +<p>Then he grabbed up the stage pistol and hurried back. He rammed the +remains of Uncle Job's poor watch down the big mouth of the pistol, and +I stepped forth, baring my egg-stained bosom to the pistol shot. Bang! +went the powder from the false chamber of the pistol, and Tom, with a +ghastly smile, stepped up to me and pulled his watch out of my pocket, +and with the utmost courage leaned out over the edge of the platform and +handed the watch to Uncle Job, saying, "Here you are, sir! Not only as +good as new, but changed from silver to gold!"</p> + +<p>Uncle Job was so taken by surprise that he sat with open mouth. He took +the watch and looked at it in dumb astonishment. The audience was taken +as much by surprise as he was.</p> + +<p>Tom and Jonas held a hurried consultation, and at once announced the +next trick. There was a great deal of confusion in the hall. Several +voices shouted out, "Show the silver watch!" Tom paid no attention, and +the next half-dozen tricks were so well done that the people applauded, +and we began to gain fresh courage.</p> + +<p>But alas! The next on the programme was the "Handkerchief that will not +burn."</p> + +<p>Almost any one with a little practice can pass a handkerchief obliquely +through the flame of a candle without burning it. All that is needed is +the proper dexterity. And this caution must be heeded. The handkerchief +must be free from cologne or perfumery, which contains spirits, and is +very inflammable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_704" id="Page_704">[Pg 704]</a></span></p> + +<p>This was Jonas's trick. He called for a lady's handkerchief, and who +should hand one up but Sally Conners, the prettiest girl in the village, +and the one of all with whom Jonas was smitten.</p> + +<p>But to the grief of Jonas, Sally was very much addicted to perfumery, +and had that evening drenched her handkerchief with it. Jonas lighted +the candle, keeping up a running talk about making the handkerchief +enchanted, and then he passed it through the flame.</p> + +<p>The effect could not have been more certain if he had poured kerosene on +the candle. Poor Sally's delicate perfume-drenched handkerchief blazed +up in an instant like a display of fireworks. Jonas squeezed his hands +around the fragments that were left, and danced around the stage, +howling at the sudden pain of the burn. And the audience went wild. I +thought it never would stop laughing. Tom was desperate. I could see he +meant to conclude the performance before we had ruined our reputations +forever.</p> + +<p>With becoming modesty he addressed himself to the audience when it had +tired of laughing, and announced that the entertainment would close with +the startling trick, "The pudding in the hat."</p> + +<p>He and Jonas had practised this until they felt sure of it. Like all +sleight-of-hand tricks, it is easy enough if properly done.</p> + +<p>First Jonas prepared a dish of batter made of eggs broken in, shells and +all, a little flour, milk, raisins, and molasses. A ridiculous mixture, +from which, he assured the audience, would come forth a beautiful +pudding, nicely baked in a stovepipe hat, which he would wear on his own +head to prove that there was nothing in it. A sentence which had a +double meaning, and to which Jonas fully assented in every particular +before the evening was over.</p> + +<p>Well, the dish that held the batter was poured into the hat, apparently. +Of course it was really poured into a tin which exactly fitted into the +hat, and which contained also a second tin concealing the pudding, +tipped into it by Tom at the proper moment. Then the next part of the +trick consisted in placing the hat on Jonas's head, while he was to +strut about the stage jauntily. Then the hat would be removed, and lo! +in the centre of it would be found the pudding nicely baked.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/ill_015.jpg" width="600" height="465" alt="THEN THE WHOLE HAT SEEMED TO LET GO LIKE A BROKEN RESERVOIR." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THEN THE WHOLE HAT SEEMED TO LET GO LIKE A BROKEN RESERVOIR.</span> +</div> + +<p>Now, whether Tom made some mistake in getting those tins canted into the +hat properly or not will never be known. Perhaps he pulled the hat down +too hard over Jonas's brows when he put it on him, and so loosened +something. At any rate, Jonas had not taken two steps before a streak of +batter was seen running down over his face. Then the whole hat seemed to +let go like a broken reservoir, and the milk and molasses and egg and +flour streamed down in a shower over the miserable Jonas.</p> + +<p>He tried to pull the hat off, and did so, leaving on his head, however, +the tins, which gave him the most astonishing appearance possible. Tom +fell back on the table in an agony of laughter, and in doing so sat down +on the dish that had contained the batter. The audience simply cried +itself hoarse with laughter. Sally Conners screamed with all her might, +and all the farmers' boys, who were present for miles around, haw-hawed, +and the old folks almost died looking at poor Jonas. In the midst of it +all, I, Peter Samuels, stage director, drew the curtain, and with the +other two performers stole down the back stairs, and made a run for +home, and so the great sleight-of-hand performance came to an end.</p> + +<p>The Colby people never forgot that performance. We never did, either. +Uncle Job kept Tom's watch until he left for college, and then gave it +back to him, and Tom bought him a new silver time-piece. The widow Colby +and her grandchildren realized a good sum from the entertainment, and +the next vacation we three boys spent in the city. I am afraid Jonas has +lost the favor of Sally Conners, for she never can speak of him without +laughing. But then Sally always did laugh on almost any provocation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_705" id="Page_705">[Pg 705]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="INTERSCHOLASTIC_SPORT" id="INTERSCHOLASTIC_SPORT"></a> +<img src="images/ill_016.jpg" width="600" height="119" alt="INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>So far as is known, no schedule of interscholastic track and field +records has ever before been printed, and although the table published +in this issue is as accurate as can be made under the circumstances, +still there are doubtless a few errors scattered around in it somewhere +that will be discovered by sharp-eyed readers in the very near future. +If the latter will inform this Department of the mistakes as soon as +they are found out, the table may be depended upon to be absolutely +exact the next time it is printed—and it certainly will be offered in +better form. To-day I have been obliged to put two bicycle events and +two hammer and shot events on the list, because the interscholastic +associations in the various parts of the country are about evenly +divided in the choice of distances and the use of weights. I have left +out entirely such acrobatic events as the hop, step, and jump, and +throwing the baseball, because they are not athletic, and do not deserve +to be recognized on any interscholastic programme. Perhaps a year from +now the school associations will have come to the conclusion that, take +it all in all, it is really better to have a uniform measure of +efficiency in sport as well as in anything else, and then a comparative +table will be of more value.</p> + +<h4>INTERSCHOLASTIC RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1895.</h4> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Event.</b></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='center'><b>Maker.</b></td><td align='left'><b>School.</b></td><td align='left'><b>Time and place.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>100-yard dash</td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>10-1/5</td><td align='center'>sec.</td><td align='left'>F. H. Bigelow.</td><td align='left'>Worcester H.-S.</td><td align='left'>N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>220-yard run</td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>22-2/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>F. H. Bigelow.</td><td align='left'>Worcester H.-S.</td><td align='left'>N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>440-yard run</td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>50-3/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>T. E. Burke.</td><td align='left'>Boston English H.-S.</td><td align='left'>N.E.I S.A.A. games, 1894.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Half-mile inn</td><td align='right'>2</td><td align='center'>m.</td><td align='right'>4-1/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>J. A. Meehan.</td><td align='left'>Condon, N.Y.</td><td align='left'>N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Mile run</td><td align='right'>4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>34-2/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>W. T. Laing.</td><td align='left'>Phillips Academy, Andover.</td><td align='left'>N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Mile walk</td><td align='right'>7</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>17-3/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>A. N. Butler.</td><td align='left'>Hillhouse H.-S., New Haven.</td><td align='left'>Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>120-yard hurdle</td><td align='right'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>15-3/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>A. F. Beers.</td><td align='left'>De La Salle, N.Y.</td><td align='left'>N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>220-yard hurdle</td><td align='right'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>26-1/2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Field.</td><td align='left'>Hartford H.-S.</td><td align='left'>Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Mile bicycle</td><td align='right'>2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>34-1/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>I. A. Powell.</td><td align='left'>Cutler, N.Y.</td><td align='left'>N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Two-mile bicycle</td><td align='right'>5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>18-2/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Baker.</td><td align='left'>Hotchkiss, Lakeville, Conn.</td><td align='left'>Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Running high jump</td><td align='right'>5</td><td align='center'>ft.</td><td align='right'>11</td><td align='center'>in.</td><td align='left'>S. A. W. Baltazzi.</td><td align='left'>Harvard, N.Y.</td><td align='left'>N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Running broad jump</td><td align='right'>21</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>6</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>C. Brewer.</td><td align='left'>Hopkinson, Boston.</td><td align='left'>N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1890.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Pole vault</td><td align='right'>10</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>7</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>B. Johnson.</td><td align='left'>Worcester Academy.</td><td align='left'>N.E.I.S.A.A. games, June 15, 1895.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Throwing 12-lb. hammer</td><td align='right'>125</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'></td><td align='center'></td><td align='left'>R. F. Johnson.</td><td align='left'>Brookline H.-S.</td><td align='left'>N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Throwing 16-lb. hammer</td><td align='right'>111</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>10</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>F. G. Beck.</td><td align='left'>Hillhouse H.-S.</td><td align='left'>Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Putting 12-lb. shot</td><td align='right'>40</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>3/4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>A. C. Ayres.</td><td align='left'>Condon, N.Y.</td><td align='left'>N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Putting 16-lb. shot</td><td align='right'>39</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>M. O'Brien.</td><td align='left'>Boston English H.-S.</td><td align='left'>N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>INTER-COLLEGIATE RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1895.</h4> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Event.</b></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='center'><b>Made by.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>{ E. J. Wendell, Harvard; W.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>{ Baker, Harvard; C. H.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>100-yard dash</td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>10</td><td align='center'>sec.</td><td align='left'>{ Sherrill, Yale; L. Cary,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>{ Princeton; E. S. Ramsdell,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>{ Penn.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>220-yard dash</td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>21-4/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>L. H. Cary, Princeton.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Quarter-mile run</td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>47-3/4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>W. Baker, Harvard.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Half-mile run</td><td align='right'>1</td><td align='center'>m.</td><td align='right'>55-1/4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>W. C. Dohm, Princeton.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Mile run</td><td align='right'>4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>23-2/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>G. W. Orton, Penn.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Mile walk</td><td align='right'>6</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>42-4/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>F. A. Borcheling, Princeton.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>120-yard hurdle</td><td align='right'></td><td align='center'></td><td align='right'>15-4/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>H. L. Williams, Yale.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>220-yard hurdle</td><td align='right'></td><td align='center'></td><td align='right'>24-3/5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>J. L. Bremer, Harvard.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Two-mile bicycle</td><td align='right'>4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>10</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>W. D. Osgood, Penn.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Running high jump</td><td align='right'>6</td><td align='center'>ft.</td><td align='right'>4</td><td align='center'>in.</td><td align='left'>W. B. Page, Penn.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Running broad jump</td><td align='right'>23</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='center'></td><td align='left'>L. P. Sheldon, Yale.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Pole vault</td><td align='right'>11</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>2-3/4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>C. T. Buckholz, Penn.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Throwing 16-lb. ham'r</td><td align='right'>135</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>7-1/2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>W. O. Hickok, Yale.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Putting 16-lb. shot</td><td align='right'>44</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right'>1-1/2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>W. O. Hickok, Yale.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>How is it possible to gauge the performances of school champions with +those of others—college-men and athletic club amateurs—when we have no +common ratio? We cannot, of course. For instance, take Beers's record of +15-3/5 sec. in the high hurdles, made at the New York Interscholastics +last May. On paper this looks very well. It apparently beats the +inter-collegiate record made by Harry Williams in 1891, by one-fifth of +a second. But it really does not. Beers ran his race over lower hurdles, +and so it is not possible to make a comparison. The hurdles used by the +N.Y.I.S.A.A. are only 3 feet high, whereas the inter-collegiate sticks +are 3 ft. 6 in. Some of the interscholastic associations use the +standard 3 ft. 6 in. hurdles, but as it was impossible to ascertain +exactly what the records were that had been made over these at school +meetings in the past, I took the fastest time over the dwarfed hurdles, +and let it go in as a fit companion for the 12-lb. shot and hammer and +the mile bicycle-race.</p> + +<p>In the future, however, I shall give little attention to these one-eyed +records. The college associations have set up a standard of distance and +weight which experience has shown to be a good one. A sufficient number +of interscholastic associations have adopted the same standard, thereby +making it clearly evident that it is none too high for school-boy +athletes. Therefore, in making out a comparative table of college and +school records, this Department will accept the standard established by +the I.C.A.A.A. and adopted by the majority of the interscholastic +associations. If in the near future a general interscholastic league is +formed, I feel sure that its legislators will agree with me in this, and +will adopt the same course when they lay out their programme.</p> + +<p>It is to be regretted that the Oakland, Cal., High-School athletic team +was unable to accept the Stockton High-School's challenge for dual games +to be held on June 15th last, but unless something unforeseen turns up +the meeting will be held soon after the next school term begins, which +is in August. The California schools open about five weeks earlier than +our Eastern institutions, and the football season with them, therefore, +starts in the closing days of summer. There will also be the semi-annual +field day of the Academic Athletic League at about that time, or in +September, and bicycle road races, in which teams from the several +schools of the A.A.L. will be matched against one another. At the field +day there will be a contest for the all 'round championship of the +Pacific Coast Association. Five or six events will be selected from the +programme, and every competitor for the championship will have to +compete in each one, the champion to be the winner of the greatest +number of points.</p> + +<p>The object of this athletic Department in <span class="smcap">Harper's Round Table</span> is not +only to criticise and comment upon the various sports of the calender, +but also to explain any intricate points of these games, to answer +questions on matters of sport and athletics, and to give all such +information as shall justly come under the head of Interscholastic +Sport. A number of correspondents have requested that some space be +devoted to an explanation of the "100-up" method of scoring in tennis, +and to give the rules for odds. This "100-up" method, sometimes called +the "Pastime" system, was devised a few years ago to meet the defects of +the old system of scoring, which had been handed down to us from the +ancient English game of tennis. The latter has a good many disadvantages +in spite of its universal use, the chief objection being that it +frequently happens in a match that a player scores more strokes, or even +more games, than his antagonist, and yet is beaten. This, of course, is +manifestly unfair; and as for handicaps, in which more than two players +are competing, the complex and unsatisfactory system of adjusting the +odds according to the old way is unnecessarily complicated.</p> + +<p>The rules for the "100-up" method are comparatively simple and very +easily remembered after having been used once or twice. The player who +serves first must serve six times in succession, and then his opponent +does the same, the service changing always after each one has served six +consecutive times. One fault and one good service; two faults; or one +good service counts as a service. After the first, third, fifth, or, in +other words, every alternate series of service, the players change +courts, thus making each six successive services one series of services. +The first player to score one hundred points wins the game; but the +match can be played for any number of points—more or less than a +hundred—as the contestants may agree upon beforehand. The usual figure, +however, is one hundred. If the score comes to be 99-all, play goes on +as before, until one of the players has a majority of two points. He +then wins; but no game can be won by a lesser majority than two points.</p> + +<p>The odds in the regular old-fashioned method of counting are, briefly, +thus: A "bisque" is one point that can be taken by the receiver of the +odds at any time during the set except after a service is delivered, or, +if he is serving, after a fault. "Half fifteen" is one stroke given at +the beginning of the second, fourth, and every alternate game of a set, +and "fifteen" is one stroke given at the beginning of every game. In the +same way "thirty" is two strokes given at the beginning of every game, +whereas "half thirty" is one stroke given at the beginning of the first +game, two at the beginning of the second, one at the beginning of the +third, and so on, two and one, alternately, until the end of the set. +"Forty" is three strokes before every game, "half forty" three and two, +alternately, as before. "Owed odds" signifies that the giver of the odds +starts behind scratch. Thus "owe half fifteen" means that one stroke is +owed at the beginning of the first, third, fifth, and every alternate +game of the set. Other "owed odds" are reckoned inversely in the same +manner as given odds.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_706" id="Page_706">[Pg 706]</a></span> If a player gives odds of "half court," he agrees +to play in a certain half of the court, either the right or the left, +and he loses a stroke whenever he returns a ball outside any of the +lines that bound that half court.</p> + +<p>But the newest of all the systems of odds, and the one now most +generally used by experts, is called the "quarter" system. In this +method fifteen is divided into four quarters, and thus a closer handicap +may be obtained. "One quarter" of fifteen is one stroke given at the +beginning of the second, sixth, and every fourth game thereafter in the +set. "Two quarters" (the "half fifteen" spoken of above) is one stroke +at the beginning of the second, fourth, sixth, etc., games. "Three +quarters" is one stroke at the beginning of the second, third, fourth, +sixth, seventh, and eighth games, and so on. When it is "odds owed," as +before, "one quarter" is one stroke in the first and fifth games; "two +quarters" is one stroke in the first and third; and "three quarters" is +one stroke in the first, third, and fourth games, and so on to the end +of the set. In order to get odds at a similar ratio when the match is +being scored on the "100-up" system, the following table of equivalents +has been adopted:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>1</td><td align='center'>quarter of</td><td align='right'>15</td><td align='left'>=</td><td align='right'>5</td><td align='center'>points per</td><td align='right'>100</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2</td><td align='center'>quarters</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>11</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>16</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>22</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15.1</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>27</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15.2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>32</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15.3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>38</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>30</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>43</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>30.1</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>49</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>30.2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>54</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>30.3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>59</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>40</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>65</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The principal difficulty about this new system of odds, except for +experts and for those who play constantly, is the difficulty of +remembering it. It certainly takes more study to become familiar with it +than with the old half-point system. In that the odds change at every +game, and change directly back again even when most complicated, so that +really all there is to remember is which odds came with the service. The +chief advantage of the "quarter" system is that it affords greater +accuracy, and to experts this is a sufficient compensation for its +intricacy. I should not advise the average player, however, to bother +with it, for, unless he intends to try for a national championship, life +is too short to devote many hours of study to the "quarter" system.</p> + +<p>Another correspondent asks for information as to the best way to get up +a tennis tournament, and now that we are on the subject of tennis, his +query might just as well be disposed of. A tournament, like anything +else, demands time and care in preparation if it is to be a success. +Don't put off everything until the last moment, or the day will surely +be a failure; whereas, if thought is given to all the small details that +go to make such an occasion enjoyable, everything will go as easily as +rolling off a log. In the first place, those who want to arrange a +tournament, or the committee which has been chosen to make the +arrangements, should get together and discuss the situation and decide +what they want to do and how they want to do it. In this preliminary +talk a calculation of expenses should first be made. Find out how much +money will probably be required, and then, as a measure of safety, add +about ten per cent. to that, for expenses are usually underestimated. +Having determined how much money will be needed, make arrangements for +securing that amount either by subscription, entrance fees, or sale of +tickets. If the tournament is to be conducted by a club, there will +probably be some money in the treasury that can be used. It is not +usually advisable, and seldom practicable at an impromptu summer tennis +tournament, to demand admission fees of the spectators.</p> + +<p>The financial part of the enterprise having now been attended to, a +treasurer should be appointed to take charge of the funds, and to keep +an account of all receipts and expenditures. Of course, if, as I have +said before, the tournament is being held by a club, many of these +details are already fulfilled by previous organization. The date should +be the next thing decided. In each instance there will be many +circumstances affecting this date. If the idea of having a tournament is +being discussed with a view to holding it later in the summer, find out +what players will be in the neighborhood at that time, and try to invite +players to visit the locality at about that period. If you only have a +week or ten days in which to make your preparations (for a small +tournament), try to fix on a day when there will be nothing else of +importance going on near by. The chief object of the managers or of the +committee should be to secure as large an attendance as possible, for a +crowd will encourage the players to better effort.</p> + +<p>The date having been settled upon, send out notices. State clearly all +the facts. Say at what place, on what date, and at what time of day the +tournament is to be held; and also under whose auspices. Give a list of +the events—such as men's singles, doubles, women's singles, mixed +doubles, or whatever there is to be; state the requirements for +entrances, and give the date when entries close. Be sure to give the +name and address of the person who has been assigned to receive these +entries. State also in the notice the hours of play, the number of sets +to the match, the kind of balls that are to be used, and announce any +special regulations that it may have been found necessary to adopt. +Finally, enumerate the prizes; but remember that it is always in better +taste to make these inexpensive and more in the nature of souvenirs of +the occasion than trophies.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_707" id="Page_707">[Pg 707]</a></span></p> + +<p>The notices disposed of and sent out, the managers should now see that +the courts are rolled and otherwise put in order, so that they may be in +the best possible condition on the day set for the tournament. There +should be a plentiful supply of balls, for sometimes an entire box is +used in a match. In large tournaments I have seen the players dispose of +a box every set. At each end of the net put up a couple of chairs on +boxes for the umpires, and arrange seats about the court for the +spectators. If there are not enough chairs and benches handy, lay boards +on boxes, and so produce impromptu settees. Don't fail to hire a couple +of boys to pick up the balls.</p> + +<p>All these details are necessary ones; there are a few others that might +be termed luxuries, such as having printed tickets and programmes, and +an awning stretched along one side of the court to shelter the ladies +from the sun. One more necessary point, however, is to secure competent +judges and umpires, otherwise something might occur during play that +would mar the pleasure of the day. Of course it would be a +misunderstanding, but this can be easily avoided by having officials +fully conversant with the game and familiar with the duties required of +them.</p> + +<p>After all the entries have been received, make the drawings, and, if +possible, post them somewhere where all those interested in the coming +tournament will be able to see them. When, on the day set, the hour to +begin play arrives, start promptly. Delay is always fatal to the success +of any sporting event. People don't like to sit around and wait. But all +that I have said here is merely in the line of suggestion. Many little +matters crop up as soon as any enterprise of this kind is entered into, +and these questions have to be settled according to the emergency. Let +the central idea be to anticipate anything that might happen; then, as a +rule, nothing will happen.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">The Graduate</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="THE_CAMERA_CLUB" id="THE_CAMERA_CLUB"></a> +<img src="images/ill_017.jpg" width="600" height="193" alt="THE CAMERA CLUB" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin +collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question +on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should +address Editor Stamp Department.</p></div> + +<h3>HOW TO CATCH CLOUDS.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>7th.</td><td align='left'>About</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11th.</td><td align='left'>this</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14th.</td><td align='left'>time</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17th.</td><td align='left'>look</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>21st.</td><td align='left'>out</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>28th.</td><td align='left'>for</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>31st.</td><td align='left'>storms.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>This was usually the weather warning in the old-time almanacs which the +farmer was in the habit of consulting nightly, in order to make his +plans for his haying or harvesting, his sowing or reaping, the success +of which depended on the state of the weather.</p> + +<p>The amateur photographer who makes a specialty of landscapes should put +this warning in his note-book, substituting the word clouds for that of +storms, changing it to read, "About this time look out for clouds."</p> + +<p>A picture of a landscape with clouds in the sky is much finer than where +the sky is perfectly white, and cloud pictures themselves are very +interesting.</p> + +<p>It is not an easy matter to catch the clouds even when the sky is full +of them. If they are obtained in the negative, they are usually lost in +the printing, as the landscape portion of the negative, being less dense +than the sky, prints much more quickly, and to obtain a print of the +clouds the lines of the landscape would be almost black from +over-printing.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 333px;"> +<img src="images/ill_018.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN THE TYROL, SHOWING CLOUD EFFECT." title="" /> +<span class="caption">PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN THE TYROL, SHOWING CLOUD EFFECT.</span> +</div> + +<p>There is a device called a "cloud-catcher," which is a shutter so +arranged with adjustable disks that the foreground or landscape part of +the picture is given a time exposure, while the sky is taken +instantaneously. This is supposed to give the proper time of exposure +for each part of the picture.</p> + +<p>The amateur cannot always afford such an attachment, and, in order to +obtain clouds in his landscapes, must resort to various devices of +developing and printing.</p> + +<p>The most common method is to take two pictures, one exposed for the sky, +and the other for the landscape, and print from both negatives. In +printing from a "sky"-and-"landscape" negative, print the sky first, +covering the part of the sensitive paper on which the landscape is to be +printed. After printing the sky, place the other negative in the frame +and print the landscape. It does not matter if the opaque paper which +covers the landscape does not follow the horizon lines exactly, as the +darker tones of the landscape will blot out the outlines of the clouds +if they lap on the horizon.</p> + +<p>If one has a negative where the clouds are good but will not print out +unless the rest of the picture is over-printed, a good print may be +obtained by this simple device: Take an empty tin-can a little longer +than the printing-frame. Cut off the top and bottom, and cut the can in +two the long way. This will give you a piece of rolled tin. Flatten one +edge, leaving the other curved. Attach the flat edge to the side of the +printing-frame so as to shield the landscape part of the negative. This +will make a shade for this part of the negative, which prints the +fastest, and thus retard the printing, allowing the denser portions a +longer time to print. A shaded negative should always be printed in +diffused light, not in the direct rays of the sun.</p> + +<p>Pictures of clouds, or rather, <i>false</i> clouds, are made by holding the +negative over the flame of a candle and letting the glass side become +covered with lamp-black. Then, with a soft tuft of cotton, wipe off the +smoke in places, leaving the outlines of clouds on the glass. Very good +clouds can be made by this method with a little practice. Another way is +to attach a piece of fine tissue-paper to the negative and sketch clouds +in the sky portion, unless the sky is very dense. A thin sky is often +improved by these sham clouds.</p> + +<p>The picture which we reproduce here was taken by Sir Knight Sidney +Stearns, of Cleveland, Ohio. It was taken at Halle in the Tyrol, time +nearly sunset. The sun, as may be seen by looking at the picture, is at +the left of the camera and well toward the front. This is usually the +best direction from which the strongest light should fall, either from +the left or right and near the front of the camera. One should seldom or +never take a picture with the sun directly behind the camera.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ADVERTISEMENTS.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>Highest of all in Leavening Power.—Latest U. S. Gov't Report.</h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/ill_019.jpg" width="300" height="94" alt="Royal Baking Powder" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_020.jpg" width="500" height="72" alt="If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE WATER" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 192px;"> +<img src="images/ill_021.jpg" width="192" height="82" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">WONDER CABINET <b>FREE</b>. Missing Link Puzzle, Devil's Bottle, Pocket Camera, +Latest Wire Puzzle, Spook Photos, Book of Sleight of Hand. Total Value +60c. Sent free with immense catalogue of 1000 Bargains for 10c. for +postage.</p> + +<h4>INGERSOLL & BRO., 65 Cortlandt Street N. Y.</h4> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_708" id="Page_708">[Pg 708]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="BICYCLING" id="BICYCLING"></a> +<img src="images/ill_022.jpg" width="600" height="139" alt="BICYCLING" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the +Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our +maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from the +official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen. +Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L. A. W., the +Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership +blanks and information so far as possible.</p></div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 384px;"> +<img src="images/ill_023.jpg" width="384" height="1200" alt="Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers</span> +</div> + +<p>The final run into Albany on the road from New York, according to the +plan which we have been following—that is, of making the journey in +four days—is from Hudson to Albany, a distance of twenty-eight to +thirty miles. Leaving Hudson, which was the northernmost point reached +on last week's map, the rider goes out on to the main road by the way of +Fourth Street and Pond Road, and thence follows the telegraph poles +direct to Stockport, passing through Stottville. The road is hilly while +running from the town of Hudson, and about half-way from Stottville to +Stockport there is another rather stiff hill. The distance is a little +over five miles, and the road is poor, on the whole, owing to its +rolling nature and the fact that the road-bottom is largely clay. From +Stockport to Stuyvesant Falls it improves a little, though it is +somewhat hilly. The rider should follow the telegraph poles all the way, +and keep a sharp lookout for L.A.W. signs, which will be of great +assistance wherever they are found. This run is about three and +three-quarters or four miles, and the next stage, from Stuyvesant Falls +to Kinderhook, is four miles. There is no difficulty in following the +road, with the possible exception of an abrupt fork about one and +one-half or two miles out of Stuyvesant Falls. Here, of course, the +rider should keep to the right on the main road. From Kinderhook to Pine +Grove is a little under five miles. Keep to the left at Kinderhook after +leaving the Kinderhook Hotel, keeping always to the Albany Post Road +with the telegraph poles. Thence continue from Pine Grove to Schodack +Centre, and when you have made four and one-half miles, and crossed two +small bridges, turn to the right at Willow Trees, whence the run to +Schodack Centre is clearly marked, a distance, in all, of a little over +eight miles. From here the run to the Hudson, opposite Albany, passes +through East Greenbush, three miles away, and finally brings up at the +Hudson at South Bridge, a little less than five miles further. This last +stage of the journey is somewhat hilly again, and there is a bad descent +just before reaching Greenbush, where the rider should take the utmost +care, owing to the fact that the hill itself is bad, and the difficulty +complicated by a railroad crossing. On reaching the Hudson the rider +should cross on South Bridge, and running into Albany turn into +Broadway, thence to State Street, thence to North Pearl Street, and +finally put up at the Kenmore Hotel.</p> + +<p>While this run from New York to Albany is in parts hilly, and while +occasionally the rider will strike a bit of difficult road, it is +nevertheless one of the best bicycle trips in the United States, not +only on account of the condition of the roads, but on account of its +picturesque and historical interest. As was said last week, any one who +intends to take the trip, or who can give the time to it, is strongly +advised to take a week to do it in, to cross the Hudson several times on +the way, and make short runs into the country on the other side. It is +possible in this way for a rider of reasonable experience to see +practically the whole of the Hudson River valley between these two +points, and to have a fine outing without doing too much "scorching," +or, on the other hand, taking the journey too slowly. The distance from +New York to Albany, or rather from Central Park and 110th Street to the +Kenmore Hotel, is one hundred and fifty-three and three-quarter miles, +and by taking seven or eight days to the trip, the rider can easily +cover three to four hundred miles in his excursions off the main route.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Note</span>.—Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of +route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, +Connecticut, in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New +Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814. +Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816. +Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in +No. 818.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_709" id="Page_709">[Pg 709]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="THE_PUDDING_STICK" id="THE_PUDDING_STICK"></a> +<img src="images/ill_024.jpg" width="600" height="164" alt="THE PUDDING STICK" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This Department is conducted in the interest of Girls and Young +Women, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on +the subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address +Editor.</p></div> + +<p>I have talked to you about notes and letters in a previous number of the +paper, but some of my <span class="smcap">Round Table</span> readers ask to have the subject +treated again, with special attention to correspondence of a ceremonious +character.</p> + +<p>A note of invitation should be very cordial, affectionate, and explicit. +You should state clearly in such a note the day and train which you +would like your friend to take, and the length of time you expect her to +stay with you. Formerly it was regarded as inhospitable to limit in any +way the duration of a friend's visit, but we understand now that it is +more convenient and comfortable for all concerned to have the precise +number of days or weeks indicated. This arrangement enables your friends +to make other engagements, and leaves you free to invite other friends +if, as often happens, you can have the pleasure of entertaining +successive guests during a summer. Let me give you some examples.</p> + +<p>Mary Hills wishes to ask Abby Lewis to spend a week with her at Dove's +Nest in the Catskills, Mary's country home. Her letter of invitation +might be written as follows:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Dove's Nest, Tannersville P.O., New York</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Dearest Abby</span>,—It seems very long since I saw you. Mamma and I +were talking last night about the delightful visit we had at your +home just before the Van Blarcoms went abroad. It is very lovely +at Dove's Nest now, and we are anxious to have you see the place +while our sweet-pease and nasturtiums are in bloom. Won't you come +on Thursday, the twentieth, by the ten-o'clock train (West Shore), +and stay with me till Monday, the thirty-first? I will meet you at +the station on Thursday afternoon. We have a new golf course, and +all sorts of pleasant things are going on.</p> + +<p>Hoping soon to see you, I am, dear Abby,</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;">Yours lovingly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Mary Hills</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 36em;">July fifteenth, eighteen—</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Abby's reply would probably be somewhat like this:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;">182 <span class="smcap">Seventy-eighth Street, New York</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Dear, dear Mary</span>,—How good you are to ask me for so charming a +visit! It will give me the greatest pleasure to go to you on the +twentieth and to stay for ten days, as you suggest. You may expect +to see me flying down the station to meet you when the ten-o'clock +train reaches the mountains on that afternoon. I can hardly wait +for the blissful time to arrive. Mamma sends her love, and I am, +as ever,</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;">Devotedly yours,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 34em;"><span class="smcap">Abby Lewis</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>A household critic suggests to me at this point that "Dearest Abby" and +"Dear, dear Mary," are rather gushing, and not quite in the approved +literary style which ought to be shown to girls. But I am talking to +real girls, and I know how they write, and I don't mind in the least a +little effervescence in the way of adjectives. I like girls to call me +"Dearest" when they write to me, and I don't mind their saying "Dear" to +one another over and over again.</p> + +<p>How much luggage you must take when going on a visit depends on the +length of the visit and the number of engagements it will include. As a +rule, in our changeable climate you will need, in going away from home, +something thick and something thin. A trunk is a great comfort, though +one can manage with a large bag or a telescope, while a man's suit-case +lends itself finely to the folding of a girl's gown.</p> + +<p>With two or three pretty shirt-waists and a nice skirt, a simple dress +for evenings, and a warm stuff costume of serge or flannel for cool or +rainy mornings, a girl will be supplied for every needful requirement. +One's own dainty home wardrobe is sufficient for a visit, and if the +sailor hat be trim, the shoes and gloves in order, and the girl carry +herself gracefully, nobody will think a second time about her dress.</p> + +<p>As soon as possible after a journey lay aside your travelling dress, and +make a fresh toilette before joining the family. Try to ascertain the +family habits, and conform to them.</p> + +<p>I heard not long ago of a girl, said to be very clever and bright, who +exclaimed: "Make my own bed! Why, I wouldn't know how to begin! I +couldn't get the sheets on straight!" She wasn't a Pudding Stick girl of +mine, I'm happy to say. More on this subject next time.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/ill_025.jpg" width="300" height="72" alt="Signature" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>SICKNESS AMONG CHILDREN</h3> + +<p>is prevalent at all seasons of the year, but can be avoided largely when +they are properly cared for. <i>Infant Health</i> is the title of a valuable +pamphlet accessible to all who will send address to the New York +Condensed Milk Co., N. Y. City.—[<i>Adv.</i>]</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ADVERTISEMENTS.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Arnold</h2> + +<h2>Constable & Co</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h4>MISSES' AND CHILDREN'S</h4> + +<h2>Wash</h2> + +<h2>Suits</h2> + +<h4>GREATLY REDUCED PRICES.</h4> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h4>Broadway & 19th st.</h4> + +<h4>NEW YORK.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/ill_026.jpg" width="300" height="170" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>Trilby's Foot</h2> + +<p class="center">was perfect (perhaps yours is), but even perfect feet get tired, and +nothing takes out the tired aches like Pond's Extract.</p> + +<h4>Avoid substitutes; accept genuine only, with buff wrapper and yellow +label.</h4> + +<h4>POND'S EXTRACT CO., 76 Fifth Ave., New York.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Postage Stamps, &c.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100px;"> +<img src="images/ill_027.jpg" width="100" height="69" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">100 all dif. Venezuela, Costa Rica, etc., only 10c.; 200 all dif. Hayti, +Hawaii, etc., only 50c. Ag'ts wanted at 50 per ct. com. List FREE!</p> + +<h4><b>C. A. Stegmann</b>, 2722 Eads Av., St. Louis, Mo.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><b>100</b> all different, China, etc., 10c.; 5 Saxony, 10c.; 40 Spain, 40c.; 6 +Tunis, 14c.; 10 U. S. Revenues, 10c. Agts. wtd., 50% com.; '95 list +free.</p> + +<h4>CRITTENDEN & BORGMAN CO., Detroit, Mich.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_028.jpg" width="500" height="72" alt="If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE WATER" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>Commit to Memory</h1> + +<p>the best things in Prose and Poetry, always including good Songs and +Hymns. It is surprising how little good work of this kind seems to be +done in the Schools, if one must judge from the small number of people +who can repeat, without mistake or omission, as many as <b>Three</b> good songs +or hymns.</p> + +<h3>Clear, Sharp, Definite,</h3> + +<p>and accurate Memory work is a most excellent thing, whether in School or +out of it, among all ages and all classes. But let that which is so +learned be worth learning and worth retaining. The Franklin Square Song +Collection presents a large number of</p> + +<h3>Old and New Songs</h3> + +<p>and Hymns, in great variety and very carefully selected, comprising +Sixteen Hundred in the Eight Numbers thus far issued, together with much +choice and profitable Reading Matter relating to Music and Musicians. In +the complete and varied</p> + +<h3>Table of Contents,</h3> + +<p>which is sent free on application to the Publishers, there are found +dozens of the best things in the World, which are well worth committing +to memory; and they who know most of such good things, and appreciate +and enjoy them most, are really among the best educated people in any +country. They have the best result of Education. For above Contents, +with sample pages of Music, address</p> + +<h4>Harper & Brothers, New York.</h4> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_710" id="Page_710">[Pg 710]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="AN_EXCITING_GAME" id="AN_EXCITING_GAME"></a>PRIZE-STORY COMPETITION.</h2> + +<h3>SECOND-PRIZE STORY.</h3> + +<h2>An Exciting Game. By Nancy Howe Wood.</h2> + +<p>It was when I was a struggling young physician in a small country town +that I passed through an adventure which I would not care to repeat, +although now I can plainly see its humorous aspect.</p> + +<p>I had but shortly before graduated from a medical college, and was +trying hard to get my living in a little village where there were two +other older and more experienced doctors. I was becoming greatly +disheartened, when one day, on my return from a visit to a poor woman of +the village, I found an official-looking letter awaiting me. I opened it +with some degree of excitement, and was astonished to find that it was +an offer to me of the position of resident physician in the Blankville +Insane Asylum, situated about two miles away. A salary was named which +seemed a fortune to me, poverty-stricken as I then was. (I afterwards +learned that the offer was made to me through the efforts of an +influential friend.)</p> + +<p>At first the letter gave me unlimited joy, and I shouted like a +school-boy; but when I began to think what it would actually mean my +heart sank. All my life I had had a nervous horror of insane persons, +and if I should accept this offer I would be obliged to stay with them, +eat with them, and live among them almost as one of themselves. At this +thought I fairly shuddered, and was forced to confess to myself that I +could never endure such a strain on my nerves, doctor though I was.</p> + +<p>The next morning, however, when I again read the letter, the offer +seemed so tempting that I said to myself: "Pshaw! I will not be +conquered by an attack of nerves. Come, brace yourself up, man. Why, a +few years at that salary will be enough to set you up for life!" +Nevertheless, I determined to go up the following day, and <i>look over</i> +the place before deciding on my final answer.</p> + +<p>So early the next morning I presented myself at the asylum, all my +nervousness gone. I was so politely shown about, and everything looked +so orderly and well cared for, and the grounds without seemed so +peaceful and quiet, that I was delighted with it all. My misgivings had +almost vanished, and I had so nearly made up my mind to accept the +lucrative offer, that I said to the smiling and complaisant guard who +was acting as my guide:</p> + +<p>"Tell the superintendent that if he will kindly allow me to stroll in +the garden and think the matter over, I will give him my final answer +within the hour." So saying, I began to pace up and down the +flower-bordered walks.</p> + +<p>I was by this time in such a well-satisfied frame of mind that I +promptly dispelled the last remnants of my former nervousness.</p> + +<p>I was just on the point of re-entering the asylum to say to the +Superintendent that I gratefully accepted his offer when I was startled +by the sound of crackling twigs behind me. Turning quickly, I found +myself face to face with a man whom I supposed at first to be one of the +guards. But as soon as I moved away from him to go toward the house he +sprang forward with hand outstretched to clutch me, uttering an idiotic +chuckle. Cold shivers chased up and down my back as the thought flashed +upon me that it was an escaped patient! With a shriek I ran down the +path at the top of my speed, my fear increased by the sound of pursuing +steps behind me.</p> + +<p>I doubled and turned on the track, striving to distance or elude my +dreaded pursuer, but in spite of my frantic efforts, he kept closely at +my heels. Finally in one of my windings I was confronted by the six-foot +stone wall that surrounded the asylum on every side. Glancing backward, +I saw that the maniac—as I now knew him to be—was almost upon me, and, +making a desperate effort, I succeeded in reaching the top of the wall. +For a moment I fancied myself secure: but my pursuer darted behind the +shrubbery, and pulled out a small ladder, evidently used by the +gardeners. Seeing him thus prepared to follow me, I hurriedly dropped to +the ground outside, and scrambled to my feet just as the lunatic's head +appeared above the top of the wall. Again I had only a short start +before he was once more on my track.</p> + +<p>And now began an exciting race "over brush, brake, and brier"; sometimes +I stumbled over a protruding root and fell headlong, but was up again in +a twinkling; sometimes my pursuer was so close upon me that I could +easily hear his panting breath. At the end of the first mile and a +quarter I thought myself done for, but my college training, which, +luckily, I had not forgotten, stood me in good stead, and I desperately +ran on.</p> + +<p>"Oh," thought I, wildly, "where are the villagers? Isn't anybody near? +But there was no road leading out of the village in that direction, and +few people passed that way. At last, after years, it seemed to me, we +entered the village, and tore at full speed down the main street. If I +had longed before for some human soul to help me, I now as earnestly +prayed that I might unobserved gain my own door, and so be safe. But no; +some small boy, busily engaged doing nothing, soon raised the cry,</p> + +<p>"Say, here comes the fresh young doctor a-tearing down the street like a +steam-engine!"</p> + +<p>Then, almost tired out, and seeing the door of a small house standing +open, I dashed in, passed through the hall and dining-room, where the +astonished family were sitting at dinner, and out into the back yard, +where, completely exhausted, and utterly unable to run a step further, I +dropped behind a barrel.</p> + +<p>My hope had been that the people of the house would have understood my +predicament and stopped the madman, but they evidently had not taken in +the situation, or else he had been too quick for them, for from behind +the barrel where I had concealed myself I could hear him come through +the open doorway and search the yard for me.</p> + +<p>And now I feared that my panting breath would betray me—and it did, for +I heard his stealthy steps approach the spot where I lay quaking, and +his ugly, leering face peered round at me, and he sprang forward and +touched me, calling out, as I fell back almost fainting with terror: +"<i>Tag! You're it!</i>"</p> + +<p>In an instant the meaning of his words flashed over me, and I cursed +myself for my foolish nervousness. The confounded fool had taken it for +a game of tag!</p> + +<p>By this time quite a little crowd of villagers had gathered around me, +and the escaped lunatic was secured to wait for the arrival of his +keeper, and I managed to reach my home, after being fortified by a glass +of wine.</p> + +<p>It was several days before my nerves recovered their usual steadiness, +and it is perhaps needless to add that I did not accept the situation.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>The Helping Hand.</h2> + +<p>The Lancelot Chapter, of Newtonville, Mass., has nine members, and each +earned twenty-five cents. Then the Chapter added a little, and the +secretary forwarded $3 with the best of Lancelot wishes Names of the +contributors are Ella A. Gould, Marion Drew Bassett, Adella J. +Saunderson, Ethel T. Gammons, Alice L. Harrison, Esther H. Dyson, Lulu +Ulmer, Mabel Glazier, and Hazel L. Bobbins.</p> + +<p>The Edison Chapter, of Bangor, Me., send $2 for the Fund. This Fund is, +you know, to help build the Round Table Industrial School-house at Good +Will Farm, where poor boys are educated. The Table is raising this Fund, +and it asks contributions from all who want, first, to help chivalrous +young persons who are trying to help others, and second, to help in the +best possible way boys who need help.</p> + +<p>Any sums, sent by anybody, will be thankfully received and acknowledged +in the Table. Members of the Edison Chapter, which sent the $2 the other +day, earned the money folding and carrying papers, getting out ashes, +and washing dishes—truly practical methods of being truly generous.</p> + +<p>Founders of the Order of the Round Table want $1000 to complete this +School Fund. Who will help them?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_711" id="Page_711">[Pg 711]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>From Some Far-Away Members.</h2> + +<p>The Table loves to hear from far-distant places, and to have members +tell us how their country looks, and what the people do. Here is news +from three friends:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Spring Creek, Marlborough, New Zealand</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>New Zealand is a far-away country to you, yet I have seen some +letters from here. The town I live near is not very large. It is +subject to floods, and last year the water came thirteen times +into some of the shops. I have not travelled about much, so I +cannot describe to you my journeys as many other girls do. The +North Island of New Zealand is very volcanic, especially near the +centre. There are many hot springs there, some just warm, and +others boiling. The Maories, as the natives are called, boil their +potatoes in them, by letting them down into the springs in +baskets.</p> + +<p>Out of one of the volcanic mountains the lava that streamed down +the sides was a pale pink. It was formed into terraces all down +the mountainside. On another mountain it was much the same, only +the terraces were white. A few years ago a great eruption caused +them to entirely disappear. Since then some brown ones have begun +to form, but they are very inferior to the former ones. When the +eruption took place there were loud noises heard almost all over +New Zealand. Many people who lived near were wellnigh smothered +with mud, and for miles the country was covered with ashes and +mud, in many places several feet thick. Most of the deposit was of +a steel-gray color, and just like knife-polish in texture. My +younger sister and I collect stamps. As yet we have very few. I +have seen letters asking for girls to write and exchange stamps. I +would much like some girls to write to me, and send the stamps of +their countries. In return I will send them New Zealand ones.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Jean Chaytor</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I am collecting stamps, and would be glad if any girls would write +to me and send me some stamps of their country, and I will send +them some of mine. There is a Maori pah about two miles from here. +Some time ago the chief died, and they had a great tangi, which +lasted for a fortnight. In old times Maoris used to bury their +dead head down and all their goods with them, and then stick a +canoe at the head of the grave.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Constance Chaytor</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>There was a chrysanthemum show here last Thursday, and there were +some lovely flowers at it. I think the chrysanthemums are +beautiful flowers, especially the Japanese ones. We have big +floods in Blenheim. I think they are great fun, but they do great +damage, especially to the farms. Once when we had a big flood my +sister was sitting on the bed taking off her boots. She forgot +about the water, and dropped her boots into it, and they floated +about the house all night.</p> + +<p>A month ago Rev. Mr. Brittain, a Melanesian missionary, and +twenty-two Melanesian boys came to Blenheim; only a few of the +boys could speak English. The others speak Mota. It was +interesting hearing all about the islands. At Norfolk Island there +is a large college. There is also a beautiful church. All the +seats are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Last summer all our family +and several others went down to White's Bay, which is about ten +miles from Blenheim, camping. We had three tents. We staid two +weeks, and had a splendid time. I collect stamps, and would be +very glad if any of the girls would write to me and send some, and +I in return would send them some New Zealand ones.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Millie Dobson</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chin-Kiang, China.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I wrote a long letter which was accepted for publication in the +Table, and every time I get a new number I look for it, but am +always disappointed. In the last one there was a letter from +Juliet Bredon, with whom I spent several weeks in Japan, which +interested me very much, and made me wish all the more to see mine +in print. It will be soon, won't it? I will write something more +about Chin-Kiang by-and-by if it will interest other members of +the Table.</p></div> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 32em;"><span class="smcap">Mildred C. Jones</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Your letter shall appear in due time. Yes, tell us more about China and +the Chinese. We are much interested—all of us.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/ill_029.jpg" width="300" height="82" alt="Ivory Soap" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">When you pack for the sea shore or the mountains, fill a tray of your +trunk with Ivory Soap and require your laundress to use it. Light summer +garments should be washed only with a pure white soap.</p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">The Procter & Gamble Co., Cin'ti</span>.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/ill_030.jpg" width="200" height="188" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>Not of the preparations of coloring matter and essential oils so often +sold under the name of rootbeer, but of the purest, most delicious, +health-giving beverage possible to produce. One gallon of Hires' is +worth ten of the counterfeit kind. Suppose an imitation extract costs +five cents less than the genuine Hires; the same amount of sugar and +trouble is required; you save one cent a gallon, and—get an unhealthful +imitation in the end. Ask for HIRES and <i>get</i> it.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/ill_031.jpg" width="300" height="105" alt="HIRES' Rootbeer" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4>THE CHAS. E. HIRES CO., Philadelphia.</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> +<img src="images/ill_032.jpg" width="250" height="88" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/ill_033.jpg" width="200" height="136" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">Carry in pocket. Takes 25 perfect pictures in one loading—re-loading +costs 20c. Ask your dealer for it, or send for free booklet "All About +the Kombi."</p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Alfred C. Kemper</span>,</h4> + +<h4>Branches: London, Berlin. 132-134 Lake Street, Chicago</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/ill_034.jpg" width="200" height="179" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h3><span class="u">CARD PRINTER</span> <b>FREE</b></h3> + +<p>Sets any name in one minute; prints 500 cards an hour. YOU can make +money with it. A font of pretty type, also Indelible Ink, Type Holder, +Pads and Tweezers. Best Linen Marker; worth $1.00. Sample mailed FREE +for 10c. stamps for postage on outfit and large catalogue of 1000 +Bargains.</p> + +<h4>R. H. Ingersoll & Bro. 65 Cortlandt St. N.Y. City</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><b>DEAFNESS & HEAD NOISES CURED</b> by my <b>INVISIBLE</b> Tubular Cushions. Have +helped more to good <b>HEAR</b>ing than all other devices combined. Whispers +<b>HEAR</b>d. Help ears as glasses do eyes. <b>F. Hiscox</b>, 853 B'dway, N.Y. Book of +proofs FREE</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_035.jpg" width="500" height="72" alt="If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE WATER" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Harper's Catalogue,</h2> + +<p class="center">Thoroughly revised, classified, and indexed, will be sent by mail to any +address on receipt of ten cents.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>By W. J. HENDERSON</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>Elements of Navigation</h3> + +<p class="center">With Diagrams. 16mo, Cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<h3>Afloat with the Flag</h3> + +<p class="center">Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental. $1.25.</p> + +<h3>Sea Yarns for Boys</h3> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Spun by an Old Salt</span>. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, +$1.25.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h4>Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York</h4> + +<p class="center">☞ <i>For sale by all booksellers, or will be mailed by the +publishers, postage prepaid, on receipt of the price.</i></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_712" id="Page_712">[Pg 712]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 1000px;"> +<img src="images/ill_036.jpg" width="1000" height="410" alt="THE BABY ELEPHANT'S MISADVENTURE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE BABY ELEPHANT'S MISADVENTURE, OR THE SATISFACTION OF HAVING AN EFFICIENT PARENT.</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>A SAFE METHOD.</h2> + +<p>The treasures of the Bank of France are said to be better guarded than +those of any other bank in the world. At the close of business hours +every day, when the money is put into the vaults in the cellar, masons +at once wall up the doors with hydraulic mortar. Water is then turned on +and kept running until the cellar is flooded. A burglar would have to +work in a diving suit and break down a cement wall before he could even +start to loot the vaults. When the officers arrive the next morning, the +water is drawn off, the masonry is torn down, and the vaults opened.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>AN INDIAN TRADITION.</h2> + +<p>Here is an Indian version of the story of the flood, as it was taken by +a writer connected with an Australian journal. Says he: "All of the +northern coast Indians have a tradition of a flood which destroyed all +mankind except a pair from which the earth was peopled. Each tribe gives +the story a local coloring, but the plot of the story is much the same. +The Bella Coola tradition is as follows: The Creator of the universe, +Mes-mes-sa-la-nik, had great difficulty in the arrangement of the land +and water. The earth persisted in sinking out of sight. At last he hit +upon a plan which worked very well. Taking a long line of twisted walrus +hide, he tied it around the dry land, and fastened the other end to the +corner of the moon. Everything worked well for a long time; but at last +the Spirit became very much offended at the action of mankind, and in a +fit of anger one day seized his great stone knife, and with a mighty +hack severed the rope of twisted skin. Immediately the land began to +sink into the sea. The angry waves rushed in torrents up the valleys, +and in a short time nothing was visible except the peak of a very high +mountain. All mankind perished in the whelming waters, with the +exception of two, a man and his wife, who were out fishing in a great +canoe. These two succeeded in reaching the top of the mountain, and +proceeded to make themselves at home. Here they remained for some time, +until the anger of Mes-mes-sa-la-nik had cooled, which resulted in his +fishing up the severed thong and again fastening it to the moon. From +this pair thus saved the earth was again populated."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>WHERE IT WENT.</h2> + +<p>Lunatics often assume a superiority of intellect to others which is +quite amusing. A gentleman travelling in England some years ago, while +walking along the road not far from the side of which there ran a +railway, encountered a number of insane people out for exercise in +charge of a keeper. With a nod toward the railway tracks, he said to one +of the lunatics,</p> + +<p>"Where does this railway go to?"</p> + +<p>The lunatic looked at him scornfully a moment, and then replied:</p> + +<p>"It don't go anywhere. We keep it here to run trains on."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>A HUGE PIE.</h2> + +<p>The largest pie ever known was that described in the Newcastle +<i>Chronicle</i> for the 6th January, 1770. It was shipped to Sir Henry Gray, +Baronet, London, Mrs. Dorothy Patterson, housekeeper at Hawic, being the +maker. Into the composition of this great pie entered two bushels of +flour, twenty pounds of butter, four geese, two turkeys, two rabbits, +four wild ducks, two woodcocks, six snipe, four partridges, two neats' +tongues, two curlews, seven black-birds, and six pigeons. It weighed +twelve stone, and was nine feet in circumference at the bottom. It was +furnished with a case on wheels, for convenience in passing it round to +the guests.</p> + +<p>The receipt for this pie is given here as a hint to those of our readers +who may be thinking of getting up a picnic within the next two or three +weeks. A half dozen pies of this size ought to be enough for at least +one picnic.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>A STRANGE SUIT.</h2> + +<p>According to the Pittsburg <i>Journal</i>, Peter Gruber, the Rattlesnake King +of Venango County, has made the most unique costume any man ever wore. +It consists of coat, vest, trousers, hat, shoes, and shirt, and is made +entirely of the skins of rattlesnakes. Seven hundred snakes, all caught +and skinned by Gruber during the past five years, provided the material +for this novel costume. To preserve the brilliancy and the flexibility +of the skins in the greatest possible degree, the snakes were skinned +alive, first being made unconscious by chloroform. They were then tanned +by a method peculiar to Gruber, and are as soft and elastic as woollen +goods. The different articles for this outfit were made by Oil City +tailors, shoemakers and hatters, and the costume is valued at $1000.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>A FEW NOTES ABOUT COINS.</h2> + +<p>The rei of Brazil, like the mill of our own money table, is an imaginary +coin, no piece of that denomination being coined. Ten thousand reis +equal $5.45.</p> + +<p>Vermont was the first State to issue a coinage on its own authority. +Copper coins were issued in 1785.</p> + +<p>The first woman's face represented on a coin was that of Pulcheria, the +Empress of the Eastern Empire.</p> + +<p>The Chinese stamp bars or ingots of gold or silver with their weight and +fineness, and pass them from hand to hand as coin.</p> + +<p>The first Maryland coins were minted in 1662, and were put in +circulation by act of Council ordering every householder to bring in +sixty pounds of tobacco and receive ten shillings of the new money in +exchange for it.</p> + +<p>In 1634 the Massachusetts General Assembly made bullets a legal tender +by the following enactment: "It is likewise ordered that muskett +bulletts of a full boare shall pass currently for a farthing apiece. +Provided that noe man be compelled to take above XIId att a tyme in +them."<br /><br /></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Begun in <span class="smcap">Harper's Young People</span> No. 801.</p></div> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Round Table, July 9, 1895, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, JULY 9, 1895 *** + +***** This file should be named 33054-h.htm or 33054-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/0/5/33054/ + +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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file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd6f61f --- /dev/null +++ b/33054.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3806 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's Round Table, July 9, 1895, 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 Round Table, July 9, 1895 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: July 2, 2010 [EBook #33054] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, JULY 9, 1895 *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HARPER'S ROUND TABLE] + +Copyright, 1895, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All Rights Reserved. + + * * * * * + +PUBLISHED WEEKLY. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1895. FIVE CENTS A COPY. + +VOL. XVI.--NO. 819. TWO DOLLARS A YEAR. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE RALEIGH REDS. + +BY JULIANA CONOVER. + + +"Attention! Right dress! Front! Order arms! Carry arms! Present arms! +Right shoulder arms! Carry arms! Stand straighter, Billy. Can't you +fellows keep in line? Right face! Left face! About face! Oh, all right, +I won't go on with the drill if you don't try harder than that." + +"Let us off this afternoon, Tommy? There's a good fellow," begged Billy +Atkins, a fat little chap of twelve, who, between the heat and his +exertions to keep his round body erect, was nearly used up. + +"You won't ever learn to drill decently, then," answered the discouraged +Sergeant. + +"Oh, yes, we will, in double-quick time; but it is so hot, and we all +want to be in good shape for to-morrow." + +"What do you say, fellows?" asked Tommy, turning to the other panting +recruits. + +"Let's stop," they all responded, briskly, "and try to fix up some +scheme for the Fourth." + +"Very well," answered the Sergeant, a little reluctantly. "I did want to +try the bayonet exercise; but I suppose we can do that some other time." +Then drawing himself up in true martial style: "Port arms! Dismissed!" + +The boys took instant advantage of the command, and hastily stacking +their arms, they squatted on the grass to try and cool off by means of +mumble-the-peg and a discussion of Fourth-of-July plans. + +Tom Porter, aged twelve, had spent a year at a military academy, and had +come home for his summer holidays burning with military ardor, and +primed with tactics from the latest manual of arms. + +He soon fired the ambition of the other boys, and in a week had +organized a company--or "squad," as he decided it really was--composed +of ten raw recruits and a band of two, mustered under the banner of the +Raleigh Reds. + +They drilled faithfully day after day under the command of their +enthusiastic Sergeant, and the discordant sounds from the fife and drum +became a nuisance to the neighborhood. + +But now that the novelty of the drill was wearing off, the boys began to +pine for active service, and wild plans of campaigns, with long +marches, bloody battles, and glorious victories, floated through Tommy's +brain, as he nightly revolved the future of the Raleigh Reds. + + * * * * * + +"Well, how are we going to celebrate the Fourth?" asked Lilly Atkins, +throwing down the knife in disgust, after failing ignominiously in the +delicate operation known as "eating oysters." "It's no fun just marching +at the tail end of a parade." + +"We might make another raid on old Jones's cattle," suggested Herbert +Day; "we know a lot more tactics and manoeuvres now." + +"Not much, unless Tommy teaches us some slick barbed-wire-fence drill," +said Dick. "I'm on my last pair of trousers." + +"That _was_ a pretty big fizzle," Tommy said, shaking his head. "And how +they did jolly me at home! Did you ever hear the poem my sister wrote +about it?" + +"No; what was it?" + +"Well, it was sort of like 'Half a League,' only different, about us, +instead of the 'Six Hundred.' It's pretty good," modestly. + +"Can't you say it?" asked Herbert. + +"Yes, go ahead, Tommy," chimed in the others. + +Tommy blushed. It seemed conceited to recite his sister's verses, and +yet he was genuinely proud of them. + +"It's a grind on us, you know," he said, warningly. + +"Oh, that's all right; we're used to it; fire away." + +Thus pressed, Tommy began: + + "'Half a mile, half a mile, + Dust-choked and solemn, + Straight for old Jones's field + Marched the brave column. + + "Forward, the Raleigh Red! + Charge for the bull!" he said. + Into the grazing herd + Marched the firm column. + + "'Forward the squad brigade.' + +"That's wrong, you know," he stopped to explain, "but Alice wouldn't +change it; she said it didn't matter." + +"It doesn't a bit," Dick answered. "Go on; it's great!" + + "'Forward the squad brigade.'" + +Went on Tommy. + + "'Was there a man afraid? + Not though the privates knew + Jones's bull's bad manners. + Theirs not to make a row, + Theirs not to question how, + Theirs but to charge the cow, + Into the grazing herd + Marched the red banners. + + "'Cows to the right of them. + Cows to the left of them, + Cows still in front of them, + Peacefully chewing. + Gazed at in wild surprise, + Boldly, with steady eyes, + Marched on at double-quick + Shouting their battle-cries, + To their undoing.' + + "'Whisked all the tails so bare, + Whisked in the sultry air, + Staring, as cows do stare, + Chewing the cud the while. + When from the close ranks + Broke forth a muffled beat. + _Not_ of bass drums, but feet, + Jersey and Alderney + Gazed on this mad retreat, + Gazed on the gay pranks + Of the old bull, who had + Broken the phalanx. + + "'Fence to the right of them, + Fence to the left of them, + Jones's bull behind them. + Pawing and bellowing. + What need commands to tell? + Boldly they ran and well, + Not one small private fell. + + "'Out of the horns of death, + Sergeant and squad pellmell, + Through the barbed-wire fence + Crawled the torn column. + When can their glory fade, + Oh, the retreat they made, + All Raleigh applauded! + Honor the Sergeant's feet, + Honor the squad's retreat, + Long be it lauded!'" + +"Guy, that's fine!" ejaculated little Billy. "Isn't it, Dick?" +enthusiastically. + +"Slickest thing I've ever heard," answered Dick. + +"We did get to that fence quick, and no mistake. And, George! I woke up +every night for a week dreaming that the old bull was just running his +horns into me." + +"We'll have to do something to get a better 'rep,'" said Tommy; "we've +done nothing but retreat so far. Old Farmer Applegate sent us flying, +when he had nothing but cow-hide boots and a pitchfork." + +"It was his garden," reflected Fatty Simmons; "that was why I ran." + +"Well, what are we going to do to-morrow, that's what I want to know?" +said Jack Green. + +"I have it!" exclaimed the Sergeant, his eyes sparkling. "The very +thing, fellows! I heard Davis and Jim White talking yesterday (they +didn't know I was there), and they were arranging a scheme for the +Fourth, which it would be dandy fun to break up." + +"What was it?" the others asked, eagerly. + +"You know the little cannon in Mr. Scott's field? He thinks no end of +it; it's a Revolutionary relic or Waterloo or something. Well, those +fellows are going to steal it to-night and have a great time to-morrow. +Five of them are in it." + +"Whew!" whistled Herbert Day. "I shouldn't like to be in their shoes +when Mr. Scott finds it out; he'll make it hot for them! But how's that +going to help us, Tommy; we're not in it?" + +"I know; but what we want to do," answered the Sergeant, "is to guard +the cannon and spoil their little game. It would be great to get ahead +of Davis for once." + +"Wouldn't they punch our heads?" said Billy, doubtfully; "they're +bigger." + +"I'd like to see them," blustered Fatty; "we'd run them through with our +bayonets." + +"What time did they agree to take the cannon, Tommy?" asked Bert. + +"After dark, about nine, I suppose. They said they could drag it across +the field to Davis's barn, and that nobody would catch on." + +"What sport!" chuckled Green. "We'll go early, then, and form in single +file round the old cannon, and I'd like to see the man who could take it +from us." + +"Mr. Scott has a big mastiff, hasn't he?" asked Billy. + +"What of that?" scornfully, and Billy was silenced. The boys forgot +their heat and fatigue in their eagerness to prepare for such a great +undertaking, and over and over again the Sergeant's commands rang out: +"Load! squad, ready! aim! _fire!_ Order arms! Load! ready! aim! recover +arms! _fire!_" etc., for a full hour. + +At half past eight that same evening the Raleigh Reds, with fife and +drum silent, marched through the lane leading to Mr. Scott's field. + +"Squad, halt!" was the command when they reached the fence. Then after a +whispered consultation and a stealthy glance round, lest the enemy might +attack them in the rear, they climbed carefully over the rails, and came +down cautiously on the other side. + +"Forward, march!" ordered the Sergeant, and his squad started by twos up +the field. + +The cannon was mounted at the other end, and the shadows which the moon +cast across their path looked to the boys' excited fancy like figures +rising from the ground. + +"A little faster step--hep, hep!" urged the Sergeant, as they lagged. +"Double time!" he commanded; but alas! a low ferocious growl, followed +by a loud bark, caused a sudden panic in the dauntless Reds. + +"The mastiff!" cried Joe Morris; "cut for your lives!" + +"Don't you do it! Charge bayonets!" shouted Tom, dismayed by this +breaking of the close-locked ranks. + +"About face!" yelled Fatty Simmons, assuming the command in his terror: +"quick to the fence, fellows--run!" and as the big dark object bounded +towards them, the squad for the second time in its short history took to +its heels without waiting further orders. Before the Sergeant could +collect his scattered wits, a rough hand seized him by the collar, and a +grim voice said, "I've caught you, hev I? You'll just come to Mr. Scott, +young man; he's waitin' for you." + +"Call that dog off; he'll chew them fellows up," gasped Tommy, trying to +wriggle away from the tight grip. + +"Sarve 'em right for sneaking in after dark and stealing the old cannon +that's stood here over a hundred years." + +"We didn't steal it," said the indignant Sergeant. "We came to guard +it!" + +"To guard it! Well, you didn't have much luck, then, for it's been gone +this half-hour. Mr. Scott, he's in a terrible way about it." + +"My, how early they must have come!" exclaimed Tom. + +"They? Who?" + +"Why, the fellows we came to keep from taking it." And then he explained +to the astonished farmer. + +The result was that the "Raleigh Reds" were recalled, trembling, from +their refuge behind the rail breastwork. Dom Pedro was quieted down, and +the demoralized squad was marched sheepishly to the house as prisoners +of war of the tall farmer. + +Mr. Scott interviewed them, and his anger gave way to amusement as the +boys told, in shamefaced confusion, of their part in the evening's work. + +"What your men need, Captain, is experience," he said; "so I will make a +bargain with you. If you manage to bring the cannon back by twelve +o'clock to-morrow morning, I will promise to furnish the finest display +of fireworks ever seen in this town, to celebrate the valor of the +'Raleigh Reds.'" + +The boys blushed as crimson as their colors at these words, but Tom +replied, stoutly: + +"We'll do it, Mr. Scott. Just see if we don't. I know we deserve to be +locked up in the guard-house for desertion; but give us one more chance, +and if we can't do anything but retreat, and in disorder too, then we'd +better give up the soldier business altogether." + +And so Mr. Scott clinched the bargain. + +How the little Sergeant racked his brains that night, as he tossed from +side to side, trying to hit upon some plan by which they could get the +field-gun away from its triumphant capturers! + +It would be no easy matter to drag the heavy cannon so far even if they +had a fair field; but when it was held by the enemy--five big +boys--Tommy shook his head in doubt, for he had no longer confidence in +the courage of his squad. + +The more he thought of it, the more he felt convinced that the only +thing to do was to decoy the guard in some way; but how? Suddenly he sat +up in bed and looked out of the window. It was moonlight, and he could +see some distance through the trees into a large field at the end of the +garden. + +"Yes, that will work," he murmured. "I don't want to do it, but it's the +only thing I can think of, and we've _got_ to get that field-gun +somehow." + +So, having at last made up his mind, he turned over and fell asleep. + + * * * * * + +"Fire! fire! fire!" clanged the great iron bell, putting all the toy +cannons to shame. + +"Fire! fire!" shouted the men and boys as they dropped their pipes and +their fire-crackers, and started in the direction from which a volume of +smoke rose black and dense against the clear sky. There were not many +fires in Raleigh, and this looked like a promising one. From all parts +of the little town the people swarmed, eager for any excitement that +would help to celebrate the holiday. + +"Now's our chance," whispered Tommy to the "Reds," as, ensconced behind +a hedge, they watched the crowd assemble. "We've got to hustle, for the +fire won't last long." + +"The fellows are all there, except Jim White," returned Dick, "and there +he comes, puffing like a steam-engine." + +"Then we're safe. Have you got the rope all ready, Billy?" + +"Yes, slip-knot and all." + +"Then come on, fellows." + +And the boys cast one lingering glance at the crackling flames, the +fire-engine, and the crowd, then turned round and started heroically in +the opposite direction. They knew well where the cannon was, for had not +the victorious party jeered at them from the top of the shed, when they +went to reconnoitre early in the morning? They looked cautiously over +the gate of Davis's barn-yard. All was quiet. They opened the gate, and +walked softly in. Yes, there stood the bone of contention, alone, +unguarded, its mouth pointed towards the barn. + +"Hurry up, Bert; you understand about putting on the rope," said the +nervous Sergeant, as he watched the smoke against the sky growing +perceptibly less. + +"They'll suspect us, sure," replied Joe, "when they find we're not +there." + +"Think of missing a fire!" groaned Bert; "and such a beauty too!" + +By the time the boys were ready to start the smoke had almost died away, +and the shouts had entirely subsided. + +"We must fight to-day, fellows, or break up the company," said Tommy, as +they toiled up the field dragging the gun after them over the rough +ground. + +"Does Pat Kinney know we're coming?" asked Dick. + +"Yes; and he's going to bring Dom Pedro to back us up," answered +"Fatty," straining away on the rope. + +"Lucky for us," said Billy, his spirits rising. + +Just as they reached the end of the field where the cannon always stood, +a shout from the fence made them grasp their arms and fall quickly in +line with bayonets fixed. + +"Steady!" cried the Sergeant, his knees beginning to shake--"steady, +fellows; don't run." + +On the big boys came. Six or seven of them, headed by Davis, bearing +down on the trembling squad with yells like wild Indians. + +"Steady," said the Sergeant again, and immovable as the Inchcape Rock +the line received the charge. + +"Get out of here or we'll break your necks!" cried White, as the squad +closed in round the cannon. + +"Throw a pack of big crackers at them," said a rough-looking boy; "that +will break their ranks," and a shower of fire-crackers followed these +words. + +Still the squad stood firm. + +"All right, then," said Harvey, solemnly; "if you don't surrender we'll +have to wade in and do you up. Won't we, Davis?" + +"Yield!" shouted Davis, flourishing a big stick; "the cannon or your +life!" + +"Come on," cried the undaunted little Sergeant, as a twenty-five-cent +cracker went off under his nose. "We'll never surrender!" + +"We'll never surrender!" echoed the rest of the squad, spurred on to +resistance by their leader. "Come on!" + +And the next moment the bayonets were shattered by the charge, the guns +wrenched from the boys' hands, and down they went on the ground a +wriggling mass of arms and legs. + +It began to look very bad for the Raleigh Reds, when, to their great +relief, the reserve force came up on a full gallop, urged on by the +command of, "At 'em, Pedro, at 'em!" + +This time Dom Pedro discriminated between his allies and the foe, for he +dashed at Davis with a growl that struck terror to the stoutest heart. + +"Here comes Mr. Scott, boys!" cried White, scrambling up from Dick's +prostrate form; "we'd better skip;" and leaving the still unconquered +squad fighting manfully on their backs, the big boys made for the fence, +with Dom Pedro in hot pursuit. + +The Reds picked themselves up, and looked ruefully for their scattered +arms. They were pretty well battered and broken, but the cannon was +safe. + +"Fall in," commanded the Sergeant, as Mr. Scott walked up, holding Pedro +by the collar. + +"Good for you, boys," he said, smiling; "you held your own well. I +watched from behind the fence, and was delighted with the way you stood +up to those big fellows." + +Tommy blushed with pride and pleasure. "They would have whipped us," he +replied, modestly, "if Dom Pedro hadn't scared them off." + +"At any rate you brought the field-gun back, and you deserve great +credit for the way you stuck to your colors. But what is this that +Kinney tells me about setting a barn on fire?" + +"It belonged to Tommy," said the others. "It was an old tool-house which +his father gave him to keep our things in. It made a beautiful fire." +Regretfully. + +"And you burnt it up just so as to decoy the boys?" Incredulously. + +"It was the only way to get the cannon," Tommy answered. "And the roof +leaked, anyway." + +"It certainly was a clever scheme, though rather a risky one," said Mr. +Scott. + +"I asked my father," Tommy hastened to explain. "And first he said no, +we mustn't do it, but when I told him that it was military tactics, and +how we wanted to prove to you that we were not such miserable cowards, +he gave in and said to go ahead." + +"Well, you certainly have proved it, and fulfilled your part of the +contract with honor, so now I want to do my part. So you may invite +everybody you want--the whole town, if you wish--in my name, to a grand +exhibition of fireworks in honor of the Raleigh Reds." + +The little Sergeant beamed from ear to ear. "Guy!" he ejaculated, +fervently, "what a slick old time we'll have!" Then, turning to the +smiling and embarrassed line, he cried, "Squad, _salute_!" and every +hand went up while the demoralized fife and drum favored Mr. Scott with +their wildest and most discordant tones. + +Then down the field they marched triumphantly, with torn banner flying, +and Dom Pedro stalking gravely on ahead. + + + + +THE LITTLE MINUTE-MAN. + +BY H. G. PAINE. + + +All during the winter Brinton had been saying what he would do if the +redcoats came, and grieving because his age, which was eight, prevented +him from going with his father to fight under General Washington. + +Every night, when his mother tucked him in his bed and kissed him +good-night, he told her not to be afraid, that he had promised his +father to protect her, and he proposed to do it. + +His plan of action, in event of the sudden appearance of the enemy, +varied somewhat from day to day, but in general outline it consisted of +a bold show of force at the front gate and a flank attack by Towser, the +dog. Should these tactics fail to discourage the British, he intended to +retire behind a stone fort he had built on the lawn, between the two +tall elms, and to fire stones at the invaders until they fell back in +confusion, while his mother would look on and encourage him from the +front porch. + +When the redcoats unexpectedly appeared in the distance, one afternoon +in May, what Brinton really did was to run helter-skelter down the road, +up the broad path to the house, through the front hall into the library, +close the door, and then peep out of the window to watch them go by. + +When he first caught sight of the soldiers Brinton was sure that there +was at least a regiment of them, but when they were opposite the front +gate all that he could see were a corporal and three privates. Instead +of keeping on their way, however, they turned up the path toward the +house, and then it seemed to Brinton that they were the most gigantic +human beings that he had ever seen. + +His mother was away for the day, and had taken Towser with her. This, +together with the fact that the enemy were now between him and his fort, +entirely spoiled Brinton's plan of campaign, and he decided to seek at +once some more secluded spot, and there to devise something to meet the +changed conditions. But when he started to run out of the room, he found +that in his hurry he had left the front door open, so that any one in +the hall would be in plain sight of the soldiers, who were now very +near. + +Unfortunately there was no other door by which Brinton could leave the +room. What was worse, there was no closet in which he could hide. The +soldiers were now so close at hand that he could hear their voices, and +a glance through the window showed him that two of them were going +around to the back of the house, as if to cut off any possible escape in +that direction. + +And his mother would not be back until six o'clock. Instinctively his +eyes sought the face of the tall time-piece in the corner. It was just +three; and he could hear the soldiers' steps on the front porch! + +The clock! + +Surely there was room within its generous case for a very small boy. + +[Illustration: THE MINUTE-MAN TAKES HIS POSITION.] + +In less time than it takes to write it Brinton was inside, and had +turned the button with which the door was fastened. As he pressed +himself close against the door, so that there should be room for the +pendulum to swing behind him, he heard the corporal enter the room. He +knew it must be the corporal, because he ordered the other man to go up +stairs and look around there, while he searched the room on the other +side of the hall. + +Brinton could hear the footsteps of the men as they walked about the +house, and their voices as they talked to each other. Then all was quiet +for a long while. He was just on the point of peeping out, when all four +men entered the room. + +"Well," said a voice that he recognized as the corporal's, "it is plain +there is no one at 'ome. Me own himpression is that the bird's flown. +'E's probably started back for camp, and the wife and the kid with 'im. +I don't believe in payink no hattention to w'at them Tories says, nohow, +goink back on their own neighbors--and kin, too, like as not. It's just +to curry favor with the hofficers, it's me own hopinion. 'Ow did 'e know +the Major was comink 'ome to-day, anyhow?" + +Nobody answered him. Perhaps he didn't expect any one to. + +The Major! Brinton's own father! He was coming home! This, then, was the +surprise that his mother had said she would bring him when she went off +with Towser in the morning to go to Colonel Shepard's. And now those +redcoats were going to sit there and wait until he came, and then-- +Brinton did not know what would happen, whether he would be shot on the +spot, or merely put in prison for the rest of his life. + +Oh, if he could only get out and run to meet his father and warn him! +But the men seemed to give no signs of leaving the room. + +"Perhaps he haven't come at all yet," suggested one of the privates. + +"Perhaps 'e hasn't," answered the voice of the corporal; "but w'y, then, +wouldn't his folks be 'ere a-waitink for 'im? 'Owever, I'll give 'im +hevery chance. It's now five-and-twenty minutes after three. I'll give +'im huntil six, but if 'e doesn't turn hup by then, we'll start away for +the shore without 'im." + +"Six o'clock!" thought the boy in the clock. The very time his mother +had told him she was going to be home again "with something very nice +for him." And now she and his brave papa would walk right into the arms +of these dreadful English soldiers, and he could not stop them! + +_Whang!_ + +What a noise! It startled Brinton so much that he nearly knocked the +clock over; and then he realized that it was only the clock striking +half past three. + +Half past three! He had been in there only half an hour, and already he +was so tired he could hardly stand up. How could he ever endure it until +four, until half past four, five, six? + +"If only something, some accident even, will happen to detain papa and +mamma!" he thought. But how much more likely, it occurred to him, that +his father, having but a short leave of absence, would hasten, and +arrive before six. + +"Tick-tock," went the clock. + +"How slow, how very slow!" thought Brinton, and he wished there were +only some way of hurrying up the time, so that the soldiers would go +away. + +Still the soldiers staid in the room, all but one, who had gone into the +kitchen to watch from there. + +"Tick-tock," went the clock, and "whang-whang-whang-whang!" Only four +o'clock. Brinton began to fear that he could not hold out much longer. + +"Tick-tock," went the clock. Each swing of the pendulum marked one +second, Brinton's mother had told him. If he could only make it swing +quicker, so that the seconds would fly a little faster! + +"Why not try to?" Brinton was on the point of breaking down. He was +desperate. He felt that he must do something. He took hold of the +pendulum and gave it a little push. It yielded readily to his pressure. +None of the soldiers seemed to notice it. He gave it another push. The +result was the same. Brinton began to pick up courage, and he pushed the +pendulum to and fro, to and fro, to and fro. + +He tried to keep it swinging at a perfectly even rate, and apparently he +succeeded. At any rate, the soldiers appeared to notice nothing +different. Yet Brinton was sure that he was causing the old clock to +tick off its seconds at a considerably livelier gait than usual. Half +past four came almost before he knew it, but by five o'clock Brinton +began to realize that he was very, very tired. He had already stood +absolutely still in that cramped, dark, close case, and he had pushed +the pendulum first with one hand and then with the other in that narrow +space until both felt sore and lame. Yet now that he had once begun, he +did not dare leave off, and still it did not seem possible that he could +keep it up. + +The soldiers had kept very quiet for a long time. Brinton thought that +two of them must be napping. + +At five o'clock the soldier who was awake aroused the corporal and the +other private, whom the corporal sent to relieve the man on guard in the +kitchen. + +"I must 'ave slept mighty sound," remarked the corporal. "I'd never +believe I'd been asleep an hour, if I didn't see it hon the clock." + +"No soigns av any wan yit," reported the man who had been in the +kitchen, whom Brinton judged to be an Irishman. "Be's ye going to wait +till six?" + +"Yes," answered the corporal. "But no longer." + +Then they began talking about the British fleet that was cruising in +Long Island Sound, and about the ship on which they were temporarily +quartered until they could join the main body of the army, and how a +neighbor of Brinton's father's and mother's had been down at the store +when a ship's boat had put in for water, and how he had told the officer +in charge that Major Hall, Brinton's father, was expected home for a few +hours that day, and what a fine opportunity it would be to make an +important capture. + +The clock struck half past five. + +"H'm!" grunted the corporal. "It doesn't seem that late; but, you know, +you can't tell anythink about anythink in this blaisted country." + +Brinton now began to be very much afraid that his father would come +before the soldiers left. He wanted to move the pendulum faster and +faster, but after what the corporal had said he did not dare to. Then, +when the men lapsed into silence, it suddenly came over Brinton how +dreadfully weary he was, how all his bones ached, and how much, how very +much, he wanted to cry. But he felt that his father's only chance of +safety lay in his keeping the pendulum swinging to and fro, to and fro. + +At last, however, came the welcome sound of the corporal's voice bidding +the men get ready to start. + +Whang-whang-whang-whang-whang-whang! + +"Fall in!" ordered the corporal. "Forward, march!" + +As the sound of their footsteps died away, Brinton, all of a tremble, +opened the door of the clock and stumbled out. He knelt at the window +and watched the retreating forms of the redcoats. As they disappeared +down the road he heard a noise behind him, and jumped up with a start. + +There stood his father! + +The next instant Brinton was sobbing in his arms. + +Brinton's mother came into the room. "Dear me!" she said; "what ever can +be the matter with the clock? It's half an hour fast." + + + + +SNOW-SHOES AND SLEDGES.[1] + +BY KIRK MUNROE. + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +BIG AMOOK AND THE CHILKAT HUNTERS. + +"A goat is a good thing so far as it goes," remarked Phil, gravely, "but +one goat divided among one man, two boys, a little chap, and three +awfully hungry dogs isn't likely to last very long. With plenty of goats +ready to come and be killed as we wanted them, we might hold out here, +after a fashion, until the arrival of a tourist steamer. Wouldn't that +be fun, though? And wouldn't we astonish the tourists? But how we should +hate goat by that time! Still, I don't think there is the slightest +chance of our having that experience, for I understand that the +mountain-goats are among the shyest and most difficult to kill of all +wild animals. + +"Which being the case," continued Phil, "it won't do for us to live as +though we had goats to squander. Consequently, we must make an effort to +get out of here before our provision is exhausted. As we have no boat in +which to go to Sitka, and the nearest point at which we can obtain one +is Chilkat; that is the place we have got to reach somehow. So I propose +that Serge and I take a prospecting trip into the mountains to-morrow +and see what chance there is for our crossing them." + +As no better plan than this was offered, Phil and Serge started early +the following morning on their tedious climb. Each carried a gun, and +they took Musky and Luvtuk with them in the hope of getting a bear, as +Serge had heard that bears were plentiful in those mountains. Nel-te was +left to take care of the hospital, in which Jalap Coombs, with his many +aches, and Amook, with his cut feet, were the patients. + +That afternoon was so warm that the door of the little cabin stood wide +open. Before a fire that smouldered on the broad hearth Jalap Coombs +dozed in a big chair, while Nel-te romped with Amook on the floor. Now +the little chap was tantalizing the dog with the fur-seal's tooth, +which, still attached to its buckskin thong, he had taken from his neck. +He would dangle it close to Amook's nose, and when the dog snapped at +it, snatch it away with a shout of laughter. + +While the occupants of the cabin were thus engaged the heads of several +Indians were suddenly but cautiously lifted above the beach ridge. After +making certain that no one was in the vicinity of the house, one of +their number swiftly but noiselessly approached it. Crouching under a +side wall, he slowly raised his head. + +This Indian was one of a party of Chilkat hunters who had come to +Glacier Bay in pursuit of hair seals, which in the early spring delight +to float lazily about on the drifting ice-cakes. They had camped at the +mouth of Muir Inlet the night before, and during the day had slowly +hunted their way almost to the foot of the great glacier. While there +they discovered a thin spiral of smoke curling from the cabin chimney. +This so aroused their curiosity that they determined to investigate its +cause. They imagined that some of the interior Indians, who were +strictly forbidden by the Chilkats to visit the coast, had disobeyed +orders, and come to this unfrequented place to surreptitiously gather in +a few seals. In that case the hunters would immediately declare war, and +the prospect of scalps caused their stolid faces to light and their dull +eyes to glitter. + +When it was discovered that a white man was in the cabin, the Indians +were greatly disappointed, but concluded to withdraw without allowing +him to suspect their presence, for the Chilkats have no love for white +men. But for Nel-te and Amook they would have succeeded in this, and our +travellers would never have known of their dusky visitors, or the chance +for escape offered by their canoes. + +If the fur-seal's tooth had been able to speak just then, it would have +said, "I am disgusted with the ways of white people. In their hands I am +treated with no respect. They lose me and find me again with +indifference. They even give me to children and dogs as a plaything. How +different was my position among the noble Chilkats! By their Shamans and +chiefs I was venerated; by the common people I was feared; while all +recognized my extraordinary powers. To them I am determined to return." + +With this the fur-seal's tooth, which was at that moment dangling from +Nel-te's hand, gave itself such a vigorous forward swing, that Amook was +able to seize the buckskin thong, which immediately slipped into a +secure place between two of his sharp teeth. As Nel-te attempted to +snatch back his plaything, the dog sprang up and darted from the open +doorway. + +At that moment the Indian who had inspected the cabin was just +disappearing over the beach ridge. At sight of him Amook uttered a yelp, +and started in pursuit. The Indian heard him, and ran. He sprang into +the canoe, already occupied by his fellows, and shoved it off as Amook, +barking furiously, gained the water's edge. Lying a few feet away, and +resting on their paddles, the Indians taunted him. Suddenly one of their +number called attention to the curious white object dangling from the +dog's mouth. They gazed at it with ever-increasing excitement, and +finally one of them began to load his gun with the intention of shooting +the dog, and so securing the coveted trophy that so miraculously +appeared hanging from his jaws. Ere he could carry out his cruel +intention little Nel-te appeared over the ridge in hot pursuit of his +playmate. Without paying the slightest heed to the Indians he ran to the +dog, disengaged the buckskin thong from his teeth, slipped it over his +own head, tucked the tooth carefully inside his little parka, and +started back toward the cabin. Amook followed him, while the Indians +regarded the whole transaction with blank amazement. + +Both Nel-te and Amook regained the cabin, and were engaged in another +romp on its floor before Jalap Coombs awoke from his nap. An hour later, +when he was surprised by the appearance of half a dozen Indians before +the door, he thrust the child and dog behind him, and standing in the +opening, axe in hand, boldly faced the newcomers. In vain did they talk, +shout, point to Nel-te, and gesticulate. The only idea they conveyed to +the sailorman was that they had come to carry Cap'n Kid back to the +wilderness. + +"Which ye sha'n't have him, ye bloody pirates! Not so long as old Jalap +can swing an axe!" he cried, at length wearied of their vociferations +and slamming the door in their faces. + +In spite of this the Indians were so determined to attain their object, +that they were planning for an attack on the cabin, when all at once +there came a barking of other dogs, and, looking in that direction, they +saw two more white men, armed with guns, coming rapidly toward them. + +"Hello in the house! Are you safe? What is the meaning of this?" cried +Phil, in front of the closed door. + +"Ay, ay, sir!" replied Jalap Coombs, joyfully, flinging it open. "We're +safe enough so far; but them black swabs overhauled us awhile ago, and +gave out as how they'd got to have Cap'n Kid. I double-shotted the guns, +stationed the crew at quarters, and returned reply that they couldn't +have him; then they run up the black-flag and allowed they'd blow the +ship out of water. With that I declined to hold further communication, +cleared for action, and prepared to repel boarders." + +In the mean time Serge was talking to the natives in Chinook jargon. +Suddenly he exclaimed: + +"They are Chilkats, Phil, and they want something that they seem to +think is in Nel-te's possession." + +"In Nel-te's possession?" repeated Phil, in a puzzled tone. "What can +they mean? I don't see how they can know anything about Nel-te, anyway. +They can't mean the fur-seal's tooth, can they?" + +"That is exactly what they do mean!" replied Serge, after asking the +natives a few more questions. "They say it is hanging about his neck, +inside of his parka." + +"How long have these people been here, Mr. Coombs?" queried Phil. + +"Not more 'n ten minutes." + +"Have they seen Nel-te?" + +"No, for he hain't been outside the door." + +"Could they have seen him at any time during the day?" + +"Not without me knowing it; for he hain't left my side sence you boys +went away." + +"Then it is more certain than ever that there is magic connected with +the fur-seal's tooth, and that the Chilkats are in some way involved in +it. How else could they possibly have known that it was in our +possession, just where to find us, and, above all, the exact position of +the tooth at this moment?" + +"It surely does look ridicerlous," meditated Jalap Coombs; while Serge +said he was glad Phil was becoming so reasonable and willing to see +things in a true light. + +"How did these fellows get here?" asked Phil. + +"They say they came in canoes," replied Serge. + +"Ask them if they will take us to Sitka, provided we will give them the +fur-seal's tooth." + +"No; the Indians could not do that." + +"Will they give us a canoe in exchange for it?" + +"They say they will," replied Serge, "if we will go with them to their +village and allow their Shaman (medicine-man) to examine the tooth, and +see whether or not it is the genuine article." + +"Won't that be awfully out of our way?" + +"Yes. I should think about seventy-five miles; but then we may find a +steamer there that will take us to Juneau, or even to Sitka itself." + +"It would certainly be better than staying here," reflected Phil. "And I +know that neither Serge nor I want to try the mountain trail again after +what we have seen to-day. So I vote for going to Chilkat." + +"So do I," assented Serge. + +"Same here," said Jalap Coombs; "though ef anybody had told me half an +hour ago I'd been shipping for a cruise along with them black pirates +before supper-time, I'd sartainly doubted him. It only goes to prove +what my old friend Kite Roberson useter say, which were, 'Them as don't +expect nothing is oftenest surprised.'" + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE TREACHEROUS SHAMAN OF KLUKWAN. + +So delighted were the Chilkat hunters to know that they were to have the +honor of conveying the fur-seal's tooth back to their tribe, that they +wished to start at once. The whites, however, refused to go before +morning, and so the Indians returned down the inlet to their camp of the +preceding night, where they would cache what seals they had obtained in +order to make room in the canoes for their unexpected passengers. They +agreed to be back by day-light. + +After they were gone, and our travellers had disposed of their simple +but highly appreciated meal of goat meat and tea, they gathered about +the fire for the last of those "dream-bag talks," as Phil called them, +that had formed so pleasant a feature of their long journey. Without +saying a word, but with a happy twinkle in his eyes, Jalap Coombs +produced a pipe and a small square of tobacco, which he began with great +care to cut into shavings. + +"Where on earth did you get them?" asked Phil. + +"Found the pipe in yonder rubbish," replied the sailorman; "and Cap'n +Kid give me the 'baccy just now." + +"Nel-te gave you the tobacco! Where did he get it?" + +"Dunno. I were too glad to get it to ask questions." + +"Well," said Phil, "the mysteries of this place are beyond finding out." + +"This one isn't," laughed Serge; "though I suppose it would be if I +hadn't happened to see one of the Indians slip that bit of tobacco into +Nel-te's hand." + +"What could have been his object in giving such a thing as that to a +child?" + +"Oh, the Chilkat children use it as well as their elders; and I suppose +he wanted to gain Nel-te's good-will, seeing that he is the guardian of +the fur-seal's tooth. I shouldn't be surprised if he hoped in some way +to get it from the child before we reached the village." + +"Which suggests an idea," said Phil, removing the trinket in question +from Nel-te's neck and handing it to Serge. "It is hard to say just who +the tooth does belong to now, it has changed hands so frequently, but it +will be safer for the next day or two with you than anywhere else. +Besides, it is only fair that, as it came directly from the Chilkats to +you, or, rather, to your father, you should have the satisfaction of +restoring it to them." + +So Serge accepted from Phil the mysterious bit of ivory that he had +given the latter more than a year before in distant New London, and hung +it about his neck. + +"Last night," said Phil, after this transfer had taken place, "Mr. +Coombs and I only needed a pipeful of tobacco and a knowledge of how we +were to escape from here to make us perfectly happy. Now we have both." + +"The blamed pipe won't draw at all," growled Jalap Coombs. + +"While I," continued Phil, "am bothered. I know we must go with those +fellows, but I don't trust them, and shall feel uneasy so long as we are +in their power." + +"Do you think," asked Serge, "that these things go to prove that there +isn't any such thing in this world as perfect happiness?" + +"No," answered Phil; "only that it is extremely rare. How is it with +you, old man? Does the approaching end of our journey promise you +perfect happiness?" + +"No indeed!" cried Serge, vehemently. "In spite of its hardships, I have +enjoyed it too much to be glad that it is nearly ended. But most of all, +Phil, is the fear that its end means a parting from you; for I suppose +you will go right on to San Francisco, while I must stay behind." + +"I'm afraid so," admitted Phil. "But, at any rate, old fellow, this +journey has given me one happiness that will last as long as I live, for +it has given me your friendship, and taught me to appreciate it at its +true worth." + +"Thank you, Phil," replied Serge, simply. "I value those words from you +more than I should from any one else in the world. Now, I want to tell +you what I have to thank the journey for besides a friendship. I believe +it has shown me what is to be my life-work. You know that missionary at +Anvik said he was more in need of teachers than anything else. While I +don't know very much, I do know more than those Indian and Eskimo boys, +and I did enjoy teaching them. So, if I can get my mother to consent, I +am going back to Anvik as soon as I can and offer my services as a +teacher." + +"It is perfectly splendid of you to think of it," cried Phil, heartily, +"and all I can say is that the boys who get you for a teacher are to be +envied." + +So late did the lads sit up that night talking over their plans and +hopes that on the following morning the Indians had arrived and were +clamorous for them to start before they were fairly awake. By sunrise +they, together with the three dogs, were embarked in a great long-beaked +and marvellously-carved Chilkat canoe, hewn from a single cedar log, and +painted black. Two of the Indians occupied it with them, while the +others and the sledge went in a second but smaller canoe of the same +ungraceful design as the first. + +As with sail set and before the brisk north breeze that ever sweeps down +the glacier the canoes sped away among the ice floes and bergs of the +inlet, our boys cast many a lingering backward glance at the little +cabin that had proved such a haven to them, and at the stupendous +ice-wall gleaming in frozen splendor on their horizon. Under other +conditions they would gladly have staid and explored its mysteries. Now +they rejoiced at leaving it. + +So favoring were the winds that they left Glacier Bay, passed Icy +Strait, and headed northward as far as the mouth of Lynn Canal before +sunset of that day. During the second day they ran the whole fifty-mile +length of the canal, which is the grandest of Alaska's rock-walled +fiords, entered Chilkat Inlet, passed the canneries at Pyramid Harbor +and Chilkat, which would not be opened until the beginning of the salmon +season in June, entered the river, and finally reached Klukwan, the +principal Chilkat village. + +[Illustration: THEY WERE WELCOMED BY THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF KLUKWAN.] + +Here, as the smaller canoe had preceded them and announced their coming, +our travellers were welcomed by the entire population of the village. +These thronged the beach in a state of wildest excitement, for it was +known to all that the long-lost fur-seal's tooth was at last come back +to them. Even the village dogs were there, a legion of snarling, +flea-bitten curs. Ere the canoe touched the beach, Musky, Luvtuk, and +big Amook were among them, and a battle was in progress that completely +drowned the cries of the spectators with its uproar. The fighting was +continued with only brief intervals throughout the night; but in the +morning the three champions from the Yukon were masters of the +situation, and roamed the village with bushy tails proudly curled over +their backs, and without interference. "For all the world," said Phil, +"like the Three Musketeers." + +The guests of the village were escorted to the council-house, to which +were also taken their belongings. Here they were supplied with venison, +salmon, partridges, and dried berries; and here, after supper, they +received many visitors all anxious for a sight of the magic tooth. Most +prominent of these were the head Shaman of the village, and the +principal woman of the tribe, whose name was so unpronounceable that +Phil called her "The Princess," a title with which she seemed well +pleased. + +She was the widow of Kloh-kutz, most famous of Chilkat chiefs, and the +one who had presented the fur-seal's tooth to Serge Belcofsky's father. +On the occasion of this visit she wore a beautifully embroidered dress, +together with a Chilkat blanket of exquisite fineness thrown over her +shoulders like a shawl, and fastened at the throat with a stout +safety-pin. The Princess devoted herself to Serge, whom she evidently +considered the most important person in the party, and to little Nel-te, +who took to her at once. While she pronounced the fur-seal's tooth to be +the same that had belonged to her husband, the Shaman shook his head +doubtfully. Then it was handed from one to another of a number of lesser +Shamans and chiefs for inspection. Suddenly one of these dropped it to +the floor, and, when search was made, it could not be found. + +Phil was furious at the impudence of this trick. Even Serge was +indignant, while Jalap Coombs said it was just what might be expected +from land sharks and pirates. + +The Shaman insisted that the tooth was not lost, but had disappeared of +its own accord. If it were not the same fur-seal's tooth that belonged +to their tribe in former years, it would not be seen again. If it were, +it would appear within a few days attached to a hideously carved +representation of Hutle, the thunder-bird that stood in one of +Kloh-kutz's houses, now used as a place for incantation. + +"We don't care anything about all that!" exclaimed Phil, when this was +translated to him. "Tell him he can do as he pleases with the tooth, so +long as he gives us the canoe we have bargained for." + +To this the Shaman replied that they should surely have a canoe as soon +as the tooth proved its genuineness by reappearing. In the mean time, if +they were in such a hurry to get away that they did not care to wait, he +had a very fine canoe that he would let them have at once in exchange +for their guns and their dogs. "You may tell him that we will wait," +replied Phil, grimly, "but you need not tell him what is equally true +that we shall only wait until we find a chance to help ourselves to the +best canoe and take French leave." + +So they waited, though very impatiently, in Klukwan for nearly a week, +during which time Phil had ample opportunities for studying Chilkat +architecture and totem poles. The houses of the village were all built +of heavy hewn planks set on end. They had bark or plank roofs, with a +square opening in each for the egress of smoke. Many of them had glass +windows and ordinary doors; but in others the doors were placed so high +from the ground as to be reached by ladders on both outside and inside. +The great totem poles that stood before every house were ten, twenty, or +thirty feet tall, and covered with heraldic carvings from bottom to top. + +During this time of waiting the Shaman made repeated offers to sell the +strangers a canoe, all of which were indignantly declined. That they did +not appropriate one to their own use was for the very simple reason that +all, except a few very small or leaky canoes, mysteriously disappeared +from the village that first night. + +At length the tricky medicine-man was forced to yield to the threats of +the Princess, who had taken the part of our travellers from the first, +and to popular clamor. He therefore announced one evening that he had +been informed during a vision that the fur-seal's tooth would reappear +among them on the morrow. + +On the following morning Phil and his companions were aroused by a +tremendous shouting and firing of guns, all of which announced that the +happy event had taken place. + +"Now," cried Phil, "perhaps we will get our canoe." + +But there were no canoes to be seen on the beach, and the Shaman coolly +informed them that, though the precious tooth had indeed come back to +dwell with the Chilkats, they would still be obliged to wait until some +of the canoes returned from the hunting expeditions on which they had +all been taken. + +At this Phil fell into such a rage that, regardless of consequences, he +was on the point of giving the old fraud a most beautiful thrashing, +when his uplifted arm was startlingly arrested by the deep boom of a +heavy gun that seemed to come from the mouth of the river. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Begun in HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE No. 801. + + + + +OAKLEIGH. + +BY ELLEN DOUGLAS DELAND. + + +CHAPTER III. + +When Cynthia asked at Mrs. Parker's door if that lady were at home it +was not necessary for her to give her name. The maid recognized Miss +Trinkett at once. + +"Yes, she's at home, ma'am. And won't you please step into the parlor, +Miss Trinkett? Mrs. Parker'll be glad to see you." + +Mrs. Parker came hurrying down. + +"Dear Miss Trinkett, how are you? Why, I should scarcely have known you! +What have you done to yourself?" + +Cynthia laughed her great-aunt's high _staccato_ laugh. + +"Well, now, I want to know, Mrs. Parker! Don't you see what it is? Why, +my nieces at Oakleigh, they saw right away what the difference was. I +thought 'twas about time I was keeping up with the fashions, and so I +bought me a fine new piece of hair for my front. I was growing somewhat +gray, and I thought 'twas best to keep young on Silas's account. It +isn't that I care for myself, but you have to be particular about +men-folks, as you'll know when you've seen as much of them as I have." + +Cynthia was a good actress, and she carried herself precisely as Miss +Betsey did, and imitated her voice to perfection. + +She repeated some of her aunt's best-known tales, and good Mrs. Parker +never dreamed of the possibility of her caller being any one but worthy +Miss Betsey Trinkett, of Wayborough, whom she had known for years. + +Mrs. Parker was a great talker, and usually she was obliged to fight +hard to surpass Miss Trinkett in that respect. During the first part of +the call to-day it was as difficult as usual, but Mrs. Parker presently +made a remark which reduced her visitor to a state of alarming silence. + +"I suppose you have come to announce the news," said the hostess, +smiling sympathetically. + +"Now I don't know a bit of news. Why, my dear Mrs. Parker, Silas and I +we never--" + +"Ah, but this has nothing to do with Silas, though it may affect you, +more or less. Surely you know what I am alluding to?" + +"I haven't the least idea." + +And Cynthia bridled with curiosity on her own account as well as Aunt +Betsey's. She thought something interesting must be coming. + +"Well, now, to think of my being the one to tell you something about +your own family! I don't know whether I ought to, but I think it must be +true, and you'll hear it in other ways soon enough. You know I have +relatives in Albany, where she lives." + +"Where who lives?" + +"Miss Gordon, Hester Gordon. They say--but, of course, I don't know that +it's true, it may be just report, but they do say-- I don't know whether +I ought to tell you, I declare! that it won't be long before she's Mrs. +Franklin." + +"Mrs. Franklin!" + +"Yes, Mrs. John Franklin. Hasn't your nephew told you? Well, well, these +men! They do beat all for keeping things quiet." + +"Is it true?" + +It was Cynthia's natural voice that asked this question. She quite +forgot that she was supposed to be Miss Betsey Trinkett. + +[Illustration: "YOUR VOICE SOUNDS SORT OF UNNATURAL, TOO," ADDED MRS. +PARKER.] + +"I suppose it is. But, dear me, Miss Trinkett, don't be worried! Seems +to me you look very queer, though I can't see your face very well +through that veil, and you with your back to the light. Your voice +sounds sort of unnatural, too," added Mrs. Parker. "Let me get you some +water." + +"Oh no, it is nothing," said Cynthia, who had quickly recovered herself, +and was now summoning all her energy to finish the call in a proper +manner. "You surprised me, that's all, and I never did care much for +surprises. But I think there's not much truth in that, Mrs. Parker. I +don't believe my fa--nephew is going to be married again. In fact, I'm +very sure he is not." And she nodded her head emphatically. + +"Ah, my dear Miss Trinkett, you never can tell. Sometimes a man's family +is the last to hear those things. And it will be a good match, too. She +comes of an old family, and she has a great deal of money. The Gordons +are all rich." + +"Do you suppose he'd care for that?" exclaimed her visitor, wrathfully. + +"Well, well, one never knows! And think how much better it would be for +the children. Edith is too young to have so much care, and they say +Cynthia runs wild most of the time, just like a boy. Indeed, I call it a +very good thing. Though I must say she is a pretty brave woman to take +on herself the care of that family." + +Here "Miss Betsey" suddenly darted for the door. It could be endured no +longer. Mrs. Parker bade her farewell, and then went back to tell her +daughters that Miss Trinkett was sadly changed. Though she was still so +young in appearance, she was evidently very much broken. + +For some time Jack could obtain no reply to his questions, but at last +Cynthia's resolution broke down, and she burst into tears. They had +turned into a shady lane instead of going directly home, and there was +no danger of meeting any one. + +"Jack, Jack!" she moaned, "I'll have to tell you. Mrs. Parker says papa +is going to be married again! What shall we do! What shall we do!" + +For answer Jack indulged in a prolonged whistle. + +"Isn't it the most dreadful thing you ever heard of? Jack, how shall we +ever endure it?" + +"Well, it mayn't be as bad as you think. If she's nice--" + +"Oh, Jack, she won't be! Stepmothers are never nice. I never in my life +heard of one that was. She'll be horrid to us all." + +"Oh, I say, that's nonsense. If you were to marry a widower with a lot +of children you'd be nice to them." + +"Jack, the very idea! _I_ marry a widower with a lot of children! I'd +like to see myself doing such a thing!" + +Cynthia almost forgot her present troubles in her wrath at her brother's +suggestion. + +"Well, after all it may not be true. Because Mrs. Parker says so, +doesn't prove it. Where did she hear it?" + +"From some of her Albany relations, I suppose. The--the lady lives +there. But, oh, Jack! Do you think there is any chance of its not being +true?" cried Cynthia, catching at the least straw of hope. + +"Why, of course! Father hasn't told us, and you can't believe all the +gossip you hear," said Jack, loftily. + +"Perhaps it isn't true, after all," exclaimed Cynthia, drying her eyes +and smiling once more, "and I've been boo-hooing all for nothing! I +sha'n't say a word about it to Edith, and don't you either, Jack. It +isn't worth while to worry her, and Mrs. Parker is a terrible gossip." + +They went home, and Cynthia gave her sister a gay account of her visit, +carefully omitting all exciting items, and then she helped Edith put +away some of the things, and finally was free to go on the river in the +afternoon. Jack, boylike, had forgotten all about Mrs. Parker's news. He +did not believe it, and therefore it was not worth thinking of. But +Cynthia's mind was not so easily diverted. She did not believe it, +either, but then it might be true, and if it were, what was to be done? +It seemed as if a worse calamity could not happen. + +Jack, her usual companion on the river, was busy with some carpentry. He +was making a "brooder" like one he had bought, to serve as a home for +the little chicks when they should be hatched. He used the "barn +chamber" for a workshop, and the sound of his saw and his hammer could +be heard through the open window. + +Cynthia was deeply interested in poultry-raising, but she wished it did +not consume so much of her brother's time and attention. + +Edith was going to the village to an afternoon tea at the Morgans'. +Gertrude Morgan was her most intimate friend, and all the nicest girls +and boys would be there to talk over a tennis tournament. Cynthia was +rather sorry that she had not been asked. She said to herself that she +would be of more value in the discussion than Edith, for she really +played tennis, while Edith merely stood about looking graceful and +pretty. However, she had not been invited, and, after all, the river was +more fun than any afternoon tea. + +One of the men put the canoe in the water for her, and, with a huge +stone to act as ballast, she paddled up stream, browsing along the banks +looking for wild flowers, or steering her way through the rocks, of +which the river was very full just at this point. + +Cynthia, fond as she was of companionship, being of an extremely +sociable disposition, was never lonely on her beloved river. + +Edith dressed herself carefully and drove off to the tea. She looked +very attractive in her spring gown of gray and her large black hat, and +as she studied herself in the small old-fashioned mirror that hung in +her room she felt quite pleased with her appearance. + +"If I only had more nice gloves I should be satisfied," she thought. "It +is so horrid to be saving up one pair, and having to wear such old +things for driving and whisk them off just before I get to a place and +put on the good ones. And a handsome parasol would be so nice. I don't +think I'll take this old thing. I don't really need one to-day. I wonder +where the children are. I ought to look them up, I suppose, but they are +all right, somewhere, and it is getting late. After all, why should I +always be the one to run after those children?" + +And then she drove away to Brenton, leaving housekeeping cares behind +her, and prepared for a pleasant afternoon. + +About half a dozen boys and girls had already arrived at the Morgans' +when Edith drove in. It was a fine old house standing far back from the +road, and surrounded with shady grounds. The river was at the back. A +smooth and well-kept tennis-court was on the left of the drive as one +approached the house, and here the guests were assembled. + +"Oh, here's Edith Franklin at last!" cried Gertrude Morgan, while her +brother went forward, and, after helping Edith to alight, took her horse +and drove down to the stable. + +Presently all the tongues were buzzing, each one suggesting what he or +she considered the very best plan for holding a tournament. It was +finally arranged to have it at the tennis club rather than at the +Morgans', as had at first been thought best, and it would be open to all +the comers who had reached the age of fourteen. + +"That is very young," said Gertrude, "but we really ought to have it +open to Cynthia Franklin. She is one of the best players in Brenton." + +"By all means," said her brother, who was always on the side of the +Franklins, "and, Edith, you'll play with me, won't you, in mixed +doubles?" + +"Oh, I don't play well enough!" exclaimed Edith. "Thank you ever so +much, Dennis, but you had better ask some one else. I don't think I'll +play." + +Every one objected to this, but it was finally settled that Edith should +act as one of the hostesses for the important occasion, which was +greatly to her satisfaction. She rather enjoyed moving slowly and +gracefully about, pouring tea and lemonade, and handing it to the poor, +heated players, who were obliged to work so hard for their fun. + +They were startled by the sound of the clock on the church across the +road. It struck six, and Edith rose in haste. + +"I must go," she said. "I had no idea it was so late! Those children +have probably gotten into all kinds of mischief while I've been away, +and papa will not be home until late, so I am not to wait in the village +for him." + +The others looked after her as she drove away. + +"Isn't she the sweetest, dearest girl?" cried Gertrude. "And won't it be +hard for her if her father marries again, as every one says he is going +to do? But, after all, it may be a good thing, for then Edith wouldn't +have to do so much for the children. I wonder if she knows about it? +She hasn't breathed a word of it, even to me." + +Janet and Willy, the inseparable but ever-fighting pair, came in at the +side door, not very long after Edith went to the village. They found the +house empty and the coast clear, and their active brains immediately set +to work to solve the question of what mischief they could do. + +They wandered into the big silent kitchen. The servants were upstairs, +and beyond the buzzing of a fly on the window-pane and the singing of +the kettle on the range perfect quiet reigned. + +"Let's go down and see the inkerbaker," suggested Willy. + +"All right," returned Janet, affably, and down they pattered as fast as +their sturdy little legs could carry them. + +They peered in through the glass front at the eggs, which lay so +peacefully within. + +"It must be turrible stupid in there," said Janet, pityingly. "Shouldn't +you think those chickens would be tired of waiting to come out?" + +"Yes. We might crack a lot and help 'em out." + +"Oh, no. Jack says they won't be ready for two days. But I'll tell you +what we might do. We might see whether it's hot enough for 'em in there. +I guess Jack's forgotten all about 'em. I don't believe he's been near +'em to-day, nor Martha, either." + +"How d'yer find out whever it's hot enough?" + +"I don't know. Guess you open the door, and put your hand in and feel." + +For Janet had never been taught the significance of the thermometer +inside, and knew nothing of the proper means of ventilating the machine. + +No sooner said than done. One of the doors was promptly opened, and two +fat hands were thrust into the chamber. + +"My goodies, it's hot there!" cried Janet. "We ought to cool it off. +Let's leave the door open and turn down the lamp, and open the cellar +window." + +Mounted on an old barrel, Janet, at the risk of her life, struggled in +vain with the window. She chose one that was never used, and it refused +to respond to her efforts. Then she descended, and returned to the +incubator. + +"Can't do it," she said. "But I'll tell you what we'll do." + +"What?" asked the ever-ready Willy. + +"Pour some ice water over 'em. That'll cool 'em nicely." + +They travelled up the cellar stairs to the "cooler," which stood in the +hall. + +"Wish we had a pitcher," said Janet. "You take the tum'ler, and I'll get +a dipper." + +It required several journeys to and fro to sufficiently cool the eggs, +according to their way of thinking, but at last it was accomplished, +with much dripping of water and splashing of clean clothes. + +The water-cooler was left empty, and the incubator was in a state of +dampness alarming to behold. + +"There; I guess it's cool enough now!" said Janet, when the last trip +had been taken. + +Alas, the mercury, which should have remained at 103 deg., had dropped +quietly down to 70 deg.. + +"I'd like to see what's in those eggs," said Willy, meditatively. "D'yer +s'pose they're chickies yet?" + +"I guess so. I'd like to see, too. I'll tell you what, Willy? Let's take +one, and carry it off and see." + +"All right. I'll be the one to take it. What'll Jack say?" + +"He won't mind. Just one egg, and he has such a lot. And we've been +helping him lots this afternoon, cooling 'em off so nicely. But I'll be +the one to take it." + +"No, me!" + +"Let's both do it," said Janet, for once anxious to avoid a quarrel. "I +speak for that big one over there," and she abstracted one from the +"thermometer row," the row that was most important and precious in the +eyes of the owner of the machine. + +"And I'll take dis one. It's awful heavy, and I guess de dear little +chicken'll he glad to get out and have some nice fresh air." + +"Let's go down behind the carriage-house and look at 'em." + +They fastened the door of the incubator, and departed with their +treasures. + +Half an hour later, Jack, having finished his work, came whistling into +the house. He would go down and have a look at the machine, and then +walk up the river-bank to meet Cynthia, whom he had seen as she paddled +off early in the afternoon. + +His first glance at the thermometer gave him a shock--75 deg. it registered. +What had happened? He looked at the lamp which heated the chambers, and +found that it had been turned down very low. What could Martha have been +thinking of, when he told her it was so important to keep up the +temperature this last day or so? The day after to-morrow he expected the +hatching to begin, and he had closed the door of the incubator that +morning. It was not to be opened again until the chicks were out. + +Jack was on tiptoe with excitement. If they came out well, what a +triumph it would be! If they failed, what would his father say? + +He looked again, and a most unexpected sight met his eyes. Water was +dripping from the trays, and the fine gravel beneath had become mud. + +And there was a vacant space in the tray. An egg had gone--and it was +from the third row, the row which he had been so careful about, which +contained the best eggs. + +And, yes, surely there was another hole. Another egg gone! What could +have happened? + +He ran up stairs three steps at a time, shouting for Martha. + +"What have you been doing, Martha?" he cried. "Two eggs are gone, and +the thermometer way below 80 deg., and all that water!" + +"Sure, Mr. Jack, I haven't been there at all! You were at home yourself +to-day, and I never go near the place of a Saturday." + +"Well, some one has been at it. Where's Cynthia? Where's Edith? Why +isn't somebody at home to attend to things?" + +No one could be found. Jack rushed frantically about, and at last heard +the sound of wheels. Edith was returning from the tea. And at the same +moment, around the corner of the house came Cynthia, leading two crying +children. + +They all met on the front porch. + +"They've been up to mischief, Jack," said Cynthia; "I hope they haven't +done much harm. I found them on the bank behind the carriage-house. They +must have been at the incubator, for they had two eggs and the chickens +are dead. And they are two bad, naughty children!" + +Even Cynthia the peacemaker had been stirred to righteous wrath by the +sight on the river-bank. + +"You rascals!" cried Jack, in a fury, shaking them each in turn; "I'd +like to lick you to pieces! You've ruined the whole hatch." + +"Go straight to bed," said Edith, sternly; "you are the very worst +children I ever knew. I ought not to leave the house a minute. You can't +be trusted at all." + +They all went in, scolding, storming, and crying. In the midst of the +confusion Mr. Franklin arrived, earlier than he had been expected. It +was some minutes before he could understand the meaning of the uproar. + +He looked about from one to the other. + +"It only serves to justify me in a conclusion that I have reached," he +said. "You are all too young to be without some one to look after you. +Take the children to bed, Edith, and then come to me. I have something +to tell you." + +Edith, wondering, did as she was told. Cynthia gave Jack one despairing +look and fled from the room. Her worst fears were on the point of being +realized. + +And after tea, when they were sitting as usual in the long parlor, Mr. +Franklin, with some hesitation and much embarrassment, informed them +that he was engaged to be married to Miss Hester Gordon, of Albany. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +[Illustration: TWO FAIRY SPONGES] + +BY WILLIAM HAMILTON GIBSON. + + +[Illustration: Decorative T] + +he pretty works of my fairy and his companions in mischief are seen on +every hand from spring until winter, but few of us have ever seen the +fay, for Puck is no myth nor Ariel a creature of the poet's fancy. Their +prototype existed in entomological entity and demoralizing +mischievousness ages before the traditional fay, in diminutive human +form, had been dreamt of. The quaint bow-legged little "brownies" which +have brought our entire land beneath the witching spell of their +drollery can scarce claim prestige in the ingenuity of their mischief, +nor can the droll doings of imps and elves chronicled in the folk-lore +of many an ancient people begin to match the actual doings of the real, +live, busy little fairy whose works abound in meadow, wood, and copse, +and which any of us may discover if we can once be brought to realize +that our imp is visible. Then we must not forget that ideal type of the +true "fairy"--a paragon of beauty and goodness, with golden hair and +dazzling crown of brilliants, with her airy costume of gossamer begemmed +and spangled, her dainty twinkling feet and gorgeously painted butterfly +wings. And we all remember that wonderful wand which she carried so +gracefully, and whose simple touch could evoke such a train of +surprising consequences. + +And who shall say that our pretty fay is a myth, or her magic wand a +wild creation of the fancy? May we not see the wonder-workings of that +potent wand on every hand, even though our fairy has eluded us while she +cast the spell? There are a host of these wee fairies continually +flitting about among the trees plotting all sorts of mischief, and +leaving an astonishing witness of their visitation in their trail as +they pass from leaf to leaf or twig to twig. But these fairies, like +those of Grimm and Laboulaye, are agile little atoms, and are not to be +caught in their pranks if they know it, and even though our eye chanced +to rest on one of them, it is doubtful whether we would recognize him, +so different is the guise of these _real_ fairies from those invented +Creatures of the books. Once, when a mere boy, I caught one of the +little imps at work, and watched her for several minutes without +dreaming that I had been looking at a real fairy all this time. What did +I see? I was sitting in a clearing, partly in the shade of a sapling +growth of oak which sprang from the trunk of a felled tree. While thus +half reclining I noticed a diminutive black wasplike insect upon one of +the oak leaves close to my face. + +The insect seemed almost stationary and not inclined to resent my +intrusion, so I observed her closely. I soon discovered that she was +inserting her sting into the midstem of the leaf, or, perhaps, +withdrawing it therefrom, for in a few moments the midge flew away. I +remember wondering what the insect was trying to do, and not until years +later did I realize that I had been witnessing the secret arts of the +magician of the insect world--a very Puck or Ariel, as I have said--a +fairy with a magic wand which any sprite in elfindom might covet. + +The wand of Hermann never wrought such a wonder as did this magic touch +of the little black fly upon the oak leaf. Had I chanced to visit the +spot a few weeks later, what a beautiful red-cheeked apple could I have +plucked from that hemstitched leaf! + +This was but one of a veritable swarm of mischief-making midges +everywhere flitting among the trees; and while they are quite as various +in their shapes as the traditional forms of fairies--the ouphes and +imps, the gnomes and elves of quaintest mien, as well as the dainty fays +and sylphs and sprites--there is one feature common to them all which +annihilates the ideal of all the pictorial authorities on fairydom. +Neither Grimm, nor Laboulaye, nor any of the masters of fairy lore seems +to have discovered that a fairy has no right to those butterfly wings +which the pages of books show us. Those of the real fairy are quite +different, being narrow and glassy, and bear the magician's peculiar +sign in their crisscross veins. + +What a world of mischief is going on here in the fields! Here is one of +the witching sprites among the drooping blossoms of the oak. "You would +fain be an acorn," she says, as she pierces the tender blossoms with her +wand, "but I charge thee bring forth a string of currants"; and +immediately the blossoms begin to obey the behest, and erelong a mimic +string of currants droops upon the stem. Upon another tender branch near +by a jet-black gauze-winged elf is casting a similar spell, which is +this time followed by a tiny downy pink-cheeked peach. And here alights +a tiny sprite, whose magic touch evokes even from the _same_ leaf a +cherry, or a coral bead, perhaps a huge green apple! How many of us have +seen the little elf that spends her life among the tangles of creeping +cinque-foil, and decks its stems with those brilliant scarlet beads +which we may always find upon them, looking verily like tempting +berries. + +[Illustration: THE INHABITED ROSE SPONGE.] + +We see here about us swarms of these busy elves in obedience to their +own peculiar mischievous promptings. What whispers this glittering midge +to the oak twig here to which she clings so closely? We may not guess; +but if we pass this way a month or so hence what a beautiful response in +the glistening rosy-clouded sponge which encircles the stem! "But this +sponge is not pretty enough by half," exclaims a rival fairy. "Wait +until you see what yonder sweet-brier rose will do for _me_." Hovering +thither among its thorns she imparts her spell, and, lo! within a month +the stem is clothed in emerald fringe, which grows apace, until it has +become a dense pompon of deep crimson--a sponge worthy the toilet of the +fairy queen herself! + +[Illustration: THE ELFIN SPONGE OF THE BRIER ROSE.] + +[Illustration: THE ELFIN SPONGE OF THE OAK.] + +Who shall still say that the fairy is a myth! These two fairy sponges +are familiar to us all, at least to those of us who dwell for even a +small part of the year in the country and use our eyes. Indeed, we need +go no further than our city parks, or even our "back-yard" gardens to +find at least one of them, for the sweet-brier is rarely neglected by +this particular fairy. + +So many specimens of both of these sponges have been sent to me by ROUND +TABLE correspondents and others, that I have begun to wonder how many of +those other young people who have seen them and kept silence have +wondered at their secret. + +[Illustration: THE ROSE MISCHIEF-MAKER.] + +The two fairies which are responsible for these sponges have been +captured by the inquisitive scientist, and have had their portraits +taken for the rogues' gallery, and now we see them stuck upon tiny +little three-cornered pieces of paper, and pinned in the specimen case +as mere _insects_--gall-flies. The one is labelled _Cynips seminator_, +the other, _Cynips rosae_. + +[Illustration: THE FAIRY USING HER MAGIC WAND.] + +And now the prosaic entomologist proceeds to supplant fact for fancy. +This gall-fly is a sort of cousin to the wasps, but what we would call +its sting is more than a mere sting. Like a sting, it seems to puncture +the bark or leaf, and at the same time probably to inject its drop of +venom; but at the same time it conveys to the depths of the wound a tiny +egg, or perhaps a host of them. One gall-fly is thus a magician in +chemistry, at least, for no sooner are these eggs deposited than the +wounded branch begins to swell and form a cellular growth or tumor about +them, the character of this abnormal growth depending upon the peculiar +charm of the venomous touch--to one a tiny coral globe, to another a +cluster of spines, to another a curved horn, and to our cynips of the +white or scrub oak a peculiar globular spongy growth which completely +envelops the stem, sometimes to the size of a small apple. In its prime +it is a beautiful object, with its fibrous glistening texture studded +with pink points. But this condition lasts but a few days, when the +entire mass becomes brownish and woolly, which fact has given this +insect the common name of "wool-sower." + +[Illustration: THE REAL FAIRY OF THE OAK SPONGE. + +A. One of the points detached. B. Section of the base. +C, D. Cynips emerging.] + +And now we must lose no time if we would follow its history to its +complete cycle. If we put one of these faded sponges in a tight-closed +box, we shall in a few days learn the secret of its being. For this +singular mimic fruit, which has sprung at the behest of the gall-fly, +like other fruits, has its seeds--seeds which are animated with peculiar +life, and which sprout in a way we would hardly expect. Within a +fortnight after gathering, perhaps, we find our box swarming with tiny +black flies, while if we dissect the sponge we find its long-beaked +seeds entirely empty, and each with a clean round hole gnawed through +its shell, explaining this host of gall-flies, all similar to the parent +of a few weeks since, and all bent on the same mischief when you shall +let them loose at the window. + +The beautiful sponge of the sweet-brier has been called into being by +exactly similar means. And its hard woody centre is packed full of +cells, at first each with its tiny egg, and then with its plump larva, +followed by the chrysalis, and at length by the emergence of the +full-fledged _Cynips rosae_. + +This sponge-gall of the rose is commonly known as the Bedegnar, and like +all other members of its tribe, as with the familiar oak-apple, was long +supposed to be a regular accessory fruit of its parent stalk. Among +early students were many superstitions connected with the Bedegnar, the +nature of which may readily be inferred from its other common name of +"Robin's Pin-cushion." + + + + +[Illustration: STAMPS] + + This Department is conducted in the interest of Stamp and Coin + Collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question + on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should + address Editor Stamp Department. + + +A LIST OF DON'TS FOR STAMP COLLECTORS. + +Don't paste your stamps into your albums, but use "stickers" or +"hinges." + +Don't use any old copy-book if you can afford to buy an album. Dealers +can supply albums at any price from twenty-five cents upward. + +Don't trim your stamps. Many valuable stamps have been ruined by this +process. + +Don't cut envelope stamps to shape. Cut them out square, leaving a good +margin on all sides. + +Don't handle your stamps any more than you can help. + +Don't buy rare stamps from any but responsible dealers. Some +counterfeits resemble the genuine stamps marvellously. No one not an +expert could tell them apart. + +Don't buy Chinese locals, "Seebecks," and other philatelic trash, which +is made purposely for sale to stamp collectors. + +Don't expect to get something for nothing. + + FRANK P. HELSEL.--The U. S. 12c. 1872 issue is worth 15 cents. The + 50c. green Mauritius 1880 issue is worth 60 cents, unused; 85 + cents, used. The "U.S. Post" is the 1864 issue; worth 15 cents. + + W. L. L. P.--Most of the Heligoland stamps sold are reprints. They + are worth 3 cents each. Originals are worth from 15 cents to $5 + each. + + JAMES H. CREIGHTON.--The two stamps are the 3c. 1861 and 1872. + They are sold by stamp-dealers at 1 cent each. + + J. A. M.--There is no premium on the 1872 U. S. 1c. coin. + + R. F. B.--The U. S. 2c. stamp bearing a representation of a + horseman is the 1869 issue, worth 8 cents used, 25 cents unused. + + J. DUFF.--The coin-dealers ask $1.50 for good copies of the 1877 + trade dollar. There are several varieties of the 1801 and 1797 + copper cents worth from 25 cents to $3 each, according to + condition. There is no premium on the Canadian coin. + + G. G. BEATTIE.--Write to any stamp-dealer whose address you find + in our advertising columns. We cannot give addresses in this + Department. The German coin mentioned has no premium. + + HARRY RILEY, Brunswick, Maine, wants to correspond with some + members of the ROUND TABLE living in Central or South America. + Most of the Hamburg stamps in albums are reprints. When the word + "cancelled" is printed on a stamp it cannot be used for postage. + It is simply a "specimen" or fac-simile. The Hong-Kong stamps + mentioned by you have not yet been catalogued. + + G. KNAUFF.--Many thanks for calling my attention to the three + varieties of the present 2c. U. S. (1) The variety in which the + horizontal lines run across the triangular ornaments in uniform + thickness. (2) That in which the horizontal lines between the + outer and inner lines of the ornaments are deepened. (3) That in + which the lines are entirely missing between the outer and inner + lines of the ornaments. All three were known, and in addition + there is the variety showing a flaw in the forehead. This is + sometimes found strongly marked; in others it is more or less + distinct. I advise philatelists to collect all these varieties, as + well as all the shades of color, which are almost innumerable. + + LAURA WELCH.--Both the stamp and the embossed envelope were used + by the War Department for several years. This use has been + discontinued many years. The stamp is worth 5 cents, the 1c. + envelope, if on white paper, is worth $2.50, if on amber paper + $35, if on manila paper 5 cents + + L. P. DODGE.--The stamp you describe is one of the German locals + which are not collected in this country. There are many + counterfeits of the New Orleans Confederate local. It is + impossible to say whether your copy is genuine or counterfeit + without examination. + + H. R. C.--The present blue Special Delivery is collected as a new + variety. The Sedang stamps are worthless. Your complaint will be + investigated if you will send the Stamp Editor your full name and + address. + + F. E. WELSH, JUN.--"Regular" perforations cut out little circles + of white paper between each stamp on the sheet. "Pin" perforations + are simply holes punched into the spaces between the stamps + without removing the little circles of white paper. Saw-tooth + perforations are simply cuts into the spaces between the stamps + somewhat like this--v v v v v v. When the stamps are torn apart + the margins look just like the teeth on a saw. The Columbian + stamps are rapidly advancing in value. The 8c. Sherman has dropped + in value during the past year from 4 cents to a 1/2 cent each. + + JAMES F. ANDERSON.--The stamp you describe is the New Orleans + local. It is worth at least $1.50. + + A. W. DUNCAN.--The 1830 half-dollar is not at a premium. + + R. B. H.--The 3c. green U.S. is worth 1 cent. + + F. LOCKE.--The 1853 dime is worth face value only. + + GEO. H.--We cannot answer questions regarding dealers in this + column. + + B. W. LEAVITT.--The 50c. revenue-stamps mentioned are sold by + dealers at 2 cents each. + + C. C. COONER.--The 1c. blue 1861 is worth 3 cents; the others are + worth 1 cent each. + +PHILATUS. + + + + +THAT SLEIGHT-OF-HAND PERFORMANCE. + +BY CHARLES M. SHELDON. + + +It had been a very dull winter at Colby, and when we college boys came +home for our Christmas vacation we determined we would liven it up for +the village. + +As it happened, curiously enough, a funeral was the cause of the lively +time that followed our determination. + +Old Father Colby, one of the original settlers, had died the week +before, leaving a wife and three orphaned grandchildren in the old +homestead, and, as it turned out, very destitute. So the idea occurred +to us to get up a benefit entertainment, and turn over the proceeds to +the widow Colby and her family of grandchildren. + +The idea took with the neighborhood. And we at once rented the +Town-hall, and proceeded to bill the village and every barn in the +township with the notices of our performance. + +There were three of us: Tom Chandler, Jonas Willitts, and myself, Peter +Samuels. We were the only village boys who had ever been to college, and +we were the envy of all the farmers' boys and the admiration of all the +village girls. So we made the most of our brief vacations to get into +public notice. + +We determined to give a sleight-of-hand performance. Tom sent down to +Boston for materials, and we all practised diligently, keeping +everything as secret as if we were in a conspiracy against the United +States. + +Our announcements, which were scattered all over the township, were +certainly very attractive. They read as follows: + +"Extraordinary Performance to be given at the Town-hall, Colby, December +20, 18--. Marvellous Feats of Prestidigitatorism! The Egg and the +Handkerchief! The Watch Mortar and Magic Pistol! + +"The Handkerchief that will not Burn! The Pudding in the Hat! The +Inexhaustible Bottle! And Numerous other Marvels and Mysteries lately +Imported from India and the East! + +"The above Unrivalled Performance will be given for only 25 cents +admission. Proceeds to be devoted to Benevolent Cause. Doors open at +7.30. Performance to begin at 8. Come early and avoid being turned away. +No reserved seats. Carriages may be ordered for ten o'clock." + +We debated some over the last line on the handbills, but finally decided +to let it go in. It made the bills look more cosmopolitan and did no +harm. + +Tom and Jonas were to be the principal performers. I was general ticket +agent and business and stage manager. We all had our dress suits with +us, and, of course, we wore them when the time came. + +Well, that was the largest crowd that ever came to an entertainment in +Colby. There hadn't been anything going on all winter. Most of the young +people had never seen any sleight-of-hand tricks, and all the old people +turned out to help Grandma Colby. Before eight o'clock the hall was +jammed. Every seat was taken, and people crowded into the broad aisle +and sat on the platform, and stood up all around in a black fringe +against the wall. + +We had rigged up a curtain in front of the narrow platform, and at eight +o'clock, when the hall was so full that no more people could get into +it, the curtain was pulled aside by Peter Samuels, the stage director, +and revealed the Magician's Home. + +The first trick on the programme was "The Egg and the Handkerchief." +Jonas was behind the table acting as Tom's assistant, while I was +stationed just out of sight behind a fold of the curtain, ready to step +in at the right moment, for the trick required the use of three persons. + +It was simple enough, and yet Tom's blunder at the start led to the +ridiculous accident which was the first of a series that made that +sleight-of-hand performance a thing for Colby people to reckon time +from. + +The trick was, first, for Tom to produce an egg from Jonas's month by +rapping him on the back of his head, Jonas already having been provided +with a guinea-hen's egg secreted in his mouth for the purpose. Then, +when the egg appeared, Tom was to pretend to place it in a handkerchief, +really substituting for it a china egg of the same size, and slipping +the real egg into a little pochette of his dress-coat. What he did, +however, was to drop the real egg into the handkerchief, because, as he +afterwards said, the china egg stuck in his pochette, and he could not +get it out. The next part of the trick was to gather up the four corners +of the handkerchief and whirl it around rapidly, saying, "Ladies and +gentlemen, keep your eyes on my assistant yonder." At that point I +stepped out, holding on a plate a very nice-looking sponge-cake +previously prepared. Then Tom was to say: "I will now cause the egg in +the handkerchief to pass into the cake. Watch closely, ladies and +gentlemen." + +At that point Tom should have brought the handkerchief around in such a +way as to slip the china egg out into his other hand. Then I was to come +forward and cut open the cake, displaying an egg (also china), +previously placed within. And then Tom was to have produced the real +egg, and in order to prove that it was a real egg within the cake +(exchanging the two by palming one of them), he was to break the real +one into a dish. + +All this, which sounds so complex to describe, was simple enough as we +had rehearsed it, and even with Tom's blunder of dropping the real egg +in the handkerchief, might have turned out all right if he had not let +go one of the corners of the handkerchief as he whirled it around his +head. I, Peter Samuels, stage manager and director of that extraordinary +performance of "Marvellous Feats of Prestidigitatorism," will never +forget my sensations when, as I advanced solemnly with the cake, a white +body whizzed through the air and struck me full on my expansive shirt +bosom, breaking with a splash, and running down over my vest and +trousers in a yellow stream. + +I remember the scared look on Jonas's face, the perfectly horrified +expression that Tom wore, and also remember dimly wondering if a +guinea-fowl's egg would make as large an omlet as that of an ostrich. +For it seemed to me as if I was swimming in egg batter. + +The next instant the audience broke into a perfect roar of laughter. I +threw the cake down on the table and rushed back of the curtain again, +leaving Tom and Jonas to get out of the blunder as best they could, +while I wiped off the egg as best I could with my handkerchief. + +How that audience did roar! Tom stood with a knife in his hand waiting +to cut the cake. He said afterwards he felt mad enough to jump down off +the platform and pummel half a dozen big boys on the front seat. But he +kept his temper, and when the laugh died down he cut the cake open and +showed the egg, saying something about its being a small-sized egg on +account of spilling a part of it on the way. So that mystified the +people a little and restored the reputation of the performance, at least +for a while. + +The next trick was an easy one, and went off without any slip, and was +applauded. Tom and Jonas had the stage to themselves for a while, and I +staid out of sight and scrubbed at the egg. But do what I could, my +shirt bosom was ruined. + +Then came the "Watch Mortar" trick, and to my dying day I shall never +forget how that turned out. Neither will Tom. + +We had an apparatus made to resemble an old-fashioned druggists' mortar. +It was really made of tin, in two compartments, so that any heavy object +dropped into it would depress a false bottom and drop through on a shelf +back of the magician's table, at the same time letting into the upper +part of the mortar the fragments of an old watch previously pounded into +bits. Then Tom was to pretend to smash the borrowed watch, and +afterwards fire a pistol at me and take the real watch from my vest +pocket, where he would place it when he went back of the scenes for his +pistol. + +He described his intentions and asked for a watch from the audience. +Uncle Job Cavendish, the village barber, handed up an old silver-case +time-piece that was worth perhaps $3. + +Tom took it, and after a good deal of talk, dropped it down into the +mortar, picked up the ridiculous club used for a pestle, and began to +pound away. There was a great smashing sound, and poor Uncle Job looked +serious. But he did not begin to look half so serious as Tom did, and I +saw in a minute that something was wrong. + +He dropped the pestle, and said hurriedly to the audience, "Ladies and +gentlemen, I find I have left my pistol in the other room. Excuse me +while I run after it." + +Then Tom came into the wing where I stood, and jerking his own gold +watch out of his pocket, thrust it into mine, and whispered to me +fiercely, "That mortar stuck in some way, and I smashed Uncle Job's +watch into chicken-feed! Here is mine! I'll have to give him something +back, or we'll be mobbed out of the village!" + +Then he grabbed up the stage pistol and hurried back. He rammed the +remains of Uncle Job's poor watch down the big mouth of the pistol, and +I stepped forth, baring my egg-stained bosom to the pistol shot. Bang! +went the powder from the false chamber of the pistol, and Tom, with a +ghastly smile, stepped up to me and pulled his watch out of my pocket, +and with the utmost courage leaned out over the edge of the platform and +handed the watch to Uncle Job, saying, "Here you are, sir! Not only as +good as new, but changed from silver to gold!" + +Uncle Job was so taken by surprise that he sat with open mouth. He took +the watch and looked at it in dumb astonishment. The audience was taken +as much by surprise as he was. + +Tom and Jonas held a hurried consultation, and at once announced the +next trick. There was a great deal of confusion in the hall. Several +voices shouted out, "Show the silver watch!" Tom paid no attention, and +the next half-dozen tricks were so well done that the people applauded, +and we began to gain fresh courage. + +But alas! The next on the programme was the "Handkerchief that will not +burn." + +Almost any one with a little practice can pass a handkerchief obliquely +through the flame of a candle without burning it. All that is needed is +the proper dexterity. And this caution must be heeded. The handkerchief +must be free from cologne or perfumery, which contains spirits, and is +very inflammable. + +This was Jonas's trick. He called for a lady's handkerchief, and who +should hand one up but Sally Conners, the prettiest girl in the village, +and the one of all with whom Jonas was smitten. + +But to the grief of Jonas, Sally was very much addicted to perfumery, +and had that evening drenched her handkerchief with it. Jonas lighted +the candle, keeping up a running talk about making the handkerchief +enchanted, and then he passed it through the flame. + +The effect could not have been more certain if he had poured kerosene on +the candle. Poor Sally's delicate perfume-drenched handkerchief blazed +up in an instant like a display of fireworks. Jonas squeezed his hands +around the fragments that were left, and danced around the stage, +howling at the sudden pain of the burn. And the audience went wild. I +thought it never would stop laughing. Tom was desperate. I could see he +meant to conclude the performance before we had ruined our reputations +forever. + +With becoming modesty he addressed himself to the audience when it had +tired of laughing, and announced that the entertainment would close with +the startling trick, "The pudding in the hat." + +He and Jonas had practised this until they felt sure of it. Like all +sleight-of-hand tricks, it is easy enough if properly done. + +First Jonas prepared a dish of batter made of eggs broken in, shells and +all, a little flour, milk, raisins, and molasses. A ridiculous mixture, +from which, he assured the audience, would come forth a beautiful +pudding, nicely baked in a stovepipe hat, which he would wear on his own +head to prove that there was nothing in it. A sentence which had a +double meaning, and to which Jonas fully assented in every particular +before the evening was over. + +Well, the dish that held the batter was poured into the hat, apparently. +Of course it was really poured into a tin which exactly fitted into the +hat, and which contained also a second tin concealing the pudding, +tipped into it by Tom at the proper moment. Then the next part of the +trick consisted in placing the hat on Jonas's head, while he was to +strut about the stage jauntily. Then the hat would be removed, and lo! +in the centre of it would be found the pudding nicely baked. + +[Illustration: THEN THE WHOLE HAT SEEMED TO LET GO LIKE A BROKEN +RESERVOIR.] + +Now, whether Tom made some mistake in getting those tins canted into the +hat properly or not will never be known. Perhaps he pulled the hat down +too hard over Jonas's brows when he put it on him, and so loosened +something. At any rate, Jonas had not taken two steps before a streak of +batter was seen running down over his face. Then the whole hat seemed to +let go like a broken reservoir, and the milk and molasses and egg and +flour streamed down in a shower over the miserable Jonas. + +He tried to pull the hat off, and did so, leaving on his head, however, +the tins, which gave him the most astonishing appearance possible. Tom +fell back on the table in an agony of laughter, and in doing so sat down +on the dish that had contained the batter. The audience simply cried +itself hoarse with laughter. Sally Conners screamed with all her might, +and all the farmers' boys, who were present for miles around, haw-hawed, +and the old folks almost died looking at poor Jonas. In the midst of it +all, I, Peter Samuels, stage director, drew the curtain, and with the +other two performers stole down the back stairs, and made a run for +home, and so the great sleight-of-hand performance came to an end. + +The Colby people never forgot that performance. We never did, either. +Uncle Job kept Tom's watch until he left for college, and then gave it +back to him, and Tom bought him a new silver time-piece. The widow Colby +and her grandchildren realized a good sum from the entertainment, and +the next vacation we three boys spent in the city. I am afraid Jonas has +lost the favor of Sally Conners, for she never can speak of him without +laughing. But then Sally always did laugh on almost any provocation. + + + + +[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT] + + +So far as is known, no schedule of interscholastic track and field +records has ever before been printed, and although the table published +in this issue is as accurate as can be made under the circumstances, +still there are doubtless a few errors scattered around in it somewhere +that will be discovered by sharp-eyed readers in the very near future. +If the latter will inform this Department of the mistakes as soon as +they are found out, the table may be depended upon to be absolutely +exact the next time it is printed--and it certainly will be offered in +better form. To-day I have been obliged to put two bicycle events and +two hammer and shot events on the list, because the interscholastic +associations in the various parts of the country are about evenly +divided in the choice of distances and the use of weights. I have left +out entirely such acrobatic events as the hop, step, and jump, and +throwing the baseball, because they are not athletic, and do not deserve +to be recognized on any interscholastic programme. Perhaps a year from +now the school associations will have come to the conclusion that, take +it all in all, it is really better to have a uniform measure of +efficiency in sport as well as in anything else, and then a comparative +table will be of more value. + +INTERSCHOLASTIC RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1895. + + Event. Record. Maker. + + 100-yard dash 10-1/5 sec. F. H. Bigelow. + 220-yard run 22-2/5 " F. H. Bigelow. + 440-yard run 50-3/5 " T. E. Burke. + Half-mile inn 2 m. 4-1/5 " J. A. Meehan. + Mile run 4 " 34-2/5 " W. T. Laing. + Mile walk 7 " 17-3/5 " A. N. Butler. + 120-yard hurdle 15-3/5 " A. F. Beers. + 220-yard hurdle 26-1/2 " Field. + Mile bicycle 2 " 34-1/5 " I. A. Powell. + Two-mile bicycle 5 " 18-2/5 " Baker. + Running high jump 5 ft. 11 in. S. A. W. Baltazzi. + Running broad jump 21 " 6 " C. Brewer. + Pole vault 10 " 7 " B. Johnson. + Throwing 12-lb. hammer 125 " R. F. Johnson. + Throwing 16-lb. hammer 111 " 10 " F. G. Beck. + Putting 12-lb. shot 40 " 3/4 " A. C. Ayres. + Putting 16-lb. shot 39 " 3 " M. O'Brien. + + Event. School. + + 100-yard dash Worcester H.-S. + 220-yard run Worcester H.-S. + 440-yard run Boston English H.-S. + Half-mile inn Condon, N.Y. + Mile run Phillips Academy, Andover. + Mile walk Hillhouse H.-S., New Haven. + 120-yard hurdle De La Salle, N.Y. + 220-yard hurdle Hartford H.-S. + Mile bicycle Cutler, N.Y. + Two-mile bicycle Hotchkiss, Lakeville, Conn. + Running high jump Harvard, N.Y. + Running broad jump Hopkinson, Boston. + Pole vault Worcester Academy. + Throwing 12-lb. hammer Brookline H.-S. + Throwing 16-lb. hammer Hillhouse H.-S. + Putting 12-lb. shot Condon, N.Y. + Putting 16-lb. shot Boston English H.-S. + + Event. Time and place. + + 100-yard dash N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + 220-yard run N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + 440-yard run N.E.I S.A.A. games, 1894. + Half-mile inn N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Mile run N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894 + Mile walk Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895 + 120-yard hurdle N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + 220-yard hurdle Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895. + Mile bicycle N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Two-mile bicycle Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895. + Running high jump N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Running broad jump N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1890. + Pole vault N.E.I.S.A.A. games, June 15, 1895. + Throwing 12-lb. hammer N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + Throwing 16-lb. hammer Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895. + Putting 12-lb. shot N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Putting 16-lb. shot N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + +INTER-COLLEGIATE RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1895. + + Event. Record. Made by. + + { E. J. Wendell, Harvard; W. + { Baker, Harvard; C. H. + 100-yard dash 10 sec. { Sherrill, Yale; L. Cary, + { Princeton; E. S. Ramsdell, + { Penn. + 220-yard dash 21-4/5 " L. H. Cary, Princeton. + Quarter-mile run 47-3/4 " W. Baker, Harvard. + Half-mile run 1 m. 55-1/4 " W. C. Dohm, Princeton. + Mile run 4 " 23-2/5 " G. W. Orton, Penn. + Mile walk 6 " 42-4/5 " F. A. Borcheling, Princeton. + 120-yard hurdle 15-4/5 " H. L. Williams, Yale. + 220-yard hurdle 24-3/5 " J. L. Bremer, Harvard. + Two-mile bicycle 4 " 10 " W. D. Osgood, Penn. + Running high jump 6 ft. 4 in. W. B. Page, Penn. + Running broad jump 23 " L. P. Sheldon, Yale. + Pole vault 11 " 2-3/4 " C. T. Buckholz, Penn. + Throwing 16-lb. ham'r 135 " 7-1/2 " W. O. Hickok, Yale. + Putting 16-lb. shot 44 " 1-1/2 " W. O. Hickok, Yale. + +How is it possible to gauge the performances of school champions with +those of others--college-men and athletic club amateurs--when we have no +common ratio? We cannot, of course. For instance, take Beers's record of +15-3/5 sec. in the high hurdles, made at the New York Interscholastics +last May. On paper this looks very well. It apparently beats the +inter-collegiate record made by Harry Williams in 1891, by one-fifth of +a second. But it really does not. Beers ran his race over lower hurdles, +and so it is not possible to make a comparison. The hurdles used by the +N.Y.I.S.A.A. are only 3 feet high, whereas the inter-collegiate sticks +are 3 ft. 6 in. Some of the interscholastic associations use the +standard 3 ft. 6 in. hurdles, but as it was impossible to ascertain +exactly what the records were that had been made over these at school +meetings in the past, I took the fastest time over the dwarfed hurdles, +and let it go in as a fit companion for the 12-lb. shot and hammer and +the mile bicycle-race. + +In the future, however, I shall give little attention to these one-eyed +records. The college associations have set up a standard of distance and +weight which experience has shown to be a good one. A sufficient number +of interscholastic associations have adopted the same standard, thereby +making it clearly evident that it is none too high for school-boy +athletes. Therefore, in making out a comparative table of college and +school records, this Department will accept the standard established by +the I.C.A.A.A. and adopted by the majority of the interscholastic +associations. If in the near future a general interscholastic league is +formed, I feel sure that its legislators will agree with me in this, and +will adopt the same course when they lay out their programme. + +It is to be regretted that the Oakland, Cal., High-School athletic team +was unable to accept the Stockton High-School's challenge for dual games +to be held on June 15th last, but unless something unforeseen turns up +the meeting will be held soon after the next school term begins, which +is in August. The California schools open about five weeks earlier than +our Eastern institutions, and the football season with them, therefore, +starts in the closing days of summer. There will also be the semi-annual +field day of the Academic Athletic League at about that time, or in +September, and bicycle road races, in which teams from the several +schools of the A.A.L. will be matched against one another. At the field +day there will be a contest for the all 'round championship of the +Pacific Coast Association. Five or six events will be selected from the +programme, and every competitor for the championship will have to +compete in each one, the champion to be the winner of the greatest +number of points. + +The object of this athletic Department in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE is not +only to criticise and comment upon the various sports of the calender, +but also to explain any intricate points of these games, to answer +questions on matters of sport and athletics, and to give all such +information as shall justly come under the head of Interscholastic +Sport. A number of correspondents have requested that some space be +devoted to an explanation of the "100-up" method of scoring in tennis, +and to give the rules for odds. This "100-up" method, sometimes called +the "Pastime" system, was devised a few years ago to meet the defects of +the old system of scoring, which had been handed down to us from the +ancient English game of tennis. The latter has a good many disadvantages +in spite of its universal use, the chief objection being that it +frequently happens in a match that a player scores more strokes, or even +more games, than his antagonist, and yet is beaten. This, of course, is +manifestly unfair; and as for handicaps, in which more than two players +are competing, the complex and unsatisfactory system of adjusting the +odds according to the old way is unnecessarily complicated. + +The rules for the "100-up" method are comparatively simple and very +easily remembered after having been used once or twice. The player who +serves first must serve six times in succession, and then his opponent +does the same, the service changing always after each one has served six +consecutive times. One fault and one good service; two faults; or one +good service counts as a service. After the first, third, fifth, or, in +other words, every alternate series of service, the players change +courts, thus making each six successive services one series of services. +The first player to score one hundred points wins the game; but the +match can be played for any number of points--more or less than a +hundred--as the contestants may agree upon beforehand. The usual figure, +however, is one hundred. If the score comes to be 99-all, play goes on +as before, until one of the players has a majority of two points. He +then wins; but no game can be won by a lesser majority than two points. + +The odds in the regular old-fashioned method of counting are, briefly, +thus: A "bisque" is one point that can be taken by the receiver of the +odds at any time during the set except after a service is delivered, or, +if he is serving, after a fault. "Half fifteen" is one stroke given at +the beginning of the second, fourth, and every alternate game of a set, +and "fifteen" is one stroke given at the beginning of every game. In the +same way "thirty" is two strokes given at the beginning of every game, +whereas "half thirty" is one stroke given at the beginning of the first +game, two at the beginning of the second, one at the beginning of the +third, and so on, two and one, alternately, until the end of the set. +"Forty" is three strokes before every game, "half forty" three and two, +alternately, as before. "Owed odds" signifies that the giver of the odds +starts behind scratch. Thus "owe half fifteen" means that one stroke is +owed at the beginning of the first, third, fifth, and every alternate +game of the set. Other "owed odds" are reckoned inversely in the same +manner as given odds. If a player gives odds of "half court," he agrees +to play in a certain half of the court, either the right or the left, +and he loses a stroke whenever he returns a ball outside any of the +lines that bound that half court. + +But the newest of all the systems of odds, and the one now most +generally used by experts, is called the "quarter" system. In this +method fifteen is divided into four quarters, and thus a closer handicap +may be obtained. "One quarter" of fifteen is one stroke given at the +beginning of the second, sixth, and every fourth game thereafter in the +set. "Two quarters" (the "half fifteen" spoken of above) is one stroke +at the beginning of the second, fourth, sixth, etc., games. "Three +quarters" is one stroke at the beginning of the second, third, fourth, +sixth, seventh, and eighth games, and so on. When it is "odds owed," as +before, "one quarter" is one stroke in the first and fifth games; "two +quarters" is one stroke in the first and third; and "three quarters" is +one stroke in the first, third, and fourth games, and so on to the end +of the set. In order to get odds at a similar ratio when the match is +being scored on the "100-up" system, the following table of equivalents +has been adopted: + + 1 quarter of 15 = 5 points per 100 + 2 quarters " 11 " " + 3 " " 16 " " + 15 " " 22 " " + 15.1 " " 27 " " + 15.2 " " 32 " " + 15.3 " " 38 " " + 30 " " 43 " " + 30.1 " " 49 " " + 30.2 " " 54 " " + 30.3 " " 59 " " + 40 " " 65 " " + +The principal difficulty about this new system of odds, except for +experts and for those who play constantly, is the difficulty of +remembering it. It certainly takes more study to become familiar with it +than with the old half-point system. In that the odds change at every +game, and change directly back again even when most complicated, so that +really all there is to remember is which odds came with the service. The +chief advantage of the "quarter" system is that it affords greater +accuracy, and to experts this is a sufficient compensation for its +intricacy. I should not advise the average player, however, to bother +with it, for, unless he intends to try for a national championship, life +is too short to devote many hours of study to the "quarter" system. + +Another correspondent asks for information as to the best way to get up +a tennis tournament, and now that we are on the subject of tennis, his +query might just as well be disposed of. A tournament, like anything +else, demands time and care in preparation if it is to be a success. +Don't put off everything until the last moment, or the day will surely +be a failure; whereas, if thought is given to all the small details that +go to make such an occasion enjoyable, everything will go as easily as +rolling off a log. In the first place, those who want to arrange a +tournament, or the committee which has been chosen to make the +arrangements, should get together and discuss the situation and decide +what they want to do and how they want to do it. In this preliminary +talk a calculation of expenses should first be made. Find out how much +money will probably be required, and then, as a measure of safety, add +about ten per cent. to that, for expenses are usually underestimated. +Having determined how much money will be needed, make arrangements for +securing that amount either by subscription, entrance fees, or sale of +tickets. If the tournament is to be conducted by a club, there will +probably be some money in the treasury that can be used. It is not +usually advisable, and seldom practicable at an impromptu summer tennis +tournament, to demand admission fees of the spectators. + +The financial part of the enterprise having now been attended to, a +treasurer should be appointed to take charge of the funds, and to keep +an account of all receipts and expenditures. Of course, if, as I have +said before, the tournament is being held by a club, many of these +details are already fulfilled by previous organization. The date should +be the next thing decided. In each instance there will be many +circumstances affecting this date. If the idea of having a tournament is +being discussed with a view to holding it later in the summer, find out +what players will be in the neighborhood at that time, and try to invite +players to visit the locality at about that period. If you only have a +week or ten days in which to make your preparations (for a small +tournament), try to fix on a day when there will be nothing else of +importance going on near by. The chief object of the managers or of the +committee should be to secure as large an attendance as possible, for a +crowd will encourage the players to better effort. + +The date having been settled upon, send out notices. State clearly all +the facts. Say at what place, on what date, and at what time of day the +tournament is to be held; and also under whose auspices. Give a list of +the events--such as men's singles, doubles, women's singles, mixed +doubles, or whatever there is to be; state the requirements for +entrances, and give the date when entries close. Be sure to give the +name and address of the person who has been assigned to receive these +entries. State also in the notice the hours of play, the number of sets +to the match, the kind of balls that are to be used, and announce any +special regulations that it may have been found necessary to adopt. +Finally, enumerate the prizes; but remember that it is always in better +taste to make these inexpensive and more in the nature of souvenirs of +the occasion than trophies. + +The notices disposed of and sent out, the managers should now see that +the courts are rolled and otherwise put in order, so that they may be in +the best possible condition on the day set for the tournament. There +should be a plentiful supply of balls, for sometimes an entire box is +used in a match. In large tournaments I have seen the players dispose of +a box every set. At each end of the net put up a couple of chairs on +boxes for the umpires, and arrange seats about the court for the +spectators. If there are not enough chairs and benches handy, lay boards +on boxes, and so produce impromptu settees. Don't fail to hire a couple +of boys to pick up the balls. + +All these details are necessary ones; there are a few others that might +be termed luxuries, such as having printed tickets and programmes, and +an awning stretched along one side of the court to shelter the ladies +from the sun. One more necessary point, however, is to secure competent +judges and umpires, otherwise something might occur during play that +would mar the pleasure of the day. Of course it would be a +misunderstanding, but this can be easily avoided by having officials +fully conversant with the game and familiar with the duties required of +them. + +After all the entries have been received, make the drawings, and, if +possible, post them somewhere where all those interested in the coming +tournament will be able to see them. When, on the day set, the hour to +begin play arrives, start promptly. Delay is always fatal to the success +of any sporting event. People don't like to sit around and wait. But all +that I have said here is merely in the line of suggestion. Many little +matters crop up as soon as any enterprise of this kind is entered into, +and these questions have to be settled according to the emergency. Let +the central idea be to anticipate anything that might happen; then, as a +rule, nothing will happen. + + THE GRADUATE. + + + + +[Illustration: THE CAMERA CLUB] + + This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin + collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question + on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should + address Editor Stamp Department. + + +HOW TO CATCH CLOUDS. + + 7th. About + 11th. this + 14th. time + 17th. look + 21st. out + 28th. for + 31st. storms. + +This was usually the weather warning in the old-time almanacs which the +farmer was in the habit of consulting nightly, in order to make his +plans for his haying or harvesting, his sowing or reaping, the success +of which depended on the state of the weather. + +The amateur photographer who makes a specialty of landscapes should put +this warning in his note-book, substituting the word clouds for that of +storms, changing it to read, "About this time look out for clouds." + +A picture of a landscape with clouds in the sky is much finer than where +the sky is perfectly white, and cloud pictures themselves are very +interesting. + +It is not an easy matter to catch the clouds even when the sky is full +of them. If they are obtained in the negative, they are usually lost in +the printing, as the landscape portion of the negative, being less dense +than the sky, prints much more quickly, and to obtain a print of the +clouds the lines of the landscape would be almost black from +over-printing. + +There is a device called a "cloud-catcher," which is a shutter so +arranged with adjustable disks that the foreground or landscape part of +the picture is given a time exposure, while the sky is taken +instantaneously. This is supposed to give the proper time of exposure +for each part of the picture. + +The amateur cannot always afford such an attachment, and, in order to +obtain clouds in his landscapes, must resort to various devices of +developing and printing. + +The most common method is to take two pictures, one exposed for the sky, +and the other for the landscape, and print from both negatives. In +printing from a "sky"-and-"landscape" negative, print the sky first, +covering the part of the sensitive paper on which the landscape is to be +printed. After printing the sky, place the other negative in the frame +and print the landscape. It does not matter if the opaque paper which +covers the landscape does not follow the horizon lines exactly, as the +darker tones of the landscape will blot out the outlines of the clouds +if they lap on the horizon. + +If one has a negative where the clouds are good but will not print out +unless the rest of the picture is over-printed, a good print may be +obtained by this simple device: Take an empty tin-can a little longer +than the printing-frame. Cut off the top and bottom, and cut the can in +two the long way. This will give you a piece of rolled tin. Flatten one +edge, leaving the other curved. Attach the flat edge to the side of the +printing-frame so as to shield the landscape part of the negative. This +will make a shade for this part of the negative, which prints the +fastest, and thus retard the printing, allowing the denser portions a +longer time to print. A shaded negative should always be printed in +diffused light, not in the direct rays of the sun. + +Pictures of clouds, or rather, _false_ clouds, are made by holding the +negative over the flame of a candle and letting the glass side become +covered with lamp-black. Then, with a soft tuft of cotton, wipe off the +smoke in places, leaving the outlines of clouds on the glass. Very good +clouds can be made by this method with a little practice. Another way is +to attach a piece of fine tissue-paper to the negative and sketch clouds +in the sky portion, unless the sky is very dense. A thin sky is often +improved by these sham clouds. + +[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN THE TYROL, SHOWING CLOUD EFFECT.] + +The picture which we reproduce here was taken by Sir Knight Sidney +Stearns, of Cleveland, Ohio. It was taken at Halle in the Tyrol, time +nearly sunset. The sun, as may be seen by looking at the picture, is at +the left of the camera and well toward the front. This is usually the +best direction from which the strongest light should fall, either from +the left or right and near the front of the camera. One should seldom or +never take a picture with the sun directly behind the camera. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS. + + + + +Highest of all in Leavening Power.--Latest U. S. Gov't Report. + +[Illustration: Royal Baking Powder] + + + + +[Illustration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE +WATER] + + + + +[Illustration] + +WONDER CABINET =FREE=. Missing Link Puzzle, Devil's Bottle, Pocket +Camera, Latest Wire Puzzle, Spook Photos, Book of Sleight of Hand. Total +Value 60c. Sent free with immense catalogue of 1000 Bargains for 10c. +for postage. + +INGERSOLL & BRO., 65 Cortlandt Street N. Y. + + + + +[Illustration: BICYCLING] + + This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the + Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our + maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from the + official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen. + Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L. A. W., the + Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership + blanks and information so far as possible. + + +[Illustration: Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers] + +The final run into Albany on the road from New York, according to the +plan which we have been following--that is, of making the journey in +four days--is from Hudson to Albany, a distance of twenty-eight to +thirty miles. Leaving Hudson, which was the northernmost point reached +on last week's map, the rider goes out on to the main road by the way of +Fourth Street and Pond Road, and thence follows the telegraph poles +direct to Stockport, passing through Stottville. The road is hilly while +running from the town of Hudson, and about half-way from Stottville to +Stockport there is another rather stiff hill. The distance is a little +over five miles, and the road is poor, on the whole, owing to its +rolling nature and the fact that the road-bottom is largely clay. From +Stockport to Stuyvesant Falls it improves a little, though it is +somewhat hilly. The rider should follow the telegraph poles all the way, +and keep a sharp lookout for L.A.W. signs, which will be of great +assistance wherever they are found. This run is about three and +three-quarters or four miles, and the next stage, from Stuyvesant Falls +to Kinderhook, is four miles. There is no difficulty in following the +road, with the possible exception of an abrupt fork about one and +one-half or two miles out of Stuyvesant Falls. Here, of course, the +rider should keep to the right on the main road. From Kinderhook to Pine +Grove is a little under five miles. Keep to the left at Kinderhook after +leaving the Kinderhook Hotel, keeping always to the Albany Post Road +with the telegraph poles. Thence continue from Pine Grove to Schodack +Centre, and when you have made four and one-half miles, and crossed two +small bridges, turn to the right at Willow Trees, whence the run to +Schodack Centre is clearly marked, a distance, in all, of a little over +eight miles. From here the run to the Hudson, opposite Albany, passes +through East Greenbush, three miles away, and finally brings up at the +Hudson at South Bridge, a little less than five miles further. This last +stage of the journey is somewhat hilly again, and there is a bad descent +just before reaching Greenbush, where the rider should take the utmost +care, owing to the fact that the hill itself is bad, and the difficulty +complicated by a railroad crossing. On reaching the Hudson the rider +should cross on South Bridge, and running into Albany turn into +Broadway, thence to State Street, thence to North Pearl Street, and +finally put up at the Kenmore Hotel. + +While this run from New York to Albany is in parts hilly, and while +occasionally the rider will strike a bit of difficult road, it is +nevertheless one of the best bicycle trips in the United States, not +only on account of the condition of the roads, but on account of its +picturesque and historical interest. As was said last week, any one who +intends to take the trip, or who can give the time to it, is strongly +advised to take a week to do it in, to cross the Hudson several times on +the way, and make short runs into the country on the other side. It is +possible in this way for a rider of reasonable experience to see +practically the whole of the Hudson River valley between these two +points, and to have a fine outing without doing too much "scorching," +or, on the other hand, taking the journey too slowly. The distance from +New York to Albany, or rather from Central Park and 110th Street to the +Kenmore Hotel, is one hundred and fifty-three and three-quarter miles, +and by taking seven or eight days to the trip, the rider can easily +cover three to four hundred miles in his excursions off the main route. + + NOTE.--Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of + route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, + Connecticut, in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New + Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814. + Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816. + Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in + No. 818. + + + + +[Illustration: THE PUDDING STICK] + + This Department is conducted in the interest of Girls and Young + Women, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on + the subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address + Editor. + + +I have talked to you about notes and letters in a previous number of the +paper, but some of my ROUND TABLE readers ask to have the subject +treated again, with special attention to correspondence of a ceremonious +character. + +A note of invitation should be very cordial, affectionate, and explicit. +You should state clearly in such a note the day and train which you +would like your friend to take, and the length of time you expect her to +stay with you. Formerly it was regarded as inhospitable to limit in any +way the duration of a friend's visit, but we understand now that it is +more convenient and comfortable for all concerned to have the precise +number of days or weeks indicated. This arrangement enables your friends +to make other engagements, and leaves you free to invite other friends +if, as often happens, you can have the pleasure of entertaining +successive guests during a summer. Let me give you some examples. + +Mary Hills wishes to ask Abby Lewis to spend a week with her at Dove's +Nest in the Catskills, Mary's country home. Her letter of invitation +might be written as follows: + + DOVE'S NEST, TANNERSVILLE P.O., NEW YORK. + + DEAREST ABBY,--It seems very long since I saw you. Mamma and I + were talking last night about the delightful visit we had at your + home just before the Van Blarcoms went abroad. It is very lovely + at Dove's Nest now, and we are anxious to have you see the place + while our sweet-pease and nasturtiums are in bloom. Won't you come + on Thursday, the twentieth, by the ten-o'clock train (West Shore), + and stay with me till Monday, the thirty-first? I will meet you at + the station on Thursday afternoon. We have a new golf course, and + all sorts of pleasant things are going on. + + Hoping soon to see you, I am, dear Abby, + + Yours lovingly, + MARY HILLS. + July fifteenth, eighteen-- + +Abby's reply would probably be somewhat like this: + + 182 SEVENTY-EIGHTH STREET, NEW YORK. + + DEAR, DEAR MARY,--How good you are to ask me for so charming a + visit! It will give me the greatest pleasure to go to you on the + twentieth and to stay for ten days, as you suggest. You may expect + to see me flying down the station to meet you when the ten-o'clock + train reaches the mountains on that afternoon. I can hardly wait + for the blissful time to arrive. Mamma sends her love, and I am, + as ever, + + Devotedly yours, + ABBY LEWIS. + +A household critic suggests to me at this point that "Dearest Abby" and +"Dear, dear Mary," are rather gushing, and not quite in the approved +literary style which ought to be shown to girls. But I am talking to +real girls, and I know how they write, and I don't mind in the least a +little effervescence in the way of adjectives. I like girls to call me +"Dearest" when they write to me, and I don't mind their saying "Dear" to +one another over and over again. + +How much luggage you must take when going on a visit depends on the +length of the visit and the number of engagements it will include. As a +rule, in our changeable climate you will need, in going away from home, +something thick and something thin. A trunk is a great comfort, though +one can manage with a large bag or a telescope, while a man's suit-case +lends itself finely to the folding of a girl's gown. + +With two or three pretty shirt-waists and a nice skirt, a simple dress +for evenings, and a warm stuff costume of serge or flannel for cool or +rainy mornings, a girl will be supplied for every needful requirement. +One's own dainty home wardrobe is sufficient for a visit, and if the +sailor hat be trim, the shoes and gloves in order, and the girl carry +herself gracefully, nobody will think a second time about her dress. + +As soon as possible after a journey lay aside your travelling dress, and +make a fresh toilette before joining the family. Try to ascertain the +family habits, and conform to them. + +I heard not long ago of a girl, said to be very clever and bright, who +exclaimed: "Make my own bed! Why, I wouldn't know how to begin! I +couldn't get the sheets on straight!" She wasn't a Pudding Stick girl of +mine, I'm happy to say. More on this subject next time. + +[Illustration: Signature] + + * * * * * + +SICKNESS AMONG CHILDREN + +is prevalent at all seasons of the year, but can be avoided largely when +they are properly cared for. _Infant Health_ is the title of a valuable +pamphlet accessible to all who will send address to the New York +Condensed Milk Co., N. Y. City.--[_Adv._] + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS. + + + + +Arnold + +Constable & Co + + * * * * * + +MISSES' AND CHILDREN'S + +Wash Suits + +GREATLY REDUCED PRICES. + + * * * * * + +Broadway & 19th st. + +NEW YORK. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Trilby's Foot + +was perfect (perhaps yours is), but even perfect feet get tired, and +nothing takes out the tired aches like Pond's Extract. + +Avoid substitutes; accept genuine only, with buff wrapper and yellow +label. + +POND'S EXTRACT CO., 76 Fifth Ave., New York. + + + + +Postage Stamps, &c. + + + + +[Illustration] + +100 all dif. Venezuela, Costa Rica, etc., only 10c.; 200 all dif. Hayti, +Hawaii, etc., only 50c. Ag'ts wanted at 50 per ct. com. List FREE! + +=C. A. Stegmann=, 2722 Eads Av., St. Louis, Mo. + + + + +=100= all different, China, etc., 10c.; 5 Saxony, 10c.; 40 Spain, 40c.; +6 Tunis, 14c.; 10 U. S. Revenues, 10c. Agts. wtd., 50% com.; '95 list +free. + +CRITTENDEN & BORGMAN CO., Detroit, Mich. + + + + +[Illustration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE +WATER] + + + + +Commit to Memory + +the best things in Prose and Poetry, always including good Songs and +Hymns. It is surprising how little good work of this kind seems to be +done in the Schools, if one must judge from the small number of people +who can repeat, without mistake or omission, as many as =Three= good +songs or hymns. + +Clear, Sharp, Definite, + +and accurate Memory work is a most excellent thing, whether in School or +out of it, among all ages and all classes. But let that which is so +learned be worth learning and worth retaining. The Franklin Square Song +Collection presents a large number of + +Old and New Songs + +and Hymns, in great variety and very carefully selected, comprising +Sixteen Hundred in the Eight Numbers thus far issued, together with much +choice and profitable Reading Matter relating to Music and Musicians. In +the complete and varied + +Table of Contents, + +which is sent free on application to the Publishers, there are found +dozens of the best things in the World, which are well worth committing +to memory; and they who know most of such good things, and appreciate +and enjoy them most, are really among the best educated people in any +country. They have the best result of Education. For above Contents, +with sample pages of Music, address + +Harper & Brothers, New York. + + + + +PRIZE-STORY COMPETITION. + +SECOND-PRIZE STORY. + +An Exciting Game. By Nancy Howe Wood. + + +It was when I was a struggling young physician in a small country town +that I passed through an adventure which I would not care to repeat, +although now I can plainly see its humorous aspect. + +I had but shortly before graduated from a medical college, and was +trying hard to get my living in a little village where there were two +other older and more experienced doctors. I was becoming greatly +disheartened, when one day, on my return from a visit to a poor woman of +the village, I found an official-looking letter awaiting me. I opened it +with some degree of excitement, and was astonished to find that it was +an offer to me of the position of resident physician in the Blankville +Insane Asylum, situated about two miles away. A salary was named which +seemed a fortune to me, poverty-stricken as I then was. (I afterwards +learned that the offer was made to me through the efforts of an +influential friend.) + +At first the letter gave me unlimited joy, and I shouted like a +school-boy; but when I began to think what it would actually mean my +heart sank. All my life I had had a nervous horror of insane persons, +and if I should accept this offer I would be obliged to stay with them, +eat with them, and live among them almost as one of themselves. At this +thought I fairly shuddered, and was forced to confess to myself that I +could never endure such a strain on my nerves, doctor though I was. + +The next morning, however, when I again read the letter, the offer +seemed so tempting that I said to myself: "Pshaw! I will not be +conquered by an attack of nerves. Come, brace yourself up, man. Why, a +few years at that salary will be enough to set you up for life!" +Nevertheless, I determined to go up the following day, and _look over_ +the place before deciding on my final answer. + +So early the next morning I presented myself at the asylum, all my +nervousness gone. I was so politely shown about, and everything looked +so orderly and well cared for, and the grounds without seemed so +peaceful and quiet, that I was delighted with it all. My misgivings had +almost vanished, and I had so nearly made up my mind to accept the +lucrative offer, that I said to the smiling and complaisant guard who +was acting as my guide: + +"Tell the superintendent that if he will kindly allow me to stroll in +the garden and think the matter over, I will give him my final answer +within the hour." So saying, I began to pace up and down the +flower-bordered walks. + +I was by this time in such a well-satisfied frame of mind that I +promptly dispelled the last remnants of my former nervousness. + +I was just on the point of re-entering the asylum to say to the +Superintendent that I gratefully accepted his offer when I was startled +by the sound of crackling twigs behind me. Turning quickly, I found +myself face to face with a man whom I supposed at first to be one of the +guards. But as soon as I moved away from him to go toward the house he +sprang forward with hand outstretched to clutch me, uttering an idiotic +chuckle. Cold shivers chased up and down my back as the thought flashed +upon me that it was an escaped patient! With a shriek I ran down the +path at the top of my speed, my fear increased by the sound of pursuing +steps behind me. + +I doubled and turned on the track, striving to distance or elude my +dreaded pursuer, but in spite of my frantic efforts, he kept closely at +my heels. Finally in one of my windings I was confronted by the six-foot +stone wall that surrounded the asylum on every side. Glancing backward, +I saw that the maniac--as I now knew him to be--was almost upon me, and, +making a desperate effort, I succeeded in reaching the top of the wall. +For a moment I fancied myself secure: but my pursuer darted behind the +shrubbery, and pulled out a small ladder, evidently used by the +gardeners. Seeing him thus prepared to follow me, I hurriedly dropped to +the ground outside, and scrambled to my feet just as the lunatic's head +appeared above the top of the wall. Again I had only a short start +before he was once more on my track. + +And now began an exciting race "over brush, brake, and brier"; sometimes +I stumbled over a protruding root and fell headlong, but was up again in +a twinkling; sometimes my pursuer was so close upon me that I could +easily hear his panting breath. At the end of the first mile and a +quarter I thought myself done for, but my college training, which, +luckily, I had not forgotten, stood me in good stead, and I desperately +ran on. + +"Oh," thought I, wildly, "where are the villagers? Isn't anybody near? +But there was no road leading out of the village in that direction, and +few people passed that way. At last, after years, it seemed to me, we +entered the village, and tore at full speed down the main street. If I +had longed before for some human soul to help me, I now as earnestly +prayed that I might unobserved gain my own door, and so be safe. But no; +some small boy, busily engaged doing nothing, soon raised the cry, + +"Say, here comes the fresh young doctor a-tearing down the street like a +steam-engine!" + +Then, almost tired out, and seeing the door of a small house standing +open, I dashed in, passed through the hall and dining-room, where the +astonished family were sitting at dinner, and out into the back yard, +where, completely exhausted, and utterly unable to run a step further, I +dropped behind a barrel. + +My hope had been that the people of the house would have understood my +predicament and stopped the madman, but they evidently had not taken in +the situation, or else he had been too quick for them, for from behind +the barrel where I had concealed myself I could hear him come through +the open doorway and search the yard for me. + +And now I feared that my panting breath would betray me--and it did, for +I heard his stealthy steps approach the spot where I lay quaking, and +his ugly, leering face peered round at me, and he sprang forward and +touched me, calling out, as I fell back almost fainting with terror: +"_Tag! You're it!_" + +In an instant the meaning of his words flashed over me, and I cursed +myself for my foolish nervousness. The confounded fool had taken it for +a game of tag! + +By this time quite a little crowd of villagers had gathered around me, +and the escaped lunatic was secured to wait for the arrival of his +keeper, and I managed to reach my home, after being fortified by a glass +of wine. + +It was several days before my nerves recovered their usual steadiness, +and it is perhaps needless to add that I did not accept the situation. + + + + +The Helping Hand. + + +The Lancelot Chapter, of Newtonville, Mass., has nine members, and each +earned twenty-five cents. Then the Chapter added a little, and the +secretary forwarded $3 with the best of Lancelot wishes Names of the +contributors are Ella A. Gould, Marion Drew Bassett, Adella J. +Saunderson, Ethel T. Gammons, Alice L. Harrison, Esther H. Dyson, Lulu +Ulmer, Mabel Glazier, and Hazel L. Bobbins. + +The Edison Chapter, of Bangor, Me., send $2 for the Fund. This Fund is, +you know, to help build the Round Table Industrial School-house at Good +Will Farm, where poor boys are educated. The Table is raising this Fund, +and it asks contributions from all who want, first, to help chivalrous +young persons who are trying to help others, and second, to help in the +best possible way boys who need help. + +Any sums, sent by anybody, will be thankfully received and acknowledged +in the Table. Members of the Edison Chapter, which sent the $2 the other +day, earned the money folding and carrying papers, getting out ashes, +and washing dishes--truly practical methods of being truly generous. + +Founders of the Order of the Round Table want $1000 to complete this +School Fund. Who will help them? + + + + +From Some Far-Away Members. + + +The Table loves to hear from far-distant places, and to have members +tell us how their country looks, and what the people do. Here is news +from three friends: + + SPRING CREEK, MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND. + + New Zealand is a far-away country to you, yet I have seen some + letters from here. The town I live near is not very large. It is + subject to floods, and last year the water came thirteen times + into some of the shops. I have not travelled about much, so I + cannot describe to you my journeys as many other girls do. The + North Island of New Zealand is very volcanic, especially near the + centre. There are many hot springs there, some just warm, and + others boiling. The Maories, as the natives are called, boil their + potatoes in them, by letting them down into the springs in + baskets. + + Out of one of the volcanic mountains the lava that streamed down + the sides was a pale pink. It was formed into terraces all down + the mountainside. On another mountain it was much the same, only + the terraces were white. A few years ago a great eruption caused + them to entirely disappear. Since then some brown ones have begun + to form, but they are very inferior to the former ones. When the + eruption took place there were loud noises heard almost all over + New Zealand. Many people who lived near were wellnigh smothered + with mud, and for miles the country was covered with ashes and + mud, in many places several feet thick. Most of the deposit was of + a steel-gray color, and just like knife-polish in texture. My + younger sister and I collect stamps. As yet we have very few. I + have seen letters asking for girls to write and exchange stamps. I + would much like some girls to write to me, and send the stamps of + their countries. In return I will send them New Zealand ones. + + JEAN CHAYTOR. + + * * * * * + + BLENHEIM, MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND. + + I am collecting stamps, and would be glad if any girls would write + to me and send me some stamps of their country, and I will send + them some of mine. There is a Maori pah about two miles from here. + Some time ago the chief died, and they had a great tangi, which + lasted for a fortnight. In old times Maoris used to bury their + dead head down and all their goods with them, and then stick a + canoe at the head of the grave. + + CONSTANCE CHAYTOR. + + * * * * * + + BLENHEIM, MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND. + + There was a chrysanthemum show here last Thursday, and there were + some lovely flowers at it. I think the chrysanthemums are + beautiful flowers, especially the Japanese ones. We have big + floods in Blenheim. I think they are great fun, but they do great + damage, especially to the farms. Once when we had a big flood my + sister was sitting on the bed taking off her boots. She forgot + about the water, and dropped her boots into it, and they floated + about the house all night. + + A month ago Rev. Mr. Brittain, a Melanesian missionary, and + twenty-two Melanesian boys came to Blenheim; only a few of the + boys could speak English. The others speak Mota. It was + interesting hearing all about the islands. At Norfolk Island there + is a large college. There is also a beautiful church. All the + seats are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Last summer all our family + and several others went down to White's Bay, which is about ten + miles from Blenheim, camping. We had three tents. We staid two + weeks, and had a splendid time. I collect stamps, and would be + very glad if any of the girls would write to me and send some, and + I in return would send them some New Zealand ones. + + MILLIE DOBSON. + + + + +Chin-Kiang, China. + + I wrote a long letter which was accepted for publication in the + Table, and every time I get a new number I look for it, but am + always disappointed. In the last one there was a letter from + Juliet Bredon, with whom I spent several weeks in Japan, which + interested me very much, and made me wish all the more to see mine + in print. It will be soon, won't it? I will write something more + about Chin-Kiang by-and-by if it will interest other members of + the Table. + + MILDRED C. JONES. + +Your letter shall appear in due time. Yes, tell us more about China and +the Chinese. We are much interested--all of us. + + + + +[Illustration: Ivory Soap] + +When you pack for the sea shore or the mountains, fill a tray of your +trunk with Ivory Soap and require your laundress to use it. Light summer +garments should be washed only with a pure white soap. + +THE PROCTER & GAMBLE CO., CIN'TI. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Not of the preparations of coloring matter and essential oils so often +sold under the name of rootbeer, but of the purest, most delicious, +health-giving beverage possible to produce. One gallon of Hires' is +worth ten of the counterfeit kind. Suppose an imitation extract costs +five cents less than the genuine Hires; the same amount of sugar and +trouble is required; you save one cent a gallon, and--get an unhealthful +imitation in the end. Ask for HIRES and _get_ it. + +[Illustration: HIRES' Rootbeer] + +THE CHAS. E. HIRES CO., Philadelphia. + + + + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +Carry in pocket. Takes 25 perfect pictures in one loading--re-loading +costs 20c. Ask your dealer for it, or send for free booklet "All About +the Kombi." + +ALFRED C. KEMPER, + +Branches: London, Berlin. 132-134 Lake Street, Chicago + + + + +[Illustration] + +CARD PRINTER =FREE= + +Sets any name in one minute; prints 500 cards an hour. YOU can make +money with it. A font of pretty type, also Indelible Ink, Type Holder, +Pads and Tweezers. Best Linen Marker; worth $1.00. Sample mailed FREE +for 10c. stamps for postage on outfit and large catalogue of 1000 +Bargains. + +R. H. Ingersoll & Bro. 65 Cortlandt St. N.Y. City + + + + +=DEAFNESS & HEAD NOISES CURED= by my =INVISIBLE= Tubular Cushions. Have +helped more to good =HEAR=ing than all other devices combined. Whispers +=HEAR=d. Help ears as glasses do eyes. =F. Hiscox=, 853 B'dway, N.Y. +Book of proofs FREE + + + + +[Illustration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON'S EYE +WATER] + + + + +Harper's Catalogue, + +Thoroughly revised, classified, and indexed, will be sent by mail to any +address on receipt of ten cents. + + + + +By W. J. HENDERSON + + * * * * * + +Elements of Navigation + + With Diagrams. 16mo, Cloth, $1.00. + +Afloat with the Flag + + Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental. $1.25. + +Sea Yarns for Boys + + SPUN BY AN OLD SALT. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, + $1.25. + + * * * * * + +Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York + +_For sale by all booksellers, or will be mailed by the publishers, +postage prepaid, on receipt of the price._ + + + + +[Illustration: THE BABY ELEPHANT'S MISADVENTURE, OR THE SATISFACTION OF +HAVING AN EFFICIENT PARENT.] + + + + +A SAFE METHOD. + + +The treasures of the Bank of France are said to be better guarded than +those of any other bank in the world. At the close of business hours +every day, when the money is put into the vaults in the cellar, masons +at once wall up the doors with hydraulic mortar. Water is then turned on +and kept running until the cellar is flooded. A burglar would have to +work in a diving suit and break down a cement wall before he could even +start to loot the vaults. When the officers arrive the next morning, the +water is drawn off, the masonry is torn down, and the vaults opened. + + + + +AN INDIAN TRADITION. + + +Here is an Indian version of the story of the flood, as it was taken by +a writer connected with an Australian journal. Says he: "All of the +northern coast Indians have a tradition of a flood which destroyed all +mankind except a pair from which the earth was peopled. Each tribe gives +the story a local coloring, but the plot of the story is much the same. +The Bella Coola tradition is as follows: The Creator of the universe, +Mes-mes-sa-la-nik, had great difficulty in the arrangement of the land +and water. The earth persisted in sinking out of sight. At last he hit +upon a plan which worked very well. Taking a long line of twisted walrus +hide, he tied it around the dry land, and fastened the other end to the +corner of the moon. Everything worked well for a long time; but at last +the Spirit became very much offended at the action of mankind, and in a +fit of anger one day seized his great stone knife, and with a mighty +hack severed the rope of twisted skin. Immediately the land began to +sink into the sea. The angry waves rushed in torrents up the valleys, +and in a short time nothing was visible except the peak of a very high +mountain. All mankind perished in the whelming waters, with the +exception of two, a man and his wife, who were out fishing in a great +canoe. These two succeeded in reaching the top of the mountain, and +proceeded to make themselves at home. Here they remained for some time, +until the anger of Mes-mes-sa-la-nik had cooled, which resulted in his +fishing up the severed thong and again fastening it to the moon. From +this pair thus saved the earth was again populated." + + + + +WHERE IT WENT. + + +Lunatics often assume a superiority of intellect to others which is +quite amusing. A gentleman travelling in England some years ago, while +walking along the road not far from the side of which there ran a +railway, encountered a number of insane people out for exercise in +charge of a keeper. With a nod toward the railway tracks, he said to one +of the lunatics, + +"Where does this railway go to?" + +The lunatic looked at him scornfully a moment, and then replied: + +"It don't go anywhere. We keep it here to run trains on." + + + + +A HUGE PIE. + + +The largest pie ever known was that described in the Newcastle +_Chronicle_ for the 6th January, 1770. It was shipped to Sir Henry Gray, +Baronet, London, Mrs. Dorothy Patterson, housekeeper at Hawic, being the +maker. Into the composition of this great pie entered two bushels of +flour, twenty pounds of butter, four geese, two turkeys, two rabbits, +four wild ducks, two woodcocks, six snipe, four partridges, two neats' +tongues, two curlews, seven black-birds, and six pigeons. It weighed +twelve stone, and was nine feet in circumference at the bottom. It was +furnished with a case on wheels, for convenience in passing it round to +the guests. + +The receipt for this pie is given here as a hint to those of our readers +who may be thinking of getting up a picnic within the next two or three +weeks. A half dozen pies of this size ought to be enough for at least +one picnic. + + + + +A STRANGE SUIT. + + +According to the Pittsburg _Journal_, Peter Gruber, the Rattlesnake King +of Venango County, has made the most unique costume any man ever wore. +It consists of coat, vest, trousers, hat, shoes, and shirt, and is made +entirely of the skins of rattlesnakes. Seven hundred snakes, all caught +and skinned by Gruber during the past five years, provided the material +for this novel costume. To preserve the brilliancy and the flexibility +of the skins in the greatest possible degree, the snakes were skinned +alive, first being made unconscious by chloroform. They were then tanned +by a method peculiar to Gruber, and are as soft and elastic as woollen +goods. The different articles for this outfit were made by Oil City +tailors, shoemakers and hatters, and the costume is valued at $1000. + + + + +A FEW NOTES ABOUT COINS. + + +The rei of Brazil, like the mill of our own money table, is an imaginary +coin, no piece of that denomination being coined. Ten thousand reis +equal $5.45. + +Vermont was the first State to issue a coinage on its own authority. +Copper coins were issued in 1785. + +The first woman's face represented on a coin was that of Pulcheria, the +Empress of the Eastern Empire. + +The Chinese stamp bars or ingots of gold or silver with their weight and +fineness, and pass them from hand to hand as coin. + +The first Maryland coins were minted in 1662, and were put in +circulation by act of Council ordering every householder to bring in +sixty pounds of tobacco and receive ten shillings of the new money in +exchange for it. + +In 1634 the Massachusetts General Assembly made bullets a legal tender +by the following enactment: "It is likewise ordered that muskett +bulletts of a full boare shall pass currently for a farthing apiece. +Provided that noe man be compelled to take above XIId att a tyme in +them." + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Round Table, July 9, 1895, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, JULY 9, 1895 *** + +***** This file should be named 33054.txt or 33054.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/0/5/33054/ + +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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