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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-03-07 17:59:14 -0800 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-03-07 17:59:14 -0800 |
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diff --git a/43330-0.txt b/43330-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e63fdc --- /dev/null +++ b/43330-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1982 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43330 *** + +[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE + +AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.] + + * * * * * + +VOL. II.--NO. 53. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR +CENTS. + +Tuesday, November 2, 1880. Copyright, 1880, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 +per Year, in Advance. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration] + + + + +BITS OF ADVICE. + +BY AUNT MARJORIE PRECEPT. + + +When you receive an invitation from a friend to make a visit at a +specified time, it is polite to answer it as promptly as possible, and +to say distinctly whether or not you can accept the offered pleasure. +Your friend may have others whom it is desirable to ask after you have +been entertained. Be sure you state by what boat or train you will go, +and your hour of leaving home, so that there will be no uncertainty +about meeting you. When nothing is mentioned as to the duration of your +visit, it is usual to assume that a week will be its sufficient period. +Do not stay longer than that time, unless you are urged to do so. The +most agreeable guest is the one who is regretted when he or she goes +away. Always anticipate a good time, and be prepared to contribute your +share to it. Be pleased with what is done for you, and express your +pleasure. Do not be obtrusive in offering help to your host, but if an +opportunity arises for you to give assistance, do not be afraid to +embrace it. There are little helpful things which come in our way at +home and abroad if we have eyes to see them. Charlie, dear boy, was at +Tom's house not long ago, and happening to glance from the window, he +noticed Tom's mother struggling to open the gate with her hands full of +parcels. He ran out at once, and relieved her of some of her bundles, +held the gate open as she passed in, and closed it behind her. Helen, +who is her mother's right hand when at home, is in request in her +friends' houses, for somehow she scatters sunshine wherever she goes, +she is so bright, so animated and cheery. She plays beautifully, and she +never has to be coaxed to sit down at the piano, but does it willingly, +and plays for dancing--a thing which most girls regard as tiresome--with +spirit and good-nature whenever there is need of her skill. + +When visiting we ought to conform to the family ways. It is ill-bred to +give trouble or cause annoyance. Harry's father and mother dislike +extremely to have people late for meals. When the Lesters were staying +there they seldom heard the breakfast bell, and never came home from an +outing until dinner was almost finished. Harry said he could not help +it, but reproof nevertheless came upon him. Boys should not go tearing +wildly through a friend's house, nor, for that matter, through their +own. Grown-up ladies and gentlemen have nerves which should be +considered. Of course well-behaved young people will put away their +outside wraps when in a strange house, and not leave overshoes in full +sight in the passage, nor shawls, cloaks, hats, and gloves lying loosely +around the parlors. Young girls should be careful in their use of the +pretty things that adorn their chambers. Do not rumple that dainty lace +pillow-sham, nor strew your clothing over every chair and sofa, to the +irritation of the mistress. Do not follow your friend and host +everywhere, but at the busy times of the day amuse yourselves with books +or work, and remember to thank them, on leaving, for what they have done +for you. + + + + +INDIAN TALES. + +TWO METHODS OF OBTAINING HORSES. + + +Of all the long list of officers who served the East India Company there +were few men whose careers were more remarkable than that of General +John Jacob. + +Others have raised regiments, conquered provinces, and afterward +administered justice therein; but John Jacob was the first man who +created a nourishing town in a desert wilderness, and formed first one +and then three splendid regiments out of the most sanguinary and lawless +cut-throats on the face of the earth. In the athletic exercises so dear +to the Beloochees he excelled them all. Among a people who may be said +to be almost born on horseback, there was no rider like the commandant +of the Sind Horse. + +His men were taken from all the most warlike races of Northwestern +India. The Beloochee, the Pathan, the Mooltanee, and the semi-savage +tribesmen of the hills, had alike to learn obedience when they came +under his command, and his efforts to make them soldiers in the highest +sense of the word never relaxed. + +In the year 1854 the country was full of complaints of horse-stealing on +a scale that had not been heard of for many years. No steed of value was +safe, and the thief or thieves must have been tolerably good judges of +horse-flesh, as none but the finest were taken, and these of course +belonged principally to the wealthiest inhabitants. One strange thing +was that the horses were stolen in such an extraordinary manner as to +leave no foot-marks behind them. Not one of the animals could be traced +as ever having been offered for sale in the country. Stables are rare in +Upper Sind, and it is customary to secure a horse by picketing him with +head and heel ropes, the syce, or groom, usually sleeping in the open +air with the animal. The curious part of the matter was that each and +every syce who had had a horse stolen from under his care told exactly +the same story--that it had been taken away by Sheitan himself in +person, after they, the syces, had been put to sleep by his diabolical +arts. + +To be sure, they described his personal appearance in many ways, +according to the impression severally produced upon their excited +imaginations, but in the main facts they were all agreed. They had been +sleeping or watching, as the case might be, beside their horses, when a +hideous figure suddenly and silently appeared to them, waved his right +hand, muffled in a white cloth, in their faces; they lost their senses, +and when they recovered, the horses were gone. In no case had the demon +injured the men. Where more than one horse was picketed the fiend never +appeared, which was considered to be the reason that the splendid +chargers of the Sind Horse were not touched. + +Superstition is very prevalent in Sind, as indeed it is throughout the +East, and had any native skeptic ventured to hint that alert sentries, a +vigilant patrol, and a stable guard with loaded carbines had anything to +do with this immunity, he would, indeed, have been looked upon as a +scoffer. + +As to the British officers, of course, although heroes, they were +infidels, and, however they might laugh at the idea of Satan roaming +about the earth to deprive the sons of men of their horses, they could +have no power to check the public opinion of the bazars. + +There was, however, an old Ressaldar, or native captain of the Sind +Horse, who was very much inclined to take the Feringhee view of the +matter. Ressaldar Nubbee Bux was a veteran who had served in his corps +almost from its foundation, and in his younger days had fought against +the flag under which he had since served so long. He, with many other +brave Beloochees, had been opposed to Sir Charles Napier at Meeanee, and +had a vivid recollection of the time when the inhabitants of Sind +actually believed that distinguished though eccentric General to be the +fiend in human form. Since then Nubbee Bux had acquired rank, honor, and +a good deal of worldly wisdom. He was naturally a shrewd, hard-headed +man, and contact with intelligent Europeans had, if not entirely +eradicated native superstitions from his mind, at least rendered him +very dubious of any stories having for their basis supernatural agency. +He had heard of genii, jinns, divs, afrites, and other evil spirits, but +he had never seen one; he had never known them in his own time to +interfere in worldly matters, nor had he heard, even in ancient story, +that they were in the habit of laying felonious hands on live stock, or +earthly property of any description. That the Prince of Darkness himself +should be so hard up for horses as to go about stealing them appeared +to him incomprehensible. It struck him as a mystery he should like to +unravel; and as he feared nothing nor nobody on the face of the earth, +nor below it, save his commanding officer, he determined to try. +Ascertaining the whereabouts of the last wonderful robbery, he obtained +a fortnight's leave of absence, and repaired to the village, well armed, +and mounted on a magnificent thorough-bred Arab horse. He did not enter +it nor put up at the serai, but had a tent some little distance outside. +There he was soon visited by the head men of the place, who lost no time +in paying their respects, for a native officer of the Sind Horse is a +great man in the country around Jacobabad. + +After salutations the local magnates were full of the unaccountable +robberies, and earnest in their warnings to the Ressaldar to take care +of his noble steed. Had he not better come into the village? The Kotwal +had a stable with lock and key at his service, and would put a watchman +over the door all night. Nubbee Bux civilly but firmly declined these +favors. He said that if it was fated Sheitan should have his horse, +neither lock, key, nor watchman could prevent it; he should stay where +he was, and his syce should sleep with the animal as usual. His visitors +departed, and the native officer, after a stroll about, took his supper +outside the tent, smoked his hookah, and when it was dark dismissed his +servants, and went to bed--or seemed to do so. + +When the distant hum of the village was entirely hushed, and no sound +but the usual howling of the jackals met his ear, he rose, pulled aside +the canvas opening of the tent, and made a curious sort of barely +audible noise like the "chup, chup" of the stag-beetle. His syce, who +was lying beside the horse, swathed in a huge blanket, which covered his +head as well as his feet, rose, and with noiseless footfall entered his +master's tent. In three minutes he re-appeared, _or seemed to do so_, +and again wrapping himself in his great blanket, lay down to sleep by +the horse's side, _or seemed to do so_. + +In about two hours from that time a hideous form appeared to rise from +the earth. Its figure was human, but the dark brown flesh glistened as +no human flesh ever glistened naturally, while the head was indeed +fearsome to behold. It was surmounted by an enormous pair of horns, had +two glaring eyes, and a mouth full of frightful teeth, from which +protruded a tongue forked like a barbed arrow. + +The weird figure stooped and advanced its right hand, wrapped in a white +cloth, toward the head of the prostrate syce. Like a flash of lightning +that prostrate form sprang up. Ressaldar Nubbee Bux (for he was his own +syce on this occasion) dealt his assailant such a slash with his tulwar +as would have cleft the head of any mortal man in halves, and which, as +it was, stretched the horse-thief senseless on the ground. + +As Nubbee Bux, bare blade in hand, bent over his foe, a strange sight +met his view. + +The blow had split a head-covering composed of buffalo-skin with the +hair on, stretched over an iron mask, something like a diver's helmet, +with eyes of transparent horn ingeniously illuminated by means of minute +lamps concealed in the balls, the real eyes of the wearer having sight +beneath. The false teeth and forked tongue were knocked out, and lay on +the ground with the horns. + +The Ressaldar summoned his syce, who had remained in the tent, and a +light being brought, found that the prisoner who had fallen into his +hands was a fine athletic young Beloochee, about twenty-two years of +age. He was quickly bound, and by direction of his captor carried into +the tent. + +He was only stunned, and soon recovered to find himself helpless, and +the first words that fell upon his ear were spoken in his own language, +by a stern-looking man of some five-and-forty years, whose right hand +coquetted with the hilt of a tulwar, while his left hand ominously +handled a pistol. + +They were few but expressive: "Rascal! can you give me any reason that I +should not blow your brains out?" + +The prisoner remained silent. Nubbee Bux continued: "If I took you to +yonder village you would, as you know, be torn to pieces. If I give you +up to justice you will certainly be hanged. If, however, you obey my +orders implicitly, I may deal with you myself. Tell me instantly how you +managed all these robberies, and how you became possessed of that ugly +mask you frightened all the poor fools with." + +Then raising the pistol, he added, "I give you one minute to commence +speaking, or I fire--and, mind, no lies, or it will be worse for you!" + +The prisoner inclined his head, and said, in a firm voice, and with no +sign of trepidation, "Sirdar, I will speak the truth." + +"You had better," replied Nubbee Bux, grimly, toying with his weapons. + +"My name is Jumal. I come from Mittree, a small village about fifty +miles from here, on the banks of the Indus. My father is a very poor +man; but some two years ago he and I hid and sheltered an English +deserter from one of the European regiments at Kurrachee. He was much +inquired after by the police, but no one suspected us of harboring him. +He had rupees, and gave some to my father; but had it not been so, the +Sirdar is aware that the Beloochees, whatever else we may do, would +never turn from our door a hunted fugitive in distress." + +Nubbee Bux nodded. + +"We finally got him away up the river to Mooltan, where he said he would +be safe, as no one thereabouts knew him, and he had grown a long black +beard since his desertion, which, together with his hair, my father dyed +red for him. He was a clever fellow; he and I became friends, and he +made the mask which you destroyed to-night, to assist me in +horse-stealing, which I had already practiced on a small scale. He also +showed me the use of chloroform--an English medicine--and instructed me +how to procure it from Kurrachee. I used to pour some of it on the cloth +you saw on my hand, and used it to stupefy the syce after I had +frightened him. I then let the horse smell it sufficiently to render him +quiet. Before making my appearances I always dropped, a few yards off, a +small sack containing four little bags of moist sand, one of which I +tied round each foot of the horse, so that on leading him away his feet, +thus incased, hardly made any track, and the little impression there was +upon the dry loose sand far more resembled the footprint of a camel than +that of a horse, and even this was generally obliterated by the first +drifting of the sand in the morning breeze. The peculiar appearance of +my skin is due to the profuse application of cocoa-nut oil and sulphur. +When I had got the horse to a convenient distance I uncased his feet, +and stowing the coverings and my disguise in the sack, I mounted and +rode him straight across country, avoiding all roads, to a hiding-place +we had in the thick jungle. There my father and some friends who were +used to the business soon so altered his appearance by well-known means +that his late owner would hardly have known him. I never stole but one +horse at a time, and they were all sent up the river to Mooltan, thence +to be sold at various places remote from this." + +After this Jumal, the young horse-thief, gave up his evil ways, and +enlisted in the Sind Horse, becoming in a short time one of the most +valued members of the company commanded by his captor, old Nubbee Bux. + +This is one method of obtaining horses. Among certain tribes of Indians +in this country another method is practiced that is equally curious, but +far more honest. It is the custom called by the Indians of the plains +"smoking horses." If a tribe, or a band belonging to that tribe, +decides to send out a war party, one of the first and most important +things to be thought of is whether there are enough horses on hand to +mount the warriors. If, as is often the case, the horses of the tribe +have been stolen by other Indians, they decide to "smoke" enough horses +for present needs, and to steal a supply from their enemies at the first +opportunity. + +[Illustration: SMOKING HORSES.] + +In order to "smoke horses" a runner is dispatched to the nearest +friendly tribe with the message that on a certain day they will be +visited by a number of young men, forming a war party from his tribe, +who require horses. + +On the appointed day the young warriors appear stripped to the waist, +march silently to the village of their friends, seat themselves in a +circle, light their pipes, and begin to smoke, at the same time making +their wishes known in a sort of droning chant. + +Presently there is seen far out on the plain a band of horsemen, riding +gayly caparisoned steeds fully equipped for war. These horsemen dash up +to the village, and wheel about the band of beggars sitting on the +ground, in circles that constantly grow smaller, until at last they are +as close as they can get to the smokers without riding over them. Then +each rider selects the man to whom he intends to present his pony, and +as he circles around, singing and yelling, he lashes the bare back of +his victim with his heavy rawhide whip, repeating the stroke each time +he passes, until the blood is seen to trickle down. During this +performance the smokers take no notice of what is going on, but sit +immovable, calmly smoking and singing. If one of them flinched under the +cruel blows, he would not get his horse, but would be sent home on foot +and in disgrace. + +At last, when the horsemen think their friends have been made to pay +enough in suffering for their ponies, each dismounts, places the bridle +of his pony in the hand of the smoker whom he has selected, and at the +same time handing him the whip, says, "Here, beggar, is a pony for you +to ride, for which I have left my mark." + +After all the ponies have been presented, the "beggars" are invited to a +grand feast, during which they are treated with every consideration by +their hosts, who also load them with food sufficient to last them on +their homeward journey. + +At last the "beggars" depart with full stomachs and smarting backs, but +happy in the possession of their ponies and in anticipation of the time +when their friends shall be in distress, and shall come to "smoke +horses" with them. + + + + +[Begun in No. 46 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, September 14.] + +WHO WAS PAUL GRAYSON? + +BY JOHN HABBERTON, + +AUTHOR OF "HELEN'S BABIES." + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DARED. + + +For a day or two after the terrible collapse of the Indian theory Paul +Grayson kept himself aloof from the other boys to such an extent that he +made them feel very uncomfortable. Benny, in particular, was made most +miserable by such treatment from Paul, for Benny was not happy unless he +could talk a great deal, and as he could not even be near the other boys +without being reproached for his untruthful Indian story, the coolness +of Paul reduced him to the necessity of doing all his talking at home, +where he really could not spend time enough to tell all that was on his +mind. + +Besides, there were several darling topics on which Benny's mother and +sister, although they loved the boy dearly, never would exhibit any +interest. Benny had lately learned, after months of wearisome practice +in Sam Wardwell's barn, that peculiar gymnastic somersault known and +highly esteemed among boys of a certain age as "skinning the cat," and +he was dying to have some one see him do it, and praise him for his +skill. But when he proposed to do it in the house, from the top of one +of the door frames, his mother called him inhuman, and his sister said +he was disgusting, the instant they heard the name of the trick; and +although Benny finally made them understand that cats had really nothing +to do with the trick, and that if he should ever want the skin taken off +a real cat he would not do the work himself, not even for the best +fishing-rod in town, he was still as far from succeeding as ever, for +when he afterward explained just what the trick consisted in, his mother +told him that he was her only boy, and while she liked to see him amuse +himself, she never would consent to stand still, and look at him while +he was attempting to break his blessed little neck. + +And how unsatisfactory his sister was when consulted about fish bait! In +marbles she had been known to exhibit some interest, but a boy could not +always talk about marbles. When Benny explained how different kinds of +live bait kicked while on the hook, and asked her to think of some new +kind of bug or insect that he could try on the big trout that had +learned to escape trouble by letting alone the insects already used to +hide hooks with, she told him that she didn't know anything about it, +and, what was more, she didn't care to, and she didn't think her brother +was a very nice boy to care for such dirty things himself. + +The change in the relations of the boys with Paul did not escape Mr. +Morton's eyes; and when he questioned his newest pupil, and learned the +cause, he made an excuse to send Paul home for something, and then told +the boys that to pry into the affairs of other people was most +unmannerly, and that he thought Paul had been too good a fellow to +deserve such treatment at the hands of his companions. The boys admitted +to themselves that they thought so too; and when next they were +out-of-doors together most of them agreed with each other that there +should be no more questioning of Paul Grayson about himself. Still, Sam +Wardwell correctly expressed the sentiment of the entire school when he +said he hoped that Paul would soon think to tell without being asked, +because it was certain that there was something wonderful about him; +boys were not usually as cool, strong, good-natured, fearless, and +sensible as he. + +Pleasant relations were soon restored between the boys, but there was +not as much playing in the school-yard as before, for the weather had +become very hot; so the usual diversion of the boys was to sit in a row +on the lower rail of the shady side of the school-yard fence, and tell +stories, or agree upon what to do when the evening became cooler. Paul +Grayson occasionally begged for a game of ball; he could not bear to be +so lazy, he said, even if the sun did shine hotly. But the boys could +seldom agree with him to the extent of playing on the shadeless +ball-ground; so after dismissal in the afternoon Paul used to go alone +to the ball-ground behind the court-house, and practice running, +hopping, jumping, and tossing a heavy stone, until some of the boys, not +having promised to abstain from talking with each other about Paul, +wondered if their mysterious friend might not be the son of some great +clown, or circus rider, or trapeze performer, or something of the sort. +Paul's exercises seemed to give a great deal of entertainment to the +prisoners in the jail, for some of them were always at the large barred +window, and the counterfeiter was sure to be at the small one the moment +he heard Paul come whistling by; and well he might, for that cell, +lighted only by a single very small window, must have been a dismal +place to spend whole days in. + +From occasionally looking at the prisoners from the play-ground Paul +finally came to stare at them for several minutes at a time. The other +boys could not see what there could be about such a lot of bad men to +interest a fine fellow like Paul; but Canning Forbes explained that +perhaps the spectacle would be interesting to them too if they were +strangers, and had not seen the prisoners in every-day life, and known +what a common, stupid, uninteresting set they were. All of the boys, +Canning reminded them, had been full of curiosity about the +counterfeiter when he had first been put into the jail; that, he +explained, was because the man was a stranger, and no one of them knew a +thing about him. Paul was in exactly the same condition about the other +prisoners, and the counterfeiter too. + +The explanation was satisfactory, but Paul's interest in the prisoners +was not, for all the time he spent staring at the side of the jail might +otherwise have been spent with them, all of whom, excepting perhaps Joe +Appleby, felt that they never could see enough of Paul. Some of them +were shrewd enough to reason that if Paul could be made to understand +what a miserable set those jail-birds really were, he would soon cease +to have any interest in them; so they made various excuses to talk about +the prisoners by name, and tell what mean and dishonest and disgraceful +things they did. + +But somehow the scheme did not work; Paul himself talked about the +prisoners, and he reminded the boys that some of those men had wives who +were being unhappy about them; and others, particularly the younger +ones, were keeping loving mothers in misery; and perhaps some of them +had children that were suffering, even starving, because their fathers +were in jail. How could any fellow help being curious about men, asked +Paul, whose condition put such stories into a man's mind? + +"Perhaps, too," Paul argued, "some of those men are not as bad as they +seem. Every man has a little good of some sort in him; and although he +is to blame for not letting it, instead of his wrong thoughts, manage +him, perhaps some day he may change. I can't help wishing so about all +of those fellows in the jail, and, what is more, I wouldn't help it if I +could--would you?" + +No, they wouldn't, the boys thought; still, they thought also, although +no one felt exactly like saying it aloud, that boys at Mr. Morton's +school had some good in them, and were a great deal surer to appreciate +the thoughtful tendencies of a good fellow than a lot of worthless town +loafers were, to say nothing of a dreadful counterfeiter. + +"If you feel that way," said Joe Appleby, somewhat sneeringly, after the +crowd had been silent for two or three moments, "why don't you go with +Mr. Morton when he visits the prisoners? I would do it if I felt as you +do; I would think it very wrong to stay away." + +Joe's tone, as he said this, was so absolutely taunting that most of the +boys expected to see Paul spring at him and strike him; they certainly +would do so themselves, if big enough, and talked to in that way. But +Paul merely replied, "I don't go, because he never asked me to." + +"Oh, don't let that stand in your way," said Joe, quickly; "you can +easily do the asking yourself. I'll ask for you, if you feel delicate +about putting in your own word." + +At this the boys felt sure there would be a fight, but to their great +surprise Paul sat quietly on the rail, and replied, "I should be much +obliged if you would; that is, if you're man enough to own that you +first taunted me about it." + +Joe arose, and looked as proud as if he were about to lead a whole army +to certain victory. + +"I'll do it," said he, "and right away, too." + +"And I," said Canning Forbes, "will go along to see that you tell the +story correctly, and do full justice to Grayson." + +Joe scowled terribly at this, but Canning, although a very quiet fellow, +had such a determined way in everything he undertook, that Joe knew it +was useless to remonstrate, so he strode sullenly along, with Canning at +his side. The other boys looked for a moment in utter astonishment; +then, as with one accord, all but Paul sprang to their feet and +followed. + +Mr. Morton was astonished at the irruption, as his bell had not been +sounded; but he listened to Joe's request and to Canning's statement, +which was supported by fragments volunteered by other boys, then he +replied, "I will gladly take Paul with me, but am sorry that the newest +pupil in the school should be the first to express a kind thought about +the unfortunates in the jail." + +Then Joe Appleby hung his head, and Canning Forbes did likewise, and +most of the other boys followed their example; but Benny rushed to the +side window, thrust his head out, and shouted, "It's all right, Paul; he +says you can go." + +Then all the boys laughed at Benny, at which Benny blushed, and the +teacher rang his bell, which called in no one but Paul. Then the school +came to order, but most of the boys blundered over their lessons that +afternoon, for their minds were full of what they had to tell to boys +that attended other schools, or did not go to school at all. + +The visit of Paul to the prison was made that very afternoon, and before +night nearly every family in the town had heard of how it had come to +pass, and determined that Paul Grayson was a noble fellow, no matter how +much mystery there might be about him. Benny Mallow, having learned in +advance that the visit was contemplated--for Paul could not get rid of +him after school except by telling him--Benny waited on a corner near +the jail until Paul and the teacher came out. He hid himself for a +moment or two, so that Paul would not think he had been watching him; +then he hurried around a block, intercepted the couple, and made some +excuse to stop Paul for a moment. As soon as Mr. Morton had gone ahead a +little way, Benny, with his great blue eyes wider open than ever, asked, +"How was it?" + +[Illustration: PAUL GRAYSON AND BENNY MALLOW.] + +"It was dreadful," said Paul, whose eyes were red, as if he had been +crying. + +"Then you won't ever go again, will you?" said Benny, giving his +friend's hand a sympathetic squeeze. + +"Yes, I will," exclaimed Paul, so sharply that Benny was frightened. He +looked up inquiringly, and saw Paul's eyes filled with tears. "I'll go +again, and often, now that I've been teased into doing it; but, Benny +Mallow, if you tell a single boy that I cried, I'll never speak to you +again in this world." + +"I won't--oh, I won't," said Benny, and he kept his word--for weeks. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +THE BOY-GENERAL. + +BY EDWARD CARY. + +CHAPTER I. + + +If any of my readers who live in the city of New York happen to be +passing the lower end of Union Square some day, they will see, standing +among the trees of the little park, a bronze statue. It is nearly +opposite the corner of Broadway and Fourteenth Street, and is turned a +little to one side, toward the noble statue of Washington on horseback, +which is in the centre of the three-cornered space between the park, +Fourteenth Street, and Union Square East. It represents a tall young +man, in the close-fitting uniform of an American General of the time of +the Revolution. With his right hand he clasps a sword against his +breast. His left hand is stretched out toward Washington; his figure is +erect, and inclined forward, as if about to spring from the prow of a +boat, which the base of the statue is made to represent. This is a +statue of the beloved and gallant Frenchman whom we commonly call +Lafayette, whom the people of the Revolutionary days delighted to name +"the young Marquis," and whose real name was Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves +Gilbert Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. The story of his whole life is one +of the most interesting and pleasing that has ever been written; but for +the present I am to give you only the story of his services to America, +and of his life during the few years in which those services were +rendered. The statue that I have spoken of was set up in honor of these +great services, in order that the young Americans who live in the full +enjoyment of the blessings of freedom and order for which he fought may +not forget him. + +Lafayette was born in the province of Auvergne, France, on the 6th of +September, 1757, shortly after the death of his father, who was an +officer in the French army, and was killed at Minden. His own family was +poor, but the death of his mother's father made him, while yet a child, +very rich. As the custom was in those days in France, he entered the +army while scarcely in his teens, and before he had left the Academy of +Versailles, where he was educated. As was also the custom, he was +married very young--while only sixteen--to a daughter of the house of +Ayen and Noailles, who herself was only thirteen; but children though +they were, they were possessed of strong natures, and their union was a +very loving and happy one. Lafayette describes himself in boyhood as +"silent because he neither thought nor heard much which seemed worth +saying," and as having "awkwardness of manner, which did not trouble him +on important occasions, but made him ill at ease among the graces of the +court or the pleasures of a Paris supper." He was an ardent lover of +freedom in the midst of an aristocratic society, and when his family +wanted to attach him to the court he managed by a witty but offensive +remark about the royal family to break up the arrangement. "Republican +stories," he says, "charmed me," and he heard of the Declaration of +American Independence with "a thrill of sympathy and joy." + +He was just nineteen when, over a dinner given by an English Duke to the +French officers of the garrison of Metz, he first learned of the +Declaration. "My heart was instantly enlisted," he wrote, "and I thought +of nothing but joining _my flag_." From that moment he regarded himself +as a soldier in the army of American freedom. He knew his family would +oppose him. "I counted, therefore, only on myself, and ventured to take +for my motto _cur non?_" (why not?). He had great trouble in getting +away. Going to Paris, he first obtained from the American agent there, +Silas Deane, a promise of a commission as Major-General; but he had to +keep everything very secret, to blind his family, his friends, the +government--to avoid French and English spies. Only his girl-wife and +two of his cousins knew what he was doing. Just as he had completed his +plans, news came of the terrible defeats which Washington had suffered +on Long Island and in the neighborhood of New York. The "arch-rebel," as +the English called General Washington, was fleeing across the New Jersey +plains, with only a handful of men, and the insurrection was believed to +be nearly over. The American agent in Paris was dismayed and cast down. +He told Lafayette that he could furnish him no vessel to go to America, +and tried to persuade him to give up his project. Thanking Mr. Deane for +his frankness, the brave young fellow answered, "Until now, sir, you +have seen only my zeal; perhaps I may now be useful. I shall buy a ship +which will carry your officers. We must show our confidence in the +cause; and it is in danger that I shall be glad to share your fortunes." +To cover his designs, he joined his uncle, the Prince of Paix, on a +visit to London, where he was much courted. "At nineteen," he wrote, "I +liked perhaps a little too well to trifle with the King I was about to +fight, to dance at the house of the English Colonial Minister, in the +company of Lord Rawdon, just arrived from New York, and to meet at the +opera the General Clinton whom I was to meet the next time at the battle +of Monmouth." Finally his arrangements were all made, and he came back +to France to join his vessel. To his dismay, he was met by an order from +the King to report, under arrest, at Marseilles. He pretended to start +for that city, but on the way, disguised as a postilion, he turned +aside, and after nearly being caught while sleeping on some straw in the +stable of a post inn, he finally boarded his ship, with Baron De Kalb +and others, and set sail for America. It was the 26th of April, 1777, +"six months, filled with labor and impatience," since he had formed his +plan. He was seven weeks on the sea. His ship was clumsy, and, armed +with "only two bad cannon and a few muskets, could not have escaped the +smallest English cruiser." Of these he encountered several, but lucky +winds bore them away from him. He slipped between the ships guarding the +coast, and landed in the night near the city of Charleston, South +Carolina. "At last," he says, "I felt American soil beneath my feet, and +my first words were a vow to conquer or perish in the cause." + +He straightway set out for Philadelphia, where Congress was in session, +and near which the army of Washington was encamped. The journey was long +and fatiguing. From Petersburg, Virginia, he wrote to his wife: "I set +out grandly in a carriage; at present we are on horseback, having broken +my carriage, according to my admirable habit; I hope to write you in a +few days that we have arrived safely on foot." The fatigue of the +journey could not repress his constant gayety. When he reached +Philadelphia, Congress was greatly bothered with foreign adventurers +more anxious for rank and pay than to fight for America. Lafayette +perceived the coolness of his reception, but far from being discouraged, +he wrote to the President of Congress, "By the sacrifices that I have +made I have a right to demand two favors: one, to serve without pay; the +other, to begin my service in the ranks." Carried away by such generous +devotion, Congress immediately gave Lafayette a commission as +Major-General, and Washington placed him on his own staff. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +O'ER THE HILLS O' ARGYLE. + +BY LILLIE E. BARR. + + + I said, when a laddie o' ten, as I gaed o'er the hills o' Argyle, + "The way is sae rocky and steep, I am weary this many a mile; + Just leave me, and gang on yoursel'; the road I'm no likely to miss." + Then my feyther stooped down, wi' a laugh, and gied me a tender bit + kiss. + "Why, Donald," he said, "be a man, and keep mind o' the words that I + say, + A strong, stout heart and a sturdy step gang o'er the steepest brae." + + "It, isna the steepness," I said, "but the way is sae wearifu' lang." + "Tut! tut! if your heart gies the order, your body will just hae to + gang. + Think, Donald, o' mither and hame, and dinna give up for your life; + Step out to the sang you like best--'Here's to the bonnets o' Fife!' + Sing, lad, though you sing through your tears, and keep mind o' the + words that I say, + A strong, stout heart and a sturdy step win o'er the langest way." + + Then I said to my heart, "Gie the order." Singing, I walked or I ran; + My feyther stepped, laughing, beside me, and called me "his bonnie + brave man." + And sae, ere the storm-clouds had gathered, we were safe at our ain + fireside, + And feyther sat watching the snaw-drifts, wi' me cuddled close to his + side. + "Donald," he said, "my dear laddie, no matter wherever you stray, + Keep mind--a strong heart and a sturdy step gang o'er the steepest + brae." + + Now far from the bonnie Scotch Highlands I've travelled full many a + mile, + Yet always, in trouble or sorrow, I think o' the hills o' Argyle, + Say, "Heart, gie the order for marching!" strike up the auld "Bonnets + o' Fife," + And then I set dourly and bravely my face to the mountains o' life, + For the thought o' my feyther is wi' me: and, "Donald," I hear him + say, + "Keep mind--a strong heart and a sturdy step gang o'er the steepest + brae." + + + + +THROUGH THE RAPIDS WITH INDIANS. + + + MOOSE LAKE, _August 16_. + +MY DEAR CHARLEY,--I've had at last the experience of a real Indian canoe +voyage, of which we used to dream when we read _The Young Voyageurs_ on +the sly behind our desk at school. To begin at the beginning (which +modern stories seldom do), imagine me starting from Bear Creek to +descend the river in a canoe with two "real live Indians." If you want +to know what Indians are like, just fancy two overfried sausages wrapped +in dirty brown paper, and you'll have a perfect picture of my "noble red +men," whose names sounded to me exactly like "Cock-a-doodle-doo" and +"Very-like-a-whale." But you soon get used to such things in a country +where names like Nomjamsquilligook and Kashagawigamog are quite +every-day matters. + +[Illustration: 1. Beaver-Hunting. 2. A Poacher. 3. His first Rapid. 4. +Over the Beaver Dam. 5. The Drift Pile. + +THROUGH THE RAPIDS WITH INDIANS.] + +Now, Charley, if you value my blessing and your own welfare, never get +into an Indian canoe. I ought to know something of uncomfortable +conveyances, having crossed Central Asia with camels, gone a hundred +miles into the Sahara in an Arab wagon, drifted over the Volga on a +block of ice, and shot an Icelandic torrent in a leaky boat. But all +these fall far, far short of the glorious uncomfortableness of my canoe. +Louis XI. would have given any money for such an invention when he +wanted to torture Cardinal Balue. I sat, and forthwith fell down on my +back; I knelt, and promptly fell forward on my nose. I even tried to +squat cross-legged, forgetting that Achmet Bey had spent three days in +vainly showing me how _not_ to do it when I was with him in Arabia; and +how I _did_ finally manage to stow myself I haven't found out yet. If +the Indians had scolded or laughed at my mishaps, or even noticed them +at all, it would not have been so bad, but their calm, silent, +statuesque disapproval of everything I did made me feel as small as the +first boy who breaks down at a spelling bee. + +My first night was a very queer experience. Beyond the circle of light +cast by our camp fire the great black shadow of the forest looked +blacker and vaster than ever, and in its gloomy depths no sound was +heard but the ghostly rustle of the leaves, which seemed to be +whispering to each other some horrible secret. Then up rose the cold +moon, glinting spectrally through the trees upon the swirling foam, and +giving strange and goblin shapes to the huge trunks all around. In that +dreary silence the hoarse sough of the river sounded unnaturally loud, +and the wild faces of the Indians, seen and gone again by turns as the +fire-glow waxed and waned, looked quite unearthly. But the mosquitoes +soon gave me something else to think about, I can promise you. + +For the next two days I enjoyed camp life in all its fullness--a +buffalo-robe for bedding, a jackknife for dinner service, a camp fire +for kitchen range, a freshly caught fish for breakfast, a water-fall for +shower-bath. The very sense of existence seemed a pleasure in that +glorious atmosphere, which made one feel always hungry, but never tired; +and to jump into a swollen river, clothes and all, to carry the canoe a +mile or more over broken ground, to start splitting wood at night-fall +after voyaging all day, to get out on a wet rock at midnight and begin +fishing, came quite natural. Once or twice I felt as if I must really +give vent to my superfluous vitality by shouting or singing at the top +of my voice, and was only deterred from striking up "I paddle my own +canoe" by the reflection that I hadn't paddled it a foot since we +started. + +On the second day we passed several water-falls, and it was a rare sight +to see the floating trees plunge over them. Sometimes a big trunk would +stop short on the very brink, as if shrinking back, and then it would +give a kind of leap forward, and over it would go--a regular suicide in +dumb-show. A little below one of the falls the floating timber had +drifted together into such a mass that it fairly blocked the channel, +forming a barricade several hundred feet broad, and we had to get out +and drag the canoe bodily over it as best we might. If you've ever +walked over an acre of harrows piled on an acre of trucks, you'll know +what kind of footing we had, and it's a marvel to me that I've got a leg +left to stand on. + +A little farther I espied a great shaggy beast, not unlike a bear, +coming out of the river with a big fish in his mouth. I fired at him, +but the bullet probably hit him too obliquely to pierce his thick hide. +That's _my_ theory at least; the Indians were mean enough to suggest +that I never hit him at all. + +On the third morning we came to a huge beaver dam, bigger than any I'd +seen in Canada, and as neatly put together as any dike in Holland. The +fur-coated gentlemen were hard at work when we appeared, some gnawing at +the trees, while others plastered the dam with mud, using their broad +tails for trowels. But at our coming they all went splash, splash into +the water, which was all alive for a moment with dancing ripples and +flapping tails--a regular fac-simile of that scene in _The Last of the +Mohicans_ over which we used to laugh so. + +Of course we had to make another "portage" with the canoe; and while we +were dragging it along, up jumped a barefooted boy from among the +bushes, and lent us a hand with it. A splendid young savage he was, who +would have quite delighted my old friend Tom Hughes of Rugby. Straight +as a pine, keen-eyed as an eagle, so supple and sinewy that one might +almost have rolled him up and pocketed him like a ball of twine. He told +me he was "after beaver," and had done pretty well this season, trapping +and what not. I gave him some tobacco, which seemed to please him +mightily, and he repaid me with what my New York friends would call "a +tall yarn": + +"Time when beaver hats was all the go (which don't I just wish they was +_now_!) a feller went for a swim in a river one day, leavin' his hat and +things on the bank. It happened to be pretty close to a beaver dam; and +when he cum out agin, fust thing he seed was two young beavers a-weepin' +over his hat, 'cause they knowed it for the skin o' their father." + +Toward four that afternoon we began to hear a dull booming roar far away +ahead. You should have seen the Indians' eyes flash when they heard it! +_They_ knew the sound of the rapids well enough. All at once the sloping +banks seemed to grow high and steep, and the overhanging pines to go far +away up into the air, and the channel to get dark and narrow, and the +stream to go rushing along like a mill-race. Then suddenly we swung +around a huge black rock, and were fairly in the thick of it. + +After that I have only a confused recollection of being tossed and +banged about in a whirl of boiling foam, and clinging like grim death to +the sides of the canoe, while the river itself seemed somehow to be +standing stock-still, and the great cliffs on each side to be flying +past like an express train. The whole air was filled with a hoarse +grinding roar that seemed to shake the very sky, and the spray came +lashing into my face till I was glad to shut my eyes. + +When I opened them again I almost thought I was dreaming. Instead of the +foaming river and the frowning precipices, we were floating on a broad +smooth lake, with a little toy town pasted on the green slope above us, +and half a dozen big fellows in red shirts running down to welcome us +in. + +But I must break off, for I'm so sleepy, after hauling timber all day, +that I can hardly sit upright. Remember me kindly to all your folks, and +believe me + +Yours to death (or till my next railway journey, which is much the same +nowadays), + + D. KER. + + + + +NEW GAMES FOR WINTER EVENINGS. + +BY G. B. BARTLETT. + + +TIP. + +Under this odd title a new and excellent game is described which is very +popular in Germany, and will be equally so in America when it becomes +known. + +When first read it may not seem to amount to much, but it needs only to +be tried to become a favorite with old and young. + +Any number can play, as no skill nor practice is required, and it is +adapted as well to the parlor as to the picnic. The writer has joined in +it on two successive days, once in a pleasant drawing-room, with a large +round table in the centre, by the cheery light of a flashing wood fire, +and again under the radiant maples by the side of a beautiful lake. On +the latter occasion a large shawl was spread on the ground, and a merry +group of bright-eyed children, with their parents and older friends, sat +around on the grass. + +One of the mammas poured out from a paper package of assorted candy and +small toys about as many pieces as the number of players, making the +tempting heap, as nearly as possible, in the middle of the shawl within +easy reach of all. After one of the children had been blindfolded, one +of the ladies touched an article in the pile in the shawl, in order to +point it out plainly to all excepting the one whose eyes were closed. +The player then opened her eyes, and was allowed to select one at a +time, and keep for her own all she could obtain without taking the +"tip," or the piece that had been touched. + +Often a great many pieces can be taken, and in some cases the "tip" is +the last one to be pitched upon; but sometimes an unlucky player selects +the "tip" first, in which case she gains nothing, for the moment she +takes the "tip" she must give it up, and the turn passes to the next +player on her right. + +Of course all the children scream when the tip is touched, and the +unlucky ones are laughed at a little, but are soon comforted by presents +of candy from the stores of the more fortunate. + +All who do not believe in the interest of the game are cordially advised +to secure a group of children and a paper of candy, or of little +presents nicely wrapped in papers, and to try it for themselves. + + +INITIALS. + +This new and interesting game can be played in several ways, and can be +used also in connection with other old games, to which it lends a new +charm. Any number of players can join, each one of whom tells the +initials of his or her name, which the others can write on a slip of +paper if they do not prefer trusting to memory. Each player invents an +initial sentence, using the letters of one of the names. This sentence +may be humorous or sensible, complimentary or the reverse, and can +sometimes be made to fit exceedingly well. As specimens, a few impromptu +sentences are given on the actual names of some of the original players: +Easter Eggs, Exquisite Elegance, Fairy Prince, Fried Pork, Willful +Negligence, What Nonsense, Serene Truth Triumphs, Saucy Tell-Tale, +Goodness Brings Blessings. When all have prepared one or more sentences, +the leader begins by addressing any person he pleases with a remark +formed upon his initials, and each of the other players follows his +example, also using the same letters. This attack is kept up +indiscriminately on the person addressed by the leader, until he can +answer the person who last addressed him before another of the players +can say another sentence in the letters of his name, in which case the +others all turn their remarks on the one who has been thus caught. The +game then goes merrily on, as shouts of laughter always follow the quick +conceits which are sure to be inspired by the excitement of the game. As +a specimen of the way in which it can be applied to an old game, "Twirl +the Platter" has a new interest when the players are called out by +initial sentences, as the effort to discover one's own name in some +obscure remark made by the twirler, in order to catch the platter before +it ceases to spin, keeps every player on the alert. + + + + +OUT OF THE WOODS. + +BY A. TEMPLE BELLEW. + + +In that rocky part of New York State called Sullivan County lived a poor +widow and her little daughter. + +The cold weather was approaching--the trees showed that; the maples were +in flames, and the surrounding woods had such varied leafage that at a +distance they looked like the border of an Indian shawl. Yes, cold +weather was approaching, and the widow said one morning, as she came up +from the cellar, "Well, Nannie, we have potatoes enough to last all +winter, so we sha'n't starve; but what ever we shall have to wear I +don't know. I can't _buy_ any clothes, that is certain." + +"We'll wear our old ones," said Nannie. + +"They ain't fit for carpet-rags, child. We must stay in the house all +winter, I guess, unless we want to freeze to death." + +Nannie grew grave, and her brown eyes were full of trouble, as she +listened. She had not thought of clothes all summer; she had trotted +about in her little calico dress as happy as a sparrow; and now she felt +very much like that same sparrow when he sees the first snow-flakes come +drifting through the air. + +What could she do to help her mother? If it were something to eat, it +would not be so difficult; she could pick up nuts--lots of them; but +something to _wear_: that was a great deal harder. So she sat on the +door-step puzzling her little brains, until her eyes happened to fall +upon a necklace she had that morning made of scarlet mountain-ash +berries, and a brilliant idea occurred to her: she would make a dress of +leaves--of bright red leaves. + +"I can make it just as easy," she said to herself; "I won't say a word +to mother till it's all done. Won't she be glad when she sees me dressed +up so nice? And then I'll tell her I can make _lots_ of things just like +it." + +She had a spool of thread in her pocket, and a needle carefully stuck in +her frock, so she had only to run off to the woods, without bothering +any one. + +Once there Nannie had no trouble in finding leaves enough, bright red +ones, too--so red that they made her blink when she held them out in the +sunlight. She filled her apron with those scattered on the ground, and +picked a huge bunch of long rush-like grasses that grew in a small +clearing; then seated herself on a low stone, ready for work, surrounded +by scarlet and gold like a little empress. + +The tiny fingers proved very deft, and the tiny brain very ingenious. +Leaf overlapping leaf, like the scales of a fish, they were sewn on the +grass stems, until a garment was shaped resembling what is fashionably +called a princesse dress. The sleeves Nannie could not manage, so +instead she put shoulder-straps with epaulets of leaves. She could +hardly keep from dancing, she felt so delighted at the success of her +plan. On went the gay suit of armor gleefully, but slowly, lest it +should be harmed. + +"Don't I look pretty?" sighed Nannie, in perfect content, as she glanced +down at her leafy skirt; "but I can't wear that old sun-bonnet. I must +make a new hat too." + +Again the thread and needle, grass and leaves, were called into service. +This time a queer comical cap, like Robinson Crusoe's, placed jauntily +on her head, turned her into a wood-sprite indeed. + +She primly picked her way through the wood, avoiding every brier as if +it were poison-ivy, until she reached the opening; here she stood +suddenly still, rooted to the spot by wonder. A man, a stranger, was +there, sitting on a funny crooked kind of bench, doing something to a +big board fastened to three long sticks in front of him. He seemed +nearly as wonder-struck as Nannie for a moment; then, as she was about +to move, he called out, "Who in the world are you, little fairy, and who +dressed you up like that?" + +He looked so pleasant that Nannie gave him a laugh for his smile, and +answered promptly, "I did it my own self; ain't it pretty?" + +"Yes, indeed; and what made you think of such a pretty dress?" + +Then Nannie's little tongue being loosened, she told him all about +it--how poor they were that year, and how badly her mother felt; in +fact, chattered over all her small history, some parts of which made the +stranger's blue eyes misty, while others made him smile, whereat Nannie +had always to laugh in return--she very seldom smiled. + +"Now," said the stranger, "do you think you could stand still for a +short time?" + +Nannie at once became motionless, and the stranger began to work away at +the big board before him with some very thin sticks. Once in a while he +would say, "There, you may move now; sit down on that stone and rest." +Then Nannie would sit down until he asked if she felt like standing +again, when she would spring to her feet and take her former position. +She was beginning to feel very tired--so tired that her little tongue +was quiet--when he said, "That will do, little one; come and look at +this." + +And she came beside him. Why, there she was on the board, scarlet dress +and all; her black curls ruffling about her head, her big brown eyes +wide open, and her cheeks as pink as king apples. + +"Why, that's me!" she cried. + +"Of course it is," laughed the stranger. + +"Why, ain't I pretty!--only I wish I had my shoes on. I've got a pair in +the house, but I only wear 'em in winter." + +"It looks prettier in the picture without shoes," said the artist. + +Then he told her that she had been a very good little girl; and taking a +piece of something like green paper from his pocket, put it in her hand, +saying, + +"Give this to your mother, and tell her to buy you a nice warm dress +with it. I am coming to see you to-morrow; and now good-by, little +maid." + +Then he stooped down and kissed her, and she ran away up the hill-side, +covered with red leaves, and holding a green leaf in her hand--a +wonderful green leaf, as she afterward discovered. + +She rushed into the cottage like a small cannon-ball, and startled her +mother not a little, appearing in such strange attire, and too +breathless to tell her story except in excited snatches that puzzled +more than they explained, and for a short time the widow thought that a +three-legged man had stolen Nannie's clothes, and was coming to-morrow +to steal hers; but as soon as Nannie regained breath she made her +understand the real state of the case. + +"Wonder what he is?" said the mother, puzzled. "Three sticks--a big +board." + +After long cogitation she decided that he must be "one of them +archertics from New York as took your photergraph." + +"He's real kind, anyway," she added. "Why, child, he's give you _ten +dollars_!" + +"Ten dollars!" gasped Nannie, with an overwhelming sense of wealth. + +Next morning the stranger appeared in good season, and won the widow's +heart by his courtesy. + +"Jest as polite as if I was the minister's wife," she afterward told +Nannie. + +He explained the mystery of the big board and three sticks, and showed +how they were used, getting Nannie to stand for him again in her dress +of leaves. + +Nannie opened her eyes when he told her that her picture was going to +New York to hang in "a great big room called the Academy." "At least I +_hope_ so," he added, laughing. + +He came many following mornings, always to paint Nannie, getting more +interested every time in the simple-hearted widow and her bright little +child, while they in turn delighted in his visits, his stories, and his +painting. + +At last the day came when he had to go back to the city. Nannie cried +her eyes as red as the maple leaves, and they all felt that "good-by" +was a very miserable word. + +So the stranger went away, and the widow tried to console herself and +Nannie by making a journey to the nearest town, and laying out the +wonderful ten dollars in warm clothing for Nannie; but though Nannie got +very busy and happy over her shopping, she did not forget her stranger +friend, and felt even bright red flannel a very poor substitute for kind +blue eyes. + +Nannie spent the long white months very merrily, romping by day and +sleeping by night, only one thing happening to vary the quiet life: at +Christmas came a letter and a box of goodies from the stranger, then all +went on as before. + +By-and-by winter turned to spring in town and country, the spring +fashions of one doing duty for the spring leaves of the other; and among +the pleasantest of spring fashions in New York is--the Exhibition of +that "great big room called the Academy," about which the stranger had +told Nannie so much. And this fair April upon its walls hung the picture +of a bright-faced little girl, clad and capped with scarlet leaves, +coming out of the dim gray woods. + +Of all the many visitors there not one passed it by unnoticed; young +ladies all beauty and old ladies all back-bone and eyeglasses, artists +gray-headed and young fellows just from Paris, one and all, and many +more, stopped to admire the brown-eyed child so quaintly garmented. The +morning and the evening papers, too, did not overlook it, but patted the +young artist kindly with their pens. Rich people talked about it, and +the richest bought it for the sake of saying that "the gem of the +Exhibition" was in his gallery. + +A few days after this a letter, registered and stamped carefully enough +to carry it to China, had that been its destination, came to Nannie and +her mother--a letter from the stranger, telling all about it, and +sending to his "little good genius" a check for _fifty dollars_. + +What other wonderful things were the result of that queer dress of +leaves may perhaps be told some day. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE LITTLE TEASE. + + + "Now div me my dolly." If baby were able + To talk in plain fashion, he'd certainly say, + "I think you are awfully mean, sister Mabel, + To trouble and tease me and vex me this way." + + But baby can only let grieving lips quiver, + And lift little hand in an angry protest: + Come, sister, from trouble the wee one deliver, + 'Tis naughty to pain him so, even in jest. + + + + +[Illustration: LITTLE SHOPPERS--"A VERY DOOD SMOOFING-IRON."] + + + + +[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.] + + + NEW YORK CITY. + + I like YOUNG PEOPLE very much, and can hardly wait from one number + to another, I am so impatient to get it. All the stories are very + interesting, and the pictures are beautiful. But I don't like the + advertisements after the Post-office Box, because they keep out + something I would like to read. I like "Old Times in the Colonies" + very much. + + CARRIE M. + +Our correspondent will see that her wishes have been anticipated. +Henceforth all advertisements for HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE will be printed +on a neat cover, as in the present number, and will no longer appear in +the body of the paper. This cover will also serve to keep the paper +clean, and the bound numbers at the end of the year will form a perfect +book. + + * * * * * + + EAST HAMPTON, CONNECTICUT. + + My sister takes YOUNG PEOPLE, and I like it very much. + + Eight of us girls have a society, which we call the Y. L. F. S. We + have singing, readings, and charades, and have lots of fun. We + meet around at the members' houses once in two weeks, on Monday + evenings. Next time we meet we are all going to make speeches on + politics. I am fifteen years old. + + VIOLET S. + +We should like very much to have a fuller report of the doings of this +society. Now that the long winter evenings are approaching, societies of +this description bring about much pleasant recreation, and if any +systematic course of good reading is followed, enlivened by music, +recitation, or discussion of any given topic, the benefit to the members +becomes of an importance beyond mere social enjoyment. + + * * * * * + + NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA. + + I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE since No. 36; papa subscribed for me + then. I like "The Moral Pirates" and "Old Times in the Colonies" + best of all, and I am very fond of reading the letters of the + little boys and girls in the Post-office Box. + + I go to a large private school one block from my house. I speak + French and English, and I am learning to play the piano. I have a + splendid black cat, named Beauty. + + VIRGINIA S. + + * * * * * + + MAYERSVILLE, MISSISSIPPI. + + I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE from the first number, and am perfectly + delighted with it. My subscription will soon be out, but I am going + to renew it. + + We have a very nice time here playing on the riverbank in the + sand. There is some beautiful grass growing on the sand-bar in the + river opposite our town. + + DELLA R. S. + + * * * * * + + WYOMING, ILLINOIS. + + I am eleven years old. I have no pets, except a canary named + Freddie, but I have a play house, and I think it is a very nice + one. I have four nice dolls, and a doll carriage, and in the play + house I have a bureau, table, chair, cupboard, blackboard, and a + very nice set of dishes. The house is carpeted, and the rain does + not get into it. I have a girl's velocipede, and I ride on it to + school. I have some plants of my own. + + HATTIE G. S. + + * * * * * + + CANTON, NEW YORK. + + I have a black dog named Jet. He will sit up, sing, speak, shake + hands, stand up and beg, and lie down when I tell him. I have an + aquarium, and I tried to get some sticklebacks, but they all had + five spines. Are they the kind that make nests? + + I have two turtles, and would like to know how to keep them + through the winter. + + I am making a squirrel cage, and am very anxious to catch a gray + squirrel. And I have a collection of birds' eggs. I get nests and + all. I am twelve years old. + + MARK M. + +All kinds of sticklebacks, so far as known, build nests. Set your +turtles at liberty in the yard before the ground freezes, and they will +take care of themselves until spring. Or if you are afraid of losing +them, give them a tub of earth to bury themselves in during their long +nap. + + * * * * * + + JAMAICA PLAINS, MASSACHUSETTS. + + Here are some directions for making a pretty decoration which some + reader of YOUNG PEOPLE may like to try. Take a carrot, the largest + and smoothest you can find, and cut off the pointed lower end. Then + make a cup of the large upper part by carefully hollowing it out, + leaving the bottom and sides a quarter of an inch thick. Bore some + holes in the sides near the top. Three will do. Through these pass + strings by which to suspend the cup. When it is finished fill it + with water, and hang it in a sunny window, and it will soon send + out leaves from the bottom, and become a very pretty hanging + basket. Never allow all the water to evaporate, but put in a little + fresh every day. If the carrot is large enough to allow the sides + and bottom to be left thicker, the green leaves will last longer + and be more abundant. + + DANIEL D. L. + + * * * * * + + NEW YORK CITY. + + I thought perhaps you would like to hear of a plan we have made. It + is this: We are going to have a club, each member of which takes + YOUNG PEOPLE, and every Friday we meet to read the stories and work + out the puzzles. I wish other children would try this plan, and + write to the Post-office Box how they succeed. + + N. D. + + * * * * * + + WATERTOWN, NEW YORK. + + My papa has taken YOUNG PEOPLE for me since the first number. I + read it all through. I think "Mirthful Magic" is very funny. + + I have two pet bantam chickens, and they are very tame. I hold + them as I would a kitten. I have four caterpillars that I am + feeding on apple leaves, and one that has spun a cocoon. I am + seven years old. + + Z. C. + + * * * * * + + NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT. + + Since my request for exchange was published in YOUNG PEOPLE I have + received no less than ten letters every day. My time is pretty well + taken up at present, but I wish to say to all correspondents who + have sent me postmarks that I will answer them as soon as possible. + + JAMES A. SNEDEKER. + + * * * * * + + I wish to inform the egg collectors with whom I have exchanged + specimens that I have changed my residence. I would be very happy + to exchange some of my eggs for Indian arrow-heads, as well as for + other varieties of eggs. My new address is + + I. QUACKENBOSS, + 169 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, New York. + + * * * * * + + TOLEDO, OHIO. + + I have received so many letters in answer to my request for + exchange of minerals that I can not answer them all immediately, as + my school duties keep me very busy. I will answer them all in time. + I have no more specimens to exchange at present. + + CARRIE THORNER. + + * * * * * + + I have a great many different kinds of Iowa postmarks, and will + send one hundred to any reader of YOUNG PEOPLE who will send me + some pretty thing in return. + + I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE ever since it was published. I am almost + eleven years old. + + LUCY HENDERSON, + Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa. + + * * * * * + + I would like to exchange stamps of all kinds with any boys or girls + who take YOUNG PEOPLE. I will also exchange a piece of cedar of + Lebanon for a reasonable number of stamps. + + SAMUEL MCMULLIN, Jun., + Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio. + + * * * * * + + I would like to exchange rare stamps for foreign or United States + coins with any readers of YOUNG PEOPLE. + + SIDNEY ABENHEIM, + 127 East Sixty-ninth Street, New York City. + + * * * * * + + I have a large number of foreign postage stamps that I would like + to exchange. I have also a large collection of mineral and Indian + curiosities. I think YOUNG PEOPLE is a splendid paper. + + WILLIAM HARRIS, + 226 Fort Street West, Detroit, Michigan. + + * * * * * + + I have gained about one hundred and fifty stamps by exchange since + my letter was printed in YOUNG PEOPLE. I am collecting sea-shells + and curiosities, which I would also like to exchange. + + VERNON L. KELLOGG, + P. O. Box 413, Emporia, Kansas. + + * * * * * + + I have taken two copies of YOUNG PEOPLE ever since it was + published, one of which I send to my cousin, and the other I keep + for myself. + + I am collecting minerals, shells, animal and vegetable + curiosities, stamps, coins, and relics, and would like to arrange + an exchange of these articles with any correspondent. + + LOUIS N. BROWN, care of Ph. Hake, + 155 William Street, New York City. + + * * * * * + + I have a large collection of internal revenue stamps which I would + like to exchange for foreign stamps and postal cards. + + WILLIAM H. PIKE, + 20 Edinboro' Street, Boston, Massachusetts. + + * * * * * + + My brother has taken YOUNG PEOPLE for me since the first number. He + says it is a splendid paper for children, because it contains no + trash. We like it so much we are going to have it bound. + + I have two pet cats. Dick is the name of one. He is seventeen + years old, and was born in the barn on the same day that my + brother was born in the house. I call them twins. The other cat I + call Kitty. She was born about one week before my other brother, + and is fourteen years old. She is getting very weak now, and we do + not think she will live as long as Dick, who is still very lively. + + I would like to exchange slips of fern grown in New Jersey for + fern from any other State with any girl. I wish to get a specimen + of fern from every State and Territory if possible. + + JULIA D. MOORE, + 1107 Locust Street, Camden, New Jersey. + + * * * * * + + I take YOUNG PEOPLE, and I think it is the best paper I ever saw + for little folks. I expect to take it till I am grown up, and that + will be a long time, as I am only eleven years old. + + I would like to exchange flower seeds for geranium and fuchsia + slips, or ocean curiosities. I have many kinds of seeds which I + raised myself. + + ANNIE SIDNEY DUFFIE, + Princeton, Arkansas. + + * * * * * + + I am twelve years old, and have taken YOUNG PEOPLE since April, + when I received a year's subscription for a birthday present. I + always look forward with pleasure to its coming. + + I, too, am making a collection of postage stamps, and would like + to exchange with readers of YOUNG PEOPLE. I have several hundred, + among which are Danish, Norwegian, Japanese, and other foreign + issues. + + NELLIE HYDE, + 162 Third Street, Oakland, California. + + * * * * * + + I am making a collection of stones, one from each State. I will + exchange a stone from Iowa or Missouri for one from any other + State. If Jessie I. Beal will send me a stone from Michigan, I will + gladly exchange with her. + + LOTTA R. TURNER, P. O. Box 705, + Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa. + + * * * * * + + I received several very satisfactory answers to my request for + exchange of stamps. I would now like to get a Chinese and an + Italian stamp. I will exchange for them French and German stamps, + or morning-glory or double-hollyhock seeds. I will also exchange + these seeds or postmarks for new postmarks. + + WILLIE D. VATER, + Office of the _Daily Journal_, Lafayette, Indiana. + + * * * * * + + Since my request for exchange was printed in the Post-office Box I + have received over one hundred letters, and have gained about four + hundred stamps. I have now thirteen hundred. If any other readers + of YOUNG PEOPLE would like to exchange with me, I will be very glad + to do so, especially if they have any duplicates of rare stamps. + + LEWIS S. MUDGE, + Princeton, New Jersey. + + * * * * * + + I wish to exchange postmarks with any boy or girl in the United + States or Canada. + + H. L. MCILVAIN, + 120 North Fifth Street, Reading, Pennsylvania. + + * * * * * + + I am studying natural history, and am very fond of it. I would like + to exchange specimens of minerals and insects, especially with "Wee + Tot." + + FRANCES M. HEATON, + Flushing, Long Island. + + * * * * * + + I am making a collection of minerals, and would be glad to exchange + petrified wood, celestine, satin spar, chalcedony, fossil shells, + or concrete sand balls for other minerals, or Indian relics. + + I am a reader of YOUNG PEOPLE, and like it very much. + + HERBERT E. PECK, + P. O. Box 296, Colorado Springs, Colorado. + + * * * * * + +MABEL C.--We suggest "Agate Club" as a pretty name for your society. In +the language of gems agate signifies prosperity. Take each letter of the +word as the initial of another gem, and let the sentiments of these gems +be the mottoes of your club. You can give the name this interpretation: +agate, prosperity; garnet, constancy; amethyst, love and truth; topaz, +friendship; emerald, faith. If you wish for a club pin, you can have an +agate in a simple setting, which would be a very pretty ornament, and +not expensive. + + * * * * * + + BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. + + I would like to know if the story about Captain Cook's goat is + true. + + WILLIE W. + +We only know of one goat connected with Captain Cook. This travelled +beast twice circumnavigated the globe--first in the ship _Dolphin_, with +the early discoverer Captain Wallis: and secondly in the ship +_Endeavor_, with Captain Cook. After the goat arrived in England for the +second time, the Lords of the Admiralty granted it the privilege of a +residence in Greenwich Hospital, and a silver collar was put around its +neck, inscribed with a Latin couplet composed by Dr. Johnson. But the +goat, like many other old sailors, did not apparently thrive on dry +land, for it died in April, 1772, as it was about to be given to the old +seamen at Greenwich for a pet, and less than a year after its return +from the long voyage with Captain Cook. + + * * * * * + +C. B. M.--Postage stamps, if they are clean and in good order, will be +received in payment for the covers of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. + + * * * * * + +"BILL."--We refer you to the advertisement of toy steam-engine in +HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE No. 53. + + * * * * * + +ERNST H.--Your insect from Colorado answers the description of the +caddis-worm. This worm, which is a soft, white creature, lives under +water in a movable house which it makes for itself out of bits of stone, +pieces of shell, and grains of sand. It feeds on minute particles of +water refuse. When its life as a worm is ended it forms a chrysalis, +from which issues a fly with hairy wings called the caddis-fly, of which +there are many species. The caddis-worm is much used as bait by +fishermen. + + * * * * * + +The following communication is longer than those we can, as a rule, +admit to the Post-office Box, but as we are sure it will be interesting +to other little mothers of doll families, we make an exception in its +favor: + + My family of dolls are unfortunately all orphans. I had the parents + of the four girls named French, but my brother Jack sat on the head + of the papa, and hopelessly crushed it. The mamma I left too long + in a sun bath, and her beautiful wax complexion melted all away. + + Dora French is the oldest girl, and has auburn hair like the + Empress Eugenie. Her hair comes off sometimes, but I use a + sticking stuff for tonic, and fasten it on just as the ladies do + their puffs. Dora is very graceful, and turns her head + beautifully. She wears blue, to suit her hair. + + Sue French is a brunette with handsome black eyes, long black + hair, and bangs. She is very beautiful. My uncle sent her to me as + soon as she arrived from France. She is named for my aunty Sue. + + Lizzie French, the third girl, came over in the same steamer with + Sue. She is the sweetest blonde, and is called for my own mamma. + Both Sue and Lizzie are very fond of dress. + + Louise French is the intelligent one of the family. She talks + beautifully, and is always calling for mamma and papa; but, poor + thing, they never answer her. Perhaps if they were alive, and had + the strings in their sides pulled as hard as I pull those of poor + Louise, they would answer lively enough. Louise has lovely teeth, + but by an accident one was knocked out. + + The baby is named Minnie. She is an American, and the pet of all + the dolls. A lady found her in a doll's orphan asylum, or rather a + big store. She is just too lovely for anything, and has lots of + long clothes, like a real baby. She has a cradle with sheets, + blankets, pillows, and quilts; a pretty baby carriage; a baby + basket, lined with blue and trimmed with lace, which holds her + brush, comb, sponge, soap, towels, nursing bottle, and rattle. She + has caps, cloaks, and an afghan for her carriage. + + I have almost forgotten dear Gretchen. She is not the little Dutch + Gretchen who sat in the kitchen eating her cold sour-krout, but is + a cousin to the Misses French. Her trousseau came in the box with + her; and such queer satin and white Swiss dresses, funny little + aprons, quaint slippers, fine stockings, and dear little hats you + never saw, unless you have been in Switzerland. Her hair is light, + and braided in two long plaits. I tell you she is a beauty; and + although she is the youngest of all the dolls, except the baby, + she is as tall as any of them. + + Then there is Ho Shen Chee, the Chinaman. He is the only boy in + the whole family. Mamma picked him up at the Centennial. He looked + so forlorn and lonesome that mamma felt sorry for him, and brought + him home. We do everything to make him happy, but he still has + that same sad look, and his head wobbles awfully. His clothes are + a great trouble to us, for we can never make any like those he had + on when he came. + + The French girls have everything elegant. Their Saratoga trunk is + filled with lovely dresses, shoes, bonnets, fans, stockings, + gloves, jewelry, parasols, hats, dressing-cases and travelling + bags, writing-paper and desk, watches, perfumery bottles, books, + and everything that young ladies need. Their furniture is very + handsome, too. Their bedstead was made to order, and has a + mattress, pillows, shams, and everything. They have a large + bureau, a lounge, tables, chairs, and a cabinet filled with + bric-Ã -brac. They have a small work-basket, with little scissors + that open and shut, thimble, needles, and all other work-box + necessities. + + Olive, or Aunt Olive, as the dollies call her, is the very + smallest, but the beauty of the family, and the richest. She lives + in a large house with her adopted daughter Pussy, and a great many + servants. Her house has five rooms--parlor, dining-room, bedroom, + kitchen, and bath-room, where real water runs from a faucet. All + these rooms are furnished too lovely for anything. The windows + have real glass and curtains; the doors have curtains too. We have + a large barn (when I say _we_, I mean my brother Jack and myself, + for he loves dolls as well as I do), which has horses and a + dog-cart, in which Olive rides. We have a Park phaeton too. We + build our farm-yard in one corner of the room, and our fort in + another; these are the summer resorts. We move the things on + Jack's big dray and cart. We play the figures in the carpet are + lakes, rivers, and ponds. The dolls ride on these in our boats, + which go on wheels. Away off in another part of the room we put up + the tents. We build the railroad, and the dollies go out to the + camp. When we want to take them to amusement, we build our + theatre, which plays _Cinderella_. When they get tired of that we + take them to the dog show, which is Jack's collection of beautiful + china dogs. We have a race track, where the dolls go to the races + on the elevated railroad which we set up. When they get hungry we + put the cooking stove on the fender, with the pipe up the chimney, + and make a fire, and really cook. Of course we do the eating, + using our pretty blue and gilt dishes. + + We only know one other little girl in New York, and she does not + care to play with dolls; so Jack and I get in a room all by + ourselves, and put up all these things, and I tell you we have a + splendid time. When we get tired we put the dollies to bed, and + get out their wash-tubs, boards, and irons, which we heat on the + little stove, and wash and iron their little clothes. + + Next to reading HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, this is the best fun we + have. + + BESSY GUYTON. + + * * * * * + +Favors are acknowledged from Percy Schuchardt, L. P. Wilson, Willie E. +Billings, W. L. Bradley, Belle Sisson, Cass K. Shelby, A. G. Norris, +John Moody T., Daisy May B., Annie Quinn, Bertha A. F., Frank A. +Harmony, Abbie Parkhurst, Jessie De L., Hattie Cohen. + + * * * * * + +Correct answers to puzzles are received from Bessie C. Morris, Florence +Nightingale, Isabel L. Jacob, Clara B. Kelso, Lizzie, "Freeport, +Illinois." + + * * * * * + +The following names are of those who sent answers to Wiggle No. 14 too +late for acknowledgment with the others: Maggie and Harvey Crockett, +Lucy P. W., Estelle R. Moshberger, Jackson, Bertie, Helen C. Edwards. + + * * * * * + +PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS. + +No. 1. + +ST. ANDREW'S CROSS OF COMBINED DIAMONDS. + +Central.--In Westmoreland. A margin. A despicable person. Bipeds. In +Ireland. + +Upper Right Hand.--In game. Obscure. One of a class of laborers. A +sea-fowl. In sport. + +Upper Left Hand.--In grapes. Devoured. Something dreaded by sailors. To +blunder. In melons. + +Lower Right Hand.--In general. At present. A bird. Humor. In captain. + +Lower Left Hand.--In amethyst. A tropical vegetable. A nobleman's house +and lands. A tumultuous crowd. In emerald. + + OWLET. + + * * * * * + +No. 2. + +ENIGMA. + + My first is in mat, but not in rug. + My second in wasp, but not in bug. + My third is in red, but not in blue. + My fourth is in false, but not in true. + My fifth is in wren, but not in owl. + My sixth is in bird, but not in fowl. + My seventh is in calm, but not in rough. + My eighth is in shawl, but not in muff. + My ninth is in poem, but not in ditty. + My whole is a European city. + + MAMIE. + + * * * * * + +No. 3. + +EASY NUMERICAL CHARADES. + + 1. My whole is a beautiful sheet of water composed of 13 letters. + My 8, 13, 5, 3, 9 is a river in Europe. + My 6, 2, 11 is a domestic animal. + My 4, 10, 7, 8, 12 often wakes the baby. + My 3, 13, 1 is always fresh. + + LITTLE SISTER. + + 2. My whole is composed of 12 letters, and is always in motion. + My 11, 2, 9, 6 can never be trusted. + My 4, 7, 12 is a fluid. + My 10, 3 is a musical term. + My 8, 5, 1 is much used by the Japanese. + + JULIAN. + + * * * * * + +ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN NO. 50. + +No. 1. + + W H + V I A B A G + W I T C H - H A Z E L + A C E G E M + H L + +No. 2. + + J U R A H A N D + U R A L A G U E + R A A B N U L L + A L B A D E L L + +No. 3. + +Wood-box. + +No. 4. + +1. Mustard seed. 2. Rhinoceros. + +No. 5. + +Boston. + + + + +NEW BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS. + + +To the hosts of young readers who bade Dr. Bronson and his nephews Fred +and Frank good-by in Hong-Kong at the end of Part First of _The Boy +Travellers in the Far East_[1] the announcement that, by the appearance +of Part Second of this fascinating narrative, they may once more journey +into strange lands with their young friends, will be a welcome one. +Starting from Hong-Kong, the boys continue their travels down the coast +to Singapore, stopping by the way in Cochin China, Anam, Cambodia, and +Siam. From Singapore they sail through the Malayan Archipelago to +Batavia, in doing which they cross the equator. From Batavia they take +long excursions into the interior of the island of Java, and here the +reader has again to leave them for a time while they make preparations +for further explorations of the wonderful lands of the Far East. + +[1] _The Boy Travellers in the Far East_. Part Second: Adventures of two +Youths in a Journey to Siam and Java, with Descriptions of Cochin China, +Cambodia, Sumatra, and the Malay Archipelago. By THOMAS W. KNOX. +Illustrated. 8vo, pp. 446. New York: Harper & Brothers. + +The book is filled with tales of adventure by land and sea with pirates +and wild animals, curious bits of history, accurate descriptions of +strange people and queer customs, animals, birds, and plants. In it the +author has so artfully blended instruction with amusement that the young +reader is taught in spite of himself, and finds the driest facts +interesting when presented in this charming form. The letter-press is +supplemented by copious illustrations that appear upon nearly every +page. The binding is very handsome, and the book bids fair to prove one +of the notable attractions of this year's holiday season. + + * * * * * + +Most books of foreign travel are written with the view of cramming the +minds of their readers with the greatest possible amount of information, +and the result is apt to be a fit of mental indigestion from which the +victim does not readily recover. In _Harry Ascott Abroad_,[2] however, +the author has carefully avoided the text-book plan, and has confined +himself to the simple relation of an American boy's every-day experience +during a year's residence in Germany, and while travelling in +Switzerland and France. The story is told in the boy's own language, and +is made up of just such facts as will interest other boys, and at the +same time teach them what to expect, and what mistakes to guard against, +if they happen to find themselves in a position similar to that of Harry +Ascott. + +[2] _Harry Ascott Abroad_. By MATTHEW WHITE, Jun. 16mo, pp. 94. New +York: The Authors' Publishing Company. + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Cochran (Sidney Dayre) has earned so enviable a reputation as a +writer of short stories for children that while the "young readers" feel +sure that anything from her pen must be interesting, their parents are +equally confident that the tone of the story will be healthy and pure. +_The Queer Little Wooden Captain_[3] and _The Little Lost Girl_, the two +stories contained in the present volume, are Christmas tales, both of +which, without moralizing, teach how much greater are the joys of giving +than those of receiving. + +[3] _The Queer Little Wooden Captain_. By SIDNEY DAYRE. 16mo, pp. 152. +Illustrated. New York: The Authors' Publishing Company. + + + + +HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. + + +SINGLE COPIES, 4 cents; ONE SUBSCRIPTION, one year, $1.50; FIVE +SUBSCRIPTIONS, one year, $7.00--_payable in advance, postage free_. + +The Volumes of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE commence with the first Number in +November of each year. + +Subscriptions may begin with any Number. When no time is specified, it +will be understood that the subscriber desires to commence with the +Number issued after the receipt of the order. + +Remittances should be made by POST-OFFICE MONEY-ORDER OR DRAFT, to avoid +risk of loss. + +Volume I., containing the first 52 Numbers, handsomely bound in +illuminated cloth, $3.00, postage prepaid: Cover for Volume I., 35 +cents; postage, 13 cents additional. + + HARPER & BROTHERS, + Franklin Square, N. Y. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE PEG-TOP. + + + Spin away, spin away, round and round-- + The hum of the top has a merry sound; + The peg-top's journey is just beginning, + Ever so long it will go on spinning. + Up in my hand, or down on the ground, + Still the peg-top goes round and round. + Baby looks on with eyes so bright-- + Isn't top spinning a wonderful sight? + + + + +[Illustration: BREAD AND MILK.] + +BREAD AND MILK. + + + Bread and milk, bread and milk, fit for a king, + Plenty of sugar has been put in; + Mix it up well with a silver spoon, + Wait till it cools, and don't eat it too soon! + + Milk and bread, milk and bread, isn't it nice? + Why! the whole basinful's gone in a trice! + Oh! there is many a poor little boy + To whom bread and milk would be a great joy. + + + + +[Illustration: FLYING THE KITE.] + +FLYING THE KITE. + + + Fly away, fly away, comical kite, + Up in the sky to a terrible height; + When you come back, tell us where you have been, + Where do the stars live, and what have you seen? + + + + +[Illustration: MAYING.] + +MAYING. + + + Oh! who loves May, so sweet and gay? + A long, long way I've been to-day, + Over the fields and down the lane, + Into the copse, and back again; + Such a ramble, such a scramble, + Catching my dress on a blackberry bramble. + All the merry brown bees were humming, + And all the birdies sang, "Who's coming?" + And the butterflies came to my branch of May, + For I've been Queen of the Woods to-day. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, November 2, 1880, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43330 *** |