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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42157 ***
+
+THE
+
+NURSERY
+
+_A Monthly Magazine_
+
+FOR YOUNGEST READERS.
+
+VOLUME XXX.--No. 2.
+
+    BOSTON:
+    THE NURSERY PUBLISHING COMPANY,
+    NO. 36 BROMFIELD STREET.
+    1881.
+
+
+
+
+    Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1881, by
+    THE NURSERY PUBLISHING COMPANY,
+    In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
+
+[Illustration: JOHN WILSON & SON UNIVERSITY PRESS]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Contents.]
+
+
+IN PROSE.
+
+                                                PAGE
+    The Young Fisherman                          225
+    A slight Mistake                             227
+    Two Games                                    231
+    More about "Zip Coon"                        232
+    Sam and his Goats                            234
+    Mary's Squirrel                              240
+    Drawing-Lesson                               241
+    The Chimney-sweep                            244
+    Billy and Bruiser                            246
+    "If I were only a King"                      248
+    Use before Beauty                            249
+    Ten Minutes with Johnny                      251
+    A Cat Story                                  252
+    Tom's Apple                                  254
+
+
+IN VERSE.
+
+    The Hen-Yard Door                            228
+    Toy-Land                                     238
+    A Turtle Show                                242
+    Two Little Maidens                           247
+    Summer Rambles                               250
+    See-Saw (_with music_)                       256
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNG FISHERMAN.
+
+
+WHEN Charley was eight years old, his father gave him, for a birthday
+present, a nice fishing-line.
+
+The little boy was greatly pleased. He had fished often in a tub of
+water with a pin-hook; but now, for the first time, he had a real
+fishing-line and pole, and was able to go a-fishing in earnest.
+
+The very first pleasant day, he got leave from his father to go to the
+pond and try his luck.
+
+"Be sure to bring home a good mess of fish, Charley," said his father.
+
+"Oh, yes! papa," said Charley, and with his fishing-pole on his shoulder
+out he went.
+
+What fun it was! First he dug some worms for bait; then he baited his
+hook nicely; then he took his stand on a little platform, made on
+purpose for the use of fishermen, and threw out his hook.
+
+There he stood, in the shade of the old willow-tree, and waited for the
+fish to bite. As he looked down into the calm, clear water, he saw a
+boy, just about his own size, looking up at him. He had no other
+company.
+
+He kept close watch of the pretty painted cork, expecting every moment
+to see it go under water. But for a long, long time it floated almost
+without motion.
+
+Charley's patience began to give out. "I don't believe there are any
+fish here," thought he. Just then the cork dipped a little on one side.
+Then it stopped. Then it dipped again.
+
+"Hurrah!" said Charley, and he pulled up the line with a jerk. Was there
+a fish on it? Not a bit of one. But the bait was all gone.
+
+"Never mind!" said Charley, "I'll catch him next time." He baited the
+hook, and threw it out again. The sport was getting exciting.
+
+Pretty soon the cork bobbed under, as before. "Now I have him!" said
+Charley. He pulled up once more, and this time with such a jerk that he
+tossed the hook right over his head, and it caught in the weeds behind
+him. But there was no fish on it.
+
+"The third time never fails," said Charley, as he threw out his line
+again. He waited now until the cork was pulled clear under water; then
+he lifted it out, without too much haste, and, sure enough, he had
+caught a fish.
+
+How long do you suppose it had taken him to do it? Pretty nearly all the
+forenoon. No matter! he had one fish to carry home, and he had had a
+real good time besides.
+
+Charley has caught many a mess of fish since then; but I doubt if he has
+ever enjoyed the sport more than he did in catching that one fish.
+
+                                              UNCLE SAM.
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+A SLIGHT MISTAKE.
+
+
+A DONKEY walking with a lion, fancied himself a lion also, and pretended
+not to know his own brother.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+THE HEN-YARD DOOR.
+
+
+    WHEN careless Tommy fed the fowls,
+      He did not shut the door;
+    Out came the rooster and the hens;
+      Out came the pullets four;
+    Out came old Speckle-wings, with six
+      Bewitching little Bantam chicks.
+
+    At once the hens began to cluck,
+      The cock began to crow,
+    And here and there, and everywhere,
+      They seemed possessed to go;
+    They pecked the turnips; in a patch
+    Of spinach they began to scratch:
+    And when to drive them in we tried
+    They straightway to our neighbors hied.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+    Upon our right, a new-made lawn
+      Was just with grass-seed sown;
+    Upon our left, a garden-plot
+      With pinks and lilies shone.
+    In rushed our right-hand neighbor's son,
+      With flaming face, and said,
+    "'Shut up your hens,' my father says,
+      Or he will shoot them dead."
+    Our left-hand neighbor wrote a note,--
+      "I all the spring have toiled
+    To rear the lovely flowers I find
+      Your roving fowls have spoiled."
+
+    To get them home, the livelong day
+    We tried, till evening gathered gray:
+    Then back to roost returned the cock,
+    But some were missing from his flock.
+    Four hens were with him; where were two?
+    Perhaps our right-hand neighbor knew!
+    Back came the pullets, having fed
+    On dainty pinks, and roses red;
+    Back came old Speckle; of her six
+    The cat had caught three little chicks.
+
+    We shut the door, and made it fast;
+    We all were glad the day was past:
+    We'd lost our hens, and lost our friends;
+      Our neighbors smile no more;
+    And all because our careless Tom
+      Forgot to shut the door!
+
+                             MARIAN DOUGLAS.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TWO GAMES.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+HERE is a boy, full ten years old, playing with a peg-top. What a sight!
+He might find some better game, I should think. Why is he not out of
+doors playing baseball? He is big enough to use his arms and legs?
+
+[Illustration]
+
+This girl could teach him a much better game than peg-top. She is out on
+the lawn, all ready to play croquet. She will have fun and fresh air at
+the same time. Those are two things that all girls and boys need.
+
+                                                   C. B. A.
+
+
+
+
+MORE ABOUT "ZIP COON."
+
+
+"ZIP COON: he bites!" This is what I told you was printed in large red
+letters on the door of Zip's house, after he had grown so cross and
+snappish that he had to be chained up in the wood-shed.
+
+A big countryman came one day with a load of potatoes. Zippy was inside
+his house, pretending to take a nap. The man saw the printed letters on
+the little door, and said to himself, "Zip Coon! where is he? I'd like
+to see him." So he stooped down, and thrust his hand into the house.
+
+You know you can never catch a coon asleep any more than you can a
+weasel. Zippy's bright little eyes were wide open: so, when the
+countryman's big hand came bouncing in at the door, Zip, quick as
+lightning, seized it in his teeth, and gave it a terribly hard bite.
+
+"Goodness, gracious sakes!" cried the man, pulling out his bleeding
+hand. "What surprisin' chaps them coons be!" He hadn't seen Zippy; but
+he felt enough of him: so he hurried down cellar with his potatoes, and
+when he came back had the empty bag wound about his smarting hand.
+
+Zip Coon was very fond of raw eggs. He would take one up in both his
+hands, and pound it down hard on the wood-house floor. This would crack
+the shell. Then he would turn the egg around, hold it to his mouth, and
+suck the inside out, just as you would suck an orange. After he had
+sucked the shell clean, he would put one little hand inside, scrape the
+empty shell, and then lick his fingers so as to eat every bit of the
+egg-meat.
+
+One day, Isabella's sister Ellen gave Zippy a nice, large, fresh egg. He
+was very glad to get it, you may be sure, and ate it as I have told you.
+Then he wanted another, just as you sometimes want another orange. So
+he took hold of Ellen's hand with one of his hands, and with the other
+felt way up her sleeve and peeped up with his sharp eyes.
+
+When he found no egg in the sleeve he was angry. He looked up in Ellen's
+face in a very wicked way, then stooped down and buried his teeth in her
+wrist. Then he turned and ran into the house, clanking his chain after
+him.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Zippy was not always so wicked as this, even after he had to be chained
+up; but he was very mischievous. Once, the servants in the kitchen
+heard a terrible racket in the wood-house. They went out there and found
+Zippy on a high shelf where the blacking-brushes were kept. He was
+throwing the blacking-boxes and brushes down, as fast as he could, and
+there they lay scattered about the floor. His chain was so long, that he
+had climbed up on the shelf and was having a good time.
+
+But, after a while, Zip Coon became so fierce that Isabella didn't know
+what to do with him. She was afraid he would do something terrible to
+somebody: so she gave him to a man who carried him way off where
+Isabella and her sisters never saw him any more. And this is all I have
+to tell you about Zip Coon.
+
+                                             HELEN MARR.
+
+
+
+
+SAM AND HIS GOATS.
+
+
+SAM was a boy about five years old. He lived in the country, and had a
+nice little black-and-tan dog, Jack, to play with him. Sam wanted a
+goat. He thought that if he could only have a goat, he would be
+perfectly happy.
+
+One day, when Sam was playing in the yard, his papa came driving home
+from town, with something tied in the bottom of the wagon. When he saw
+Sam, he stopped the horse and called, "Sam, come here, I have something
+for you."
+
+Sam ran there as fast as he could, and--what do you think?--papa lifted
+two little goats out of the wagon, and put them down on the ground. One
+goat was black and one was white. Sam was so glad he did not know what
+to to do. He just jumped up and down with delight.
+
+Then the dog Jack came running out to see the goats too; but he did not
+like them much. He barked at them as hard as he could; but the goats did
+not mind him at all.
+
+Pretty soon mamma came to see what Sam had. When she saw the goats, she
+said, "Why, papa, what will become of us if we have two goats on the
+place?" But she was glad because Sam was glad; and Sam gave his papa
+about a hundred kisses to thank him for the goats.
+
+For some weeks, the goats ran about the yard, and ate the grass; and Sam
+gave them water to drink, out of his little pail, and salt to eat, out
+of his hand. He liked to feel their soft tongues on his hand as they ate
+the salt. The goats would jump and run and play, and Sam thought it was
+fine fun to run and play with them. Jack would run too, and bark all the
+time.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+But by and by Sam began to get tired of his goats, and his mamma was
+more tired of them than Sam was. They ate the tops off of her nice
+rose-bushes; they ran over her flower-beds; and one day, when the door
+was open, one of them ran into the parlor and jumped up on the best
+sofa.
+
+Mamma said this would never do: so the next day papa found a man who
+said he would give Sam fifty cents for the white goat. As Sam wanted to
+buy a drum, he was glad to sell the goat; and with fifty cents in his
+pocket he felt very rich.
+
+Then the other goat was put in the orchard, and he liked it there very
+much. He liked to have Sam come and play with him. As soon as he saw Sam
+coming, he would run to meet him, and push him with his head, in play,
+and try to jump on him.
+
+The goat grew very fast,--much faster than Sam did; so that soon he was
+quite a big goat, while Sam was still a very small boy. He got to be so
+much stronger that Sam, that Sam was a little afraid of him.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+One day, when they were playing, the goat hit Sam with his head, and
+knocked him down. Sam was scared. He got up, fast as he could, and tried
+to run to the gate; but the goat ran after him, and Sam had to climb
+into a tree. It was a nice apple-tree. Sam had often sat up there
+before, and liked it; but, now that he was forced to sit there, he did
+not like it at all.
+
+The goat staid at the foot of the tree, and, when Sam tried to come
+down, he would shake his head at him, as if to say, "Come down if you
+dare." Sam did not dare. "Oh, dear!" said he, "what shall I do?"
+
+There were some green apples on the tree; and Sam thought, that, if he
+threw them at the goat, he could drive him away: so he began to pick the
+apples, and throw them at the goat.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The first one hit the goat right on his head; but it did not hurt him at
+all. He just went to where the apple lay, and ate it up; and every time
+that Sam threw an apple at him the goat would eat it, and then look at
+Sam, as if to say, "That is good. Give me some more."
+
+At last Sam said, "Oh, you bad, bad goat! I wish you would go away. If
+you don't go away, I'm afraid I shall cry." Then he thought of Jack, and
+called, "Here, Jack! Here, Jack!" Jack came running up to see what Sam
+wanted. Sam said, "At him, Jack! At him, Jack!"
+
+Jack ran at the goat, and barked at him and tried to bite him; but the
+goat kept turning his head to Jack, so that Jack could not get a chance
+to bite him. At last the goat got tired of hearing Jack bark, and
+thought he would give him one hard knock, and drive him away.
+
+So he took a step or two back, and then ran forward, as hard as he
+could, to hit Jack. But, when his head got to where Jack had been, Jack
+was not there: he had jumped away. The goat was going so fast, that he
+could not stop himself, but tumbled over his head, and came down on his
+back with his legs sticking up in the air.
+
+Sam laughed so hard that he almost fell out of the tree, and Jack was so
+glad, that he jumped and barked, and tried to bite the goat's legs. At
+last the goat got up and walked over to the other side of the orchard as
+far as he could go. Then Sam jumped down out of the tree, and ran to
+tell his mamma all about it.
+
+                                               MARY DEY.
+
+
+
+
+TOY-LAND.
+
+
+    AND how do you get to Toy-land?
+    To all little people the joy-land.
+        Just follow your nose,
+        And go on tip-toes:
+    It's only a minute to Toy-land.
+
+    And oh! but it's gay in Toy-land,--
+    This bright, merry girl-and-boy-land;
+        And woolly dogs white
+        That never will bite
+    You'll meet on the highways in Toy-land.
+
+    Society's fine in Toy-land;
+    The dollies all think it a joy-land;
+        And folks in the ark
+        Stay out after dark;
+      And tin soldiers regulate Toy-land.
+
+    There's fun all the year in Toy-land:
+    To sorrow 'twas ever a coy-land;
+        And steamboats are run,
+        And steam-cars, for fun:
+    They're wound up with keys down in Toy-land.
+
+    Bold jumping-jacks thrive in Toy-land;
+    Fine castles adorn this joy-land;
+        And bright are the dreams,
+        And sunny the beams,
+    That gladden the faces in Toy-land.
+
+    How long do we live in Toy-land?--
+    This bright, merry girl-and-boy-land;
+        A few days, at best,
+        We stay as a guest,
+    Then good-by forever to Toy-land!
+
+                     GEORGE COOPER.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+MARY'S SQUIRREL.
+
+
+I WANT to tell you about the little squirrel we have. His name is
+Frisky. He came from New Jersey, and was quite tame when we got him. We
+thought it would be better to let him out in the fresh air among the
+trees; so we let him out.
+
+I was away at aunt Lizzie's; but I came home early. Just as Henry and I
+were going to bed,--Henry is my brother,--the cook called me, and, of
+course, Henry came after me to see what was the matter.
+
+I could not understand what it was at first; but pretty soon I saw it
+was Frisky up in one of the trees on our place. Frisky never bites: so
+it was not much trouble to catch him.
+
+All the servants were there; but they could not catch him, because he
+did not know them: so I made them stand back, and held out a peanut to
+him. He came down and ate it; then he trusted me, and came down and ate
+another. As soon as I got him within reach, I seized him and gave him to
+William, the gardener, who, while I held the door open, popped him into
+his cage. I am eight years old, and my name is
+
+                                             MARY WINSOR.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: DRAWING-LESSON.
+
+VOL. XXX.--NO. 2.]
+
+
+
+
+A TURTLE SHOW.
+
+
+    DOWN in the pond, where willows grow
+    Along the shore in a golden row,
+      Is a single rock with its mossy ridge,
+    And a log as mossy, resting there
+    Half in the water, and half in the air,
+      From shore to islet a beautiful bridge;
+    And the lily-pads on either side
+    Might tempt the little green frogs to ride;
+    And the lily-blooms, so purely made,
+    Do tempt the little white feet to wade.
+
+    What do you think I saw one day
+    In the month of June, as I passed that way?
+    Five little turtles, all in a row,
+    On the top of the log,--a funny show,--
+    For they carried their houses on their backs,
+    And tucked their toes out through the cracks
+    Under the eaves! while their heads and tails
+    Played hide-and-seek behind the scales.
+
+    They had golden dots on every shell;
+    And they stood so still, and "dressed" so well,
+    You might think they were called up to spell;
+    And a "master" turtle, big and brown,
+    On the top of the rock sat looking down
+    In a learned way, as you might say
+    To "put out words,"--and perhaps 'twas so,
+    Though I heard no word,--but this, I know,
+    The five little heads looked so very wise
+    With their little bead eyes, they must have heard
+    If ever the master pronounced a word.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+    In school or not, it was getting hot;
+    And by and by, as the sun rose high,
+    With the June-like drowsiness it sheds,
+    They could not keep from going to sleep;
+    And what do you think they did with their heads?
+    Swallowed them! Oh, then, laugh, if you will;
+    But true it is, still:
+    Into their necks, as a sailor would slide
+    His spy-glass into its leathern hide,
+    They slid their five little heads away
+    From the sight of man and the light of day.
+
+    While I stood watching them, still as a mouse,
+    Pleased at their comical way to keep house,
+      I heard a terrible splash and croak,
+    As a great bull-frog leapt up on the log,
+      In a way to frighten such simple folk.
+    Five little turtles, quick as a wink,
+    Into the water slip and sink;
+    And one big turtle, just as quick,
+    Off from the log goes down like a brick.
+
+    Ah, well! my turtles are not like boys,
+    They can live in the pond, and they do hate noise!
+
+                                 GEORGE S. BURLEIGH.
+
+
+
+
+THE CHIMNEY-SWEEP.
+
+
+LITTLE Mary in the picture is afraid of Jacob, the chimney-sweep. He
+does look black and ugly; but he is a good boy, for all that, and Mary
+ought not to be afraid of him.
+
+His parents died when he was very small, and he was bound out to a
+master, who taught him how to clean chimneys. Jacob did not like the
+work at first, and was afraid to go up the chimney; but now that he has
+got used to it, he likes it quite well. He sometimes sings a merry song
+while he is at work.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Mary's mother has sent for him to come and clean out her chimney; for it
+is choked up with soot, and she cannot make her fire burn.
+
+                                           LEONORA, from the German.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+BILLY AND BRUISER.
+
+
+BILLY is a small boy: Bruiser is a big dog. They are great friends.
+Billy gets on Bruiser's back, and treats him as if he were a horse.
+
+Bruiser takes this as a good joke. He likes to have Billy play with him
+in this way. But it would not be safe for anybody else to do it.
+
+Bruiser is a grand watch-dog. One day the old dog gave a fierce growl to
+keep off a butterfly.
+
+He thought the butterfly was going to attack Billy. Billy had a good
+laugh at this; for, small as he is, he thinks he is a match for a
+butterfly.
+
+                                             UNCLE CHARLES.
+
+
+
+
+TWO LITTLE MAIDENS.
+
+
+    THIS little maiden is out for a walk,
+    A fair little maiden is she;
+    And I really believe she is having a talk
+    With a bird flying down from a tree.
+    She asks him to tell of his home in the woods;
+    He sings of the summer so gay;
+    While a very tall maiden sits by on the grass,
+    And hears every word that they say.
+
+                                       F. E. D.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+"IF I WERE ONLY A KING."
+
+
+ONE fine, warm, summer day, four children were playing together in the
+garden.
+
+"Oh!" said one of them, "if I were only a king, I would live in a
+beautiful castle that should reach up to the clouds."
+
+"And I," said another, "would wear nothing but gold and silver clothes."
+
+"If I were one," cried a little boy, "I would do nothing but eat cake
+and pudding all day long."
+
+"And I," said a little girl, blushing, "would give money to all the poor
+children I saw, so that they might buy food and clothes."
+
+Which of these children do you think would have made the best ruler?
+
+                                           LEONORA, from the German.
+
+
+
+
+USE BEFORE BEAUTY.
+
+
+THE hens and turkeys were scratching for their breakfast in front of the
+barn-door; while the dog lay lazily looking on. The proud peacock stood
+on the fence near by, and spread his tail out, that the morning sun
+might shine on it, and make it still more beautiful.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Ah!" said the peacock to one of the hens, "do you not wish that you
+were as handsome as I am? Then you would never have to scratch for your
+food, but would be fed and taken care of and admired."
+
+"I wish nothing of the kind," said the hen. "There is something which
+men prize more than beauty, and that is usefulness. If I were as fine
+and gay as you are, men would miss the eggs I lay."
+
+"That is just my view of the case," said a goose. "If I were not a
+goose, I should like to be a hen. I would not be a lazy peacock."
+
+"She is quite right," said the dog. "You are very beautiful to look at,
+Master Peacock, but that is all you are good for. Take comfort in your
+fine feathers, but don't boast."
+
+                                           LEONORA, from the German.
+
+
+
+
+SUMMER RAMBLES.
+
+
+    BRING the children to the fields,
+      Where the sheep are straying;
+    With the birds and butterflies
+      Let them now be playing,--
+    In the hollow on the hill,
+      All the green lawn over,
+    Through the yellow buttercups,
+      Down among the clover.
+
+    With the sunshine in their hearts,
+      In their cheeks the roses,
+    Let them breathe the balmy air,
+      Let them gather posies.
+    In the merry month of June,
+      Summer's fairest weather,
+    Let the children and the flowers
+      Bud and bloom together.
+
+                    ANNA LIVINGSTON.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+TEN MINUTES WITH JOHNNY.
+
+
+"DO grandpa's cows chew gum, like Mr. Connor's cows, mamma?" asked
+Johnny, a few days ago, as he stood emptying his pockets of hay-seed on
+the dining-room carpet, after a visit to the barn.
+
+"Cuds you mean, don't you, dear?" asked mamma.
+
+"No, gum. Mr. Connor says it's gum; and they're his cows: so he knows."
+
+"No, grandpa's cows chew cuds, like all good grass-eating cows. Perhaps
+Mr. Connor's cows do not eat grass or hay."
+
+"Yes, they do," said Johnny. "I've seen 'em."
+
+"Well, then," said mamma, "they must chew cuds."
+
+"What are cuds, mamma?"
+
+"Why, after the cow has chewed the fresh green grass or the dry hay in
+her mouth, she sends it down into a large stomach, to be soaked; then
+she sends it into another stomach, to be rolled into balls; then up it
+goes into her mouth again, to be chewed over; and each little ball is a
+cud."
+
+"Doesn't she have any other stomach for it to go into then, mamma?"
+
+"Yes, two more. Do you have four stomachs, like a cow?"
+
+"No, of course I don't. I don't chew cuds."
+
+"Well, you may get a brush and dust-pan, and brush up that hay-seed from
+the carpet; then come with me, and I'll show you a picture of a giant
+kangaroo with her baby in a fur bag."
+
+"Oh! where does she live, mamma?"
+
+"Brush up that hay-seed, then I'll tell you all about her," said mamma.
+With this promise in view, Johnny hastened to brush up the litter he
+had made, talking to himself the while, somewhat after this wise,--
+
+"Chew away, old cow! You'll have to keep your big teeth going all night
+to keep all those stomachs at work. One stomach, two stomachs,
+three-e-e, four-r-r. All ready, mamma!"
+
+                                             MRS. G. I. HOPKINS.
+
+
+
+
+A CAT STORY.
+
+
+DID you ever see a cat laugh? Look at the cat in the picture, and see if
+she is not laughing. It is plain to me that she is.
+
+What is she laughing at? Why, that is plain enough too. She is amused at
+the talk of those two little girls about her kittens.
+
+There are four kittens,--just two for each; but little Jenny wants to
+take them all up in her arms, though she can hardly hold more than one.
+This is what pleases the old cat.
+
+Now I am going to tell you a cat story.
+
+Once, when I taught school in the country, I boarded at farmer Clark's
+house, where there were sixteen cats,--Yes, sixteen cats! There was a
+big yellow cat, and a big gray cat, and a big black-and-white cat, and
+lots of little kittens.
+
+The big gray cat was named Gussy. She was the grandmother of them all.
+She lived in the house. The rest staid around the barn. Farmer Clark was
+a good man, and did not believe in killing any thing that was not
+dangerous to life or property. So no little kittens were drowned, if he
+knew it.
+
+Mrs. Clark taught me how to make butter; and I was told to feed the
+skimmed milk to the cats. There were two large dish-pans that I used
+for this purpose. They were shallow and leaky; but precious little time
+there was for the milk to leak.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+As soon as I appeared at the door, and called, "Tom, Tom!" the cats came
+tumbling, pell-mell, mewing, and rubbing against me. It was a sight to
+see.
+
+First, there would be a thick row of cats around the pans,--so thick
+that only sixteen tails and thirty-two hind-legs could be seen. The next
+minute the heads would go lower, and the fore-paws would go up on the
+edge of the pans.
+
+Then a kitten would jump in. Then they would all fight, and push, and
+spit, and snarl to get to the lower side of the pan, where the milk was
+the deepest.
+
+And then it was all gone. And the pans would be licked clean. And then
+sixteen tongues licked sixteen jaws, and thirty-two eyes appealed for
+more. But it was no use to beg. Then sixty-four legs trotted off, and
+only old Gussy went into the house; while the others went to the barn.
+
+There were no rats or mice around those premises, I tell you. I often
+wonder how many cats there are at farmer Clark's now. And sometimes I
+dream about them. This is a true story.
+
+                                             AUNT FAN.
+
+
+
+
+TOM'S APPLE.
+
+
+"BAH! ugh! oh!" cried little Tom. "There's a worm in my red apple,
+mamma."
+
+"Is he a pretty worm?" asked his mamma, looking up from her sewing.
+
+"Pretty, mamma! Who ever heard of a worm being pretty? No, no! he's a
+horrid crawling thing. I sha'n't eat any more of the apple. I couldn't,
+now I've seen him in it."
+
+"Let me see him," said mamma: so Tommy brought the apple to his mother.
+
+"Why, yes, he's a beauty," said she. "Just look at that little red cap
+he wears, and see how soft and white his skin is. If nobody had picked
+that apple, he would have spun a little rope from out his body, and let
+himself down from the high tree, down, down, to the earth.
+
+"Then he would have crawled into a little hole in the ground. When he
+had covered himself all over with a gray sheet, he would sleep, sleep,
+sleep. But by and by he would awaken.
+
+"He would come out of the tight shroud, and find that he had airy, gauzy
+wings with which he could fly: so he would go flitting and fluttering up
+into the warm sunshine to find an apple-blossom."
+
+"What would he want of an apple-blossom?" asked Tommy, much interested
+now in his apple-worm.
+
+"Oh, to lay an egg in," said mamma. "And, when the apple-blossoms grew,
+the egg would be softly wrapped within its pink heart. And when the
+blossom turned into an apple there would be a tiny baby-worm to feed
+upon the white pulp. Then some day, perhaps, some other little boy would
+exclaim, 'Bah! ugh! oh!' about him, as my little boy did just now about
+the mamma-worm."
+
+"Oh!" said Tom thoughtfully. "I'm glad nobody will have that chance:
+here goes."
+
+And he tossed the apple, worm and all, out of the window.
+
+                                             MRS. G. I. HOPKINS.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+SEE-SAW.
+
+    Words by GEORGE COOPER.             Music by T. CRAMPTON.
+
+[Illustration: Music]
+
+    1. See-saw! high and low,
+       That's the way we love to go.
+           With a bound,
+             Up we fly,
+           From the ground
+             To the sky;
+           From the ground
+             To the sky.
+       All aboard for Fun-land, oh!
+       See-saw! high and low.
+
+    2. See-saw! birdies play
+       On the tree-tops, just this way;
+           And the bees
+             Rock the rose,
+           When they please
+             With their toes!
+       And the winds the wavelets blow,
+       See-saw! high and low.
+
+    3. See-saw! oh, what sport!
+       Wish the days were not so short!
+           Girls and boys,
+             Everywhere,
+           Rosy joys,
+             Earth so fair!
+       Gayer playmates do you know?
+       See-saw! high and low.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes: Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+The original text for the July issue had a table of contents that
+spanned six issues. This was divided amongst those issues.
+
+Additionally, only the July issue had a title page. This page was copied
+for the remaining five issues. Each issue had the number added on the
+title page after the Volume number.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Nursery, August 1881, Vol. XXX, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42157 ***