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diff --git a/44652-0.txt b/44652-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..753cf1f --- /dev/null +++ b/44652-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2117 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44652 *** + +[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE +AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.] + + * * * * * + +VOL. II.--NO. 63. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR +CENTS. + +Tuesday, January 11, 1881. Copyright, 1881, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 +per Year, in Advance. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: JOHN MILTON AT THE AGE OF TEN.--SEE NEXT PAGE.] + +MILTON. + + +John Milton was a blue-eyed, yellow-haired Saxon boy, the type of the +English race. He was somewhat short, stout, and healthy; his eyes were +bright and sparkling in his youth, before he became blind. But he +inherited weakness of sight from his mother. He was born 1609, in a +pleasant house in Bread Street, London, almost under the shadow of Bow +Bells. It was back in a court. His father, who had made a fortune as a +scrivener, was fond of music, books, and literature, and his son was +carefully educated at St. Paul's School. Milton relates that he +frequently studied in the house in Bread Street until after midnight, +and his head ached and his sight grew dim with these late vigils. He was +then about twelve years old. + +When he was six years old he may have seen Shakespeare and Ben Jonson +pass on their way to the Mermaid Tavern, which was in Bread Street, not +far from his father's house. He was one of the best scholars at St. +Paul's School, and loved study as most boys like play. He was eager to +know how men lived and acted in Greece and Rome, what they thought of, +and what they had discovered. He studied the rise and fall of empires +and republics, and became a republican in the midst of kings and +princes. He was always fond of poetry, and soon began to write fine +verses. One of his earliest pieces is his "Ode on the Nativity." + +His father leased a place in the country, at Horton, near Windsor, and +here Milton wandered when a young man over the smooth-shaven lawns and +beside the pleasant streams, filling his mind with knowledge and +pictures of fine scenery. It is not likely that as a boy he was fond of +fishing or hunting, as we may well fancy Shakespeare was. He never +tilled the soil like Burns and Virgil. He knew nothing of farming. He +went to Cambridge University, the most learned of its scholars. It was +the custom then to whip the students, and Milton's enemies spread the +report that he was flogged for some breach of the rules. He was always +independent. He travelled, came back to defend republicanism in the +civil war, married, kept a school, was Cromwell's Latin secretary after +he became blind, and published some poetry. But when the republic fell +with Cromwell, Milton was proscribed, and in danger of his life. His +enemies would, gladly have put him to death, and "Paradise Lost" might +never have been written. + +Milton hid in obscurity, blind, forgotten, but constantly engaged on his +great poem. He wrote "Paradise Lost" in his old age. He repeated the +verses aloud to his daughters or some friends who came to visit him, and +they wrote them down. It was finished in 1667, and Milton received +twenty-five dollars for the copyright. It was long neglected, until +Addison gave it great fame. Milton died November 8, 1674. + + + + +THE MESSENGER BOYS AT THE CAPITOL. + +BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD. + + +A lad who visits the city of Washington for the first time, and looks +down from the galleries of the House of Representatives or of the Senate +on the busy scene below, will be sure to find his eye attracted by +groups of bright-looking and neatly dressed boys moving hither and +thither about the floor, speaking familiarly with this and that great +man, or amusing themselves on the steps of the Vice-President's or of +the Speaker's platform, and he will perhaps regard these boys with +something like envy--all the more when told that they receive about two +dollars and seventy-five cents a day, during the sessions of Congress, +to pay them for having such a good time. + +Possibly our lad would not regard the picture as so pleasant if he knew +how burdensome are the duties of these boys, and how exceedingly well +they earn the money paid them. There are nearly thirty of them attached +to the House, and half as many to the Senate. Their ages run from nine +years upward, some numbering twice as many summers; and it is not by any +means the oldest who are the brightest and the most favored. They are of +respectable families; some of them are nephews of Members of Congress--a +Member once, indeed, had such questionable taste as to procure the +appointment of his own son; and some of them have been known in +after-years to become Members themselves. The recently chosen Senator +from Maryland is doubtless proud to remember that he himself was once a +page. Although in two or three instances these boys have been elected to +their places, instead of appointed, they are usually appointed by the +Sergeant-at-Arms--of course on the recommendation and through the +influence of the Congressmen--and they are under his control. The old +custom of appointing only orphan boys is no longer adhered to. The boy +who fell over the balustrade, and was made a page by special resolution +of the Senate, is a very exceptional case--probably his favorite song +thereafter was, "Such a getting up stairs I ne'er did see." + +The pages wear no uniform, or regulation clothes, or badges of any sort. +They are required to present themselves for work at nine o'clock in the +morning, although Congress does not meet till twelve, and they are not +dismissed until adjournment for the day takes place. They put the desks +of the Members in order, file for each the bills and papers which are +strewn about in confusion, then go to the Document-rooms and work there, +helping to put affairs in shape; and they present themselves at twelve +in the great chambers of legislation to answer the clapping of the +Members' and Senators' hands, and attend to their countless wants. Now +they are sent hunting for some book that is needed, for some man, now +for a glass of water, now they take messages from one Member to another +at a distance, from one House to the other, and sometimes to ladies in +the gallery; they fetch a cup of tea into the Cloak-room; fetch the hat +and stick out of it; they distribute mail by the armful; they struggle +into sight, behind piles of palm-leaf fans big as they are themselves, +which are soon cooling the hot air, if it be a late session; and during +the nights preceding the close of the session they do not know what +sleep is, but are worn out with running and waiting. Thus it will be +seen that they are on their feet with but very little intermission, +running and tumbling over each other in their eagerness to please; but +they seem happy and good-natured through it all, and when they do sit +down it is on the steps of the presiding officer's desk, where they are +usually tickling or punching or teasing each other as if they had +nothing else to do, and were passing away the time. + +Sometimes during a recess of Congress you may come upon them in a lower +room, assembled in a body, a mimic Senate, one of them in the chair, and +another making a speech, and Mr. Blaine and Mr. Conkling and Mr. Bayard +and the rest are being imitated to the life. It is in some contrast to +these gay rogues that one sees a crippled and dwarfed little hunchback +outside the Hall of Representatives, opening and shutting a door for the +passer in hopes of the coppers or the nickel that may be tossed him, +although he does not beg. At night a little goat carriage comes for him, +and he drives off. + +The pages whom we have described do not leave the Capitol during the +hours of their service, and carry no messages beyond the doors. For +outside work there are three riding pages, who are furnished with +horses, and who go to the various Departments, the Executive Mansion, or +on other of the outside errands of the legislators. And theirs is not +exactly the pleasant horseback riding that looks so attractive, but, on +the contrary, it is hard and weary work, cold in the winter, and burning +under a fierce sun in the summer, leaving them meanwhile as badly off +as John Gilpin. + +Many of these youths are appointed because there is some great need in +their families, or have been some pitiable circumstances in their +history. This curly-headed little fellow is the only support of a mother +and younger brothers and sisters; there is one who takes care of a +paralyzed father, the only relative he has in the world, going home, +after his hard work, to make life as pleasant as he can for him who can +never do any more work; here is another whose little house is kept for +him by a child-sister, who looks for his step at night with solicitude. +Most of them have somebody besides themselves to take a share of their +earnings. + +Beyond their regular pay, there are various perquisites and fees which +swell their income considerably. Thus they may often be seen slipping an +open book, with a bit of blotting-paper, under the nose of some Member +who is sitting at his desk: it is an album for somebody who wants the +signatures of all these statesmen, which the statesmen kindly give, but +which nevertheless are not always easy to obtain, owing to the +difficulty of finding individuals in their seats, as all of the +Congressmen are by no means in constant attendance, many of them being +busy in committee-rooms, or lounging in cloak-rooms, or lunching, or +following the bent of their inclinations in other ways, and seldom +coming in after roll-call, save to hear a heralded speech, or to vote on +measures with which they are already familiar either from the reading of +the daily journal of proceedings, or in the committee-room, or by the +word of mouth of others. For every album that they thus fill with +signatures the boys receive ten dollars from the eager visitor of the +Capitol, and they fill a good many during the year. + +In another way they also sometimes earn an additional penny. For after +any gentleman on the floor has made a particularly strong speech, the +Members on his side of the question are wont to subscribe for the +printing of thousands of copies of the speech, to be sent broadcast into +their districts; the pages therefore go about with subscription papers, +and they are allowed two dollars for every thousand of the speeches that +are taken. + +If the boys of whom we are speaking are very bright, they are apt to be +spoiled, as in such case the Members and Senators take pleasure in +indulging them to some degree. But there are not many, it may be +imagined, who are thus injured. Some of them, indeed, are as careless as +the blowing wind; these have no awe or reverence in their compositions: +the great men with whom they are brought into contact are not great men +to them, but simply folks who send them on errands, and the directions +given them go in one ear and out the other--as we all know never happens +with boys anywhere else. One little chap, dispatched to the +Document-room for the "Fortification Bill," asks for the "Mortification +Bill"; another, sent for the "Census," asks for the "Ascension Bill"; +still another, insisting on the "Compulsive Capacity Bill," and +returning without it, is told that he was sent for nothing of the kind, +but for that on "compulsory pilotage," whereupon he presently comes back +to say that there isn't any bill on "pulsive politics." The same +youngster asked the Document Clerks for the "Bill for the Suppression of +Supreme Literature." A little "compulsive capacity" would have been good +for this urchin, were it to be obtained as easily as was thought by that +gentleman whose daughter lacked capacity, as her teacher said. "Get it, +madam," said he--"get it; she shall want for nothing that money can buy +her." To the same class with these scatter-brained urchins belonged the +little fellow who once brought into the Congressional Library a note +signed by one of the most powerful "Sons of Thunder" in the Senate, and +which we begged the librarian's pardon for reading as it lay a moment on +the desk beside us: "William H. Turner wants _The Headless Horseman; or, +The Scalp-Hunter_. I ask that he may have it under the rules of the +Library." + +But to offset such idle fellows as the reader of _The Headless +Horseman_--who certainly could do no better than hunt for a "scalp," and +a head with it, too--there are other pages who make it their business to +understand their duties thoroughly, and two or three who even go so far +as to read for themselves every bill that is introduced, to follow its +fortunes, to be able to tell the person that asks just where it is in +its progress to passage or defeat, and who can always be relied on by +any Member who has been absent or out of the way to let him know exactly +what has been done and said in the mean time, and how the vote stands on +this question or the other. It would be no wonder if boys of this sort +should be indulged; and there is little danger of spoiling such good +material. These boys are learning the business of legislating, and if +they wish, will, in their turn, come back some day to make the laws. + +But careless or faithful, their bright faces and light ways are a +pleasant sight to see in all the throng of bustling, noisy men; and as +one looks at them slipping about on their countless errands, one feels +as if the boys themselves bore some small part in the work of governing +the country. + + + + +A HERO OF CHIVALRY. + + +Bertrand du Guesclin was born in 1314 at the castle of Motte Broen, near +Rennes, in Brittany. His heroic character showed itself early. As he was +not troubled with lessons (he never learned to read or write), he formed +a company of boys of his own age, and, acting as their general, +practiced them in battle and combat. His mother often clasped her +forehead in alarm when he came home with bruised face and bleeding head. +Even in his seventeenth year he excelled many older knights in strength +and dexterity in the use of arms. But he was ridiculed by the ladies +because he looked so ugly, and rode such a wretched horse. They jeered +at him, saying that he looked more like a donkey-driver than a knight +and nobleman, and that he must have borrowed his steed from a miller. + +Bertrand was indignant, and, as there was another tournament about to +come off, he begged a cousin of his to lend him a steed and armor. Both +were granted, and with a joyful heart he entered the lists, where, in +his strange armor, and with his visor down, no one, not even his own +father, recognized him. A well-known valiant knight opposed him. The +signal was given, they ran at each other with lightning speed, and with +a loud crash their lances broke into splinters in their hands. Bertrand, +however, had struck with such force on his adversary's helmet, that the +latter was thrown from the saddle to a distance of several paces, where +he lay insensible on the sand, and had to be carried out of the lists. + +The young victor returned to his post with a fresh lance, and waited for +fresh opponents. Now his own father ranged himself against him. Bertrand +did not wish to fight against him, but was equally unwilling to make +himself known. So he resolved to lower his lance in his tilt, and to +receive his father's blow on his shield without making a counter-thrust. +He did this so adroitly that he kept firm in his saddle, and, without +tottering, galloped by, and then declared positively that he would not +fight again with that knight. People were surprised, but made no +derisive remarks, for the knight's courage had been sufficiently proved +in the former combat. His father rode out of the lists, and gave place +to other knights. Guesclin laid them in the dust, and was unanimously +declared the winner. + +Every one was eager to know who the champion was, and his father +especially longed for the unravelling of the mystery. + +At length, when the tournament was over, and Bertrand had received his +prize, he rode up to his father, raised his visor, and cried, "Do you +know me now, father?" The old man embraced him with tears of joy, and at +once provided him with a steed and armor. The fame of the young hero now +spread all over France. + +Hitherto Bertrand had only won victories in tournaments, but now the +more serious field of battle was to behold the first exploits of his +sword. Duke Charles of Blois made war on John de Montfort for the +possession of Brittany. Philip the Sixth, King of France, sided with the +former; while, on the other hand, the King of England (Edward the Third) +supported De Montfort. Bertrand had naturally no choice in the matter, +for, like a brave Frenchman, he followed his king wherever he led him. + +At that time the castle of Fougeray was in the hands of the English, and +Bertrand resolved to take it from them, as it was a place of no mean +importance. With this view he disguised himself and sixty companions as +wood-cutters, and divided them into four bands, which approached the +place from different sides. He then fixed on a time when the governor of +the castle and a part of the garrison had gone out on a reconnoitring +expedition, when he made a party of his men hide themselves in the +neighboring wood during the night. At break of day they loaded +themselves with fagots and brushwood, concealed their weapons under +their clothes, and came up to the castle from different directions. +Bertrand, in a white smock, with a heavy load of wood on his back, was +the first to appear before the draw-bridge, which was instantly lowered +for him. He at once threw down his fagot, drew his sword, and transfixed +the warder; then he raised the cry of "Guesclin." At this signal the +rest hastened forward to come to his assistance and take the bridge. As, +however, there were two hundred Englishmen in the castle, the conflict +was very unequal, and a horrid slaughter ensued. An Englishman clove the +skull of one of Bertrand's companions with his battle-axe. Guesclin, in +return, cut him down, and caught up the axe, with which he dealt +slashing blows on every side. So he fought on, and kept the enemy off +the body for a time, until a troop of cavalry of his own side +accidentally arrived in the neighborhood, rescued him from his perilous +situation, and helped to take the place. It was, indeed, high time for +relief to arrive; for, in his combat against tenfold odds, he had +dropped his battle-axe, and his head was so covered with wounds that the +blood was streaming down his face. The conspicuous valor which he here +displayed gained him the reputation of being the boldest and most +dauntless knight of his time. + + + + +[Illustration: SCENE IN AN ITALIAN SCHOOL.] + + + + +[Begun in No. 58 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, December 7.] + +TOBY TYLER; + +OR, TEN WEEKS WITH A CIRCUS. + +BY JAMES OTIS. + +CHAPTER V. + +THE COUNTERFEIT TEN-CENT PIECE. + + +When the doors of the big tent were opened, and the people began to +crowd in, just as Toby had seen them do at Guilford, Mr. Lord announced +to his young clerk that it was time for him to go into the tent to work. +Then it was that Toby learned for the first time that he had two masters +instead of one, and this knowledge caused him no little uneasiness. If +the other one was anything like Mr. Lord, his lot would be just twice as +bad, and he began to wonder whether he could even stand it one day +longer. + +As the boy passed through the tent on his way to the candy stand, where +he was to really enter upon the duties for which he had run away from +home, he wanted to stop for a moment and speak with the old monkey who +he thought had taken such an interest in him. But when he reached the +cage in which his friend was confined, there was such a crowd around it +that it was impossible for him to get near enough to speak without being +overheard. + +This was such a disappointment to the little fellow that the great tears +came into his eyes, and in another instant would have gone rolling down +his cheeks if his aged friend had not chanced to look toward him. Toby +fancied that the monkey looked at him in the most friendly way, and then +he was certain that he winked one eye. Toby felt that there was no +mistake about that wink, and it seemed as if it was intended to convey +comfort to him in his troubles. He winked back at the monkey in the most +emphatic and grave manner possible, and then went on his way, feeling +wonderfully comforted. + +The work inside the tent was far different and much harder than it was +outside. He was obliged to carry around among the audience trays of +candy, nuts, and lemonade, for sale, and he was also expected to cry +aloud the description of that which he offered. The partner of Mr. Lord, +who had charge of the stand inside the tent, neither showed himself to +be better nor worse than Mr. Lord himself. When Toby first presented +himself for work, he handed him a tray filled with glasses of lemonade, +and told him to go among the audience, crying, "Here's your nice cold +lemonade, only five cents a glass!" + +Toby started to do as he was bidden; but when he tried to repeat the +words in anything like a loud tone of voice, they stuck in his throat, +and he found it next to impossible to utter a sound above a whisper. It +seemed to him that every one in the audience was looking only at him, +and the very sound of his own voice made him afraid. + +He went entirely around the tent once without making a sale, and when he +returned to the stand he was at once convinced that one of his masters +was quite as bad as the other. This one--and he knew that his name was +Jacobs, for he heard some one call him so--very kindly told him that he +would break every bone in his body if he didn't sell something, and Toby +confidently believed that he would carry out his threat. + +It was with a very heavy heart that he started around again in obedience +to Mr. Jacobs's angry command; but this time he did manage to cry out, +in a very thin and very squeaky voice, the words which he had been told +to repeat. + +This time--perhaps owing to his pitiful and imploring look, certainly +not because of the noise he made--he met with very good luck, and sold +every glass of the mixture which Messrs. Lord and Jacobs called +lemonade, and went back to the stand for more. + +He certainly thought he had earned a word of praise, and fully expected +it as he put the empty glasses and money on the stand in front of Mr. +Jacobs. But instead of the kind words, he was greeted with a volley of +curses, and the reason for it was that he had taken in payment for two +of the glasses a lead ten-cent piece. Mr. Jacobs, after scolding poor +little Toby to his heart's content, vowed that the amount should be kept +from his first week's wages, and then handed him back the coin, with +orders to give it to the first man who gave him money to change, under +the penalty of a severe flogging if he failed to do so. + +Poor Toby tried to explain matters by saying, "You see, I don't know +anything about money; I never had more'n a cent at a time, an' you +mustn't expect me to get posted all at once." + +"I'll post you with a stick if you do it again; an' it won't be well for +you if you bring that ten-cent piece back here." + +Now Toby was very well aware that to pass the coin, knowing it to be +bad, would be a crime, and he resolved to take the consequences of which +Mr. Jacobs had intimated, if he could not find the one who had given him +the counterfeit, and persuade him to give him good money in its stead. +He remembered very plainly where he had sold each glass of lemonade, and +he retraced his steps, glancing at each face carefully as he passed. At +last he was confident that he saw the man who had gotten him into such +trouble, and he climbed up the board seats, saying, as he stood in front +of him, and held out the coin: "Mister, this money that you gave me is +bad. Won't you give me another one for it?" + +The man was a rough-looking party who had taken his girl to the circus, +and who did not seem at all disposed to pay any heed to Toby's request. +Therefore he repeated it, and this time more loudly. + +"Get out the way!" said the man, angrily. "How can you expect me to see +the show if you stand right in front of me?" + +"You'll like it better," said Toby, earnestly, "if you give me another +ten-cent piece." + +"Get out, an' don't bother me!" was the angry rejoinder; and the little +fellow began to think that perhaps he would be obliged to "get out" +without getting his money. + +It was becoming a desperate case, for the man was growing angry very +fast, and if Toby did not succeed in getting good money for the bad, he +would have to take the consequences of which Mr. Jacobs had spoken. + +[Illustration: "PLEASE, MISTER, GIVE ME THE MONEY BACK."] + +"Please, mister," he said, imploringly--for his heart began to grow very +heavy, and he was fearing that he should not succeed--"won't you please +give me the money back? You know you gave it to me, an' I'll have to pay +it if you don't." + +The boy's lip was quivering, and those around began to be interested in +the affair, while several in their immediate vicinity gave vent to their +indignation that a man should try to cheat a boy out of ten cents by +giving him counterfeit money. + +The man whom Toby was speaking to was about to dismiss him with an angry +reply, when he saw that those about him were not only interested in the +matter, but were evidently taking sides with the boy against him; and +knowing well that he had given the counterfeit money, he took another +coin from his pocket, and handing it to Toby, said, "I didn't give you +the lead piece; but you're making such a fuss about it that here's ten +cents to make you keep quiet." + +"I'm sure you did give me the money," said Toby, as he took the extended +coin, "an' I'm much obliged to you for takin' it back. I didn't want to +tell you before, 'cause you'd thought I was beggin'; but if you hadn't +given me this, I 'xpect I'd have got an awful whippin', for Mr. Jacobs +said he'd fix me if I didn't get the money for it." + +The man looked sheepish enough as he put the bad money in his pocket, +and Toby's innocently told story caused such a feeling in his behalf +among those who sat near that he not only disposed of his entire stock +then and there, but received from one gentleman twenty-five cents for +himself. He was both proud and happy as he returned to Mr. Jacobs with +empty glasses, and with the money to refund the amount of loss which +would have been caused by the counterfeit. + +But the worthy partner of Mr. Lord's candy business had no words of +encouragement for the boy who was trying so hard to please. + +"Let that make you keep your eyes open," he growled out, sulkily; "an' +if you get caught in that trap again, you won't be let off so easy." + +Poor little Toby! his heart seemed ready to break; but his few hours' +previous experience had taught him that there was but one thing to do, +and that was to work just as hard as possible, trusting to some good +fortune to enable him to get out of the very disagreeable position in +which he had voluntarily placed himself. + +He took the basket of candy which Mr. Jacobs handed him, and trudged +around the circle of seats, selling far more because of the pitifulness +of his face than because of the excellence of his goods; and even this +worked to his disadvantage. Mr. Jacobs was keen enough to see why his +little clerk sold so many goods, and each time that he returned to the +stand he said something to him in an angry tone, which had the effect of +deepening the shadow on the boy's face, and at the same time increasing +trade. + +By the time the performance was over Toby had in his pocket a dollar and +twenty-five cents which had been given him for himself by some of the +kind-hearted in the audience, and he kept his hand almost constantly +upon it, for the money seemed to him like some kind friend who would +help him out of his present difficulties. + +After the audience had dispersed, Mr. Jacobs set Toby at work washing +the glasses, and clearing up generally, and then the boy started toward +the other portion of the store--that watched over by Mr. Lord. Not a +person save the watchmen was in the tent, and as Toby went toward the +door he saw his friend the monkey sitting in one corner of the cage, and +apparently watching his every movement. + +It was as if he had suddenly seen one of the boys from home, and Toby, +uttering an exclamation of delight, ran up to the cage, and put his hand +through the wires. + +The monkey, in the gravest possible manner, took one of the fingers in +his paw, and Toby shook hands with him very earnestly. + +"I was sorry that I couldn't speak to you when I went in this noon," +said Toby, as if making an apology; "but, you see, there were so many +around here to see you that I couldn't get the chance. Did you see me +wink at you?" + +The monkey made no reply, but he twisted his face up in such a funny +little grimace that Toby was quite as well satisfied as if he had +spoken. + +"I wonder if you hain't some relation to Steve Stubbs," Toby continued, +earnestly, "for you look just like him, only he don't have quite so many +whiskers. What I wanted to say was that I'm awful sorry I run away. I +used to think that Uncle Dan'l was bad enough; but he was just a perfect +good Samarathon to what Mr. Lord an' Mr. Jacobs are; an' when Mr. Lord +looks at me with that crooked eye of his, I feel it 'way down in my +boots. Do you know"--and here Toby put his mouth nearer to the monkey's +head, and whispered--"I'd run away from this circus if I could get the +chance; wouldn't you?" + +Just at this point, as if in answer to the question, the monkey stood up +on his hind-paws, and reached out his hand to the boy, who seemed to +think this was his way of being more emphatic in saying "Yes." + +Toby took the paw in his hand, shook it again earnestly, and said, as he +released it: "I was pretty sure you felt just about the same way I did, +Mr. Stubbs, when I passed you this noon. Look here"--and Toby took the +money from his pocket which had been given him--"I got all that this +afternoon, an' I'll try an' stick it out somehow till I get as much as +ten dollars, an' then we'll run away some night, an' go 'way off as far +as--as--as out West, an' we'll stay there, too." + +The monkey, probably tired with remaining in one position so long, +started toward the top of the cage, chattering and screaming, joining +the other monkeys, who had gathered in a little group in one of the +swings. + +"Now see here, Mr. Stubbs," said Toby, in alarm, "you mustn't go to +telling everybody about it, or Mr. Lord will know, an' then we'll be +dished, sure." + +The monkey squatted down in one of the swings, as if he was reproved by +what the boy had said, and Toby, considerably relieved by his silence, +said, as he started toward the door, "That's right--mum's the word; you +keep quiet, an' so will I, an' pretty soon we'll get away from the whole +crowd." + +All the monkeys chattered, and Toby, believing that everything which he +had said had been understood by the animals, went out of the door to +meet his other task-master. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +THE YOUNG TIN-TYPERS. + +PART I. + + +The recitation in Natural Philosophy was just over, and as the class was +leaving the room, Fred Ward whispered to his most particular chum, Jim +Davis: "I say, Jim, I've hit on an immense idea. Suppose that we set up +a photographic gallery. It will be splendid fun." + +"That's so," answered Jim. "Let's talk it over." + +By this time the French class room was reached, and conversation was for +the time suspended; but two o'clock found the boys leaving the +school-grounds, engaged in a grand confab about their new plan. + +"Now those old fellows that invented all this," said Fred, "had to work +hard, because they had nothing to begin with; but as all that we want to +know is down in the books, I don't see why we can't take as good a +picture as the next one, as soon as we can get a camera and some +chemicals. Why, Jim, you can buy the whole rig for five dollars--yes, +you can--camera and all, with a stand to set it on." + +"Oh, nonsense!" answered Jim; "I wouldn't give a cent to work in that +way. Why can't we make the box and mix the baths ourselves? Anybody +could buy the machine and take a picture, but it isn't every fellow can +make his own apparatus. Now in my Philosophy there are some pictures +that show how to put the box together, and we can save money to buy the +lenses, and it will be twice as much fun to do everything ourselves." + +Jim was very handy with tools, and in a few days he constructed as neat +a camera as could be desired for a beginner. It consisted of two boxes, +one of which fitted into the other. The interior of the boxes was +painted black, so that the light through the lenses would be all the +plate could receive. In the front of the larger box, and directly in the +centre, a round hole was cut to receive the tube containing the lenses, +and at the back of the small box were grooves to receive the plate +slide. The making of that slide was the first serious stumbling-block in +the path of these young photographers. + +[Illustration: SLIDE CASE.] + +They searched through their books, and at last found a good diagram +which gave Jim the hints he needed for his work. He first built a frame +which fitted to the slide in the back of his camera box. This frame was +provided with a hinged door at the back, and a sliding door in front. In +order to receive plates of different sizes, Jim also made several plate +frames with larger or smaller openings. The plate frame fitted tightly +inside the slide frame, and was held firm by a spring fastened in the +centre of the hinged door, which pressed against the plate when the door +was shut. Another frame, exactly the same size as the plate frame, had +to be made to hold the ground glass upon which to obtain the focus for +the pictures. When the focus was regulated, the ground glass was to be +carefully withdrawn, and the sensitive plate placed in exactly the same +position. + +Perseverance and school-boy grit having conquered the slide difficulty, +the perplexing question of the lenses came up. Fred's father, who was +watching the boys' undertaking with considerable interest, now came to +the rescue, and presented the young photographers with a fine set of +mounted Dallemeyer lenses with diaphragms, which he bought of a dealer +in photographic apparatus. + +[Illustration: THE CAMERA.] + +The camera being in readiness, Fred and Jim now went to work to mix +their baths. They began with the sensitive bath, but to their +astonishment, when they placed nitrate of silver in ordinary water, a +white cloud instantly formed. The text-book was at once consulted, and +Fred discovered that distilled water must be used. As the boys had no +long-necked retort with which to distill the water, they agreed to +suspend all operations until they could see their teacher on the +following day, and ask his advice. + +The next afternoon, when school was over, the boys marched up to the +door of Professor Drood's class-room, and timidly knocked. "Come in," +said a hearty, kindly voice. Fred, who was the most courageous, went in +first, and clearly stated the case, while Jim stood hesitating in the +doorway. "If you take rain-water, and filter it to remove the dust," +said the Professor, "it will answer your purpose as well as distilled +water." + +The boys thanked him, and were going away, when he called them back. "I +like to see you taking interest in things of this kind," said he, "and +if you will stop, I will give you the whole story as clearly as I can." +Fred and Jim were delighted to listen, and when the Professor told them +to take a pencil and note-book, and write down the proportions in which +the different baths were to be mixed, they were eagerly attentive at +once. + +"The sensitive bath," said the Professor, "is prepared in this manner: +dissolve in two ounces of rain-water one ounce of nitrate of silver in +crystals. Then add two to five grains of iodide of potassium. You must +now add eight ounces of rain-water, and let the mixture stand two hours +to saturate. It must be kept in a dark chamber, where no rays of +sunlight can penetrate. You must always work by the light of a candle, +and it is a good plan to have a screen of yellow paper around the flame, +so that no direct light may fall on your sensitized plate. + +"Before beginning to work, be sure that your plate is clean. Tin plates, +with which you would better work until you become skillful in handling +the baths, are sold in sheets by any dealer in photographic goods, and +when you buy them are often covered with fine dust. Polish them well +with a pad of soft chamois-skin before you proceed farther. Next pour +the collodion on the centre, and cause it to flow evenly by gently +tipping the plate from side to side. Allow the surplus to drip off into +a flask; and as collodion is an expensive article, you would better mix +some gum-arabic and water to about the required thickness, and practice +with that first, that you may not waste the more costly fluid by +failures to spread it evenly on the plate--a very difficult matter for +beginners to accomplish. This collodion is made of alcohol, ether, and +gun-cotton, and sensitized with certain iodides and bromides. It +evaporates if exposed to the air, and must be well corked, and kept in a +cool, dark place, as both lights and heat are injurious to it. A +positive collodion is often sold for ferrotypes, but the negative fluid +gives better results. + +"When the film of collodion has become set, the plate is ready for the +sensitive bath. Place it on a strip of glass bent at the lower end, +which you will buy with your bath dish, and lower it into the bath +quickly; otherwise a line may be noticed on the finished picture, due to +the uneven deposit of silver. The deposit may be hastened by gently +moving the plate in the liquid. After a few seconds lift it out and +examine it. If it is streaked and greasy, it must be put back; but when +it is of a fine opaline tint, free from streaks and flaws, it is ready +to be placed in the camera, which should be already properly focussed +and in position. + +"Now, boys, comes the great trouble--to correctly time the exposure. It +varies from five to forty-five or sixty seconds, according to the light, +the arrangement of your screens, and the condition of the silver bath. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST ATTEMPT--SOMETHING WRONG.] + +"When you think, from the nature of the case, that your plate has been +exposed long enough, close your slide, and return to the dark room, +where you now proceed to develop your picture. You must have already +mixed this developing solution: one fluid part of sulphate of iron, one +and a half fluid parts of acetic acid, and sixteen parts of rain-water. +Do not make too much of this at once, as it quickly becomes spoiled. +When you take the plate from the slide, you will see no alteration in +it, but when you pour on some of your developer, 'as if by magic a +picture appears.' See that the developer flows all over the plate, and +do not allow it to settle on any one place, as this would make a stain +which can not be removed. + +"As soon as the development is complete, wash the plate well with pure +water, using for the purpose a wash bottle, which is simply a large +glass flask having a cork perforated by two tubes, one of which reaches +into the body of the liquid, while the other only passes through the +cork. The short tube is bent over at an angle so that the mouth may be +conveniently placed against it, while the long tube is bent, and drawn +out to a fine jet. On blowing through the short tube, the air in the +bottle becomes compressed, and in expanding drives the liquid through +the jet in a fine steady stream. When the plate has been well washed, it +must be treated with another solution, as this picture is one that would +soon fade, just as you no doubt have seen proofs of photographs do. To +remove the unaltered silver a solution of hyposulphite of soda in water +is used. Cyanide of potassium is also used, because it is much cleaner. + +"But there is no rose without its thorns, and the cyanide makes up for +its cleanliness by being one of the most deadly poisons, and I would +advise boys who are not posted on the fine points of chemical +manipulation to have nothing to do with it. This fixing solution is made +of eight ounces of the hyposulphite and forty of water. Now if this is +made too strong, it will spoil the picture, so it is well to be careful +to have the exact proportions. + +"By-the-way," added the Professor, "if you do use cyanide of potassium, +be very careful not to get any of it into what cuts or bruises you may +have on your hands. Boys always have such ornaments, and if the cyanide +touches a place where the skin is broken, it is liable to mix with the +blood, and make trouble. + +"After your picture is fixed, wash it well and varnish it. Ten parts of +gum-arabic to one hundred parts of water will make a very fair varnish; +but as this has to be dried over a spirit-lamp, it is better to buy the +self-drying varnish which is sold for this purpose. + +"All this sounds very easy and pleasant, but there are more +disappointments in store for you than can be imagined, for in this, as +in many other things, practice is as essential as rules and regulations. +I can only say to you, what should be the motto of every scientific +student, 'Make haste slowly.'" + +The boys thanked the good-natured Professor, who told them, in any +serious difficulty, to come to him again. Then with eager steps they +hastened homeward. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +[Illustration: MIDWINTER.] + + + + +WILD BIRDS IN THE COUNTRY. + + +When Aunt Bertha was younger than she is now she was a little English +girl, and her American nephews and nieces are never tired of hearing +about her English pets. Of her bird pets she tells the young listeners +as follows: + +"When I was alone at home with my parents, I used to amuse myself during +my play-time, which I always spent out-of-doors, by trying to tame the +wild birds. I nailed a little wooden tray against an oak that had twigs +growing out of its trunk for the birds to perch on. It stood just inside +a wood on one side of the drive, but not too much exposed to the view of +the passers-by. Every morning regularly I filled the tray with +bread-crumbs and bird-seed, with a little piece of raw meat now and then +for a great treat. I watched anxiously to see what birds would come +first, and in a few days had the pleasure of finding three tomtits +hopping about my tree, and carrying off the crumbs and seeds. It was +delightful to have these pretty, sprightly little fellows, with their +bright yellow and black breasts and white cheeks, for my visitors, +instead of the rather vulgar-looking sparrows, that are generally only +too eager to secure any food that may be awaiting hungry mouths. The +next birds that came were a pair of chaffinches: the cock never became +very tame, but his little mate was soon a great pet with every one. +After a time I had twelve birds that fed regularly at my box; they were +a pair of tomtits, the chaffinches, a pair of nut-hatches, a pair of +coal-tits, a pair of marsh-titmice, a robin, and a hedge-sparrow. In +the cold weather my birds used to meet me as I came out of the house, +and fly after me to the wood. They were not at all afraid of Carlo, my +large dog, who generally accompanied me, and sat by the tree quite +quietly, expecting his little share of the feast. In the spring the +chaffinches built their nest in an oak-tree within sight of the box, and +when their young ones were hatched, they carried off nice large crumbs +to them. + +"A robin that fed at the box used also to keep us company when we were +out, and hop about on our feet as we sat on the lawn. The dear little +thing came in-doors whenever he found a window open. He was particularly +fond of flying into my mother's bedroom, in which he thought he had +discovered a rival favorite. Day after day he attacked it most fiercely, +but as the rival was his own reflection in the mirror, the poor bird +only got a great many hard knocks against the glass in his efforts to +revenge himself on his fancied enemy. The mirror was sometimes smeared +with his blood." + + + + +[Begun in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 58, December 7.] + +MILDRED'S BARGAIN. + +A Story for Girls. + +BY MRS. JOHN LILLIE. + +CHAPTER V. + + +"Milly," said little Kate, greeting her elder sister one evening about a +week after Miss Jenner's party, "there's a woman waiting to see you in +the parlor." + +Mildred instinctively kept the child back as she made her way into the +room, shutting the door after her with a firm hand. There sat the +peddler, or "Widow Robbins," as she called herself; and, oh! how she +seemed to Milly to take the warmth and life out of the pretty little +room with her air of vulgar obtrusiveness! Milly stood still in the +middle of the room a moment, while Mrs. Robbins spoke. "Called for the +first payment, my dear," she said, jocularly. + +"Certainly," answered Milly, drawing her purse from her pocket; "and," +she continued, "I thought I might as well pay you four weeks in advance. +I have that much to spare." + +She came forward, holding out two crisp bills; but, to her surprise, +"Widow Robbins" motioned her back. "Ah, no, my dear," she said, gravely; +"that wasn't in our agreement. I can't take more'n the fifty cents. Now +give me just that, and I'll sign my name to your paper." + +Milly remonstrated, all in vain, and then, completely disgusted by the +coarse vulgarity of the woman, her loud tone and half-sarcastic laugh, +she produced her "agreement," allowing Mrs. Robbins to sign a receipt +for fifty cents, and take her leave. Poor Milly, though vexed and +puzzled, did not see into the deeper motive of the peddler in this +transaction. By only receiving the half-dollar weekly, Mrs. Robbins +prolonged her power over Milly, well knowing a day _might_ come when +even that sum would not be in Milly's possession to give her. If such a +remote chance ever occurred to Mildred, she dismissed it as too absurd +to contemplate for an instant. The next week passed by quickly enough, +for in her mother's absence Mildred had many home cares added to her +usual ones and the work at the store. One fact relieved her greatly. +"Mr. Tom's" attentions had nearly ceased, and she was allowed to come +and go to her daily work without subjecting herself to any special +insolence from him. Widow Robbins appeared again on the following +Monday, and was promptly paid and dismissed. The same evening Mrs. Lee +returned from her visit, full of exhilaration from the change, and ready +to hear Milly's account of Miss Jenner's party. It cost the girl an +effort not to tell of her new dress; but Mrs. Lee did not observe the +slight confusion in her daughter's manner, being fully entertained by +hearing an account of the fine house. + +Early the next evening Mildred paid a call at the brick house, and +renewed her sociable intercourse with Alice and Roger, who welcomed her +so cordially that Miss Jenner, though in a rather stiff way, asked +Mildred to spend an evening with them once a week. It was a new era in +Milly's life. How she looked forward to those Wednesday evenings, when, +leaving the store at the earliest moment possible, she would hasten +home, make a quick toilette, chatting with her mother the while, and +then go out into the dusky streets, threading her way eagerly to Lane +Street, where lights twinkled in the old-fashioned windows of Miss +Jenner's house, and where she was sure to find a kindly welcome! + +Sometimes the three young people sat in Alice's pretty sitting-room up +stairs, which to Milly's eyes was like an enchanted palace. Although +blind, Alice delighted in feeling soft hangings, luxurious coverings to +her chairs and sofas, and the consciousness that her walls were hung +with pretty pictures. Mildred had inherited from her father an +exquisitely fine taste, and Alice Jenner's surroundings seemed to fill +her with a sense of refinement which made her own dull life easier to +bear when she went away. Gradually Miss Jenner's manner thawed to +Mildred, and before Christmas came around, the young girl had been half +a dozen times invited to the cozy supper table of the good lady, who on +these occasions strove to make Milly feel perfectly at home, while she +contrived to learn all the story of her life from the young girl's lips. +Milly's one penance was Mrs. Robbins's weekly visit, and the +consciousness that up in her bureau drawer, carefully locked and +guarded, was the gray silk dress. By Christmas-time only six dollars had +been paid on it, yet a certain security of the future made Milly feel +sure no disaster could occur. Mrs. Robbins's calls were now all made at +the store, and about the Christmas season "Mr. Tom" inquired, rather +sneeringly, whether "Miss Lee's great-aunt" meant to give them her +custom. Milly answered nothing, yet it aroused her fears, and on one +Tuesday, after the peddler's customary call, she left the store +determined to appoint some different place of meeting. There was +something unusual, Milly thought, about the look of the cottage as she +entered; first a rush, then a confusion of smothered voices. Mildred ran +into the parlor, thence to the kitchen, where she found the children +gathered mysteriously together. + +"Willy's got the bronchitis," exclaimed Kate. "He must have caught it +down at the marshes." + +Mildred asked no further questions, but ran up stairs, tossing aside her +hat, and going cautiously into her mother's room, where Willy lay +suffering intensely. Mrs. Lee was glad to put all the responsible care +into Mildred's hands, and so she devoted nearly all the night to the +care of her little brother, appearing the next day haggard and +heavy-eyed at Mr. Hardman's store. Days passed in hard work at the +store, and nights of broken rest; and then came an evening when, on +Mildred's return home, she was met with the news of her mother's +illness. Poor Mrs. Lee, at no time strong, had succumbed to her anxiety +and hard work, and Milly found her utterly prostrated, the doctor +standing beside her, not able to pronounce on her disease, but looking +so anxious that Milly had difficulty in hiding her tears. Willy was +better, but the new trouble was terrible to contemplate. That night she +wrote hurriedly to her mother's pupils, and the next morning she arose +after a wakeful night with the consciousness that she had six people to +support on five dollars a week. + +Mildred felt too proud to tell Miss Jenner of her troubles. She dreaded +a rebuff besides. Roger was not well, and she knew the brick house was +in some confusion over his illness. It had been a trying season at +Milltown, and few families had escaped; but Mildred thought her +visitation hardest to bear. + +The second day of her mother's illness Mildred came home very early, and +after getting the children to bed, counted over her slender store of +money while she sat in her mother's room, letting faithful Deborah have +a rest. Just three dollars remained of her weekly earnings, and of this +sum fifty cents must be saved for the terrible Widow Robbins. "I know +what I'll do," thought Milly, almost aloud; "I'll see if she won't take +her silk back. I _can't_ spare a penny of my salary." This hope kept +poor Mildred up until the peddler's next visit. It was in the little +cottage parlor, and Mildred falteringly told her of her mother's +illness, and their great need of money. + +"That's neither here nor there," said the woman, shortly. "I can't lose +_my_ bread and butter. You say your dress is stained; that ends my +taking it back; so any week--" The peddler stopped short rather +ominously and glanced around the cottage parlor. It was a very pretty +room. From the wreck of their fortunes Mrs. Lee and Milly had saved +several--to them--priceless household treasures. On the mantel were the +heavy old-fashioned silver candlesticks which Milly remembered all her +life; some fine china was in the cabinet between the windows; the modest +book-shelves were full of valuable volumes; one or two exquisite +engravings hung upon the walls; here and there were a few excellent +pieces of old family furniture. Altogether it was a room which not only +charmed the eye, but showed such signs of "better days" that the few +neighbors who had called upon the Lees held them in high esteem. Mrs. +Robbins's glance was evidently highly satisfactory to herself. + +"Well," she said, pocketing her fifty cents with an air of great +condescension, "I will just wait a bit and see." + +It was after six o'clock, and Milly felt worried and perplexed as she +sat with the children over their simple tea, and then went up to her +mother's sick-room, in which she passed nearly all the night. Deborah +followed her, and beckoning her to the window, said, in a grave whisper, + +"Mildred, my child, who's that queer woman keeps coming here?" + +Milly felt inclined to cry. + +"Oh, Debby," she said, piteously, "don't bother me; it's just a woman +who--has business with me." + +Debby was silenced, but by no means satisfied. She determined to settle +the question for herself. + +Before the next week came around, every penny of Milly's money was +spent, and, more than that, they were heavily in debt to the butcher and +the grocer and the chemist. The best of port-wine was ordered for Mrs. +Lee; the strongest beef tea; the most nourishing jellies; iron and +quinine regularly. Poor Milly used to feel as if she was walking over +fire on her way to and from the store, so harassed had she become, and +she and Deborah bemoaned the state of affairs whenever they were alone. + +"Something _must_ be done, honey!" Deborah said, one wet Tuesday +evening, when Milly stopped in the kitchen to dry her clothes and warm +her feet before going up stairs. "I've next to nothing in the house, and +your mother _must_ have some more port." + +Milly was disconsolately thinking the question over, when she was roused +by Mrs. Robbins's well-known "rat-tat-tat" on the front door. She ran +out, hastily admitting the peddler, who soon perceived the state of +affairs by Milly's expression. The young girl tried to say, calmly, that +she had not the money. + +"Well," said Mrs. Robbins, "I'll hold off a day or two; but just you +read the paper you signed, and you'll see you agree to pay the full +amount if you miss a week--if the dress isn't fit to be took back." + +Mildred read the paper over and again when the woman was gone, and found +herself indeed bound to a very Shylock. "That dress is just like the +pound of flesh," she thought, as she sat in the dim light by her mother. +"Oh, why did I ever buy it; and who cared at Miss Jenner's what I wore!" + +The next week Mrs. Robbins made her appearance at the store on a day +when Mildred's peace of mind was so exhausted by home cares it was all +she could do to serve the most civil of customers. Milly contrived to +see her in the cloak-room, but the peddler refused to subdue her voice. + +"I can have fifty cents stopped out of your pay, and I _will_," she +said, resolutely. "I don't want anything but my rights." + +Mildred had not five cents to offer her. All her most earnest pleading +only induced Mrs. Robbins to defer what she called "proceedings" for +three days. In the mean time she resolved to call upon Miss Jenner. It +was late on the Friday evening before she got a chance to go to the +Brick House, and there the unwelcome news greeted her that Miss Jenner +had fallen a victim to the lung disease prevalent in Milltown. She was +leaving the house full of dejection, when to her horror she beheld the +tall, gaunt figure of Mrs. Robbins striding up the box-path from the +gate. Milly asked her to walk on with her. + +[Illustration: MILDRED AND THE WIDOW ROBBINS.] + +"No," said the woman, "here I am. I've followed you here, and here I +mean to have my say. Before next Tuesday I demand my money--twenty-two +dollars--or you shall hear from me in a way you least expect." + +It was nearly dark, but Milly could see the wicked expression on the +woman's face. She was faint and tired, and bitterly disappointed at not +seeing Miss Jenner, but she could not let the peddler see what she felt. + +"Very well," she answered, in a constrained voice, "I can try; but how I +am going to get twenty-two dollars is more than I can imagine. Oh, that +wretched gray silk dress!" she added. "If only it had not been spoiled +that first evening!" + +Mrs. Robbins walked out of the gate by her side, and down the road some +little distance, threatening Milly all the time as to what she _could_ +do, and what she _would_ do. Left alone, Milly hurried home, knowing +that she must before morning devise some means of raising the money. +Mrs. Robbins had said she would "look in" during the morning at the +store, and already Milly felt sure she had betrayed her secret to "Mr. +Tom." + +"Milly," Debby said, in a mournful tone, "I've been thinking we _must_ +part with something. Your mother's sinking for what we've no money to +pay for. I've seen you all in better days, lovey, and I'm as fond of +everything in the house as you are, but I see no way out of it. In fact, +I saw a man to-day--he's only waiting for your word--and he'll look over +the things in the parlor to-morrow." + +A lump rose and filled Milly's throat. Oh, if she were not burdened with +this miserable private debt, how easy it would seem even to ask a loan +from old Mr. Hardman! But no, the home necessities were by no means all. + +"Yes, yes, Debby," exclaimed Mildred, with a sudden rush of tears; "it +must be done--it must be done." + +When Milly returned the next evening from the store, the once cozy +parlor looked desolate enough. The heavy furniture was nearly all gone, +and the children clustered about her with an eager account of the man +who had carried the sofa and chairs and best table away in his cart. + +"Never mind," said Mildred, trying to be cheerful. "We must sit in the +dining-room. Besides, dears, think how ill mamma is." + +"Only forty dollars," whispered Deborah, "and I've paid out thirty of +it." + +So she could not even borrow part of that sum for her debt. Milly turned +away, and went into her mother's room, feeling faint, heart and body, +and there tried to find some consolation in reading aloud their usual +evening chapter; but all the time a sense of her own folly oppressed +her. Suffering from necessity she could have borne, but not that which +her own sin had brought upon her. + +Poor Mildred! she knelt at her mother's side, humbly praying, almost +aloud. On the next day she knew she must "settle" with the dreaded Widow +Robbins. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +THE TWO BEARS. + +BY FRANK BELLEW. + + +The snow was on the ground--the lovely white snow, the peaceful snow, +which covered the country landscape with billows of alabaster. In the +distance the feathery woods made a purple fringe between the earth and +sky, while in the foreground a crinkled rail fence ran irregularly along +the side of the country road, and near it stood a splotch of red and +black, the only marked color in the whole landscape. The red and black +was crying bitterly, for the red and black represented a little girl +with a scarlet hood, and crimson stockings, and a bundle of books. She +was on her way to school, and in great grief. + +While she still stood by the fence, sobbing, a black object appeared +over the brow of the hill, and slowly moved toward the foreground, +until, pausing in front of the weeping child, it stood, as jolly, as +genial, as comfortable an old gentleman as ever wore broadcloth. + +"Why, what is the matter, little one?" he asked, in a kindly voice. + +The child looked up into the pleasant face and answered: + +"They are always worrying me at home; they are always taking my things, +and when I ask for them they get mad, and if I take any of their things, +they come and take them away, and then if I don't like it, they tell +mother; and oh! I declare it's too mean for anything. It wasn't her +doll, anyway, for Cousin May left it behind, and she didn't give it to +anybody, and she'd had it all day; and then she took my sun-shade, and +broke the hook off, and because I asked her for it she got mad and +wanted the doll, and it wasn't her doll, and then mother made me give it +up, and I think it's real mean--that's just what I think it is." + +"Well, well, well, that was too bad. I think it _was_ real mean myself," +said the old gentleman. "But I tell you what you should do--you should +keep two bears, as I do, and then you would be happy all the time." + +"Two bears?" ejaculated the little girl, opening her large round blue +eyes. + +"Yes, two bears. We have two bears up at my house, and they make us so +happy!" + +"Don't they bite?" + +"Oh no, they don't bite a mite." + +"But they growl, don't they?" + +"Oh, no, no; they don't growl either. But if you like to come home with +me, I will show them to you." + +In an instant the little girl's hand was in that of the old gentleman, +and they were trotting along the road side by side. There was something +so kind and gentle and yet so jovial in his manner that it never entered +her head to be afraid of him. After turning down one road and up +another, and walking about a mile altogether, they at last came to a +long low house, with large windows, which were filled with bright +flowers, and draped with red curtains, and in every window hung a +bird-cage with some strange or beautiful bird. + +A number of children came running out of the house, crying, "Oh, papa! +papa! here's papa!" as they gathered round him, clinging to his arms. + +"Children," he said, "I have brought a little stranger to visit you. I +do not know her name, but I am sure you will be kind to her, and show +her the two bears, which I have promised she should see." + +They entered a large, comfortable sitting-room, hung round with pictures +and bird-cages; in the centre was a long table covered with books, and +on each side of the fire-place, in a big easy-chair, sat a great rough +bear; one was brown, and the other was black. + +The old gentleman led the little girl up to the brown bear, and said, +"Brown Bear, here is a little girl who is very miserable. I have told +her that you and Black Bear have made us all so happy, and that perhaps +you can help her to be happy too." + +Brown Bear gave a good-humored sort of sniff, and put his big paw gently +on the head of the little stranger. + +"What is your name, child?" asked the gentleman: "you have not told me +that yet." + +"Frances Louisa Caroline Bounce, but they call me Fanny. What a nice +bear! Will he be angry if I feel his fur?" + +"No, indeed, not even though you rub it the wrong way." + +After she was introduced to both bears, she played with the children, +Carry and Sarah, George and Philip, and then they all went into another +room to dinner. On their way, however, Philip, who had a long switch, +with which he had been amusing himself, persisted in tickling the back +of his sister Sarah's ear with it, until she grew out of patience, and, +turning round, told him, rather sharply, to stop; but Philip, who was +only in fun, seemed somewhat nettled at being scolded, and was just on +the point of repeating the offense, when Black Bear, who was walking +behind, put his paw gently on his shoulder, while at the same moment +Brown Bear took Sarah by the arm and led her into the dining-room. +Philip threw away his switch, both burst into a merry laugh, and sat +down to the table with smiling faces. During the dinner both bears kept +walking round the table, looking so kind and gentle that they seemed to +put every one in good-humor. When Carry upset a tumbler of water over +Sarah's frock, Brown Bear immediately picked it up, while Carry begged +pardon, and Sarah laughed. When George was going to tell some little +tale _out of school_ about Philip, Black Bear put his big paw in front +of his mouth, and George stopped at once. + +[Illustration: THE CHILDREN AND THEIR BEARS.] + +After dinner they all went out into the snow to have some coasting down +a hill close to the house. Both the boys had sleds, but Philip's was a +bright new one, while George's was old and rather clumsy. Philip had +been saving up his money for some time to buy this treasure, and was +very proud of it; therefore when George seized his new sled and ran off +with it, he called after him with some anger to bring it back, and not +to use it; but George had reached the top of the hill, and had just +planted the sled, ready to start down hill, when Brown Bear came to the +side of the angry Philip, and touched him with his paw. Phil's manner +and voice changed at once, as he called out, "Well, brother George, you +can use my sled, and I'll use yours." But Black Bear had reached the top +of the hill nearly as soon as George, and with his great big paw patted +him on the back, and grunted something in his ear. George took up the +sled very quietly, and carried it back to his brother, saying, "I am +sorry, Phil; here is your sled." + +After that all was fun, tumbles, and laughter, the two bears joining in +it as actively and enjoying it just as much as the children. In fact, +the bears seemed to make the whole party happy. At last it became time +for Frances Louisa Caroline Bounce to go home. She felt sad at the +thought of leaving the bears, and of going to her own home, where there +were no bears at all. + +"Well," said the old gentleman, "how do you like our bears, Fanny?" + +"Oh, I think they are just too splendid for anything. I wish we had a +bear, even if it was only a little one." + +"Well, you can easily have bears. All children can have them if they +like. Perhaps you would be obliged to begin with young ones; but then +they would be sure to grow up if you only took care of them." + +"Oh, dear, dear! is that really so?" cried Fanny, in an ecstasy. + +"Yes, my child, it is really so; every one can have two bears in his or +her house, like mine. But do you know what we call those bears which +make us all so happy? BEAR and FORBEAR." + +"BEAR and FORBEAR!" echoed Fanny. "Oh, I will try to get two of those +bears in our house, and if they are ever so weak and sickly, I will feed +them and nurse them till they grow big and strong like yours." + +Fanny trotted home with the old gentleman, and told her brothers and +sisters everything about the two good-natured bears; and they all agreed +that they would try to raise a pair like them. + +I am happy to add that Fanny and her family have a pair of very +promising young bears, which already afford them a great deal of +happiness, and bid fair in the future to be fine healthy animals. + + + + +[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX] + + + NEW YORK CITY. + + I am making a steam-engine according to the directions given in + YOUNG PEOPLE No. 49. I have just soldered on the lid, and have made + the hole for the water to be let into the engine. I hope to finish + it soon. I am eight years old. I go to school, and I like YOUNG + PEOPLE very much. I like to read the letters from the children, so + I thought I would send one, and thank the "Professor" for writing + about the steam-engine. + + JOHN A. J. + + * * * * * + + CRESCO, IOWA. + + I have just commenced taking YOUNG PEOPLE, and we all like it very + much. The story of "Paul Grayson" was splendid, but I think "Toby + Tyler" is the best of all. My brother Charlie and I each have an + Indian pony. Charlie's pony has been trained by the Indians to + stand wherever you leave her, without being tied. And if any one is + riding her and falls off, no matter how fast she is going, she will + stop, and not move one step farther until her rider mounts again. + My pony throws me over her head sometimes, but she will not stop + until she gets to the barn. + + ALLIE C. + + * * * * * + + NACOOCHEE, GEORGIA. + + I send an experiment for the chemistry club. To make cyanogen gas + the apparatus necessary is this: one test-tube, a cork, six inches + of glass tube one-quarter of an inch in diameter, an alcohol lamp, + and a round file. Now hold the glass tube over the flame of the + lamp until the glass is soft, when by pulling it apart you will + have two tubes, with one end of each drawn to a fine point. Break + off the point of one, and you will have a tiny jet. Make a hole in + the cork just large enough for the large end of the tube to go + into. Put into the test-tube as much cyanide of mercury as will lie + on the point of a penknife. Fit the cork tightly in the test-tube. + Wave the test-tube over the flame of the lamp for five or ten + minutes, and then apply a lighted match to the jet, when the gas + will burn with a bluish flame. Pour some melted tallow or bees-wax + over the cork to keep the gas from escaping before reaching the + jet. + + JOHN R. G. + + * * * * * + + NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. + + I read the letters in the Post-office Box with so much pleasure! I + have every number of YOUNG PEOPLE. All my young friends that read + it like it very much. We have formed a juvenile club, and I am + president. Reading YOUNG PEOPLE is a part of our programme. + + RANDOLPH H. + + * * * * * + + SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. + + I thought I would write and tell you about our club. It is called + the "Silver Crescent Dramatic Club." We were going to call it + "Golden Crescent," but when the club gets a little richer it is + going to buy some medals for each member to wear; they will be the + shape of a crescent, and if they had to be of gold, they would cost + more than silver ones. We meet once every week, and make by-laws + and suggestions, and vote on them, and we rehearse. We also have a + monthly paper; it is called "The Monthly Crescent." Of course it is + not printed, and we have only one copy. Each member edits it in + turn, and the others send in contributions. Everything has to be + original. The paper is read at every fourth meeting. + + We charge five cents to join the club, and every two months each + member has to pay five cents dues. New members are voted for, and + the majority rules. We have five officers--a president, + vice-president, treasurer, secretary, and stage-manager. I am the + secretary. + + We prepared a grand entertainment for the Christmas holidays. It + was a tragedy in three acts. I arranged it. In the first part of + _Little Women_, by Miss Alcott, they had a play called the + "Witch's Curse." Only the plot was given. I took it and made up + the dialogue, added some more characters, and changed it to make + it turn out differently. It makes a very nice little play. + + IDA B. D. + + * * * * * + + ARGENTA, ILLINOIS. + + I am a little girl ten years old. I think YOUNG PEOPLE is a very + nice paper. My sister and I go to school. We have a very nice + teacher. I like to go very much. We study pieces from YOUNG PEOPLE + to speak in school. My teacher says all little boys and girls ought + to take it. + + MINNIE S. + + * * * * * + + DOWNIEVILLE, CALIFORNIA. + + I thought I would try to describe a trip I took with auntie to a + little town called Eureka. After a short ride we came to the main + trail leading from Downieville to the northern part of Sierra + County. The trail winds in and out, following every curve and bend + of the mountain. In some places it is quite steep, and in others + almost level. How tired I was when we got to Eureka, having been + two hours in the saddle! When we reached the ridge, we heard some + one playing on some instrument, and it sounded so sweet that we + stopped a few minutes to listen to it. + + Uncle tells me that Eureka used to be quite a large place, with + hotels, stores, private houses, a school-house, and a Masonic + Hall; but now it consists of only half a dozen dwellings and the + school-house. + + A little girl has written to YOUNG PEOPLE that she found two peach + blossoms in September, and she wants to know if any other little + girl has found any so late. Now I want to know if any little girl + or boy has ever picked ripe peaches near the 13th of November, as + I have. + + MARY A. R. + + * * * * * + + VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI. + + I have only been taking HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE a short time, but I + think it is a very nice little paper. I saw that one of the little + girls said that she had seen a peach blossom in September. Here we + often have figs in December. + + LILY V. F. + + * * * * * + + BROOKLYN, LONG ISLAND. + + I am eleven years old; but my eyes are not strong, and mamma has + not thought it best to send me to school till this fall, so that I + can not write very well. I would like to tell Reba H. that there + were apple blossoms on our tree in Oil City, Pennsylvania, in + September, 1879. + + WINIFRED C. + + * * * * * + + BATH, NEW HAMPSHIRE. + + I have just finished the embroidery of Fig. 12 in YOUNG PEOPLE No. + 59. I received the paper Tuesday night, and if I had had all the + crewels, I could have finished it on Thursday. But I had to send to + Boston for some of them, and wait nearly four days before they + came. + + The day I began the embroidery mamma went up garret, and found an + old quilt of my grandmother's, all embroidered with the same + stitch. I have done a table-cover in the South Kensington stitch, + but I think the New England stitch is prettier, easier, and takes + less time. + + I did pattern No. 12 on a bureau-cover of Russian crash. I am very + glad you print the articles on embroidery. They are a great help. + I enjoy fancy-work very much, and do a great deal of it. I was + fourteen last July. + + HELEN C. + +This is the first report on embroidery, and, according to promise, the +old embroidery pattern has been sent to the writer. + + * * * * * + + SULLIVAN, INDIANA. + + I am almost eight years old. I do not go to school. I have two + little sisters. My papa prints a newspaper. I take YOUNG PEOPLE, + and I think it is the best paper in the world, except papa's. I get + papa to read it to me, and then I send it to a little boy who has + no money to buy it. + + HARALD C. H. + + * * * * * + + EAST CANAAN, NEW HAMPSHIRE. + + I am only six years old, but I can read all the stories in YOUNG + PEOPLE alone. I have some very playful kittens, and one night they + tipped over the big rocking-chair. I had six white geese, but one + died. + + LESTER O. B. + + * * * * * + + PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY. + + I am ten years old. I have two pretty kittens, exactly alike. They + are yellow and white. The other day I got a pretty dove from the + dove-house, and kept him in a large cage; but I felt sorry for him, + and one day opened the window and let him out. He flew to the top + of the carriage-house, and all of the doves came to meet him and + kept flying around him. I like HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE so much that I + can not wait patiently until it comes. + + WILLIE G. + + * * * * * + + FOSTER BROOK, PENNSYLVANIA. + + I am spending the winter very pleasantly out among the Red Rock + Mountains. Our cottage is in a valley, surrounded by high hills, + which are covered with wintergreen berries from one year's end to + another. During the winter months the berries swell very large, and + they are delicious fruit in the spring. There is a great deal of + iron ore here, and also a great deal of snow. We live in a very + small house, with only four rooms; but, for all that, it is very + cozy. I look forward with much pleasure every week for the coming + of YOUNG PEOPLE. + + M. ADA T. + + * * * * * + + CLANTON, ALABAMA. + + My brother and I take YOUNG PEOPLE, and like it very much. We had a + pet 'coon, which got very thirsty one day, and crawled into our big + glass water-pitcher head first. After helping himself to water, he + turned round in the pitcher, and came out again. Afterward the cat + killed him. + + ST. CLAIR T. + + * * * * * + + BROOKHAVEN, MISSISSIPPI. + + My papa takes HARPER'S MAGAZINE, and I take YOUNG PEOPLE, which I + like very much, especially the letters written by the children. I + wish all the boys and girls in the South could get your paper. + + I am eight years old, and go to school. There is a great deal of + cotton shipped from here to New Orleans, and a great deal of + lumber to St. Louis and Chicago. I have two little sisters younger + than I. + + ARCHIE MCM. + + * * * * * + + WINDSOR HEIGHTS, MARYLAND. + + I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE since the story called "Who was Paul + Grayson?" began. My brother and I have for pets a flock of pigeons, + which are quite tame, two pair of rabbits, and two dogs, named + "Duke" and "Terry." Duke will go into the corn-patch, select a soft + ear of corn, and husk and eat it. He sometimes goes to the + blackberry bushes, and holds down a branch with one paw while he + eats the berries. He is also very fond of persimmons. + + JAMES S. + + * * * * * + + MOBERLY, MISSOURI. + + I will send a nice recipe for ice-cream in the winter. Take a + glassful of snow, and put in just enough cream to make it thick, + with some sugar, and just a little extract of vanilla or lemon. My + brother and I have ice-cream all summer, and winter too. I am nine + years old. + + MAGGIE B. + + * * * * * + +Pearl A. Hare, of Lynchburg, Harris County, Texas, accidentally omitted +the little word "for" in her letter published in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 56, +which made her appear to offer birds' eggs and postage stamps for +exchange, when she wished to obtain them in exchange for Texas snail +shells. Our readers will please note the correction. + + * * * * * + + I am a boy eleven years old. I was born in Cairo, Egypt, and came + to America in 1876. I am living on a farm now, and like it very + much. + + I have some Egyptian stamps I would like to exchange for any other + foreign stamps. + + AMBROSE STRANG, Lincoln, Tennessee. + + * * * * * + +The following exchanges are also offered by correspondents: + + Postmarks. + + M. P. RICH, + 50 West Thirty-eighth Street, New York City. + + * * * * * + + German postage stamps for any other foreign stamps. + + MAUDE BUCKNER, + 1208 Russell Street, Covington, Ky. + + * * * * * + + Postage stamps and postmarks for foreign postage stamps and coin. + + S. NEW, + 127 East Sixty-ninth Street, New York City. + + * * * * * + + Postmarks for postage stamps. + + THOMAS K. DURHAM, + P. O. Box 735, New York City. + + * * * * * + + Postmarks and War Department stamps for stamps and monograms. + + CAMPBELL T. HAMILTON, + Fort Preble, Portland, Maine. + + * * * * * + + Shells for Indian relics, shells, ore, or petrified wood. + + HENRY SCOTT, + 20 Patchen Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. + + * * * * * + + Postmarks for postmarks and stamps. + + AL. E. BARKER, + P. O. Box 115, Judsonia, White County, Ark. + + * * * * * + + Foreign postage stamps for minerals, fossils, shells, sea-weed, or + birds' eggs. + + LOUIS D. ORRISON, + Care of Abernathy, North, & Orrison, + Kansas City, Missouri. + + * * * * * + + Southern moss for a Chinese coin or any old relic. + + DAISY ROLLINS, + P. O. Box 186, Columbus, Missouri. + + * * * * * + + Twenty-five postmarks for two rare stamps. + + W. W. ELHOSE, + 22 Brill Street, Newark, N. J. + + * * * * * + + Foreign postage stamps or postmarks for all kinds of United States + internal revenue stamps. + + GEORGE WELLS, + P. O. Box 466, New York City. + + * * * * * + + Curiosities, postage stamps, or sea-shells for curiosities. Or + thirty postmarks for five birds' eggs. No duplicates. + + HARRY MADISON, + 206 Stockton Street, San Francisco, California. + + * * * * * + + One hundred postage stamps for ten coins, or for ten birds' eggs. + No duplicates. + + FRANK KNOX, + 2318 Third Avenue, New York City. + + * * * * * + + Minerals, fossils, rare stamps, or monograms for coats of arms, + crests, and monograms. + + A READER OF "YOUNG PEOPLE," + Lock Box 42, + Little Falls, Herkimer County, N. Y. + + * * * * * + + California curiosities, shells, or minerals for old or rare + American coins. + + C. W., JUN., + P. O. Box 2305, San Francisco, California. + + * * * * * + + Foreign stamps for postmarks and postal cards. Postmarks must be + cut square. + + C. S. PETRASCH, + 13 West Thirty-second Street, New York City. + + * * * * * + + Two fine specimens of Southern fern, or some evening-glory seeds, + for United States postage stamps. + + EMMA BRUFF, + 238 Felicity Street, New Orleans, La. + + * * * * * + + Postage stamps. + + HAWLEY WEBSTER, + 394 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn, Long Island. + + * * * * * + + Postmarks. + + LOUIS GIBBS, + Care of J. J. Carter, Titusville, Penn. + + * * * * * + +C. H. L.--The old scrip which you inclose is probably a genuine +five-franc _assignat_, as the paper money was called which was first +issued by the French government in 1790, and afterward by the +Revolutionary authorities. It was based on the security of the public +domain, consisting of the confiscated estates of the Church and wealthy +exiles. The value of these assignats, which were issued to the amount of +45,578,000,000 francs, declined rapidly after the reign of terror. In +the summer of 1793, one franc in silver was worth three francs in paper. +Three years later, one franc in gold was worth three hundred francs in +paper, although the government, in order to check this depreciation, had +passed a law to regulate the price of commodities. + +The inscription on your assignat shows that it was issued in October or +November, 1793, the second year of the French Republic. The lettering in +the corners proclaims death to any one who should dare to counterfeit +the assignat. The _livre_, which name appears on the scrip, was a French +coin about the value of a franc, by which it was superseded in 1795. +Eighty francs were equal in value to eighty-one livres. + +If you examine your assignat carefully you will see to the left the dim +and faded stamp of the figure of Liberty, and if you have a strong +magnifying-glass, you can amuse yourself by trying to make out the +lettering around it. This little scrap of coarse paper, not quite a +hundred years old, may incite you to read the story of the terrible time +of which it is a relic. If you are not old enough to enjoy Carlyle's +_History of the French Revolution_, you will find the scenes vividly +portrayed in Charles Dickens's _Tale of Two Cities_, and Victor Hugo's +novel entitled "'93." + + * * * * * + +HENRY H. T.--Your proposal to found a Natural History Society, composed +of contributors to HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, is hardly practical. The +exchange of specimens, etc., would be dilatory and difficult, as our +contributors are scattered over the whole continent. Local societies of +the kind you mean might be formed to advantage, and the officers of +different associations could correspond with each other, and exchange +views and information. + + * * * * * + +L. M. F. AND L. L. P.--Your plan for a reading and debating club is +excellent, and if well carried out must have good results. You will find +suggestions that may be useful in some remarks appended to a letter from +Violet S. in HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE No. 53, and also in a book called +_Stories of the Sea_, noticed in No. 61. We would advise you not to +waste your time over fourth-rate literature (to which the books you +mention belong), but to select the best authors, whose works will not +only entertain but instruct you. An excellent guide for you would be +William Swinton's _Masterpieces of English Literature_, recently +published by Harper & Brothers. + + * * * * * + +VIOLET S.--Your account of the proceedings of your society is not full +enough. Can you not favor us with a sprightly description of what is +done and said at your meetings, instead of giving the "order of +exercises" merely? + + * * * * * + +JOHN N. H.--Either hickory or sassafras wood is good material for bows. + + * * * * * + +HELEN G.--How to make the "Wiggles" was fully explained at the end of +the Post-office Box in No. 51 of YOUNG PEOPLE. + + * * * * * + +R. T. F.--Amber is not, as you suppose, made from "the sap of a tree in +South Africa," but is a fossil resin from several species of coniferous +or cone-bearing trees of a very remote geological period. More than 800 +species of insects have been found preserved in amber, and leaves of 160 +species of plants. Fine pieces of amber are very highly prized, and are +sometimes worth more than their weight in gold. The largest mass known +is in Berlin, Prussia. It weighs eighteen pounds, and is valued at +$30,000. Amber is extensively used for ornaments, the mouth-pieces of +pipes, etc. You may be able to procure a piece of some manufacturer of +meerschaum pipes. + +The ancients prized amber very highly, and it was an important article +of commerce in early times. From the fact that it is found in large +quantities in the remains of the lake-villages of Switzerland, we know +that it must have been an article of exchange in prehistoric times. + + * * * * * + +FLOY.--If you have any pressed flowers, leaves, or other pretty objects +which can be sent easily by mail, we have no doubt some of our readers +would be glad to send you postage stamps in exchange for them. You can +put your offer in the Post-office Box. + + * * * * * + +JESSE H., JUN.--The English noun envelop, as well as the verb, is +accented on the second syllable. The French form of the word, +_envelope_, has an even accent on the three syllables. Our word is +derived from the French. + + * * * * * + +JEAN C. P.--Please give the name of the county in which the town of +Warren, where you live, is situated. There are several towns of that +name in Ohio, and correspondents will not know where to address you +unless the county is given also. + + * * * * * + +FORD D. LYON.--The controversy about the origin of the phrase, +"Consistency, thou art a jewel," has not been satisfactorily settled. +The saying has been floating about for a great many years, but no one +has been able to find out who started it on its travels. + + * * * * * + +GRACE.--The _ü_ in Olmütz is sounded like the French _u_, very difficult +to catch without the aid of a teacher. You can come very near it by +pronouncing the vowel _o_ and changing to _e_ without altering the +position of the lips. + + * * * * * + +C. G. G.--The time required for the transmission of a signal through the +Atlantic cable varies according to the condition of the batteries. A +dispatch has been sent from New York to London and the answer received +within an hour. + + * * * * * + +JAMES MCK.--No charge is made in the matter about which you ask. + + * * * * * + +SALLIE K., Cincinnati, Ohio.--The name of the street in which you live +is so obscurely written that we can not make it out. Write it very +plainly, and we will print your request. + + * * * * * + +DAISY R.--Send enough to make a pretty wreath. + + * * * * * + +JENNIE S. M.--A very good recipe for butterscotch was given in a letter +from Kittie G. in the Post-office Box of YOUNG PEOPLE No. 37. + + * * * * * + +HENRY C. D.--Glass for windows was made during the Middle Ages in all +European countries. In England glass-painting for windows was practiced +in 1338. Some splendid windows of York Cathedral were painted at that +period by John Thornton, of Coventry. In the fifteenth century English +window-glass was more expensive than any other kind of glass. The +Egyptians made glass at a very early period of their national existence. +Paintings representing glass-blowers making a very large vase show that +nearly 4000 years ago the Egyptians were far advanced in this art. + + * * * * * + +Favors are acknowledged from Garrett Waggener, Bertha Herron, C. C. +Shelley, Jun., Stella Pratt, George W. Taymun, Flora C. B., Mabel White, +Alice Brown, J. W. Menefee, Orrie H. Clark, Shelton H. Hibbs, H. H. J., +S. H. R., W. H. Scherzer, Carrie and Belle N., Albert Woolley, B. D. +Ellis, C. G. Myers, B. Tompkins, E. Fay Stevens, H. McIlvain, Frank A. +Harmony, Annie S. and Bennie C. Duffie, F. H. Kellogg, Everett Jones, +Lewis B. Frazier, Lyman Perley, Sidney J. Carson, Katie Dale, Louis +Mareé, Tamar Love, Thomas Buford, Fredy Leser. + + * * * * * + +Correct answers to puzzles are received from C. H. McB., Hugh Pilcairn, +Thomas Cook, George Dudley Kyte, "Lone Star," Harry and Isobel Jacob. + + * * * * * + +PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS. + +No. 1. + +WORD SQUARES--(_To Owlet_). + +1. First, a piece of ordnance formerly used for blowing up barricades +and other defensive works. Second, a female name. Third, to feel a +sharp, pricking sensation. Fourth, a state in Africa. Fifth, part of a +printing-press. Sixth, having a melancholy appearance. + + ZELOTES. + +2. First, to disturb. Second, to weaken. Third, a Turkish coin. Fourth, +absent without leave. Fifth, to show clearly. Sixth, leased. + + BOLUS. + + * * * * * + +No. 2. + +DIAMOND. + +A letter. A small vessel. A hut. A celebration. A guide. A snare. A +letter. + + WENNIE. + + * * * * * + +No. 3. + +DOUBLE ACROSTIC. + +An ensign. A boy's name. A wonder. Finished. Answer.--Two things to gain +which men often make great sacrifices and devote all their energies. + + LONE STAR. + + * * * * * + +No. 4. + +ENIGMA. + + First in sieve, not in pail. + Second in rum, not in ale. + Third in calf, not in ox. + Fourth in cat, not in fox. + Fifth in rude, not in kind. + Sixth in brain, not in mind. + Seventh in wheat, not in hay. + The whole a savage bird of prey. + + OSCAR. + + * * * * * + +No. 5. + +ACROSTIC. + +Place seven divisions of the United States in such order that, their +initials read downward spell the name of another. + + BOLUS. + + + + +NEW BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS. + + +A book of good songs for children is a household treasure. There is no +prettier sight than to see brothers and sisters gathered around the +piano during a long winter evening, mamma or the eldest sister playing +the accompaniment and leading in the singing, while sweet childish +voices fill the room with melody. _A Book of Rhymes and Tunes_[1] +contains more than a hundred pretty songs suitable for these household +conceits. Some of the melodies are new, others familiar, but all are +re-arranged and written in low keys to suit children's voices. Simple +accompaniments are given, such as can be easily understood by a young +pianist, and many songs have both English and German or French words. +The melodies are exceedingly attractive, and are such as will cultivate +good musical taste in youthful musicians. + + * * * * * + +_Zigzag Journeys in Classic Lands_[2] is a handsomely bound and well +illustrated volume, from which young readers can learn a great many +things about the history, legends, and present appearance of Spain, +Italy, Greece, and some other European countries. This book is written +in a chatty, familiar style, and the information given by the teacher to +the class of boys who are travelling under his care is of the kind to +especially interest boys and girls. + + * * * * * + +The fun and frolic of _Five Little Mice in a Mouse-Trap_,[3] as told by +the Man in the Moon, will be a source of delight to many other little +"mice." Nibble, Brighteyes, Fluff, Puff, and Downy, the baby, are real, +living children. They chase butterflies and bees up and down in the +"mouse-trap" garden, play with dolls and dogs and kittens, and have a +splendid time. Uncle Jack is the best of uncles, and the Man in the Moon +a constant friend. The story of the Mice is beautifully illustrated with +drawings by Kate Greenaway, Addie Ledyard, and others. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _A Book of Rhymes and Tunes_. Compiled and arranged by MARGARET +PEARMAIN OSGOOD. Translations by LOUISA Y. CRAIGIN. 8vo, pp. 128. +Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co. + +[2] _Zigzag Journeys in Classic Lands; or, Tommy Toby's Trip to Mount +Parnassus_. By HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH. Illustrated. 8vo, pp. 318. Boston: +Estes & Lauriat. + +[3] _Five Little Mice in a Mouse-Trap, by the Man in the Moon_. By LAURA +E. RICHARDS. Illustrated. 8vo, pp. 228. Boston: Estes & Lauriat. + + + + +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, title-page, and index +for Volume I., 35 cents; postage, 13 cents additional. + + HARPER & BROTHERS, + Franklin Square, N. Y. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE FATE OF MR. BROWN. + + Mr. Brown, from Boston, + Never was quite pleased; + He visited a country friend, + And fretted, frowned, and teased. + + "The birds sing so loudly," + Such was his complaint; + "The fowls are so noisy-- + Teach them some restraint. + + "A hen should lay eggs + And cackling forego, + And cocks in the morning + More musically crow. + + "But the-world is all wrong, + I'll go back to town;" + _And here the earth opened_, + _And swallowed Mr. Brown_. + + + + +HATTY IN A FRIGHT. + + + As Hatty tripped along the stair + Lightly ran a rat behind her; + Hatty screamed, I do declare, + Till we had to seize and bind her. + + + + +HASTY WIN. + + + A terrible Turk, with a gay turbaned head, + His brow puckered up in a crease, + Bends over a kettle of simmering red.-- + "Fly, Johnny, and call the police. + + "Some mischief he's cooking; just look at him grin: + A prison is what he deserves." + "You goose of a boy, ridiculous Win, + _He is making rose preserves_." + + + + +DOLLY'S ENDING. + + + The night she should have been a bride, + That night my precious dolly--_died_. + In a robe of spangled gold + Hide her from the sunshine bold, + The fleet beauty of a rose + Marking the spot of her repose. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, January 11, 1881, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44652 *** |