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diff --git a/56677-0.txt b/56677-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f90f8f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/56677-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2045 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 56677 *** + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE] + + * * * * * + +VOL. III.--NO. 127. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR +CENTS. + +Tuesday, April 4, 1882. Copyright, 1882, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 per +Year, in Advance. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration] + +MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER + +BY JAMES OTIS, + +AUTHOR OF "TOBY TYLER," "TIM AND TIP," ETC. + +CHAPTER I. + +THE SCHEME. + + +"Why, we could start a circus jest as easy as a wink, Toby, 'cause you +know all about one; an' all you'd have to do would be to tell us fellers +what to do, an' we'd 'tend to the rest." + +"Yes; but you see we hain't got a tent, or hosses, or wagons, or +nothin', an' I don't see how you could get a circus up that way;" and +the speaker hugged his knees as he rocked himself to and fro in a musing +way on the rather sharp point of a large rock, on which he had seated +himself in order to hear what his companion had to say that was so +important. + +"Will you come down with me to Bob Atwood's, an' see what he says about +it?" + +"Yes, I'll do that if you'll come out afterward for a game of I-spy +round the meetin'-house." + +"All right; if we can find enough of the other fellers, I will." + +Then the boys slipped down from the rocks, found the cows, and drove +them home as the preface to their visit to Bob Atwood's. + +The boy who was so anxious to start a circus was a little fellow with +such a wonderful amount of remarkably red hair that he was seldom called +anything but Reddy, although his name was known--by his parents, at +least--to be Walter Grant. His companion was Toby Tyler, a boy who, a +year before, had thought it would be a very pleasant thing to run away +from his uncle Daniel and the town of Guilford in order to be with a +circus, and who, in ten weeks, was only too glad to run back home as +rapidly as possible. + +During the first few months after his return many brilliant offers had +been made Toby by his companions to induce him to aid them in starting +an amateur circus; but he had refused to have anything to do with the +schemes, and for several reasons. During the ten weeks he had been away +he had seen quite as much of a circus life as he cared to see, without +even such a mild dose as this amateur show would be; and again, whenever +he thought of the matter, the remembrance of the death of his monkey, +Mr. Stubbs, would come upon him so vividly, and cause him so much +sorrow, that he resolutely put the matter from his mind. + +Now, however, it had been a year since the monkey was killed; school had +closed during the summer season; and he was rather more disposed to +listen to the requests of his friends. On this particular night Reddy +Grant had offered to go with him for the cows--an act of generosity +which Toby accounted for only on the theory that Reddy wanted some of +the strawberries which grew so plentifully in Uncle Daniel's pasture. +But when they arrived there the strawberries were neglected for the +circus question; and Toby then showed he was at least willing to talk +about it. + +There was no doubt that Bob Atwood knew Reddy was going to try to induce +Toby to help start a circus, and Bob knew also that Reddy and Toby would +visit him, although he appeared very much surprised when he saw them +coming up the hill toward his house. He was at home, evidently waiting +for something, at an hour when all the other boys were out playing; and +that in itself would have made Toby suspicious if he had paid much +attention to the matter. + +Bob was perfectly willing to talk about a circus--so willing, that, +almost before Toby was aware of it, he was laying plans with the others +for such a show as could be given with the material at hand. + +"You see, we'd have to get a tent the first thing," said Toby, as he +seated himself on the saw-horse as a sort of place of honor, and +proceeded to give his companions the benefit of his experience in the +circus line. "I s'pose we could get along without a fat woman or a +skeleton; but we'd have to have the tent anyway, so's folks couldn't +look right in an' see the show for nothin'." + +Reddy had decided some time before how that trifling matter could be +arranged. In fact, he had spent several sleepless nights thinking it +over, and as he went industriously to work making shavings out of a +portion of a shingle he said: + +"I've got all that settled, Toby; an' when you say you're willin' to go +ahead an' fix up the show, I'll be on hand with a tent that'll make your +eyes stick out over a foot." + +Bob nodded his head to show he was convinced Reddy could do just as he +had promised; but Toby was anxious for more particulars, and insisted on +knowing where this very necessary portion of a circus was coming from. + +"You see, a tent is a big thing," he said, seriously, "an' it would cost +more money than the fellers in this town could raise if they should pick +all the strawberries in Uncle Dan'l's pasture." + +"Oh, I don't say as the tent Reddy's got his eye on is a reg'lar one +like a real circus has," said Bob, slowly and candidly, as he began to +draw on the side of the wood-shed a picture of what he probably intended +should represent a horse; "but he knows how he can rig one up that'll be +big enough, an' look stavin'." + +With this information Toby was obliged to be satisfied, and with the +view of learning more of the details, in case his companions had +arranged for them, he asked: + +"Where you goin' to get the company--the folks that ride, an' turn +hand-springs, an' all them things?" + +"Ben Cushing can turn twice as many hand-springs as any feller you ever +saw, an' he can walk on his hands twice round the engine-house. I guess +you couldn't find many circuses that could beat him, an' he's been +practicing in his barn all the chance he could get for more'n a week." + +Without intending to do so, Bob had thus let the secret out that the +scheme had already been talked up before Toby was consulted, and then +there was no longer any reason for concealment. + +"You see, we thought we'd kinder get things fixed," said Reddy, quickly, +anxious to explain away the seeming deception he had been guilty of, +"an' we wouldn't say anything to you till we knew whether we could get +one up or not." + +"An' we're goin' to ask three cents to come in, an' lots of the fellers +have promised to buy tickets if we'll let 'em do some of the ridin', or +else lead the hosses." + +"But how are you goin' to get any hosses?" asked Toby, thoroughly +surprised at the way in which the scheme had already been developed. + +"Reddy can get Jack Douglass's blind one, an' we can train him so's +he'll go 'round the ring all right, an' your uncle Dan'l will let you +have his old white one that's lame, if you ask him. I ain't sure but I +can get one of Chandler Merrill's ponies," continued Bob, now so excited +by his subject that he left his picture while it was yet a three-legged +horse, and stood in front of his friends; "an' if we could sell tickets +enough, we could hire one of Rube Rowe's hosses for you to ride." + +"An' Bob's goin' to be the clown, an' his mother's goin' to make him a +suit of clothes out of one of his grandmother's curtains," added Reddy, +as he snapped an imaginary whip with so many unnecessary flourishes that +he tumbled over the saw-horse, thereby mixing a large quantity of +sawdust in his brilliantly colored hair. + +"An' Reddy's goin' to be ring-master," explained Bob, as he assisted his +friend to rise, and acted the part of Good Samaritan by trying to get +the sawdust from his hair with a curry-comb. "Joe Robinson says he'll +sell tickets, an' 'tend the door, an' hold the hoops for you to jump +through." + +"Leander Leighton's goin' to be the band. He's got a pair of clappers; +an' Mrs. Doak's goin' to show him how to play on the accordion with one +finger, so's he'll know how to make an awful lot of noise," said Reddy, +as he gave up the task of extracting the sawdust, and devoted his entire +attention to the scheme. + +"An' we can have some animals," said Bob, with the air of one who adds +the crowning glory to some brilliant work. + +Toby had been surprised at the resources of the town for a circus, of +which he had not even dreamed; and at Bob's last remark he left his +saw-horse seat, as if to enable him to hear more distinctly. + +"Yes," continued Bob, "we can get a good many of some kinds. Old Mrs. +Simpson has got a three-legged cat with four kittens, an' Ben Cushing +has got a hen that crows; an' we can take my calf for a grizzly bear, +an' Jack Havener's two lambs for white bears. I've caught six mice, an' +I'll have more'n a dozen before the show comes off; an' Reddy's goin' to +bring his cat that ain't got any tail. Leander Leighton's goin' to bring +four of his rabbits, an' make believe they're wolves; an' Joe Robinson's +goin' to catch all the squirrels he can--we'll have the largest for +foxes, an' the smallest for hyenas; an' Joe'll keep howlin' while he's +'tendin' the door, so's to make 'em sound right." + +"Bob's sister's goin' to show him how to sing a couple of songs, an' +he's goin' to write 'em out on paper, so's to have a book to sell," +added Reddy, delighted at the surprise expressed in Toby's face. "Nahum +Baker says if we have any kind of a show, he'll bring up some lemonade +an' some pies to sell, an' pass 'em round jest as they do in a reg'lar +circus." + +This last information was indeed surprising, for inasmuch as Nahum Baker +was a man who had an apology for a fruit store near the wharves, it lent +an air of realism to the plan, this having a grown man connected with +them in the enterprise. + +"But he mustn't get any of the boys to help him, an' then treat them as +Job Lord did me," said Toby, earnestly, the scheme having grown so in +the half-hour that he began to fear it might be too much like the circus +with which he had spent ten of the longest and most dreary weeks he had +ever known. + +"I'll look out for that," said Bob, confidently. "If he tries any of +them games, we'll make him leave, no matter how good a trade he's +doin'." + +"Now where we goin' to have the show?" and from the way Toby asked the +question it was easily seen that he had decided to accept the position +of manager which had been so delicately offered him. + +"That's jest what we ain't fixed about," said Bob, as if he blamed +himself severely for not having already attended to this portion of the +business. "You see, if your uncle Dan'l would let us have it up by his +barn, that would be jest the place, an' I almost know he'd say yes if +you asked him." + +"Do you s'pose it would be big enough? You know, when there's a circus +in town everybody comes from all around to see it, an' it wouldn't do to +have a place where they couldn't all get in;" and Toby spoke as if there +could be no doubt as to the crowds that would collect to see this +wonderful show of theirs. + +"It'll have to be big enough, if we use the tent I'm goin' to get," said +Reddy, decidedly; "for you see that won't be so awful large, an' it +would make it look kinder small if we put it where the other circuses +put theirs." + +"Well, then, I s'pose we'll have to make that do, an' we can have two or +three shows if there are too many to come in at one time," said Toby, in +a satisfied way that matters could be arranged so easily; and then, with +a big sigh, he added: "If only Mr. Stubbs hadn't got killed, what a show +we could have! I never saw him ride, but I know he could have done +better than any one else that ever tried it, if he wanted to, an' if we +had him we could have a reg'lar circus without anybody else." + +Then the boys bewailed the untimely fate of Mr. Stubbs, until they saw +that Toby was fast getting into a mood altogether too sad for the proper +transaction of circus business, and Bob proposed that a visit be paid +Ben Cushing, for the purpose of having him give them a private +exhibition of his skill, in order that Toby might see some of the talent +which was to help make their circus a glorious success. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +FLOWERS IN FANCY DRESS. + +BY MRS. SOPHIE B. HERRICK. + + +I remember as well as though it were yesterday how, years and years ago, +when I was a very little girl, I once went roaming through the beautiful +woods of Southern Ohio, hunting for a certain wild flower. + +The object of my search was a flower not often found, which we children +called the Indian moccasin. It did look like a moccasin, indeed, with +its round blunt toe and yellow, leathery, shoe-shaped pouch. I wonder if +any prospector ever looked for signs of gold with more intense +excitement than I felt when searching for my little golden shoe? +Everywhere I turned, in my breathless haste, yellow moccasins seemed +dancing before my eyes, and I hardly knew, till my eager hands had +grasped the stem, whether it was a real flower I had found or not. I +hardly think I could have valued it more if I had known what I have +since learned about the wonderful ways of the orchids, to which family +my moccasin belonged. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--LADY'S-SLIPPER.] + +You may never have found this particular plant in your rambles, and yet +may know some other of the orchid tribe which grows wild in our woods. +The common names are so different in different places that it is hard to +tell you how to know them when you see them. The putty-root, and the +lady's-slipper like that in Fig. 1, are some of them. Not the +touch-me-not, a plant whose seed-pods snap and curl up if you touch +them, and which is sometimes called lady's-slipper. + +The orchids are an eccentric family. There is scarcely one of them which +is not "queer" in some way or other. They seem always to be trying to +look or to act like something besides flowers. They imitate all sorts of +things besides little Indian shoes. I wish I could take you into an +orchid greenhouse and let you look around. You would think you had been +invited to a fancy-dress party of the flowers. + +There is one that looks for all the world like a swan, with its long +curved neck; there is a beautiful butterfly with spotted golden wings; +over yonder stands a scarlet flamingo, in a meditative attitude, on one +red leg. Bees and spiders, done in brown and yellow, or perhaps more +gorgeous colors, are all around. Here is a long spike of waxen flowers, +and in the cup of each nestles a pure white dove with outspreading +wings. The Spaniards have given it a name which means the flower of the +Holy Ghost, from its resemblance to a dove. + +These strange likenesses to other things are, however, the least +wonderful thing about orchids. They differ from ordinary plants in many +singular ways. Many of them, instead of growing in the ground, and +drawing from it their food and drink, grow in the air, and take +nourishment from it by means of their naked dangling roots. It seems +sometimes as if living as they do high up on the bark of trees had put +the notion into their heads of trying to look like birds and butterflies +and bees. + +The air manages to supply them with food, but they have to depend upon +getting drink in some other way. Plants are a good deal like people in +that respect; they can manage to get along somehow with very little +food, but they soon die of thirst if deprived of water. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--YOUNG PLANT GROWING ON FLOWER STEM.] + +In a wild state, the air-plants grow on the bark of trees or on other +substances, but they send their little roots into the moist bark or moss +to get water. They do not feed on the juices of the trees, as parasites +like the mistletoe do; they only want a standing-place, something to +push against as they grow, and water. In the greenhouse they are usually +planted in pots filled with bits of stone and damp moss, or they grow +attached to the parent plant, as you may see in Fig. 2, and send their +roots out into the air for food. A few of them--the Indian moccasin, for +instance--grow like common plants in the ground. + +It would almost seem as if the orchids had an eye to business in their +imitation of insects. At any rate, there seems to be a very good +understanding between them, and constant business relations are kept up. +The flowers always have a little pouch somewhere about them in which +they keep a stock of honey on hand. Their beautiful colors and delicious +smell attract, by day and night, bees, butterflies, and moths. In return +for the "treat" which the flowers give, the insects render a valuable +service to the plants. + +I must remind you of something we have looked into before in "Picciola" +(February 14, 1882), and that is that every perfect seed is the result +of a partnership entered into by the pollen grains and the ovules of a +flower. The pollen is the yellow dust which it is so easy to see on +lilies and some other flowers; the ovules are little round bodies lying +in the swollen part of a flower where it joins the stem. Above the +ovules, and connected with them, is the pistil, sometimes standing up +like the lily pistil of the geranium, sometimes only a sticky little +pad, as it is in the orchids. Some plants get along perfectly well if +this partnership is entirely a family affair, and the pollen of a flower +falls on its own pistil, and makes a union with its own ovules, but this +is not always the case. Certain plants require that the pollen shall be +from another plant if the seed is to be sound and healthy. Orchids +require this _cross-fertilization_, as it is called, and without the +help of insects it could not be effected. + +Bees and butterflies, it has been found out, always go in a single +excursion from one flower of a kind to another of the same kind. They do +not mix their drinks. This instinct not only serves to keep the honey +stored by the bees pure, but it enables the insects to carry the pollen +just where it will be useful. The pollen of a morning-glory would die if +put on the rose pistil. It must be placed on a flower of the same family +as the one it came from, or very nearly related to it, or it will do no +good. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.--HONEY POUCH AND POLLEN PODS.] + +Now look at Fig. 2, and you will see that the flowers have a hollow tube +in the centre, with a projecting lower lip. This tube is a single flower +leaf curled over to make a tunnel, and through this tunnel is the only +path to the honey pouch. When a butterfly feels like taking a drink, and +one of these orchids is near, he lights on the lower lip of the tube, +and pushing his long proboscis or trunk through it into the pouch, sucks +up the honey. Now look at Fig. 3. This is a picture of the tube with its +near wall cut away so that you can see the inside arrangement. As he +works his proboscis down into the honey pouch, _N_, it is pressed +against _r_, and touches a spring there; the little cap at _r_ snaps +open, and leaves a sticky ball resting on the proboscis. As the +butterfly goes on sucking, this ball dries as if it were glued to his +trunk. When he draws his head out, this proboscis is ornamented with one +or two little tufts which look like the trees in a child's toy village, +as you will see in the illustration. + +[Illustration: FIG. 4.--PENCIL AND NEEDLE, WITH POLLEN.] + +Now look at the fragment of a flower in the lower part of the same +illustration. Suppose the pollen tuft to stay just where it is when the +butterfly comes out of the flower. You can see by looking at the figure +that it would strike _r_ in the next flower it entered, and that would +do no good; _s_ is the place it should strike; _s_ is the pistil. Now +take an orchid flower, if you can get one; if not, look at Fig. 4, and +see what will happen. I push into it a sharpened lead-pencil, and it +comes out with the pollen tuft standing up as it does on the butterfly's +trunk. Watch it a minute. As it dries, the stem of the tuft bends down, +toward the point of the pencil. Now push it into another flower. Wait a +little while--a minute perhaps--and take the pencil out. You will see +that the pollen has been pulled out of its little case. If you tear open +the flower, you will find the pollen sticking so tight on the pistil, +_s_, that you can scarcely brush it off. In this upper flower the +drawing is from Mr. Darwin's book; but the lower one is one of the +flowers in Fig. 2, which I picked off the plant after drawing it, and +tried with a pencil myself. _r_ in the lower drawing looks like a little +purple velvet pouch swung lightly on its stalk. The pencil came out, +leaving the little bag empty, and the pollen glued fast to its side. But +they were not glued so fast that they were not pulled off by the next +flower that the pencil entered. + +[Illustration: FIG. 5.--BUTTERFLY'S PROBOSCIS, WITH POLLEN.] + +Some of the orchids have two pistils, one on each side. In these, if you +push into the tube a bristle or needle, the two pollen cases come out as +in Fig. 4; as they dry, they spread apart, and bend forward so that both +pistils are struck at once as it is pushed into the next blossom. The +contrivances by which each orchid receives on just the right spot +exactly the right pollen are perfectly marvellous. I have only told you +a very few of the simplest facts in regard to the help the insects give +to the flowers. Many a poor butterfly goes through life having its +proboscis loaded down with the glued-on pollen cases (Fig. 5). It is one +of those business arrangements which does not work equally well for both +parties. All this is beautiful for the flowers, but it seems rather hard +on the butterflies. + + + + +ANIMALS. + +BY JIMMY BROWN. + + +I should like to be an animal. Not an insect, of course, nor a snake, +but a nice kind of animal, like an elephant or a dog with a good master. + +Animals are awfully intelligent, but they haven't any souls. There was +once an elephant in a circus, and one day a boy said to him, "Want a +lump of sugar, old fellow?" The elephant he nodded, and felt real +grateful, for elephants are very fond of lump-sugar, which is what they +live on in their native forests. But the boy put a cigar instead of a +lump of sugar in his mouth. + +The sagacious animal, instead of eating up the cigar or trying to smoke +it and making himself dreadfully sick, took it and carried it across the +circus to a man who kept a candy and cigar stand, and made signs that +he'd sell the cigar for twelve lumps of sugar. The man gave the elephant +the sugar and took the cigar, and then the intelligent animal sat down +on his hind-legs and laughed at the boy who had tried to play a joke on +him, until the boy felt that much ashamed that he went right home and +went to bed. + +In the days when there were fairies--only I don't believe there ever +were any fairies, and Mr. Travers says they were rubbish--boys were +frequently changed into animals. There was once a boy who did something +that made a wicked fairy angry, and she changed him into a cat, and +thought she had punished him dreadfully. But the boy after he was a cat +used to come and get on her back fence and yowl as if he was ten or +twelve cats all night long, and she couldn't get a wink of sleep, and +fell into a fever, and had to take lots of castor-oil and dreadful +medicines. + +So she sent for the boy who was a cat, you understand, and said she'd +change him back again. But he said, "Oh no; I'd much rather be a cat, +for I'm so fond of singing on the back fence." And the end of it was +that she had to give him a tremendous pile of money before he'd consent +to be changed back into a boy again. + +Boys can play being animals, and it's great fun, only the other boys who +don't play they are animals get punished for it, and I say it's unjust, +especially as I never meant any harm at all, and was doing my very best +to amuse the children. + +This is the way it happened. Aunt Sarah came to see us the other day, +and brought her three boys with her. I don't think you ever heard of +Aunt Sarah, and I wish I never had. She's one of father's sisters, and +he thinks a great deal more of her than I would if she was my sister, +and I don't think it's much credit to anybody to be a sister anyway. The +boys are twins, that is, two of them are, and they are all about three +or four years old. + +Well, one day just before Christmas, when it was almost as warm +out-doors as it is in summer, Aunt Sarah said: + +"Jimmy, I want you to take the dear children out and amuse them a few +hours. I know you're so fond of your dear little cousins and what a fine +manly boy you are!" So I took them out, though I didn't want to waste my +time with little children, for we are responsible for wasting time, and +ought to use every minute to improve ourselves. + +The boys wanted to see the pigs that belong to Mr. Taylor, who lives +next door, so I took them through a hole in the fence, and they looked +at the pigs, and one of them said, + +"Oh my how sweet they are and how I would like to be a little pig and +never be washed and have lots of swill!" + +So I said, "Why don't you play you are pigs, and crawl round and grunt? +It's just as easy, and I'll look at you." + +You see, I thought I ought to amuse them, and that this would be a nice +way to teach them to amuse themselves. + +Well, they got down on all fours and ran round and grunted, until they +began to get tired of it, and then wanted to know what else pigs could +do; so I told them that pigs generally rolled in the mud, and the more +mud a pig could get on himself the happier he would be, and that there +was a mud puddle in our back yard that would make a pig cry like a child +with delight. + +The boys went straight to that mud puddle, and they rolled in the mud +until there wasn't an inch of them that wasn't covered with mud so thick +that you would have to get a crowbar to pry it off. + +[Illustration: "'WE'VE BEEN PLAYING PIGS, MA.'"] + +Just then Aunt Sarah came to the door and called them, and when she saw +them she said, "Good gracious what on earth have you been doing?" and +Tommy, that's the oldest boy, said, + +"We've been playing we were pigs ma and it's real fun and wasn't Jimmy +good to show us how?" + +I think they had to boil the boys in hot water before they could get the +mud off, and their clothes have all got to be sent to the poor people +out West whose things were all lost in the great floods. If you'll +believe it, I never got the least bit of thanks for showing the boys how +to amuse themselves, but Aunt Sarah said that I'd get something when +father came home, and she wasn't mistaken. I'd rather not mention what +it was that I got, but I got it mostly on the legs, and I think bamboo +canes ought not to be sold to fathers any more than poison. + +I was going to tell why I should like to be an animal; but as it is +getting late, I must close. + + + + +A LITTLE GENTLEMAN. + +BY M. E. SANGSTER. + + + His cap is old, but his hair is gold, + And his face is clear as the sky; + And whoever he meets, on lanes or streets, + He looks him straight in the eye, + With a fearless pride that has naught to hide, + Though he bows like a little knight, + Quite debonair, to a lady fair, + With a smile that is swift as light. + + Does his mother call? Not kite, or ball, + Or the prettiest game, can stay + His eager feet as he hastes to greet + Whatever she means to say. + And the teachers depend on the little friend + At school in his place at nine, + With his lessons learned and his good marks earned, + All ready to toe the line. + + I wonder if you have seen him too, + This boy, who is not too big + For a morning kiss from mother and Sis, + Who isn't a bit of a prig, + But gentle and strong, and the whole day long + As merry as boy can be. + A gentleman, dears, in the coming years, + And at present the boy for me. + + + + +HOW JAMIE SAILED IN THE "SCUD." + +BY MATTHEW WHITE, JUN. + + +The _Scud_ was a cat-rigged, clipper-built pleasure-yacht, belonging to +Mr. Trenwick, and now for sale. It had never been used very much, and +now that Jamie was almost old enough to want to sail himself, and still +sufficiently young to run a good chance of being drowned in the attempt, +Mrs. Trenwick declared that she would sleep much easier at night if +"that boat" were owned by somebody else. + +Jamie was nearly eleven, and both he and his twin sister Marian knew how +to row, and, in their pretty little boat would paddle about for hours in +shallow water, so that it was considered perfectly safe to allow Jamie +to pump out the _Scud_ after a rain. + +But as time went on and no purchaser appeared, the yacht seemed to feel +the neglect with which it was being treated, and by way of attracting +more attention to itself, suddenly began to leak. + +"Well, pump her out every day if necessary, my son," said Mr. Trenwick, +when informed of the fact, for he was very busy at his office in the +city just then, and was never at home during the day except on Sundays. + +The _Scud_ was moored on the edge of the channel, only a few yards from +the outer end of the Trenwicks' dock, and formerly a pretty blue and +white buoy had floated above the spot where the anchor lay; but this had +been lost by some means, and now the cable was fastened directly to the +bow of the boat. + +In the course of a week or so the pump, too, gave out, so that the water +had to be patiently taken out by means of pail, bailer, and sponge, +which Jamie found to be not nearly as interesting an occupation as +pumping, which was certainly more "ship-shape." + +"I don't wonder that nobody wants to buy her," he remarked to Marian one +very hot afternoon, as she rowed him out to the scene of his daily task. +"Look out, now, and don't let her bunk," he added, as his sister brought +the boat up alongside the _Scud_ with a swoop that threatened to +considerably damage the paint of both, had not Jamie skillfully warded +off the blow. + +At the same moment there was a sound of wheels on the gravelled driveway +leading to the house, and a handsome village cart was seen to stop at +the front door. + +"Oh, it's Mamie Henley!" cried Marian, clapping her hands. "Hurry out, +Jamie; here's your pail and things;" and quickly catching up her oars +again, the little girl shoved off, and was nearly back at the dock +before her brother could shout after her: + +"But how am I going to get ashore? Come on out here again and take me +in; then I can leave you and keep the boat;" and Jamie beckoned +violently with the pail, as if to add emphasis to his words. + +"Oh, I can't stop now," Marian screamed in reply, as she nimbly slipped +the painter over a post, and scrambled out on the dock. "There's Mamie +beckoning to me now. I'll run up and see her first, and when I come back +you'll be all through;" and throwing out the last sentence as she ran, +Jamie's twin flew on her way to the house. Jamie himself took up his +bailer and went to work, hoping that Mamie Henley's call would be a very +formal and consequently short one. + +As it happened, it was not a call at all, for she had simply come to +take Marian out riding with her old pony in his new cart. + +"But there's Jamie out there in the _Scud_," began Marian, when she had +been hugged and told that if she could not go at once she couldn't go at +all, as the coachman must be at home in time to meet the train. + +"Oh, I'll see to your brother," returned Mamie, "and I know your mother +will let you go, for we met her on the road, and I asked her if you +might. Now hurry and put on your other hat," and as Marian vanished on +the instant, her friend walked to the bank and called to Jamie to know +how long it would take him to finish his work. + +"About ten minutes," he shouted back. + +"Well, I'm going to take Marian for a quarter of an hour's drive," +screamed Mamie; "so you needn't hurry. I can't wait until she rows the +boat out to you. Good-by;" and before Jamie could make her understand +that it would be possible for them to let the boat drift out to him on +the ebb-tide, Marian appeared in her best hat, both girls hurried into +the cart, and with a cry of farewell went rattling off down the avenue. + +"Well, this is a pretty fix to be left in!" thought Jamie, as he stood +up on the deck of the _Scud_ and looked out over the river in search of +a crab boy, or any other sort of boy with a boat. + +But as it was quite early in the afternoon, there was not a single one +visible. Then, as it was so very warm, Jamie decided to rest awhile +before going on with his work, so he crawled in under the forward deck, +where there was shade and a strong smell of damp wood, and pillowing his +head on a sand-bag, lay there listening contentedly to the regular lap, +lap of the river against the _Scud_, wondering if each little ripple +wasn't a sort of water-sprite in disguise. + +Of course it was but a wave's-breadth from thinking about water-sprites +to dreaming about them, and as the weather was extremely sultry, and the +slight motion of the boat very soothing, Jamie was soon seeing strange +sights. + +First there were only the tiny water-sprites that seemed to flit before +him; then these gradually grew into dwarfs with large heads, which they +took off and tossed back and forth like foot-balls, until finally they +themselves changed into giants, while the heads were transformed into +immense cannon-balls, which crashed into one another, as they whizzed +through the air, with a terrible report. + +Boom! bang! b-o-o-m! The noise was so loud that it woke Jamie with a +start, and even then he heard it, for in truth it was not all a dream, +but a fierce thunder-storm which had suddenly swooped down upon the calm +afternoon, and churned the peaceful river into a raging sea. + +Jamie quickly turned over, and backed out of his retreat, to be at once +soaked through by the driving rain. + +The _Scud_ was rising and falling on the waves with mighty thuds, +tugging at the cable like a spirited horse eager to be off, and even as +the boy stood there, transfixed with amazement, the rope parted, and the +liberated boat shot swiftly down the river with the wind and tide. + +Then Jamie rushed to the stern, thinking he might be able to steer the +yacht in such a way that she would speedily be blown ashore; but with a +thrill of terror he discovered that there was no tiller on board, nor +even an oar or boat-hook to take its place, and thus, the rudder was +rendered practically useless. The next instant a zigzag flame lit up the +darkened heavens with its awful light, followed by a succession of +thunder-claps, which sent Jamie back under the deck with a heart that +nearly failed him as he realized how helpless he was. + +The river was a broad one, and not particularly deep, except in the +channel, although now that the tide had only been falling for about an +hour there was not much hope of the _Scud_ running aground anywhere near +home. Faster and faster she drifted, or rather sailed along, until +Jamie, unable to longer lie there in suspense, came out from his refuge, +and, prepared to face the worst, gazed out upon the wild scene about +him. + +There was not a boat to be seen, with the exception of a schooner +running down the river before the gale in the direction of the sea. The +sea! Yes, it was only five miles off; and as Jamie recollected the fact, +it seemed as if there _must_ be something he could do to check his +swift, dashing course toward it. + +But he was quite powerless, and the _Scud_ went whirling on, now bow +first, now sidewise, yet ever moving on toward the ocean, between which +and it there now loomed up the draw-bridge. + +With wide-open, anxious eyes Jamie gazed at the latter as the schooner +passed safely through, wondering in a dazed sort of way if the keeper +would see him before he closed the draw. + +"But how can I be sure of not missing it, even if it is open?" + +The question was a momentous one, and, alas! how difficult to answer! +And still onward sped the _Scud_, swiftly nearing the spot that now +seemed more terrible to Jamie than the ocean itself. + +The man had evidently seen him, for the draw remained wide open, but +already the course of the boat was tending in such a way that a +collision with the bridge appeared to be almost inevitable. Jamie sprang +to the stern, and made a desperate effort to turn the rudder-post with +his hands, but all in vain. + +The bridge-keeper had by this time perceived the full extent of the +lad's peril, but he could do nothing to help him--could only stand there +on the draw with straining eyes fixed on the _Scud_. + +Yet would the shock really be great enough to harm him? Jamie wondered; +and for an instant or two he thought that the bridge might be the means +of saving him from a worse fate, for perhaps the boat would remain +unhurt, and he could manage to clamber up by the spiles. Then he noticed +how rapidly he was passing each landmark on shore, and felt the full +force of the gale as he turned to face it. + +"The _Scud_ can never stand it," he cried aloud in his excitement. +"She's so old and leaky that at the first jar her timbers will give way, +and I--" + +But he was almost there now, and Jamie closed his eyes for an instant, +as he fell to wondering vaguely whether the bridge-keeper would ever +find him, or if he would be swept out to sea with the wreck. Then there +came a sudden shock, which threw him from his feet, and caused him to +put up his hands as if to ward off the mast, which he felt must now +crash down upon him. + +But nothing of the kind occurred, and venturing to raise his head, Jamie +saw that the boat had not yet reached the bridge, and what was stranger +still, remained stationary, with the spray dashing over its decks in +great sheets. And now he understood it all: the _Scud_ had run aground, +and just in time too, for the bridge was less than ten feet distant. + +All was safe, then, for as the tide was falling, the boat would +undoubtedly remain where it was until the gale should subside, and Jamie +could be taken off. Meantime, after shouting to the bridge-keeper to +send some one out to him as soon as it was possible to do so, he crept +under the deck and awaited the end of the storm. This was not long in +coming, and soon the stout arms of a hardy fisherman lifted Jamie's +chilled and dripping form from the _Scud_, in which he had sailed in +spite of all, and he was rowed over to the beach in time to take the +same train back in which his father was returning from the city. + +"An' am dat you or yer ghost, Mas'r Jamie?" exclaimed the colored +coachman, as they got into the carriage at the station. "There's yer +pore ma at home lookin' up an' down de ribber as white as yerself, an' +Miss Marian, she am dat scared 'bout yer dat--" + +"But where was she all the time?" eagerly interrupted the boy, as his +father took the reins from Pomp, and started the horses at their +liveliest pace. "Why didn't she or somebody come out after me?" + +"Why," replied Pomp, as he feasted his eyes on Jamie, sitting there in +flesh and blood between himself and Mr. Trenwick, "yer see she went on +dat ride wid Miss Mamie, an' dey was jist goin' to turn roun' an' come +home, when de storm broke ober 'em. An' Miss Mamie's pony he am powerful +'fraid o' thunder, so dey couldn't jist do nothin' at all wid him,' cept +drive into a barn 'long de road an' wait for clar weather. An' Miss +Marian, she say she wur a-frettin' 'bout yer all de time, although she +tink of course you had seen de storm a-comin' an' hollered to de +gardener or somebody roun' dar (yer ma an' me bein' out wid de +kerridge). An' when she come home an' find dat de _Scud_ wur gone an' +you in it, yer should hab seen her an' yer ma take on, like-- But yer +can see 'em now, tank de Lord!" added the good soul, as the team dashed +up to the piazza, and Jamie sprang into his mother's arms, with Marian +sobbing for joy on his damp jacket. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE FINE ART OF COOKING. + +BY AUNT MARJORIE PRECEPT. + + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +A fine art, like painting, music, embroidery or sculpture? Yes, my +dears, and an art which involves as much industry, skill, and taste as +any of the others. Good cooking is an important element in home life and +happiness. Health depends upon it, for nobody can be well and strong who +suffers from indigestion, and nothing causes indigestion sooner than +ill-cooked food. + +Many people think that while a girl must go to school for years to +acquire a knowledge of her own and foreign languages, and must have +masters for this and that accomplishment, she may be safely left to pick +up an acquaintance with cooking after she has a household of her own. +This is a great mistake, as hundreds of ladies who remember the trouble +they have had through want of experience can tell you. I myself once had +a dreadful time trying to prepare a dinner, in the absence of my +faithful Bridget, and I would have given up Latin, Greek, and French +that day to have known when the potatoes were done, and to have +discovered how to get the pease and beans out of the water in which they +were floating. + +To be a good cook, girls, one needs a light, firm hand, an accurate eye, +and a patient temper. One needs, too, a few rules and a trustworthy +receipt-book. We have all seen the easy way in which a good cook makes a +cake. She tosses three or four things together, gives a flirt of the +spice box, and a feathery touch or two to her foamy eggs, pops the pan +into the oven, and presto! there appears the perfect loaf. And if you +ask her why and how she did this or the other part of her work, she will +very likely smile and say, "Oh, I used my judgment." + +This judgment is the quality which no novice in cooking can expect to +possess, just as no novice on the piano can perform the "Moonlight +Sonata" after learning two or three scales, and no beginner with the +pencil can paint such sea-pieces as those of De Haas. + +But if you are watchful and persevering, the judgment will surely come, +and by-and-by you will be as independent as a dear old colored aunty who +once cooked for me. One day when I had asked some friends, and wanted a +very nice dinner indeed, I asked Aunt Hannah how she intended to prepare +the turkey. She raised herself to her full height, and looking like a +queen, said, "Now, honey, you jest go 'long and sit by de fire. It's +_my_ business to cook de dinner, an' it'll be yours to eat it, chile." + +Have your receipt-books, at least until you know certain rules by heart, +and minutely follow their directions. Still, as no receipt-book can tell +you just when bread is light or precisely when meat is done, you must +watch whatever you are cooking very carefully, and you will gradually +acquire a sort of sense which will not fail you. + +One of the things you must learn if you wish to cook successfully is the +management of your fire. A range is a splendid servant if under proper +control; but unless you understand dampers and draughts, you will +probably have no end of trouble with your ovens. The skillful cook keeps +her fire raked clear of ashes from beneath. She never heaps coals up so +high that they over-brim the fire-chamber and rattle against the lids, +and she does not let her heat go up the chimney when it ought to be +baking her biscuits. + +Try your oven with the thermometer. Miss Juliet Corson says that a good +temperature for baking meat is from 320° to 400° Fahr. Beef and mutton +require about twenty minutes to the pound, and you may tell when they +are done, and how much, by pressing the surface with the finger. Rare or +little-cooked meat will spring back from the touch. There will be little +resistance if it is quite well done, and none at all if it is baked +thoroughly. + +In baking bread, which is, I think, the real test of a cook's merits, a +great deal depends on the kneading. You can not knead bread too long or +too often, and the more it is kneaded, by which I mean rolled over and +pounded with the clinched fist, the finer and closer-grained it will be. + +If you have never made bread, ask mamma to let you try, and then, if +once or twice she will stand by, and show you how to sift the flour, how +to heap the right quantity into a deep pan, and make a hollow in the +middle, into which you shall pour your lukewarm water, your yeast, your +wee bit of sugar, and your spoonful of salt, following this by enough +tepid water to make a soft dough, you will not require her instructions +often. The art of making bread once learned is never forgotten. And how +proud papa will be the first time he eats a slice of his daughter's +home-made bread! + +Whatever else you omit, girls, do not omit to learn to prepare food +properly; for + + "You may live without friends, you may live without books, + But civilized man can not live without cooks." + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration: THE SPRING CONCERT.] + + + + +RACKETS. + +BY B. HARDWICK. + + +Did you ever play rackets? If not, come and have a game with me. But +first we must understand the court and the implements. + +[Illustration] + +Here we have a picture of the racket-court on the corner of Twenty-sixth +Street and Sixth Avenue, New York city. The figures are those of the two +markers, whose business it is to keep the score. The court is eighty +feet long by forty feet wide. The front wall is thirty feet high, and +the back twelve. Over this wall there are galleries for the spectators. +These you can not see in the picture, as they form the point of sight. +The floor of the court is divided by a line from side to side, and where +this line meets the side walls there are quarter-circles marked. These +are called the service courts; there is also another line dividing the +nearer half of the court. The spaces on either side of this line are +called the right and left courts. The front wall to the height of +twenty-six inches is covered by a wooden board. And seven feet from the +floor there runs a line, over which every served ball must be struck. +The walls and sides of the court are of brick and plaster, hard and +smooth. + +The rackets, or bats, have handles about two feet long, and their frames +are strung with catgut. They are much smaller than tennis bats. The +balls are of white leather, very hard, and tightly sewn, and little more +than an inch in diameter. The game is played by either two or four +persons. If by four, two play on a side. Let us have a single-handed +game, you and I, so that we may understand it more easily. I will begin. + +I go to the right-hand service court, and throwing up the ball, I strike +it with the racket so that it bounds back into the left-hand court, in +which you stand ready to receive it. If I fail to strike over the line, +or play the ball so that it does not bound back into the left court, it +is a fault. Two faults would put me out. But now, see, I give my racket +a sweep, cutting the ball rather than striking it. The effect of this is +that when the ball strikes the wall it does not rise, but returns at a +low angle. Now it has bounded, and you strike it back, before its second +bound, on to the front wall. After the service you are not bound to +strike any higher than the twenty-six inches of wood. If you strike the +wood, the ace counts to me, or if you fail to return the ball on to the +front wall, it counts to me, and I score one. Then I go over to the +other service court, and serve again, so that the ball returns into the +right-hand court, and so on, until one of us fails. If you fail to +return the ball properly, it counts another ace to me; but if I fail, it +does not count one to you, but simply puts me out, and you go in and +serve. Only the server can add to his score. The one who first scores +fifteen aces, or points, wins the game. + +This seems very easy, does it not? But if you take the racket you will +find it is not so easy as it looks. There are several tricks in the +game, the object of which is to make your opponent's return difficult if +not impossible. Thus, sometimes a player will volley a ball--that is, +strike it before it has bounded--and, playing it downward just a few +inches above the wood, it will bound downward, and touch the floor where +it can not be reached, or a player will strike very low, so as to +produce the same effect. I should have mentioned that you are not bound +to strike the front wall first. You may play off the side walls, and +sometimes by this play make it very difficult indeed for your adversary +to return the ball. Thus, if you play on to the side wall at an angle of +anything like forty-five degrees, the ball will take a similar angle off +the front and side walls, and never come down to the end of the court +where the players stand at all. + +There is another point to be learned--the science of twist. If you +strike the ball very low, cutting it with the racket held with the face +slanting, it will give a twisting movement to the ball, so that the +return will not come off at the usual angle, but in a very unexpected +manner. This makes it very difficult for the other player to know where +to place himself to receive the stroke. The French, who are great +racket-players, have a saying, "La balle cherche le bon joueur" (the +ball seeks the good player). In point of fact, the really good player, +the moment a ball is struck, places himself so that the ball comes to +him. Nothing marks more clearly the difference between good and bad +players than ability in this respect. + +When four players play together, they play, as I have said, two on a +side. Each side goes in alternately. One player on one side serves until +he is put out, and then his partner serves until he is put out. Then the +other side goes in, and so on. The non-strikers are bound to get out of +the way. If they in any way embarrass a striker, it is called a "let," +and counts for nothing. + +The Spring Handicap Championship games were lately held at the Racket +Club. There were thirty-eight entries, divided into first and second +class, with a prize for each class. In order to make the chances of the +good and the bad players as nearly equal as possible, the good ones gave +odds to the bad ones. Thus Mr. Allen, who is one of the best players in +the club, was put down as "scratch," that is, he received no odds. Mr. +Leavitt and another gentleman were in the same position. After these, +all the other players received odds--one or more aces, for instance, or +an "extra hand." + +There is scarcely any game in which difference of skill is so apparent +as in rackets. Luck or chance has but little to do with it. The great +art is, the moment a ball is struck on to the front wall, to judge +exactly where it will return, and to get in that particular spot. + +Quickness in getting over the court is another great point. Short, quick +steps are better than a run, as they are more easily checked. With good +players in the court, the game is almost as exciting to witness as to +play. The constant movement, the volleys, the rallies, the drops, +twists, and cuts, succeeding one another rapidly, require all the +observer's attention. For affording the greatest amount of exercise in +the shortest time there is no game like rackets. + + + + +THE TALKING LEAVES.[1] + +[1] Begun in No. 101, HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. + +An Indian Story. + +BY WILLIAM O. STODDARD. + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +During the time spent by Murray with Rita in the lodge, Steve Harrison +found his position a little awkward. The chiefs had by far too much +dignity to consult with so young a brave, especially as he had not even +one of the "Talking Leaves" to listen to. He knew that not only Dolores +and Ni-ha-be, but half a dozen other squaws, old and young, were staring +at him, and he could not understand a word of the low-voiced remarks +they made. He was very glad, therefore, when his friend once more +appeared, and he saw by the light on his face that he had no unpleasant +news to bring. + +"What find?" asked Many Bears. "Send Warning and Rita hear anything?" + +"Hear a little. Send Warning will take the Leaves to his own lodge and +hear more." + +"What say now? Hear about big talk with blue-coat pale-faces?" + +"Tell you what I think." + +"The chief is listening." + +"Break up village. Move west right away. More news come soon. Hear about +treaty when you see the lodges of your own people. No time to lose." + +That advice agreed so exactly with the notions of Many Bears that he was +ready to accept it at once. He turned to his two councillors +triumphantly. + +"What did I tell you? It is wisdom. We will go. Tell the braves to get +ready. Tell all the squaws to pack up. Send on hunting braves. Good +many. Kill plenty meat." + +There was no opposition. + +The only objection that could reasonably be raised was that so sudden a +departure gave no opportunity for a grand celebration of their victory +over the Lipans. They could attend to that, however, some other time. + +"Come, Steve," said Murray. "We want an hour by ourselves." + +They were quickly inside their own lodge, and were sure there were no +listeners. + +"Steve!" + +"What is it, Murray?" + +"That little girl is my own daughter!" + +"I've suspected it. And this was the very band of Apaches that broke up +your home and your mine." + +"Yes, and it is a wonder they have not recognized me. If Apaches of some +other band were to join them, some of them might remember me. They have +seen me in more than one of their fights with the Lipans." + +"It would be all over with us then." + +"Of course it would. I am dressed differently, to be sure. I can change +a little more. Must crop my hair and beard closer. They know me for a +long-bearded old man; I must turn myself into a short-haired young one." + +"Can't you dye your hair?" + +"Not until we get to the settlements. There are no barbers among the +Apaches." + +"How will we ever get her away, Murray?" + +"Oh, my girl! my poor, dear little girl! I dare not think about my wife. +No wonder my hair is white. Steve, I must not let her live and die among +these wild people. They have been kind to her, she says, and I do not +hate them so much, now I know that; but she shall not be an Indian." + +He was getting feverishly excited, and Steve replied: + +"Now, Murray, of course we will get her away. Haven't you some plan?" + +"Only to draw the whole band nearer the frontier or nearer to some fort +or other." + +"That's good. We would have a shorter distance to run if we should +escape." + +"Now, Steve, I'm all upset and unstrung. That's the reason I came in +here. I've got to get my wits about me again, or I can't plan anything." + +"Sit down and read." + +"Read? Do you suppose I could do that just now? Why, Steve, I've found +my little daughter." + +"So you have. I don't wonder you're excited. I am myself. Here, give me +a magazine. I'd like to find out how much of my reading will come back." + +Murray handed him one and Steve sat down. He had been fond of books in +the days before he was captured by the Lipans. He had not forgotten his +reading at all, and it came back to him in a way that made his heart +jump. But that was after he had made a great effort, and driven away the +faces of Rita and Ni-ha-be. + +Both of them would somehow come between his eyes and the paper of those +printed pages at first. Both of them were such nice, pretty, +well-behaved girls, and yet one of them was white, the daughter of his +friend Murray, and the other was only a poor little squaw of the +Apaches. + +Murray picked up a magazine and sat down. "It will do for a sort of +medicine," he muttered. "I may learn something from it, too. The world +has changed a great deal since I have had newspapers or magazines to +read. There may be some new nations in it for all I know, and there +surely must be a new lot of Kings and Queens and Presidents, and all +that sort of thing." + +It was that thought which made him turn over a little carelessly all the +illustrated articles and the stories until he came to the "news of the +month" among the Leaves at the end. + +There he began actually to read and read closely, for it was all new to +him, although the magazine in question was several months old. There was +a good deal told in a short space, for the editor had condensed +everything into the fewest words possible. + +At the same time, it must have been a remarkable news item that could +make a man of steady nerve bound suddenly to his feet, and hold that +magazine out at arm's-length. + +"Why, Murray!" said Steve, "what can be the matter?" + +"Matter? My dear boy, read that! Rita is an heiress." + +"What?" + +Steve certainly had good reason for thinking that his friend had lost +his wits, but he took the "Talking Leaves" held out to him, and read the +few lines to which Murray's finger pointed. + +"The great English estate of Cranston Hall, with a baronetcy, is waiting +for an heir. The late baronet left no children, and his only brother, to +whom the title and all descend, was last heard of in America. He is +believed to have been interested in mining in the far West, and the +lawyers are hunting for him." + +"Well," said Murray, when Steve ceased reading, "what do you think of +that?" + +"I don't know exactly what to think. Your name is Murray." + +"Robert Cranston Murray, as my father's was before me. It was because +he left me only my name that I left England to seek my fortune. Oh, +Steve, I must find my way back now! Rita will be the lady of Cranston +Hall." + +"Instead of the squaw of some Apache horse-stealer." + +Steve felt a little like dancing and a good deal like tossing up his hat +and venting his feelings by a good hurrah, but the next thought was a +sober one. + +"How are we ever to get them to give up Rita?" + +Murray was thinking the same thought just then, and it seemed to him as +if he must go out to the door of the lodge for a little breath of fresh +air. The chief and his councillors were nowhere to be seen, but there +was Mother Dolores by the camp fire. Murray tried hard to assume a calm +and steady face and voice as he strode forward and stood beside her. He +spoke to her in Spanish. + +"Well, Dolores, which do you like best, cooking for Mexican miners or +for the great chief?" + +[Illustration: "SHE DROPPED HER STEW-PAN AND STOOD LOOKING AT HIM."] + +She dropped her stew-pan, and stood looking at him for a moment, drawing +her breath hard, and then she exclaimed: + +"I was right. It is Señor Murray. Ah, señor, it is so long ago! The poor +señora--" + +"Don't speak of her. I know. We found her. My Rita?" + +"Yes, she is your Rita. But they will kill you if you tell them. I will +keep your secret, señor. I have kept it until now." + +She had dimly recognized him, then, and she too had been in doubt what +to do or say. In answer to a few more questions she told him, very +truly, that she had been better off among the Apaches than before she +was captured. Less hard work, better treatment, better food, better +position, just about as much real civilization. Poor Dolores had never +known anything much better than the hard lot of a Mexican woman of the +lower class among the rough miners. It was better, she said, to be the +wife of a chief, and have plenty to eat and little hard work to do. + +"But about Rita?" + +"If you had your mine, now, and your great droves of horses--" + +"What could I do?" + +"Do, Señor Murray? Why, you could buy half the young squaws in the +village if you had husbands for them. But you are poor now. I suppose it +can not be done." + +It was no wonder he had not thought of it before. It was so strange a +thing to propose. That a father should buy his daughter! + +He turned from her and strode back to his own lodge to see what Steve +would say. + +"He's a mere boy, but he seems to have a great deal of sense." + +Steve's remark, after he had heard about Dolores and her idea, was +simply: "That's nothing new, is it? If we can't run away with her, we +can ransom her." + +"Ransom? Well, now, that's a great deal better word than buy. But our +gold coin won't do. They won't take the whole pile for her. They don't +really understand the value of it." + +"They want ponies and blankets and all that?" + +"That's it. Why, Steve, it's the queerest thing. I'm so excited I can't +think. If we can make a bargain with them, they'll be glad enough to go +with us to the nearest trading post. We can buy all we want when we get +there. You've helped me out of my scrape." + +"Seems to me it was easy enough to think of that." + +It may have been, but Murray felt very grateful to Steve. + +The latter now put down his magazine, and went to the door in his turn, +for he too had a large amount of thinking to do. + +"Murray, they are taking down the lodges again." + +"Going forward to-night, eh? I'm glad of that. I must spur old Many +Bears up to it. Don't want him to lose a day on the road." + +"Nor I, either. They'll move slowly enough anyhow." + +"Oh, they'll find a good place to leave the village, while the chiefs +and warriors go on to be present at the treaty talk." + +"Suppose there isn't any?" + +"There's pretty sure to be something of the kind at this season of the +year. Anyhow, we will get them to a place where we can buy ponies and +blankets, and we will have Rita with us." + +Murray felt it very hard that he could not send for her at once, and +tell her all about his plans for her release. Yes, and about the +beautiful English home to which he meant to take her, away beyond the +great salt sea she had never seen. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +[Illustration: "Sleep, Baby, Sleep"] + + + + +[Illustration: SPRING AND FALL STYLES FOR BOYS.] + + + + +OUR POST-OFFICE BOX. + + +Come, dears, gather around the Postmistress, while she has a moment to +look at you, and let her see how many merry faces she can count in the +throng. There are some which are paler than they should be--little +Gustave's, for instance; but no wonder, for he has been very, very ill, +so that the house was all hushed on his account, and papa and mamma were +afraid they would have to say good-by to their darling boy. But God +answered their prayers, and now he is getting well fast, and soon will +be as strong as ever. Here is Phoebe, who sends her love, but does not +know how to write a letter. Never mind, dear; the love is the best part +of any letter, and you will learn all about the rest when you are older. +There are Kitty, Molly, Ted, Margaret, Frank, Bobby, and Jack, and ever +so many more. The Postmistress knows your names by heart, and is sure +she would know you if she happened to meet you on the way to school some +bright spring morning. + +She wonders if you would be willing to share your luncheon with her, and +let her peep into your school-books. She doesn't wear spectacles, and +she hasn't seven-league boots, but her eyes are pretty sharp, and she +thinks she could walk as fast on her feet as Robin A. says he can on +stilts, and she would not need more than one glance at a girl's exercise +to know whether the little lady did her best, + + Or did not work, + And tried to shirk. + +And now for our letters, children. + + * * * * * + + WAYNE, ILLINOIS. + + I am a little girl seven years old. I have a doll; her name is Amy. + My papa bought me some calico, and I am making her a dress, and + mamma says it is done nicely for the first one. Papa went to St. + Charles yesterday, and bought me some card-board and worsted, and I + think it will keep me busy for some time. I can work my name. I + hope my letter will be printed. + + ALICE M. K. + + * * * * * + +We thank Miss L. C. for her kindness in sending us the nice little +budget of letters from her pupils. They were all of nearly equal merit, +and those children whose letters are not printed may be sure that we +liked them just as well as we did that of Allie D., which follows: + + STATE CENTRE, IOWA. + + Our reading class have been reading out of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE + instead of our Readers this term, and I like it very much. In No. + 114 was a very interesting article on the sponge, and for our + examination last month we had to write a composition on it. In No. + 117 was a very interesting article on the cigarette. I think if + boys and men knew what is in cigars and cigarettes, they would not + smoke them. Just think of men and boys smoking cigars that are made + up of stubs that are found in gutters in large cities! I think some + of your puzzles are very interesting. I like the monogram puzzle + very much. You have had some very pretty illustrations in your + papers, especially the "Little Dreamer," which is pretty enough for + an oil-painting. I have not been very much interested in the + "Talking Leaves," because we did not have the first numbers; but we + are waiting very patiently for the next story by Mr. Otis. + + ALLIE D. + + * * * * * + + PICTOU, NOVA SCOTIA. + + I am a little boy living in Pictou, Nova Scotia, in the Dominion of + Canada. Papa takes your paper for me and sister Eliza, and we like + it immensely, as we hear some people say about anything they like + very much. It is now winter with us; we have a heavy fall of snow + on the ground, and it is banked up as high as the windows at our + house. The harbor is frozen over altogether down as far as the + light-house, about three miles from town, outside of which it + hardly ever freezes, but is open all winter. Some parts of our + harbor are three miles wide, other places one mile. The ice is now + about one foot thick, and carries horses and sleds with large loads + of coal. It is marked in many directions with long rows of trees + not very far apart, which were put into holes in the ice when it + was about four inches thick, and having frozen there, they stand + quite firmly. They are for guiding people on stormy days and + nights, when they can not see from shore to shore. + + There are extensive coal mines about eight miles from us. Some of + them are very deep under-ground, but others are not, but the coal + is brought up a slope in wagons on wheels. I was up last winter, + and saw the men and boys that work in the mines. They were terribly + black with coal dust. Each of them carries a safety-lamp, which + gives but a feeble light in such dark places. I was up two winters + ago, and saw one of the places for myself. At one of the largest + mines, about two years ago, there was an explosion, which killed + forty men, and ruined the mine. It has never been worked since. For + days and days you could see great clouds of smoke rising toward the + skies from where we live. Our town is not large; there are only + 4000 people in it. But we have some fine houses and public + buildings. We have a $20,000 brick and stone academy, with 200 + students. We have a railway connecting us with other places in the + Dominion and the United States. My papa has travelled a good deal; + he has been in Boston several times, and in New York and + Philadelphia. He was at the Exhibition there in 1876. He thinks it + was a bigger show than Barnum's Circus, which was here some years + ago. I wish I could visit your great city, and see the East River + Bridge, and the elevated railway, and Broadway, and all the other + great sights. + + WILLIE M. H. + + * * * * * + + BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. + + I don't believe that any of the subscribers of HARPER'S YOUNG + PEOPLE enjoy reading it more than I do, though I can not read much + for fear of hurting my eyes, so I read a little every day. When I + was sick papa read it to me, as I could not read it then. I wish + Mr. Otis would hurry, and give us the story he promised. I like + Jenny Wren, or "The Little Dolls' Dressmaker," the best of any + story in a long while. I have no little pets. Like a great many, I + go to school, and have to study my lessons quite hard to know them. + I received a very handsome album for advertisement cards Christmas. + I hope my letter will be printed. Mamma says it will not, and I + said it would; so please put it in the paper. I never wrote before. + + CAMILLE P. + +No doubt the girls will all laugh with pleasure, and the boys throw up +their caps with delight, when they see that Mr. Stubbs's Brother makes +his bow in this very number. We expect he will be rather more popular +than poor Mr. Stubbs, and that is saying a great deal. The story is very +bright and entertaining, and Mr. Otis could not write a dull one if he +tried, could he, children? + + * * * * * + + GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA. + + I am eight years old, and papa writes for me what I say in this + letter. I have a doll, dressed in baby clothes, called Daisy. Mamma + knit a pretty afghan for her of pink and white. She goes to sleep + under it in her carriage. Mamma knit her a hammock. I have a larger + doll, who is Daisy's mamma; her name is Violet. She has a muff and + hat and shawl; the muff is made of cotton flannel, trimmed with + silk. My boy doll Ray is the baby's papa. The baby doll's aunt, + Doll Elsie, gave me HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE for a Christmas present. + + EDNA. + + * * * * * + + SHREWSBURY, NEW JERSEY. + + I am a little girl eight years old, and have taken your nice paper + for two years, and like it very much. This morning a dog came into + our shed, and we let him into our house; he was a beautiful dog, + with great long white silky hair, and great black spots over him; + his ears were just as black and silky as could be. You said to tell + about our pets and dolls, so I will. I have no pets except an old + puss, which I love dearly--his name is Jack--but I have a lovely + waxen doll with flaxen hair; her dress is of light blue satin and + plum-color mixed; it is trimmed with lace. My papa is a traveller, + and is away eight months a year; Please put this in the Post-office + Box. + + ANNIE L. P. + + * * * * * + +A CURE FOR CROSS LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS. + + One night we all were at the supper table. We were in a very bad + humor, and did not know what to do with ourselves, and in a minute + or two Aunt Sue said, "When we get up stairs we will have a + growling party." We thought that would be a very good plan, as our + aunts and grandma and mamma did not like noise at the table. So + after supper we went up to the little sitting-room, and mamma told + me to begin. I told them my collar was very stiff (to tell the + truth, when Aunt Sue said a "growling party," I thought we were + going to howl all the time). They all thought that was very funny, + and asked me what else. I said that was all. Then they asked my + sister Lucy what was the matter with her. She said she had the + toothache and ear-ache and headache. Then mamma said she had a + pain, and she might have something else. Then Aunt Sue said her + head hurt, and Aunt Nell said her feet hurt, and Aunt Bessie said + she had a sick headache. At last we began to laugh at so much + misery, and that put us in a good humor right away. Now, whenever + we are in a bad humor, we have a growling-party, for this is all a + true story. + + HELEN D. F. (nine years old). + + * * * * * + +Please read Aunt Edna's letter, children. You will find it worth +thinking about, and we slip it in like a sandwich between your own +letters, instead of printing it in the column with the treasurer's +report about the Cot, because we want you to pay attention to what this +kind lady has to say. + + TO MY DEAR LITTLE "COT" FRIENDS,--I want to write and tell you + something very funny about the "mite chest" in our ward. You + remember I told you I put one there; and last Ash-Wednesday--the + first day of Lent, as many of you know--I thought I would take out + what money was in it, so as to empty it again at Easter, when it + would all be Lenten offerings. Sister Catherine told me when I went + into the hospital that measles had broken out in our ward, and the + little children had all been taken out. Those with the measles were + put in a large room at the top of the house, so that they would be + away from the rest, and the others were taken to a ward across the + hall, and there I found Robert McGee, the little boy I told you of, + who was to be in our Cot _that is to be_. He was just as merry as + ever, and put his fat little legs out of the covers to show me how + nice and straight they looked. As the mite chest had not taken the + measles, I went into our ward to see how it was getting on. The + room was very still, windows wide open at either end, the little + beds unmade, with the mattresses turned over to air, and little red + flannel socks or wrappers hanging on the posts of each crib. The + only occupants of the ward were several large dolls, sitting + quietly in their chairs, and to judge from their pale faces, they + had not taken the measles. However, they did not seem to feel like + talking--perhaps they were lonely without their little + companions--so I left them, and went to our mite chest. As I took + it up, a few pennies rattled, but that was all. But still it seemed + to be full of something; so, looking closely, I found it was filled + with _little scraps of worsted_. Some little hand, I imagine, + thought the opening at the top looked inviting, so put in the + worsted, and no doubt thought it fine fun; but we who are older, + and know more, know very well that scraps of worsted won't endow + our Cot. So while we will not trouble these little ones who put + them there and enjoyed it, no doubt, as it helped to amuse and keep + them from fretting while sick, we will work all the harder; we who + can run, jump, and play heartily out-of-doors will try and think + more of these little ones, ill and suffering, many of whom will + never again be able to run, or play, but may have to suffer pain as + long as they live. + + Now, my dear little friends, I want to ask you all--those who have + done so well thus far (and many of you have worked bravely)--not to + stop yet; and those who have not yet begun to help us, to do so at + once; for, remember we will have to do our share, and also the + share of the little ones who give us only _scraps of worsted_. + + Hoping all will do their best; I must say good-by, with love from + + AUNT EDNA. + NEW YORK, _March_, 1882. + + * * * * * + +OUR KNOWING JEFF. + + My father has a dog named Jeff. Harry, our little brother, will + say, "Come, Jeff, take a ride." Jeff will jump into the wagon, + Harry will pin a shawl around him, and he will sit and ride until + Harry tires of drawing him. It is a comical sight to see those two + going about the garden, Jeff sitting straight up with a shawl on, + looking so patient. + + Not long since Jeff had a sore foot. The first we knew of it he + would keep coming in to us and holding one foot up. Sister got a + pail of quite hot water, and put his foot in. He looked thankful + for having it done. After soaking it long enough, we put some + liniment on it, and bandaged it up. Thinking he was all right, we + went up to our rooms; but as soon as Jeff found we had gone, he + began to cry and whine dreadfully, so we came down and made him a + new bed, and covered him. After leaving him, we heard no more from + him that night. + + For a week or more it was a comical sight to see him limp about the + house on three legs, but out-of-doors he would run on all fours + well enough. The very instant he entered the door, up would go one + foot, not always the same that had been sore--he seemed to forget + which one had been. We would say, "Jeff, that is not your lame + foot." He would look ashamed, and walk off, only to return and look + up at us; he would whine until spoken kindly to. Sometimes we + would shake his paw, when he would walk away perfectly satisfied. + + ONE OF JEFF'S FRIENDS. + + * * * * * + + CUSTER CITY, PENNSYLVANIA. + + Glad to see my other letter in a book--the print not so big as + mine, though. I sent it to Uncle Joe 'way off in California. He + wrote me a poetry postal when I was a little fellow only a month + old. That was ever so long 'go, but I have it yet; and some gold + sand and lumps and stones that came to me from him. + + I got a valentine of two gooses; one has a eye-glass on. + + They torpedo oil wells here to break the oil loose from the stones. + It flies more'n a hundred feet high, and sprinkles in the air, and + looks like wet sunshine. + + The girls and boys that send letters have dolls and cats to put in. + Well, I have a dog, too, only it is brown cloth sewed 'round a lot + of cotton. It looks 'zactly like a true dog, but its legs is so + straight it can't run and bark. + + Papa says you won't print two times 'bout me. Won't you 'bout Uncle + Joe and the woollen dog anyway? It's nearly seven years old too, + but I can read in the First Reader, and make letters like the ones + here. + + JOE A. V. + +We think we would like your woolly dog much better, Joe, than we do a +woolly one which belongs to a young lady we know, and keeps us awake at +night by howling while his mistress is absent at a party or concert. +Yours, we presume, is very well behaved. + + * * * * * + +Little friends who send us puzzles will please remember that they must +always send the answers at the same time they inclose puzzles. Little +folks who find our puzzles out must not omit their names, as we like to +give them credit for their clever wits. + + * * * * * + +C. Y. P. R. U. + +MY LADY'S TOILET.--This is a pretty game for a number of children to +play some rainy day at recess when they can not go out of doors. To each +of the performers is given the name of an article of dress. Chairs are +placed for all the party except one, so as to leave one chair too few. +All seat themselves but one, who is called the lady's-maid, and who +stands in the centre. When the maid calls for any article of dress, the +one who has that name instantly rises, repeats the word, and seats +herself again directly. For instance, the maid says: + +"My lady's up, and wants her dress." + +"Dress!" says the one who hears that name, rising as she speaks, and +sitting down again very quickly. + +"My lady's up, and wants her brush." + +"Brush!" says Brush, jumping up in a hurry, and sitting down again. + +"My lady's up, and wants her handkerchief, watch, and chain." + +Handkerchief, Watch, and Chain spring up together, and repeat their +names. + +"My lady's up, and wants her whole toilet." + +At this every one must rise and change chairs. This makes necessary a +general scramble, in which some little player is left standing without +any chair. This person must take the place of lady's-maid. + + * * * * * + +PAUL.--"Red tape" is used to tie official documents, and as there is +often considerable delay in obtaining decisions from courts and public +offices, people have come to speak of "too much red tape" as a +convenient way of saying that things are not going on as fast as they +would like. + + * * * * * + +ANNIE M.--School-girls make a great mistake, dear, in wishing to be +young ladies too soon. If they could see how perfectly charming their +lives look to older persons, and if they realized what delightful times +they are having, they would not be in such haste to grow up. The +Postmistress advises you to wear your hair in simple braids, to be +contented with the pretty dresses your mother provides for you, and to +wait until you shall have left school before you assume jewelry and gay +ornaments. + + * * * * * + +We would call the attention of the C. Y. P. R. U. this week to an +interesting article on botany, by Mrs. Herrick, entitled "Flowers in +Fancy Dress." The girls--many of whom, we know, are anxious to master +all the secrets of housekeeping--will be glad to read what Aunt Marjorie +Precept has to say on the "Fine Art of Cooking." The boys will be +interested in Mr. Hardwick's description of the game of "Rackets." + + * * * * * + +YOUNG PEOPLE'S COT. + +Once more we have pleasure in presenting the monthly report of the +treasurer of the fund for Young People's Cot. We trust our little +readers will remember our hint about devoting an Easter offering to this +beautiful charity. + +We print a selection from the letters received by Miss E. Augusta +Fanshawe, to whom contributions for the Cot should always be sent. + + * * * * * + + DAYTON, OHIO. + + I am a little boy only nine years old. Papa has taken HARPER'S + YOUNG PEOPLE for us ever since the first number. We have two + volumes bound. I have two sisters and one brother. I thought I + would like to send something for the Cot, so here is a dollar. I + earned it myself by doing errands. + + PERCY W. HYERS. + + * * * * * + + MADISON, NEW JERSEY. + + Inclosed you will find a check for three dollars, which is a + contribution from my little girl, Mary Louise Anderson, for the + Young People's Cot. She has earned this money herself within a few + weeks by drinking her milk and taking her medicine. For nine weeks + she has been in bed. Before Christmas she was taken ill with + typhoid fever, from which in four weeks she had recovered + sufficiently to sit up a few hours every day. Then she had a + relapse, followed by what seemed at first to be neuralgia, but + which has proved to be a slight inflammation of the hip-joint. She + has been a great sufferer, but is more comfortable now. She has not + been out of bed for nearly four weeks, and has an extension on her + limb and a weight of three pounds. We hope she will be quite well + in a month or perhaps longer, but still it is all a matter of hope. + During her illness she was once so near death that it seemed but a + matter of moments when she would go. I fear I have trespassed upon + your time in thus writing, but you will understand that this money + is a real offering of love and peculiar sympathy. My little girl + was eight years old on the first day of January. + + MARY'S MOTHER. + +It was very sweet in little Mary to forget her own great pain in trying +to provide for the comfort of some other little sufferers in days to +come. We hope she will very soon indeed be perfectly well again. + + * * * * * + + MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. + + We inclose $1.50 for the Young People's Cot. We have been saving + this money for a long time. We could have sent it sooner, only + every now and then we see something that we want, and we take a few + pennies to buy it. When we do take any money for ourselves, though, + we are 'most always sorry. We feel very sorry for the little ones + who are sick and have no pleasant homes. We are much interested in + all the letters about the Cot. We hope you will soon have enough + money to put a little boy or girl in the Cot. We will try to save + some more money to send. We have a pet bird; he is very tame. + Good-by. + + CHARLOTTE C. + ELEANOR B. C. + + * * * * * + + FORT UNION, NEW MEXICO. + + My papa gave me a dollar to buy a pair of slippers, and I thought I + would do without them, and send the money to Young People's Cot. + + MARGARET R. MCNAMARA. + + * * * * * + + BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. + + I send you twenty-five cents, which I have earned myself, for the + Young People's Cot. I will send more by-and-by, as I earn it, for + mamma says little people should earn the money they send. I want to + help reach the "clump of elms." I feel so sorry for the little sick + children. I like YOUNG PEOPLE so much! + + BESSIE W. + + * * * * * + +Contributions received for Young People's Cot, in Holy Innocent's Ward, +St. Mary's Free Hospital for Children, 407 West Thirty-fourth Street: + +Isabel Ross and Ethelwynne Kate Maclean, Winnipeg, Manitoba, $3; Laura +May and Albert C. Davies, Marion, Iowa, $1; M. Fannie and Thomas B. +Peck, Jun., New York, $5; Mrs. S. Lawrence, New York, $5; Margaret R. +McNamara, Fort Union, New Mexico, $1; Bessie W., Brooklyn, 25c.; Mary +Louise Anderson, Madison, $3' Eddie N. and Arthur M. Anketell, New +Haven, 28c.; Rev. G. G. Carter, New York, $5; Percy W. Hyers, Dayton, +Ohio, $1; Josephine W. Kingsland, New York, 50c.; Wallace Morgan, New +York, 50c.; Mrs. G. G. Carter's Sunday-school Class, Church of the +Transfiguration, $4; Charlotte and Eleanor B. Campbell, Milwaukee, +$1.50; M. J. C., 25c.; from "Mamma and Willie," New York, $5.10; A +Little Boy and Girl from Cuba, $2; Anna M. Buzzell, Barrington, Vt., +10c.; Worthington S. Tilford, St. Albans, Vt., $1; total, $39.48. +Previously acknowledged, $258.04; grand total, March 15, $297.52. + +Received from Samuel Lee Ingram, Missouri, two pictures; and from +Florence R. Hall, Woodbury, N. J., one doll. + + E. AUGUSTA FANSHAWE, Treasurer, 43 New St. + + * * * * * + +PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS. + +No. 1. + +CONCEALMENTS. + +1. Hidden Trees.--1. Will you help Amy? 2. That is a high crib. 3. Even +I prefer the other. 4. I am less studious than you are. + +2. Hidden Places.--1. It is strange no abler advocate could be found to +plead this cause. 2. Was that a knock? It Is papa, then, surely. 3. At a +barbecue they have roasted ox for dinner. 4. O ma, haven't I been good +to-day? The teacher marked me only once. + + B. J. L. + + * * * * * + +No. 2. + +DOUBLE ACROSTIC. + +1. A famous African tree. 2. A great white water-lily. 3. To recede. 4. +A small fort. 5. Shining with shifting color. 6. The American ostrich. +7. A young unfledged hawk. Primals and finals are two favorite spring +flowers. + + MOTHER BUNCH. + + * * * * * + +No. 3. + +TRANSFORMATIONS. + + 1. I am a rascal. Behead me, I am soldiers' quarters. + 2. I am a garment. Behead me, I am a grain. + 3. I am a tiny spot. Behead me, I am a measure. + 4. I am an instrument of punishment. Behead me, I am an inclosure. + 5. I grow in every garden. Behead me, I threaten. + 6. I am a medicine. Behead me, I am an instrument necessary to + civilization. + 7. I am essential to beauty. Behead me, I am a contest. + 8. I am an expression of scorn. Behead me, I am a relative. + 9. I am a spice. Behead me, I am a unit. + 10. I am something girls do. Behead me, I am used for skating. + 11. I keep out the weather. Behead me, I produce. + 12. I express greediness. Behead me, I am a testament. + + M. V. M. and I. V. M. + + * * * * * + +No. 4. + +NUMERICAL ENIGMA. + + I am composed of 11 letters. + My 1, 2, 3 is an article. + My 4, 5, 6 is a girl's name. + My 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 is a fortunate lady. + My whole is a poem by Tennyson. + + BRIGHT EYES. + + * * * * * + +No. 5. + +ENIGMA. + + My first is in Philip, but is not in James. + My second in Arthur, but is not in Joe. + My third is in Robert, but not in Eugene. + My fourth is in Rosa, but is not in Flo. + My fifth is in Oscar, but not in Katrine. + My sixth is in Thomas, but is not in Clo. + And I am a bird you would all like to know. + + JAMES EUGENE M. + + * * * * * + +No. 6. + +TWO EASY DIAMONDS. + +1.--1. A letter. 2. A utensil. 3. An elevation. 4. Conclusion. 5. A +letter. + +2.--1. A letter. 2. To permit. 3. One of the United States. 4. To knock. +5. A letter. + + SAM WELLER, JUN. + + * * * * * + +ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 124. + +No. 1. + +"Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished, but he that gathereth by +labor shall increase." + +Bath. Thyme. Hearth. Sabbath. Bullion. Heather. Battledore. Coleridge. +Gymnasium. Lawn tennis. Honesty. Vigilance. + +No. 2. + +Box. Brush. Hand. Limp. Sweep. Bracket. Clove. Pill. Chair. Brook. Blot. + +No. 3. + + H A N D H E A R + A R E A E A S E + N E A R A S I A + D A R E R E A R + +No 4. + +Snowball. + +No 5. + +Penmanship. + +No 6. + + R H + R O E S I P + R O U G H H I V E S + E G G P E N + H S + + * * * * * + +Correct answers to puzzles have been received from "Dimple Darling," +Ezra Burt, Blanche P. Hayward, "Fill Buster," Charles F. Wagner, Belle +Van Buskirk, Charlie Jones, Max Frost, Susie Passmore, Earle Jessup, +"Ben Bolt," Alice Chisholm, Kenneth McGovern, E. C. A., Henry Berlan, +Jun. + + * * * * * + +[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._] + + + + +THE CLOWNS' DUEL. + + +[Illustration] + + When Jack and Jerry, both of them merry, + Met at the circus one day, + Over Jerry's crown leaped Jack the clown. + And knocked off his hat in play. + +[Illustration] + + Jerry's rage was great, and from the ground straight + He leaped ten feet in the air, + And as he came down, he said, with a frown, + "Replace it, sir, or beware!" + +[Illustration] + + Jack would not comply; the ring-master sly + Handed them "pistols for two." + They both knew 'twas cruel to fight a real duel-- + What could they possibly do? + +[Illustration] + + But the duel was fought, and a lesson taught + Of sorrow, remorse, and woe. + Jack lay like one dead, as heavy as lead, + While Jerry with grief bent low. + +[Illustration] + + Jerry, faint with fright, and in a bad plight, + Straight to the ring-master ran; + But he was afraid; to Jerry he said, + "Get him home quick as you can." + +[Illustration] + + To get a long plank was an easy prank, + And back did poor Jerry fly. + Stiff as a poker lay one young joker; + The other with grief did cry; + +[Illustration] + + "He's dead, that's a fact; now how shall I act? + I think I'll tip him up so. + Now across my back I'll take poor Jack, + And then home with him I'll go." + +[Illustration] + + "He's light as a song! what can have gone wrong? + O gracious, just look at that! + He's straight up and down, like a cast-iron clown + Or a clumsy base-ball bat." + +[Illustration] + + "Ho! ho! here's a cask; 'twill be no hard task + To put him snugly inside. + Again he is straight; but now he's too late, + For home in the cask he'll ride. + Now, there! isn't he snug--a bug in a rug-- + Yet I feel awfully bad." + +[Illustration] + + "I can not tell why my poor Jack should die, + And leave me lonely and sad. + Why, just look you here! If this isn't Jack dear! + A joke on me he has played. + I'll love Jack, the merry, forever," said Jerry; + "Right here shall anger be laid." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, April 4, 1882, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 56677 *** |