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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57843 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: HARPER'S ROUND TABLE]
+
+Copyright, 1896, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All Rights Reserved.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PUBLISHED WEEKLY. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1896. FIVE CENTS A COPY.
+
+VOL. XVII.--NO. 864. TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+JACK HOWARD'S SURPRISE PARTY.
+
+
+It was the critical moment in the famous sham battle of Easter Monday.
+The bicycle corps was a mile and a half away, and the signal post had
+been captured by the enemy. Unless the corps could be brought into the
+action the day was lost, and the wood road running back of the
+"Cardinal's Nob" offered the only possible means of communication. But
+could the message be conveyed in time? Colonel Howard turned to his son
+Jack, who stood anxious and silent at the front handle-bars of the
+Arrow, a modern racing quad, geared to 120, and stripped down to the
+enamel. The inspection seemed to satisfy him, and hastily scribbling a
+few lines on a page torn from his note-book, he handed the order to his
+son.
+
+"Get this through if you possibly can," he said, briefly, and turned
+again to his field-glasses.
+
+A moment later and Jack and his crew were carrying the Arrow down the
+steep sides of the "Nob" to the wood road that ran below. The road was
+in splendid condition, hard and smooth as a racing-track, and the boys
+were all picked riders, and bound to hold on to their grips until the
+tires began to smoke.
+
+"It will be a scorch, fellows," said Jack, as he swung himself into his
+saddle; "but let her run off easily until we can get to pedalling all
+together. Now, then, hit her up!"
+
+The Arrow jumped forward like a hare as the long chain tightened and the
+riders bent over to their work. It took Jem Smith, No. 2, a moment
+longer to find his left pedal, and then the eight legs began to go up
+and down with the mechanical regularity of so many piston-rods. Once
+fairly into the long rhythmical swing, every ounce of power told, and
+the tense spokes hummed merrily as the speed increased and the road-bed
+slipped away beneath the rapidly revolving wheels. Jack Howard had his
+cap drawn well down over his eyes, and his hands were tightly clinched
+on the front handle-bars. So long as the way was smooth and the crew
+were pumping in strict time the Arrow steered with the certainty and
+quickness of a racing sloop; but every now and then a shallow rut or a
+half-hidden stone would cause the long machine to swerve like a flying
+horse, and it would take all of Jack's strength, even with the
+assistance of No. 2, whose handle-bars were coupled to the steering
+head, to keep the Arrow steady on her course. Above all, it was
+necessary that every rider should pay strict attention to the business
+in hand, or rather under foot. Uneven pedalling meant lost power and
+hard steering, while a slipped pedal might result in an ugly fall and a
+general smash-up.
+
+Three-quarters of a mile from the "Nob" there was a gate across the
+road, with the approach on a curve that was also slightly down-grade. As
+was only prudent, speed was reduced, and the Arrow rounded the turn well
+under control. Luckily so, for the gate was closed. This was rather odd,
+for the bicycle corps had passed over the road only an hour before, and
+it had been understood that they should leave the gate open. The loss of
+time was vexatious, but there was nothing to do but to stop. The Arrow
+ran slowly up to the obstruction, and Jack called to Dick Long, the end
+man, to jump off and swing the gate aside.
+
+"Hands up!" came with startling distinctness from the high, thickly
+wooded slope that bordered the road on either side, and Jack looked up
+straight into the barrel of a regulation army carbine that for the
+moment yawned as wide as the muzzle of a hundred-ton gun. It was the
+enemy, sure enough, a sergeant with a dozen men, and the Arrow had
+walked straight into the trap. Resistance was as impossible as it was
+hopeless, for the boys had strapped their carbines securely to the
+framing of the quad, and the surprise had been complete.
+
+"You're captured," said the umpire, who had accompanied the ambuscade.
+"Hand over your despatches to the sergeant and stand at attention."
+
+It was a dreadfully mortifying situation for the boys, but their captors
+were inclined to be magnanimous.
+
+"It's not your fault, Jack," chuckled the jolly sergeant, as he took the
+precious despatch; "it was just a little game of strategy in which we
+happened to hold the high cards."
+
+After all, it had been a desperate chance, and Jack was philosopher
+enough to abide by the result. And besides that he had faith enough in
+his father to feel assured that he would pull through somehow, and that
+his confidence was not misplaced those who have read "The Battle of
+Easter Monday" will remember.
+
+The umpire hurried away for the actual field of battle, and the sergeant
+and his party took up their post again at the gate. It was stupid work
+playing prisoner, and Jack hinted as much to the sergeant. If they
+couldn't see the battle it was a pity to lose such a fine afternoon for
+a ride, and it was not likely that they would be able to borrow the quad
+again.
+
+"Well," said the sergeant, good-naturedly, "I don't know that I have any
+right to do it, but I'll release you on parole, with the understanding
+that you go in the opposite direction from the battle-field, and that
+you report at the armory this evening and turn in your rifles and
+cartridge-belts."
+
+The terms were too easy not to be accepted, and though the boys were
+naturally disappointed in not being able to see or take part in the
+fight, it was something in the way of consolation to have a twenty-mile
+spin on the Arrow.
+
+"Let's go to Queenston," suggested Jem Smith, as the Arrow rolled slowly
+back along the wood road.
+
+It was a good fifteen miles away to the old college town, but the roads
+were unusually good for so early in the year, and the scenery was more
+than enough to make up for the steepness of the hills.
+
+"And take luncheon at Rock Hill," added Jack. "Is it a vote?" and no one
+dissenting, it was so ordered.
+
+It was a glorious afternoon for a spin, and the boys enjoyed the novel
+experience of four-in-hand riding. But since the Arrow was geared up for
+racing on a level track, it was hard work hill-climbing, and nobody was
+sorry to see in the distance the gray towers of Queenston. A mile away
+from town and Jack called a halt. The stretch of road immediately before
+them had been broken up preparatory to macadamizing, and it was clearly
+unrideable. Nobody liked the idea of trundling the long machine into
+town; but, on the other hand, they had set out for a run to Queenston,
+and it would not do to give up within sight of port. And, moreover,
+through the town lay the shortest road back to Fairacre.
+
+"What's that road?" asked Dick Long, pointing to a carriage drive that
+entered the woods at right angles to the highway.
+
+Jack's eyes brightened. "I remember it now," he said. "It's a private
+road that runs back of the college and brings us out on University
+Square. There can't be any objection to our using it."
+
+There was a locked gate to prevent intrusion, but the Arrow was quickly
+hoisted over the fence, and Jack and his crew were in the saddle again.
+
+It was evident that the road had not been used for a long time, for it
+was overgrown with grass, and the old wheel-tracks were hardly
+discernible. But it was fair riding, for the turf was thick and firm,
+and as it was early in the spring, it had only just begun to grow. Half
+a mile in and the Arrow was running swiftly and noiselessly through the
+thickest part of the college wood. The university buildings were but a
+quarter of a mile or so away, but it was only occasionally that they
+showed through the leafless trunks of the great oaks and chestnuts. Here
+and there a chipmunk scuttled away through the dry rustling leaves, and
+once an early robin piped up with an original spring poem. The silence
+and stillness seemed almost primeval; it might have been the first
+Sunday morning after the creation of the world; a laugh or an idle word
+would have broken the spell. And then--
+
+"Hold hard!" came in a tense whisper from Jack, and his crew
+mechanically bore back on their pedals. The Arrow had stopped at the
+brow of a gentle declivity that widened out at the bottom into a little
+glade, which was now the scene of a drama that looked perilously like a
+tragedy to the startled eyes of the new-comers. In the middle of the
+open space stood a rude structure of rough stones some three feet high
+and six long, and upon it was stretched the figure of a man bound and
+gagged. At a little distance were grouped a dozen masked forms armed
+with odd-looking axes, and listening attentively to an incomprehensible
+harangue on the part of the one who appeared to be their leader.
+
+The boys looked at each other with white faces. Ku-Klux? White Caps? It
+was possible. Whatever it was, it looked ugly enough in all conscience.
+
+Jack Howard began to unstrap his carbine from the framework of the
+Arrow.
+
+"Our cartridges are all blanks," whispered Dick Long, hurriedly.
+
+"I know it," returned Jack, fumbling with nervous haste at the mechanism
+of the breech-block, "but I'm not going to stand here and see murder
+done."
+
+"But what can we do?"
+
+"See that your magazines are full, be ready to ride the Arrow so as to
+get that stone pile between us and the crowd, and, above all, let nobody
+fire until I give the word. It's twelve to four, and the only chance is
+to bluff them."
+
+It seemed like a dream to stand there waiting for the moment of action,
+the motionless figure stretched upon the stones, the sunlight flickering
+upon the grim-looking axes of the twelve masked men, the monotonous,
+unintelligible drone of the speaker. And yet there was a something in
+the picture that made it terribly alive, for all that this was the year
+of Our Lord 1896, and the bells in the college chapel were even now
+ringing the call for evening prayers.
+
+Jack and his crew were sitting motionless in their saddles, Dick Long,
+the rear man, standing ready to give the necessary shove-off.
+
+The speaker had stopped talking, and had taken his stand at the head of
+the line of masked men. In his hands he held an antique-looking urn, and
+at a signal the others advanced one by one. As the first man passed he
+dropped into the urn a small object that looked like a bean. But there
+could be no mistake about the color--it was black. Another followed, and
+then another, until all had passed and cast their vote, if vote it was.
+The chief solemnly emptied the contents of the urn upon the ground.
+Every bean was black.
+
+The leader drew from beneath his cloak a long, glittering,
+crescent-shaped knife, and held it high above his head.
+
+"Your sentence, then"--he looked inquiringly at the immovable silent
+figures that stood about him in a circle.
+
+"Death!" came in muffled tones from the first mask, and "Death!" echoed
+the next, and the next, until all had spoken.
+
+The circle parted, and the executioner moved slowly towards the altar
+and the victim.
+
+"Now!" shouted Jack, and the Arrow flashed down the slope as though sped
+from some gigantic bowstring. In an instant the boys had dismounted, and
+were kneeling under cover of the stone-work with their rifles at their
+shoulders. There was a moment of surprise and confusion among the masked
+figures, and the man with the knife pulled up sharply.
+
+Jack snatched off his cap and tossed it into the air. It fell some
+twenty feet away, an improvised dead-line between the two parties.
+
+"Keep back of that or we fire," he said, tersely.
+
+The line of masked men wavered for an instant, and then the leader held
+up his hand and stepped forward.
+
+"This doesn't concern you," he said, quietly.
+
+"Maybe not," retorted Jack, "but we are going to make it our business.
+Keep back!" and he raised his rifle.
+
+The masked man made an impatient gesture. "I tell you again," he said,
+coldly, "that this is no affair of yours. You had better take my advice,
+and hop the twig as fast as you can."
+
+"And suppose we don't choose to profit by your friendly warning,"
+returned Jack, jauntily. "What then?"
+
+One of the masked figures stepped up to the leader, and whispered
+something in his ear. The chief nodded affirmatively, and turned again
+to Jack.
+
+"We know well enough where you came from," he said, confidently, "and
+you can't bluff us with blank cartridges."
+
+There was an involuntary movement of surprised consternation among the
+boys, which the masked man was quick to perceive and take advantage of.
+
+"This isn't any sham battle," he continued, with a sneer. "I'll give you
+while I count ten to clear out. One, two--"
+
+Jack turned hurriedly to the boys. "Remember, now, hold your fire, no
+matter what I do."
+
+"Eight, nine, ten. Come on, you fellows!" and the man in the mask threw
+down his knife and jumped for Jack. There was a sharp report, and the
+leader stopped short, staggered, and fell.
+
+It was all over in an instant. The masked figures had scattered in all
+directions, and Jack was cutting the cords that bound the prisoner. And
+by all that was wonderful, if it wasn't Tom Jones, a Fairacre boy, and a
+member of the Sophomore Class at Queenston College. The boys stared at
+him, open-mouthed.
+
+"Take out the gag; he's trying to speak," said Dick Long, excitedly.
+
+The gag was quickly removed, and Tom sprang to his feet.
+
+"Well, you are a fine set of blooming wooden-heads," said Mr. Jones,
+reproachfully.
+
+The boys looked at him in astonishment. Under the peculiar circumstances
+the remark savored of ingratitude, to say the least.
+
+"Perhaps you would have preferred that we had not interfered," said Jem
+Smith, with sarcastic politeness.
+
+"I wish to goodness you hadn't," was the disconcerting reply. "Well, old
+man, are you much hurt?" Tom Jones had hurried to where the wounded man
+was lying propped up against a tree, and was bending over him with
+anxious solicitude. His mask had fallen off, and his face looked
+familiar enough, though nobody could place him exactly.
+
+"See here, Jones," said Jack Howard, with a desperate effort to shake
+off the growing conviction that the whole affair was nothing more than
+an ugly dream, "what does all this mean, anyhow? Haven't we just pulled
+you out of a pretty tight place--saved your life, I mean?"
+
+"No, you haven't," answered Tom, snappishly.
+
+"You've gone and interfered with my initiation into the Order of Ancient
+and Royal Druids, the best secret society in the college, and you shot
+in the leg the Captain of the university team, and the only decent
+half-back we have this year. That's what you've done."
+
+"Oh, my leg!" groaned the sufferer, feebly. "There's a hole bored clear
+through it, and it's bleeding like one o'clock."
+
+And then Mr. Jones, who had been examining the injured member, did a
+very remarkable thing. He deliberately bestowed upon his wounded
+superior a couple of hearty kicks, and then proceeded to assist him to
+his feet.
+
+"Get up, Phil, and don't make an ass of yourself. Here's the fatal
+bullet that laid you low." He picked up something from the ground, and
+showed it first to Captain Phil and then to Jack. The latter nodded,
+took it, and stowed it away in his pocket. A few words in undertone
+followed, and then the football Captain laughed and held out his hand to
+Jack.
+
+"I wish you fellows would come up to the college and have some tea," he
+said, heartily. "Sure you haven't the time? Well, then, remember that
+I'll expect you over for the first baseball game of the season next
+Saturday--and your friends too."
+
+"You're sure that you're all right again?" inquired Jack.
+
+Captain Phil turned a handspring with remarkable agility, and came up
+smiling, to the manifest astonishment of three or four of his late
+companions in crime, who were cautiously making their way back to the
+scene of battle, in the evident expectation of having to perform the
+last sad offices for their late leader.
+
+"Straight as a string and sound as a bell," announced Captain Phil,
+cheerfully. "But just wait, young fellow, until you enter Fresh, in the
+fall, and I can get a chance to tackle you on the twenty-yard line. That
+ought to square things between us."
+
+Jack laughed, and with another hearty shake of the Captain's hand, he
+sprang into his saddle, and the Arrow was quickly speeding towards
+Fairacre again.
+
+"He ought to make a rattling quarter-back," said Captain Phil,
+reflectively, to Tom Jones. "A fellow with his nerve is just the man we
+want to fill Robinson's shoes."
+
+And Jones nodded an oracular assent.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Half a mile down the pike, and Jem Smith's curiosity could no longer be
+restrained.
+
+"Well, if you must know," said Jack, finally, "here's the fatal bullet.
+It just occurred to me to slip it in my rifle-barrel in the hope that it
+might do some execution if it came to actual hostilities. Of course it
+was only a bluff to make them think that your guns were really loaded
+with ball cartridge, and it worked just that way. Of course, when it
+broke against his leg, and he felt the ink running down--"
+
+"What are you talking about?" said Jem, impatiently; "and what is this
+little rubber cap, anyhow?"
+
+"All that's left of a brand-new stylographic pen," answered Jack,
+mournfully.
+
+
+
+
+A MYSTERY.
+
+BY CLARA LOUISE ANGEL.
+
+
+  I know of a dry little, sly little man
+  Who comes o'er our threshold whenever he can;
+  Though little, he cares for the sunshine and light;
+  He haunts our big library when it is night.
+
+  When papa is reading his paper with care,
+  And I'm dozing all snug in the cushioned arm-chair,
+  When mamma looks up from her sewing--"My dear,
+  Perhaps you don't know that the sand-man's been here."
+
+  Then I hunt round the curtain, on top of the books,
+  'Neath table and sofa, and all sorts of nooks,
+  And out on the stairway, and down in the hall;
+  But I can't find the sly little sand-man at all!
+
+
+
+
+THE AMERICAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS.
+
+THE M. S. D'S.
+
+BY EMMA J. GRAY.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"It fell upon a day in the balmy month of May" that the M. S. D's went
+for an out-of-door frolic.
+
+Who were the M. S. D's? Merry Sons and Daughters. The society had been
+incorporated the year before; there were no dues, no president,
+secretary, treasurer, or by-laws; there was but one qualification--being
+merry. No long faces among the members of _that_ society; no boys or
+girls who always want things done _their_ way. No, that style of person
+was not eligible, nor selfish folks, or any other kind of disagreeable
+people.
+
+The M. S. D's were stanch, true-hearted, and sunny, their greatest joy
+being forgetfulness of self. They were always merry because they were
+always happy; and they were always happy because they trod evil
+underfoot, and thought out great thoughts white and godlike, thoughts
+that shone with the clear and steady light that reflected good-will on
+all.
+
+Therefore, when the society went for a day's fun it was the gayest of
+roving, a complete El Dorado of enjoyment; and an outing in the
+blithesome month of May to them meant a full and happy one.
+
+For some reason the usual parties had been omitted this year, and
+therefore none of the girls had been crowned Queen, and none of the boys
+had paid their respects to the Court.
+
+So when they reached the "happy independence grounds," as the boys
+dubbed them, because everybody was to do as they pleased when they got
+there, it was most amusing that each one seemed to have the same desire
+to gather handfuls of blossoms, weave crowns, hunt for four-leaved
+clover, and listen to bird calls. And thus it was that soon were
+gathered blue violets from the meadow, and dandelions, buttercups, and
+daisies from among the long waving grass that covered field after field
+through which these Merry Sons and Daughters laughingly ran.
+
+And then followed the butterfly hunt; just to see if anybody could
+really catch one of these "ne'er-do-weel" fellows. But their fragile
+painted wings carried them so safe and rapid that when a hand was almost
+over the petal tip that held the happy fellow, he would up and away in
+the breezy blue, and ride on graciously out of sight, or sometimes, as
+through a desire to tempt his pursuer, skim over the clover blossoms,
+and finally light again on a bunch of daffadown-dillies, or possibly
+make a round of all the sweet May blossoms.
+
+"What the Dandelions said" was then played, which is the old game so
+familiar to all from babyhood--that of blowing the soft down of the
+ripened dandelion to learn "How old am I?" Blow once, one year old; blow
+twice, two years, and so on, until all the downy stuff has gone. The
+number of times the blows have been given before the down has altogether
+disappeared indicates the age.
+
+And then the players ran at utmost speed to the babbling brook, which
+was a short distance off; and having first torn the dandelion stems into
+quarters by splitting the tubular stem from tip to flower, they laid
+them in the cool flowing water, and watched them curl until all were
+tightly rounded; then shaking off the gathered drops, they firmly
+fastened these curls to their hats, together with the bunches of clover,
+buttercups, violets, strawberry blossoms, or whatever else fanciful
+taste dictated.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+This pastime was soon followed by the "Daisy Catch." Both girls and boys
+stood in a group, with the exception of one girl, and to her was given a
+bunch of daisies. There was also a tree selected as a place of safety,
+after which the other girls then counted ten, allowing ten seconds for
+the count. During the counting the girl ran wherever she pleased, but
+the moment ten was spoken the boys raced after her. The idea was to
+"tag" her while the flowers were in her hand. If she was "tagged," the
+girl must then throw the daisies, as if they were a ball, to the boy
+tagging her. If he caught them, the game would proceed as before, by
+reversing the players; but if he did not catch them, the girl could try
+over again. The girl could also demand another chance if, when fearing
+she would be tagged, she threw her daisies away and caught them again
+before any of the boys did. Whenever the game was repeated it commenced
+regularly from the beginning, the players taking the same position as at
+the start. On the way back from the brook everybody's attention was
+drawn to a pair of yellow-birds that had braved the yet unsettled
+atmosphere, and were building a very pretty home for themselves near the
+top of a blackberry bush, when all of a sudden a cat-bird's song was
+heard, and knowing that he was very shy, all breathlessly kept quiet.
+And then how uneasy the little yellow-birds became! The young people
+wondered what it all meant; but afterwards they saw both the
+yellow-birds fly off for fern down or other soft stuff with which to
+line their nest, and this disappearance was evidently what the cat-bird
+desired, for no sooner had the birds gone than, quietly and cautiously,
+and yet rapidly, as if seizing opportunity much after the manner of
+other thieves, he approached and stole all the building materials he
+could possibly carry from their pretty home.
+
+This sight reminded the boys of a game called "Keep It." It was nothing
+more nor less than an echo, and those who knew lightly closed each hand
+so that the first two fingers touched the thumb. Then putting one hand
+on top of the other, and calling through the column thus made, trumpet
+fashion, the noise was greatly accelerated, and, "Keep it, keep it,"
+were the words over and over again repeated in the uncanny peculiar way
+that echo repeats sound. The children then ran in various directions,
+laughingly trying to get ahead of each other, and discover who could
+make the clearest and loudest echo.
+
+But the great feature of the day was the boat-race, and this was an
+impromptu amusement, for the boys had planned the girls should botanize,
+tell stories, or anything that they liked, while they went fishing; and
+with fishing in mind the boys had many a secret conclave beforehand, as
+each one was trying to get all the fishing points possible, and many and
+various were the ones received, everybody agreeing, however, that all
+the fishermen must understand both shoving and sculling a boat before
+attempting to fish in that particular water, as it was winding, narrow,
+and full of all sorts of rushes, meadow grasses, and snags in variety,
+and if rowing was attempted, fishing would be impracticable. Then, too,
+there should be a slight wind blowing from the southwest, and a cloudy
+sky. So as fishing was the uppermost thought, the boys were sure the
+weather would be right when they got there, and therefore came laden
+with bait, tackle, and fishing-baskets in abundance, for they had
+assured their mothers they would bring home a lot of shining fat fellows
+for supper. A few, too, of the more skilled had refused to bring bait,
+saying, with an important toss of the head, they only fished with flies;
+and no sooner had the M. S. D's gotten to their destination than these
+fishermen ran to the water to watch the sort and color of flies the fish
+were mostly jumping for.
+
+So it was a genuine disappointment when, at ten o'clock in the morning,
+the sun shone unusually hot and the water was as smooth as a mirror, for
+not even a perceptible zephyr was stirring.
+
+Therefore it was that the girls begged the boys not to attempt fishing,
+that it would be only a great waste of time, and to further quote their
+words, "when it gets cooler, as it's bound to after a while, let's have
+a boat-race"--for there was a clear space of water where such could be
+held.
+
+This was a happy suggestion, and immediately the race was arranged. The
+girls who did not care to row were to act as umpires; and a grand stand
+was selected, which was nothing more nor less than a massive irregular
+rock over which a tangle of vines ran luxuriously, and for canopy there
+was a wide-branched locust-tree.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+There would be three races--one between the girls, another between the
+boys, and the third between the girls and boys together, and they were
+to be given in the order indicated. Two willow-trees which conspicuously
+over-hung the water, and so could not be mistaken, were selected as the
+points that would start and end the race, the prow of the boat being
+even with the centre of the tree-trunk at starting, and the stern of the
+boat being even with the centre of the tree-trunk on closing. Only one
+person would be in a boat at a time, and no person could have a second
+chance. As the water was too narrow to allow for all the boys or all the
+girls to try at once, it was decided that two boats only should row, and
+then two more, and so on. After the race was over, the victors would be
+obliged to row again, two and two, as at the first, and so determine the
+winners. When the winning girl and the winning boy were known, they
+would race together, and thus the champion rower would be discovered.
+Whoever was champion was to be rewarded with a wreath of laurel, after
+the fashion of the great Roman victors; laurel was not very plentiful in
+this section, but the boys were confident that by a run of a mile or so
+they could find some, and if they couldn't they would use oak leaves,
+and tell the hero they were meant for laurel. In any case, the wreath
+must be made and at the grand stand before the race opened; at this
+stand, also, the coronation would take place.
+
+Providing for the race led to the gathering of numberless flowers, with
+which the boats were decorated, and later, as they sped over the water,
+they seemed a part of a great picture--over and around them air and
+clouds, exquisite colorings of matchless reds, yellows, violets, pinks,
+and greens, soft reflections of the same in the water and the distance,
+and, added to all, the ambition of the rowers and the contending
+emotions of those who watched the pretty play. One boat was very simply
+trimmed. It was carpeted with mosses and wreathed around with fern
+leaves; another was so daintily decorated it seemed as if it was a fairy
+boat; and yet another style was richly and gayly covered, as though it
+was at the disposal of a grandly beautiful queen, and almost,
+unconsciously we turned to look if Cleopatra was near. This boat was
+canopied with apple blossoms; the branches were held in place between
+the narrow strip of wood that forms the border of the lining and the
+boat herself. But this boat was not among the winners; it was top-heavy,
+and therefore too difficult to steer and row. The shades of night were
+indeed fast falling when the M. S. D's reached home again. The sunburnt
+faces, joyous laughter, and light-hearted confusion of voices told their
+own story.
+
+
+
+
+DOROTHY'S PROBLEM.
+
+
+  I've only a single quarter left
+    Of all my allowance, that looked so large
+  On last pay-day, when dear mamma
+    Said, "Now, you must neither borrow nor 'charge,'
+  But keep out of debt, and never forget
+    That dollars are made of single cents."
+  I'm sure I've tried, but it's very hard
+    To keep to the rule of your good intents.
+
+  There were creams and bonbons the other day,
+    And a box of paper, and, let me see,
+  A bunch of the dearest violets
+    Tucked into my jacket flap. Ah! me,
+  They faded and died, and I almost cried;
+    It seemed a shame with my funds so low;
+  But the wonderful thing is, do your best
+    To save, and still your money will go!
+
+  And where will my Christmas gifts come in?
+    Pray, what can I buy with this little bit
+  For papa and mamma and Fred and Nell?
+    Of course, I ought to have thought of it
+  A month ago, but I didn't, you know.
+    And here is my purse so flat and thin;
+  I'm just as discouraged as I can be,
+    For where will my Christmas gifts come in?
+
+  M. E. S.
+
+
+
+
+AN "OLD-FIELD" SCHOOL-GIRL.[1]
+
+[1] Begun in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE No. 857.
+
+BY MARION HARLAND.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+A note was brought to Mr. Grigsby at noon of the next day. It was from
+Major Duncombe.
+
+     "MY DEAR MR. GRIGSBY,--As you did not come to my house last night, I
+     take it for granted that your negro man did not deliver the message
+     sent to you by Mr. Tayloe, who met him on the road yesterday
+     evening. I write now to ask you to meet Mr. Tayloe and myself at
+     half past three o'clock to-day at the school-house, for the
+     discussion of important and confidential business. As the days are
+     short, may I suggest that you be punctual to the hour named?
+
+  "Yours truly, C. S. DUNCOMBE."
+
+Mr. Grigsby had not seen the Major in his morning round of the
+plantation, never omitted except in very stormy weather. He had made it
+to-day with a clouded brow and heavy heart. Dick had affirmed upon his
+knees, the tears bursting from his frightened eyes, that he had no idea
+how "Miss F'lishy" got into the cart, or when, or where. He also
+declared that he had not left the vehicle for a minute during the
+journey. Flea was raving in delirium. The doctor, summoned at midnight,
+said that she was on the verge of brain-fever. Except for the scratches
+and the wetting, she had apparently sustained no external injury. Dee
+was laid up with a violent sick headache. His mother was positive in the
+belief that both of the children had "ketched" some anonymous disease
+somewhere and somehow.
+
+"It didn't stand to reason [her reason] that the two on 'em would 'a'
+come down at oncet in exac'ly the same way unless 'twas somethin'
+ketchin. Flea mus' 'a' been off her head when she run away into the
+woods and got into the cyart while Dick was a-noddin'. That nigger could
+sleep 's well a-walkin' 'long as a-lyin' down."
+
+When Mr. Grigsby arrived at the school-house Major Duncombe's buggy was
+already there, Nell, his bay mare, standing patiently under an
+aspen-tree. Her master and Mr. Tayloe were in the house, the Major in
+his usual seat on the corner of the desk, the schoolmaster tramping from
+side to side of the room. He stopped at the overseer's entrance, and
+eyed him frowningly, without speaking. Major Duncombe said "Good-day'"
+civilly, but gravely. Something unpleasant was in the air, and Mr.
+Grigsby was certain it had to do with him before the Major opened the
+conversation.
+
+"We asked you to meet us here, Mr. Grigsby, because, as I wrote to you,
+the matter we have in hand is confidential. I must request that,
+whatever may be the outcome of our talk, the facts of this interview
+shall remain confidential between us three."
+
+"Your wishes shall be obeyed to the letter, Major Duncombe."
+
+The employer was formal; the hireling was stiff. His conscience was void
+of offence, and he would not behave like a man on trial.
+
+"To begin with what you are already aware of," continued the Major, "we
+have been annoyed of late by the discovery that a regular system of
+thieving is going on upon this plantation. You know, too, how
+unsuccessful have been our efforts to track the thieves. I told you
+yesterday, that besides the depredations in the poultry-yard and the
+loss of an occasional sheep or pig from the fields, one of the
+smoke-houses was entered Thursday night, and four or five hams stolen.
+Night before last the laundress carelessly left out in the garden a
+quantity of valuable lace and handkerchiefs which had been laid on the
+grass to bleach in the sun. In the morning everything was gone, also
+several linen pillow-cases and towels from the line in the yard."
+
+"I had not heard of this last robbery," said Mr. Grigsby, when the
+speaker paused as for a reply.
+
+The Major's gravity deepened. As he went on he avoided Mr. Grigsby's
+eye.
+
+"The information was purposely held back for reasons that will appear
+presently. We agreed, you may recollect, that the guilty parties were
+most probably the Fogg family. Also that they were aided and abetted by
+some of my negroes who have access to the keys and are familiar with the
+habits of the household. My fear now is that the Foggs have made use of
+other and more unlikely tools. To speak plainly, Mr. Grigsby, I am
+afraid that they have tampered with your second daughter, and that the
+freedom she has been allowed in the Greenfield house and grounds has
+been used by them for their vile and wicked purposes--"
+
+"Major Duncombe!"
+
+The overseer's lank form was drawn up to full height; his deep-set eyes
+were alight with angry and resentful amazement.
+
+"You are surprised and displeased, Mr. Grigsby, and no wonder. This is a
+most unpleasant task to me. I like the child. She has the elements of a
+noble character in her. But I have positive proof of her intimacy with
+the Fogg tribe. She stops at the house on her way to school; she sits
+upon the porch and chats familiarly with them on summer afternoons. The
+elder Fogg woman boasts of her intimacy with your family. Yesterday,
+after school, Mr. Tayloe asked your daughter, who had been kept in for
+insubordination and impertinence, to bring him a drink of water from the
+spring. I met Mrs. Fogg going to the school-house as I was riding by at
+the same hour, but thought no more of the circumstance until Mr. Tayloe
+came home last night and told me a shocking story. He was sitting at his
+desk writing, his watch and chain laid upon his silk handkerchief on the
+desk beside him, when your daughter, coming up behind him, dashed pail,
+water and all, over him, and ran away as fast as she could go to the
+woods. He gave chase, but could not overtake her. Returning to the
+school-house, he found that his watch and chain and his handkerchief
+were gone. There seems to be no doubt that your daughter snatched them
+when she blinded him for the instant with the water. Her confederate
+must have been waiting for her outside."
+
+The overseer's face was gray and rigid. He cleared his throat as he
+began to speak.
+
+"I must have very strong evidence--direct evidence of my child's guilt
+before I believe all this, sir."
+
+Mr. Tayloe spoke for the first time. He addressed the Major, not the
+last speaker.
+
+"What more does the man want than my word?"
+
+The father wheeled sharply upon him.
+
+"Did you _see_ her throw the water upon you? Did you look to see whether
+or not the watch was upon your desk when you started to run after the
+child? Might not the woman whom Major Duncombe saw have entered the
+school-house while you were in the woods? Major Duncombe, my daughter
+came home last night raving with fever, scratched by briers, and covered
+with swamp mud. She has raved all day of the cruelty and injustice of
+her teacher. There's another side to the story, sir"--the hand that held
+his cowhide whip went up above his head and came down hard upon the
+desk--"and as sure as I am a live man, and there is justice on earth or
+in heaven, I mean to get at the bottom of this thing!"
+
+He turned abruptly and stalked to the door. Warm moisture hung upon his
+sandy eyelashes and made the lids smart. He could not have uttered
+another word to save his life or his child's reputation.
+
+The Major looked perplexedly at his companion, who shrugged his
+shoulders and pursed up his mouth disdainfully.
+
+"What else did you expect from him?" he asked, taking no pains to lower
+his voice.
+
+Mr. Grigsby came back as abruptly as he had left. He had got himself in
+hand, and spoke in his usual dry, somewhat harsh voice.
+
+"Major Duncombe, I am at your service as soon as I have your commands.
+Do you advise a search of the Fogg premises? As a magistrate, you can
+make out a warrant and qualify me to serve it. The son from Norfolk is
+at his mother's just now. It might be well to make the search before he
+gets away. As to my daughter--if there is any doubt as to her ability to
+appear as an accomplice, you can satisfy yourself on that head by a
+visit to my house. Perhaps a search of my premises might be expedient."
+
+"By no means! It is not to be thought of!" cried the Major, impulsively.
+"I hope you understand, Grigsby, how plaguedly disagreeable this whole
+proceeding is to me--to us. I am so sick of it that I would not go a
+step further were I the only party that has been robbed. As to having
+the poor little girl up, it is all nonsense. I pledge myself for that."
+
+"Even should her guilt be proved?" Mr. Tayloe jerked in the question,
+his horse-shoe smile sinking the roots of his nose into his face. "Would
+there be law or equity in such a course?"
+
+"Pooh, pooh!" retorted the Major, impatiently. "We don't put the law
+upon babies in this part of the world. Mr. Grigsby, if you will ride
+along with us as far as my office, we will make out the necessary
+papers, and also send for a couple of constables. Dan Fogg is an ugly
+customer to handle."
+
+The river mists were unfolding over the landscape as a cool evening
+crept stealthily upon the heels of a warm day. They lay low upon the
+meadows, and sagged over the banks of the sunken road beyond the
+school-house. The three men had gained higher ground where the carriage
+road was level with the surrounding country, when the eye of the
+horseman, who rode behind the gig, was attracted by a gleam of light
+twinkling across a wide field. It was like the glimmer of a fire-fly,
+but his quick wits told him it had no right to be there. He watched it
+keenly while it flashed and vanished, always at the same height from the
+ground. Hiding on a stone's-throw further, he caught sight of it again.
+It was stationary, and he had fixed the location in his mind. He rode up
+to the side of the gig.
+
+"Major Duncombe, it is well at this time not to overlook anything
+suspicious. And a light in that old cabin over yonder is suspicious. If
+you please, I will alight when we get nearer, and go on foot across the
+fields to see what it means."
+
+"Better pull down a panel of fence, and let us drive into the field,"
+suggested the Major. "I'll go with you, leaving the horses with Mr.
+Tayloe."
+
+About a hundred yards from the haunted house they alighted, and
+approached it cautiously from the back. The light twinkled at intervals
+through a crevice at the side of the chimney. Guiding their course by
+it, the men trod lightly upon the withered herbage until they stood at
+the front and only door. Here all was dark, but by laying their ears
+against the door they could detect muffled movements within, as of some
+one walking about and dragging something on the floor. The Major knocked
+loudly with his loaded whip. All was instantly still.
+
+"Who is in here?" he called. "Open the door! I am Major Duncombe."
+
+No answer.
+
+"Do you hear me?" he said again. "Open the door, or we will break it
+down."
+
+After another long minute, he whispered in Mr. Grigsby's ear: "Put your
+shoulder against it, and when I say, 'Now!' drive it in. Are you ready?
+_Now!_"
+
+Under the force of their united strength and weight the crazy door went
+down as if made of pasteboard, and with such surprising suddenness that
+both men fell in with it on the floor. A man leaped over them as they
+lay there, and rushed off into the darkness. Mr. Grigsby was the first
+to find his feet. He struck a match and held it high to look around the
+room.
+
+"There's nobody here!" he said. "That fellow was holding the door, and
+let it go purposely to throw us when we threw our weight against it. Ha!
+here's his lantern."
+
+[Illustration: MR. GRIGSBY EMPTIED THE BAG UPON THE FLOOR.]
+
+It was on the floor, and, when lighted, revealed a disorderly heap of
+stuff collected about a big carpet-bag, open, and partly packed. Without
+further ado Mr. Grigsby picked it up by the corners and emptied it upon
+the floor. At the very bottom were the missing lace and handkerchiefs,
+and, rolled up carefully in a white silk handkerchief, Mr. Tayloe's
+watch and chain. A roll of pillow-cases and towels was near by. Beyond
+was a stout sack of oznaburg containing four hams. A roll of homespun
+flannel, a box half full of candles, a bag of corn and one of oats, with
+articles of lesser value, were piled in the corners of the cabin. The
+haunted house was the cleverly chosen hiding-place of the booty
+collected during several weeks, perhaps for months.
+
+"I wonder how long this has been going on?" said the Major, giving a
+long whistle as he stared about him. "No need of a search-warrant now
+for the Fogg house. They were too smart to store their plunder there.
+They are a sharp set! Not a negro would come within gun-shot of this
+place after sunset. Did you get a glimpse of the rascal who played us
+such a shabby trick?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+Mr. Grigsby was busy with the lantern that just at that moment went out,
+leaving them in total darkness but for the dying daylight that found
+entrance through the open door. When the candle in the lantern was
+rekindled, the blaze made the overseer's face look ghastly, and his high
+cheek-bones threw his eyes into shadows. They seemed to have sunken
+further back into his head. When he spoke his voice was husky, as if the
+yellow fog without had settled there.
+
+"If you will take charge of the watch I'll ram the laces and linen into
+the bag and carry it to the gig"--stooping to gather them while he
+talked. "Then I'll prop up the door for to-night. The rest of the things
+can be sent for to-morrow."
+
+After the place was closed he strolled on ahead of the Major and tucked
+the carpet-bag under the seat of the gig, making no reply to Mr.
+Tayloe's impatient queries.
+
+"Have you any other orders for me to-night, Major?" he asked, looming up
+tall and dark in the twilight when his employer was in his seat.
+
+"Nothing more, thank you, Grigsby," said the Major's lively, hearty
+voice. His good humor was thoroughly restored by the excitement of the
+adventure. "We may well be satisfied with our evening's work. And, I
+say, Grigsby, if there's anything any of us can do for the little girl,
+you know how gladly we would do it. Emily will be down in the morning to
+see her."
+
+"Thank you, sir."
+
+The reply came back as he was moving toward his horse, and was hardly
+audible.
+
+"An uncivil cur!" commented Mr. Tayloe, "I wonder that you keep him."
+
+"I might go further and fare a million times worse. It's natural he
+should be sore and surly just now. If any man had said one-tenth of one
+of my girls that I said of that bright little daughter of his I'd be as
+savage as a bear."
+
+"I submit that there is some difference between your daughters and his,"
+observed Mr. Tayloe, dryly. "But what have you found?"
+
+"For one thing, your watch and chain."
+
+The schoolmaster heard the story to the end without interrupting the
+narrator. Then he sneered openly.
+
+"I'll wager my head against a turnip that that impudent vixen put the
+watch there herself. I'm not sure that she isn't responsible for the
+laces and handkerchiefs too. Doesn't it strike you as rather odd that
+her father should ferret out the stolen goods on this particular
+evening?"
+
+"Oh, come, now, Tayloe, that is carrying your detective genius too far!
+Grigsby is an honest man if ever there was one. It is more odd that this
+nest of thieves was not unearthed before. Grigsby only needed to be put
+upon the scent. A canny Scot has a nose like a pointer-dog's if once you
+wake him up."
+
+The canny Scot was wide awake at this present moment, rolling his horse
+up in a part of the road where the banks shut him away from possible
+observation, he struck a match and examined more closely a piece of
+paper he had picked up, unnoticed by the Major, in the hut. It had lain
+open, the written side up, in the middle of the floor. At the first
+glance he had read nothing but his daughter's name, yet had recognized
+instantly the lost report, and instinctively secreted it. The match
+burned long enough for him to verify his first impression.
+
+  "_October 31, 184-._
+
+     "_Felicia Jean Grigsby: Lessons, usually fair. Conduct--room for
+     improvement! James Tayloe._"
+
+The date was the day before yesterday, when her mother had scolded the
+girl for loitering on the way home. He recalled the haste and heat with
+which Flea had answered, while confessing that she had lost the
+report--she could not say where.
+
+How came she to be inside of that locked door? He had vowed to get at
+the bottom of this matter. Was he there now?
+
+Flea was worse when her father got home. Her cheeks were purple and
+glazed with fever, her eyes wild and sightless. Her head rolled
+restlessly on the pillow; her fingers picked tufts of wool from the
+blanket while she crooned over and over what her mother described as
+"outlandish stuff." Her aunt, who had established herself as head nurse,
+had learned the lines by heart already:
+
+  "It stands beside the weedy way;
+  Shingles are mossy, walls are gray:
+  Gnarled apple-branches shade the door,
+  Wild vines have bound it o'er and o'er.
+  The sumac whispers, with its tongues of flame,
+  'Here once was done a deed without a name.'"
+
+At the fourth repetition, in her father's hearing, the girl laughed
+aloud--the hollow, mirthless peal of madness.
+
+"_I_ made that poem! It's all about the haunted house, you know. Mrs.
+Fogg says nobody but just we two dares to go there. She says the devil
+has been seen there. I say he lives in the school-house. Eighteen
+hundred and forty-four into three thousand six hundred and eighty-eight.
+Why, father, that's just twice and none over. Now I've got to climb to
+the top of the haunted house on a ladder made of noughts, noughts,
+noughts!"
+
+Her rambling subsided into whispers. She fell to tracing figures and
+drawing lines upon the counterpane, her brows knitted, her lips moving
+fast.
+
+"That is worse than the singing," said Mrs. McLaren, aside, to her
+brother. "She will work at that sum for an hour at a time. It is wearing
+her out. Heaven forgive that teacher!"
+
+The father did not say "Amen."
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+RICK DALE.
+
+BY KIRK MUNROE.
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+ENGAGED TO INTERPRET FOR THE FRENCH.
+
+
+"Where did you get that baseball?" asked Bonny Brooks, referring to one
+that Alaric was unconsciously tossing from hand to hand as they walked
+up town together.
+
+At this the latter stopped short and looked at the ball in question, as
+though now seeing it for the first time.
+
+"Do you know," he said, "I have been so excited and taken up with other
+things that I actually forgot I had this ball in my hands. It belongs to
+the fellow who gave me that breakfast and your dollar, besides telling
+me where to look for something to do. Not only that, but I really
+believe if it hadn't been for this ball he would never have paid any
+attention to me."
+
+"Who is he? I mean, what is his name?"
+
+"I don't know. I never thought to ask him. And he doesn't live here
+either, but has just come down from Alaska, and was going off on the
+one-o'clock train. I do know, though, that he is the very finest chap I
+ever met, and I only hope I'll have a chance some time to pay back his
+kindness to me by helping some other poor boy."
+
+"It is funny," remarked Bonny, meditatively, "that your friend and my
+friend should both have just come from Alaska."
+
+"Isn't it?" replied Alaric; "but then they are travelling together, you
+know."
+
+"I didn't know it, though I ought to have suspected it, for they are the
+kind who naturally would travel together--the kind, I mean, that give a
+fellow an idea of how much real goodness there is in the world, after
+all--a sort of travelling sermon, only one that is acted out instead of
+being preached."
+
+"That's just the way I feel about them," agreed Alaric; "but I wish I
+hadn't been so careless about this ball. It may be one that he values
+for association's sake, just as I did the one we left in that Siwash
+camp."
+
+"Let me have it a moment," said Bonny, who was looking curiously at the
+ball.
+
+Alaric handed it to him, and he examined it closely.
+
+"I do believe it is the very one!" he exclaimed. "Yes, I am sure it is.
+Don't you remember, Rick, the burned place on your ball that came when
+Bah-die dropped it in the edge of the fire the first time you threw it
+to him, and how you laughed and called it a sure-enough red-hot ball?
+Well, here's that place now, and this is certainly the very ball that
+introduced us to each other in Victoria."
+
+"How can it be?" asked Alaric, incredulously.
+
+"I don't know, but it surely is."
+
+"Well," said Alaric, finally convinced that his comrade was right, "that
+is the very most unexplainable thing I ever came across, for I don't see
+how it could possibly have come into his possession."
+
+While thus discussing this strange happening, the lads approached the
+hotel in which one of them had been made to suffer so keenly a few hours
+before. He dreaded the very thought of entering it again, but having
+made up his mind that he must, was about to do so, when his attention
+was attracted to a curious scene in front of the main entrance.
+
+[Illustration: A SMALL MAN WAS GESTICULATING TO A GROUP OF GRINNING
+BELL-BOYS.]
+
+A small wiry-looking man, evidently a foreigner, was gesticulating,
+stamping, and shouting to a group of grinning porters and bell-boys who
+were gathered about him. As our lads drew near they saw that he held a
+small open book in his hand, from which he was quoting some sentence,
+while at the same time he was rapidly working himself into a fury. It
+was a French-English phrase-book, in which, under the head of
+instructions to servants, the sentence "_Je désire un fiacre_" was
+rendered "Call me a hansom," and it was this that the excited Frenchman
+was demanding, greatly to the amusement and mystification of his
+hearers.
+
+"Call me a hansom! Call me a hansom! Call me a hansom!" he repeated over
+and over at the top of his voice. "_C'est un fiacre--fiacre--fiacre!_"
+he shouted. "_Oh, là, là! Mille tonnerres! Call me a hansom!_"
+
+"He must be crazy," said Bonny; "for he certainly isn't handsome, and
+even if he were, he couldn't expect people to call him so. I wonder why
+they don't send for the police."
+
+Instead of answering him, Alaric stepped up to the laughing group and
+said, politely, "_Pardon, monsieur. C'est Monsieur Filbert, n'est-ce
+pas?_"
+
+"_Oui, oui. Je suis Filbert!_ Call me a hansom."
+
+"He wants a carriage," explained Alaric to the porters, who stared
+open-mouthed at hearing this young tramp talk to the foreigner in his
+own "lingo." "_Vous voulez une voiture, n'est-ce pas?_" he added,
+turning to the stranger.
+
+"Oh, my friend!" cried M. Filbert in his own language, flinging away the
+perplexing phrase-book as he spoke, and embracing Alaric in his joy at
+finding himself once more comprehended. "It is as the voice of an angel
+from heaven to hear again my own language in this place of barbarians!"
+
+"Have a care, monsieur," warned Alaric, "how you speak of barbarians.
+There are many here who can understand perfectly your language."
+
+"I care not for them! I do not see them! They have not come to me! You
+are the first! Can it be that I may engage you to remain and interpret
+for me this language of distraction?" Here the speaker drew back, and
+scanned Alaric's forlorn appearance hopefully.
+
+"That is what I came to see you about, monsieur," answered Alaric. "I am
+looking for employment, and shall be happy--"
+
+"It is enough!" interrupted the other, vehemently. "You have found it. I
+engage you now, at once. Come, the carriage is here. Let us enter."
+
+"But," objected the lad, "I have a friend whom I cannot leave."
+
+"Let him come! Let all your friends come! Bring your whole family if you
+will, but only stay with me yourself!" cried the Frenchman, impetuously,
+"I am distracted by my trouble with this terrible language, and but for
+you I shall go crazy. You are my salvation. So enter the carriage, and
+your friend. _Après vous, monsieur._ Do you also speak the language of
+beautiful France? No? It is a great pity."
+
+"Does his royal highness take us for dukes?" questioned the bewildered
+Bonny, who, not understanding one word of the foregoing conversation,
+had, of course, no idea why he now found himself rolling along the
+streets of Tacoma in one of its most luxurious public carriages.
+
+"Not exactly," laughed Alaric; "but he takes us for interpreters--that
+is, he wants to engage us as such."
+
+"Oh! Is that it? Well, I'm agreeable. I suppose you told him that I was
+pretty well up on Chinook? But what language does he talk himself?"
+
+"French, of course," replied Alaric, "seeing that he is a Frenchman."
+
+"Are you a Frenchman too?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"Well, I didn't know but what you were, seeing that you talk the same
+language he does, and just as well, for all that I can make out. Really,
+Rick Dale, it is growing interesting to find out the things you know and
+can do."
+
+Under Alaric's direction, the carriage first bore them to the railway
+station, where a number of strange-looking boxes and packages, all
+belonging to M. Filbert, were gathered in one place, and given in charge
+of a porter, who was instructed to receive and care for any others that
+might come marked with the same name. Then the carriage was again headed
+up town, and driven to shop after shop until it seemed as though the
+entire resources of the city were to be drawn upon to supply the
+multitudinous needs of the mysterious Frenchman.
+
+Among the things thus purchased and ordered sent down to the station
+were provisions, cooking utensils, axes, medicines, alcohol, tents,
+blankets, ammunition, and clothing.
+
+Of course Alaric accompanied M. Filbert into each store, where his
+knowledge of languages was invaluable in conducting the various
+negotiations; but the Chinook interpreter, as he called himself, finding
+that his services were not yet in demand, was content to remain
+luxuriously seated in the carriage.
+
+During the whole afternoon M. Filbert talked incessantly with his
+new-found interpreter, and Alaric seemed almost as excited as he. At
+length the former, casting a dubious glance at the lads, asked, with an
+apologetic manner, if they were well provided with clothing.
+
+"Only what you see, monsieur," answered Alaric. "Everything else we have
+lost."
+
+"Ah! Is it so? Then must you be provided with the habiliments necessary.
+If you will kindly give the instructions?"
+
+So the carriage was ordered to a shoe-shop and an outfitting
+establishment, where both lads, to Bonny's further bewilderment, were
+provided with complete suits of rough but warm and serviceable clothing,
+including two pairs of walking boots, one of which was very heavy and
+had hob-nailed soles.
+
+These last purchases were not concluded until after sunset, and with
+them the business of the day was ended. With many parting injunctions to
+Alaric, and a polite _bonne nuit_ to both lads, M. Filbert was driven
+back to the hotel, leaving his newly engaged assistants to their own
+devices for the time being.
+
+"Now," said Bonny, "if you haven't forgotten how to talk United States,
+perhaps you will explain what all this means--what we are engaged to do,
+what our wages are to be, and where we are bound? Are we to turn
+gold-hunters or Indian-fighters, or is it something in the exploring
+line?"
+
+"I expect," laughed Alaric, "it is to be more in the climbing line."
+
+"Climbing?"
+
+"Yes. Do you see that mountain over there?" Here Alaric pointed to the
+lofty snow-capped peak of Mount Rainier, still rose-tinted with
+sunlight, and rising in awful grandeur high above all other summits of
+the Cascade range, nearly fifty miles from where they stood.
+
+"Certainly. I can't help seeing it."
+
+"Do you think you could climb it?"
+
+"Of course I could, if it came in my line of business."
+
+"Would you undertake it for thirty dollars a month and all expenses?"
+
+"Rick Dale, I'd undertake to climb to the moon on those terms. But you
+are surely joking. The Frenchman will never pay that just for the fun of
+seeing us climb."
+
+"Yes he will, though, and I have agreed that we shall start with him for
+the top of that mountain to-morrow morning."
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+PREPARING FOR AN ASCENT.
+
+Monsieur Jean Puvis Filbert was a Frenchman of wealth, a distinguished
+member of the Alpine Club, an enthusiastic mountain-climber, and had for
+an especial hobby the making of botanical collections from high
+altitudes. He was now on a leisurely tour around the world, and had
+recently arrived in Tacoma on one of the Northern Pacific steamships
+from Japan. This was his first visit to America, and he was filled with
+enthusiasm by the superb mountain scenery that greeted him on all sides
+as his ship steamed through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and up the
+glorious waterways of Puget Sound.
+
+As his knowledge of English was very limited, our mountain-climber began
+his preparations for this arduous undertaking by engaging an
+interpreter. The only one whom he could find was a Canadian, who spoke
+French nearly as badly as he did English, and whom his employer was
+quickly obliged to discharge for drunkenness and utter incompetence.
+Then it seemed as though the expedition on which M. Filbert had set his
+heart must be given up, and he was in despair. At this critical moment
+Alaric Todd appeared on the scene seeking employment, though never
+dreaming that it would come to him through his knowledge of French, and
+was received literally with open arms.
+
+Of course he was engaged at once, and was able to secure a situation for
+Bonny Brooks as well, though the precise nature of the young sailor's
+duties were not defined. Thus Bonny was allowed to regard himself as
+also holding the rank of an interpreter, whose services would be
+invaluable in the event of an encounter with Indians, who, for all he
+knew, might contest every foot of their way up the great mountain.
+
+M. Filbert wished the boys to spend the night with him at the hotel, but
+Alaric was still so sore over his morning's experience that he begged to
+be excused. So when they were left to themselves they carried their
+recently acquired belongings down to the railway station, and persuaded
+the agent to allow them to sleep in that corner of the baggage-room
+devoted to their employer's collection of chattels. Here they put on
+their new suits, and then, feeling once more intensely respectable, and
+well content with their own appearance, each invited the other to dine
+with him. Had they not two whole dollars between them, and was not that
+enough to make them independent of the world?
+
+They procured a bountiful dinner in the restaurant where Alaric had
+breakfasted, and with it ate up one of their dollars. The place was so
+associated in their minds with the fine young fellow to whom they owed
+all their present good fortune that they thought and talked much of him
+during the meal. Recalling what he had said concerning his father
+reminded Alaric of his own parent, and caused him to wonder if he were
+yet aware that his younger son was not travelling around the world with
+the Sonntaggs as he had planned.
+
+"If the dear old dad has heard of my disappearance," reflected the boy,
+"he must be a good deal worried, for he has no idea of how well I can
+take care of myself. I'll write to Cousin Esther, and ask her to tell
+dad all about me. She is sure to see him on his way home, for he always
+visits Uncle Dale's when he is in Boston."
+
+So after supper, Alaric, who was beginning to have a lively appreciation
+of the value of money, as well as of fathers, cautiously invested four
+cents in a sheet of paper, an envelope, and a stamp, all of which he was
+able to procure from the proprietor of the restaurant. The boy smiled,
+as he carefully pocketed his one cent of change, to think on what a
+different scale he would have made a similar purchase less than a month
+before. Then he would have ordered a box of note-paper, another of
+envelopes, and a whole sheet of stamps. As for the change, why, there
+wouldn't have been any, for he would simply have said, "Charge it,
+please," and it would have been charged to his father's account.
+
+When Bonny saw that Alaric was about to write a letter he decided to
+write one to his aunt Nancy at the same time, "For," said he, "she
+probably imagines that I am in China by now, and would never think of
+sending word to me here in case she got any news of father." So Bonny
+also invested four cents in stationery; and the restaurant man
+good-naturedly allowing them to use a table, besides loaning them pens
+and a bottle of ink, they sat down to compose their respective epistles.
+When Alaric's letter was finished it read as follows:
+
+     "DEAR COUSIN ESTHER,--I have taken your advice and run away--that
+     is, I have done what amounts to the same thing, for I just sat
+     still and let the other folks run away. By this time I expect they
+     are in China, while I am here in the very place you said you would
+     be if you were a boy. I wish you were one so you could be here with
+     me now, for I think you would make a first-class boy. I am learning
+     to be one as fast as I can, a real truly boy, I mean, and not a
+     make-believe. I have already learned how to smuggle, and catch a
+     baseball, besides a little batting, and to swim, sail a boat,
+     paddle a canoe, talk some Siwash, and have had a good deal of
+     experience besides.
+
+     "Now I am an interpreter and engaged in the mountain-climbing
+     business. We start to-morrow.
+
+     "I have a partner who is a splendid chap, about my age, and named
+     Bonny Brooks. I know you would like him, for he is such a regular
+     boy, and knows just how to do things.
+
+     "When you see my dear dad, please give him my warmest love, and
+     tell him I think more of him now than I ever did. Please make him
+     understand that it was the Sonntaggs who ran away, and not I. Tell
+     him that when I am through experimenting with my heart, and have
+     become a genuine boy like Bonny, I am coming back to him, to learn
+     how to be a man--that is, I will if I can afford to pay my way to
+     San Francisco. But you have no idea how much money it takes to
+     travel, especially when you have to earn it yourself, and so far I
+     haven't earned any. Still I have not starved--that is, not very
+     often--so far, and am in hopes of having plenty to eat from this
+     time on. Now I must say good-by because we are going to sleep in
+     the station to-night, and it closes early.
+
+  "Ever your loving cousin, RICK."
+
+     "P. S.--The principal reason I let the Sonntaggs go was because
+     they called me 'Allie.' Please tell this to Dad."
+
+Bonny's letter was not so long as Alaric's, but it described the
+situation with equal vagueness. He wrote:
+
+     "DEAR AUNT NANCY,--I am not in China, as you may suppose, having
+     quit the sea after rising to be first mate. Have also been a
+     smuggler, but am not any more. Am now engaged by the French as
+     interpreter, and so far like the business very well. Have also gone
+     into the climbing trade. We are to do our first mountain to-morrow.
+     Have for a chum one of the cleverest chaps you ever saw. He can
+     talk most any language except Chinook, and is a daisy ball-catcher.
+     His name is Rick Dale, and I am trying hard to be just like him. If
+     you have any news from father, please let me know. You can send a
+     letter in care of Mr. P. Bear, Hotel Tacoma, which is our
+     headquarters.
+
+  "Ever your loving nephew,
+  B. BROOKS, Interpreter."
+
+Both these letters were sent to Massachusetts, Alaric's being addressed
+to Boston, and Bonny's to Sandport. After they were posted, and our lads
+were on their way back to the railway station, they began for the first
+time to realize how very tired and sleepy they were. They were so
+utterly weary that as they snuggled down in their corner of the
+baggage-room, on a bed made of M. Filbert's tents and blankets, Alaric
+remarked,
+
+"This is what I call solid comfort."
+
+"Yes," replied Bonny, "we certainly have struck a big streak of luck. Do
+you remember how we were feeling about this time last night?"
+
+"No," answered Alaric, "I can't remember. It's too long ago.
+Good-night." And in another minute both boys were fast asleep.
+
+They had taken "through tickets," as Bonny would have said, and slept so
+soundly that they hardly stirred until the agent flung open the
+baggage-room door at six o'clock the following morning, and caused them
+to spring from their blankets in a hurry by shouting, "All aboard!" A
+dash of cold water from the hydrant outside drove all traces of sleep
+from their eyes, and so filled them with its fresh vigor that they raced
+all the way up town to the restaurant. Here, although their appetites
+were keen as ever, they managed to fully satisfy them with a ninety-cent
+breakfast, "and left the place with money still in their pockets," as
+Alaric expressed it.
+
+"That's so," responded Bonny. "We've just one cent apiece. Let's toss up
+to see who will have them both."
+
+"No," said Alaric, "for that would be gambling; and I promised my mother
+long ago at Monte Carlo never to gamble. She said more fortunes were
+lost and fewer won in that way than by any other."
+
+"But one cent isn't a fortune," objected Bonny.
+
+"Why not? A man's fortune is all that he has, and if you have but one
+cent, then that is your fortune."
+
+"I guess you are right, Rick Dale," laughed Bonny. "I hate gambling as
+much as you do; but it never seemed to me before that tossing pennies
+was gambling. I expect it is, though, so I'll just keep my fortune in my
+pocket, and not risk it on any such foolishness."
+
+As the lads hastened back to the station, where they were to meet their
+employer, the glorious mountain that was now the goal of their ambition
+reared its mighty crest, radiant with sunlight, directly before them. So
+wonderfully clear was the atmosphere that it did not seem ten miles
+away, and Bonny, shaking a fist at it, cried, cheerfully, "Never you
+mind, old fellow, we'll soon have you under foot."
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+THE CORONATION OF A CZAR.
+
+BY JOHN RUSSELL DAVIDSON.
+
+
+The greatest spectacles the world ever sees are the most solemn;
+consequently, when a nation places upon a man, chosen by God as they
+often believe, the symbols of sovereignty, the occasion is celebrated
+with ceremonies of the most impressive character.
+
+The last important crowning of a King occurred in Moscow on the 27th of
+May, 1883, and by that event Alexander III. was created Czar of all the
+Russias.
+
+For two centuries the Russian imperial coronations have taken place in
+Moscow, within the Kremlin, an enclosure in the heart of the holy city
+in which are gathered the cathedrals and palaces whose walls have
+witnessed all the celebrations of the great events of Russian history
+for centuries. The coronation programme carried out nearly one hundred
+and seventy-five years ago has remained unchanged in its important
+details. Just before the coronation the sovereign retires from public
+life, and spends a few days in fasting and prayer to fit and prepare him
+for the occasion that is to be the grandest and most solemn in all his
+lifetime.
+
+On the present Czar's birthday, the 18th of May, began the official and
+non-official ceremonies by which Nicholas Alexandrovich will be
+proclaimed supreme ruler over a nation numbering one hundred and twenty
+millions of people.
+
+The actual crowning of this twenty-seven-year-old monarch will take
+place on the 26th of May, and under conditions far happier than those
+which made his father's coronation, though one of the grandest
+spectacles in history, a festival clouded with a dreadful gloom that
+fell upon the Russian people at the untimely death of the second
+Alexander.
+
+The royal procession starts from the palace, and, approaching the
+Cathedral of the Assumption, is met by a party of the clergy led by the
+archbishop of the realm. The latter carries a cross that is kissed by
+the royal pair; then the Emperor and Empress, and the road upon which
+they walk, are sprinkled with holy water. Entering the cathedral, where
+the decorations vie with the brilliant robes and uniforms of the
+assembled priests and officers, their Majesties tread upon the richest
+Persian carpets, and, passing through a balustrade of gold, seat
+themselves in two ancient arm-chairs beneath a scarlet canopy ornamented
+with golden emblems, and yellow, black, and white ostrich feathers.
+
+The services at the cathedral are essentially of the highest religious
+order, and are performed by the leading ministers of the Greek Church,
+of which the Czar himself is the exalted head.
+
+[Illustration: THE CORONATION CEREMONY.]
+
+A banner, called the Holy Banner of Russia because the pole is
+surmounted by a spear-head made from a piece of the true cross, is
+blessed and handed to the Emperor, who waves it three times before the
+assembled congregation, and restores it to the primate. His Majesty
+kneels, and the imperial mantle of silver and ermine is thrown over his
+shoulders; the sword of John III., King of Poland, is fastened to his
+side, while in his right hand is placed the sceptre, and in his left
+hand the orb; rising in his place he then crowns himself with the
+imperial crown, which is made in two parts, representing the Eastern and
+Western empires. The Empress kneels before her husband, and for an
+instant he rests the crown upon her brow. Another and smaller crown is
+then given to Her Majesty by the Emperor, and at the same time the
+ladies in waiting cover her with a robe similar to the Czar's. While all
+this is going on, prayers are offered for the welfare of the new ruler,
+and for the land during the reign just begun, and a great company of
+singers chant the canticles; but as yet the people have made no
+demonstration--they wait until the new Czar has been anointed.
+
+The most important part of the ceremonials is now to be performed. The
+Archbishop of Moscow holds a silver bowl filled with holy oil in which a
+fragment of the crown of thorns has been immersed, and dipping a golden
+palm branch into the liquid, touches the Czar's brow, his eyelids, ears,
+lips, and the palms of his hands. Opening the monarch's vestments, the
+priest traces, in holy oil, the cross upon the royal breast, pronouncing
+at the time sentences of the greatest solemnity. Immediately after this
+sacred act, cannon, trumpets, and drums announce to the people without
+the church that from now and forever the person of the Czar is
+consecrated, that he is a man anointed of God and the delegate of His
+power.
+
+In the mean time the Empress comes forward and is anointed by the
+high-priest on the forehead only. The Holy Sacrament is then
+administered to both their Royal Highnesses. While the Czar and Czarina
+stand upon the platform of the throne a great chorus of joy is sung,
+after which a mass is celebrated. At the moment the Czar receives back
+the sceptre and globe the priest proclaims the imperial titles, and this
+is hailed by a great outburst of cannon and bells, and everything that
+can aid the people in a hearty acknowledgment of their new sovereign's
+absolute right and power to rule them as long as his life shall last.
+
+This concludes the holy service, and the splendid assemblage proceeds to
+the Cathedral of St. Michael, where the royal pair kneel before the
+tombs of their ancestors, and receive more sprinklings with holy water.
+The procession is then formed and faced towards the Church of the
+Annunciation, where still further religious services close an event
+which is the grandest and most brilliant ever witnessed.
+
+
+
+
+PRACTICAL GOLF.
+
+BY W. G. VAN TASSEL SUTPHEN.
+
+(_In Five Papers._)
+
+IV.--APPROACHING AND PUTTING.
+
+
+[Illustration: A PUTTING GREEN.]
+
+Up to this point all of our hitting has been free, and our one object
+has been to drive the ball the longest possible distance. But now, with
+the hole within the reach of practical politics, the problem takes on a
+new feature, and it is the _right_ distance that becomes the important
+thing. If we know by practice that we can drive on an average 110 yards
+with the brassy, and the putting green is about that distance away, we
+will of course take that club and do our best. But supposing that it is
+ninety yards, it would be a great mistake to try and make an easy swing
+with the brassy, and the attempt would probably result in a "top" or
+some other form of "foozling" or missing. It would be much better to
+play the full cleek stroke, which is generally from fifteen to twenty
+yards shorter in carry. Or, again, if it is too near for the cleek, we
+may use the medium iron or the lofter. But when we are inside of a full
+stroke with the lofter or iron, we must devise some method of making a
+shorter shot than the full swing, for the ground is probably too rough
+for the putter, or there may be a bunker just in front of the green.
+
+The books on golf go into the subject of approach-shots in a most
+elaborate fashion, and we are told that the three-quarter, the half, and
+the quarter shot must now be brought into play, and the different
+positions for making these strokes are described in a most minute and
+yet confusing and contradictory manner. As a matter of fact, although
+everybody talks of half and three-quarter shots, yet very few
+authorities will agree on what they really are, or can clearly explain
+how to make them. Is there any definite ground upon which to stand?
+
+You remember that in discussing the full drive we arrived at the
+conclusion that it must be a swing and not a hit, and that in a swing
+the force is derived from velocity rather than from weight. Now the same
+principle applies in this case. Supposing that we use exactly the same
+effort of muscle for one swing that we do for another, but that the club
+head at one time swings back to our shoulder, and at another time only
+half-way. Evidently in the shorter swing it will be travelling at a
+lower rate of speed when it strikes the ball, and consequently with less
+power, and consequently again the ball will not go so far. Well, this is
+about as close as we can get to the secret of how to measure distance.
+The shorter the swing the shorter the carry, provided always that our
+grip is the same. And it should be always the same--that is, close and
+firm, particularly with the left hand. If we tighten it more than usual
+it means that we are about to hit instead of swing at the ball, or, in
+other words, we are "forcing" or "pressing." If our grip is too loose it
+means that we are about to flop at the ball in a feeble, uncertain way
+that is neither hit nor swing, and this is called "sparing." Both
+forcing and sparing are equally wrong, and sure to lead to unsteadiness
+and all kinds of misses. The grip should always be about the same,
+certainly always firm, and we should endeaver to reduce yards of carry
+to simple inches of swing. Of course this is not an easy thing to do,
+and in fact the "short game," as approaching is called, is generally the
+weak point in most people's play. These strokes that are short of a full
+swing are often called "wrist" strokes; but do not be deceived into
+thinking that the term implies a free use of those joints. On the
+contrary, the left wrist in particular can hardly be kept too stiff.
+These strokes, again, are never played with a brassy or wooden driver,
+their use being confined to the iron clubs, and particularly the lofter
+or mashie, whichever weapon you may use habitually in approaching the
+hole.
+
+The stance, or position of the feet, is one point upon which all the
+doctors are agreed. A few players approach off the left leg, but the
+great majority stand half-facing the hole, with the right leg very much
+nearer the line of fire than the left one; in fact, the position is just
+the opposite of the one advised for the full driving swing. Moreover,
+the arms are drawn closer in, and in the case of a very short stroke the
+right arm should be lightly pressed against the body to insure
+steadiness. Get the general position right, and the rest will follow in
+due course.
+
+Two strokes may be specially considered--the high lofting shot, and
+running the ball up with the iron. The first is used when there is some
+obstacle directly in front of the green which must be cleared, and at
+the same time there is danger on the other side. The problem, then, is
+to loft the ball high into the air so that it may fall dead on the
+putting green with little or no run. The position is still half-facing
+the hole, and the swing should be almost straight up and down. And in
+this one particular stroke you may allow the wrists to be as flexible as
+possible, for the problem is to describe a small ellipse with the club
+head, and not, as before, the segment of a circle. Of course you will
+use a lofter or a mashie for this stroke.
+
+The running-up stroke is very useful when there is rough ground between
+you and the green, but no bunker to clear. To make this stroke the
+player should have his hands well in front of the ball, which tends to
+make the face of the lofter more upright than is its natural lie. This
+is called turning in the face, and the effect is to skim the ball close
+to the ground. The club should be carried back close to the ground, and
+then brought forward with a slow dragging motion, both wrists being kept
+perfectly stiff. It is worth while practising this stroke, for it is a
+very effective one in its results.
+
+[Illustration: PUTTING--FRONT VIEW.]
+
+And now, after all our trials and misadventures, we are at last on the
+putting green, and it only remains to hole out. Putting is not
+particularly interesting, but you must remember that a stroke wasted at
+the hole counts just as much as a foozle from the tee. Carefulness and
+concentration are especially necessary, and although putters, like
+poets, are said to be born, not made, you should at least aim at going
+out in two strokes from any part of the green three times out of five.
+
+Putting may be done in almost any position, but whatever stance you do
+adopt, stick to it, and go in for results rather than for theoretical
+experiments. The position shown in the illustrations is a sound one, and
+you cannot do better than to adopt it. You will notice that the ball is
+comparatively near the right foot, and that the right arm is lightly
+steadied on the hip. Let the stroke itself be as near to a push as you
+can manage it without actually committing that offence, and it will aid
+you in controlling your distance if the club head is allowed to "sclaff"
+along the turf or scrape it lightly. Remember, too, that after getting
+your direction you must look at the ball and not at the hole.
+
+[Illustration: PUTTING--REAR VIEW.]
+
+Putting is divided into approach puts and holing out. In the first-named
+the distance is the important thing. Of course you will play directly
+for the hole in the hope that you may go out in one; but failing in
+that, your ball must remain in such a position that the next stroke
+shall be a dead certainty. The great tendency is not to be up with the
+hole--_i.e._, you are so afraid of going too far past that your ball
+stops that much short. It is an old St. Andrews maxim that the hole will
+not come to you. Harden your heart, therefore, and play for the back of
+the hole rather than attempt a dribble just over the edge. In other
+words, use enough strength to run your ball at least a foot and a half
+beyond the hole in case it fails to drop in. You are in no worse
+position than if you had stopped that distance short, and you have had
+the extra chance of a "gobble."
+
+"Holing out" is, in nine cases out of ten, simply a question of keeping
+your eye on the ball rather than on the hole. If you cast a glance at
+the promised land the fraction of an instant before the ball is struck,
+you will be sure to put off the line. Remember also that the precept of
+always being up with the hole applies with equal force to your
+approach-shots to the green. Always play for the hole itself the instant
+that it comes within practical range of _any_ club, and you will save
+many a put.
+
+The "stymie" demands just a word. In a match, or hole, game the one
+farthest from the hole must always play first, and this rule holds good
+on the putting green. If the balls are in line with the hole and
+_within_ six inches of each other, the nearer ones may be lifted, to be
+replaced after the shot; but if _more_ than six inches separate them,
+the ball farthest away must be lofted over if it is to have any chance
+for the hole. The stroke is not difficult with a little practice, but
+you must have your grip firm, and your calculations must be based
+chiefly on your distance from the hole. If properly hit, the club will
+loft your ball over the other one, and if the strength be right it will
+drop or run into the hole. In medal, or score, play the ball in line and
+nearest the hole is always holed out, and the stymie is never played.
+
+And here and now and always--
+
+_Keep your eye on the ball._
+
+
+
+
+A LEAF PROM AN DIARY.
+
+
+The largest slave-holder and manager in this country in 1856 was said to
+be Mr. J. Hamilton Cowper, of Darien, Georgia, who was reputed as
+directing the labor of 1500 slaves. On our way home from Cuba, in April
+of that year, where we had been inspecting the system of slave labor, we
+had the good luck to meet Mr. Cowper on one of the sea islands of South
+Carolina. He was a remarkable man physically and mentally, and it was
+said he could throw up two apples into the air and hit both with his two
+single-barrelled pistols.
+
+A few years before the date of our meeting him he had been wrecked off
+Cape Hatteras, an account of which we drew from him as follows: He had
+embarked at Charleston, South Carolina, on the paddle-wheel steamer
+_Pulaski_, bound to New York, having under his care a Mrs. Nightingale
+and her young baby, and another lady with a small child. Before turning
+in he had inspected the small boats, as was his custom in those
+dangerous voyages before ocean navigation by steam had been perfected,
+and when about midnight the boiler burst he went straight to the ladies,
+told them to hurry on their clothes and wait for him while he ran to
+explore. Seeing that the steamer was absolutely wrecked by the
+explosion, he took the two women to the nearest boat, lowered them and
+their two children into it, and, with half a dozen sailors, pushed off
+from the sinking ship. They pulled all next day, in company with another
+small boat, towards the surf-beaten shore of Hatteras, he taking command
+of the boat. They pulled along the surf for an opening, and saw the
+other boat try to land, and swamp. At last his crew, without food or
+water, refused to pull any further, and insisted on trying to land.
+After trying in vain to show them the danger, he had to submit, but made
+one of the best men promise to help save the women when they turned
+over, as he told them they were sure to do. The boat capsized, and his
+comrade made for the shore; but Cowper called him back. One woman Cowper
+gave to him; the other had sunk, but he caught her by her long hair,
+raised her, and the baby under her shawl smiled as she came up. It was
+Miss Isabella Nightingale, now a bright girl of eighteen, with whom we
+had just breakfasted. Mr. Cowper managed to get all of his protegées
+above the surf, and then fell exhausted. All this was drawn out of him
+without any boasting or exaggeration. It shows what a cool head and firm
+hand can do in an emergency.
+
+Space will not permit me to give here Mr. Cowper's opinions on the
+rebellion, and of the relative value of free and slave labor. He was a
+man of remarkable intelligence and executive ability, and it was said
+that he kept a record of the work done and the produce gathered on each
+field of his large domain during his long life. He told me that he
+considered the popular notion that the white men could not work at the
+South a mere fallacy. He, however, believed in the economy of slavery,
+and doubtless, under his skilful administration, it worked better than
+elsewhere.
+
+
+
+
+SOMETHING ABOUT BUDS.
+
+
+There are two classes of people--those who are forehanded and provident,
+and those who neglect to look out for the future. One is wise, the other
+foolish. Our Mother Nature, as she is sometimes called, belongs to the
+wise class. She constantly and most wonderfully provides for the future.
+Plants are her children, and foreseeing the winter, she does what she
+can to preserve them from the severe cold, so that they may revive in
+spring. She has several ways of doing this. In summer, to provide for
+new growth of branches and leaves, the next season's buds are formed
+under the bark. You can only find them by cutting into the bark.
+
+Buds are the beginnings of leaves, branches, or flowers. They are tender
+babies, and need to be cradled and blanketed. Here is a tough old
+shagbark-tree. In the coziest manner possible the next year's buds are
+tucked away under gummy and thick scaly leaves. Frost and icy wind
+cannot injure them. Many forest trees protect their buds with scales. A
+locust and buttonwood form their new buds under the hollow stem base of
+the old leaf. Dr. Gray likens the old leaf to a "candle-extinguisher."
+You have only to pull off a locust leaf any day in summer to see next
+year's bud. It grows under the old leaf till it has strength to take
+care of itself when the leaf falls in autumn.
+
+We cannot tell at first, and from the outside, just what the bud is
+going to produce. Some buds contain a whole branch, with all its leaves,
+in embryo, curled up and tucked into a very small space. Often a flower
+bud grows beside a leaf bud, and it may come out first in spring. Some
+of the maples do that. The forsythia is a shrub which is covered with
+yellow flowers in the early spring before a leaf appears on the bush.
+
+Some plants protect their buds by keeping them underground. Plants have
+stems running along or under the surface as well as straight up. The
+horizontal stems are _root-stocks_. The pretty prince's-pine, the
+sour-leaved wood-sorrel, peppermint, and indeed many of the common
+flowers, have a horizontal main stem, with ascending branches. One of
+the most curious is the Solomon's-seal. A new leaf is sent up every year
+from the tip end of the root-stock, and the old, dropping off, leaves a
+sear, which is the "seal." Buds formed on these underground stems are
+protected from too great changes of temperature by a few inches of soil.
+Those buds that lie on the surface must be protected by the dead leaves
+which fall in autumn. They, the buds, are the real "babes in the wood,"
+you see.
+
+Our baby bud, just like children, must have nourishment as well as
+protection in order to grow in spring. This is provided by the thick
+leaves that cover, or by the stem, or in some other way. The story of an
+Irish potato is the most curious of them all. The potato is a collection
+of underground buds and starch. The eyes of potatoes are true buds, and
+each one can make a new plant. Have you ever seen the potatoes sprouting
+in the cellar? Back of the eye is a scale, which is a sort of leaf. The
+place for buds is just within the old leaf--that is, in the _axil_, or
+space between the leaf and stem on the upper side. So that potato buds
+are _axillary_. When our cooks pare potatoes for boiling they have to
+dig these buds out with a sharp-pointed knife. But they are a boon to
+the farmer. If he had to plant seed of potatoes he would wait two years
+for his crop. But now he cuts a potato in pieces, taking care to leave
+an eye on every piece. It would be wasteful to plant a whole potato with
+several buds in one hill. Plenty of starch, the nourishment necessary
+for the growing bud, is in one potato for all of its buds.
+
+Propagation by buds and shoots is very common. More vegetation appears
+from buds than from seeds, although most plants are none the less
+anxious to produce seeds. They provide in both ways for the perpetuation
+of their species.
+
+It is for this reason that the spring, once started, comes on so
+rapidly. One week there are only bare trees and brown fields; the next,
+everything is in leaf and bloom. Every leaf of a horse-chestnut-tree
+seems to grow an inch in a single night. The buds are all ready just as
+soon as mild weather sets the sap running, and they almost jump into
+active life.
+
+
+
+
+THE EDUCATED GOOSE.
+
+
+"What do you think, mamma," said Johnny, the other day. "I have just read
+a real funny story in the paper, and it is all about a goose."
+
+"Well, what did the goose do?" asked Johnny's mother, with a smile of
+expectation.
+
+"Why, this goose didn't do anything, but she is being taught her letters
+with big red blocks, and after awhile I suppose she'll be able to read
+_Mother Goose_. Won't she be surprised to find out that there was ever a
+poet in the family?" As Johnny's mother made no reply, he continued,
+pleasantly:
+
+"I hope the poor goose won't ruin her eyes when she does know how to
+read, because it would be awful if she had to wear eye-glasses like
+grandmamma. I suppose she is now studying hard and going to school just
+like a little girl."
+
+"There isn't any school for geese, is there, Johnny?"
+
+"No; I forgot when I said she was going to a regular school. She is
+being taught at home by her owner. Don't you think it very kind of this
+good man to teach the poor goose to read?"
+
+"It is, Johnny; but I can't see the use in it."
+
+"There may be no use in it," replied Johnny, who was not a little
+surprised at his mother's view; "but I think it will be very nice for
+the goose to be able to enjoy picture-books and read fairy tales,
+especially when the pond's frozen and she cannot go swimming, and when
+the snow is so deep that she can't go rooting around. Besides, when the
+lawn is nice and green she can read the sign 'Keep off the Grass,' and,
+of course, she will do it, because when she is educated she will be more
+polite and refined. And then when the goslings crawl under her at night
+she can put them to sleep by singing to them little songs, and she can
+also tell them pretty stories about giants and fairy princesses when
+they are swimming around the mill-pond, and then she will teach the
+goslings to read. But there's one thing they will never do."
+
+"What's that, Johnny?"
+
+"Why, if they ever learn to write they won't do it with goose-quills.
+But I suppose they will wander into the house, and sit on the sofa in
+the library, and read books. Now suppose you were a goose, mamma,
+wouldn't you like to be able to read?"
+
+"I don't know, Johnny."
+
+"Well, I would; but I would never like to read anything about the goose
+having his head chopped off and being stuffed with potatoes and onions.
+But I suppose when the goose can read she will be worth too much to eat,
+because she can be used as a nurse, and read stories to little boys on
+rainy days. And she may be able to teach little boys to read by using
+blocks, and I can tell you that would be just fine, and a great deal
+better than going to school, because the goose couldn't keep us in. Do
+you know what I'd do if I were an educated goose?"
+
+"No. What would you do, Johnny?"
+
+"I'd start a swimming-school, and I could teach every kind of swimming
+except swimming on the back. I think I know why the chicken can't swim."
+
+"Why, Johnny?"
+
+"Why, because she is afraid to try. Now, mamma, which would you rather
+be, a wild goose or a tame goose?"
+
+"Johnny, why do you ask so many questions?"
+
+"Because, mamma, I have to answer questions all day at school, and the
+only chance I have to ask them is at home."
+
+"Then I wish you would hurry off to school now."
+
+Johnny took his books and started; but when he was on the street he
+looked back inquiringly at his mother. She opened the window and asked
+him what he wanted, and he replied:
+
+"Say, mamma, if the goose ever does have to go to school, and it is too
+far to walk, how do you suppose she'll ever be able to fly with her
+blocks and books under her wings?"
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: From Chum to Chum]
+
+BY GASTON V. DRAKE.
+
+XVI.--FROM BOB TO JACK.
+
+
+  PARIS.
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     DEAR JACK,--Had a fine time yesterday. We hired a great big open
+     wagon that used to belong to Napoleon the Third and drove out to
+     Versailles. If it wasn't wrong to bet I'd bet you a quarter you
+     can't pronounce that word. Two to one you'd call it Ver-sales,
+     which it isn't at all, but Vare-sigh. That's a queer thing about
+     French. It isn't spelt the way it's pronounced, which I can't see
+     the good of, and people who don't know it get lost. Take the word
+     Luxemburg for instance. We'd pronounce it Luks-um-berg, but these
+     people here wouldn't recognize it if we did it in their hearing,
+     but if we said Loo-ksaun-boor they'd understand right away. And all
+     the streets are Roos or Boolyvars. Boolyvars is French for
+     Boulevards, and it's all right to call them that if they want to
+     because that's what they are, but what's the sense of changing an
+     easy word like streets into a silly little word like roos I can't
+     even guess, and I'm generally a good guesser.
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     I sat next to the driver going out and it was very interesting. He
+     couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak French, so we spent
+     most of our time laughing. He'd say something to me and laugh and
+     then I'd get one of my jokes at him and laugh, and I must say it
+     was just about as good as if we understood what we were saying to
+     each other--anyhow, it was more successful than Pop's attempts to
+     talk to him. Pop said something to him in his patent French, as
+     Aunt Sarah calls it; he asked him what a certain building was and
+     as far as we could make out his answer, he replied that he thought
+     it might before night, though it was clear enough when we started.
+
+     Speaking of Pop's patent French, it sounds quite as good to me as
+     real French. He just takes an English word and Frenchifies it. For
+     instance if you don't know French for building, you say bildang.
+     Kesserkersay cet bildang la, in Pop's patent French means what
+     building is that there. In some cases it works without your knowing
+     it, like Pudding. If you take pudding and Frenchify it into
+     Pooh-dang it's near enough for a Frenchman to understand, and if
+     there is any, and there generally is, he'll bring you some.
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     It's a beautiful drive from Paris out to Versailles and you see
+     lots all the way. The first thing we passed was the obelisk. It's
+     kept cleaner than the one in Central Park and I don't like it as
+     well. It doesn't seem so old, because it is so clean. Ours always
+     looks as if it was on its last legs as it has a right to be, while
+     this Paris one is as spick and span as it would be if it had been
+     polished up with tooth-powder that very morning. The next thing to
+     be seen on the drive was the Arc de Triomphe. That means Arch of
+     Triumph and was put up when the French people used to triumph. It's
+     got a fence around it now so that nobody can wear it out by walking
+     under it. That's sarcasm as Aunt Sarah calls it, which is saying
+     what you don't think with your nose turned up. The real reason why
+     it's fenced in I guess is that the French people aren't triumphing
+     as much as they were when they had a man like Napoleon at the
+     hellum. France isn't any Yale College nowadays and hasn't won
+     anything for a long time, and I don't see how she can expect to
+     with the funny looking soldiers she has. Pop says they're all fuss
+     and red pants, but Aunt Sarah thinks they're fine because there
+     isn't any pomp about them, they're content to be plain soldiers of
+     the Republic and wear what the government thinks is good for 'em.
+     Pop says they make up in vanity what they lack in pomp, and when it
+     comes to a question between Pop and Aunt Sarah I always side with
+     Pop because he's a man and knows more. Anyhow I don't think much of
+     the French soldiers. They haven't got great big chests like the
+     English soldiers have and somehow their uniforms make me think of
+     hand-organs. I wish we had a few arches like that Arc de Triomphe
+     about New York or even America.
+
+     You can see this particular one from all over the city and there's
+     no use of talking about it it makes you think more of the people
+     and you learn more of their history looking at arches than when you
+     don't see anything but elevated railroads and big sky-scraping
+     office buildings. That's one thing Paris hasn't got and I guess
+     it's one reason she's such a bright sunshiny looking city. All your
+     light and air and sunbeams aren't shut out by life-insurance
+     companies and newspapers. Elevated railroads, and life-insurance
+     companies and newspapers don't teach you much but arches of Triumph
+     do and I sort of think if we Americans would put up a few arches
+     like that even if they cost a lot of money and took ten years to
+     build there'd be more patriotism around about. I know this: I've
+     learned more history over here in a week from what I've seen, than
+     I could learn home in forty years from books, which is all we
+     Americans can learn from except the newspapers which don't even
+     agree and leave us worse off after we've read 'em than we were
+     before.
+
+     Then we went through the Bois de Bologne which as I told you before
+     is French for Central Park and it was great. They have woods and
+     lakes and avenues all through it and best of all you don't have to
+     keep off the grass either. What good grass is if you can't enjoy it
+     is a thing I never understood. Pop says he can't understand it
+     either except that people who can't make anything else like to make
+     rules which accounts for all the signs in Central Park forbidding
+     you to do everything you want to do, like "Don't tease the
+     monkies," and "keep off the grass" and so on. In our American parks
+     all you can do is walk where you're let, but here you can do
+     anything you please in the parks and no one's any the worse off.
+     What's more the folks that enjoy parks go to 'em and get all the
+     fun out of 'em there is to be had, here. You see Frenchmen pushing
+     two baby-carriages at once and smiling all over even if it isn't
+     easy work, and you can't ride a mile without seeing a half a dozen
+     picnics going on right square on the grass, any day of the week;
+     only a French picnic isn't a bit like an American one. It lacks
+     lots of things that makes an American picnic pleasant, particularly
+     lemon pie. It's queer these people over here don't seem to know how
+     good real pie is--but anyhow they all come out and sit on the grass
+     and sing together and have a good time. That's what I like. Pop
+     says I like it because it's something I never saw before, but he's
+     only half right. I like it because I like to see people having a
+     good time and that's what they have in the Bois de Bologne. Then
+     there are caffys where you can get ice-cream and cake all through
+     it with bands and fountains playing all day.
+
+(_This letter will be continued next week._)
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]
+
+
+[Illustration: T. M. EDWARDS,
+
+Winner N. E. I. S. Tennis Tournament.]
+
+Although there was a larger number of entries for the New England
+Interscholastic Tennis Tournament this year than last, the standard of
+play was considerably lower. But it is hardly to be expected that every
+season will develop such men as Ware and Whitman. The winner of this
+year's tourney, T. M. Edwards, shows more promise than ability just now,
+but he is made of good material, and is bound to develop. To win the
+National Interscholastics, however, he will have to work hard between
+now and Newport, for Fincke, I think, could defeat him to-day.
+
+The matches were very uneven in the early part of this Cambridge
+tournament, the winners, as a rule, taking two straight sets. In the
+preliminaries only eleven three-set matches were played. The four men
+left for the semi-finals were Edwards of English High to play Howe of
+Cambridge Latin, and Seaver of Brookline High to play Cummings of Newton
+High. Both matches were won in two straight sets, Edwards defeating
+Howe, 8-6, 6-4, and Seaver getting the better of Cummings easily, 6-1,
+6-3. The final match between Edwards and Seaver created considerable
+interest and developed some good tennis. Seaver took the first set, 6-3.
+After that Edwards drew himself together, and showed some good up-hill
+work. His winning score was, 3-6, 6-1, 8-6, 7-5.
+
+[Illustration: REGINALD FINCKE, SHERMAN L. COY,
+
+Winners of the Yale Interscholastic Tennis Tournament.]
+
+The standards of performance which must be attained by the athletes who
+are to represent the New England I.S.A.A. at the National Games were
+fixed by the Executive Committee at a recent meeting. They are as
+follows: For the 100, 10-2/5 sec.; for the 220, 23 sec.; for the
+quarter, 53-2/5 sec.; for the half, 2 min. 6 sec.; for the mile, 4 min.
+40 sec.; for the walk, 7 min. 40 sec.; for the 1-mile bicycle, 2 min. 40
+sec.; for the high hurdles, 18 sec.; for the low hurdles, 28 sec.; for
+the shot, 37 feet; for the hammer, 115 feet; for the pole vault, 10
+feet; for the high jump, 5 ft. 7 in.; and for the broad jump, 21 feet.
+These are very high standards indeed, and a team composed of two men in
+each event with records represented by these figures will be a hard
+crowd to beat.
+
+At this same meeting the Executive Committee passed a very good rule, to
+the effect that contestants at the association's games shall pay the
+regular admission of fifty cents, like spectators. This course was
+adopted because in the past complimentary tickets have frequently failed
+to reach contestants; sometimes they have not even been printed, and the
+result has been that men have come to the games, and have had to pay a
+fifty-cent admission anyway. This money is supposed to be returned after
+the games, but seldom is. Under the new rule contestants will be sure of
+not having to pay more than fifty cents.
+
+[Illustration: J. K. Robinson, c.f. Johnson, 2d b. Hill, l.f.
+
+Sheffer, sub. G. Robinson, 3rd b. Goldsborough, r.f. O. E. Robinson,
+sub.
+
+A. Robinson, s.s. S. Starr (Capt.), c. Hall, p. E. Starr, 1st b.
+
+ST. PAUL'S BASEBALL TEAM.]
+
+The St. Paul's, Garden City, baseball nine promises to be a strong team
+this year, although, with the exception of four men, it is made up of
+inexperienced players. Hard training, however, begun in February, has
+developed strong team play and excellent base-running. Sidney Starr,
+captain and catcher, is a first-class back-stop and a speedy and
+accurate thrower. Hall, who did such good work last year, has made great
+improvement in form and effectiveness. He has been troubled with a lame
+arm, but will soon be in good condition. Everett Starr at first base is
+playing a much better game than he did last year. Second base is covered
+satisfactorily by Johnson, while Arthur Robinson, the young sprinter, is
+proving himself a clever short-stop, good batter, and excellent
+base-runner. George Robinson at third is new at the position, but fills
+it acceptably. Hill, left field, and J. K. Robinson, centre field, will,
+before the season is over, be in a class by themselves. Goldsborough,
+right field, is slower, but makes up for this by his stick-work. The
+substitutes are Sheffer and O. E. Robinson. (This nine seems to be
+largely a Robinson family affair.)
+
+The important games thus far have been with Berkeley and Brooklyn High.
+The former resulted in a victory for St. Paul's by 7 to 4. The St.
+Paul's vs. Brooklyn High-school game was a fine exhibition of scholastic
+baseball. Although the teams were very evenly matched and the game was
+close from start to finish, St. Paul's, by steadier play at critical
+points and superior base-running, won by the score of 3-2. The
+probability is that this victory secures the L.I.I.S. championship to
+St. Paul's, as Brooklyn High is certainly the strongest school team in
+Brooklyn.
+
+[Illustration: Hastie, r.f. Watson, 1st b. Eddy, sub. Righter, 2d b.
+Cheyney, c.f.
+
+Martin, l.f.
+
+Arrott, p. Kafer (Capt.), c. Cadwalader, 3d b., and p. Jones, s.s.
+
+LAWRENCEVILLE BASEBALL TEAM.]
+
+The Lawrenceville nine is slowly getting into trim for its important
+games. So far the team is not noteworthy in any special particular,
+although the general work is of a high order. The coaches have been
+trying new men at first and third bases, short-stop, and centre field;
+and yet with many of the old players back the team has been slow in
+getting into form. Cadwalader, who played third last year, is
+alternating with Arrott in pitching, and is doing fairly well. Arrott is
+stronger than he was last year. Kafer, the Captain and catcher, is a
+valuable man, and does the back-stop work satisfactorily, though his
+throwing to bases is not yet sure or reliable. Watson, a new man at
+first, is only fair. Jones, at short-stop, is a short, lively fellow,
+who develops slowly, but surely and steadily. When not pitching,
+Cadwalader fills third base well. In the out-field all the men are quite
+sure on the high flies, though not at all reliable on the running
+catches, and are slow in fielding in line drives.
+
+As a whole the men may realize that success in a game is due to hard
+work and determination and everlasting perseverance, but they surely do
+not show it by their actions. They show little judgment in batting,
+being puzzled continually by the pitchers; and many of them simply wait,
+hoping to get a base on called balls. When on the bases the men have
+thus far not shown their ability to seize every opportunity offered to
+advance the bases. The coaches keep hammering away, however, and hope
+for good results against the Hill School and Andover later on.
+
+Lawrenceville has had some valuable practice games with the Princeton
+consolidated team, which is the next to the 'Varsity, and beat them
+twice in four games. The school team also did better in the second game
+with the Princeton 'Varsity, 15-1, in nine innings; the first game
+resulting 16-1, in five innings. Princeton has a strong batting team
+this year. Eight of the fifteen runs in the second Lawrenceville game
+were made in the first inning, but after that the school team steadied
+down, and shut the 'Varsity men out for several innings.
+
+Andover and Worcester will again this year have a dual track-athletic
+meet. The probable date is May 23, at Andover. Both schools are getting
+their men in condition, and much new material is being developed.
+Andover has only a few of last year's men to count on. Senn, Dunton, and
+Jones are doing good work in the sprints, and Lindenberg, although a new
+man at the quarter, promises well for that distance. Gaskell in the
+half, and Richardson and Palmer in the mile, are expected to score
+points for Andover. Crouse is showing excellent form in the walk, and
+will give the Worcester man a hard push for first place. Tyler will not
+run in the half, which will be a severe loss to the team. Stone ought to
+take a place in the bicycle-race, and Perry seems good for at least
+second in both the pole vault and the high jump. An unusually large
+number of men at P. A. are working at the broad jump, and some good
+material ought to be developed for that event. Andover's principal
+weakness is in the weights, the hammer and shot men all being new to the
+work. Cady, who came up from Hartford this year, is a fast man over the
+high hurdles, and Newcombe may be counted on for points in the low
+hurdles.
+
+The date for the National Interscholastic Games, which has been under
+discussion for some time, has finally been set for June 20. Unless
+something unforeseen occurs to prevent, the events will be run off on
+the Berkeley Oval.
+
+The Interscholastic League which was recently formed by Lawrenceville,
+St. Paul's, the Hill School, Hotchkiss Academy, and Westminster has
+fallen to pieces. For one reason or another, more or less valid--mostly
+less--the three last-named schools withdrew, leaving only Lawrenceville
+and St. Paul's. These two schools decided to continue in the League, and
+will hold their games at Lawrenceville on May 23, extending to the other
+three schools the privilege of joining at any time they may desire.
+
+At the Pacific Coast championships, held on an improvised track at
+Central Park, San Francisco, Saturday, May 2, the Academic Athletic
+League's team took second place with 26 points, first honors going to
+the University of California with 35, and the next highest score, 18,
+being made by Stanford University. The A.A.L. captured all the
+sprints--the 100, the 220, the 440, and also the 100-yard novice.
+
+Drum took the 100-yard dash in 10-3/5 seconds, after winning two trial
+heats in 10-4/5 and 10-3/5 respectively. The track was very slow, being
+practically a course of soft sand. If the races had been run on a hard
+track all the figures would undoubtedly have been much lower. Drum also
+won the 220, which was run in one heat in 25 seconds. The 100-yard
+novice went to Lippman of Hoitt's in 10-4/5 seconds, and the quarter was
+taken by Woolsey, B.H.-S., in 57 seconds. Woolsey had a big crowd about
+him, and seemed to be lost at the beginning of the last hundred yards;
+but he made a great finish, and won. His time is excellent, considering
+the track, which, besides being heavy, is seven laps to the mile, with
+three turns in the 440.
+
+The star scholastic performer of the day, however, was Cheek, O.H.-S. He
+won the shot with a put of 41 feet 8-1/2 inches, which breaks the
+Pacific coast record of 40 feet 5 inches. This winning put was his
+third, the first being over 38 feet, and the second nearly 42 feet; but
+he stepped out, unfortunately, and this was not measured. Edgren, the
+U. of C. crack, was second in the event, and nine inches behind Cheek.
+Cheek also went into the pole vault, and cleared 10 feet 5 inches,
+although he weighs over 190 pounds, and has been in training only three
+weeks. He competed in the broad jump too, doing 19 feet 8 inches, and in
+the high jump he cleared 5 feet 4 inches, dropping out before he was
+disqualified, in order to save himself for the vault.
+
+Hoffman, O.H.-S., did good work too. He vaulted 10 feet 5 inches, and
+jumped 5 feet 6 inches, securing second in the former event. Warnick
+took his heat in the low hurdles in 29-4/5 seconds, and got third in the
+finals. The walk was an exciting contest between Walsh of Lowell H.-S.
+and Merwin, U. of C. The college man took the lead for two laps, when
+Walsh forged ahead and led until the last hundred yards, when Merwin
+spurted and crossed the line only a few yards to the good. The
+California school athletes may well feel proud of the records made by
+their representatives.
+
+  THE GRADUATE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was in the car of one of those narrow-gauge railroads that penetrate
+the wilds of the Maine woods. The yelps of the dogs in the baggage part
+of the smoker brought the conversation of the hunting party around to
+pointers. Many wonderful tales of these excellent animals had been told,
+when an old veteran with grizzled whiskers who had remained silent
+remarked:
+
+"That last story of yourn, neighbor, puts me in mind of my dog. We were
+up near the border, precious nigh onto civilization, and I had played in
+pretty good luck, bagging a couple of brace before noon. All of a sudden
+I missed the dog, and I whistled and stamped round, but I couldn't raise
+him nohow. Finally I gave it up. I knew he must be pointing somewhere
+about, and thought he'd show up when I went into camp. Well, he didn't,
+and I finally left the region.
+
+"I happened to get up there again 'bout three weeks later, and striking
+in near the same place, what did I stumble over but the dog, rigid as
+stone, and pointing up a tree. Yes, gentlemen, he had a bird there, and
+kept it till I came. When I shot it, the dog keeled over, couldn't stand
+it any longer. Well, three weeks is a pretty good stretch for a dog, but
+he was a wonder."
+
+And the old veteran quietly puffed his pipe and silence reigned.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENTS
+
+
+
+
+Arnold
+
+Constable & Co
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Paris Lingerie
+
+_Peignoirs, Chemise de Jour,_
+
+_Pantalons, Jupons, Robes de Nuit._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BATISTE CORSETS.
+
+Shirt Waists.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+INFANTS' WEAR.
+
+_Hand-made Dresses, Mull Caps,_
+
+_Pique Coats._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Broadway & 19th st.
+
+NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Royal Baking Powder]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Reader: Have you seen the
+
+[Illustration: Franklin]
+
+It is a Collection which no one who loves music should fail to own; it
+should find a place in every home. Never before, it may truthfully be
+said, has a song book been published at once so cheap, so good, and so
+complete.--_Colorado Springs Gazette._
+
+[Illustration: Square]
+
+This Song Collection is one of the most notable enterprises of the kind
+attempted by any publisher. The brief sketches and histories of the
+leading productions in the work add greatly to the value of the
+series.--_Troy Times._
+
+[Illustration: Collection]
+
+Sold Everywhere. Price, 50 cents; Cloth, $1.00. Full contents, with
+specimen Pages mailed, without cost, on application to
+
+Harper & Brothers, New York.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: BICYCLING]
+
+     This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and 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.
+
+
+[Illustration: Copyright, 1896, by Harper & Brothers.]
+
+For the present leaving the long run from New York westward at Buffalo,
+we will turn, in response to many inquiries from Connecticut and western
+Massachusetts, and give a few routes in those two States. This week we
+give the first stage of the run from Poughkeepsie on the Hudson to
+Hartford, Connecticut, by way of Waterbury. We have already given in
+Nos. 810 and 817 of HARPER'S ROUND TABLE the route from New York to
+Poughkeepsie, and by reversing other maps already published in the ROUND
+TABLE it will be a simple matter to make out the road from Albany to
+Poughkeepsie.
+
+Leaving Poughkeepsie from the Nelson House, make for the big
+turnpike-road that runs to Hackensack, which is seven miles away. In the
+middle of the town keep to the left and run a mile out, where a fork
+will be reached. Turn here to the left at Kyers Corner, and run on to
+Fishkill Plains. The road is well marked from Fishkill Plains to
+Hopewell, three miles further on, except that at one point, a little
+less than two miles from Fishkill Plains, the rider should keep to the
+right at the fork in the road. From Hopewell to Poughquag there are two
+routes. The shorter and reasonably good road in dry weather keeps
+straight on beside the railroad after leaving Hopewell, crosses it about
+two miles out, and meets it again at Sylvan Lake, eventually running
+into Poughquag by bearing generally to the right after leaving Sylvan
+Lake. In wet weather, however, it will be very unwise to take this
+direct route, as the road is then in bad condition. The wheelman is
+therefore strongly advised to turn to the right and cross the railroad
+track shortly after leaving Hopewell, taking a somewhat stiff hill
+before running into Stormville, and keeping to the left on leaving
+Stormville, but being careful to bear sharp to the left less than a mile
+out, and thus continuing along a straight road to Poughquag.
+
+The run from Poughquag to Pawling is direct over a good route; thence
+the proper route continues through Cowls Corners and Balls Pond--the New
+York-Connecticut line being crossed about a mile before the latter place
+is reached--to Danbury. From Danbury to Hawleyville is a more or less
+difficult road to find. It can only be said in general that on leaving
+the hotel in Danbury bear to the left--that is, the northeastward--and
+having crossed the Norwalk railroad, keep to the right at the fork just
+beyond it. Do not cross the New York and New England Railroad until you
+are running into Hawleyville, but keep straight on after reaching the
+fork for about two miles over a pretty stiff hill, and thence some four
+miles further to Hawleyville. From Hawleyville to Newtown is a short
+three-mile run, and the rider is advised to put up at one of the hotels
+there for the night. The run will be a mile or so under fifty, and the
+hotels in Newtown are good.
+
+     NOTE.--Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of
+     route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford,
+     Connecticut in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New
+     Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814.
+     Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816.
+     Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie id No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in No.
+     818. Hudson to Albany in No. 819. Tottenville to Trenton in No.
+     820. Trenton to Philadelphia in No. 821. Philadelphia in No. 822.
+     Philadelphia-Wissahickon Route in No. 823. Philadelphia to West
+     Chester in No. 824. Philadelphia to Atlantic City--First Stage in
+     No. 825; Second Stage in No. 826. Philadelphia to Vineland--First
+     Stage in No. 827; Second Stage in No. 828. New York to
+     Boston--Second Stage in No. 829; Third Stage in No. 830; Fourth
+     Stage in No. 831; Fifth Stage in No. 832; Sixth Stage in No. 833.
+     Boston to Concord in No. 834. Boston in No. 835. Boston to
+     Gloucester in No. 836. Boston to Newburyport in No. 837. Boston to
+     New Bedford in No. 838. Boston to South Framingham in No. 839.
+     Boston to Nahant in No. 840. Boston to Lowell in No. 841. Boston to
+     Nantasket Beach in No. 842. Boston Circuit Ride in No. 843.
+     Philadelphia to Washington--First Stage in No. 844; Second Stage in
+     No. 845; Third Stage in No. 846; Fourth Stage in No. 847; Fifth
+     Stage in No. 848. City of Washington in No. 849. City of Albany in
+     No. 854; Albany to Fonda in No. 855; Fonda to Utica in No. 856;
+     Utica to Syracuse in No. 857; Syracuse to Lyons in No. 858; Lyons
+     to Rochester in No. 859; Rochester to Batavia in No. 860; Batavia
+     to Buffalo in No. 861.
+
+
+
+
+[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.
+
+
+During the past year watchmakers, jewellers, carriage-builders,
+livery-stable-keepers, piano manufacturers, and other industries have
+been complaining that the bicycle has seriously interfered with their
+business; but until of late stamp-dealers have had no reason to
+complain. At present there is some grumbling in the trade, and a
+disposition to blame the bicycle for it. The real reasons seem to be
+twofold: first, the large number of new dealers, and secondly, the
+innumerable auctions. The first cause will probably soon cease, as the
+difficulty in getting good stamps to sell will probably soon weed out
+the superfluous dealers; the second will probably have to run its
+course. Collectors find that in many cases they bid against each other,
+in the excitement of the auction-room, until the stamps cost them more
+than they could buy them from dealers for by a little patience, and
+awaiting their opportunity.
+
+New Zealand offered a prize of $1000 for the best designs for the
+contemplated issue of a new set of twenty-two stamps. No one artist was
+successful, therefore a selection was made of the best designs, and the
+prize divided.
+
+For many years the scarcest European stamp was the 81 paras, Moldavia,
+first issue. So scarce was the stamp that a clever swindler made a few
+which he sold at a high price. Later on genuine copies were discovered,
+and the leading philatelists discarded the counterfeits, and competed
+with each other for the few copies which were undoubtedly genuine.
+Recent research in the archives of the principality showed that the
+entire issue was as follows: 27 paras, 3691; 54 paras, 4772; 81 paras,
+709; 103 paras, 2584.
+
+Plate numbers are still booming. Collectors are now trying to make up
+sets of the earlier issues, and prices naturally advance. The demand for
+Plate No. Albums still continues.
+
+The U.S. government still refuses to sell the Periodical stamps of the
+current issues, and yet at least two collectors have complete unused
+sets, from 1c. to $100, of the stamps in blocks of three, bearing
+imprint and plate No. Sets are still coming to the United States from
+all quarters of the globe. The government would secure a large revenue
+by allowing philatelists to buy these stamps.
+
+The freemasonry existing between stamp-collectors is evidenced by the
+reports of a number of leading philatelists who have been going around
+the globe during the past few years. They met a warm welcome in every
+land, civilized, semi-civilized, barbarous, and even savage. Having
+parts of their collections with them operated as an "open sesame" in
+every country.
+
+Despite the wide-spread knowledge of stamps curious cases of ignorance
+still occur. A few days ago the veteran J. W. Scott received in his mail
+a copy of the very scarce "Danville" envelope, with a request to
+exchange it for a few common stamps. The holder was much surprised to
+receive with the stamps a check for a large sum.
+
+     F. NICOLL.--The prices quoted in this column are always those at
+     which the stamps can be bought of dealers. What dealers pay I do
+     not know.
+
+     L. PERKINS.--There are several dies of the 1861 3c. envelope stamp.
+     Only a few collectors care for these slight varieties of envelopes.
+
+     F. A. CHILDS.--No value except as bullion.
+
+     M. R. WISE.--The 5c. and 10c. Colombian envelopes can be bought of
+     dealers for 15c. and 25c. respectively; if used, for about half
+     these amounts.
+
+     C. S.--The coin can be bought of dealers at 75c.
+
+     MRS. W. T. WOODS.--We neither sell nor buy stamps or coins.
+
+     E. C. WOOD, 156 School Lane, Germantown, Pa.--No premium on the
+     coins to sell, but dealers charge a premium on all the coins sold
+     by them, whether rare or common. Compound perforations are those
+     stamps perforated on different scales on two or more sides; for
+     instance, many of the Swedish Official stamps are perforated top
+     and bottom 13-1/2, sides 14.
+
+     J. N. CARTER.--Your coin is Spanish, and is worth bullion only.
+     Many millions of them were used throughout this country up to 1834,
+     and in the South up to 1861.
+
+     B. W. LEAVITT.--Your three stamps are U.S. Revenues. All common.
+
+     H. M. ROBINSON.--No premium on the 1857 U.S.
+
+     R. I. P.--They are all war tokens issued in 1862 and 1863. Very
+     interesting and worth collecting, but they have no monetary value.
+
+     W. W. S.--The quarter, 1892, can be bought of dealers for 50c.
+
+     H. S. JOHNSON.--Your stamps are catalogued, Bavaria, 1 kr., yellow,
+     5c.; Greece, 1 lept., brown, 5c.; New South Wales, 8d., yellow,
+     surcharged O.S. in red, $4.50; Hawaii, 5c., blue, 30c.; Bavaria, 5
+     pf., red, is a revenue stamp.
+
+     T. L. WATKINS.--There are about five hundred different "Private
+     Proprietary" stamps issued by the U.S. for revenue purposes. Some
+     of them are very common, others very rare. They are printed on four
+     varieties of paper, viz.: Old, silk, pink, and water-marked. Some of
+     the stamps were issued both perforated and unperforated.
+
+  PHILATUS.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENTS.
+
+
+
+
+The Woman's
+
+Bicycle ...
+
+[Illustration]
+
+In strength, lightness, grace, and elegance of finish and equipment
+Model 41 Columbia is unapproached by any other make.
+
+COLUMBIA
+
+saddles are recommended by riders and physicians as proper in shape and
+adjustment, and every detail of equipment contributes to comfort and
+pleasure.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+$100 to all alike.
+
+The Columbia Catalogue, handsomest art work of the year, is free from
+Columbia agent, or is mailed for two 2-cent stamps.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+POPE Mfg. Co.
+
+Hartford, Conn.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Hartford Single Tube Tires]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  There are monarchs, there are monarchs,
+    Men of every clime and hue,
+  From the Czar of all the Russias
+    To the Prince of Timbuctoo:
+  Monarchs good and monarchs famous,
+    Monarchs short and monarchs tall;
+  But the _best_ is _our_ Monarch--
+    It's the Monarch of them all.
+
+Monarch
+
+King of Bicycles--A Marvel of Strength, Speed and Reliability.
+
+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 Street, New York.
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH GILLOTT'S
+
+STEEL PENS
+
+Nos. 303, 404, 170, 604 E.F., 601 E.F.
+
+And other styles to suit all hands.
+
+THE MOST PERFECT OF PENS.
+
+
+
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+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 Good Will School Fund.
+
+
+A few words to Founders, members, and all who have contributed to the
+Round Table Industrial School Fund:
+
+Some time since, as you recollect, you voted to try to raise $3000 with
+which to erect a brick structure at Good Will Farm to be known as the
+Round Table Industrial School. Although in Maine, Good Will Farm takes
+poor and homeless boys from every part of the country, so far as it has
+accommodation, gives them a Christian home, an education, and a start in
+the world.
+
+Since you undertook the raising of this Fund, Good Will Farm has
+prospered wonderfully. A part of this prosperity has been due, it is but
+just to say, to the wider knowledge of its work and merits afforded by
+the Table and its large membership. Generous men have built new cottages
+as homes for more boys, and money has been given for the support of
+girls, so that the place is soon to be not alone Good Will Farm for
+boys, but Good Will Farm for girls as well. One citizen of New York has
+bought a tract of land across the Kennebec River from the farm, and in
+the grove on this land is to be held the summer school and annual July
+gathering.
+
+In memory of a deceased brother some kind ladies have built a
+school-house--not an industrial, but a literary school, equipped with
+every convenience. The cost has been nearly if not quite $25,000, not
+including a proposed museum of natural history in one of its largest
+rooms.
+
+With such gratifying prosperity Good Will has grown quite beyond the
+expectation held at the time we began our task. An industrial school
+large enough to meet its present and immediate future demands would cost
+at least $10,000--a sum far beyond the Table's ability to raise, and one
+that it never thought to undertake.
+
+There are many things to be considered in connection with our work to
+date; 1, The times, which have been far from good; 2, The fact that
+young persons, not grown-ups, undertook the task; 3, And most important
+of all, our effort to earn, not to beg, the money we contributed--to be
+generous with what was ours, not with other people's money.
+
+Of our Fund at date, amounting to $1682.35, all cash in hand, we have no
+reason to be ashamed. It is a handsome sum, and one that many an
+institution besides Good Will would be glad to receive at our hands.
+
+If, now, we change our plans we ought to bear in mind that we are not
+the only persons who, finding that circumstances change, alter their
+minds and their acts to fit them. Especially ought we to be gratified,
+since the change that makes us alter our minds and acts is one of
+wonderful prosperity for the splendid charity which we started out to
+help.
+
+After looking over the whole ground, and consultation with the
+supervisor and one of the leading trustees, we beg to make to the
+Founders this suggestion:
+
+That the money now in hand be turned over to the trustees of Good Will
+Farm, to be invested by them according to their best judgment, the same
+to be known as the "Round Table Fund," and the income of it to be used
+to help educate at Good Will any boy or girl, or boys and girls, as the
+supervisor or trustee, or both, decide to be most worthy of such help.
+
+Included in the amount of the Fund as given is money to pay for twelve
+Memorial Stones, which were to form part of the base-line of the school
+building. We suggest that the donors of this money be given the
+privilege of withdrawing it if they so desire; but if they do not wish
+to withdraw it, that the papers making the formal transfer contain
+"codicils" or "minutes" mentioning the names of the persons or Chapter,
+the same to forever form a part of the "Round Table Fund" foundation.
+
+The method of deciding Round Table questions is by vote of the
+Founders--postal-card votes. In this case we think it the part of
+generous wisdom to allow all contributors, as well as all Founders, to
+vote. And so the request is made that all of you give us opinions. Shall
+we make the disposition of the matter here suggested? Remember, dear
+Knights and Ladies, that we are to rejoice that we have a gift so
+handsome in amount to bestow, rather than to sigh for the thousands of
+dollars we haven't in hand to give. The Good Will trustees will gladly
+accept the Fund in the form proposed. Shall we give it to them?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Camping Out in South Africa.
+
+     We were six in the little party which started to go to the mountain
+     to camp out. We trudged along with our bundles up the steep road
+     and through woods until we came to our hut. This hut was made of
+     poles interlaced with brush-wood. When we got there the first thing
+     we discovered was that some cattle had been there and eaten the
+     green leaves off, but that was soon put right. We had a lot of food
+     with us, and when we ran short a native boy we had engaged brought
+     up some more. All our crockery was of tin, as all other kinds would
+     break, and these always stood just outside the door.
+
+     One night three of us decided to go to town. The other three would
+     not come, so they staid and looked after the things while we were
+     away. We started at eight and got back at ten. When we went down we
+     were all dressed in our mountain suits, which were composed of
+     football jerseys and strong trousers, and these were pretty full of
+     mud. Our visit to town was shortened by the mist coming down, and
+     we had to hurry up for fear of it catching us at a very rocky place
+     we had to climb; but we got up just as it reached the top.
+     Meanwhile the three in the cave were having some fun. We were just
+     gone when they heard something in the tin mugs. One took up the gun
+     and shot as the thing jumped away, but only succeeded in wounding
+     it, as we discovered next morning by the blood-stains on the bough
+     of the tree. We staid ten days in the hut, and enjoyed the time
+     thoroughly. The last day it drizzled, so we gave up the plan we had
+     of going down in the night, and went at mid-day.
+
+     I am a stamp collector, and would like to exchange stamps with any
+     one who would do so.
+
+  R. MACWILLIAM, JUN.
+  GILL COLLEGE, SOMERSET EAST, CAPE COLONY, SOUTH AFRICA.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Guessing-contest Answers.
+
+The family referred to in the "Guessing Contest" of two weeks ago is the
+"Berry," and the numbered lines describe them:
+
+1, Elder; 2, Goose; 3, Checker; 4, Knot; 5, Hack; 6, Box, 7, June; 8,
+Hop; 9, Candle; 10, Poke; 11, Prince; (12, Wax, 13, Snow;) 14, Straw;
+(15, Coffee, 16, Wine;) (17, Bane, 18, Bramble;) (19, Dog, 20, Bear;)
+(21, Pigeon, 22, Partridge, 23, Crow;) 24, Bog; 25, Cloud; 26, Dew; 27,
+Mul, 28, Blue; 29, Black; 30, Bil; 31, Bay; (32, Bar, 33, Choke;) 34,
+Dangle; 35, Wintergreen; 36, Cran (crane); 37, Huckle; (38, Holly, 39,
+Mistletoe;) (40, Soap, 41, Thimble;) 42, Rasp; 43, Yew.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Questions and Answers.
+
+James Nichols asks if we have a story contest open now, and he sends a
+tale for a prize. We reply, not now, and return his story. Louise Hall,
+secretary of the Broken Bow Chapter, 216 Thirteenth Street, Oakland,
+Cal., says members of her society want to hear from persons who can
+describe famous places and homes of famous men. Kathleen Kent, 1162
+Harrison Street, is the member in charge, and she desires pictures of
+famous men. The Chapter members promise to answer all letters on the
+subject. Herbert C. Davis, Box 87, Carthage, O., plays chess, and wants
+to play some games by mail.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Roberta Esther Conley was much interested with that touching letter from
+Broussa, describing the hardships of Armenians, and she hopes everybody
+who can will help Miss Barton and others in relief work. The Red Cross
+Society is an international one, organized some years ago in Geneva,
+Switzerland. Miss Clara Barton is president of the American branch only.
+It has special privileges, as that it is, in time of war, to be
+permitted to go into both armies to do relief work, and that all
+generals shall recognize its officers and permit them to pass. It does
+relief work in times other than war, as during floods, famine,
+hurricanes, etc. "Why does it not go to Cuba?" We do not know.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"J. A. M." writes: 1. How can a boy seventeen years of age obtain a
+position as cabin-boy or something else on board a sailing vessel to
+California or thereabouts? 2. What are the duties involved in such a
+position? 3. How much could he earn that way, and how would it be paid
+to him? He does not intend to be a sailor, but wishes to regain his
+health and strength and earn some money to help pay his expenses at a
+preparatory school, for college, about a year and a half from now. 1.
+Apply at office on board the ships. There is no general rule. Cases of
+this kind are not numerous. A friend of the Table, aged 19, applied
+recently and was promptly taken, mainly because he was big and strong.
+He was offered $8 per month and board, and was required to ship for a
+year's cruise. One going for his health would not be likely to get much
+salary. 2. The duties of cabin-boy are those of a general boy of all
+work. 3. The pay, even for a well boy, is very small, say from $4 to $6
+per month, with board.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+J. L. P. and H. E. A.: All readers may send original puzzles for
+"Kinks." They may also send short stories when competitions are open.
+Short stories, other than in competition for prizes, are not desired.
+But the Table wants morsels, descriptive of interesting but not too well
+known places. Perhaps this latter phrase needs explaining. A morsel
+about Mt. Auburn, describing the tombs of Sumner, Burlingame, and
+Longfellow, would be interesting, while one describing Niagara Falls
+would be too hackneyed to warrant space being given it. Round Table
+Chapters are societies of young persons, sometimes of schools, often of
+churches or neighborhoods, organized to study natural history, to make
+collections, or perhaps merely to have a good time.
+
+
+
+
+[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.
+
+Among the qualities most to be desired in a young girl's character is a
+high sense of honor. I wish I could impress on every reader the need of
+being always above everything petty or small, so that one would not for
+a single moment ever be tempted to do a mean or underhand thing, to
+speak unkindly of a friend, or to repeat a conversation which was
+confidential.
+
+It may happen to you, for instance, to be visiting in the home of a
+relative or friend, where there may be a little friction at the table,
+or where some anxiety arises about the course of a member of the family.
+No matter what you see or hear, in such circumstances you are bound, if
+you are an honorable person, to be silent about it, neither making
+comments nor looking as if you could tell something if you chose, nor in
+any way alluding to what is unpleasant, at any future time. A guest in a
+home cannot be too careful to guard the good name of those under its
+roof, for it is an honor to be a guest, in the first place, and honor is
+demanded in return.
+
+Again, a nice sense of honor in matters connected with money is very
+important. Polly is treasurer of a society, and has the care of the
+funds. She must never for an instant, or in an emergency, lend these
+funds to other people, or borrow them for her own use. I knew a
+girl--Polly was her name, by-the-way--who was induced, being treasurer
+of a certain guild, to lend her brother, for one day, the money she had
+in her care. The brother was older than Polly, and a very persuasive
+person. He said: "Why should you hesitate? I'll bring it back to you
+to-night, and it will oblige me very much if I can take that fifty
+dollars and pay a bill I owe before noon to-day." Foolish Polly
+permitted her scruples to be overruled. The money was not brought back,
+and but for her father's kindness in making it good she would have been
+disgraced as a dishonest treasurer. She told me long afterwards that the
+lesson had been burned in on her mind never to take liberties with money
+which she held in trust.
+
+A nice sense of honor will keep a girl from making a confidante of her
+maid or of any person in an inferior situation. One's mother is a girl's
+natural adviser and her safest intimate friend. A nice sense of honor
+will hinder all prying into other people's affairs, and will lead one to
+turn a deaf ear to the gossip of the idle and malicious.
+
+Sometimes one becomes accidentally aware of a state of things which she
+knows her friend must prefer to keep to herself. The honorable girl will
+never hesitate here; she will be as thoughtful for her friend's
+interests as if they were her own.
+
+This little talk may be too old for some of my younger readers, so I
+will conclude it by telling them a little story. Once upon a time in a
+small New England village there was a district school. The boys and
+girls went to this from the country homes for miles, some of them not
+minding a very long walk over snowy roads in winter, and under the trees
+in summer. The master was very grave and stern, and if he laughed behind
+his grizzled beard, the children looking up to him from their benches
+seldom saw it. A big ruler always lay on his desk, and they were very
+much afraid of that; so that when one morning at recess, in a game of
+ball, Charley B---- had the misfortune to break a window in the
+school-house, it required no little courage in the eight-year-old boy to
+march straight into the room, up to the desk, and confess that he had
+been careless and had done the mischief. Mr. True was very kind, and
+said, consolingly, that the window could be mended. So Charley rushed
+off with a light heart.
+
+Later in the day a girl, I am ashamed to say, stole up to the desk and
+told her tale. "Mr. True," said this disagreeable little being, "_I_ can
+tell you who broke the window! I saw--"
+
+"Hush, Nancy!" said the master, in an awful voice. "I know who did it.
+_An honorable person did it._ Which you are not. You may remain after
+school and write out ten pages of history as a punishment for
+tale-telling."
+
+     LOTTIE W.--Strawberries served for breakfast need not be hulled.
+     Eat them, instead, one by one, dipping each into powdered sugar.
+
+[Illustration: Signature]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Ivory Soap]
+
+Ivory Soap is white and pure; it is a clean soap and it washes clean.
+
+THE PROCTER & GAMBLE CO., CIN'TI.
+
+
+
+
+A quarter spent in HIRES Rootbeer does you dollars' worth of good.
+
+Made only by The Charles E. Hires Co., Philadelphia.
+
+A 25c. package makes 5 gallons. Sold everywhere.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
+
+
+
+
+HOOPING-COUGH
+
+CROUP.
+
+Roche's Herbal Embrocation.
+
+The celebrated and effectual English Cure without internal medicine.
+Proprietors, W. EDWARD & SON, London, England.
+
+E. Fougera & Co., 30 North William St., N.Y.
+
+
+
+
+FOR KING OR COUNTRY
+
+     A Story of the American Revolution. By JAMES BARNES. Illustrated.
+     Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.50.
+
+The story is one of adventure and abounds in vivid description. The
+author has evidently made a careful study of the New York of a century
+ago, and of the history of the secret patriot societies which were
+formed in the city under the British rule, and the story in many of its
+descriptions has marked historical value.--_Boston Advertiser._
+
+Gives a series of striking pictures of social and military life in and
+about the city of New York during the period of British occupation....
+Filled with exciting incidents, and will have a strong fascination for
+young readers.--_Boston Transcript._
+
+A very stirring story of the early years of the American
+Revolution.--_Brooklyn Times._
+
+Abounding in adventure, and those chapters in which the young soldiers
+play the part of spies are particularly enthralling.--_Buffalo Courier._
+
+Full of movement and full of surprises.... Will instruct as well as
+interest the average boy who reads it.--_Boston Journal._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+SOME OF
+
+KIRK MUNROE'S POPULAR BOOKS
+
+SNOW-SHOES AND SLEDGES
+
+A Sequel to "The Fur-Seal's Tooth."
+
+Brimful of adventures admirably recorded. The young folks will take
+delight in it.... We confess to having read every word of the journal
+with as much interest as we once read "Robinson Crusoe" or the "Swiss
+Family Robinson."--_Christian Intelligencer_, N. Y.
+
+A book that will hold the interest of its readers from beginning to
+end.--_N. Y. Evening-Post._
+
+THE FUR-SEAL'S TOOTH
+
+There is plenty of moving incident in the tale, and the atmosphere,
+redolent of seals and the life of that stormy clime, will delight all
+boys.--_Spectator_, London.
+
+CANOEMATES
+
+An entertaining story for boys, and will usefully enlarge their
+knowledge of our great Atlantic peninsula.--_N. Y. Evening Post._
+
+RAFTMATES
+
+The story has a strong, wholesome tone, and will hold the interest of
+boy readers from first to last page.--_Churchman_, N. Y.
+
+CAMPMATES
+
+Capitally written and admirably illustrated.... An excellent record of
+the early development of certain Western cities and of certain Indian
+tribes now fast disappearing.--_Critic_, N. Y.
+
+DORYMATES
+
+A wholesomely exciting tale of adventure which any bright boy might
+consider a valuable addition to his library.--_Christian Intelligencer_,
+N. Y.
+
+Each one volume. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, $1.25.
+
+_The "Mates" Series, Four Volumes in a Box, $5.00._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, New York.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+NOT STRANGE.
+
+"I GIT GOOD MEASURE," SAID MRS. JONES, "BUT, I DECLARE, THE MILK HENRY
+BROUGHT ME YESTERDAY MORNIN' WAS MORE'N HALF WATER."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The art of painting pictures so near to life as to deceive the naked eye
+is very old. Pliny relates that Zeuxis once painted some grapes so
+naturally that birds used to come and peck at them, and that Parrhasius
+once painted a curtain so artfully that Zeuxis desired it drawn aside
+that he could see the picture it hid. Discovering his error, he
+confessed himself outdone, as he had only imposed on birds, whereas
+Parrhasius had deceived the human intellect. Another time Zeuxis painted
+a boy with some grapes, and when the birds again flew at the grapes he
+was very angry, saying that he was certainly at fault with the picture.
+He reasoned that had it been perfect the birds would have been
+frightened away by the boy.
+
+Caius Valerius Flaccus says that Zeuxis's death was occasioned by an
+immoderate fit of laughter on looking at the comic picture he had drawn
+of an old woman.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"The reason why the British want to swallow up half of Venezuela,"
+asserted Pat, "is because of the gold there is down there."
+
+"Sure," replied Mike, "they're always after gold, the English. If they
+were landed on an uninhabited island, they would not be there an hour
+before they'd have their hands in the pockets of the naked savages!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Baron Rothschild was once caught in a predicament that many people
+experience daily, and that is getting into a conveyance of some kind,
+and then not having the money to pay the fare.
+
+The driver of the omnibus into which Rothschild entered demanded his
+fare, and the Baron, feeling in his pockets, discovered that he had no
+change. The driver was very angry. "What did you get in for, if you had
+no money?"
+
+"I am Baron Rothschild," explained the great capitalist, "and there is
+my card."
+
+The driver scornfully tossed the card away. "Never heard of you before,"
+said he, "and don't want to hear of you again. What I want is your
+fare."
+
+The banker was in great haste. "Look here. I've an order for a million,"
+he said; "give me the change." And he proffered a coupon for that
+amount.
+
+The driver stared and the passengers laughed. Fortunately a friend of
+the Baron entered the omnibus at the moment, and taking in the
+situation, immediately paid the fare. The driver, realizing his mistake,
+and feeling remorseful, said to the Baron,
+
+"If you want ten francs, sir, I don't mind lending them to you on my own
+account."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TO GO A-FISHING.
+
+  It's time to put the lessons by,
+    The fields are full of daisies;
+  When summer blue is in the sky,
+    Who cares for sums and phrases?
+
+  Deep in his heart, his highest joy,
+    The boy _I_ know is wishing
+  To leave the school-room's strict employ,
+    And just to go a-fishing.
+
+  He'll find a grand old willow-tree,
+    Above brown waters dipping,
+  Where catfish glide and pickerels be,
+    And dainty birds are sipping.
+
+  There, waiting long, with earnest pluck,
+    At last his line will quiver,
+  And you and I will wish him luck
+    Beside that bonny river.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+EXPLAINED.
+
+WILLIE. "I think I know why Ponto wags that stump of a tail so very
+hard."
+
+AUNT JANE. "Why does he do it, Willie?"
+
+WILLIE. "Because it is only half a tail, and he wants to enjoy a sense
+of wagging a whole one."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A RAPIDLY MADE COAT.
+
+Manufacturers are always pleased to turn out the product of their
+establishments in less than the average time, and many have made records
+to which they point with pride. In the issue of the ROUND TABLE for
+December 10, a short article was published on making a coat in thirteen
+and a half hours, from shearing the sheep to putting the finished
+garment on a man's back. This was done at Greenham Mills, in England, in
+1811. Mrs. James Lyon, of Bath, New York, writes that a similar feat
+took place in that town in 1816, and was accomplished in less than nine
+hours by one George McClure, who asserted that it could be done in ten
+hours. The record of each step of the work still exists, with the
+exception of the shearing. The wool was colored in thirty-five minutes;
+carded, spun, and woven in two hours and twenty-five minutes; fulled,
+warped, and dyed in one hour and fifty-one minutes; carried to the
+tailor in four minutes, and was turned into the finished coat by him and
+his journeyman in three hours and forty-nine minutes. The shears used in
+the work are still preserved, and can be seen at the Steuben
+Agricultural Society's Fair Grounds, at Bath.
+
+This feat, at the time, doubtless attracted as much attention as a
+record-breaking railroad train or steamship does to-day. It is probable
+that many of our present manufacturers make such trials for their own
+edification, which, if described, would prove interesting.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Round Table, May 19, 1896, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57843 ***