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diff --git a/43357-0.txt b/43357-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..735c637 --- /dev/null +++ b/43357-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2212 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43357 *** + +[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE + +AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.] + + * * * * * + +VOL. II.--NO. 54. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR +CENTS. + +Tuesday, November 9, 1880. Copyright, 1880, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 +per Year, in Advance. + + * * * * * + + + +[Illustration: A WORK OF ART.--DRAWN BY JESSIE CURTIS.] + + + + +JACK-O'-LANTERN. + +BY MARY E. FOLSOM. + + + Who is this nabob come to town, + After a long vacation? + He seems to have a host of friends, + And makes a great sensation. + He stalks about these frosty nights, + While troops of boys run after + To welcome him with merry jests + And ringing shouts of laughter. + 'Tis Mr. Jack-o'-Lantern. + + He towers above the noisy group + As though he were a grandee, + And struts about upon his stilts + As agile as a dandy. + You might think him an Eastern prince, + Because his skin's so yellow; + But spite of all his airs, he is + A common sort of fellow, + This Mr. Jack-o'-Lantern. + + All summer long upon the ground + He lay forlorn, dejected; + No one in all the country round + Was quite so much neglected. + But see him now! with head aloft, + He shines with regal splendor, + And loyal subjects by the score + Admiring homage render. + How proud is Jack-o'-Lantern! + + Now give three cheers for Jack, my lads-- + Three rousing cheers, and hearty; + For is he not the brightest one + In all your jolly party? + And though his is an empty head, + He can with satisfaction + Amuse a crowd, and make himself + The centre of attraction. + Hurrah for Jack-o'-Lantern! + + + + +[Begun in HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE No. 53, November 2.] + +THE BOY-GENERAL. + +BY EDWARD CARY. + +CHAPTER II. + + +It was shortly after his reaching Philadelphia that Lafayette met +Washington for the first time. "Though surrounded by officers and +citizens," writes the young Frenchman, "his majestic face and form could +not be mistaken, while his kind and noble manners were not less +unmistakable." The veteran commander and the boyish lover of liberty and +adventure were instantly drawn to each other. Washington invited +Lafayette to join him at a review of the American army--"eleven thousand +men, only fairly armed, and worse clothed, their best clothing the gray +hunting shirts of the Carolinas." "We can not but feel a little +abashed," remarked Washington, "in the presence of an officer who comes +to us from the army of France." + +"It is to learn, not to teach, that I am here," was the modest reply. +"This way of talking," adds Lafayette, "made a good impression, for it +was not common among the Europeans." + +On the 11th of September, 1777, Lafayette saw his first battle. The +English had landed at the Capes of the Delaware, and marched on +Philadelphia. Washington was deceived by bad scouts, and before he knew +it the British had got past his army; and though the Americans fought +bravely, they were obliged to give way. In trying to rally them, +Lafayette was badly wounded by a musket-ball in the leg. For some time, +in his zeal, he did not notice the wound, until an aide-de-camp saw the +blood, which had filled his boot, and was running over the top. Hastily +dismounting to have the wound bandaged, Lafayette instantly took to his +saddle again; and it was only at midnight, a dozen miles from the +battle-field, and when a stand had at last been made, that he consented +to give up and be properly cared for. For six weeks he was kept in bed; +and it was not until the latter part of November that he again entered +active service, which he did before his wound was fully healed. On the +25th of that month, at the head of three hundred and fifty men, he was +making a "reconnoissance," _i. e._, trying to find where the enemy were, +and how many there were of them, when he suddenly came upon the British +advance guard, strongly placed, with cannon. With a daring joined with +prudence which was very rare in one so young, he attacked the enemy with +such spirit that they thought he must have a large force with him, and +retreated. Lafayette, who knew he might soon be surrounded with his +little band, withdrew rapidly to a place of safety. "My experiment would +have cost me dear," he writes, "if those who might have destroyed me had +not counted too much on those who ought to have captured me." The +British General was Lord Cornwallis, who then took the first of many +lessons which Lafayette, "the boy," as he called him, was to teach him +in the art of war. + +This little fight had quite important results. It gave Washington time +to get his army safely back into the country, and to take up quarters +for the winter at Valley Forge. Congress was greatly pleased, and passed +a vote asking Washington to give Lafayette command of a division, which +was done. Scarcely turned twenty, the young soldier found himself at the +head of a body of picked men, mostly Virginians, whom he tried hard to +make the flower of the army in activity, discipline, and courage. He +shared all the hardships and miseries of the terrible winter at Valley +Forge, where the army underwent untold sufferings. From 18,000 men it +was reduced to 5000. + +The British lay well housed and idle in Philadelphia. There was no +fighting going on, and the country simply forgot and neglected its +gallant soldiers. These were camped in a wooded hollow among the hills, +and during that winter deeper snow than had been seen for many years +buried the country. + +Lafayette writes that "in his night visits about the camp" he found the +sentinels with bare feet frozen at their posts, and men without coats, +often without shirts, huddled on beds of branches about the camp fires, +unable, from hunger and cold, to sleep. For days together one scant meal +a man was all that could be had. In the midst of such suffering the +noble boy lived as his men did, fasting as they fasted, and denying +himself everything. "Ill at ease" as he had been "among the pleasures of +a Paris festival," he was at home on that cold hill-side, and attracted +universal admiration by his simple self-denial, his cheerful and +constant devotion. + +Meanwhile Congress was divided into two quarrelsome parties; and while +it had not time to attend to Washington's earnest prayers for relief for +his starving army, it found plenty of time to plan to put another +General over his head, and to try to carry on the war without him. To +aid in this mad scheme they sought to win Lafayette by offering him a +separate command of an army that was to march into Canada. + +Faithful in his duty to his commander and his friends, Lafayette refused +to take the place unless he could receive all his orders direct from +Washington. This could not be refused, but it cooled the zeal of +Congress, and when Lafayette arrived at Albany, where he was to have +found men and means for the invasion of Canada, he found neither one nor +the other. Seeing that it was too late to wait long for them, he +promptly gave up the plan. He took a long journey northward to try to +make friends with the Indians, whom he managed with great skill, and +then came back to camp with Washington. He was very glad to rejoin his +beloved General, who immediately gave him command of his old division, +and sent him out, as he had done in the fall, to get news of the enemy. + +Clinton, the English commander, learned of the movement, and resolved to +capture the daring "youngster." Lafayette had only 2000 men and no +cannon; Clinton sent out 7000 with fourteen cannon after him. Some +militia placed to guard a road that led around Lafayette's little army +fled when the enemy came up, and before he knew it Lafayette was +surrounded. Clinton, delighted with the prospect, sent an invitation to +his lady friends in Philadelphia to meet Lafayette at supper that +evening, so sure was he of capturing him; and the Admiral of the fleet +was directed to set apart a vessel to take the prisoner to England. But +they were reckoning without their host. Lafayette never lost his cool +head for a moment. Arranging his men in the woods so as to make them +seem many more than they were, he marched with such order that the +English were deceived, and feared to attack him, and while they +hesitated he got his men out of the trap into which they had fallen, and +returned to the main camp. + +Before the winter-quarters were broken up, and the fighting for the +summer of 1778 began, Lafayette had the great joy of announcing to the +American army that the King of France was going to send a fleet and an +army to aid the United States. Then, for the first time, he felt sure of +final victory. He was immensely pleased to think that he was going to be +able to fight side by side with his own countrymen on American soil for +American liberty. It was largely his own wisdom and zeal that had +brought about this result, for young as he was, he already showed +himself a far-sighted statesman, as well as a brave, skillful, and +prudent soldier. + +Although he had been less than a year in the country, he had endeared +himself to all hearts, and had especially won the entire confidence of +General Washington. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +STAMP COLLECTING. + +BY J. J. CASEY. + + +I have no doubt that many of the readers of YOUNG PEOPLE are stamp +collectors, and that many more are ready to become stamp collectors if +they are started properly. Little difficulty is experienced at the +present day in getting a good assortment of stamps, because the great +spread of the postal system, and the resulting increase of +correspondence, bring the stamps of every foreign country into the +business houses of New York. But the main difficulty is so to manage +with the stamps as to make them more than a plaything for a few +weeks--to make them really instructive, and their possessors real +Philatelists. + +The materials requisite for the beginner are very few--a blank book, +some sheets of very thin writing-paper, and a small bottle of pure +gum-arabic dissolved in water and made thin. Of course, when the +collection increases and begins to assume form, this blank book must +give way to a special album; but in the beginning a small book, worth, +say, four or five cents, will suffice. Thus provided, you are ready to +begin your collection. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.] + +Every reader of YOUNG PEOPLE has friends who have a correspondence more +or less extensive, and whose desks are, therefore, store-houses of +postage stamps. Requests for these stamps will seldom be denied, and in +a very little while the beginner will have enough to make a start. Look +over the specimens, pick out those that are the cleanest, and put aside +as useless those that are torn or much defaced. Remove any superfluous +paper from the back of the stamps selected for use by carefully touching +the backs with warm water, when the adhering paper can easily be peeled +off. Then cut the sheets of thin writing-paper into strips half an inch +wide, gum along one edge of the strips, and lay the stamps on the gummed +edge as in Fig. 1. Next cut the strips and trim the paper as in Fig. 2. +Now fold this little strip of paper backward, so as to make a hinge, and +fasten it to the blank page by a touch of gum. This is called mounting +the stamp. + +Now you may ask why all this labor, all this patience, with a lot of +common stamps. Simply this: this system has been adopted by all +Philatelists, but only after many trials, and the destruction of many +fine specimens; and it is well, therefore, to be guided by the +experience of others. Again, the collection will increase in interest, +which could not be the case if no pains were taken in the mounting, and +it will increase in size. You will, of course, desire to transfer the +stamps to a more pretentious and permanent album. A little moisture will +loosen the strip from the first book, when it can be placed in the new +book without damage. Even when here you may wish to replace it by a +better specimen without injury to the book. Another plan is to mount the +stamps on thin card-board a trifle larger than the stamp, gum a square +of paper to the back of the card, and a touch of gum to the centre will +fasten it to the page. + +But why hinge the stamp? Simply to enable you to write under it the date +of issue, its cost, and certain other matters connected with the stamp +itself, so that you may have at hand the few facts necessary to be +known--all of which is necessary if you wish to be a true Philatelist. + +[Illustration] + +Another point to which particular attention is directed: do not cut the +stamps close up to the printed designs; if perforated, do not cut off +the perforations. Aside from destroying the appearance of the stamps, +you also destroy their value for collectors. Not long since a very large +collection of stamps was sold by auction. Hundreds and hundreds of +dollars must have been spent in purchasing the specimens, among which +were numbers of all rarities. The owner had trimmed and trimmed his +specimens, cutting away everything up to the printed design. The +collection went for a mere song, in comparison to what it would have +brought if the scissors had been left alone. No true collector fancies a +mutilated specimen. + +[Illustration] + +Thus far I have told you how to select your specimens, and prepare them +for your blank book. At the outset it is likely you will receive nothing +but current stamps of the several countries. Take all you get, select +the best of each kind for yourself, and keep the others to make +exchanges with your companions. That you may have some idea of the value +of your specimens, it would be well to provide yourself with a catalogue +of stamps, in which you will find full lists of all stamps issued, and +in some many illustrations of the stamps. By exercising judgment in your +exchanges you will soon be enabled to get together quite a number of +good specimens from all quarters of the globe, and these without +spending a single penny. Of course there is a limit to this mode of +collecting, and you will soon find that you will require some loose +change in order to add to your album. But do not let this frighten you. +As interest in your collection increases--and it will increase if you +start out properly--ways and means will suggest themselves for getting +desired specimens, and you will be astonished how much you can do at a +little outlay. My collection, which numbers over fourteen thousand +specimens, and which at the very lowest estimate is worth $15,000, has +not cost me $1500 in money. And all this by making judicious use of the +knowledge I acquired gradually, and by following out the principles I +have laid down for your guidance. And my stamps are to-day as great a +source of pleasure to me, if not greater, as were the first specimens I +got eighteen or twenty years ago. + +[Illustration] + +What I have written thus far applies only to postage or revenue stamps. +Stamped envelopes and wrappers and postal cards must be managed +differently, but it will be well to leave the proper mounting of these +until you have advanced with your "adhesives." For the present, +therefore, it will suffice to say, Do not cut out the designs from the +envelope, wrapper, or card. Keep whole. However, the system of stamps +has increased so enormously that it is next to impossible to keep up +with the different classes. As a consequence, collectors are turning to +specialties. Some devote themselves to postal adhesives, others to +revenue stamps; some to stamped envelopes and wrappers, others to postal +cards; and some, again, collect nothing but the private die proprietary +stamps of the United States. Each of these is a field large enough in +itself to be covered properly, and the one who attempts to cover all, or +even several, will require a very long purse, and more time than can be +spared in this busy age. + +Make your choice, therefore, and stick to that alone. + + + + +FARM-HOUSE PETS IN JAPAN. + +BY ELLIOT GRIFFIS. + + +The Japanese people are very fond of pets. It is very rare to find a +house entirely destitute of some favorite animal, from the costly _chin_ +(King Charles spaniel) to the bob-tailed cat that purrs near the +tea-kettle on the _hibachi_, or fire-box. Canary-birds are quite common, +and in place of something more rare, tiny bantam fowls are caressed and +petted. Even a "rain-frog," or tree-toad, has been made a child's +darling, while the little water turtles with fringed tails are prized as +rare objects of delight. + +In the country the boys of the family catch by trap or pit the wild +animals on the hills, and tame them. Hares are the most common creatures +caught, and in a little box of pine wood, with an open front of bamboo +cane, the little pet finds a home. It soon learns to run about the +house, and stand on its hind-legs to nibble bits of radish or lumps of +boiled rice from the children's hands. + +Sometimes the farmers find bigger game in their snares, such as badgers +and foxes. If the badger is young, or if the boys can find an old mother +badger's nest, the little cubs can be easily tamed. If kindly treated, +kept from dogs, and not provoked, they are quite harmless. + +[Illustration] + +But the big badgers are very snappish, and their bites are dangerous. In +the picture we see the old lady of the farm-house, quite scared at the +big badger which one of her sons has caught and hung up by the legs. See +her girdle tied in front, as is the fashion with old ladies in Japan. +"_Naru hodo!_ what a nasty beast!" she is saying. By-and-by the boys +will kill the brute with arrows, and sell the skin to the drum-maker and +the hair to the brush-maker, and the dogs will have a fine feast. + +What is that little board at the top, with a rope on either side? + +That is the farmer's device to keep the birds away from his rice just +planted. The string makes the crows afraid, and the short bits of bamboo +clatter against the board, and scare off the little birds. The old +badger is tied up by the legs on one of these posts in the field. + + + + +[Begun in No. 46 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, September 14.] + +WHO WAS PAUL GRAYSON? + +BY JOHN HABBERTON, + +AUTHOR OF "HELEN'S BABIES." + +CHAPTER IX. + +BENNY'S PARTY. + + +Mr. Morton's school closed on the last day of June, and the parents of +the pupils were so well pleased with the progress their sons had made +that they almost all thanked the teacher, besides paying him, and they +hoped that he would open it again in the autumn. Mr. Morton thanked the +gentlemen in return, and said he would think about it; he was not +certain that he could afford to begin a new term unless more pupils were +promised, although he did not believe the entire county could supply +better boys than those he had already taught at Laketon. + +The boys, when they heard this, determined that they would not be +outdone in the way of compliment, so they resolved, at a full meeting +held in Sam Wardwell's' father's barn, that Mr. Morton was a brick, and +the class would prove it by giving him as handsome a gold watch chain as +could be bought by a contribution of fifty cents from each of the +twenty-three boys. Every boy paid in his fifty cents, although some of +them had to part with special treasures in order to get the money: Benny +Mallow sacrificed his whole collection of birds' eggs, which included +forty-seven varieties, after having first vainly endeavored to raise the +money upon two mole-skins, his swimming tights, and a very large lion +that he had spent nearly a day in cutting from a menagerie poster. The +chain, suitably inscribed, was formally presented in a neat speech by +Joe Appleby; Paul Grayson absolutely refused to do it, insisting that +Joe was the real head of the school; indeed, Paul himself asked Joe to +make the speech, and from that time forth Joe himself pronounced Paul a +royal good fellow, and even introduced him to all girls of his +acquaintance who wore long dresses. + +For at least a month after school closed the boys were as busy at one +sort of play and another as if they had a great deal of lost time to +make up. Getting ready for the Fourth of July consumed nearly a week, +and getting over the accidents of the day took a week more. Some of the +boys went fishing every day; others tried boating; two or three made +long pedestrian tours--or started on them--and a few went with Mr. +Morton and Paul on short mineralogical and botanical excursions. + +Then, just as mere sport began to be wearisome, August came in, and the +larger fruits of all sorts began to ripen. Fruit was so plenty in and +about Laketon that no one attached special value to it; a respectable +boy needed only to ask in order to get all he could eat, so boys were +invited to each other's gardens to try early apples or plums or pears, +and as no boy was exactly sure which particular fruit or variety he most +liked, the visits were about as numerous as the varieties. Later in the +month the peaches ripened; and as the boy who could not eat a hatful at +a sitting was not considered very much of a fellow, several hours of +every clear day were consumed by attention to peach-trees. + +Besides all these delightful duties a great deal of talking had to be +done about the coming cold season. Boys who had spent unsatisfactory +autumns and winters in other years began in time to trade for such +skates, or sleds, or game bags, or other necessities as they might be +without, and the result was that some other boys who traded found +themselves in a very bad way when cold weather came. Between all the +occupations named, time flew so fast that September and the beginning of +another school term were very near at hand before any boy had half +finished all that he had meant to do during vacation. + +There were still some pleasant things to look forward to, though: court +would sit in the first week of September, and then the counterfeiter +would be tried, while on the very first day of September would come +Benny Mallow's birthday party--an affair that every year was looked +forward to with pleasure, for Benny's mother, although far from rich, +was very proud of her children, and always made their little companies +as pleasant as any ever given in Laketon for young people. When Benny's +birthday anniversary arrived every respectable boy who knew him was sure +to be invited, even if he had shamefully cheated Benny in a trade a week +before, and Benny generally was cheated when he traded at all, for +whatever thing he wanted seemed so immense beside what he had to offer +for it, that year by year he seemed to own less and less. + +At last the night of the party came, and even Joe Appleby, whose own +birthday parties were quite choice affairs, was manly enough to declare +that it was the finest thing of the year. The house was tastefully +dressed with flowers, which always grew to perfection in Mrs. Mallow's +garden, and the lady of the house knew just how to use them to the best +advantage. Benny and his sister received the guests; and although Benny +was barely twelve years old that day, and rather small for his age, he +appeared quite graceful and manly in his new Sunday suit, which had not, +like the new suits of most of the Laketon boys, been cut with a view to +his growing within the year. His sister Bessie was only a month or two +beyond her tenth birthday, but in white muslin and blue ribbons, with +her flaxen hair in a long heavy braid on her back, and her bright blue +eyes and delicate pink cheeks, she was pretty enough to distract +attention from some girls who wore longer dresses, and, indeed, from +several girls in very long dresses, who had been invited out of respect +for the tastes of Joe Appleby, Will Palmer, and Paul Grayson. + +Mrs. Mallow was as successful at entertaining young people as she was in +dressing her children and ornamenting her little cottage. She had +prepared charades, and given Bessie a lot of new riddles to propose, and +she herself played on her rather old piano some airs that the boys +enjoyed far more than they did the "exercises" that their sisters were +continually drumming. Several of the boys were rather disappointed at +there being no kissing games, but they compromised on "choosing +partners"; and as there were some guessing tricks, in which the boys who +missed had each to select a girl, and retire to the hall with her until +a new "guess" was agreed upon, it is quite probable that most of the +boys enjoyed opportunities for kissing their particular lady friends +once or twice. + +As for the supper, a month passed before Sam Wardwell could think of it +without his mouth watering. There were chicken salad and three kinds of +cake, and ice-cream and water ices and lemonade, and oranges and bananas +that had come all the way from New York in a box by themselves, and +there were mottoes and mixed candies and figs and raisins and English +walnuts, while so many of the almonds had double kernels that every girl +in the room ate at least two philopenas, and therefore had enough to +busy her mind for a day in determining what presents she would claim. + +[Illustration: "DE COUNTERFEITER DONE BROKE OUT OB DE JAIL!"] + +But, in spite of a well-supplied table and forty or fifty appetites that +never had been known to fail, full justice was not done to that supper, +for while at least half of the company had not got through with the +cream and ices, and Sam Wardwell had only had time to taste one kind of +cake (having helped himself three times to chicken salad), a small +colored boy, who knew by experience that news-carrying levels all ranks, +if only the news is great enough, knocked at the door, and asked for +Benny. While the door stood ajar, and Mrs. Mallow went in search of her +boy, the spectacle of a number of other boys standing in the hall was +too much for the colored boy, so he gasped, "De counterfeiter done broke +out ob de jail!" + +Then there was a time. Two or three of the boys abandoned their partners +at once, and hurried to the door to ask questions, while one or two more +seized their hats, sneaked toward the back door, walked leisurely out, +as if they merely wished to cool off, and then started on a rapid run +for the jail. Benny wished to follow them--and not for the purpose of +bringing them back, either--and all of his mother's reasoning powers and +authority had to be exerted to keep her son from forsaking his guests. +Strangest of all, Paul Grayson, who had throughout the evening made +himself so agreeable to at least half a dozen of the young ladies that +he was pronounced just too splendid for anything, had been among the +first to run away! Benny said he never would have thought it of Paul, +and his mother said the very same thing, while the girls, who but a few +moments before had been loud in his praise, now clustered together, with +very red cheeks, and agreed that if a mean old counterfeiter was more +interesting than a lot of young ladies, why, they were sure that +_Mister_ Paul Grayson was entirely welcome to all he could see of the +horrid wretch. + +Still, the party went on, after a fashion, although some of the girls +were rather absent-minded for a few moments, until they had determined +what particularly cutting speeches they would make to their beaux when +next they met them. They did not have long to wait, for soon the boys +came straggling back, Sam Wardwell being the first to arrive, for, as on +reaching the jail Sam could learn nothing, and found nothing to look at +but the open door of the empty cell, he shrewdly determined that there +might yet be time to get some more ice-cream if he hurried back. Somehow +none of the girls abused him; on the contrary, they seemed so anxious to +know all about the escape that Sam was almost sorry that he had not +remained away longer and learned more. + +Then Ned Johnston returned. He had been lucky enough to meet a man who +had wanted to be Deputy-Sheriff and jail-keeper, but had failed; he told +Ned that the jailer had stupidly forgotten to bolt the great door, after +having examined the inside of the cell, as he did every night before +retiring, to see if the prisoner had been attempting to cut through the +walls. The prisoner had been smart enough to listen, and to notice that +the bolts were not shot nor the key turned, so he had quietly walked +out, and had not Mr. Wardwell met him on the street, and recognized him +in spite of the darkness, and hurried off to tell the Sheriff, no one +would have known of the escape until morning. There was not the +slightest chance of catching the prisoner again, the would-be deputy had +said to Ned; there wasn't brains enough in the Sheriff and all his staff +to get the better of a smart man; but things would be very different if +proper men were in office. + +When the party finally broke up, several boys were still missing; but as +their absence gave several other boys the chance to escort two girls +home instead of one, these faithful beaux determined that they had not +lost so very much by remaining, after all. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +COUNTRY ANECDOTES. + + +I once saw a life-and-death struggle between two apparently very unequal +opponents--a frog and a beetle. As I was standing near the cellar +window, which was below-ground, and protected by an iron grating, I +noticed in the area below it a large frog, which, at regular intervals +of one or two minutes, leaped from one side of the little inclosure to +the other. I looked more closely, and saw that it was each time followed +by a black beetle, that walked backward and forward, not seeming at all +discouraged when the frog, every time it reached it, jumped back over +its head, and so escaped. It was evidently a trial of strength and +perseverance between the two, and I was anxious to see which would first +give in. They went on, however, for such a long time that I grew tired +of watching them, and went away. The next morning, as I was again +passing, I looked down the area to see what had been the result of the +struggle, and, strange to say, it was still going on; the beetle +deliberately hunting its victim, which, whenever they were about to +meet, escaped by a great leap to the other side of its prison. Not until +that evening did it end: then the poor frog, tired out, and too much +exhausted to make any resistance, became the prey of its enemy, and no +doubt furnished its meals for many a day. + +As there were a good many rats about the out-houses and wood stacks, +professional rat-catchers used to come once or twice a year, with their +dogs and ferrets, and were paid according to the number they killed. +Once when our gardener was assisting at the work of destruction he +pulled one of the ferrets out of a hole, where it had been killing a +brood of young rats. The poor mother, who had probably just returned +from an expedition in search of food for her young ones, rushed out +after the ferret, ran up the man's leg, on to his shoulder, and down his +arm, quite blind to her own danger, and only desirous to reach the +object of her vengeance in his hand. + + + + +OUR BABY. + +BY JIMMY BROWN. + + +Mr. Martin has gone away. He's gone to Europe or Hartford or some such +place. Anyway I hope we'll never see him again. The expressman says that +part of him went in the stage and part of him was sent in a box by +express, but I don't know whether it is true or not. + +I never could see the use of babies. We have one at our house that +belongs to mother and she thinks everything of it. I can't see anything +wonderful about it. All it can do is to cry and pull hair and kick. It +hasn't half the sense of my dog, and it can't even chase a cat. Mother +and Sue wouldn't have a dog in the house, but they are always going on +about the baby and saying "ain't it perfectly sweet!" Why I wouldn't +change Sitting Bull for a dozen babies, or at least I wouldn't change +him if I had him. After the time he bit Mr. Martin's leg father said +"that brute sha'n't stay here another day." I don't know what became of +him, but the next morning he was gone and I have never seen him since. I +have had great sorrows though people think I'm only a boy. + +The worst thing about a baby is that you're expected to take care of him +and then you get scolded afterward. Folks say "Here, Jimmy! just hold +the baby a minute, that's a good boy," and then as soon as you have got +it they say "Don't do that my goodness gracious the boy will kill the +child hold it up straight you good-for-nothing little wretch." It is +pretty hard to do your best and then be scolded for it, but that's the +way boys are treated. Perhaps after I'm dead folks will wish they had +done differently. + +Last Saturday mother and Sue went out to make calls and told me to stay +home and take care of the baby. There was a base-ball match but what +did they care? They didn't want to go to it and so it made no difference +whether I went to it or not. They said they would be gone only a little +while and that if the baby waked up I was to play with it and keep it +from crying and be sure you don't let it swallow any pins. Of course I +had to do it. The baby was sound asleep when they went out, so I left it +just for a few minutes while I went to see if there was any pie in the +pantry. If I was a woman I wouldn't be so dreadfully suspicious as to +keep everything locked up. When I got back up stairs again the baby was +awake and was howling like he was full of pins. So I gave him the first +thing that came handy to keep him quiet. It happened to be a bottle of +French polish with a sponge in it on the end of a wire that Sue uses to +black her shoes, because girls are too lazy to use a regular +blacking-brush. + +The baby stopped crying as soon as I gave him the bottle and I sat down +to read the YOUNG PEOPLE. The next time I looked at him he'd got out the +sponge and about half his face was jet black. This was a nice fix, for I +knew nothing could get the black off his face, and when mother came home +she would say the baby was spoiled and I had done it. + +Now I think an all black baby is ever so much more stylish than an all +white baby, and when I saw the baby was part black I made up my mind +that if I blacked it all over it would be worth more than it ever had +been and perhaps mother would be ever so much pleased. So I hurried up +and gave it a good coat of black. You should have seen how that baby +shined! The polish dried just as soon as it was put on, and I had just +time to get the baby dressed again when mother and Sue came in. + +I wouldn't lower myself to repeat their unkind language. When you've +been called a murdering little villain and an unnatural son it will +wrinkle in your heart for ages. After what they said to me I didn't even +seem to mind about father but went up stairs with him almost as if I was +going to church or something that wouldn't hurt much. + +The baby is beautiful and shiny, though the doctor says it will wear off +in a few years. Nobody shows any gratitude for all the trouble I took, +and I can tell you it isn't easy to black a baby without getting it into +his eyes and hair. I sometimes think that it is hardly worth while to +live in this cold and unfeeling world. + + + + +THE UNLUCKY SETTLERS. + +BY WILLIAM O. STODDARD. + + +Deacon Whitney's drug store fronted on the green, and Steve had just +come out, and his father was standing in the door. + +Just then Andy Yokum called out across the street, "Steve! Steve +Whitney! what are we boys going to do with this here Saturday, now we've +lost our ball?" + +"I know what I'd like to do. Come over here." + +"What is it, Steve?" + +"Well, you see, Andy, I was down to old Captain Hollowboy's after school +yesterday with a lot of all sorts of chemicals and things he'd been +buying, and I knocked and I knocked, and I couldn't get in; so I went +around to the back door, and there was Captain Hollowboy looking up at +the biggest hornets' nest you ever saw." + +"Hornets' nest? Wasn't he trying to break 'em up?" + +"No, sir! He was just looking at 'em. And he told me he'd been watching +that nest ever since the hornets began on it." + +"Haven't they stung him yet?" + +"Well, no; he said they hadn't. He's an old bachelor, you know, and he +said hornets were good enough neighbors as long as there weren't any +small boys around." + +"Couldn't we get him to let us go in on that nest?" + +"That's just what I asked him, and he said--" + +"Hold up, Steve--here he comes!" + +"Good-morning, Captain Hollowboy. Toothache, eh? I'll get you +something." + +"Toothache, Deacon! No, it isn't toothache. Is this the drug store? Have +I got here? Can't but just see." + +"Steve," shouted Andy, "just look at his face! It's all mud." + +Captain Hollowboy had taken away his great red bandana handkerchief to +look around him, and Deacon Whitney was holding up both his hands. + +"What is the matter, Captain?" + +"Hornets, Deacon, hornets. The most pernicious and ungrateful of all +insects. I have applied aqueously saturated alluvium, but I want some +ammonia." + +"Slapped on some mud first, and now you want to try some hartshorn? +That's right. I'll get you some quick." + +He was getting behind the counter very fast for so fat a man, but Steve +shouted, "Hurrah, Andy! let's go for the Captain's nest." + +"Do, my dear boys, do. I consent to their utter obliteration and +extermination; but I wish you would preserve their interesting domicile +intact." + +"He means, Andy, that we may kill the hornets, but we mustn't spoil the +nest. He's awful on big words." + +"How did it happen?" asked the Deacon, as he held out a big bottle and a +sponge. + +"Happen? It was no fault of mine. I did but attempt an unobtrusive +inspection of the marvellous ramifications of their intricate +habitation." + +"That's it," said Steve. "He stuck his nose into the nest, and they all +went for him. Come on, Andy." + +They were out of sight by the time half the mud had been sponged from +the Captain's long lean face, but before they reached his queer little +house, at the further corner of the village green, the hornets were in +trouble. + +Harman Strauss and Bill Ogden and Van Seaver had seen the Captain run, +and they all knew about that hornets' nest. + +"Fire's the thing," said Van. + +"Biggest smoke we can make," said Harm Strauss. + +"We must wrap our heads up," said Bill Ogden, "but it'll be the biggest +kind of a Saturday." + +Van had some matches in his pocket, and the heap of sticks and straw and +chips the boys gathered for him was a foot high by the time he got the +third match well a-going. + +The hornet's nest was a big one, and there was a wonderfully numerous +tribe of winged settlers in it. They had picked out a fine airy place to +hang their house--just under the eaves of the open shed, back of Captain +Hollowboy's one-story kitchen, at the corner. + +The right place for the fire was at the foot of the upright corner post, +but Harman Strauss told Van, "If we stick it there, Van, we'll set the +house afire." + +"That'd never do," said Bill Seaver. "It's jam-full of all sorts of +chemicals and things. There'd be an awful blow-up if that house got +afire." + +"Might spoil the village." + +"Oh, but wouldn't it blow those hornets good and high!" + +Just at that moment Steve Whitney and Andy Yokum came over the fence. +They did not even wait to put their handkerchiefs around their necks and +faces before they began to gather great bunches of weeds. + +It was time every boy of them had some kind of a brush in his hand, for +the angry insects had smelled the smoke, and were coming out to see +about it. + +Such a fire department as they turned themselves into! Or, rather, they +set out as a kind of police brigade to fight a crowd of young +incendiaries, and save Captain Hollowboy's house from being set on fire +and burned up. They were at least determined that not one of those boys +should get any nearer the house they had so carefully built for +themselves against the eaves. + +"Mud! mud!" shouted Steve, in half a minute. "Boys, where does the +Captain keep his mud?" + +"Have they stung you?" + +"Oh, my nose!" + +Steve had just started to run for some mud, when he gave another shrill +whoop, "Yow! he's in my neck!" and there was no such thing as any other +boy helping him, for each one of them was thrashing away at the nearest +hornet. That is, except Van, for he had been after some more sticks, and +was just putting them on the fire when he felt as if some one had +dropped a live coal right on his left ankle. + +"Wah!" yelled Van; "I've burned a hole in one of my stockings. Ou! it's +burned another! Oh, boys, it's two hornets lit right side by side. Oh +dear!" and there he was, rolling over in the grass, and striking with a +bunch of weeds at something he saw in the air above him. + +[Illustration: SMOKING THE HORNETS' NEST.--DRAWN BY S. G. MCCUTCHEON.] + +Harman Strauss had been the wisest of them all, for he had pulled a +couple of damp towels off the clothes-line, and had wrapped his head in +one, and given the other to Bill Ogden. + +Now he had found Captain Hollowboy's garden rake, and was shouting, +"Give it to 'em, boys! You kill the hornets, and I'll pull down the +nest. We must keep it for the Captain." + +"He wants it for a specimen," explained Steve Whitney. + +"Will he pickle it somehow?" asked Andy; but at that moment it seemed to +him as if he had leaned against a red-hot pin, and he clapped his hand +to his side. He had better not have dropped his bunch of weeds just +then, for in a second more he was calling out, "Van! Van! did you say +you knew where the mud was?" + +"Here it is, Andy, right by the cistern. The Captain must have stirred +it up for himself." + +"And they kept right on stinging him while he was putting it on." + +"Yah! That's just what they're doing now. They can sting right through a +shirt sleeve." + +"Sting? I guess they can; right through anything. Oh dear! I've got +another! Boys, we won't leave one of 'em!" + +"Boys! boys! I say, boys, what are you doing? I never indicated my +assent to the application of fire!" + +"I declare!" exclaimed Deacon Whitney, as he came through the gate +behind Captain Hollowboy, "the young rascals have set them all a-going." + +"Can you see, Deacon? I can not with any accuracy. Where have they +located the combustion?" + +"Stuck their bonfire right under the nest, Captain. Let 'em alone. The +upright's burnin' a leetle, but you can put it out easy." + +As he said that, Harm Strauss made a valiant pull with his rake, and +down came the nest right into the bonfire. + +"There!" exclaimed Steve, "you've spoiled it!" + +"Such an exceptionally well-developed specimen!" groaned the Captain. +"Pull it out, one of you." + +"Oh! oh!" roared the Deacon, clapping both hands on his ample stomach, +and doing his best to lean over; "I hope he has pulled it out. It must +have gone in half an inch." + +The fire had rapidly blazed high and hot, for straw and splinters and +chips kindle fast; and there were no hornets in that nest now, nor any +nest left to hold hornets. In fact, for that matter, Captain Hollowboy's +yard and garden, and the road in front, were too small to hold what was +left of them, and any men and boys at the same time. + +Old Mrs. Jones, who lived next door, put her head out of her window to +see what was going on, and then that window came down with a great slam; +and the next thing seen of Mrs. Jones, her silver spectacles were +dropping off into the water-pail as she stooped over it. + +There was no doubt but what that settlement of hornets was thoroughly +broken up; but Captain Hollowboy led the way back to the drug store, and +they were all ready to go with him. + +"I am sorry," he said to the Deacon, "that you or any of my young +friends are suffering physical inconvenience from the atrocious assaults +of those pernicious insects, but I regret the obliteration of so +remarkable a specimen of their ingenuity." + + + + +[Illustration: BUCKWHEAT CAKES.] + + + + +ANCIENT EGYPT. + + +Of all the curious works of the ancient Egyptians, the most strange and +dream-like are the sphinxes. They are innumerable along the Nile, half +man, half beast, carved in solid stone. But one--known as the +Sphinx--the largest and most wonderful, sits near the Pyramids, with +staring stone eyes that seem to have almost learned to see. It is half +buried in the sands. Its head rises more than sixty feet above its base. +Whole avenues of sphinxes lined the courts of the Egyptian temples. Then +there are the tombs, or catacombs, where the mummies are preserved--long +galleries cut in the rock, decorated with paintings, covered with the +dust of generations. Along the river these cemeteries are almost +numberless. On the walls are drawn all the various occupations of the +people. The fisherman is seen drawing his nets, the ploughman driving +his team, the soldier returning from the war. But the most curious of +the catacombs are those devoted to the preservation of the mummies of +cats, bulls, birds of all kinds, and crocodiles. The Egyptians +worshipped animals and birds, and when they died, preserved their bodies +by a singular process. The bull (Apis) was adored at Memphis, and his +death was a season of general woe. When a cat in a house at Thebes died, +all the family went in mourning, and shaved their eyebrows. + + + + +THE GRAND PROCESSION. + +BY MARY DENSEL. + + +Elsie Baker was sitting on a log in the wood-shed, gloomily listening to +her brother Joe, who was talking with much enthusiasm. + +"For I tell you, sir," said he to Elsie, "it isn't every boy who'll get +a chance to be in that percession to-night, sir. There'll be a thousand +torches, and speeches, and fire-works; and the train leaves Porter's +Corner at six o'clock; and Mr. Hill says to me, 'You be on hand, Joe, +you and Jack Stone, and you may go to Portland along of the +"Continentals," and march each side of the flag, and wear white rubber +capes, and carry a torch apiece if you like.' It's to be the biggest +show of the season, and--" + +"I can't go," burst in Elsie. "Just because I'm a girl I can never go +anywhere or see anything." + +"Of course not," assented Joe, cheerfully. "Girls never can. I go +because father's in Ohio, and I'm the man of the family. I declare I +shouldn't wonder if half the people in Portland should think Jack and I +could vote when they see us _percessing_. Three cheers for Hanfield!" + +Hanfield? Hanfield? That did not sound quite right. Joe meditated. +Hanfield? Well, never mind. There was no time to waste over names. If +Joe would help toward the election of a President of the United States, +he must be off and away for Jack Stone, or the two would miss the train. + +And Elsie? Poor little Elsie was left forlorn. She was quite alone, for +her mother had gone to visit a sick neighbor, and would not even be at +home for tea. + +"Oh, _why_ shouldn't a girl do just what her brother does, and have some +fun?" thought Elsie, bitterly. "Or else why wasn't I born a boy?" + +She sat close to the andirons in front of the wood fire, and more and +more dismal did she grow. She had nearly come to wondering whether it +was really worth while to live if one had to be only a girl, when the +front door burst open, and in bounced Master Joe. + +"Elsie," cried he, grasping her by the arm, "here's your chance. You can +go." + +"Go? go?" repeated Elsie, flushing crimson with excitement. + +Joe hurried on. "Jack Stone's sick. Earache--both ears--onions on' +em--here's his cap--who'll know you're not a boy?--tuck up your +skirts--on with this big cape--come!" + +Elsie was beside herself. "Mother wouldn't let me," she half gasped. + +"Did she ever say you mustn't?" argued Joe. "Like as not we'll be back +before she is. Don't be a goose. There's no time to talk. Hurry! hurry! +You won't get such another chance." + +Her eyes flashing, her brain in a whirl, Elsie pulled the blue cap over +her short curls. Her little petticoats were quickly pinned up and +covered by the rubber cape. With her unlighted torch over her shoulder, +who would not have thought her a sturdy younger brother of the boy who +held her tightly by the hand, and exhorted her not to let the grass grow +under her feet. + +Down the road they flew, and reached the station just as the +"Continentals" came marching up with fife and drum. + +"Here we are, Mr. Hill," said Joe, presenting himself and his companion. + +"All right," said Mr. Hill, too busy to pay much attention. "Keep with +the rest of the men. How are you, Jack, my boy?" + +There was no time for the make-believe "Jack, my boy" to answer. The +engine was puffing and panting. Elsie was swung on the train, where Joe +and she tucked themselves away on a back seat. + +The "Continentals" were in the best of humor, so were the "Philbrick +Pioneers," who, gorgeous in their Zouave regimentals, came crowding into +the car at the next station, to crack jokes and talk politics. + +"Well done, little chaps," said their captain, spying out Joe and his +comrade. "You're beginning early, eh? Nothing like getting the boys on +the right side. Ha! ha!" + +Joe grinned, and was about to volunteer a "Hurrah for Hanfield!" but +thought better of it. + +One of the men frightened Elsie nearly out of her wits by chucking her +under the chin, and shouting, rudely, + +"You're a bright-eyed cove, you are. Does your mother know you're out?" + +A sharp nudge from Joe kept her from saying, "No, she doesn't," but she +shrunk close up to him, whispering, fearfully, + +"Me the only girl, Joe!" + +"Hush! Nobody'll think it, if you keep quiet," said Joe, hastily, +himself a little disturbed; the men were so rough, and made so much +noise. + +But while he was thinking what he should do if any one else insulted his +sister the train stopped with a jerk, and everybody was out in a +twinkling. + +There were shouts of command. The "Continentals" and "Pioneers" fell +into line. Torches were lit. A host of boys set up shrill yells. Joe and +Elsie were twitched into place by energetic Mr. Hill, and ordered to +hold up their heads and keep time to the music. + +"Isn't it fun?" thought Elsie, stepping briskly along, and grasping her +torch with both hands. + +If one hundred torches were "fun," what could be said when they reached +Market Square, where the grand procession was to form, and where there +was a blaze of light such as Elsie had never imagined! Bands were +playing, horses were prancing; some one set fire to a sort of powder, +and, lo! the whole street was rosy red. + +Now everything was ready, and the march began. Whole blocks on each side +were festooned with bunting and Chinese lanterns; candles twinkled in +every pane; all the gas-burners did their best; Roman candles shot out +colored stars; rockets went up with a fizz. + +"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" The procession was pausing in front of a big +house. Somebody was making a speech. Nobody could understand half he +said. No matter. "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" Elsie shouted with the rest, +and trotted gayly on. + +"No reason in the world I shouldn't have come, like any other boy! +Hurrah!" + +Up one street and down another, each more brilliant than the last, Elsie +marched on, till suddenly a small, then a larger, pain began to make +itself felt in one of her feet. + +"It's my new boots," said she to herself. "Why didn't I change them? +I'll stamp hard and then I shall be easy." + +But somehow she was not easy. Up one street, down another. It was not so +much a pain in one particular spot now as a general ache, not only in +her foot, but in her whole body. + +"I'm afraid I'm growing tired." + +She glanced at Joe. That worthy was in high spirits, and apparently as +fresh as ever. Elsie limped bravely on. Across an open space the +procession wheeled, and halted again to drink lemonade out of big tubs +on the sidewalk. Elsie ventured to complain to Joe. + +"Oh, cheer up!" was all the comfort he had for her. "We've marched 'most +half the distance now." + +"'Most half the distance!" Why, Elsie could never hold out if that were +the case. Once more she struggled on. It seemed as if she had been +marching for years and years--ever since she was a baby. She could not +drag herself another inch. In the midst of a cheer she crept up a flight +of steps, and sank down. + +"I'll wait a few minutes, and then run fast, and catch Joe again," +thought she. + +The next moment, as it seemed, she heard two voices near her. + +"The party must be hard up that has to take babies like this to help on +their cause," said one. + +"Poor little fellow!" answered the other--a lady. "He's dropped down, +torch and all, and gone to sleep." + +Elsie started and looked around her. Where was the procession? Where was +Joe? Too terrified to say a word, up the street she rushed, gazing +wildly on this side and on that. No Joe did she see; no procession +either. It would have been quite dark but for the street lamps. + +"I must stop somewhere. I must ask some one for Joe." + +At a house smaller than the others she paused, and rang the bell. There +was a confused sound of talking within. + +"Don't you open that door as you value your life, Phoebe Maria," said +some one in shrill tones. "Us all alone! This time of night! It's +tramps, sure!" + +Then Phoebe Maria called through the key-hole, "Go right away. I +sha'n't let you in if you stop there till midnight. De-part!" + +I think if the word "de-_part_" had not sounded so very ponderous, Elsie +would have called back that she was no tramp. As it was, she ran blindly +on. + +"Mother! mother!" she sobbed, wringing her little cold hands. But no one +answered. A clock near by tolled nine, ten, eleven. Two drops of rain +fell. The wind rustled drearily among the tree-tops. + +Steps sounded near. A tall man approached, and Elsie caught the gleam of +brass buttons. + +"What are you doing here, boy?" demanded the newcomer, in a great bass +voice. + +"I'm not a boy," cried Elsie. "I never was a boy in all my life. I'm +Elsie Baker. I want to go home." + +She quite broke down, and wept piteously. + +"Hoity-toity!" exclaimed the man, who was one of the police. "Where is +your home?" + +"Out at Porter's Corner. Joe brought me to the percession. I wish he +hadn't. I wish-- Oh dear, dear me!" + +"Now here's a pretty mess!" said the policeman. "There's nothing for it +but to take charge o' you to-night, and see how we can manage to-morrow. +You come along with me." + +Finding the child too exhausted to walk, he picked her up, and tramped +off down in town with his burden. Where did he carry her? + +To tell the truth, there seemed to be no other place, and he took her to +the public "lock-up." + +Elsie was too worn and spent to mind; too hungry was she not to devour +eagerly the bit of salt fish and hard cracker which her new friend gave +her; then forgetting her woes, she fell asleep once more, safely wrapped +in his warm overcoat. + +But, in the morning, waking in a strange place, all the terror of last +night came upon her once more. Through an open door she darted like a +startled hare, and when No. 11 came, an hour later, to find her, no +child was visible. All that was left was the small rubber cape with its +red collar. + +"I must find some cars," thought Elsie. "I can't get home unless I find +some cars." + +It must have been her guardian angel who led the little girl, for, as +she walked hastily along, right in front of her loomed up a big +building, in and out of which locomotives were running. + +"Would you please point out the train for Porter's Corner?" said Elsie, +tremblingly approaching a man who was pushing round some trunks. + +"Bless you! you're at the wrong station for that, sissy or bubby, +whichever you be," said the man, glancing from the girl's dress to the +boy's cap. "But there," added he, as the brown eyes filled with tears, +"a gravel train's just going across the city to the Eastern Dépôt. Come +with me, and I'll take you there." + +Down the track Elsie rode, perched on a heap of gravel. + +"I cal'late you've got a ticket for Porter's Corner?" said her +companion. + +Here was fresh trouble. No ticket had she, and, what was worse, not a +penny to buy one. + +"You don't mean to say you're going to _steal_ a ride!" exclaimed the +man. + +Very likely this was meant for a joke, but Elsie took it for sober +earnest. She had been called a "tramp" last night; now she was taken for +a thief. It was too dreadful. She looked here and there, if perchance +there might be some way of escape from all this misery, and +suddenly--why!--what?--that boy on the platform of the Eastern +Dépôt--could it be? + +"Joe! Joe!" shrieked Elsie. + +It was Joe: a very wretched Joe, a Joe who had not slept a wink all +night, though he had gone home in a vain hope he might find the missing +sister there. + +He saw Elsie. He sprang toward her. He clambered on the car almost +before it stopped. He hugged her, he kissed her. Boy though he was, he +wept great tears over her. Then he took her by both shoulders and shook +her. + +"Oh, you bad girl! Where have you been? You've frightened mother 'most +to death. Elsie, Elsie, what _made_ you come to Portland?" + +"You brought me, Joe," said Elsie, humbly. + +Home they went, those two. At the Porter's Corner station they found +every man and woman of the village, and to each severally must Elsie +tell her story. Her mother never said a word. She only clasped Elsie +tighter and tighter, while the tears streamed down her cheeks. + +But Joe!--oh, Joe did talking enough for all. The lofty sentiments that +flowed from the lips of that virtuous youth were truly refreshing. His +own share in last night's adventures had quite slipped his mind. He felt +called upon, as "the man of the family," to exhort his sister at length +in regard to her manners and morals. + +"And now, Elsie Baker," he ended, "I hope you see why girls can't do as +boys do. I could have marched for a week and not been tired. I hope +you'll remember this the next time you want to tag on when I'm going +anywhere." + +And Elsie was actually so tired that she hadn't the spirit to answer a +word. + + + + +[Illustration: SCANDAL.] + +SCANDAL. + + + "What do you think?" + "I'm sure I don't know!" + "Don't tell anybody!" + "Oh no! oh no!" + + "Somebody told me + That some one else said + That so and so told them + (You won't tell what I said?") + + "Oh no! I won't tell. + What is it? Oh dear! + The way that you tell it, + Is really so queer!" + + "Oh yes! But have patience, + I'll tell you in time; + But I have to make it + All fit into rhyme. + Now don't tell anybody, + Because, if you do, + My secrets, the next time, + I'll not tell to you." + + + + +[Illustration: GOING TO SCHOOL.] + +GOING TO SCHOOL. + + + Slowly to school, slowly they went-- + _His_ eyes on his book were downward bent; + _She_ looked on the ground as they went along, + But neither looked willing to sing a song. + _She_ was thinking of pudding and jam, + _He_ was spelling Seringapatam. + Oh for a kite, or a top, or a ball, + Battledore, shuttlecock, hoop, and all! + + + + +[Illustration: THE BIRD-CATCHER.] + +THE BIRD-CATCHER. + + + Laurence has set such a wonderful trap, + It has a long string, and goes to with a snap; + He has carefully scattered some grains of corn, + And see! there's a bird coming over the lawn; + Away it comes chirruping, chirping, and hopping; + Into the trap it will soon be popping! + Helen and Gisha take part in the sport, + It is so exciting to see a bird caught! + + + + +[Illustration: THE LITTLE WALK.] + +THE LITTLE WALK. + + + Oh, dear me! what a great big hat! + Suppose we were all to wear hats like that! + And see Mab's bonnet and peacock plume-- + I hope her head will find plenty of room! + But Mab is kind, and gives Baby a ride, + The Baby that wears the hat so wide. + They won't have to walk too far or too long, + Unless sister Mab is uncommonly strong, + For Baby looks heavy, and so does her hat-- + The Baby who's sucking her fingers so fat! + + + + +[Illustration: RIGHT OF WAY.] + +"RIGHT OF WAY." + + + "Baa, baa, there's no road this way!" + "Pretty sheep, do let me pass, I say, + It's too late to go back again to-day; + Nice little sheep, please do go away!" + + "Baa, baa, we won't let you by; + It's no use for you to begin to cry. + You can't come this road--no, not if you try, + And never mind asking the reason why." + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE NURSERY CHAIR. + + + Edith sits up in her chair so high; + How busy she looks with her down-bent eye! + What is she doing? Can you not guess? + With her little bare feet, and her little night-dress. + She is plucking the raisins so rich and so nice + From out of her cake that is flavored with spice. + + + + +[Illustration: AN UNINVITED VISITOR.] + +AN UNINVITED VISITOR. + + + Rosie was breakfasting out on the grass, + When two pigs on a walking tour happened to pass. + One pig with rude manners came boldly in front, + And first gave a stare, and then gave a grunt, + As much as to say, "What is that you have got? + Just let me have a taste out of your pot." + But Rosie said, "Go away, horrid old pig! + _I_ am so little, and _you_ are so big!" + + + + +[Illustration] + +SKIPPING. + + + Airily, airily, skip away: + Set to work, all of you, trip away! + Over your head, and under your toes, + That's the way the merry rope goes! + Aprons flap in the breezy air; + Fly away, lessons, this holiday fair! + + + + +[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.] + + + NEW YORK CITY. + + I have a little girl who has derived a great deal of pleasure from + YOUNG PEOPLE. She has had every number since the beginning, and + when through with them she sends them to children who are too poor + to buy papers. + + Perhaps some of the readers of this paper could amuse themselves + by trying to form a word--said to be the only one possible in the + English language--from the following combination of letters: + H E C S T Y. + + S. + + * * * * * + + DRESDEN, GERMANY. + + My dear companion-readers of YOUNG PEOPLE, let me tell you + something about Dresden, the capital of Saxony, in which city I now + live. Dresden is situated on the Elbe--a river of about one-seventh + the size of the Hudson. The city is sometimes called Elb-Florence, + as it contains picture-galleries, museums, nice architectural + buildings, squares, theatres, and handsomely built churches. The + Prager See and the Schloss Strasse are the most crowded streets, + and as I am living on the first one, I enjoy seeing all the + passers-by from my lofty stone balcony. Many good concerts are + given here, and in the summer season the open-air concerts are + visited by all the best people of Dresden. + + The city has many lovely promenades and parks. The Zoological + Garden is a gem, and wild and tame animals of all kinds may be + seen there. Very often queer people, such as Esquimaux, Indians, + Nubians, and Hindoos, come to Dresden, and have an exhibition, and + many strangers may be seen in the streets. To-day the Chevalier + Blondin, the celebrated tight-rope walker, created a great + sensation, and many people attended his daring performance, + rewarding his dangerous and difficult feats with enthusiastic + applause. + + I like YOUNG PEOPLE very much. The new serial, "Who was Paul + Grayson?" by Mr. Habberton, is excellent. Many of the incidents + remind me of some I myself have witnessed. I remember the + school-boy fights, and the teasing of new scholars. The other + stories are also very interesting, and the jokes are sometimes + capital. I like the cuts very much, and I hope both those and + YOUNG PEOPLE--may it flourish for a long time!--will always remain + as nice as now. + + LOUIS G. E. + + * * * * * + + BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. + + I wish to tell the boys and girls that take this beautiful little + paper about our sesquicentennial, or the one-hundred-and-fiftieth + anniversary of Baltimore. On Monday, October 11, the procession + illustrated the history of Baltimore. In one wagon was an Indian + scene, to represent Indian life. In another wagon was a large + vessel with men in it in early Spanish costume, to represent + Christopher Columbus and his crew. The Corn Exchange had several + wagons, two of which were very amusing--one had a large bull in it, + and the other a great ugly bear, which walked restlessly around the + pole to which it was chained. A florist was represented by a + beautiful garden, with trees, flowers, and grass, and right under + the tree a funny little monkey was tied. It jumped all about, and + looked very cunning, for it was very small. + + Among the tableaux was a representation of Neptune drawn in a + shell by two dragons in the water. Of course it was not real + water, but it looked exactly like waves. At the other end of this + wagon was a mermaid, half out of water. It was a very beautiful + scene. Every trade was on parade, and some were working in their + wagons. The butchers were making sausages, and throwing them to + the people, and the bakers threw cakes and biscuit. The procession + was ten miles long, and it was five hours passing a given point. + + On Tuesday all the different societies, and the public and private + school children, were on parade. All the houses and stores and + public buildings were decorated with black and orange--the colors + of Maryland--and with the American flag. The city looked very + bright and beautiful. I am very proud of being a Baltimore girl. I + am thirteen years old. + + JESSIE H. L. + + * * * * * + + COOPERSBURG, KANSAS. + + The first thing I read when my little paper comes is the + Post-office Box. I live on a big prairie. I have a pet kitty, and + lots of chickens and turkeys. + + ADELLA T. + + * * * * * + + BAY CITY, MICHIGAN. + + I wish some little girl would give me a good recipe for + johnny-cake. My father has offered a prize to my sister and myself + for the best johnny-cake. + + MARY G. + + * * * * * + + COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA. + + I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE since my seventh birthday, which was the + 15th of March. I like it very much, and I want papa to take it + another year. I like the "Story of George Washington." + + I have two little brothers, Fred and Walter. Fred is four years + old, and goes to a Kindergarten. Walter and I go to the public + school. We have a velocipede and a rocking-horse, but no live + pets. + + LOUIS EDWIN E. + + * * * * * + + GRANVILLE, WISCONSIN. + + I take YOUNG PEOPLE, and I like it very much indeed. + + My brother Allie and I are raising two calves. Their names are + Rosa and Jim, and now when we call them they will come running. + + The other day I found some very pretty stones. I carried them in + the house and put them in a tumbler filled with water, and set + them in the sun. If any little girl wishes to do this, a + large-mouthed bottle will answer as well as a tumbler; and if the + stones have bright, pretty colors, and there are some arrow flints + scattered among them, the effect when the sun shines on them is + very beautiful. + + ROSE C. + + * * * * * + + NEW YORK CITY. + + Mamma, Georgie, and Frank went fishing down to the Point yesterday, + and Georgie caught two smelts and a crab. Frank also caught two + smelts, but while they were in the basket a crow came along, and + took them both off. + + JAKIE T. + + * * * * * + + LAKE VIEW, ILLINOIS. + + I am a little girl nine years old, and I enjoy YOUNG PEOPLE very + much. + + I have a great many dolls, and I have a pet parrot that is very + fond of me. He can not talk very much, but he will learn. I had a + pet cat, but it got lost. + + GRACE D. C. + + * * * * * + + COLLAMER, NEW YORK. + + I am taking YOUNG PEOPLE, and I am delighted with it. + + I have two pet cats, and I have some house plants. This summer + there were some small insects at work on their roots. I wish some + one could tell me what they were. + + I am taking music lessons, and like to practice very much. + + I have quite a large collection of birds' eggs. + + BERTHA G. M. + + * * * * * + + PREAKNESS, NEW JERSEY. + + I have three old rabbits and two young ones. I used to have + twenty-six, but I sold some and lost some. Rabbits have very + interesting habits. Sometimes they sit up on their hind-feet and + wash their faces with their fore-feet. + + I am trying to make a fresh-water aquarium. I had a fresh-water + lobster, two lizards, and some minnows, but they all died. Can you + tell me how to take better care of them? + + JUDSON S. T. + +We can not give you any fuller directions than are contained in the +papers on aquaria in YOUNG PEOPLE, Nos. 42 and 43. + + * * * * * + + MAYERSVILLE, MISSISSIPPI. + + I have never written to the Post-office before, but now I wish to + say how very much I like this valuable little paper. I only + commenced taking it myself with No. 41, but before that I borrowed + it from a friend. I can not tell you how much I enjoy it. I believe + I liked the story called "Moonshiners" best of all. + + I live on the Mississippi River in a very pretty little town. + + GERTRUDE P. + + * * * * * + + PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. + + I am so much obliged to YOUNG PEOPLE for all the stories and poems. + + I wish all the children could see my parrot. She is the wonder of + the age. Every one that comes to our house is convulsed with + laughter at her laughing, crying, singing, and talking. She is + very impudent; and after imitating any one, which she does + capitally, she will roar with laughter, and cry out, "Oh, Polly, + how funny!" Sometimes she swears. Then she laughs again, and + cries, "Oh, you bad Polly!" + + Will you tell me of some books of fairy tales for older children? + I think the story of "Photogen and Nycteris" was lovely. + + MAY. + +There are a great many books of fairy tales which even grown-up children +enjoy very much. _The Rose and the Ring_, by Thackeray, is delightful. +Miss Johnson's _Catskill Fairies_, relating how they amused a little boy +who was blocked in by a snow-storm, is a very fascinating book. Then +there are the fairy-books of Laboulaye and Macé, _Puss-Cat Mew_, _Queer +Folks_, _Tales at Tea-Time_, and other books by Knatchbull-Hugessen. +_Alice in Wonderland_ is also very entertaining; for although it is the +most absurd nonsense ever written, we pity the person too old to enjoy +it. _The Snow-Queen_, and other fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, +are charming books for readers of any age. + + * * * * * + + ACCORD, NEW YORK. + + The Post-office is a mile and a half away from where I live, but I + get YOUNG PEOPLE every Tuesday, and I can hardly wait for it. I + learn ever so much from it. + + I have a little brother Henry, four years old, and a little sister + Eleanor, who is ten months. She is a great pet. My papa has two + mills here, and he is very busy, but he devotes a great deal of + time to our comfort and enjoyment. + + MOLLY C. D. + + * * * * * + + NEW YORK CITY. + + I have seen so very many letters about pets in the Post-office Box + that I thought I would write the story of a poor, lone, forlorn + chicken a friend of mine had. + + This chicken was orphaned and thrown upon the tender mercies of + this world at the tender age of two days. Jet discovered it, and + brought it into the house. She fed it, and every night wrapped it + up in a flannel rag, and put it into a snug corner near the stove, + and took it out again in the morning. At last it grew so large Jet + considered it in the way, so one night she took it out to roost + with the other fowls on the grape-vine trellis. The next day Jet + found her Majesty waiting to be fed as usual, and every night she + had to lift her up on to the trellis. This continued about a + month, when Jet's patience gave way, and the poor chicken was + beheaded. + + I enjoy YOUNG PEOPLE very much indeed. The stories I have liked + the most are "Photogen and Nycteris," the series by "Jimmy Brown," + Bessie Maynard's long-worded letters to her doll, and "Who was + Paul Grayson?" + + BERSIA. + + * * * * * + + I have a collection of twelve hundred and fifty postage and revenue + stamps, and I would like to exchange with readers of YOUNG PEOPLE + residing in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, or in + any part of Canada. Correspondents will please give the number of + stamps in their collection. + + H. A. BLAKESLEY, + 54 West Eighth Street, Topeka, Kansas. + + * * * * * + + I have no pets, but I have the dearest little brother that ever + lived, and I am going to have a present of a kitty. I like "The + Moral Pirates" and "Who was Paul Grayson?" very much. + + I will gladly exchange flower seeds with Grace Denton, as I live + very far West. + + LAURA C. MARSHALL, Greeley, Colorado. + + * * * * * + + We have been pressing a great many autumn leaves and ferns, and + would be glad to exchange them for flower seeds with any of the + readers of YOUNG PEOPLE. Correspondents will please mark the name + plainly on each package of seed. + + BESSIE G. and ELIZA B. BARTLETT, + Greensburg, Green County, Kentucky. + + * * * * * + + I have a collection of postage stamps, and would like to exchange + with Harry Gustin, Eddie De Lima, Horace C. Foote, or with any + other readers of YOUNG PEOPLE. Correspondents will please send a + list of stamps they have to exchange, and of those they would like + in return. + + E. M. DEVOE, P. O. Box 159, Mount Vernon, + Westchester County, New York. + + * * * * * + + Will "Wee Tot," or some other subscriber to YOUNG PEOPLE, send me + some sea-shells in exchange for feathers of the white crane and of + some other wild birds? I have also a petrified buffalo's tooth + which I will exchange for shells or quartz. + + THEODORE PATCHEN, + Herman, Grant County, Minnesota. + + * * * * * + + I am collecting stamps, postmarks, and shells. I have to exchange a + good many Greek stamps and some shells. + + ANDREW GUNARI, + Care of P. Gunari, New Rochelle, New York. + + * * * * * + + I enjoy knitting lace very much, but I would like some new + patterns. I have two that are wide, the oak-leaf and Normandy, and + one that is narrow and very easy. I will be glad to exchange any of + these for something new. + + A class of the pupils in this school have just listened to "The + Moral Pirates," and enjoyed it very much. + + ALICE C. LITTLE, + Institution for the Blind, Janesville, Wisconsin. + + * * * * * + + I would like to exchange postage stamps with any of the readers of + this interesting paper. I have some very rare stamps to exchange. + + FRANK F. RICE, + 109 East Seventy-ninth Street, New York City. + + * * * * * + + I like to read the letters in HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. + + I have three kittens, and a canary which is very tame. I go to + school, and am taking drawing lessons. + + I will exchange postage stamps with any of the correspondents of + YOUNG PEOPLE. I am ten years old. + + ARLINE M. SKIFF, + 37 College Street, New Haven, Connecticut. + + * * * * * + + I would like to exchange eggs, copper ore, postmarks, and stamps + for coins or Indian relics. + + S. B. FOSTER, Knowlton, P. Q., Canada. + + * * * * * + +HENRY R. H.--Yale College was chartered in 1701, and in the autumn of +that same year the school was opened in Saybrook, Connecticut. It was +removed to New Haven in 1716. In the first years of its existence it was +known as "The Collegiate School of Connecticut," but in 1718 the name +was changed to Yale College, as a recognition of gifts of valuable books +and considerable sums of money from Elihu Yale, who was a native of New +Haven, but who left his birth-place when a boy, and resided all his life +in either London or India. He amassed great wealth, and was for some +time Governor of the East India Company. He died in London in 1721. + + * * * * * + +LEWIS D.--In early numbers of the Post-office Box, especially in No. 5, +are directions for the care of a pet tortoise. And in YOUNG PEOPLE No. +27, in the article entitled "A Letter from a Land Turtle," you will find +interesting facts about the habits of these creatures. + + * * * * * + +ROBERT G. S.--Rabbits, as a rule, obtain all the moisture they require +from the leaves of lettuce, cabbage, and other succulent plants upon +which they feed. They like bread or cracker soaked in milk, and we have +known rabbits that would drink water, but it is not supposed to be +required by the little beasts when they are in a healthy state. + + * * * * * + +MINNIE W.--Vancouver Island was named from Captain George Vancouver, a +British naval officer, who accompanied Captain Cook in his first and +second voyages round the world. In 1790 he was put in command of a small +squadron, and sent to take possession of the Nootka region, then in the +hands of the Spaniards. The island which now bears his name was +surrendered to him by the Spanish commandant Quadra in 1792. Vancouver +was instructed by the English government to institute a search for a +northern water connection between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans after +taking possession of Nootka, but he was unable to discover what many +navigators before and after him sought for in vain. It was not until +1850 that the Northwest Passage was finally discovered by Sir Robert +McClure. Captain Vancouver died in England in 1798. + + * * * * * + +JENNIE C. A.--The cover for YOUNG PEOPLE is strong, and very prettily +ornamented. It is not self-binding, but any book-binder will put it on +for you for a small charge. See answer to C. B. M. in Post-office Box of +YOUNG PEOPLE No. 53. + + * * * * * + +DUDLEY.--The standard value of the foreign coins about which you inquire +is subject to slight variation in the United States, but as used in the +computation of customs duties on January 1, 1880, it was as follows: +Chilian peso, or dollar, ninety-one cents; Peruvian dollar, eighty-three +cents; Norwegian crown, twenty-six cents; India rupee of sixteen annas, +thirty-nine cents; Brazilian milreis of one thousand reis, fifty-four +cents; Austrian florin, forty-one cents; German mark, twenty-three +cents; Turkish piaster, four cents; Italian lira, nineteen cents; +Russian ruble of one hundred copecks, sixty-six cents. We have not given +the fractions of a cent, which in business transactions are added to the +above amounts, for as you are simply a coin collector, we do not think +you will require them.--The Spanish silver "quarter," the "elevenpence," +worth twelve and a half cents, and the "fi'penny-bit," worth six and a +quarter cents, were in general circulation in the United States, +especially in the West, about forty years ago. These coins were marked +by the two pillars of the Spanish coat of arms, between them the two +castles and two lions rampant of Castile in a shield surmounted by a +crown. + + * * * * * + +"YOUNG SAILOR."--The first light-house of which there is any record in +history was built by Ptolemy Philadelphus about 300 B.C. It was a tower +on which wood fires were kept blazing at night. It was built on Pharos, +a small island in the bay of Alexandria, and was one of the Seven +Wonders of the World. It is an interesting fact that the modern French +and Spanish names for light-house--the one being _phare_, the other +_faro_--still preserve the memory of the island where the first attempt +at sea-coast illumination was located. The ruined tower in Dover Castle, +England, erected about A.D. 44, is claimed by some authorities to have +been built for a light-house, upon which an enormous wood fire was kept +burning. + +The light-house on the southern end of the island of Conanicut, at the +mouth of Narragansett Bay, is said to be the oldest in the United +States. The present structure is comparatively modern, but the first one +was erected in 1750, and for nearly one hundred years previous a +watch-tower with a beacon fire had existed at the same point. + +This light-house bears the odd name of Beaver Tail. The southern portion +of Conanicut Island is shaped something like a beaver, with its tail +pointing southward, and in early times it was known by that name, the +two extremities being called head and tail. + +Previous to 1789 the few light-houses existing in the United States were +maintained by the States in which they were situated, but from that date +the expense was assumed by the general government, and in 1791 the first +light-house under the new law was erected at Cape Henry. There are now +nearly six hundred and fifty light-houses, lighted beacons, and +light-ships on the coast and waters of the United States. + + * * * * * + +JACK NEMO.--If you paid a year's subscription to YOUNG PEOPLE, you will +receive your paper until January, 1881. Subscriptions may begin with any +number, and the paper will be sent the length of time for which the +subscription is taken, without reference to the beginning or close of a +volume. + + * * * * * + +Favors are acknowledged from Frank L. L., Joseph Henry C., S. V. B., +A. R. Reeves, Lloyd Elliot, "Bo-Peep," Mary Burns, Hattie Venable, +Bertha M. Hubbard, Nellie M. S., Amy L. O. + + * * * * * + +Correct answers to puzzles are received from Nellie Brainard, Jennie C. +Ridgway, "Jupiter," G. Dudley Kyte, A. H. Ellard, Alfred C. P. Opdyke, +George M. Finckel, G. Volckhausen. + + * * * * * + +ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN NO. 51. + +No. 1. + + C-hestnut. + E-lm. + D-ogwood. + A-sh. + R-ose-wood. + +No. 2. + + B H + F L Y D O E + B L O O D - H O U N D + Y O N E N D + D D + +No. 3. + + I R I S R A C E + R O S E A C I D + I S L E C I T E + S E E R E D E N + +No. 4. + +Lemon. + +No. 5. + + P A R T N E R + G O R G E + F E E + N + A T E + S T O I C + L E O N A R D + +PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS. + +No. 1. + +DIAMOND--(_To Bolus_). + +1. A letter. 2. To loiter. 3. A plant. 4. The kingfisher. 5. Merrily. 6. +Shy. 7. A letter. + + ZELOTES. + + * * * * * + +No. 2. + +EASY SQUARES. + +1. First, an easy seat. Second, to unfold. Third, measures. Fourth, +insects. + + S. F. W. + +2. First, a quantity of wood. Second, scent. Third, a girl's name. +Fourth, a cart. + + C. H. MCB. + + * * * * * + +No. 3. + +HOUR-GLASS PUZZLE--(_To Zelotes_). + +A city in Great Britain. A city in India. A city in Switzerland. A lake +in Scotland. A letter. A city in Germany. A city in France. A city in +Russia. A city in Asia. Centrals read downward spell the name of a port +on the Mediterranean Sea. + + OWLET. + + * * * * * + +No. 4. + +ENIGMA. + + My first is in Paris, but not in the Seine. + My second in simple, but not in fool. + My third is in Frankfort, but not in the Main. + My fourth is in labor, but not in tool. + My fifth is in trouble, but not in grief. + My sixth is in fortune, but not in fate. + My seventh is in robber, but not in thief. + My eighth is in malice, but not in hate. + My ninth is in gymnasium, furnished with ropes and bars. + The secret of my whole is hid in sun and moon and stars. + + TOM. + + * * * * * + +CHARACTER TREES. + + 1. What is the sociable tree? + 2. The tree where ships ride? + 3. The languishing tree? + 4. The chronologist's tree? + 5. The fisherman's tree? + 6. The tree warmest clad? + 7. The tree that fights? + 8. The housewife's tree? + 9. The lazy tree? + 10. The dandy's tree? + 11. The tree that supplies wants? + 12. The tree that invites to travel? + 13. The tree that forbids to die? + 14. The tree always near in billiards? + 15. The Egyptian plague tree? + 16. The tree in a bottle? + 17. The tree in a fog? + 18. The busiest tree? + 19. The most yielding tree? + 20. Tree neither up nor down hill? + 21. The tree nearest the sea? + 22. The tree that binds ladies' feet? + 23. The tree cockneys make into wine? + 24. Tree that warms cold meat? + 25. Tree offered to friends when we meet? + 26. The treacherous tree? + + + + +THROWING LIGHT. + +BY E. MASON. + + +I am white, I am black, I am all colors save blue, green, and purple, +and all lengths, yet when I am grown I am of uniform size. I run with +great swiftness, but have no motion of my own; am carried round by my +possessor, and worn according to the taste of my owner. I don't know how +I can be worn, though the outer covering of me is put to some use, I +believe. I am very hard to tame, though gentle and timid, yet I submit +to being pulled, tied, cut, dressed, burned, without rebelling; in fact, +I might be called inanimate, though I never cease growing; but the truth +is, in a year I attain my full growth. + +I am excellent eating, and esteemed a delicacy, yet should I make my +appearance in the food of a delicate person, or even of anybody, disgust +would certainly ensue. I can be dressed according to fancy, though there +is but one way of cooking me; still, I do not need cooking, except when +taken from my natural place: then I am baked to preserve me; but I am +only cooked to be eaten, not preserved; and as to dressing me, my +garment must be taken off before I can be made palatable, and that I +never am, for I can't be chewed or swallowed, though lovers of me +declare me to be a toothsome morsel. + +Men hunt and persecute me, yet they do not like to be without me, and +are very apt to feel when I leave them that it is a sign of age. I can +belong to people in two ways--either by inheritance or by purchase; when +in the latter manner, every one tries to conceal the fact, and pretend +that I am a gift of nature, though extravagant sums are paid for me, as +there are fashions in me in color, and I am often dyed, though that +process would render me worthless and unmarketable. + +Soft and silky, fine and coarse, harsh and wiry, of a sleek coat, +running on four legs, having no legs at all, capable of suffering and +being killed, a theme for poets, having no feeling of pain, yet dying, I +am a part of man, yet an animal. + + + + +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: TWO MOTHERS. + +NELLIE. "Annie, the season has commenced, and we must fix up our +children's party dresses."] + + + + +THE WONDERFUL DRAWING LESSON. + +BY G. B. BARTLETT. + + +Many years ago a very funny pantomime was performed by the Ravels, or +some other talented actors, that astonished every one who saw it, and no +one could guess how it was done. We propose first to give a sketch of +the action of the scene, and then to describe a very simple manner of +doing the trick upon which it depends. By careful attention to the +description any boy can prepare it in a few hours in such a way that it +can be often used for home and hall, and will give as much pleasure in +preparation as in performance. The pantomime requires an old man, an old +woman, and a stupid boy--the latter it is often easy to find in any +family. The old parts can be assumed by young people, as they can be +made venerable by powdering their hair with flour. They must borrow +their grandfather's and grandmother's clothes, if possible, but the boy +can wear an old dressing-gown, and the girl a long skirt trained over +her own dress, looped up at the sides with bows of ribbon; she should +have an old-fashioned bonnet, or a broad hat tied down to resemble one, +a kerchief, and a cane. The boy should borrow a suit of a smaller boy +that is too short and tight for him, and should brush his hair down over +his eyes, and wear a paper ruffle around his neck. The boy who wears the +dressing-gown or old dress-coat should also have a palette, brush, a +piece of chalk, and some other artistic implements with which to +decorate the room, which can be very prettily arranged if for a public +performance. The most conspicuous object is a large blackboard, standing +on the floor at the rear of the room, behind which another boy is +concealed, and upon which all the mystery depends. The artist is +discovered walking around the room in a nervous manner, as if expecting +a pupil. A knock is heard, and he admits the lady, who salutes him with +an old-fashioned bow in response to those with which he greets her. She +leads in the boy by the hand, who hangs back, as if very bashful. She +puts her hand behind the boy's head, and compels him to bow to the +artist, of whom he seems afraid. + +The mother consoles him, and persuades him to look at some pictures +which the artist shows him. The boy expresses great interest, and the +artist points to the blackboard, as if offering to teach him to draw. +The boy seems eager to begin, and seizes a piece of chalk from the +table. The artist takes the chalk from him, and pats the palm of his +left hand with three fingers of his right, to signify that he wants some +money. The mother pays very unwillingly, and the artist keeps demanding +more, until she shakes her head very forcibly, and points to the board, +as if refusing to pay any more money unless she is satisfied with her +son's progress in art. + +The boy is then furnished with chalk, and the artist holds up a pattern +before him, and points from it to the board. The boy slowly draws the +face of a man on the top of the board, near the centre. The mother seems +much pleased, and claps her hands, in delight. The boy goes on with his +work, and finishes the body, with the arms extended, and the artist then +demands, more money, which the mother refuses, when the arms which have +just been drawn move up and down with violent gestures, and the mother +becomes so much alarmed that she pays him, and the arms then remain +still. The boy goes on with his work, and draws the two legs of the +figure, which is supposed to be facing the audience. + +At the completion of the work the mother and boy contemplate it with +wonder and delight, and the artist renews his demand for more money, +which the old lady refuses. The right leg then kicks out violently, the +other does the same toward the left, the arms go up and down, and the +chalk man thus appears to be alive, and to be dancing a jig, as the +movements of the legs and arms increase in speed, although they can only +swing up and down on the board. The mother and son hold up their hands +as if struck with horror, and the former rushes out of the room, pulling +the boy by the arm. The artist follows, demanding more money, and the +curtain falls. + +The blackboard is made of any smooth board painted; the arms and legs of +the figure are cut out in outline of common pasteboard, and are fastened +to the blackboard by a peg, upon which their weight is balanced, and +upon which they move. The limbs are moved by means of bits of black +thread attached to them, and passing through small holes in the board to +the boy behind it. They are fastened on after the board has been +painted, and the whole is made of a uniform dull black with common +paint, so it does not show when the light is between it and the +spectators. + +The boy may make the figure of the man in any style, taking care only to +match it to the limbs, the outline of which he draws on the edges of the +pasteboard profiles. A little practice will enable the performers to +arrange animals and other figures on the same plan, to the delight of +themselves and their friends. + + + + +[Illustration: OPENING OF THE FALL HUNTING SEASON--LITTLE TOMMY'S +NIGHTMARE AFTER A BUSY DAY SETTING RABBIT SNARES.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, November 9, 1880, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43357 *** |