diff options
Diffstat (limited to '57797-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 57797-0.txt | 3546 |
1 files changed, 3546 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/57797-0.txt b/57797-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1e777bd --- /dev/null +++ b/57797-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3546 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57797 *** + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HARPER'S ROUND TABLE] + +Copyright, 1896, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All Rights Reserved. + + * * * * * + +PUBLISHED WEEKLY. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, MAY 12, 1896. FIVE CENTS A COPY. + +VOL. XVII.--NO. 863. TWO DOLLARS A YEAR. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration] + +A WILD-OLIVE WREATH + +BY S. SCOVILLE, JUN. + + +Thronged to the gates is the little town of Elis on this the night +before the Olympic Games. Here are present not only men of every Grecian +city and province, but strange wanderers from the uttermost corners of +the world have assembled to view the games that honor the Ruler of the +Gods. + +Far away across the plain--so far that the many-voiced tumult of the +crowded city is but an echo--in dark silence stand the sacred olive +groves. Against the grayish-green foliage gleam the white tents of the +athletes, chosen from all Greece, who are to compete on the morrow. +Close to where towers the vast temple of Olympian Zeus, the world-wonder +that Lidon made, is a little group of tents that shelter the men of +Croton, famed for the might of her athletes. One of all the competitors +lies wakeful. Dion, the son of Glaucus, gazes from his couch with +wide-open eyes out into the night, sees the glimmer of the stars through +the flickering leaves, listens to the whisper of the boughs overhead, +and sleeps not. On the morrow he, a youth of eighteen, is to run in the +dolichos, the hardest race of the games. His breath comes in gasps and +the blood drums in the boy's ears as for the hundredth time in fancy he +runs his race. The horrible waiting, the strain of suspense, have +unnerved many an athlete more seasoned than Dion. A short hour before, +Hippomaches, the grizzled old trainer of Croton, had made a final visit +to see that all was well with his charges. Close on his departure came +Glaucus, the boy's father, a man well past three score, yet with massive +frame seemingly untouched by time as when, forty-four years ago, the +mighty Milo of Syracuse had fallen before him under such a deadly +cestus-stroke that the "blow of Glaucus" passed into a proverb. Dion, +who had inherited the slighter frame and almost girlish beauty of a +Thessalian mother, has always felt more of awe than affection for his +silent Lacedæmonian father, little knowing what a wealth of love for +his latest-born the grim old Spartan concealed under his impassive +coldness. + +To-night Glaucus stands for long without speaking, gazing down at his +son, while the stern, unflinching eyes become very soft. Then, to the +amazement of Dion, the hand that for nine Olympiads had won the wreath +from the world's mightiest rests on his yellow hair, tenderly as a +woman's. + +"Dion, my son," and the deep voice trembles a little, "thou knowest how +that our blood has ever brought glory to Croton. That the statues of thy +grandfather, thy father, and thy two brothers all stand in this grove +among the winners of Olympiads. Now thy turn hath come. Oh, my son, my +son, for the love thy father bears thee, for the honor of city and +blood, win the wreath to-morrow!"--and Glaucus is gone. + +Through the black tree-trunks steals a wavering glow from where the lone +priestess of Hestia tends the eternal flame that forever burns on the +Prytaneum. From either side of Dion's tent he hears the deep, regular +breathing of his twin brothers, men of tremendous strength and stature +like to their father, who have won fame almost equal to his--one as a +wrestler, the other as a boxer. Veterans are they in many a hard-fought +contest at the great games--Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian--and, +certain of success, rest untroubled by any feverish imaginings. + +Dion's thoughts go back to that Olympiad in which his brothers scored a +double victory for Croton. Before the silent multitude that day Glaucus +blessed his sons for the glory they had brought him. + +Every honor was heaped on the winners that Greece had to bestow. World +poets and singers gave of their genius to adorn the names of the sons of +Glaucus. Phidias himself made them immortal in snowy marble. The journey +homeward was one long series of triumphs; and when at last the +Olympiad-winners reached distant Croton, a breach was made through the +solid masonry of the city wall for their entry, no mere gateway +sufficing. Met by the assembled Council of Croton, they were formally +installed in the Prytaneum as guests of the city for life. + +And Dion, still thrilling at the remembrance of that day, falls asleep. + +In the gray hour just before dawn Hippomaches rouses the boy from an +uneasy slumber, and then with the clear oil rubs out every trace of +stiffness from the lithe polished limbs of his charge. The nude youth +stands in his manly beauty like a statue to Speed carved in ivory, his +white skin crimson-tinged where the friction has brought the warm blood +to the surface, while the coiling muscles ripple with every movement +across the slim sinewy frame, from which years of training have taken +away every ounce of useless fat. + +"Ah, my lad," exclaims the old trainer, admiringly, as he gives the +white back a farewell pat, "you are fit to-day to run a brave race for +old Croton; and forget not all I have taught you!" + +Dion dresses, and after a hurried meal proceeds to the temple, there to +take the oath of the games--that he is qualified to run, and will use no +guile in his race. Thence they go to the Metroön, rich with its +treasures of art, to await the triple trumpet-note that shall announce +the dolichos. For there are three races to be run this day--two short +ones, the aulos and diaulos, and lastly the terrible dolichos, in which +the runner covers the course twenty times. During the weary waiting +Hippomaches heartens the boy by stories of the performances of his +grandfather and father in Olympiads long past. The sun is well up before +the first races are over, and the shrill trumpet-tones give the signal +for the last of the running events. + +At the northwestern corner of the Altis, by the station-entrance that +only judges and competitors are privileged to use, the two separate, and +Hippomaches hastens away to take his place among the men of Croton, who +have their station near the base of the hill Kronion. Dion, with a crowd +of other competitors, passes through the vaulted tunnel between long +lines of brazen Zanes, and finds himself on the stadion in the full +glare of the early sunlight. The heights around are thronged far as the +eye can see with a vast crowd. To-day Dion runs before an assembled +world. The long straight expanse of the stadion stretches before him. At +either end are sunken slabs of white marble. Ten times must a runner +touch each block to cover the full twenty courses. High above the stone +which marks both start and finish are ranged the ten Hellenodikæ, the +judges, while on the opposite side the white-faced priestess of Demeter +Chamyrne sits alone--the only woman whose eyes may behold the games. + +A great hush has fallen on the multitude as the competitors take the +places assigned them by lot. It is broken by the voice of the herald. + +"Let him that knows of any stain on the life or blood of a competitor +speak now!" it thunders. A moment of tense silence, and then----"Let +every runner place his feet on the mark!" echoes along the hill-side. + +Each nude figure bends forward; a clear trumpet-note, and they are away, +a rushing mass of bodies that gleam in the sunlight. + +A little apart from the crowd in the seats of honor sit Glaucus, his +twin sons--whose events do not come until late afternoon--and +Hippomaches, the trainer. + +"'Tis an easy game, this running," remarks one of the twins, the boxer, +a little disdainfully. + +"I say to you, oh winner with the cestus," Hippomaches responds, +sternly, "that the most grievous blows on the palæstra are not to be +compared with the suffering of the last five courses of the dolichos!" + +But Glaucus hears nothing of this, nothing of the ejaculations and +murmurs of excitement, pleasure, and disappointment that sound from all +the throng. But for one thing has he eyes--a slim lithe figure far in +the rear of the others, yet which moves with a smooth effortless gait +like the swoop of a swallow. His iron grip tightens like a vise on the +trainer's shoulder. "I know little of contests wherein men trust to +their feet," he mutters. "Why lags the boy so far behind? He--he is not +losing heart?" + +"Watch the first turning, O Glaucus, and thou wilt see why Dion holds +back," Hippomaches answers, grimly. "'Tis the bitter stadia that comes +last by which thy son's courage will be proven." + +Now the crowd of runners are at the end of the first course. The madness +of the race is upon most of the novices. Forgetting the long stadia that +come after, they strain every muscle to be the first to touch the white +stone, and, instantly turning, retrace their course. In the wild jostle +that results, Polymnestor, the Platæan runner, is thrown headlong, and +though he rises instantly, and limpingly follows the others, never is +the lost ground regained. A little group of the older runners, including +Dion, who races with all the judgment of a veteran, have held back, and +now, avoiding the returning rush, complete the course with no danger of +interference, and are soon close upon the heels of the leaders. + +It is to this little group that the knowing ones look for the winner. +There is Philoctetes, the Spartan, a grim, black-bearded man in the +prime of life, who won the dolichos at the last Olympiad. Near him are +formidable rivals--Listhenes, Athens's speediest runner, who defeated +Philoctetes by a desperate effort at the recent Nemean Games, and +Antenor of Corinth, the winner of the event at the Pythian Games, is +just at his shoulder. Then come two runners from distant provinces in +Asia, who are rumored to have done marvellous racing over their native +stadia. Back of them all is Dion, with the smouldering flame in his eyes +and the long graceful stride. At the end of the second course the same +scene of confusion is repeated, and two more runners go down. Stadion +after stadion are traversed, and slowly the leaders drop back. By the +end of the tenth the six that had brought up the rear are now in the +van. Another course, and they begin to draw away from those who have +exhausted their strength during the first half of the race. At last +there are but five stadia more--the stadia in which the real race is +run, the stadia that are the supreme test of a runner's courage and +endurance. + +Hippomaches tugs at his grizzled beard excitedly. "Fourteen Olympian +dolichoi have I seen run in my day," he exclaims to Glaucus, "but never +a faster than this. Flesh and blood cannot stand that pace much longer; +some one will drop soon, and--the gods send it be not our Dion!" + +Philoctetes is in the lead. His teeth are clinched, and the foam lies +white on his black beard. A fit embodiment is he of the grim +Lacedæmonian spirit which is yet to dominate all Greece. Faster and +faster he runs, hoping to exhaust his rival from hated Athens--none +other does he fear. A deep-throated roar of encouragement rises from the +tiers of stern-faced, impassive Spartans as their champion flashes past +them. Shrill cries come from the excitable Greeks of the Asiatic +provinces as they cheer on their representatives, who are beginning to +waver. But it is vain. Very different is an Olympic dolichos from any +race of the provinces, and though struggling desperately, they drop +back, unable longer to stand the tremendous strain. One stadion, two +stadia, are passed, and the third begun, nor does Philoctetes falter +aught in his even, rapid gait. Right at his shoulder glare the eyes of +Listhenes, who would gladly give his life this day that Athens might +win. There is a great hush as the runners traverse the third course. The +supreme moment of the race is drawing nigh. All in a moment Antenor the +Corinthian, who has held the third place just ahead of Dion, plunges +forward in the very midst of a stride, and falls to the ground with the +bright blood gushing from his mouth--his last dolichos run. + +"Dion! Dion! See our Dion!" roar the men of Croton; for the boy is +gaining. Inch by inch the gap between him and the leaders lessens, and +soon Listhenes hears a sobbing breath at his ear, and knows that there +is another to dispute the victory with Athens and Sparta. + +"'Tis thine own son, O Glaucus!" cried Hippomaches, clinching his hands. +And indeed the boy's features have changed. On the white drawn face +appears that same intense look of deadly earnestness that made the +fiercest boxer fear to stand before Glaucus in the old days. Fatigue, +pain, danger, death itself count for naught; the race! the race! and his +city's honor! are all that Dion knows. They touch the white stone, and +turn back for the last course almost in line. + +Back and forth among the hills roll the waves of sound, "Athens!" +"Athens!" "Philoctetes for Sparta!" But high over all echoes the cry of, +"Croton! Croton! Speed thee, O Croton!" Unhearingly Dion runs. There is +a sickening pain in his breast, a taste of blood in his mouth; but the +boy's will yet upholds the overtaxed body, dead from the waist +downwards, and the gap between him and the leaders widens not. + +Far, oh, so terribly far, in the distance is the white stone, the goal +of all his life. Above it are the calm uneager faces of the ten +Hellenodikæ and the pale priestess, who gazes down at the struggling +trio with unseeing eyes from which a thousand sacrifices have seared all +of human tenderness. Nearer and nearer the snowy gleam approaches, and +still the three runners are almost in line, with Dion a little behind. +Suddenly from out of the misty cloud of faces that wavers before the +boy's hot unwinking eyes Dion sees his father's, the stern features all +convulsed, hears a voice cry brokenly, with a world of anguished +pleading in its tone, + +"On, Dion! on! Oh, my son--for your city!" + +"Dion! Dion! for your city!" echoes the mighty voice of thrice ten +thousand men--and at the cry the boy's face comes up even with the black +beard of Philoctetes, the tense countenance of the Athenian. + +Neck by neck, stride for stride the three stagger on, and the finish is +but a few steps away. The multitude is mad with excitement. Even the +Hellenodikæ forget their stoicism, and lean forward, for who touches the +stone first, if by only a hair's-breadth, is the winner. Then above the +deep roar of the crowd sounds a voice like a trumpet-peal, the +tremendous voice of Hippomaches, wisest of the sons of men in every wile +of the stadion. + +"The finish! Dion, the finish! Remember!--Now!" + +Through the dimness that is slowly clouding Dion's senses the voice +pierces. Almost in the last stride of the race the boy, with arms +extended, throws himself forward like a diver, and the hands, +outstretched, are on the goal-stone a fraction of a second before the +feet of the others. And with the feeling of the smooth coolness of the +marble at his finger-tips comes a great darkness, and Dion knows nothing +more until he finds himself standing in the temple of Zeus on the +chryselephantine table that Zeuxis made--the most beautiful in the +world. Around him are the strong arms of his father. He hears the +pealing chant, "Tenella! Tenella!" "Hail to the victor!" and on his +forehead feels the light pressure of the hardly won olive wreath that +crowns him before the world the winner of the dolichos. + + + + +GRANDFATHER'S ADVENTURES. + +BY CAPTAIN HOWARD PATTERSON. + + +"Grandpop," said Ralph Pell, "a little while ago I asked Sam if he had +seen many sharks in his lifetime, and he said that he saw more sharks +the night he first joined your vessel than he ever saw before or since. +When I asked him to tell me the story he shut up as tight as a clam. Do +you know what he means?" + +"Yes, Ralph, I know what he refers to, and I'll tell you the yarn. It is +a good many years ago since I was made proud by receiving as my first +command a fine, tight little bark called the _Northern Light_. I carried +out a general cargo to Matanzas, on the north side of Cuba, and loaded +sugar for my return voyage. + +"The day that I received my clearance papers and was ready to sail, our +agent, a Spanish gentleman of the name of Gonzales, invited me to take a +farewell dinner. + +"The time spent at the table was exceedingly pleasant, and after the +dessert had been served we adjourned with the ladies to the veranda for +our coffee, which was served by a powerfully built negro who answered to +the name of Antonio. I have often thought how different that poor +slave's life would have been had I not asked for a second cup. + +"As Antonio extended the tray toward me he struck its edge against my +chair, and emptied the hot black liquid over my white duck coat and +trousers. + +"My host jumped to his feet in a passion. + +"'You worthless black scoundrel!' he cried, 'I'll cure you of your +carelessness." Then he turned to me, and with an air of great politeness +said, 'I ask you pardon, Señor Capitan, for my slave's miserable +clumsiness. + +"Immediately following, two of the plantation overseers, whom he had +called, dragged the negro on to the lawn before us, stripped off his +jacket and shirt, and produced short cruel-looking whips. + +"'Señor,' I said, 'I beg of you to pardon him this time; it was purely +an accident, for which I excuse him.' + +"'I cannot allow your generosity to be taken advantage of, Señor +Capitan,' replied my host. 'You have received an indignity under my +roof, and I must render you ample proof of my regret.' + +"At a sign from the master, the two plantation hands were about to ply +their whips upon the back of the house slave, when, jumping over the +railing to the lawn, I interposed between the negro and the overseers, +bidding them to hold. My interference angered our agent, for he +approached me, and said, haughtily: + +"'The Señor Capitan will remember that he is not master here, that this +is my slave, and he will oblige me by not concerning himself in the +management of my affairs.' Then he added, sneeringly, 'Besides, I +understand that Yankee shipmasters are not so humane in the treatment of +their crews as to be shocked because a clumsy slave receives a sample of +what American captains enjoy to inflict on their own men for little or +no provocation!' + +"'Señor Gonzales,' I answered, hotly, 'your brutality is only equalled +by the discourtesy and contempt that you show to me as your guest. I +demand an immediate apology for your language in the presence of these +overseers and this slave, before whom you have insulted me!' + +"As I ended he snatched a whip from one of the men, and raised it as +though to strike me, but changing his mind, he half turned and slashed +it across the naked shoulders of the negro. + +"Before they could seize him, Antonio lurched forward, struck his +master a stinging blow with his fist, and the next instant had scaled +the garden wall and plunged into the cane-fields close by. + +"Disgusted with the way in which my visit had ended, and scorning, under +the circumstances, to make use of a conveyance belonging to the +plantation, I left the grounds without seeing the señora and her +daughters, and made my way to the plaza in the city. Later on I made my +way to the wharf where I had ordered the bark's boat to meet me. + +"Several times, as the men pulled easily toward the ship through the hot +night, I thought I heard, between the intervals of the strokes, a sound +like that of labored breathing and the noise of broken water just +astern; but in the darkness that prevailed I could see nothing, and +thinking perhaps that it was caused by the sharks which abounded in the +harbor, I paid no further heed to it. + +"We had run alongside the bark, and I had stood up in the stern-sheets +to leave the boat, when a black hand reached out of the water and seized +the gunwale of the boat; then as one of the sailors uttered a note of +alarm and raised his oar threateningly, an agonized negro's face was +lifted above the rail, and a pitiful voice cried in Spanish, 'Save +Antonio, master!' + +"I didn't like the idea of stealing another man's property, but I +trembled to think of his fate should he be caught, so I took the poor +fellow on board the _Northern Light_, and when morning came I lifted +anchor and carried him away from cruelty and slavery forever. To cut him +adrift from the past I rechristened him 'Sam.'" + + + + +PRACTICAL GOLF. + +BY W. G. _van_ TASSEL SUTPHEN. + +(_In Five Papers._) + +III.--THROUGH THE GREEN, AND BUNKER PLAY. + + +The "green" is used generically to designate the whole course, +specifically it is the putting green. Now we know that after the +tee-shot we must "address" and play the ball _as we find it_. We are not +permitted to tee it again, nor must we touch it with anything except a +club, under penalty of one stroke. The choice of club naturally depends +upon the distance from the hole, but more especially upon the "lie" of +the ball. Should it be resting cleanly on close firm turf, we may be +able to use the driver again; but, generally speaking, our American +courses are too rough and cuppy to permit the employment of so fragile +an instrument as the wooden driver. On some of the English "greens," and +notably Westward Ho, the lies are so good that one's ball seems to be +always teed, and proficiency with the wooden club is consequently at a +premium. But on ordinary courses the "lie" is pretty sure to be more or +less bad, and the play-club, as the driver is sometimes called, must be +laid aside in favor of a coarser and more effective weapon. Speaking +roughly, the brassy is first choice, followed by cleek, medium iron, +lofter, mashie, and niblick, the last being used only in the most +desperate of straits, and where nothing more is expected than to get the +ball upon the course again. + +[Illustration: THE WAGGLE.] + +The fascination of golf lies in its variety and difficulty. If it were +only a question of holing balls, one long hole laid out over a smooth +meadow would be all that would be necessary. But it would be very +monotonous and uninteresting kind of work, and certainly not golf. Given +six or nine or eighteen holes of different lengths, and the task at once +becomes interesting through the introduction of the element of variety. + +But a simple variation in distance is not enough; the game is still too +easy. We must have difficulties to avoid or overcome, and these +difficulties, lumped under the general name of "hazards," may be either +natural or artificial. The idea is that these hazards should be so +placed as to punish only poor strokes, and that with perfect play we may +avoid them altogether. But for present purposes we may ignore their +existence, and assume that the way is clear, and that our only +difficulty is the particular position, or "lie," of the ball. + +Now there are many kinds of bad lies, but the one oftenest encountered +is the "cupped" ball. Here the ball is lying in a shallow hole or +depression, making it very difficult to get the club well under it. If +the cup be not too deep we may take a brassy, but the stroke will differ +slightly from the regular full drive. It should be what is called a +"jerked" shot, although the "jerk" has nothing to do with the swing +proper. That must be as smooth and regular as possible, but it may be +permissible to keep the arms in a trifle, and thereby bring the club up +straighter. The principal difference is that the club head cuts into the +ground instead of sweeping cleanly over it. The ball is struck in +precisely the same manner, and the jerk is simply the after impact of +the club head upon the turf. This stroke is particularly effective with +the iron clubs, and indeed many players use it for all their iron shots. +It certainly drives the ball almost if not quite so far as the clean +swing; but the author of the _Art of Golf_ thinks that its constant use +tends to unsteadiness at the tee. Nevertheless, it is the only effective +treatment for a cupped ball, and it must be learned. When playing the +stroke do not think about the jerk. Swing down so as to nip in between +the lip of the cup and the ball, and let the club head make its own +explanations to the ground. Should the ball be badly cupped you may have +to take the mashie or even the niblick to get it out; but the cleek will +generally do the work if you hit accurately. + +A hanging ball is one that is lying upon a slope that runs down in the +direction of the proposed drive. It looks hard to handle, but the +difficulty is purely imaginary. The brassy, or any other club whose face +is laid back, will easily raise it into the air if you swing properly +and trust to the club to do the work. The beginner is apt to think that +he must make an extra turn with his wrists to get the ball up, but he is +mistaken. Place the club so that it rests naturally on the slope behind +the ball, and swing precisely as though you were at the tee, and the +"spoon" of the club will do the rest. + +[Illustration: GETTING OUT OF A BUNKER.] + +Balls lying on a side hill, whether above or below you, are best played +with an easy swing, and with the grip of the right hand comparatively +loose. Long grass is very annoying because it interferes with the swing. +You will have to take the lofter or mashie, and play with a firm grip. +But do not "press" or try to strike extra hard. Generally speaking, the +worse the lie the more particular you should be to swing and not to hit. +Accuracy and not strength is the essential thing. And get well under the +ball. + +Coming now to hazards and bunkers, it may be said that bunkers are, +properly speaking, sand-pits; while a hazard is any permanent feature of +the course, such as briar-islands, roads, water, trees, or fences. Of +course you will try to avoid these difficulties, but to be successful in +doing so you must be reasonably sure of always getting your ball well +into the air. A ball trundling along the ground may often make more +yards of distance than a nicety lofted one, but then the "green" must be +comparatively smooth and clear. If there is a brook or a fence in the +way, it must be cleared on the fly, or you will find yourself in +trouble. Now the lofter and mashie, from their shape of head, tend to +raise the ball higher in the air than the straighter-faced clubs, and +the novice should especially cultivate the use of the first-named. If +the ball be struck clean and true, it may be lofted higher than is +absolutely necessary, but that is better than too low. There is a +particular stroke, called the high loft, but that need not concern us +now. Use the regular driving swing, and get well under the ball. + +Being fairly in a bunker or hazard is a painful situation, and the one +thing to do is to get out with all possible expedition. If you are in a +bunker proper, or sand-pit, you will have to take the niblick or mashie, +and you must remember that you are not allowed to "sole" the club--that +is, rest it on the ground as in the ordinary address. The idea is that +the mark made on the sand by the club head is an unfair guide for the +eye, and therefore if you touch sand you lose a stroke. It is often +effective in a sand-bunker to aim at a point a little behind the ball, +rather than at the "gutty" itself. The club cuts into the yielding sand, +and, as it were, explodes the ball into the air and out of danger. An +experiment or two will make this clear to you. + +With the ball in an ordinary hazard, play to get it back on the course, +rather than to make any extra distance by a little extra effort. If you +"press," you will probably leave yourself worse off than before. In a +"score" game a player has the option of lifting his ball out of a +difficulty of any description and teeing it _behind_ the same, the +penalty being two strokes. Of course you must use your judgment as to +when this course is the part of wisdom. + +[Illustration: BEGINNING OF HALF-IRON SHOT.] + +In match play, where the scoring is by holes, a lost ball means the loss +of the hole. In medal or score play the player must return as nearly as +possible to the point where the ball was struck, and tee a new one, the +penalty being one stroke. + +There are several other contingencies noted in the rules of the game; it +is worth while to procure a copy of these and study them carefully. + +[Illustration: A HAZARD.] + +It is to be remembered that all of the foregoing refers to play through +the green when the hole is at an indefinite distance away, and we are +simply trying to drive the ball the greatest distance possible. But in +playing out of a hazard it is often advisable to use what is called, in +approaching the hole, a half or a three-quarter swing. Roughly speaking, +if the full distance covered by your regular drive be not desirable, +make the _length_ of your swing shorter in proportion, but do not try to +hit a little more easily. Distance is measured by the length of the +swing and not by the force applied. Let the left wrist be taut; and, +finally, _Keep your eye on the ball_. + + + + +UNDER THE GREEN-WOOD TREE. + +BY EMMA J. GRAY. + + +"Not going to the country, did you say, mamma?" and sorrowing faces +accompanied the words. + +"Not this summer, my dears." + +"Then if we are _not_ going, I know just what to do." + +"What's your plan, my son?" + +"Simply to _make_ country for ourselves here at home." + +"How, Jack? I don't quite understand," said his sister. + +"Divide our big yard. You take both the side beds, and plant in them +whichever flowers you would most miss by staying home, and I will take +the back bed and surprise you with it." + +"Oh, that will be fun! I'll plant one side full of daisies, and the +other just as full of buttercups. Then I can make all the daisy wreaths +I please, and find out who loves butter and who don't, just the same as +when we are up in the mountains." + +John was a tree lover. It was his greatest joy to lie off with a +favorite book under wide-spreading branches. So he instantly began +devising what could be arranged to take a tree's place. He measured his +plot, and then set about collecting old brooms. When he had eighteen he +cut off the handles close to the brush, and then he sank them one foot +in the ground. From the top of each handle he drew stout cord to the +back fence, where, having driven some nails, he firmly fastened each +cord. + +Then he raked the earth down about half a foot, and sowed in a straight +line from base to base of the handles a package of Japanese hops. His +mother had told him this had most luxuriant foliage and was fine for +trellises. Nothing hurt it--neither heat, drought, nor insects. However, +John carefully watched the seeds' growth and watered the tender shoots +frequently. + +While the vines were growing, as he was somewhat of a carpenter, he made +a low divan on which to throw a rug and pine pillows for the use of +visitors who did not care to lie on the soft tan-bark, which served as +carpet for his cool restful greenroom, and which throughout all the hot +sultry summer gave thorough satisfaction. + +Entrance was made at the extreme right, space for which was allowed at +time of building. This part was kept well sodded, as the effect was +prettier when viewed from the house. It also was in pleasing contrast +to the dark brown of the tan-bark, and made the whole more effective in +every way. + +As for John's sister, she rarely missed the country, for she so very +much enjoyed the freedom of gardening on her own account--weeding, +watering, making wreaths and bouquets for her friends and herself. + +But, as often happens to older gardeners, she met with disappointment in +regard to her buttercup bed. Beyond the first few weeks they refused to +bloom, so one day they were all dug up and verbena roots planted +instead. These fairly ran riot, and the fantastic gay coloring had the +veriest kaleidoscopic effect until frost came and out-of-door gardening +was over. + + + + +THREE OF US KNOW. + +BY MARIE L. VAN VORST. + + + Who are my playfellows? + Wait, you shall see; + Sometimes a little bird, + Sometimes a bee. + All through the summer world + Gayly we go. + Where is the greenest close, + Where is the sweetest rose, + Three of us know. + + Bee seeks the rose's heart, + Bird seeks the tree, + I seek a little brook + Clear as can be. + It singeth all day long + Sweetly and low, + Ballad of sun and star. + What its song-secrets are + Three of us know. + + Bee takes the honey home + To the Queen bee; + Bird seeks a nest that hides + High in the tree; + I seek a little house + Where sweet vines grow. + What in God's world is best-- + Trees, flowers, home and rest-- + Three of us know. + + + + +AN "OLD-FIELD" SCHOOL-GIRL.[1] + +[1] Begun in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE No. 857. + +BY MARION HARLAND + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +"Running for her life" is not too strong an expression to describe +Flea's flight. She had had experience of the temper of the man she had +injured to the extent of her ability. She believed that he would kill +her, in his fury, if he overtook her. With the instinct of a hunted hare +she made for the thickest part of the woods, tearing through matted +jungles of cat-briers and saplings, redoubling her speed as she heard a +shout behind her. She had run a mile when she stopped for breath. Her +hat was gone, and the muslin spencer worn under a sleeveless jacket, +because of the late warm weather, was torn into ribbons. Her arms and +face were bleeding; her heart beat so loudly that she could hear nothing +else distinctly; but she fancied, presently, that she distinguished from +afar off the noise of somebody crashing through the undergrowth. She +bethought herself instantly that her flight must have left a wide trail +in the forest. Winged by terror, she dashed on, but she no longer ran +straight. With an undefined idea, gained from reading Cooper's novels, +of losing trail in the water, she directed her course toward the swamp +lying on both sides of the creek near where it emptied into the river. +She could wade for a mile there, if necessary. Once in the depths of the +swamp, she could defy anybody to find her unless he had a blood-hound to +guide him. She had read and heard of blood-hounds, but had never seen +one. + +In her blind haste she miscalculated distances and direction, becoming +aware of the blunder as the woods grew lighter. Long level lines of +light from the early sunsetting hit her like arrows shot from behind the +leafless trees. Where was she going? If she kept on, where would she +come out? + +A new sound smote her ears. It was not the shout of the pursuer or the +bay of the hound which her imagination had conjured up. As it arose and +wailed upon the still air, she fancied something familiar in it. +Creeping cautiously nearer the road, which she espied through the +brushwood, she saw first the white top of a "tumbler-cart" crossing a +bridge laid over an arm of the creek, then the long ears of a mule, +lastly her father's one man-servant, Dick, walking alongside of the +mule, his hand on the thill of the cart. As he walked he uplifted voice +and soul in sacred song: + + "An' mus' dis body die? + Dis martial frame de-cay? + An' mus' dese actyve lim's o' mine--" + +"Min' yo' eye dar, y'u ole buzzard!" as the mule touched the driver's +cowhide boots with his hoof-- + + "Lie mould-ing in de clay?" + +The truth flashed upon Flea. Chaney's sister, who had belonged to a +planter living ten miles further down the river, had died a week ago, +and word had been sent to Chaney that "a right smart chance o' clo'es +an' blankets an' things" had been left to her by the deceased. Mrs. +Grigsby had asked her husband that morning at breakfast if Dick could +have a mule and a cart and a day's holiday, in order to fetch home his +wife's legacy. The master had given his consent readily, and Dick was +now on his way home, bearing his goods with him. He was, likewise, +charged with all the particulars of his sister-in-law's sickness and +death, with which he had it in his mind to regale his faithful Chaney. +Behind him were the fertile low grounds; before him the road stretched +straight into the heart of swamp and forest. + + "I'm goin' home!" + +wailed the chorus. + + "I'm going home! I'm goin' ho-o-me! + I'm goin' ho-o-oome, to die no mo'!" + +[Illustration: FLEA CREPT IN OVER THE BACKBOARD.] + +Crouching low, and treading as lightly as a panther, Flea quitted the +bushes, stole up behind the cart as Dick threw up his head, to open his +mouth back to the ears in the final howl of "ho-o-o-ome," and crept in +over the backboard, unseen and unsuspected by the musician. + +A feather bed filled the body of the cart, and into this the fugitive +sank, pulling the "things" over her. How soft and how safe it felt! and +how tired! tired! _tired!_ she was, now that she had stopped running and +need not fear pursuit. She had eaten nothing since breakfast, and was +giddy and faint. She was very wet, too. In emptying the bucket upon her +tormentor she had drenched herself to the skin. + +Flea had not thought of going home when she ran out of the school-house. +She would have said that she dared not meet her father and mother after +what she had done. Maddened by her wrongs, she was conscious of but two +impulses--to revenge herself upon the guilty party, and then to get out +of sight of everybody. The best thing that could happen to her, she told +herself, would be to die in the woods, of starvation and exposure, and +to be found there by a search party sent out by her parents. Everybody +would cry over her lifeless remains, and the wicked cause of her death +would be driven out of the county. Perhaps he might be hanged for her +murder. He would certainly be the victim of remorse all the rest of his +days. + +These thoughts had shot through her mind in little bits at a time while +she pushed through the thickets. There had been no time for connected +plans or expectations. But now, lying secure in her dark and downy nest, +she concluded that, after all, home was the only refuge for her. Her +shoulders and arms were naked, her skirts were wringing wet, her shoes +heavy with swamp mud, her legs were torn by briers and thorns, and her +head began to feel queer. Her brain swam and swung; her skull seemed to +be filled with boiling water which was trying to get out at her ears. +They were deafened by the sound of the boiling, and the steam pressed on +the back of her eyes. Her mouth was so dry that the surface of her +tongue "crazed," as crockery goes into tiny cracks when overheated. + +Yes, home was the place for her. She would meet with punishment there. +In a strange half-sleep she heard herself whispering, "Not knowing the +things that shall befall me there, save that bonds and afflictions await +me." Rest and comfort could never be hers again. But home was better +than the wide, wide, wicked world. + +Awaking herself with an effort, she set in order what she should say +when she got home. Her father would not believe that she had lied and +cheated. But what would he say to the revenge that began to taste less +sweet than at first? He would have to pay for Mr. Tayloe's spoiled +clothes. She might even have to go to court to answer for her misdeed. +Her spirit leaped up again at the thought. She would tell her story +boldly to judge and jury, and show what had been done by "the wretch who +was a disgrace to his cloth." + +That sounded fine; but did "cloth" always mean a broadcloth coat? She +had a notion that it was only "cloth" when black and on a clergyman's +back. At any rate, she would defy the little monster. The memory of his +grinning face and insulting tone stirred up the mire and dirt anew. + +The cart had no springs. It jolted and bumped over the rough road, and +rocked up and down: but she was used to the ways of the tumbler-cart, +and Dick's singing was making her drowsy again. She would put off +thinking until she got rested. Perhaps by then her ears would roar less +and her head stop aching. + +Creak and rumble! Seesaw! and fainter and further away sounded Dick's +monotonous wail-- + + "We'll pass over Jerdan! + How happy we shall be! + We'll pass over Jerdan, + And shout de jubilee." + +Snail Snead was singing that tune yesterday to what the girls said were +"wicked words." They got into Flea's head now, and would not get out: + + "We'll pass over Jerdan, + An' drink sweeten'd tea; + We'll passa over Jerdan, + An' climb the 'simmon-tree." + +She smiled foolishly in saying them over. + +Cart and song had come to a halt. Flea put her eye to a crevice in the +cover. It was Miss Em'ly on horseback, a mounted groom leading a third +horse. Dick pulled off his whity-brown wool hat, and scraped his foot. + +"Howdy, Uncle Dick!" called the sweet, shrill voice. "Have you seen Mr. +Tayloe anywhere?" + +"Naw, my mistis, I 'ain' see him nowhar. Is you los' him? I moughty +sorry." + +His eyes twinkled, and Miss Em'ly snapped her whip at him, blushing and +laughing. + +"Shut your mouth, Uncle Dick! He was to go riding with me, and he isn't +at the school-house. If you should see him, tell him I couldn't wait for +him. Good-by." + +She gave her horse a smart cut and galloped down the road. + +"He is looking for me all this time!" thought Flea, fearfully. Her teeth +chattered, and she pulled a blanket up over her. + +Another adventure was in store for her at the next turn of the highway. +Mr. Tayloe stepped out of the edge of the woods and hailed Dick. Flea +could have thought his eye met hers as she peeped through the hole in +the cover. He stood within six feet of the cart. His hat was the only +dry thing he had on. His blue coat, buff waistcoat, and gray trousers +were discolored and streaked with wet. "Beggars' ticks" and "Spanish +needles," sticking to his clothes, told of a tramp through marsh and +field. He looked cross and ugly and fierce. + +"Aren't you Grigsby's man?" he asked, harshly. + +Dick touched his hat, but did not take it off. "Yas, suh. I has de honor +for to be Mister Grigsby's body-sarvant! At yo' sarvice, suh!" + +The superior quality of his manners did not impress the white man. His +tone was more offensive than before. + +"You tell him he must come up to the house to-night. I want to see him +on particular business. Do you hear?" + +"Yas, suh!" Dick's roving gaze took in all the details of the forlorn +figure, and he grew exasperatingly polite. "You been fall in de creek, +'ain' you, suh? Carn't I give you a lif' home, suh? You mought happen to +meet somebody 'long de road. Miss Em'ly Duncombe, she done parss 'long +hyur, jes now, a-lookin' fur you. It's more'n likely she'll tu'n back at +de cross-roads. Lordy! dar's a moughty big dus' down yonder," arching +his hand over his eyes to make sure they did not deceive him. "Hit looks +mightily like dat's her now." + +Flea had never heard the teacher swear until he flung a round and +abusive oath at the negro and plunged back into the woods. Sly Dick had +been morally certain that the fine gentleman would never in any +circumstances demean himself to become a passenger in a tumbler-cart. He +had not risked dampening his Chaney's "things" by the invitation, or it +would never have been given. Flea, half dead with dread lest it might be +accepted, felt the blood rush wildly from her heart to her head in the +relief of the escape, sank back upon the feather bed, and fainted away. + +Dick plodded along the highway too full of wicked glee to sing any more +hymns. Twice he stopped in the middle of the road to laugh--a regular +darky "Ki-_yi_!" enjoyed by every atom of his being. Mr. Tayloe was very +unpopular with the Greenfield servants, and tales of his "high-handed, +low-down ways," had been repeated throughout the colored community. The +fall moon was high above the horizon when the tumbler-cart was driven up +to the kitchen door. Chaney bustled out with importance, becoming an +heiress in her own right, but with a decent show of indifference to her +own interests where those of her employers were concerned. + +"'Ain' no time fur to tech dem things now!" she declared. "Marster's +sister done come from Philadelphy or Pennsylvany, or wharever 'tis. De +big pot's got to be put in de little one, you better b'lieve. Did you +git de baid [bed]?" + +"Yas, an' a pyar o' blankets, an' a counterpin, an' a shawl, an' two +linsey-woolsey coats Dorkis never had on her back--an' I don' know what +else beside. Dars a chaney tea-pot an' sugar-dish. Jes you take a peep +in dar!"--leading the way to the back of the cart. "Put yo' han' inter +dat 'ar baid. Dem's fedders as is fedders!" + +"The chamber" of the Grigsby house was ablaze with three candles and a +great fire upon the hearth. To escape from the heat of this last the +visitor, Mrs. McLaren, had drawn her chair to an open window. She was +two years older than her brother, and had worn black for ten years for +her only child, who had borne her name--Jean. Her husband, who had been +an invalid for fifteen years, had died only six months before this, her +first visit to Virginia. Her brother, of whom she was very fond, had +been to Philadelphia for a few days every summer since her marriage. +Against his wife's wish he had slipped "Jean" in after the high-sounding +name bestowed by her upon their second child. Mrs. Grigsby considered +her sister-in-law "right down hard favored," and indeed her reddish +hair, high cheek-bones, and prominent mouth robbed her of all claim to +beauty. She had, however, a sensible, kindly face, and looked and spoke +like a refined lady. She had arrived from Norfolk at three o'clock that +afternoon, and had seen all the children except her namesake. + +"She had to stay for a while after school to do a sum, poor thing!" Bea +explained, with amiable unwillingness. + +Mrs. Grigsby heaved her usual sigh over Flea's shortcomings. Good woman +and good mother though she was, she would not have been sorry to see Bea +in high favor with her rich aunt, even at the expense of her less +attractive sister. Bea would do her mother's training credit anywhere. +"Poor Flea," as her mother often lamented, "was nobody's pretty child, +and too odd for anything." + +"Is she often out as late as this?" asked Mrs. McLaren. "Is it quite +safe for her to come home alone from school after sunset?" + +Mrs. Grigsby repeated her sigh. "Flea takes after her father in +headiness," she remarked, in sickly jest. + +Her husband paid no heed to the fling. + +"If she is not in soon, I shall go to look after her," he said, peering +through the window at the darkening landscape. "Mr. Tayloe is an +excellent teacher, but, as you say, Jean, it is not right to keep a girl +out after dark. She wasn't kept in over the sum she did last night, was +she?"--looking at Bea. "I know that was right." + +Bea was discreet and mysterious. "I didn't ask any questions, sir. I +only heard Mr. Tayloe say she must stay in for an hour after school." + +Mrs. McLaren glanced at Dee. He sat upon a cricket in a corner near her, +apparently asleep; but at Bea's reply he unclosed his eyes in languid +surprise upon his sister. + +"The laddie knows something he could tell, if he would," said his aunt, +laying her hand upon the bullet head. + +"'Twould be tellin' tales out o' school," muttered the boy, reddening +bashfully. "If 'twouldn't, I could tell a heap o' things." + +Mrs. McLaren's hand, passing gently over his head, was checked by +something she felt there. + +"How came this big bump here?" she inquired. "Have you had a fall?" + +"Naw,'m." + +"A fight, perhaps, then?" + +"Naw,'m." + +She raised his chin to search his eyes. + +"Would it be telling tales out of school to answer _that_ question?" + +Dee nodded, got redder and more bashful. + +"Ef you had a tole me, I'd 'a' rubbed it with operdildoc," said the +mother. "Boys that won't steddy mus' look for hard knocks." + +"Does Felicia study?" pursued the visitor. + +"I can't exac'ly say she don't steddy," returned the mother. "But she is +the greatest one fur gittin' inter scrapes--" + +Her husband interrupted her again, as if he had not heard what she said. + +"Study! She's the best scholar of her age I or you or anybody else ever +saw. She has more brains than all the rest of them put together. You'll +be proud of your name-child some of these days, Jean." + +"How happens it then that she was kept in?" was the next and natural +question. "Perhaps she is not industrious?" + +"She works like a horse!" came from Dee, who had laid his head back +against the wall, and sighed and turned white behind his freckles. The +boy looked ill. + +Mr. Grigsby was troubled. + +"I have had thoughts," he said, more hesitatingly than he was accustomed +to speak, "about Mr. Tayloe's management of that child. She's +high-strung and sensitive, and so little like most girls of her age, +that an ordinary teacher would not know how to get on with her. But she +learns so fast under him, and is so eager about her lessons, that it +doesn't seem wise for me--" + +A piercing yell from without broke the sentence in the middle. Another +and another, with never a breath between, drew the whole party to the +back door, from which direction the screams had come. + +The moonlight showed the cart and mule at the door of the kitchen, which +was built twenty yards or so from the house. The moon also showed Chaney +jumping up and down like a crazy thing at the back of the cart, and +screeching at the top of her lungs. Two children clutched her skirts and +screeched in sympathy. + +"What is to pay out there?" shouted the master, angrily. "Stop that +noise!" + +"Dar's somefin' 'live in dar, suh!" Dick called back in trembling +accents. + +Mr. Grigsby stepped back into the house for a candle; his sister +followed him with another. He pulled aside the cover of the cart. Mrs. +McLaren held the light above his head, and leaned forward with him to +look in. + +When Chaney had thought to thrust her hand into her feather bed, it had +encountered something that moved and moaned. That something now sat +upright and stretched out two naked arms encrusted with dried blood. A +voice nobody there would have known cried out: "Father! father! don't +let that man get me! He wants to _kill_ me." + +Such was Mrs. McLaren's introduction to the namesake of whom she would +some day be proud. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +RICK DALE. + +BY KIRK MUNROE. + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ALARIC TODD'S DARKEST HOUR. + + +"Hello, Rick Dale! Hold on!" was the hail that caused Alaric to halt in +his flight from the most recent of the chasings that were becoming so +common a feature of his life. + +It was Bonny who called, and who now came running up to him. "Where have +you been all this time?" he asked. "I've waited and watched for you ever +since we got in, a good two hours ago, and was getting mighty uneasy for +fear you'd fallen overboard or got left at Seattle, or something. You +see, I feel in a way responsible for you, seeing that I got you into all +this mess." + +"That's queer," said Alaric, with a faint smile, and sitting down +wearily on a huge anchor that lay beside one of the warehouses, "for +I've been thinking that all your troubles were owing to me. I'm awfully +sorry, though, I kept you waiting, but I suppose I must have been +asleep." + +"You had better luck than I did, then," growled Bonny, seating himself +beside his friend, "for I haven't had a wink of sleep since we left +Seattle. I was just getting into a doze when a miserable deck-hand +swashed a bucket of water over me. Then they found me out, and set me to +work cleaning decks and polishing brass. They kept me at it every minute +until we got here, and then fired me ashore." + +"Did they give you any breakfast?" inquired Alaric, with an interest +that betrayed the tendency of his thoughts. + +"Not much, they didn't. Have you had anything to eat?" + +"Not a bite; and do you know, Bonny, I think I am beginning to realize +what starving means?" + +"I know I am, and what being entirely worn out means as well. Do you +suppose it's just hunger that makes a fellow feel sick and light-headed +and weak as a cat, the way I do now, or is it that he is really in for +something serious, like a fever or whooping-cough or one of the things +with big names?" + +"I expect it's hunger, and nothing else," replied Alaric, "for I feel +just that way myself, and I've been really ill times enough to know the +difference." + +"Then it must be starvation, and something has got to be done about it," +exclaimed Bonny, starting to his feet with a resolute air, "for I don't +believe any two fellows are going to be allowed to starve to death in +this city of Tacoma. So I'm going to get something for us to eat, even +if I have to steal it." + +"Oh no, Bonny! don't steal. We haven't quite come to that," objected +Alaric. "Did you say this was Tacoma, though?" + +"Yes, of course. Didn't you recognize it?" + +"No, I didn't, for I wasn't given much chance to get acquainted with it +last evening, you know. But if this is Tacoma, I've an idea that I +believe will bring us some money. So suppose we separate for a while? +You can go one way looking for something to eat, and I'll go another in +search of that which will mean the same thing. When the whistles blow +for noon we'll both come back here and compare notes." + +"All right," agreed Bonny. "I'll do it, and if I don't bring back +something to eat, it will be because the whole city is starving, that's +all." + +So the two set forth in opposite directions, Bonny taking a course that +would lead him among the shipping, and Alaric walking up the long easy +grade of Pacific Avenue toward the city proper. His pride, which no +personal suffering nor discomfort could overthrow, had given way at last +before the wretchedness of his friend. "It is I who am the cause of it," +he said to himself, "and so I am bound to help him out by the only way +I can think of. I hate to do it, for it will be owning up that I am not +fit to care for myself or able to fight my own way in the world. I know, +too, just how John and the others will laugh at me, but I've got to do +something at once, and there doesn't seem to be anything else." + +The scheme that Alaric so dreaded to undertake, and was yet determined +to undertake, was the telegraphing to his brother John for funds. Of +course John would report the matter to their father, who had probably +been already notified of his younger son's disappearance, and our lad +would be ordered to return home immediately. Or perhaps John would come +to fetch him back, like a runaway child. It would all be dreadfully +humiliating, and on his own account he would have undergone much greater +trials than those of the present rather than place himself in such a +position. But for the sake of the lad who had befriended him and +suffered with him, it must be done. + +The only telegraph office in the city of which Alaric knew was in the +Hotel Tacoma, where he had passed a day on his northward journey, and +thither he bent his steps. As he entered its open portal and crossed the +spacious hall in which was located the telegraph station, the well +dressed who paced leisurely to and fro or lounged in easy-chairs stared +at him curiously. And well they might, for a more tattered, begrimed, +unkempt, and generally woe-begone youth had never been seen in that +place of luxurious entertainment. Had Alaric encountered a mirror, he +would have stared at himself and passed by without recognition; but for +the moment his mind was too busy with other thoughts to allow him to +consider his appearance. + +The boxlike telegraph office was occupied by a fashionably attired young +woman, who was just then absorbed in an exciting novel. After keeping +Alaric waiting for several minutes, or until after she had finished a +chapter, she took the despatch he had written, and read it aloud: + + "_To Mr. John Todd, Amos Todd Bank, San Francisco:_ + + "DEAR JOHN,--Please send me by wire one hundred dollars. Will write + and explain why I need it. + + "ALARIC." + +"Dollar and a half," said the young woman, tersely, and without looking +up. + +Although many telegrams had been forwarded at various times and from +distant parts of the world in Alaric Todd's name, he had never before +attempted to send one in person. Now, therefore, although somewhat +startled by the request for a dollar and a half, he replied, calmly: + +"Send it collect, please. It will be paid for at the other end." + +"Can't do it; 'gainst the rules," retorted the young woman, sharply, now +glancing at the lad before her, and contemptuously scanning him from +head to foot. + +"But," pleaded poor Alaric, "this is so very important. The money that I +ask for is sure to come, and then I will pay for it a dozen times over, +if you like. It will certainly be paid for, though, in San Francisco, at +the Amos Todd bank, for my name is Todd, Alaric Todd." + +"It wouldn't make any difference," remarked the young woman, "if your +name were George Washington or John Jacob Astor; you couldn't send a +despatch through this office without paying for it. So if you haven't +any money you might as well make up your mind not to waste any more of +my time." + +With this she resumed the reading of her novel, while Alaric moved +slowly away, stunned and despairing. Now was he indeed cut off from his +home, his people, and from all hope of assistance. He hadn't even money +enough to pay for a postage-stamp with which to send a letter. As he +realized these things, the reaction from his confidence of a few moments +before, that his present trouble would be speedily ended, was so great +that he grew faint, and mechanically sank into a leather-cushioned chair +that stood close at hand. + +He had hardly done so when an alert porter stepped up, touched him on +the shoulder, and pointed significantly to the door. + +The boy understood, and obeyed the gesture without remonstrance. Thus it +came to pass that a son of Amos Todd, the richest man on the Pacific +coast, was driven from a hotel of which his father was one of the +principal owners, and in spite of the fact that he had just acknowledged +his own identity. + +Once outside, Alaric walked irresolutely, and as though unconscious of +what he was doing, for a short distance, and then found himself seated +on an iron bench at the edge of a broad asphalted driveway. Here he +tried to think, and could not. He closed his eyes and wondered vaguely +if he were going to die, or, if not, how much longer he could live +without food. It wasn't worth worrying about, though, one way or the +other. He had made such a complete failure of life that no one would +care if he did die. Of course Bonny might feel badly about it for a +little while, but even he would get along much better alone. + +From such terrible thoughts as these the lad was aroused by the sound of +cheery voices: and glancing listlessly in their direction, he saw a +well-dressed young fellow, apparently not much older than himself, a +little boy in his first suit of tiny knickerbockers, and a big dog. They +had just come from the hotel and were playing with a ball. It was Phil +Ryder with little Nel-te, an orphan whom he had rescued from the Yukon +wilderness, and big Amook, one of his Eskimo sledge dogs that he was +carrying back to New London as a curiosity. + +While Alaric watched them, wondering how it must seem to be as free from +both hunger and anxiety as that happy-looking chap evidently was, the +ball tossed to Nel-te escaped him and rolled under the iron bench. As +the child came running up, the lad recovered it and handed it to him. + +"Fank you, man," said the little chap, and then ran away. + +After a while the ball again came in the same direction, and, as the +child did not follow it, Alaric picked it up and tossed it to Phil. + +"Hello!" cried the latter. "It seems mighty good to be catching a +baseball again. Give us another, will you?" With this he threw the ball +to Alaric, who caught it deftly and flung it back. + +The ball was one that had been found in a certain canvas dunnage-bag the +evening before, and begged by Phil Ryder as a souvenir of his experience +as a smuggler. After a few passes back and forth Alaric became so dizzy +from weakness that, with a very pale face, he was again forced to sit +down. + +[Illustration: "WHAT'S THE MATTER?" ASKED PHIL, ANXIOUSLY.] + +"What's the matter?" asked Phil, anxiously, coming up to the trembling +lad. "Not ill, I hope?" + +"No; I'm not ill. It's only a little faintness." + +"Do you know," said Phil, as he noted closely the lad's mean dress and +hollow cheeks, "that you look to me as though you were hungry. Tell me +honestly if you have had any breakfast this morning." + +"No," replied Alaric, in a low tone. + +"Or any supper last night?" + +"No." + +"Did you have any dinner yesterday?" + +"I can't exactly remember, but I don't think I did." + +"Why, man," cried tender-hearted Phil, horror-stricken at this +revelation, "you are starving! And I've been keeping you here playing +ball! What a heedless brute I am! Never mind; just you wait until I can +carry this little chap inside, and don't you stir from that seat until I +come back." With this Phil, picking up Nel-te and bidding Amook follow +him, hurried away, leaving Alaric still holding the baseball, and filled +with a very queer mixture of conflicting emotions. + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +PHIL RYDER PAYS A DEBT. + +In a very few minutes Phil Ryder hastened back to where Alaric awaited +him. "Now you come with me," he said, cheerily, "and we'll end this +starvation business in a hurry. I won't take you to the hotel, for those +swell waiters are too slow about serving things, and when a fellow is +hungry he don't care so much about style as he does about prompt +attention to his wants. I know, for I've been there myself. There's a +little restaurant just around the corner on the avenue that looks as +though it would exactly fill the bill. Here we are." + +Almost before he realized what was happening Alaric found himself seated +before the first regular breakfast table that he had seen in weeks, +while the young stranger facing him, who had so unexpectedly become his +host, was ordering a meal that seemed to embrace pretty nearly the whole +bill of fare. + +"Bring the coffee and oatmeal first," he said to the waiter, "and see +that there is plenty of cream. If they burn your fingers, so much the +better, for you never saw any one in quite so much of a hurry as we are. +After that you may rush along the other things as fast as you please." + +Alaric attempted a feeble protest against the munificence of the order +just given, but Phil silenced him with: + +"Now, my friend, don't you fret; I know what you need and what you can +get away with better than you do, for I've experimented considerably +with starving during the past year. As for obligation, there isn't any. +I am only paying a debt that I've owed for a long time." + +"I don't remember ever meeting you before," said Alaric, looking up in +surprise from a dish of oatmeal and cream that seemed the very best +thing he had ever tasted. + +"No, of course not, and I don't suppose we have ever been within a +thousand miles of each other until now; but I have been in your debt, +all the same. Just about a year ago I was in Victoria without a cent in +my pocket, no friend or even acquaintance that I knew of in the whole +city, and so hungry that it didn't seem as though I had ever eaten +anything in my life. Just as I was most desperate and things were +looking their very blackest, an angel travelling under the name of Serge +Belcofsky came along, and spent his last dollar in feeding me. I vowed +then that I'd get even with him by feeding some other hungry fellow, and +this is the first chance I've run across since. You needn't be afraid, +though, that I am spending my last dollar on you, glad as I would be to +do so if it were necessary. That it isn't is owing to one of the best +fathers in the world, who hasn't had a chance to keep me in funds for so +long a time that he is now trying to make up for lost opportunities." + +"You must be very fond of him," said Alaric, who was now at work on +beefsteak and fried potatoes. + +"Well, rather," replied Phil, earnestly, "though I never knew how much a +good father was to a boy until I lost him, and had to fight my way alone +through a whole year before I found him again. It's a wonder my hair +didn't turn gray with anxiety while I was hunting him up in the interior +of Alaska; but it's all over now, and I have him safe at last right here +in Tacoma, along with my aunt Ruth and little Nel-te and Jalap--" + +"Is he the dog?" asked Alaric, beginning an attack on the omelette. + +"Who?" + +"Jalap." + +"Not much he isn't a dog," laughed Phil. "He is one of the dearest of +sailormen. He's one of the wisest, too, only he lays all of his wisdom +to his old friend Kite Roberson. Besides all that, he is one of the most +comical chaps that ever lived, though he doesn't mean to be, and it's +better than a circus to see him on snow-shoes driving a sledge team of +dogs. I should have brought him over here to cheer you up, only he's off +somewhere among the ships this morning. He says he got the salt-water +habit so badly that he can't keep away from them. Are you ready now for +the buckwheats? Here are half a dozen hot ones to top off with, and +maple-syrup too. Don't they look good, though! I say, waiter, you may as +well bring me a plate of those buckwheats. I forgot to have any at +breakfast." + +So Phil rattled on, talking of all sorts of things to keep his guest +amused, and allow him ample opportunity to attend strictly to the +business of eating, without feeling obliged to answer questions or +sustain any part of the conversation. + +And how poor, heartsick, hungry Alaric was cheered by the thoughtful +kindness of this strange lad who had so befriended him in his hour of +sorest need! How grateful he was, and how, with each mouthful of food, +strength and courage and hope came back to him, until, when the +wonderful meal was finished, he was ready once more to face the world +with a brave confidence that it should never again get the better of +him! He tried to put some of his gratitude into words, but was promptly +interrupted by his host, who said: + +"Nonsense! You've nothing to thank me for. I told you I owed you this +breakfast, and besides, though I haven't eaten very much myself, I have +certainly enjoyed it as much as any meal of my life. Now we have a few +minutes left before I must go, and I want you to tell me something of +yourself. What is your name? Where is your home? And how did you happen +to get into this fix?" + +"My name is Rick Dale," began Alaric, who did not feel that he could +disclose his real identity under the circumstances, "and my home is in +San Francisco; but it is closed now. My mother is dead. I don't know +just where my father is, and I was left with some people whom I disliked +so much that I just"-- Here he hesitated, and Phil, noting his +embarrassment, hastened to say, + +"Never mind the particulars; I had no business to ask such questions +anyway." + +"Well," continued Alaric, "the result of it all is that I am here +looking for work. I had a job, but it didn't pay anything, and I lost it +about two weeks ago. Now I am trying to find another." + +"What kind of a job do you want?" + +"Anything, so long as it is honest work that will provide food, +clothing, and a place to sleep." + +"In that case," said Phil, thoughtfully, "I don't know but what I can +put you in the way of one, though--" + +"It must be a job for two of us," interposed Alaric, "for I have a +friend who is in the same fix as myself." + +"I only wish I had known that in time to have him breakfast with us," +said Phil; "but the job I am thinking of, if it can be had at all, will +serve for two of you as well as for one. You see, it is this way. There +is a Frenchman over at the hotel whose name is Filbert, and who--" + +Just here both lads started at the sound of a shrill whistle announcing +the hour of noon. + +"I had no idea it was so late," exclaimed Phil, "and I must run; for we +leave here on the one-o'clock train." + +"I must hurry too, for I promised to meet Bonny at noon," said Alaric. + +"Who is Bonny?" + +"The friend I told you of." + +"Then I want you to give this to him from me, for fear he may not have +found any breakfast." So saying Phil slipped something hard and round +into Alaric's hand. "Now good-by, Rick Dale," he said. "I hope we may +meet again sometime. At any rate, be sure to call on Monsieur Filbert at +the hotel this afternoon. I guess you can get a job from him; but even +if you don't, always remember that, as my friend Jalap Coombs says, +'It's never so dark but what there's a light somewhere.'" + +Then the lads parted, one filled with the happiness that results from an +act of kindness, and the other cheered and encouraged to renewed effort. + +With grateful and loving glances Alaric watched Phil Ryder until he +disappeared in the direction of the hotel, and then hastened to keep his +appointment with Bonny. On the road leading to the wharves he passed a +tall, lank figure, whose whole appearance was that of a sailor. His +shrewd face was weather-beaten and wrinkled, but so kindly and smiling +that Alaric could not help but smile from sympathy as they met. + +He found Bonny impatiently awaiting him, and in such cheerful spirits as +to be hardly recognizable for the despondent, half-starved lad of two +hours before. + +"Hello, Rick!" he shouted, as his friend approached. "I know you've had +good luck, for I see it in your face." + +"Indeed I have!" replied Alaric; "and, what's more, I've had the best +breakfast I ever ate in my life." + +"That's what I meant by luck; and I've had the same." + +"What's more," continued Alaric, "I have brought something that was sent +especially to you, for fear you hadn't found anything to eat." + +Thus saying, he handed over a big bright silver dollar. + +"Well, if that don't beat the owls!" exclaimed Bonny at sight of the +shining coin, "for here is his twin-brother that was handed to me to +give to you, or rather to the first fellow I met who needed it more than +I did." + +"I must be the one then," said Alaric, joyously, "for I haven't a cent +to my name, and as you now have two dollars, I'm willing to divide with +you. But who gave it to you, and how did he happen to?" + +"The queerest and dearest old chap I ever saw. You know how badly I was +feeling when we separated. Well, that was nothing to what came +afterwards. I set out to board every ship in port until I should find a +cook or steward who would fill me up and let me have something extra to +bring to you. On the first half-dozen or so I was treated worse than a +dog, and fired ashore almost before I opened my mouth. It made me feel +meaner than dirt, and but for thinking of how disappointed you would be +if I came back as miserable as I went, I should have given up in +despair. I must say, though, that all the fellows who treated me that +way were Dagoes, Dutch, or Chinamen. + +"At length I boarded a Yankee bark that carried an Irish steward, and +the minute I said I was hungry he cried out: + +"'Don't spake a wurrud, lad, for ye couldn't do yer looks justice. Jist +be aisy, and come wid me.' + +"With that he led me to a sort of a cuddy at the forward end of the +after deck-house, and set me down to such a spread as I haven't seen +since I left Cape Cod. There was cold roast beef, corned beef, potatoes, +bread and butter, pie, pickles, coffee, and--well, it would be no use to +tell all the things that steward gave me to eat, for you just wouldn't +believe it. He laid 'em all out, told me to pitch in, and then went off, +so, as he said, I'd be free to act according to nature. + +"I sat there and ate until I hadn't room for as much as a huckleberry. +As I was looking at the last piece of squash pie, and thinking what a +pity it was that it must be left, I heard a chuckle behind me, and +turned around in a hurry. There stood one of the mates and the dear old +chap I was just telling you about. + +"'Why don't you eat it, son?' says the mate. + +"'Reason enough,' says I; 'because I can't; but if you don't mind, sir, +I'd like awfully to take it to my partner in starvation,' meaning you. + +"'Who is he? And how does he happen to be starved?' says the dear old +chap. Then I up and told them the whole story of our experience on the +_Fancy_, being chased by the revenue-men, and all, and it tickled 'em +most to death. + +"When I got through, the stranger, who was just down visiting the +vessel, slipped a dollar into my hand, and told me to give it to the +first chap I met who needed it more than I did. He said he used to know +Cap'n Duff, and told me a lot of yarns about him as we walked back here +together." + +"Was his name Jalap Coombs?" asked Alaric. + +"I expect it must have been, for he had a lot to say about somebody +named Kite Roberson, who allus useter call him 'Jal.' Why? Do you know +him?" + +"Yes. That is, I feel as if I did. But, Bonny, I mustn't stop to tell +you of my experiences now, for I have made an important business +engagement for both of us uptown, and we must attend to it at once." + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +IN THE TOWER OF MANY STORIES. + +HENRY THE EIGHTH. + +(_In Two Parts._) + +BY MRS. LEW. WALLACE. + +II. + + +[Illustration: THE MIDDLE TOWER.] + +Among Anne's maids of honor was a delicate girl of exquisite charm, and +as witty as the Queen herself. Jane Seymour came of a haughty house, but +had missed the imperious bearing that was the heritage of her race. The +winsome presence, all sweetness and grace, caught the restless fancy of +the ungoverned King, and so bewitched was Bluebeard that he determined +to slip off the bonds that bound him, and lead another wife to the altar +and throne. To be sure, he had worn the light fetters of his second +marriage loosely enough, and how to rid himself of the tireless devotion +of Anne must have made him ponder and hesitate. + +Not for long did he ever wait; patience was not a trait of even the best +of the Tudors. One day, at Greenwich Palace, the Constable of London +Tower suddenly appeared, and announced it was the King's pleasure that +the Queen should at once depart with him. She was in an agony of terror, +but calmly said, "If it be the King's pleasure, I obey." Without +changing her dress, she entered her barge and was silently rowed to the +Traitors' Gate. Under the fatal black arch she knelt and solemnly +protested her innocence, prayed and wept, then laughed, and cried again, +distracted like one insane. Two of her worst enemies were appointed +ladies in waiting, in reality to watch her every movement day and night, +tormenting the woful prisoner with questions. "The King wist what he did +when he put such women about me," cried the wretched Anne. Faithful +friends were lodged near, but not allowed to come close enough to ward +off her persecutors. + +On the fourth day of her captivity the Queen wrote a heart-breaking +letter to the brute she called her sweet lord. It is so touching and +tender I wish for more space that I could give it in full. The original +MS. you may see in the British Museum. She prayed for a lawful trial, +not before her enemies, and generously begged she alone might be +condemned, if any. Here is the conclusion: + + "If ever I have found favor in your sight, if ever the name of Anne + Boleyn has been pleasant in your ears, then let me obtain this + request, and I will so leave to trouble your Grace any further, + with mine earnest prayers to the Trinity to have your Grace in His + good keeping, and to direct you in all your actions. + + "From my doleful prison in the Tower this 6th of May. + + "Your most loyal and ever faithful wife, + + "ANNE BOLEYN." + +[Illustration: ANNE BOLEYN.] + +The trial was held the 16th May in the great Hall of the Tower, the +scene of much iniquity, but none so black as this. The twenty-six "lords +triers" were picked men who knew Henry's will and pitiless cruelty. The +defenceless prisoner had no counsel or advice of any kind, but she bore +herself composedly, and fearlessly held up her hand and pleaded not +guilty. The records of the trial were destroyed, but it is said she +defended herself with power and eloquence. It was a mere form; she was +sentenced to be burnt or beheaded in three days, at the pleasure of the +sovereign, and was requested to lay aside her crown, which she did, +swearing herself innocent of any crime against her husband. Then +clasping her hands, she appealed from earth to heaven, to the One who +judgeth quick and dead: "O Father! O Creator! Thou who art the Way, the +Truth, and the Life! Thou knowest that I have not deserved this fate!" + +The whole proceeding was a bitter mockery, the deliberate sentence of +death of a wife to make room for another. + +She knew him too well to entreat for life or an extension of time. Three +days more were allowed her, and of the hundreds the lovely lady had +befriended not one was bold enough to stand between the murderer and the +Queen. He was surrounded by flatterers who compared him to Absalom for +beauty, Solomon for wisdom, and heroes ancient and modern for courage. +And the same day she was condemned bluff King Harry signed the death +warrant of his "entirely beloved Anne Boleyn." + +In the dismal Tower she wrote her own requiem, so pitiful, yet so brave +a thing few souls could dare. It begins: + + "O Death! rock me asleep! + Bring on my quiet rest; + Let pass my very guiltless ghost + Out of my careful breast. + Ring out the doleful knell; + Let its sound my death tell; + For I must die. + There is no remedy, + For now I die!" + +Her old friend, Sir Henry Kingston, was charged to announce the dreadful +sentence that she be beheaded at noon the 19th of May, 1536, and, +instead of the axe, the King graciously ordered she be beheaded by a +sword; there was an expert in the horrid business who should be sent for +to come from Calais. + +Said the messenger, "I told her that the pain would be little, it was so +subtle"; and then she replied, "I have heard say the executioner is very +good, and my neck is very slender," upon which she clasped it with her +two hands and smiled serenely; was even cheerful. + +A few minutes before noon the Queen of England, attended by four maids +of honor, appeared on Tower Hill, dressed in a robe of black damask, +with deep white crape ruffling her neck, a black velvet hood on her +head. Her cheeks were flushed with fever, and her beauty, says an +eye-witness, was fearful to look upon. + +In sight of the scaffold she made a speech, resigned and gentle: "I come +here to die, not to accuse my enemies.... I pray God to save the King, +and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler and more merciful +Prince was there never. To me he was ever a good and gentle sovereign +lord.... Thus I take my leave of the world and of you, and I heartily +desire you all to pray for me." + +Then she bade her weeping ladies farewell, refusing to allow her eyes to +be covered, and the skilful Frenchman, avoiding her reproachful glance, +with one blow of the sharp steel parted the burning brain from the true +heart, and Anne Boleyn entered the strange peace we call death. + +The dripping head with its soft silky tresses and the dis-severed body +reeking in blood, were thrown into an old elm chest that had been used +for keeping arrows, and carelessly buried in the chapel, without hymn or +prayer. + +Again the Tower guns sounded--the signal for death, not life. The solemn +knell was music of wedding-bells in the listening ear of Henry. Dressed +for the chase, he had stood under a spreading oak waiting impatiently +till the sun-dial told noon, when the heavy booming filled the air. "Ha! +ha!" he cried, with unnatural joy. "The deed is done. Uncouple the +hounds, and away!" And mounting his horse, he rode at fiery speed to his +bride expectant at Wolf Hall. The peerless Seymour, the pure white +lily-bud, in the freshness of life's morning married Bluebeard the very +next day. + +The wedding feast was spread, the coronation a cloudless splendor; +submissive courtiers held to the ancient proverb that the crown covers +all mistakes, and they kissed the bloody hand of their master and hung +on the smiles of the youthful Queen. + +The sins of Anne Boleyn lie lightly on her now. Whatever her vanity and +follies, she was a thousand thousand times too good for her "merciful +Prince." + +The fair Seymour, happily for herself, died the next year after her +marriage, and Henry made offers to several royal ladies, and to an +Italian Princess who had the shrewdness to decline, saying she might +consider the proposal if she had two heads, but could not afford to lose +her only one by the axe. And it was a good answer. A German Princess +married him, and was divorced for Catherine Howard, who was murdered as +Anne Boleyn had been; and then came the last wife, Catherine Parr, widow +of Lord Latimer. By that time the King was grown a beast, with savage +will unbroken, ready to kill, kill, kill whatever opposed caprice or +whim. She lived to nurse him, this proud lady, till his bloated body +almost rotted; he became a loathsome object, polluting the air (I may +say the world), fearful to approach; and she paid a high price for her +diamond coronet and whatever else came by the death of the despot she +outlived. Of the latter days of Henry the Eighth the less said the +better. + + * * * * * + +Beloved, these are sorry tales to tell young readers, but the Tower is a +dreary place, and the greater portion of its history was made in +barbarous ages. The historian mousing through the records of a terrible +past has little pleasure, except in the thought that these murderous old +days are ended forever. It is now a government store-house and armory. + + * * * * * + +One more little story, and we say good-by to the famous Tower whose +foundations were laid by Julius Cæsar. + +Not every reader of its history remembers that the greatest of England's +rulers was once prisoner there. When Bloody Mary, daughter of Henry the +Eighth and Katherine of Aragon, was Queen, she had Elizabeth, daughter +of Anne Boleyn, arrested for conspiracy. The Princess, who could look +down a lion, clad herself in white to proclaim her innocence, and rode +to her prison in an open litter, that she might be seen by the people. A +sick girl, faint and pale, her mien was lofty and defiant. It was but +eleven days since Lady Jane Grey had been beheaded, and no one, high or +low, knew when he might be marched to the dungeon or the block. + +At the Traitors' Gate the Princess Elizabeth refused to land. One of the +lords attending told her she must not choose, and, as it was raining, +offered her his cloak. She dashed it from her "with a good dash," and +setting her foot on the stairs, exclaimed: "I am no traitor! Here lands +as true a subject, being prisoner, as ever landed at these stairs. +Before Thee, O God, I speak it, having no other friend but Thee." +Instead of passing through the opened gates, she sat on a cold wet +stone, determined not to enter the prison of her own mother. However, +the dauntless maid was forced to yield. The death of her half-sister +made her Queen, and she reigned long and wisely, with a strange mixture +of weakness in the midst of her wisdom and strength. + +Once in a time of peril she mounted a white horse and rode through her +army, very stately, in a steel corselet, bareheaded, her page bearing +her plumed helmet, and spoke in words unsurpassed for appeal: + + "My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful + of our safety to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed + multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I do assure you I do not + desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let + tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that under God I have + placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and + good will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you as + you see me at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but + being resolved in the midst and heat of battle to live or die + amongst you all, to lay down for my God, and for my kingdoms, and + for my people my honor, and my blood even in the dust. I know I + have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart of a + King, and of a King of England, too, and think foul scorn that + Parma of Spain, or any Prince of Europe, should dare to invade the + borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonor should grow + by me, I myself will take up arms. I myself will be your General, + judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I + know already for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and + crowns, and we do assure you, on the word of a Prince, they shall + be duly paid you. + + "For the mean time my Lieutenaut-General shall be in my stead, than + whom never Prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not + doubting but by your obedience to my General, by your concord in + camp and your valor in the field, we shall shortly have a famous + victory over these enemies of my God, of my kingdoms, and of my + people." + +No wonder the troops fell on their knees as one man, and shouted +themselves hoarse in applause for their lion Queen, mother of all true +Englishmen. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: HENRY THE SEVENTH'S CHAPEL.] + +The gentlest of peacemakers is Time. The two daughters of Henry the +Eighth--Mary and Elizabeth--so wide apart and repellent in life, are at +one now. Henry the Seventh's Chapel of Westminster Abbey contains a +narrow vault that holds what remains of the rival Queens. Their tomb +allows no other tenant, and they will never more be divided. In calm +after storm the unquiet Tudor sisters lie there alone, the leaden casket +of Elizabeth resting on the coffin of Mary, well named the Bloody. Heirs +of a contested throne, they sleep together in their Palace of Peace +awaiting the call of the Angel of the Resurrection. + +THE END. + + + + +DAISIES AND DANDELIONS. + + + "Doctor, lawyer, merchant, priest, + Rich man, poor man, beggar-man--" + +The last petal was reached as my little friend came to "beggar-man." + +"Oh, dear," she said, with a comical look of make-believe distress on +her pretty face. "A beggar-man for a husband! It's too dreadful for +anything! Naughty daisy! I don't believe you are a good fortune-teller." + +She was right. The daisy is not a good fortune-teller. But it is a nice +flower, or rather group of flowers, to study. The whole yellow centre is +a crowded mass of flowers, and the white petals along the edge are not +petals at all, but _rays_. + +Squeeze a daisy between your thumb and finger. Let the rays drop off, +but keep one of the tiny florets, as they are called, and place it under +a reading-glass or, better still, a pocket microscope. You cannot spend +two or three dollars better than for a pocket-microscope, which will +make a small seed look as large as a pea. In our daisy floret we shall +find all the parts which the larger flowers have. The calyx is low down, +clinging to a single hard seed. Such a seed is called an _achenium_ +(plural, achenia). The corolla is a tube with five points cut in the +top. There are five stamens, joined, and making a ring by their anthers. +The pistil is in the centre, where it belongs, with stigmas, and the +style cut in two at the top. The flowers grow on a smooth white +receptacle. There are two more things to notice about flowers belonging +to this great Composite family: one, that each floret has a long, narrow +bract standing beside it; the other, that the calyx-cup is crowned with +stiff points, or coarse teeth, or bristles, or feathery-looking things. +These are called the _pappus_. In the daisy there is no true pappus, but +you have seen it in thistledown and in the dandelion-seed. The pappus +serves for little wings for the flower, by which the wind blows the seed +about. + +Perhaps you like yellow daisies better than the too common white ones. +Their seed was brought to us with clover-seed from the West, and now the +yellow daisy or cone-flower is a tiresome weed to farmers about New +Jersey, and soon will be over all New England. The florets are dark +brown, and grow on a pointed receptacle. It is certainly a handsome +thing, but it is a weed all the same. It differs from the white daisy in +one particular. The rays of the white daisy have each a pistil like the +florets, while the rays of the cone-flower are neutral--that is, have no +pistil. + +The marnta, or mayweed, is a small daisy growing on sandy roads. Its +leaves are prettily cut, and smell like tansy leaves. The handsome +asters which keep goldenrods company in autumn, marigolds, thorough +worts, and hosts of others belong to the daisy family. + +The dandelion has been called "the bright eye of spring." Did you ever +curl its hollow stem or blow off its seeds? Blow three times, and you +will have as many children as there are seeds left standing, so says +this bit of flower-lore. The dandelion has no rays around the edge, but +all the florets alike have rays. So the corollas, instead of being +five-pointed tubes, are all spread out flat like the rays of the daisy. +There are not so many flowers of this kind, but perhaps you know the +wild-lettuce, the fall dandelion, the hawkweed, and the chicory. The +last is a pretty blue flower. Blue flowers are rather rare. Red, yellow, +and pink are commoner. + +One of the hawkweeds has handsome leaves, all clustered at the root, +light purple underneath, veined with darker purple. If you find such a +rosette of leaves, with a tall slim stem bearing a few tassel-shaped +yellow blossoms, you will have one of my favorites. Somebody has given +it a bad name--rattlesnake-weed. It is not a weed, and only in its +purple coloring may there be some suggestion of a snake-skin. + +You will see now how the Composites are divided into two classes. The +first is _tubular_, in which, like the daisy, ray-flowers grow only +around the margin; the second, _ligulate_, in which, like the dandelion, +all the corollas are alike, spreading out and flat. + +These flowers are surrounded by an involucre composed of small leaves in +rows, each one a scale. In thistles the scales are prickly. + + + + +A BRAVE WAR CORRESPONDENT. + + +It is a pleasure to cite the following case of an American correspondent +whom Lord Wolseley encountered during the Ashantee campaign, and it +cannot be done better than to cite it as the General told it, in a +reminiscent mood, not long since: "It was at the beginning of the +campaign, just after our landing, when a square-built little man came up +to me, and said, speaking slowly, and with an unmistakable American +accent: 'General, allow me to introduce myself. I am the correspondent +of the _New York_ ----. I--.' Too busy to attend to him, I cut him short +with, 'What can I do for you, sir?' He replied, imperturbably, with the +same exasperating slowness, 'Well, General, I want to be as near you as +I can, if there is any fightin' to be seen.' 'Captain So-and-so has +charge of all the arrangements concerning correspondents,' I rejoined, +curtly; 'you had better see him.' And with this I turned on my heel and +left him. I saw no more of my correspondent with the aggravating +coolness and slowness of speech for many a day. I did not even know +whether he was accompanying the column or not. Personally speaking, I +was only in danger once during the whole expedition. It was shortly +before we entered Coomassic. I had pressed forward with the advanced +troops, hoping to break the last effort at resistance and have done with +the affair, when the enemy, utilizing the heavy covert, came down and +fairly surrounded us. For a few minutes the position was critical, and +every man had to fight, for the enemy's fire was poured in at close +quarters. They pressed upon us from all sides, dodging from tree to +tree, and continually edging closer, hoping to get hand to hand. In the +hottest of it my attention was caught by a man in civilian's clothes who +was some fifteen or twenty yards in front of me, and who was completely +surrounded by the advancing savages. He seemed to pay no heed to the +danger he was in, but, kneeling on one knee, took aim and fired again +and again, and I seemed to see that every time he fired a black man +fell. I was fascinated by his danger and coolness. As our main body came +up and the savages were driven back, I went forward to see that no harm +came to my civilian friend, who rose just as I reached him. To my +astonishment it was the correspondent of the _New York_ ----, and he +began again, in the same slow, calm way, 'Well, General----.' Again I +interrupted him. 'You were lucky to escape. Didn't you see that you were +surrounded?' 'Well, General,' he began again, 'I guess I was too much +occupied by the niggers in front to pay much attention to those +behind.'" + + + + +NURSERY BALLADS. + +THE WANDERING COW. + + + "The cow has escaped from the Ark!" cried Noah--"the cow has escaped + from the Ark! + And wandered away and hid from the day somewhere in the nursery dark; + So, Billie, be careful, and, Jimmie, go slow; 'twould be horridly awful + I vow, + If you in your gropings should happen to step on a poor little dun-brown + cow + + "Now where shall we look for a little dun cow--just where is she likely + to be? + Far off in the camp of the soldiers tin or swimming hard by in the sea-- + A-swimming with joy in the saw-dust waves and tossing the boats on her + horns, + Or solemnly chewing the lacquered manes of the Japanese unicorns? + + "Or else do you think she has clambered up the sides of the + mantel-piece, + And there, to the tick of the nickel clock, is taking a moment of ease? + Or, horrible thought, oh, terrible thought! must we fearsomely search + for her + In the zinc flue-pipe that leads far down through the nursery register? + + "Do you think that perhaps she has wandered off and has tumbled adown + the stairs, + Or can she be up on the bureau there a-combing her painted hairs? + Is she down in the kitchen or up on the roof, or hid in the attic cold, + Or has she run off to the music-box to list to the "Warrior Bold"? + + "Oh, where, oh, where would a dun cow go? Pray tell me if you can," + cried Noah, + "The rain's coming on, and I want to close up and bolt fast my Arkian + door. + 'Twould never do to be caught in the rain out there on the cold wet + moor, + For her color's not fast, and if it comes off she'll be a done cow for + sure." + + CARLYLE SMITH. + + + + +FROM CHUM TO CHUM. + +BY GASTON V. DRAKE. + +XV.--FROM JACK TO BOB. + + + WHITE MOUNTAINS. + +[Illustration] + + DEAR BOB,--I haven't written for some time because I tried an + experiment over in the bowling-alley one day week before last which + wasn't pleasant. I tried to put my finger in between two of the + balls and get it out again before anything happened and couldn't, + so I've had to have my whole hand swathed in a bandage ever since, + and that's why Sandboys is writing this letter for me. It was too + bad it happened the way it did, because we've been having a bowling + turnement, and our side was way ahead when I smashed my finger, and + we got beaten on the last game by five pins. Sandboys says when he + was young his life was saved by a bowling-ball. It was before all + the panthers that used to be thick in these mountains had all died + out. They used to play havick with this part of the country eating + up all the sheep and cows and horses and even tourists with good + money in their pockets, and very few families living hereabouts + dared to have their windows open at night in the summer-time for + fear a panther might jump in and devour them up, even on the top + floor. He says they are wonderful jumpers those panthers. He has + seen one go up Mount Washington in sixty-three springs, and come + down in twenty-nine, and as for jumping from the piazza of this + hotel up into the cupola he says that would be about as easy for a + healthy panther as falling off a chair would be to you or me. He + lived over at a place called Littleton at that time and had a room + in the top floor of his father's house. It was in midsummer and an + awfully hot night, but being afraid of the panthers that were + prowling around, when he went to bed he shut his window and his + shutters up tight. Three or four times some of the panthers tried + to break through and banged up against the shutters pretty hard, + but without success, and finally an hour went by without any more + attempts being made, and forgetting that strategy was one of the + panther's strong points Sandboys thought they'd gone away and that + it would be safe to open his window and get a breath of fresh air + because his room had become like an oven, being right under the + roof. So he opened the window softly and threw the shutters wide, + peeping carefully out first to see if there were any panthers in + sight. Unfortunately he looked down into the yard and didn't see + the wild animal sitting on top of the telegraph pole across the + street, waiting for his pray. "Good," said Sandboys, "they're all + gone. I can get a chance to cool off." And he crept back into bed + leaving the window wide open, and then the trouble began. He'd + hardly got into bed when there came a fearful bang on the side wall + just over him. The horrid beast that had been perched on the + telegraph pole opposite had jumped across the street, through the + window and landed ker-flump against the wall. Fortunately the force + of the bang stunned the panther for a minute and Sandboys had + presence of mind enough to snatch his pillow out of its case and to + pull the pillow-case over the panther's head. It was the work of an + instant, as the story-books say, and then he was off. That is, + Sandboys was off. He fled through the window, dropped down to the + soft earth and made a bee-line for the hotel. "Why did you go to + the hotel?" I asked. "Because," he replied, "nobody else ever went + there and I thought that would be the last place in which an animal + with ingenious instinctiveness would think of looking for me." + + [Illustration] + + [Illustration] + + My, but Sandboys is wise, but it didn't work. The panther soon + recovered from his stun and after pawing at it for a minute managed + to get the pillow-case off his head, and began to look around for + Sandboys. He looked under the bed, and in the wardrobe and maybe in + the bureau drawers. Nobody knows where he didn't look, and finally + seeing that the door was still locked he of course knew that + Sandboys had escaped by the window which shows you what sagacious + animals panthers can be when they try. Well, when the panther saw + that, he was mad. When panthers start out to pray they want to + pray, and if they don't pray they want to know why, being, as I + said, sagacious. So he says to himself it's Sandboys or nothing for + supper and out he starts in pursuit and as luck would have it, + being hungry, he thought he'd stop at the hotel a minute and take a + bite out of the landlord. He stopped and the first thing he knew + was that he was face to face with Sandboys. Sandboys was + _nonplussed_--which is Latin for rattled--for a minute and so was + the panther, for Sandboys was the last person he expected to find + there. The panther's surprise was Sandboys' chance and he took it. + He rushed from the room before the panther had recovered and was + soon on the top floor whence, by a back staircase he rushed down, + and out into the night. But the panther started in pursuit as + usual. As he ran along Sandboys reasoned thus: "Nobody who has ever + been to that hotel once, ever was known to go back again. I'll go + back and delude the beast," which he did, but the door was locked + and he had to take refuge in the bowling-alley. But the panther + knew a thing or two and as Sandboys went in one door of the alley + and locked the door after him and threw the keys away, he climbed + in the window at the other end and there they were again, face to + face: Sandboys at one end of the alley, the panther at the other + and all was dark except one could see the glittering eye of the + other. The panther was delighted. Everything seemed to be going his + way and Sandboys was in despair. Escape seemed impossible. "I'll + play with him," thought the panther and he took one step and + crouched, smiling softly to himself when all of a sudden Sandboys + thought, "Here I'm the champion bowler of this town, it's my only + chance." The panther took another step and crouched. Sandboys took + a ball. "I'll aim between his eyes and hit his nose," said Sandboys + and he let go. It was dark, but it was a strike. The ball rolled + thunderously down the alley. The panther didn't know what it was, + and the first thing he knew as he laid his nose flat in the middle + of the alley the ball came crashing into it, broke his neck and he + lay dead, and Sandboys was saved. + + How's that for an adventure? + + Yours truly JACK per Sandboys. + +[Illustration] + + P.S. (in an almost unreadable hand). I don't know what Sandboys has + told you in this letter from me, but whatever it is, the head + waiter says it must be a exagravation because Sandboys is given to + exagravations--by which I mean he draws the long bow when he tells + things about himself. Love to all, + + JACK. + + + + +[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT] + + +[Illustration: LONDON ATHLETIC CLUB GROUNDS.] + +The spring meeting of the London Athletic Club was held on the club +grounds at Stamford Bridge on April 11th. There were three scholastic +events on the card, and as they do things somewhat differently in +England from the way we do them over here, it may be interesting to the +readers of this Department to hear of how this meeting was conducted. +The first event for the schools was a 120-yard hurdle race on turf over +ten hurdles 3 ft. 6 in. high. The English hurdles are fixed firmly in +the ground, so that hitting an obstacle there means a fall--and this +happened at these games to at least one man in each heat. After all, +however, it seems a better arrangement than our way, for it compels the +racers to jump the hurdles, and if a fall does result it is a good deal +more like sport to fall on turf than to carry away several ounces of +cinders in one's face and arms. As may be seen from the accompanying +illustration, the course is laid towards the grand stand, instead of +past it, which does not afford so good a view of a race as might +otherwise be the case. + +One pleasant feature of the occasion was that the in-field was kept +perfectly clear. None but the half-dozen officials whose business +required their presence there were allowed inside the track. Another +improvement over our method was that the contestants came out for their +heats without any clownlike bath-robes about them, and trotted down to +their stations unassisted and unaccompanied by a horde of attendants, +trainers, or rubbers. Their costumes, too, were more sightly than those +seen in America, each man's shirt being provided with quarter sleeves. +In many cases the hem of the sleeves and the bottoms of the running +trousers were trimmed with the school colors, and the emblem, when the +contestant wore any, was generally small and inconspicuous. In America, +as we all know, there is frequently more emblem than athlete. The +crouching start has not yet become popular in England; in fact, in all +these races only one man leaned on his hands. The rest stood up, and +they were by no means as steady on their marks as they would have been +if they had adopted the American method of starting. + +The hurdle-race was run in two heats and a final, and resulted in a win +for Pilkington of Clifton School, who, I take it, is a relative of the +Cambridge athlete who came over last fall with the English team that +competed against Yale. His time was 17-2/5 sec., which is very fast over +turf, and which he could doubtless improve upon on a cinder track. The +best interscholastic record for the same event in this country was made +by E. C. Perkins, of the Hartford High-School, at the Connecticut +H.-S.A.A. games in '94, and was 17 sec. Jarvis of Bedford was second, +and Kember of Ramsgate was third. + +On the programme this race was set down as "120 yards hurdles Public +Schools Championship Challenge Shield," with the additional information +that the shield was "presented by Godfrey and Cecil Shaw." The former +will be remembered as having given Stephen Chase a hard tussle over the +hurdles at the international games last fall. In addition to this +championship shield, which stands for a number of years, and on which +the winner each year presumably has his name engraved, there was a first +prize of a silver cup and a second prize of a silver beaker. This idea +of having a challenge shield is an excellent one, as it adds an +incentive to true sportsmanship, and makes the honor of winning the race +greater than it would otherwise be. It would be a good fashion to +introduce challenge cups and shields in this country. + +The quarter-mile was run in three heats and a final. This was also for a +championship challenge cup, and for three individual prizes. Harrison of +Haileybury, who had the honor of seeing his name set down on the +programme as the "holder" of the challenge cup, because he won it last +year, was not fast enough on this occasion to maintain his supremacy. He +took second place in his heat, and as his time for second was the +fastest second of any of the heats, he was allowed to run in the finals, +the programme stating that "First in each heat, and fastest second, to +start in final." In this last heat were Holland and Hardie of +Giggleswick, Davison of Sutton Valence, and Harrison. Davison ran too +easily at first, and was some fifteen yards behind the rest at the 220 +mark; but he then came away in great style. He was too late, however, to +catch Holland, who won in 53-2/5 sec., with Davison second, and Hardie +third. The best American interscholastic time for this event was made by +T. E. Burke, the champion, in 1894, at the New England interscholastic +games, when he was at the Boston English High-School. + +RECORDS OF THE N.Y.I.S.A.A. + + Event. Record. + 100-yard dash 10-3/8 sec. + 100-yard dash (Jun.) 11 " + 220-yard dash 22-4/5 " + 220-yard dash (Jun.) 23-4/5 " + 440-yard run 52-2/5 " + 880-yard run 2 m. 4-1/5 " + Mile run 4 " 52 " + Mile walk 7 " 30-2/5 " + Mile bicycle 2 " 34-2/5 " + 120-yard hurdle 15-3/5 " + 220-yard hurdle 26-3/5 " + High jump 5 ft. 11 in. + Broad jump 21 " 5 " + Putting 12-lb. shot 40 " 3/4 " + Throwing 12-lb. hammer 117 " 5-1/2 " + Pole vault 10 " 3/8 " + + Event. Holder. + 100-yard dash Wendell Baker, Bettins, 1880. + 100-yard dash (Jun.) D. C. Leech, Cutler's, 1890. + 220-yard dash E. W. Allen, Berkeley, 1895. + 220-yard dash (Jun.) H. Moeller, Col. Gram., 1894. + 440-yard run C. R. Irwin-Martin, Berkeley, 1895. + 880-yard run J. A. Meehan, Condon, 1895. + Mile run C. Southwick, Harvard, 1893. + Mile walk L. B. Elliman, Berkeley, 1894. + Mile bicycle I. A. Powell, Cutler's, 1895. + 120-yard hurdle A. F. Beers, De La Salle, 1895. + 220-yard hurdle S. A. Syme, Barnard, 1895. + High jump S. A. W. Baltazzi, Harvard, 1895. + Broad jump F. L. Pell, Cutler's, 1891. + Putting 12-lb. shot A. C. Ayres, Condon, 1895. + Throwing 12-lb. hammer C. R. Irwin-Martin, Berkeley, 1895. + Pole vault E. F. Simpson, Barnard, 1895. + +For the mile run ten starters turned out. They stayed bunched for the +first quarter, but by the time three-quarters of the distance had been +covered there were practically only four in the race. Down the straight +Elliot of Giggleswick and Dyke of Sherborne were never more than a yard +apart, and a fine finish resulted in a dead heat. The time was +excellent--4 min. 42-3/5 sec. Both men fell exhausted at the finish, and +Tippets of St. Paul's came in third, not far behind. The best American +interscholastic time for the mile is 4 min. 34-2/5 sec., made by W. T. +Laing of Andover in 1894, at the New England Interscholastics. The +American figures given here are all records, and so the comparison with +the English times is not exactly fair, since the English school records +in every case may of course be better than the performances on this +particular occasion. + +The prizes were distributed in a much better way than is done in this +country. After each event Mrs. Walter Rye, whose name appeared on the +programme, presented the winners with their cups. This is a custom which +has not yet been adopted in this country, although at St. Paul's School, +Concord, a young lady usually presents the prizes to the winners at the +spring meeting. It would be a pleasant and graceful feature if, at the +National Games, some lady interested in the sports of our young men in +the schools were invited to hand to them their prizes. + +The fourth annual tournament of the Yale Interscholastic Tennis +Association was held a week ago Saturday, on the grounds of the New +Haven Lawn Club. There were thirteen entries from Hartford High, +Hillhouse High, Black Hall, Hopkins Grammar, Taft's, and Hotchkiss +schools. The day was cold and raw, but, nevertheless, the play on the +whole was good. + +In the first round the Lyman-Finke match was very interesting. Lyman +made a plucky fight in the last set, but Finke won, 6-2, 6-4. The +Whitmore-Watrous match showed some pretty tennis. In the first set the +score changed many times, each man doing his best to win. Watrous got +it, 9-7. Whitmore won the second set, 6-2, but Watrous took the last +rather easily, 6-2. + +The final round was between two Hotchkiss School players, Finke and Coy. +At times the play was excellent, each man showing good judgment and +coolness. Finke won 6-2, 6-1, 6-1. Coy might have done much better, but +he seemed to be afraid to let himself out. Finke made the remarkable +record of winning the tournament without losing a set. He outclassed all +the other players. With practice he ought to develop into a player of +the first class. He plays with coolness and excellent judgment. The +prizes were a cup for first and second, and a banner to the school +winning the greatest number of points, each match won counting one +point. The banner went to Hotchkiss this year, as it did last year. + +The Harvard Interscholastic tournament was held the same day on Jarvis +Field, Cambridge, with twelve schools, represented by sixty-seven +entries. With so large a number of contestants, the play dragged on into +the early part of last week, making the finals come too late for proper +notice in the present issue of this Department. Comment will be held +over until next week. + +The standard of performance of New York school athletes has improved so +rapidly within the past few years that it is very difficult now to make +any very definite prophecy as to what men will win events at the big +Interscholastic meetings. This year the struggle for the cup will +probably be between Berkeley and Cutler's, with the chances largely in +favor of the former, Barnard's team not being so strong as it was either +last year or the year before. For individual winners next Saturday, I +think it is reasonably certain to count on Moore of Barnard to take +first in the 100, with Harris of Cutler's second. Both men have done +10-2/5 in smaller games this spring, and with this in view we may hope +to see Wendell Baker's 10-2/5 record, which has stood so many years, go +by the board. The junior event for the same distance will be a close +thing between Wilson of Barnard and Leech of Cutler's, the former having +won the event in '94, and the latter having won it last year. Armstead +of Berkeley will get a place, but I doubt if he does better than third. + +Moore is beyond any doubt the best sprinter in the New York association, +and will score a double win by taking the 220, unless something +unforeseen occurs. Irwin-Martin of Berkeley should be second, with +Washburn a close third. There is little room for doubt that Martin will +be an easy winner in the quarter, for that is his special event, and +Draper of Cutler's will come in second if Hipple of Barnard does not +crowd him out. It is possible, however, that White of Berkeley, who has +developed great speed of late, may overthrow these place calculations, +and take three more points in the event for Berkeley. Hipple is a man +that Barnard must depend on for a good many points, and as he will be +especially depended upon to take the half-mile, it is possible that he +may not run in the quarter, or, if he does, he may save himself and only +try for a place. He is sure to break the record in the half, and if +these two races do not tire him too much he ought to make a place in the +mile, for he broke the scholastic record for that distance in the +Trinity games only a few weeks ago. + +Clark of Condon's is a good man to look to for second in the half-mile. +Bedford of Barnard has not been doing very good work this year, but +unless Turner of Cutler's develops unexpected speed and Hipple +unforeseen endurance, he stands an excellent chance of scoring five +points in the mile run. The high hurdles will go to Beers of De la +Salle, with Bien of Berkeley second. The low hurdles are a fairly sure +thing for Harris of Cutler's, with the other two places in dispute among +O'Rourke of Trinity, Beers, and Bien. Walker of Berkeley should come in +first in the walk, if he can maintain the form he has been displaying +all winter, with Blum of Sachs' second. + +In the field events, Irwin-Martin of Berkeley will probably score +another win for his school by taking the hammer, while the shot will +probably also go to Berkeley with Young. Taves of Trinity may be counted +upon for places in both events. No one will approach the record +established by Baltazzi last year in the high jump, but Pell of Berkeley +will probably clear the greatest height, with Wenman of Drisler's and +Brown of Columbia Grammar behind him. In the broad jump Pell also stands +an excellent chance to get first place, unless Harris develops +unexpected ability, and Beers may be able to take the other place. I +think we may count upon seeing the pole-vaulting record broken by +Hulburt, who has been surpassing himself and everybody else in the open +games this spring. The bicycle race will probably go to Cutler's. + +INTERSCHOLASTIC RECORDS + +Corrected to May 1, 1896. + + Event. Record. + 100-yard dash 10-1/5 sec. + 220-yard dash 22-2/5 " + 440-yard run 50-3/5 " + Half-mile run 2 m. 4-1/5 " + Mile run 4 " 34-2/5 " + Mile walk 7 " 17-3/5 " + 120-yard hurdle (3 ft. 6 in.) 17 " + 220-yard hurdle (2 ft. 6 in.) 26-1/2 " + Mile bicycle 2 " 34-1/5 " + Two-mile bicycle 5 " 18-2/5 " + Running high jump 5 ft. 11 in. + Running broad jump 21 " 7 " + Pole vault 10 " 7 " + Throwing 12-lb. hammer 125 " + Throwing 16-lb. hammer 111 " 10 " + Putting 12-lb. shot 40 " 3/4 " + Putting 16-lb. shot 39 " 3 " + + Event. Maker. + 100-yard dash F. H. Bigelow. + 220-yard dash F. H. Bigelow. + 440-yard run T. E. Burke. + Half-mile run J. A. Meehan. + Mile run W. T. Laing. + Mile walk A. N. Butler. + 120-yard hurdle (3 ft. 6 in.) E. C. Perkins. + 220-yard hurdle (2 ft. 6 in.) Field. + Mile bicycle I. A. Powell. + Two-mile bicycle Baker. + Running high jump S. A. W. Baltazzi. + Running broad jump Cheek. + Pole vault B. Johnson. + Throwing 12-lb. hammer R. F. Johnson. + Throwing 16-lb. hammer F. G. Beck. + Putting 12-lb. shot A. C. Ayres. + Putting 16-lb. shot M. O'Brien. + + Event. School. + 100-yard dash Worcester H.-S. + 220-yard dash Worcester H.-S. + 440-yard run Boston English H.-S. + Half-mile run Condon, N. Y. + Mile run Phillips Academy, Andover. + Mile walk Hillhouse H.-S., New Haven. + 120-yard hurdle (3 ft. 6 in.) Hartford H.-S. + 220-yard hurdle (2 ft. 6 in.) Hartford H.-S. + Mile bicycle Cutler, N. Y. + Two-mile bicycle Hotchkiss, Lakeville, Conn. + Running high jump Harvard, N. Y. + Running broad jump Oakland, Cal., H.-S. + Pole vault Worcester Academy. + Throwing 12-lb. hammer Brookline H.-S. + Throwing 16-lb. hammer Hillhouse H.-S., New Haven. + Putting 12-lb. shot Condon, N. Y. + Putting 16-lb. shot Boston English H.-S. + + Event. Time and Place. + 100-yard dash N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + 220-yard dash N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + 440-yard run N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + Half-mile run N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Mile run N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + Mile walk Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895. + 120-yard hurdle (3 ft. 6 in.) Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, 1894. + 220-yard hurdle (2 ft. 6 in.) Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895. + Mile bicycle N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Two-mile bicycle Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895. + Running high jump N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Running broad jump A.A.L. field day, Oct. 16, 1894. + Pole vault N.E.I.S.A.A. games, June 15, 1895. + Throwing 12-lb. hammer N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + Throwing 16-lb. hammer Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895. + Putting 12-lb. shot N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895. + Putting 16-lb. shot N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894. + +The accompanying table of Interscholastic records should perhaps not +properly be called such, because the records were not made at any single +meeting, but are the best performances made at a number of +interscholastic meetings in various parts of the country. After the +National games, we shall have established regular "Interscholastic" +records, but until then these figures must serve that purpose. + + THE GRADUATE. + + + + +Questions and Answers. + + +Frank Southard asks if it is possible to come to New York and obtain a +position. Yes, of course it is. But Frank ought to bear in mind that +there are many young men already here, and that it is always easiest to +get a foothold where one is best known. "J. G." should address the +publishers when in want of a book. If he does not know their names, +apply to a bookseller. All publishers send catalogues upon request, but +some demand a few cents for the same, not so much in payment as to debar +idle requests. That old question about getting into the academies at +West Point and Annapolis has been many times answered. Apply to your +member of Congress. He alone has power to appoint you, and he only in +case of a vacancy. There may be one cadet only at a time at each academy +from each Congressional district. The President has a few appointments, +but they are intended for sons of military or naval officers, and are +rarely or never given to others. This spring we believe the President +has one vacancy to fill, and there are more than one hundred applicants +for it. + + * * * * * + +Answers to Kinks. + +No. 4. + +No. 1.--Dora. } D O R A +No. 2.--Obey. } O B E Y +No. 3.--Rear. } STARS. R E A R +No. 4.--Ayry. } A Y R Y + +No. 5.--Tremor. No. 6.--Invert. No. 7.--Cable. No. 8.--Aspen. No. +9.--Domineer. (STRIPES.) + + * * * * * + +No. 5. + +Apartment. +Apart-me(a)nt. + +Men tap tar. +Men pat rat. + +Neat tramp. +Men at trap. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Flying + +Along + +You'll never know all the delightful spring and action of the perfect +bicycle tire unless your wheel is fitted with + +[Illustration] + +THE STANDARD SINGLE-TUBES + +Easy to have Hartford Tires on any bicycle. All you need do is insist, +and the bicycle dealer will furnish them. + +The Original Single-Tubes. Cost Most. Worth Most. + + * * * * * + +THE HARTFORD RUBBER WORKS CO. + +HARTFORD, CONN. + +NEW YORK. CHICAGO. + + + + +You are bound to succeed in making HIRES Rootbeer if you follow the +simple directions. Easy to make, delightful to take. + +Made only by The Charles E. Hires Co., Philadelphia. + +A 25c. package makes 5 gallons. Sold everywhere. + + + + +[Illustration: ROYAL BAKING POWDER] + +A cream-of-tartar baking powder. Highest of all in leavening +strength.--_Latest United States Government Food Report._ + +ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., NEW YORK. + + + + +Arnold + +Constable & Co + + * * * * * + +Dress Fabrics. + +_French Canvas,_ + +_Wool Grenadine,_ + +_Silk and Mohair Barege._ + + * * * * * + +CHECK SUITINGS. + +_Silk-and-Wool Mixtures,_ + +_Cheviots, Armures, Serges,_ + +_Plain Colored Fabrics._ + + * * * * * + +MOHAIRS, + +PRINTED CHALLIES. + + * * * * * + +Broadway & 19th st. + +NEW YORK. + + + + +BICYCLES + +GET MIXED! + +PROTECT YOURS!! + +For 35 cents we mail your own name and address engraved on a handsome +metal plate. Easy and no expense to attach. Agents wanted. Walter Mfg. +Co., 144 Monroe St., Chicago. + + + + +HARPER'S + +ROUND TABLE + +Not only is it excellent in its written text, but artists make its pages +artistically beautiful.--_Chicago Inter Ocean_, Feb. 22, 1896. + +5 CENTS A COPY -- $2.00 A YEAR + + + + +[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water] + + + + +[Illustration: BICYCLING] + + The Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. + Our maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from + the official maps and road-books of the League of American + Wheelmen. Recognizing the value of the work being done by the + L.A.W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with + membership blanks and information so far as possible. + + +Continuing the suggestion begun last week regarding bicycling in Europe +during the summer, a word should be said about France. By all means the +cheapest route, considering the comfort, to Paris from New York is by +the smaller boats of the Hamburg line, which take nine or ten days to +reach Havre. It is possible, however, to get a round-trip ticket from +New York to Paris and return, including the ride from Havre to and from +Paris by train, first-class, for a little under $100. + +The roads of France--that is, the parts which are usually ridden--are in +the main superior to any roads in the world for bicycling purposes. The +many government military roads are kept in remarkably good condition, +and while they are perhaps not as interesting as the English roads, +which wind about through the country, they are nevertheless better made +in the main, though they go along straight lines. On the whole, for a +first trip it would be better to take the train from Havre to Paris, and +to start from Paris itself. Bicycling in the city itself is very common, +and most of the roads are either macadamized or asphalted. In the +vicinity of the city there are some beautiful roads, such as the run out +to St. Germain, a somewhat shorter one to St. Denis, and, at the other +end of the city, to Versailles. These roads, of course, would be taken +first by any tourist. + +It then becomes a question whether the wheelman will take the trip +through Normandy, or will ride or take the train into the middle of +France and wheel through Touraine. Perhaps the pleasantest trip for the +summer would be to ride through Normandy. In that case leave Paris, +passing through St. Germain, following the Seine through a remarkably +beautiful country. The run would carry you through Nantes, Vernon, +Louviers, and Elbeuf, whence you may either turn northward to Rouen, to +see the city and cathedral, or, keeping on, pass through Pont-l'Evêque, +and thence to Trouville. This Normandy coast is covered with summer +resorts that are peculiarly French, and very attractive, therefore, to +the foreigner seeking new sights. Houlgate, Dieppe, and Honfleur are +such places, and will well repay a visit. The trip can then be extended +through Caen, across the peninsula to Coutances, to Granville, or it may +extend out on the peninsula to Cherbourg, and the return to Paris may be +either along the southern edge of Normandy through Alençon, taking in +Chartres and Etampes, or the return journey may be made by train if +there is not sufficient time to ride it both ways on a bicycle. + +It is, of course, impossible in this very limited space to give any idea +of the possibilities of France for bicycling, but this trip through +Normandy, including the short one-day runs in the vicinity of Paris, +will make a three or four or five weeks' bicycling tour that will repay +any one for whatever expense he may incur. The southern trip through +Touraine will be best made, unless considerable time is at your +disposal, by taking the train from Paris for Tours. Starting from there, +you should run over different parts of Touraine, visiting the famous +castles of that country, such as Blois and Amboise. All this country, +like Normandy and the vicinity of Paris, is full of good roads, and a +month can be easily spent in riding over Touraine alone. These two +districts of France are perhaps the best suited for bicycling, and +should be recommended to the wheelman as suitable for his first foreign +tour. + + H. BERT BLACKWELL.--To train for a half-mile bicycle race, ride on + a track, if possible, or on a good road, ten miles at a reasonably + good rate every day in the week except Sunday. Practise starts + Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday for about twenty minutes, and + Tuesday and Friday ride a half-mile against time, with a + pace-maker, if possible. Two weeks before the race takes place + practise starts for twenty minutes each day, and ride a half-mile + against time four times a week. For diet avoid liquids as much as + possible, except water; eat beef and chops which are moderately + rare, boiled potatoes, and plain vegetables; avoid sweets in the + main, and eat nothing fried. Aside from this, the food question is + not so important as the time of eating, which should be absolutely + regular: breakfast between seven and eight, the same time every + day; a hearty lunch, which should be practically a dinner, at from + half past twelve to one; and a dinner or supper at between six and + half past. Go to bed at ten, and get up at seven. This may well be + considered a severe course of training, and is only for a seasoned + rider. + + B. M. WARREN.--Bicycle maps running along the coast of Connecticut + have already been published in the ROUND TABLE. We hope, some time + this summer or in the early fall, to give some of the best routes + through central Connecticut. + + E. W. DAVIES.--The best route from Woodstown, New Jersey, to + Trenton, through Philadelphia, is as follows: Leave Woodstown and + proceed to Swedesborough (seven miles), thence to Clarksborough + (six miles), Woodbury (five miles), and Gloucester to the ferry + (four miles), crossing thence to Philadelphia. Leaving + Philadelphia, proceed to Frankfort (seven miles), thence to Bristol + (fifteen miles), and thence to Trenton (nine miles). The road is + moderately good all the way. + + + + +[Illustration: THE CAMERA CLUB] + + Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly + answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to + hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions. + + +FORMULAS FOR COLORING TRANSPARENCIES. + +As we have received many inquiries in regard to the colors used in +making the tinted transparencies described in No. 857 of the ROUND +TABLE, we give the following formulas for preparing the coloring +solutions, which are by M. Gachinot, Paris, France, all of which can be +successfully used. Having printed the plate according to the directions +given, immerse in any of the following solutions till the desired color +or tint is obtained: + +RED BATH. + + Carmine (in grains) 5 parts. + Liquid Ammonia 15 " + Distilled Water 120 " + +BLUE BATH. + + Prussian Blue 50 parts. + Oxalic Acid 50 " + Distilled Water 120 " + +YELLOW BATH. + + Gamboge 50 parts. + Saffron 50 " + Distilled Water 150 " + +The yellow bath must be boiled for five minutes, and filtered. + +VIOLET BATH. + + Permanganate of Potash 10 parts + Distilled Water 100 " + +GREEN BATH. + + Prussian Blue 50 parts. + Oxalic Acid 50 " + Picric Acid 15 " + Distilled Water 150 " + +Dissolve by heat. + +Aniline colors may also be used, and are both cheap and easily prepared. +Dissolve one ounce of any aniline color in ten ounces of distilled +water, and immerse the transparency in the solution till the desired +tint is obtained. Wash in several changes of water till the whites are +clear. Dry in a place free from dust. + + SIR KNIGHT R. H. WYLD says that in developing some pictures taken + with a pocket Kodak the pictures came out positive instead of + negative. The picture was overdeveloped. Probably the developer + worked rather slow, and the picture may also have been + under-exposed. The rest of the material will probably be all right + with proper time exposure. Cold sometimes retards the action of the + developer. The temperature of the developer should never be below + 65° Fahr. The process for making plain salted paper was described + in Nos. 796 and 803, and was also given in the circular issued last + fall announcing the photographic competition. + + J. W. B. encloses two prints, and asks what is the matter with + them. The prints were made too dark, and in order to tone them out + they were overtoned. The negatives are evidently thin, which also + accounts for the gray tone of the print. The blue print formula may + be found in Nos. 797, 823, and 828. + + SIR KNIGHT RUSSEL SENIOR asks if different colored inks can be used + to color transparencies, if aristotype prints put in a glycerine + solution to keep them flat injures the gloss when they are ready to + be burnished, and for a simple way to enlarge negatives. The + colored inks are made from aniline colors, and it is better to + prepare the color according to directions given in this paper for + using aniline colors. Glycerine does not affect the polish of the + print. Directions for enlarging may be found in No. 801, March 5, + 1895. If you have not a file of the ROUND TABLE, enclose five cents + to Harper and Brothers, and the number will be sent to you. As the + directions occupy all the space devoted to the Camera Club, they + cannot be repeated in "Answers to Queries"; but another paper on + enlarging will be printed in a few weeks for the benefit of our new + members. + + SIR KNIGHT LEONARD S. WHITTIER asks if the editor has heard of the + "Quad Camera," and if it is a good camera for five dollars, and also + asks the addresses of firms that manufacture cameras at this price + or less. The "Quad" camera is said to do very good work for so + small a camera. The Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y., Kombi + Camera Co., Chicago, Ill., Manhattan Optical Co., Cresskill, N.J., + are among the firms that manufacture low-priced cameras. A card + sent to Scovill, Adams Co., or E. & H. T. Anthony and Co., New + York, will bring a catalogue of cameras and photographic outfits. + + SIR KNIGHT HERSCHEL F. DAVIS wishes a good formula for a + one-solution metol developer, and asks if the exposure should be + shortened when using metol for a developer. A single solution of + metol is made as follows: + + Metol 30 grs. + Sodium Sulphite (crystals) 180 " + Potassium Carbonate 90 " + Water 4 oz. + + In mixing this developer the potassium carbonate can be left out + till the detail is out, then add the potassium, and leave the plate + in the developer till the required density is gained. One can make + the exposure much shorter with the metol, and this developer is + specially good for under-exposed plates. + + + + +[Illustration: THE PUDDING STICK] + + This Department is conducted in the interest of Girls and Young + Women, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the + subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor. + + +So you, my little Irene, are appointed a delegate to a great convention, +and mamma has consented to let you go with the other young people to a +city half-way across the continent--you who at seventeen have never made +a journey except under your mother's care. It is your first flight from +the nest, and I do not wonder that you and she both anticipate it with a +good deal of thought and some perplexity. To you, of course, the outlook +is all roseate; you are sure you will have an enchanting time, and you +have no forebodings; but mamma, being older and having experience, feels +less at her ease. And yet it is a simple matter to travel under auspices +so agreeable as those which belong to Christian Endeavorers when they go +to an annual assemblage of their great society. + +Resolve beforehand to go equipped lightly as to luggage. A pretty +travelling-dress, with an extra waist for any emergency or occasion of +ceremony, is all you will require in the way of a gown, and a change of +under-clothing will go with the waist in your hand-bag. An oil-silk bag +for your sponge, your needful toilet articles, and such trifles as pins, +needle and thread, shoe buttons, and light overshoes can easily be +compressed into a very small space. An extra pair of gloves should be +taken, and a small bottle of camphor or other remedy for sudden +indisposition will not be amiss. + +On the journey, whether by boat or by train, keep strictly with your own +party. There will probably be a number of your friends, very likely your +pastor and his wife, in the company, and you must be careful to stay +where they stay, and go where they go. You are not an independent +traveller. You belong to a party, and must conform to its regulations. +Especially when your objective point is a strange city, where you will +be thrown among hundreds of people unknown to you, be sure that you do +not separate in any way from your own particular group. + +Arrived at your destination, you will probably find that quarters have +been assigned to you in hospitable homes. Here, as you are received with +friendly greetings, do your utmost to prove that you appreciate the +kindness shown. Give as little trouble as possible to your entertainers. +Every home has its fixed hours for meals, and visitors should be ready +at the moment, so that the hostess shall not be embarrassed in her +proceedings by any lack of punctuality in theirs. If prayers in the +family are before breakfast, be sure that you rise early enough to +attend them, and in every point make your visit a pleasure to those who +kindly invite you to be a guest beneath their roof. + +In visiting a strange place avail yourself of each opportunity for +seeing interesting points, for going to see objects of natural interest, +museums, libraries, etc., always, however, visiting these with your own +party, or with friends who are responsible for your safety. + +You will need very little money on such a journey as I am thinking of, +your tickets being procured beforehand, and your only requirement being +for small change. The funds of the party should be in the hands of one +person, selected before starting, who will act as treasurer on the trip, +keeping a strict account of her disbursements, so that she may render it +at the journey's end. + + MARJORIE DAW.--Miss Deland's _Oakleigh_ is, in my opinion, as + entertaining a book as _Little Women_. _The Story of a Short Life_ + and _Jackanapes_ were written by Mrs. Ewing, who died some years + ago. _Grandma's Attic Treasures_ is by Mary D. Brine. + + MARION D.--Send your invitations for the garden party in the shape + of informal notes, written in the ordinary way. "Dear Alice,--Come + to my party next Saturday afternoon at 4 o'clock. Tea in the + garden," or, "My dear Mary,--Will you give me the pleasure of your + presence at a lawn-party next Saturday at four o'clock, to meet + Miss Elsie Morrow and Miss Nancy Page, of Baltimore." Let your + little note be brief but cordial. It is quite proper to write such + an invitation on one's visiting-card. + + CARRIE H. D.--I do not think that a girl should too confidently + depend on her friend's opinion that she can write short stories. + The only way to really test the matter is to send the stories, + written plainly, or type-written, and, of course, on one side of + the paper only, with return postage enclosed, to the editor of a + paper. A girl should read the best stories she can find, and the + best essays and historical sketches too, and be in no haste to + publish. I cannot advise a young girl to go upon the stage. She + should certainly not think of this, unless her parents and teachers + not only fully approve, but also urge her to do so. In my + experience girls of all periods are much alike. I think the girls + of to-day are not at all silly; in some particulars, as in + opportunities for out-door sports, and in excellent health, they + surpass the girls of a few years ago. Girls are fascinating + creatures, and I dearly love them. + +[Illustration: Signature] + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS. + + + + +400,000 Pounds + +of Nickel Steel + +[Illustration] + +That is the amount of this wonderful metal, drawn into tubing in our own +mills, that has gone into Columbia Bicycles in the past year and a half. +Its use is what makes Columbias so strong and light. No such material in +other machines. Reserved exclusively for + +[Illustration: Columbia Bicycles] + +Standard of the World + +$100 to all alike. + +Columbias in construction and quality are in a class by themselves. + +Pope Manufacturing Co. + +HARTFORD, CONN. + + + + +WALTER BAKER & CO., LIMITED. + +Established Dorchester, Mass., 1780. + +Breakfast Cocoa + +[Illustration] + +Always ask for Walter Baker & Co.'s + +Breakfast Cocoa + +Made at + +DORCHESTER, MASS. + +It bears their Trade Mark + +"La Belle Chocolatiere" on every can. + +Beware of Imitations. + + + + +There's no doubt about the advisability of riding a wheel--the only +question now is what wheel to ride. + +Monarch + +King of Bicycles, + +represents cycle manufacture in its highest development. A wheel with +which no fault can be found. + +4 models, $80 and $100, fully guaranteed. For children and adults who +want a lower price wheel the =Defiance= is made in 8 models, $40 to $75. +Send for Monarch book. + +[Illustration] + +MONARCH + +CYCLE MFG. CO., + +Lake, Halsted and Fulton Sts., CHICAGO. + +83 Reade St., NEW YORK. + + + + +Postage Stamps, &c. + + + + +$117.50 WORTH OF STAMPS FREE + +to agents selling stamps from my 50% approval sheets. Send at once for +circular and price-list giving full information. + +C. W. Grevning, Morristown, N. J. + + + + +1000 + +Mixed Foreign Stamps, San Marino, etc., 25; 101 all dif., China, etc., +10c.; 10 U.S. Revenues, 10c.; 20 U.S. Revenues, 25c. Ag'ts w'td at 50% +com. _Monthly Bulletin_ free. Shaw Stamp & Coin Co., Jackson, Mich. + + + + +101 varieties, Venezuela, etc., 10c.; 118 var., many rare and unused, +Asia, Africa, and Australia, also Hawaii, Newfoundland, Cuba, Venezuela, +etc., only 18c. Scott's 1896 illustrated cat. only 25c. All post-free. + +W. P. Todd, Morristown, N. J. + + + + +STAMPS! 100 all dif. Barbados, etc. Only 10c. Ag'ts w't'd at 50% com. +List free. L. DOVER & CO., 1469 Hodiamont, St. Louis, Mo. + + + + +[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water] + + + + +THE DUKE OF ALVA'S HUMILIATION. + +THIRD-PRIZE STORY. + +BY GEORGE C. HIRST. + + +The dining-hall of Rudolstadt Castle was the object of much interest one +morning in the old war-wearied days of 1547. Behind its curtained +doorways maids with straining ears and eyes whispered in consultation. +In the kitchen and servants' quarters the guests of the Countess were +critically discussed, from their features and dress to their overbearing +haughtiness. Old Hans, the butler, was volleyed with questions upon each +appearance from the dining-hall, his dignity more impenetrable than the +choicest armor in the Netherlands. The Rudolstadt retainers, sitting in +the court outside with Dutch sullenness, hated the Spanish masters as +they hated sin, under the blankness of their features. One of them paced +to and fro with blazing eyes and set jaws, savagely shaking his sword +and repeatedly testing its shining point, in refreshing contrast to the +calmness of his comrades. + +In the hall the Countess of Swarzburg acted hostess to the generals of a +victorious army, one of whom had terrorised Europe. Her calm dignity was +unmoved by their great condescension and haughty arrogance, and eloquent +of the fact that they were her quests and not her conquerors. She was a +woman with the iron nerve of a warrior and the courage of the bravest +Spaniard in her prostrate land, and she had need to be, with the Duke of +Alva and Henry of Brunswick opposite her. They were taking her kindness +very much as their due, and regarding the castle as a remarkably good +inn. Cold constraint attended the breakfast. + +Some months before, the Countess of Swarzburg, knowing that a Spanish +army on its way to the Netherlands would pass through her territory, had +secured a written promise from the Emperor Philip II. that her subjects +should be unmolested by his soldiers. She agreed in return to sell him +provisions. When the army arrived she promptly sent the supplies, and +invited the Spanish generals to breakfast with her. + +During the breakfast she skilfully reminded them of the Emperor's +promise, but they apparently did not understand her. As the conversation +progressed it became more apparent that they regarded her as a conquered +ruler and her services as tribute. She grew more and more angry at their +demeanor, and her breeding alone kept her outwardly courteous. She +turned the conversation at last to trivial matters, and the breakfast +went on smoothly, until a servant came and spoke to her. Then she calmly +arose. + +"Excuse me, gentlemen," she said. "I must leave you a few moments. Your +wants shall have attention by my servants here," and without awaiting +their reply she left the room. + +In the court her manner changed. She closely questioned her servants, +and then sent for her retainers and deliberately placed a number of them +at each of the doors leading to the hall. "On no account," she +instructed them, "permit either of the gentlemen within to leave the +room." Then she went below. + +A pitiful story awaited her. A number of her people were clustered in a +group with looks of despair and misery. The Spanish soldiers had driven +off their cattle, and they had seen the results of years of labor depart +in a few brief moments. Cattle then represented far more than now, when +life was a desperate struggle with the cold and hunger. Hard was the +life of the peasant, and the poor Thuringians, who loved their motherly +Countess, gathered around her as sheep around a shepherd in a winter +storm. She felt their need of her and determined to help them, but +despite her great indignation did not lose her presence of mind. + +Ordering them all well provided with food, she told them to return to +their homes, and there await the stolen cattle which she would see were +returned. Then she noiselessly gathered her armed retainers about the +several doorways leading to the breakfast-hall. The soldier who had +restlessly paced the court and cursed the Spaniards was in advance, and +his eyes were hungry and his breath came hard. The Countess entered the +room, and calmly seated herself at the table, facing the Duke. + +"Gentlemen," she said, "a few moments ago I spoke of the promise of your +Emperor, that my subjects should be unmolested by his soldiers. I have +just learned that it has been broken. Your men have taken my people's +cattle, which are necessary to them. Of course, you knew nothing of +this, and my messenger here will carry your orders to return them." She +was icily polite, and the command in her last words was more than a +Spaniard could take. + +"Your messenger is kind," the Duke observed. + +"My dear Countess," said Henry of Brunswick, "do not allow the loss of a +few cattle, peasants' cattle, to disturb you. How little a woman knows +of war, to be sure! Why, soldiers are prone to roughness even in their +own land, and a few such escapades cannot be prevented. The Duke and +myself sincerely regret the occurrence, and will do our best to stop +them in the future." + +She looked from one to the other. "Am I to understand, then, that the +Emperor's orders have no weight with you?" she asked, angrily. + +"As you like," said Alva. + +"And that you will not restore to my people their own?" + +"It is impossible," explained Brunswick. + +"Then, as God lives, princes' blood shall pay for oxen's!" + +And from the doors the curtains parted, and the flashing of swords cut +the light. The tramp of heavy feet resounded in the castle, and without +a word a score of tall brawny warriors encircled the table and enclosed +the generals. Behind the chair of Alva, unnoticed, stood the restless +soldier, his face, his arms, his body, afire with hate. They say that +gaunt, patient, hungry revenge is of the South, that the Northman never +feels it, but when a man has lost wife, children, home, peace, liberty, +and he sees the instrument of all before him--Heaven shall lightly judge +his deed in such a moment! + +"Say the word! say the word!" he muttered again and again, pressing hard +on his sword. + +[Illustration: THE PALE, DETERMINED FACE OF THE COUNTESS SHOWED FULL OF +PURPOSE. + +Drawn by Edmund F. Webber, Winner of Second Prize in Drawing +Competition.] + +The Duke and Brunswick looked at each other in dismay. Beyond a doubt +they were caught. Cut off from communication with their soldiers, they +were powerless before the solid wall of men around them. Across the +table the pale, determined face of the Countess showed full of purpose. +For once a Spaniard's word was unsupported by an army, and Alva's nerve +left him. There was a momentary, awkward pause, and then Brunswick came +to the rescue. + +He burst into a long laugh. "Upon my soul," he roared, "a good joke, an +excellent piece of humor! You have surprised me, Countess. I was not +aware you Northern people possessed our Spanish wit. What fine +retainers! Duke, the messenger of the Countess is here, with an +excellent guard to attend him. Do not keep him waiting for your +messages." + +The Duke hesitated a moment, and then joined Brunswick in what was the +best way out of the matter. The Countess ordered her retainers from the +room, but the intermittent clanks of armor from the court without were +significant. + +The Countess detained the generals until she received news that the +cattle had been returned and that the Spaniards were marching from her +dominions. She knew that they did not dare return and punish her, for +they were urgently needed in the Netherlands. Then she politely sent her +guests away, to curse her during all the long ride to their soldiers. +But curses could not restore the broken self-satisfaction of Alva, nor +hide the fact he had been conquered by a woman. + + + + +[Illustration: STAMPS] + + This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin + collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any Question + on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address + Editor Stamp Department. + + +In compound perforated stamps the rule is to quote the perforations in +the following order: top, bottom, left side, right side. + +The _Straits Budget_, published in Singapore, states that the new Malay +Federation scheme contemplates a further change in the colors of the +postage-stamps, and it is not improbable that the new tiger's head will +disappear for good. + +The "Boris" stamps of Bulgaria are purely speculative. The Bulgarian +Parliament wished to present the young Prince Boris, on the occasion of +his baptism into the orthodox Greek Church, with a sum of money equal to +$100,000, and, not having the money in the Treasury, devised the scheme +of making a set of stamps for sale to collectors. It is very gratifying +to hear that the scheme has not proved a success. + +A report comes from Japan that the government will issue two new stamps, +one bearing the portrait of Marshal Arisugawa, the other that of Prince +Kitashirawika. Both Generals distinguished themselves in the late war +with China. + +The French philatelic papers have lately given much attention to the +"Balloon" letters sent out of Paris during the winter of 1870-71, when +the German army was besieging the city. No special stamps were used, but +a special post-mark was stamped on each envelope. Hence they are not +stamps nor stamped envelopes; but they have a special interest of their +own, and many philatelists admit them in their albums. Statistics show +that 64 balloons were sent out, conveying 64 aeronauts, 91 passengers, +363 pigeons, 5 dogs, and about three million letters. Five of the +balloons were captured, by the Germans, and two were driven to the ocean +and lost. + +In view of the disagreeable taste of the gum on the U.S. stamps, some +wags have proposed to flavor the gum with liquorice, sassafras, etc. The +only objections made so far is that the stamps, if made too agreeable, +would be chewed up by the users. + +The difficulty in seeing the water-marks on the current U.S. stamps has +led to the suggestion that possibly the water-marks might be shown by +Röntgen X rays. It is high time our government should either revert to +the plain paper, or make paper showing the water-mark on each stamp. + +The work of the S.S.S.S. has done something to reduce the number of such +issues, but it seems to have resulted in some degree also in reducing +the number of new collectors. A reaction is now taking place, and some +philatelists advocate the abandonment of the committee, leaving each +person free to collect or reject such stamps as he may prefer. + +Old Greek gold coins are as eagerly sought for as ever, and very few new +copies are found in excavations, tombs, etc. Mr. H. Montague for many +years collected all the fine and rare copies he could purchase. His +collection has just been sold, and the 816 coins brought $44,884. Among +the highest prices were an Athenian gold stater, B.C. 88, with the head +of Athene Parthenos wearing the triple-crested helmet, $830, only three +of these staters being known; a tetradrachm of Nabis of Lacedæmon, $580; +an old stater of the Arcadian League, with the head of Zeus Lykæos in +high relief, $695; one of Tarentum, with the head of Demeter, $500: a +silver stater of Croton, with a nude figure of Herakles on the reverse, +$375; an oktadrachm of Alexander the Great, $450; a stater of Pheneus, +with a naked running Hermes on the reverse, $575, and one of Alexander +II., Zebena of Syria, $825. Very few specimens of these old Greek coins +have been brought to America. + + D. W. W.--Practically all the unperforated U. S. Revenues are on + "old paper," but the paper varied in thickness and in color. The + "silk" paper was used in some of the perforated stamps. They are + quite scarce. The second and third issues of the U.S. Revenues and + the Proprietary stamps were printed on "pink" paper, "violet" + paper, and "green" paper. Unless a collector has lots of money to + spend, I would advise him not to bother about papers, but take + every stamp according to design only. Part perforated stamps are + those which have perforations on two sides only. These are to be + collected in unsevered pairs only. + + L. H. B.--The 1837 dime is quoted by dealers at 35c. No dealer's + address can be given in this column. + + E. FRIEND, Columbus.--See answer to L. H. B. + + F. HAMM, 4127 Mantua Ave., Philadelphia, RICHARD STARKE, East + Islip, New York, EDISON B. COUNCIL, Council, N.C., wish to exchange + stamps. + + B. W. LEAVITT.--You can buy a beautiful 1894 dollar from dealers + for $1.50. + + [Illustration: No. 1 and 2.] + + [Illustration: No. 3.] + + H. P. D.--Lithographed stamps are those printed from stones; + engraved, those printed from steel-plates; wood-cuts, those printed + from engraved wood blocks; typographed, those printed from relief + plates. Your Mexican is a revenue stamp. The three triangles of + 1894 U.S. 2c. stamps are all slightly different. In No. 1 the + horizontal lines run across the ornaments. No. 2 is like No. 1 + except that the lines running across the ornament are thinner than + No. 1. In No. 3 the lines do not cross the frame. + + W. T. MCCLINTOCK.--See answer to H. P. D. + + PHILATUS. + + + + +[Illustration: Ivory Soap] + + Babies whose mothers use common soaps, fret + Chafed and uneasy: but this little pet, + Thanks to pure Ivory, contentedly lies, + Soothed into slumber with soft lullabies. + +Copyrighted, 1896, by The Procter & Gamble Co., Cin'ti. + + + + +Too simple to get out of order; too strong to break; hooks and unhooks +_easily_--when you please--not before. + +The DeLONG + +Hook and Eye + +[Illustration] + +See that + +hump? + +RICHARDSON & DELONG BROS, + +Philadelphia, + +makers of the + +CUPID Hairpin. + +It cannot slip out of the hair. + + + + +HOOPING + +COUGH + +CROUP + +_Can be cured_ + +by using + +ROCHE'S HERBAL + +EMBROCATION + +The celebrated and effectual English cure, without internal medicine. W. +EDWARD & SON, Props., London, Eng. Wholesale, E. FOUGERA & CO., New York + + + + +Hold their place in the front rank of the publications to which they +belong.--_Boston Journal_, Feb. 19, 1896. + +HARPER'S + +PERIODICALS + + MAGAZINE, $4.00 A YEAR + WEEKLY, $4.00 A YEAR + BAZAR, $4.00 A YEAR + ROUND TABLE, $2.00 A YEAR + + + + +[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water] + + + + +TWO NEW BOOKS + +FOR BOYS + +FOR KING OR COUNTRY. + + A Story of the Revolution. By JAMES BARNES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, + Cloth, Ornamental, $1.50. + +This is a story for young readers, and recounts the adventures of twin +brothers who are brought up, just prior to the Revolution, in an +American Tory family. One of the brothers becomes imbued with the spirit +of American patriotism, and is one of the first to enlist in the service +of his country; while the other, having been taken to England, obtains a +lieutenant's commission in the English army, and sails with his regiment +to fight under the standard of King George. The story is a strong piece +of character drawing, and the interest centres in the struggles of the +two brothers--one in his loyalty to his country and the other in his +loyalty to his king. + +TOMMY TODDLES. + + By ALBERT LEE. Illustrated by PETER S. NEWELL. Square 16mo, Cloth, + Ornamental, $1.25. + +A more entertaining collection of nonsense has rarely been +penned.--_Boston Traveller._ + +There is an endless amount of fun in "Tommy Toddles."--_N. Y. Times._ + +Just the book for children, and grown people will find plenty of fun in +it.--_N. Y. Sun._ + +It is abounding in side shaking absurdities, and told so well and so +seriously that older readers will enjoy it as much as the young +folks.--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._ + + * * * * * + +HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, New York. + + + + +[Illustration: OLD OFFENDERS.] + + * * * * * + +It was at a country election that the following took place. + +Every man for miles around was in attendance, from the prosperous farmer +to the lowest farm-hand, and here and there in small groups they held +lively discussions about the respective candidates. Finally the chairman +rapped for order, and the speech-making began. The wily orator explained +loudly and long about the poor condition of the country's welfare, and +wound up by asking all those who wished for a betterment of things to +stand up. Every man arose except an old gray-whiskered farmer, who had +fallen asleep over the long-winded oration. + +"Now," said the orator, after his listeners had seated themselves, "if +there is a man here who does not wish for a betterment of things, let +him stand up that we may look upon him with scorn." + +At this moment the old farmer awoke with a start, and catching the words +"stand up," got upon his feet and stared slowly around as a number of +hisses were thrown at him. This roused his ire, and he said, + +"Waal, Mister Speaker, I don't know whether we be votin' fer or agin the +sentiments of my brethern here; but you and me, I reckon, are in the +minority." + + * * * * * + +ART INFLUENCE. + + This pretty picture on the wall, + With billows rolling free, + Is full of white clouds in the sky + And white sails on the sea. + + And so I'll sit upon the rug + With pail and spade in hand, + And dream that on the silver shore + I'm digging in the sand. + + R. K. M. + + * * * * * + +During a speech at a political dinner in a small Western city, not long +ago, a Jingo orator, to the great amusement of his hearers, remarked +that "The British lion, whether he is roaming the deserts of India or +climbing the forests of Canada, will not draw in his horns nor retire +into his shell." + + * * * * * + +A RAINY DAY MEANS NO BALL. + +CAMERON. "Papa, I'm saving up for a fine day." + +PAPA. "Why are you doing that?" + +CAMERON. "So that I can go to a ball match when I have saved up enough." + + * * * * * + +THEIR ONLY TROUBLE. + +"There's only one trouble about blowing bubbles, mamma," said little +Conrad, the other day, "and that is that they always blow out." + + * * * * * + +An Irish laborer boarded a street-car, and handed to the conductor a +rather dilapidated-looking coin in payment of his fare. The conductor +looked at it critically, and handed it back. + +"That's tin," he said. + +"Shure, I thought it was foive," answered the Irishman, complacently, as +he put the piece back in his pocket and produced a nickel. + + * * * * * + +The magazine containing Mrs. Reynolds's first story lay on the +sitting-room table. + +Her son, who was at an age to be seriously afflicted with the big head, +took it up, and glanced over it rather contemptuously. + +"Mamma," he said, "why don't you write for a first-class magazine? I see +that this thing is entered through the mails as second-class matter." + + * * * * * + +A QUESTION IN NATURAL HISTORY. + + "The cat is a little tiger, + I know very well," said Willie. + "But how is it that the cat-tail + Is never a tiger-lily?" + + * * * * * + +NOT GENUINE. + +TOMMY. "This new spaniel won't go near the water!" + +PAPA. "I wonder what's the matter with him?" + +TOMMY. "I guess he isn't waterproof." + + * * * * * + +"Talking about treacle," said the old salt, as he hoisted himself off +the molasses barrel to make way for the grocer to supply a customer's +wants, "thet reminds me of a little scrimmage we had with a pirate +slaver in '42. + +"We had the coast-line of Africy a blue streak off to the starboard, and +we were er spankin' along with every blessed stitch of canvas drawin' +when we sighted one er them pirate slavers er bearin' down on us. Capen +took a squint through the glass and whistled. 'We'll give him er run fer +it,' said he. + +"Waal, that chap kep' after us all day, and we tried to slip his lights +during the night, but 'twarn't no use. He made up his mind to foller, +and he did, day after day. At last we got well down to the cape when er +blow came up, and, great guns! it wuz er blow fer certain. It caught us, +and drove us plumb into the antarctic circle, with that pirate right +after us. That made the Captain mad, and as we had er cargo of molasses +on board, he gave the order to uncover the rear hatch and hoist the +barrels on deck. + +"Blow me if he didn't broach those barrels thet night, and empty them +over the starn. The nest day there wuz that pirate stuck fast in the +centre of the molasses, where he had sailed. It had froze during the +night, and he was anchored in it just the same as if he wuz nipped in an +ice-floe. Then we squared around and headed for the cape. As we passed +him the Captain shouts out: + +"'Ahoy, there! Cold weather fer merlasses, ain't it?' and they shook +their fists and yelled, but we left them, and I guess they're there +yet." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Round Table, May 12, 1896, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57797 *** |