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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57969 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
+
+[Illustration: HARPER'S ROUND TABLE]
+
+Copyright, 1896, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All Rights Reserved.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PUBLISHED WEEKLY. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1896. FIVE CENTS A COPY.
+
+VOL. XVII.--NO. 866. TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CRISTOBAL THE CATALAN.
+
+BY WILLIAM DRYSDALE.
+
+
+A cell in the great Morro Castle of Havana was a strange place for a boy
+of fourteen; but there sat young Cristobal Nunez on the cold stone
+floor, his face hidden in his hands, and bitter tears trickling between
+his fingers. He was a small boy for fourteen, and not dark, like the
+Cubans, but fair as any sunburnt American boy.
+
+He was not alone in the cell, for it was a great damp vault twenty feet
+wide by a hundred feet long, with an arched roof of stone, the lower
+part of a storehouse standing just within the outer wall of the
+fortress. He was only one of the 108 political prisoners confined in
+that unhealthy vault, where was not a cot for them to lie upon, nor a
+chair or bench to sit upon.
+
+"Cheer up, my son," said a well-dressed elderly gentleman, one of his
+fellow-prisoners, stooping beside him, and laying his hand kindly on
+Cristobal's shoulder; "these dark days must have an end; and tears, at
+any rate, will do no good. You are young to be engaged in this
+business."
+
+"I am not engaged in this business, señor," Cristobal quickly answered,
+brushing his hand across his eyes and looking up. "I am no insurgent; I
+am a Spaniard, a Catalan, and know nothing about rebellions. And it is
+not for myself that I shed tears, but for my young sister, who is alone
+on this strange island, with no one to take care of her."
+
+As he spoke of his sister the young Catalan again buried his face in his
+hands, and his little frame shook.
+
+"This is strange," said the gentleman; and he seated himself on the
+floor beside Cristobal, and kindly drew the young Spaniard's smooth
+cheek against his shoulder. "If you are a Catalan, and no insurgent, how
+do you come to be here?"
+
+Though the cell was crowded with prisoners, there was no danger of
+interruption, for each was amusing himself in his own way. Some played
+games with strange Spanish cards, on which were pictures of swords and
+men and horses; some read books, for no newspapers were allowed them;
+some sang brave songs to keep their spirits up; and others, sickened by
+the bad air and bad food, lay stretched upon the stones, groaning.
+
+"They have made a mistake," Cristobal answered, as soon as he was able
+to speak. "I am only a poor boy from Barcelona, trying to take my young
+sister to our uncle in Cienfuegos. But they have arrested me for an
+insurgent, and what is to become of my poor sister? We were in a
+cane-field only twenty-five miles from Cienfuegos, when they tore me
+away from her; and there I had to leave her, without a friend on the
+island, unless she finds our uncle. Oh, señor, what is to become of
+her?"
+
+"They have made many mistakes," the kindly old gentleman replied,
+ignoring Cristobal's last question. "Here in this miserable cell are old
+men and young--merchants, professional men, clerks, laborers, and what
+not--at least half of whom are entirely innocent. It is one of the
+misfortunes of war that the innocent must suffer with the guilty. But if
+you are a Catalan from Barcelona, tell me how you come to be in Cuba,
+and at such a time."
+
+"My mother knew nothing about the troubles in Cuba," Cristobal answered.
+"She died in Barcelona four months ago, telling us to come to her
+brother, our uncle, in Cienfuegos. There was barely enough money left to
+bring us in a sailing vessel to Havana, and from here I wrote and wrote
+to our uncle, but received no answer, so I am afraid he must be in the
+field. We started to walk--"
+
+"To walk to Cienfuegos!" the gentleman exclaimed; "a hundred and twenty
+miles! How old is your sister?"
+
+"She is only twelve," Cristobal answered, sadly; "but she has the sense
+of a grown woman--a great deal more than I have."
+
+"And then?" the old man said, encouragingly.
+
+"We walked as far as Ysabel," Cristobal went on, "seventy-five miles
+from here, and there, by accident, I got a situation in a small store.
+For nearly three months I was able to take care of my sister; but then
+my employer was arrested for a rebel, and we started on for Cienfuegos."
+
+"Poor little chaps!" exclaimed the old gentleman; "fourteen and twelve;
+in a strange country; no money or friends! Well?"
+
+"There is not much more," the young Catalan answered. "We were within
+twenty-five miles of Cienfuegos, and at noon we went into a small patch
+of cane for our dinner, for sugar-cane was almost our only food. It was
+part of a great field, but all the cane had been burned but one little
+corner. We made a spark of fire to boil our coffee, and while it boiled
+there came along a squad of Spanish troops. They saw the smoke, and
+accused me of firing the field, and in a minute they had handcuffs on me
+and tore me away. They took me to Sagua la Grande, and in a few days I
+was brought here in a steamer. But what they did with me is nothing.
+What can have become of my poor sister?"
+
+"My son," said the old gentleman, devoutly making the sign of the cross
+upon his forehead, "your sister is in stronger hands than yours. The
+Friend of the Fatherless will take care of her. And mark my words, my
+poor boy, it will be through your sister that you will be released from
+this unjust imprisonment. For yourself you can do nothing, nor can I aid
+you in any way. But she is your sister, and at liberty. She will go on
+foot to the Governor-General, perhaps; perhaps she will besiege every
+public office in Havana. I cannot say what course she will take; but if
+she has the wisdom you give her credit for, she will never rest till she
+sets you free. You Catalans are called 'the Yankees of Spain,' and a
+Catalonian girl will never desert her brother."
+
+"Every Sunday and Wednesday," he continued, "the friends of prisoners
+are permitted to visit them here. It may not be next Sunday or next
+Wednesday, but on some Sunday or some Wednesday you will hear from your
+sister."
+
+As he arose from his uncomfortable seat the old gentleman laid his hand
+upon the young prisoner's forehead, and muttered a few words that led
+Cristobal to believe him a priest in disguise, as in fact he was.
+
+But Wednesdays and Sundays came and went, and Cristobal heard no tidings
+of his sister. The coming of the visitors, however, made an agreeable
+break in the terrible monotony. On visiting-days the prisoners' friends
+were carried across the harbor from Havana in row-boats, and after
+landing on the pebble-paved road at the base of the fortress, went up
+through the great portal, where a hundred Spanish soldiers were
+constantly on guard. There they were formed in line, only one at a time
+being allowed to approach the barred front of the vault.
+
+Cristobal had spent three weeks of misery in his dismal cell, and one
+Wednesday afternoon he lay half stretched out on the cold floor watching
+the visitors and listening to their conversation. They brought all the
+comforts to their friends that the guards would allow--baskets of food,
+blankets to lie upon, books, clean linen, medicines--and every package
+was carefully examined by the guard before it was passed into the cell.
+He saw a well-dressed young Cuban step up in turn behind the bar with
+nothing in his hands but three long stalks of sugar-cane tied together.
+He could hardly believe his ears when the guard called,
+
+"Cristobal Nunez!"
+
+Cristobal sprang to his feet, and made his way up to the front. He was
+sure that he had never seen his visitor before, and he could not
+understand why the Cuban, instead of speaking to him at once, stood
+looking him straight in the eyes, as if he would look through him, and
+then looked intently at the sugar-canes--at the top cane, Cristobal
+thought, the one that was gnarled and bent.
+
+"Your sister sends you these," the young Cuban said at length, handing
+the bundle to the guard for examination. "And be careful of your teeth,
+Cristobal. Our Cuban cane is tough and hard to bite in March."
+
+The guard twirled the bundle of canes in his hand, and laughed
+derisively at the meanness of the gift as he passed it through the bars
+to the prisoner. Even some of the other prisoners laughed to think that
+one of their number was so poor that his friends could send him nothing
+but a few canes.
+
+Being one of "the Yankees of Spain," Cristobal knew on the moment that
+his sister had not sent him sugar-canes merely for the sake of the
+sweet.
+
+"Be careful of my teeth!" he repeated to himself, with the canes lying
+across his lap. "That means something, for Maria knows my teeth are all
+right, and able to chew most anything. And it was this top cane the
+Cuban looked at so hard--the crooked one."
+
+After a few moments' thought he took out his knife and cut a piece about
+a foot long from the larger end of the crooked cane, intending, at any
+rate, to eat it, or to solve the mystery if there was a mystery.
+
+At almost the first bite the cane cracked like a hollow reed, showing
+that the interior had been cut out--for sugar-cane in its natural state
+is very hard and solid.
+
+Watching his chance when no one was observing him, he split the hollowed
+cane open with his hands, and saw in the cavity a small packet wrapped
+in paper. Quick as a flash he slipped the bit of cane into his pocket,
+and worked with his fingers to release the packet. It was heavy when he
+got it loose, and was evidently a roll of coins--gold coins, the weight
+told him. He was afraid to take them out to look, but he hurriedly
+removed the wrapping, sure of finding a message upon it. And he was not
+disappointed, for upon the inner side of the little paper he found this
+note:
+
+     "DEAR KIT,--Here are five American gold eagles to help you out of
+     prison.
+
+     "I am with kind friends--Americanos--on the Buena Vista plantation,
+     near La Flora, district de Cienfuegos. They have furnished the
+     money. Our uncle has been shot.
+
+     "When you get out go to Numero 19, Calle O'Reilly, Havana, and ask
+     for Pedro. He will help get you here.
+
+  "YOUR LOVING SISTER."
+
+Cristobal could hardly help shouting when he finished reading the note;
+his sister safe, money to help him, and a friend in Havana to help him
+through the lines! For many days after the arrival of the sugar-cane it
+was a mystery to Cristobal how his sister had found friends so quickly
+in a strange country; but now it is a mystery no longer.
+
+When her brother was dragged away and she was left alone in the
+cane-field, little Maria Nunez first shed tears, and then stamped her
+feet with rage. Then she took counsel with herself. She could not stay
+there alone in the cane-field; she could not travel alone in roads
+filled with soldiers and lawless men. Surely there must be some good
+Christian on that island who would give her shelter; and she dropped
+down upon her knees in the muddy field and fingered the cheap beads that
+hung about her neck, and made many signs of the cross upon her little
+chest and forehead.
+
+Far away across the blackened fields she saw a roof of red tiles. There
+must be a house, she knew, under the roof, and she started in that
+direction.
+
+On the broad front gallery of the house sat Señor Walter Pickard, of
+Ohio, the owner of the seven thousand acres of land comprising the Buena
+Vista plantation, which, in times of peace, produces its fifteen
+thousand hogsheads of sugar every year. There is one larger sugar
+plantation in the world, and only one. On one side of him sat the Señora
+Pickard, also of Ohio, and on the other was the young Señor Pickard,
+aged seventeen. The three were looking across the lane at the great
+"works" that should have been alive with men and the hum of machinery,
+but which stood deserted and silent, its walls riddled with bullets;
+looking over the seven thousand acres of land that should have been rich
+with cane, but which lay charred with fire and trampled by troops,
+ruined for many years to come.
+
+"Who is that pretty little girl I saw you taking out toward the quarters
+a few minutes ago?" the Señora Pickard asked of the butler through the
+open window.
+
+"A little Spanish girl, madame," replied the French butler, "who says
+that her brother has just been arrested for a rebel, and who came to us
+for shelter."
+
+"Well, I say, we're not such foreigners yet but we can give shelter to a
+little girl!" exclaimed the Señor Pickard, in remarkably good English
+for a Cuban planter. He knew the danger of harboring the relative of a
+suspected rebel.
+
+"Bring her to me," said the Señora, calmly.
+
+The mistress of such a plantation is a queen in her own dominions, and a
+minute later Maria Nunez stood before her, telling her sad story, much
+as Cristobal told it to the kind old gentleman in Morro Castle.
+
+Perhaps it was because he was an Ohio boy, and not a real señor at all,
+that the young Señor Pickard grew excited while the story was a-telling,
+and walked nervously up and down the gallery. Or it might have been
+because Maria was a remarkably pretty little Spaniard, with the dark
+flashing eyes of her countrywoman, and their thick black hair and rich
+complexion and delicate features. Her little story was soon told, and
+she stood there looking doubly pretty in her excitement and grief.
+
+"You shall stay with me, you poor child, till the times are settled,"
+said the señora, still calmly, and in good Spanish. "Alphonse, call my
+maid."
+
+"Is that all?" exclaimed the young señor, in English, looking as if he
+had determined to drive out the Spanish troops single-handed. "Aren't
+you going to get the girl's brother out of prison? He will be sent to
+the Morro, and you know what will get him out of there. Can't Pedro--"
+
+The elder señor stamped his foot impatiently.
+
+"Have you no more sense than to mention that name?" he exclaimed. "Keep
+quiet, and leave this thing to me. For just about one York shilling I'd
+hoist the stars and stripes here and fortify the place. I am growing
+sicker of such doings every day. Go and tell Henry to have his horse
+ready to start for Havana at eight o'clock to-night."
+
+Ignorant of course of these things, Cristobal had to devise a way of
+using his money for his liberation. One of those golden eagles, he knew,
+represented four months' pay of any of the soldiers who were guarding
+him. There was one young soldier in the guard, a boy of scarcely twenty,
+barefoot and ragged, whom he had marked long before as a fellow Catalan.
+For days this young fellow was kept at other work, but at length he
+appeared on guard again before the bars of the cell.
+
+Cristobal's heart beat fast when he saw who was pacing up and down just
+outside the bars. Pressing up to the front of the cell, he leaned for
+some time against the bars without speaking, and then, as the young
+soldier passed, he asked, softly,
+
+"Cataluna?"
+
+"No," said the guard; "Asturias."
+
+"So much the better!" Cristobal said to himself; "it is only proper that
+a Catalan should buy an Asturian. He is mine, for I shall buy him with
+gold."
+
+For some minutes more he stood leaning against the bars, without saying
+another word, biding his time. When a favorable moment came, he took one
+of the golden eagles between his thumb and forefinger, and held it in
+front of his breast, where no one in the cell could see it, and there
+was no one outside but the young guard.
+
+Up and down paced the soldier, his eyes apparently straight in front of
+him. But somehow with each walk past he was a little closer to the bars.
+Seeing this encouraging sign, Cristobal took out another eagle, and held
+up two. By that time the young guard was so close that Cristobal might
+have touched him as he passed. After several more turns the soldier
+raised his eyebrows questioningly as he passed.
+
+There were no other prisoners close up against the bars, but some were
+near enough to make great caution necessary. Only a single short
+sentence could be spoken at each passing of the sentinel.
+
+"The first means through the portal," Cristobal whispered, as the
+soldier went up.
+
+There was not a sign to show that he had been heard or understood.
+
+"The second means a boat on the beach," Cristobal whispered, as the
+soldier went down.
+
+Still the sentinel's eyes looked dead ahead; but before he was past the
+bars he shifted his musket from one shoulder to the other, and in doing
+so the stock struck lightly against one of the bars. Perhaps it was
+accident; but Cristobal, being one of the Yankees of Spain, did not
+think so. He instantly knew that it meant, "I cannot get you through
+these bars." That was an objection that he was ready to meet; and when
+the guard passed again he hurriedly whispered,
+
+"I can squeeze between the bars; I have tried it."
+
+Still the sentinel looked dead ahead; but for the next few minutes as he
+passed he was saying something softly to himself every time he put his
+left foot foremost, just as a drill-master says, "left, left, left!"
+What he said softly to himself was, "dos," "dos," "dos," meaning, in
+English, "two," "two," "two."
+
+"Dos!" Cristobal said to himself; "that means the two coins; both
+propositions accepted;" and he left the bars and went back into the
+darkness, and sat down satisfied.
+
+When he offered that night to share his little store of gold with the
+kind old gentleman, his friend patted him upon the head.
+
+"Bless your kind little heart!" said he. "I have no need of gold." Then
+removing his hat, he added, "Kneel, my son."
+
+When Cristobal arose, after the priestly blessing, he noticed that the
+top of his friend's head was shaven bare, and the brief benediction made
+him feel stronger for the night's dangerous work.
+
+For four days and nights he lay hidden in a big closet in the attic of
+No. 19 in the Calle O'Reilly, and then a Spanish pass was given him that
+carried him safely through the lines to La Flora. And Pedro? Pedro must
+remain a mystery till that cruel war is over. Americans are a people of
+great resources, and can often send their agents even within the walls
+of Spanish castles. It may safely be told that Cristobal and his sister
+are together on the Buena Vista plantation, and that Señor Pickard has
+not yet hoisted the stars and stripes and fortified the place.
+
+
+
+
+HOW MAGIC IS MADE.
+
+BY HENRY HATTON.
+
+IV.
+
+
+One of the best tricks of De Kolta is called, "The Miraculous Production
+of Flowers." It may be exhibited on the stage or in the drawing-room,
+and is equally effective in either place. The performer shows an
+umbrella from which the covering has been removed and its place supplied
+by multicolored ribbons, which go from rib to rib, leaving a space
+between. He then opens this umbrella, and stands it upside down on the
+stage, resting the ferrule end in a piece of metal tubing, which, in
+turn, is supported by a stand. He also shows two or three empty shallow
+wicker baskets, and a sheet of heavy brown paper. His arms being bared
+to prevent the possibility of anything being concealed in his sleeves,
+he folds, or rather twists, a sheet of paper into a cone or cornucopia.
+Every one knows this cone is empty, as they have seen it made, and yet
+the performer shakes from it enough flowers to fill not only the
+baskets, but also the inverted umbrella. Every once in a while, when the
+supply of flowers is apparently exhausted, the paper is opened and shown
+to be empty, and yet, when again rolled up, the flowers pour from it in
+as great volume as at first.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
+
+The flowers in this case are emphatically _spring_ flowers, though it
+may be truthfully said that "the flowers that bloom in the spring have
+nothing to do with the case." They are made in a variety of shapes, but
+the most simple form is, to my thinking, the best, and any one can make
+them by following these instructions:
+
+[Illustration: FIG 2.]
+
+Cut a number of pieces of red, blue, yellow, or pink tissue-paper of the
+shape shown in Fig. 2, and an equal number of that in Fig. 3. Fold them
+at the lines A A and B B, shown by the dotted lines, so that C and C and
+D and D come together. Then cut some flat thin spring steel, not highly
+tempered, into strips about one-eighth of an inch in width and from an
+inch and three-quarters to two inches and a quarter in length, according
+to the size of the "flower." The latter, for the drawing-room, should be
+about two and a half inches long and two inches at the widest part,
+while for the stage they are best when three and a quarter long and
+proportionately wide. The strips of steel must next be cut in two the
+longer way, until within about a quarter of an inch of one end, and
+these halves must be bent outward in opposite directions, so that they
+assume the position shown in Fig. 4.
+
+[Illustration: FIG 3.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
+
+[Illustration: PAPER LEAF.]
+
+Place the spring between the folds of Fig. 3, so that the arms will lie
+on F F, and then paste them firmly down by placing over a strip of paper
+of the same color as the "flower." Next put Fig. 2 between Fig. 3; paste
+the points C C to E E and G G to B B, and let them dry thoroughly. The
+flower has now assumed the shape shown in Fig. 5. All that it needs to
+complete it are two green leaves of paper, silk, or muslin, which are to
+be pasted one on each side at the smaller end. To make much display,
+about five hundred of these flowers ought to be used.
+
+[Illustration: FIG 5.]
+
+Having made the flowers, the next thing to learn is how to get them into
+the paper horn without being seen. Some performers load the cone--to
+load being the technical name for filling--by simply holding a bundle of
+flowers in the right hand, and deliberately placing the hand inside the
+cone, under pretence of taking out a flower, but that is anything but
+artistic.
+
+Do up three bundles of, say, seventy-five flowers each. To do these up
+place them between two oblong pieces of thin green card-board, putting
+an elastic over the longer way; and that this may not slip, have nicks
+in the ends. Pressing these ends will cause the card-boards to bulge out
+in the centre, and allow the flowers to escape. Two of these bundles
+must have loops of rather stiff wire run through the elastics, so that
+when the bundles lie on the table the loops stand up. These bundles are
+laid at the back of the table, behind a basket, at the performer's left.
+The third bundle, also on the table, is a little to the right of the
+others.
+
+The performer first bares his arms, then rolls up his cone and throws it
+on the floor, mouth toward the audience, or lays it on a table. Now
+picking up the third bundle with his left hand, and putting it, almost
+in the same movement, under the bottom of a basket which he picks up, he
+advances to his audience to show that the basket is empty. Returning to
+the stage, he lays the basket on his table, retaining the bundle of
+flowers in his left hand. Then picking up the cone by the smaller end,
+he remarks, "The hands are empty." As he says this he passes the cone to
+the left hand, which he places inside the mouth, thus dropping the
+bundle in, shows the right hand empty, and taking the cone in that hand
+again, shows the left also empty. Putting both hands around the lower
+part of the cone, he squeezes it and the card-boards, and the flowers
+being released, he begins to pour them into the basket.
+
+As the flowers fall out, he pretends to guide them with his left hand,
+and this gives him an opportunity to catch the wire loop of one of the
+bundles on the table between his fingers.
+
+When the cone is emptied, the performer unrolls it and straightens out
+the paper, prior to working in the second bundle. This bundle,
+understand, is back of the left-hand fingers. Taking the sheet of paper
+at one edge by the tips of the fingers of that hand, and letting the
+paper fall in front, he smoothes it with the right hand, and presently
+seizing the lower edge by that hand, he brings the sheet back over his
+left hand, thus leaving the second bundle inside the cone thus formed.
+This is a remarkably neat and clever move, almost impossible to detect,
+and is well worth the little practice needed to acquire it.
+
+The cone is now emptied, and the third bundle picked up in the same way
+as the second, and the cone again formed over the back of the hand. The
+flowers for the umbrella are loaded into the cone in an altogether
+different way, but one quite as difficult to detect if well done.
+
+About three hundred flowers are placed between two sheets of stiff
+card-board, and these are tied together in a single bow-knot with silk
+floss, the end which unties the knot being allowed to hang down, and
+having a tiny shoe-button fastened to it, so that it may be found
+easily. Hanging from one of the pieces of card-board is a loop of strong
+black thread. This bundle is placed in the inside right breast pocket of
+the performer's coat, and the loose end of the loop is passed over a
+button or small hook sewn on the vest.
+
+To load the bundle into the cone, the performer holds the open flat
+sheet of paper in his right hand, which hangs at his side. Turning it
+front and back, he says, "Absolutely empty, as you all can see." And
+while his audience have their eyes fixed on it, his left thumb finds the
+loop, and passing through it, lifts it off the button. "I shall hold it
+away from my body," he continues, and as he says this he raises the
+sheet in front of him so that it nearly covers his breast. As he does
+this, almost simultaneously, his left hand grasps the upper edge of the
+sheet about the centre, and thus pulls the bundle out and holds it
+dangling behind the sheet. The left hand, still holding bundle and
+paper, is pushed well out, so that the sheet is not near the body. The
+right hand now seizes the upper right corner of the paper, and drawing
+it towards him, the performer twists it into a cone. His hand is thus
+left inside, and as he withdraws it, what more natural than to catch
+hold of the shoe-button, give a steady pull, and release the flowers?
+Walking round and round the umbrella, the performer continues to shake
+flowers from the cone until the novel receptacle is filled.
+
+The professional conjurer has large deep pockets inside the breast of
+his coat, the mouth towards the front; but as many of my readers will
+not care to have specially prepared coats, they may substitute a large
+oblong black bag, which can be fastened to the coat by small black
+safety-pins. The mouth should come within about two inches of the front.
+Similar but smaller pockets can be pinned to the back of the trousers
+leg, when they will be covered by the coat tails, but will prove handy
+for small articles.
+
+Some conjurers allow themselves to be firmly tied with ropes, and yet
+while in this condition perform feats that apparently require the free
+use of both hands. These, however, are always done behind a curtain or
+other screen. Just how this is done I may explain later, but for the
+present here is a very good substitute. The performer locks his hands,
+and his crossed thumbs are tied tightly together with a long strong
+cord, the ends of which are held by two of the audience. A soft hat or
+handkerchief is thrown over the hands, and almost instantly one is waved
+in the air. It is as quickly thrust back, and on removing the covering
+the knots are found as firmly tied as at first.
+
+There are two ways of doing this, both of which I shall explain.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
+
+In the one method, when the hands are brought together the forefinger of
+the left hand is on top; then follow the right forefinger, the left
+second finger, the right _third_ finger, the left third finger, the
+right little finger, and last the left little finger, as shown in Fig.
+6, the right second finger being inside the hands. When the cord is
+placed under the crossed thumbs, preparatory to tying them, this right
+second finger, which will not be missed from the clasped hands, grasps
+the cord and holds it down, thus _gaining slack_ which is at the bottom
+of every tie exhibited from the time of the Davenport brothers to the
+present day. Of course with so much slack it is a very easy matter to
+release the thumbs, and the next moment to present them apparently
+tightly tied. At the conclusion of the trick the cord must be gathered
+up and put out of the way, lest some of the audience should get hold of
+it, and thus discover the secret.
+
+In the second method the palms of the hands are placed together and the
+thumbs held up. Then a rope, about the size of an ordinary sash cord, is
+laid just above the fork of the thumbs. The ends are given to two
+committee-men chosen from the audience, who are asked to pull, so as to
+convince themselves that the rope is sound; then the thumbs are crossed
+and pressed down on the rope, which is tied in a double knot.
+
+As in the first method, a handkerchief is thrown across the hands, and
+again as in the first method the hands are rapidly freed, and just as
+rapidly tied again.
+
+In doing the trick this way the slack is gained just after the
+committee-men are asked to pull on the rope. At that moment the hands
+are held about two inches apart, and just then the thumbs squeeze hold
+of the rope, and bringing the hands closely together, the slack is
+caught between the palms, the crossed thumbs hiding all signs of it.
+
+I once saw a man who claimed to do certain wonders "by the help of
+unseen powers," but as two of these can be produced by the most ordinary
+human power, I give them here, so that any of my readers who is so
+disposed can set up in the "seer" business for himself.
+
+The performer hands out some half-sheets of note-paper, measuring, say,
+4-1/2 by 7 inches. These he requests the audience to fold, as nearly as
+possible, into four equal strips, each of which will then measure 1-3/4
+by 4-1/2 inches. These strips he distributes among the company, who are
+asked to write a name of man or woman on each strip, which is then to be
+folded once or twice, and thrown into a hat, when all the strips are to
+be thoroughly mixed. The performer then places his hand in the hat, and
+selecting one strip, announces that the name in it is that of a man or
+of a woman, as the case may be. So he continues until each slip has been
+taken out.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
+
+Although the performer has nothing to do with cutting the paper, yet the
+trick depends altogether on the way in which it is cut. Reference to
+Fig. 7 will explain this at a glance. It will be seen that if the paper
+is cut into four strips, two of these, No. 1 and No. 4, will each have a
+sharp edge, A, and a rough edge, B, while Nos. 2 and 3 will have two
+rough edges. In handing out the papers the performer always gives a
+sharp-edged strip with the request, "Please write the name of a man on
+this," while the rough-edged ones are given for the names of women. When
+he puts his hand into the hat he has merely to run a finger over the
+edges of a strip, and he can at once determine whether the name on it is
+that of a man or of a woman, even without the aid of "unseen powers."
+
+For his next phenomenon--by which name he attempted to dignify his
+tricks--he required the assistance of his wife. She was conducted to a
+room on another floor of the house, and while she was thus out of sight
+and out of hearing the Professor introduced a pack of cards. One of the
+company drew a card, and showed it to the rest of those present, the
+Professor included. Then the gentleman who drew the card wrote on a
+piece of thick paper the question. "What is the name of the card drawn?"
+This was placed in an opaque envelope, so that the writing could not
+possibly be read; the envelope was sealed, and the Professor addressed
+it to his wife. She placed it for a moment against her forehead, and
+then seizing a blank card, wrote on it, "The card chosen was the eight
+of hearts," which was correct.
+
+The secret is in the way the address is written. By previous arrangement
+it is understood that the suits of the cards are to run as follows:
+spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds. Should a spade be drawn, a period
+is placed after the first word of the address; if a heart, after the
+second; if a club, after the third; if a diamond, no period appears in
+the first line of the address. For the number of the suit the cards run
+in their regular order, ace, deuce, etc., the Jack counting 11, the
+Queen 12, the King 13. To designate the suit, an initial letter is
+introduced in the address, the one used being the one in numerical order
+coming _after_ the number of the suit. Thus, in the first case, the card
+being the eight of hearts, the address was written
+
+Mrs Sarah. I Smith
+
+--the period after _Sarah_ designated the suit, while _I_, the ninth
+letter of the alphabet, showed the number of spots on the card.
+
+
+
+
+AN "OLD-FIELD" SCHOOL-GIRL.[1]
+
+[1] Begun in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE No. 857.
+
+BY MARION HARLAND.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Flea's horse threw up his head with a jerk, and wheeled partly around at
+the jerk upon the bridle; his rider flushed crimson, then grew white.
+
+"Father!" she gasped. "What did you say? Miss Emily! _my_ Miss Emily is
+going to marry that man?"
+
+"So it is said, lassie. I'm afraid it is true. There has been talk of it
+all winter, but I don't think the Major had any idea of how things were
+going until lately. Early in May Mr. Tayloe left Greenfield and went to
+board at Mr. Thompson's. Of course his moving from Greenfield, where he
+was so intimate, set tongues wagging; and then it came out that he and
+Miss Emily were engaged, and that her father opposed the match. I have
+asked no questions, but I cannot help seeing that the Major is not
+himself, and how he is ageing."
+
+"I don't see how Miss Emily can disobey such a good father," said Flea,
+indignantly. "His little finger-nail is worth more than forty thousand
+Jack Tayloes. If she knows how her father feels, she will surely give up
+all notion of that little--monster!"
+
+Her father looked amused.
+
+"He isn't a monster, but a well-born, well-educated gentleman, not
+bad-looking, and with a voice like a church organ. Your mother says he
+sang his way into Miss Emily's heart. I wonder the Major didn't suspect
+what might come of all their music and horseback rides and walks
+together; but he is so open-hearted and aboveboard himself that he
+probably set it down to young folks' natural enjoyment in each other's
+society. It hurts me to see him take it so hard. Miss Emily will be of
+age in a few months, and she can then marry anybody she chooses. Except
+that he has a hasty temper and an ugly way of showing it, I don't know
+that there is anything against him. She will have money enough for both.
+Her grandmother left her a nice little fortune, besides what the Major
+can give her."
+
+"Nothing against him!" burst forth Flea, passionately. "He is the
+wickedest man ever created. Mean, spiteful, deceitful, and cruel as a
+tiger. He looks like a tiger when his eyebrows draw together and his
+mouth draws up and the roots of his nose draw in. To think of his daring
+to lift his eyes to my sweet, pretty, darling Miss Emily! If I were her
+brother, I'd shoot him sooner than he should have her."
+
+"Lassie! lassie! That is strong language."
+
+"Not half as strong as he deserves, father. You don't guess what a
+creature he is. Aunt Jean never wrote to you about it, for she did not
+want to distress you; but poor Dee couldn't go to school for a month
+after he went to Philadelphia. He had terrible pains in his head and was
+sick at the stomach all the time, and she had him examined by a great
+doctor there, who said he had been seriously injured by so much beating
+on the head--that a little more of it would have made him an idiot. That
+monster of cruelty used to whack the poor boy every day with his heavy
+ruler, because he was slow at his lessons. Dee cannot study long now
+without having a sick headache. He can never be a learned scholar. And I
+did _so_ hope he would be a distinguished man! Instead of getting
+married, Mr. Tayloe ought to be put into the penitentiary. He deserves
+hanging--and worse."
+
+The rush of hot words choked her. Her father patted her shoulder
+soothingly.
+
+"Don't take it so to heart, dear child. It isn't like you to fly into
+such a passion."
+
+"I never knew that I had a bad temper until he brought it out." Flea
+could not be quieted. "He would have made me as wicked as himself if I
+hadn't fallen sick from his treatment of me, and then gone home with
+Aunt Jean. He will break Miss Emily's heart. He enjoys torturing
+helpless things, as a cat likes to torture a mouse. Where is he now that
+the school is closed for vacation?"
+
+"I think he has gone home. I have not seen or heard of him for a week
+and more."
+
+"I hope he will never come back. I hope he will die while he is away!"
+uttered Flea, savagely.
+
+"Fie! fie on you!" said her father, trying to look stern. "You'll make
+me afraid of you if you get so bloodthirsty. Never meddle with people's
+love-affairs, chick. It's worse than putting your fingers 'twixt bark
+and tree. Miss Emily knows her own business, and has a fine high spirit
+of her own."
+
+They were at the outer gate of the avenue leading to Greenfield, and he
+drew rein.
+
+"Would you mind riding with me as far as the stables? I won't keep you
+long. Or, perhaps you will go up to the house and see the ladies? They
+always ask kindly after you."
+
+Mrs. Duncombe was not at home, said a small darky who was pretending to
+sweep one corner of the piazza. "Miss 'Liza and Miss Em'ly is
+out-o'-doors somewhar," he added, staring at her until the round black
+eyes almost slipped out of the lids.
+
+"Don't you know me, Peter?" asked Flea, kindly.
+
+"Yaas, 'm. But you done got mighty pretty sence you been away."
+
+Flea's head was higher, her heart and step lighter, with natural
+pleasure in the honest praise, as she ran down the steps to look for the
+young ladies. She had determined to reason with Miss Emily, and could go
+about it in better style as the well-dressed niece of her Philadelphia
+aunt than the shabby child of the overseer would have presumed to do.
+She was glad she had grown prettier. She wanted to look like a lady.
+
+In crossing the lawn she saw, midway in the broad avenue cutting the
+grounds in two, what brought her courage down on the run and her hopes
+with it. She turned aside hastily into an arbor thickly draped with
+vines to take counsel with herself as to her next movement. Miss Emily,
+dressed in white, a garden hat set jauntily above her curls, sat upon a
+settee by Mr. Tayloe. Across the avenue Miss Eliza occupied another
+settee, and seemed absorbed in a book. Miss Emily was holding a
+handkerchief to her eyes, while Mr. Tayloe talked earnestly to her.
+Groups of children were playing on the other side of the lawn. Mr.
+Tayloe must be pretty confident of his ground to show himself in the
+sight of so many people.
+
+After five minutes of embarrassed waiting, Flea was on the point of
+going back to her horse unobserved, when Mr. Tayloe got up, stepped
+across the avenue, and shook hands in brotherly fashion with Miss Eliza,
+then, Miss Emily at his side, strolled down the walk in the direction of
+Flea's hiding-place. They passed so near to it that she could have
+knocked his hat off with her riding-whip. He was serious, but as bland
+as the plait between his eyebrows would allow him to look. He was
+talking low and impressively.
+
+"All you have to do is to be resolute," was all Flea could hear.
+
+"That is more easily said than done," Miss Emily began. The rest was
+lost to the eavesdropper.
+
+Her blood was at the boiling-point by the time the young lady returned
+alone. A smile hovered about her red lips, although her eyes were still
+moist. Flea stepped out of the arbor.
+
+"Miss Emily!"
+
+"Mercy on us!" in a faint scream. "Why, it is Flea Grigsby, as sure as
+I'm alive! Did you drop from the clouds? How you have grown, and how
+_nice_ you look! Ain't you going to kiss me, child?"
+
+The caress was almost wasted upon the excited girl.
+
+"Miss Emily"--driving straight at the point--"I have something
+particular to say to you. Won't you come in here?"
+
+Miss Emily followed her into the summer-house, dropped upon a seat, and
+drew her dress aside to make room for her guest.
+
+Flea spoke hurriedly, but her voice did not shake. She was too much
+wrought up to be diffident. "Miss Emily! they tell me you are going to
+marry Mr. Tayloe. You don't know how I love you. I can't remember the
+time when I didn't love and almost worship you. You've always been so
+kind and sweet that I couldn't have helped loving you even if you hadn't
+been so beautiful."
+
+Miss Emily leaned back on the bench, well pleased and smiling.
+
+"Oh, _come_ now, you've learned how to flatter in Philadelphia," she
+simpered, hitting Flea with the handkerchief that had wiped the tears
+from the blue eyes a little while ago. "And _who_, I should like to
+know, has been fibbing to you about my getting married?"
+
+Flea seized upon both the pretty hands, her face one flash of ecstasy.
+
+"I might have known it couldn't be true. Oh-h-h!" heaving a long,
+quivering sigh of relief. "If you only knew what I suffered when I heard
+you were to marry him! I couldn't bear the thought."
+
+"You jealous little puss!"
+
+Flea had sunk to her knees upon the gravelly floor of the arbor, and was
+gazing worshipfully into her idol's face. It was like the coming true of
+another fairy dream when the dainty white hands were laid one on each
+side of her flashed cheeks, and Miss Emily kissed her between the eyes.
+
+"You unreasonable little _monkey_! Do you want me to die an old _maid_?
+I declare"--inspecting the braided front of the habit-waist--"you look
+_real_ fashionable. And you used to be _such_ a tomboy that your poor
+mother threatened to make oznaburg frocks for you. But go on. Then you
+won't let me marry anybody?"
+
+"I didn't mean that," Flea protested. "But I heard that you were engaged
+to Mr. Tayloe, and it made me perfectly miserable, and I felt that if I
+could talk to you for five minutes you would change your mind. I'm so
+happy that it is nothing but a gossip's story."
+
+"What have you against poor Mr. Tayloe besides his admiration for a
+foolish little nobody like me?"
+
+Flea raised herself on her knees to bring her eyes on a level with her
+companion's. Her young face darkened.
+
+"You are not foolish or a nobody. You would be foolish if you were to
+marry that meanest, cruelest, hardest-hearted of all men. And you would
+be a nobody--worse than a nobody--when once he had you in his power.
+Your brothers can tell you how he used to whip the boys and ferule the
+girls' hands until they were blistered, and he grinning all the time. He
+tortures people for the love of torturing. He is a bully, and a coward,
+and a demon."
+
+"Are you calling Mr. Tayloe all those names?" interposed the listener,
+tartly.
+
+"Yes, Miss Em--"
+
+Before she could utter another syllable her idol drew away to get a
+better reach, and slapped her with all her might, first upon one cheek,
+then upon the other, until her astonished ears rang like an alarm-bell,
+then pushed her off so violently that she fell backward to the ground.
+Springing up, wild with shock and horror of it all, she faced a
+red-haired fury with glaring eyes and distorted features.
+
+"You impudent, low-lived minx!" said tones as vulgar as those of a
+scolding negress. "You ought to be tied up and whipped until you take
+back every word you have said. Who are _you_ that you come here to
+insult a gentleman in a lady's hearing? This comes of my taking notice
+of a low-down overseer's daughter, who is meaner than the dirt under my
+feet! Begone! and if you ever show your face here again I'll set the
+dogs on you!"
+
+Flea did not quite know where she was or what she was doing until she
+found herself in the saddle, gathering up the reins, and telling the
+negro who had brought the horse up to the inner gate for her to "tell
+Mr. Grigsby he would find her waiting for him under the big oak-tree on
+the road."
+
+She managed to get the words out without breaking down, and galloped
+along the avenue as if the dogs were already on her heels.
+
+Her father rejoined her in less than half an hour. She sat motionless
+upon the horse under the tree. The reins lay upon the docile animal's
+neck, and he was grazing in quiet satisfaction, unnoticed by his
+mistress. Mr. Grigsby must have remarked her white face and swollen eyes
+had he been less engrossed in his own thoughts.
+
+"Ready, lassie?" was all he said, and "Yes, father," was her only reply.
+
+They jogged, side by side, for a mile before either spoke again. The
+bitterest cup Experience had ever held to poor Flea's lips was pressed
+to them now, and the draught was the very wine of astonishment to her
+soul. Five months with Aunt Jean and in a Philadelphia school had not
+cured her of ambitious dreams. Miss Emily had still stood with her as
+the loveliest, daintiest, and gentlest of women. She had described her
+to her schoolmates as her "patron saint" and her "guardian angel." She
+had not doubted what would be the outcome of the plain talk she had
+sought with her angel. Miss Emily would be shocked at first, perhaps
+incredulous, but in the end she would fall weeping upon her neck, and
+sob in her ear, "My benefactress! from what an abyss of misery you have
+saved me!"
+
+Her dream had crashed into dust and ashes about her head. Something was
+gone forever out of her past, present, and future. There was no Miss
+Emily in all time for her, and, worst of all, there never had been. The
+shrill coarseness of the angry woman's speech, her inflamed face and
+threatening eyes, haunted Flea like a nightmare.
+
+Her father aroused himself at length. "I am a dull companion for you,
+lassie," he said, threading her horse's mane with his fingers. "But
+something has gone wrong--'agley,' as we Scotchmen say--at Greenfield
+that's set me to thinking about other wrong-doings that took place
+months ago. The dairy was robbed last night of a matter of fifty pounds
+of butter. The dogs made no noise, so the thieves were not strangers.
+The Major and Mr. Robert Duncombe searched the plantation this morning,
+and found nothing. The thieves, most likely, had a boat on the shore,
+and made off with the butter up to Richmond. You noticed, didn't you, as
+we rode by to-day that the haunted house had been pulled down?"
+
+"No, sir," answered Flea, in a dull tone. She had not seemed to listen
+until he asked the question.
+
+"You used to sing a song about it when you had the fever," resumed the
+father, in a would-be sprightly manner.
+
+"It began,
+
+  "'It stands beside the weedy way,'
+
+"and was really tolerable poetry as far as it went. It was queer it
+should run in your head just then when the Major and I had just found
+that the cabin was used as a hiding-place for stolen goods. It was a
+sort of robbers' cave, and we suspected the Fogg family to be the
+robbers. Mr Tayloe's watch and chain, that he had lost the day before in
+the school-house, were there in a bag packed to be carried off. You
+recollect that Mrs. Fogg was at the school-house that day!"
+
+Flea gave no sign of interest or surprise. She only said, in sullen
+bitterness, "I am sorry he ever found it."
+
+"My child!"
+
+"I am, father! I suppose I am wicked for feeling it, but I wish him all
+the harm in the world. The Foggs may be thieves and liars and a hundred
+other dreadful things. The worst of them is a saint compared with him."
+
+"We will let that pass. I promised once never to speak of that day
+again. I beg your pardon, my dear," said the father, gravely. There was
+no use in arguing against the girl's prejudice, in which, to tell the
+truth, he was beginning to share. "I was about to say that some strong
+measures must be taken to find out if the Foggs are really the
+ring-leaders of this gang, with the negroes to help them, or if this
+wretched family do all the stealing themselves. They have been tolerably
+quiet since the cabin was cleared out and pulled down, but this dairy
+business looks as if they were beginning business again. If we meet the
+Major on the road, I will speak to him about it. I wish now I had looked
+him up in the swamp when we saw Nell."
+
+They relapsed into silence. The country was stilling into the hush of a
+summer noon. But for the indescribable consciousness of the growth of
+green and flowering things that fills June days and nights--something
+which is not motion and surely is not rest, and is, most of all, like
+the full, slow, contented breathing of the world on which we live and
+that lives with us--everything except themselves and their horses seemed
+to be asleep as they passed into the grass-grown swamp road.
+
+"The day is getting hot," observed Mr. Grigsby, presently, "if the
+breeze should die away entirely we may expect a thunder-storm this
+afternoon."
+
+At that instant the neigh of a horse, clear and prolonged, pierced the
+noon-tide; another moment brought them again in sight of the low-hung
+gig and mare they had seen in the same spot an hour and a half ago. Nell
+had not stirred from her tracks, except to paw up the earth about her
+front right foot in anxiety or impatience. She looked around and neighed
+piteously.
+
+"Nell is getting hungry, poor thing!" said the overseer, stopping to pat
+her glossy neck. "The flies are troubling her, too. That is the worst of
+a blooded horse. The skin is as thin as a baby's. So, old lady!" and she
+threw her head down and up, and again whinnied. He went on brushing off
+the flies from her head and sides while he talked. "These swamp-flies
+bite sharply. Any other horse would try to get away. She is the
+best-broken beast in the State. If a cannon were fired off at her ear
+she would jump, but she'd never run. The Major broke her himself. It's
+odd where he is all this time."
+
+A vague uneasiness took hold of him. He looked about him anxiously.
+
+A large spruce-tree lay within ten feet of the gig. The branchy top had
+bent saplings and bushes down in its fall; the ground for many yards
+around was strewed with leaves and twigs. Flea glanced idly at the lower
+end of the trunk. She did not wish to meet Major Duncombe with the
+memory of the encounter with his daughter fresh in her mind. Still, if
+her father meant to wait for him, she had no choice. She could never
+tell how she chanced to notice that the trunk was hollow, and had been
+partly cut through by the axe. Beyond the cut the wood and bark were
+splintered roughly.
+
+"Do you suppose he could have been here when that tree fell?" she said.
+"Could that have been what we heard as we came through the woods this
+morning? Oh, father!"
+
+He looked in the direction of her pointing finger, threw himself from
+his saddle, and hurried into the swamp.
+
+[Illustration: HE WAS TEARING AWAY THE BOUGHS IN FRANTIC HASTE.]
+
+A man's hat lying just beyond the branches of the fallen tree had
+attracted Flea's eye. When she had slipped from her horse and followed
+her father into the thicket, he was tearing away the boughs in frantic
+haste from Major Duncombe's face. The upper part of the prostrate trunk
+lay right across his chest.
+
+It must have killed him instantly.
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+RICK DALE.
+
+BY KIRK MUNROE.
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+MOUNT RAINIER PLACED UNDERFOOT.
+
+
+The summit of Mount Rainier has only been gained by way of its southern
+slope, the much steeper and more dangerous northern face having never
+been scaled. Even over the comparatively easy slope of the south side
+but one practicable trail has been discovered, and it leads by way of
+the Cleaver. This gigantic ridge of rock, like the backbone of some
+colossal monster, forms a divide between the upper Nisqually and Cowlitz
+glaciers. Its sides are overlaid with confused masses of bowlders and
+treacherous gravel, through which appear at intervals sheer cliffs and
+bare ledges of solid rock. The Cleaver leads to a mighty mass of
+granite, a mountain in itself, that is fittingly called the Gibraltar of
+Mount Rainier. It bars a further passage to all save the strongest
+climbers, and to these it affords the only means of access to the lofty
+realms beyond. Here is the most perilous part of the ascent, and, with
+Gibraltar once passed, the summit is almost certain of attainment.
+
+It seemed to our weary lads that they had barely fallen asleep when they
+were wakened by a rude shaking and the voice of their Siwash guide,
+exclaiming:
+
+"Come, come, lazy boy! Wake up! wake up! 'Mos' _sitkum sun_ [noon].
+Breakfus! breakfus!"
+
+"'Most noon!" growled Bonny, crawling reluctantly from his sleeping-bag,
+rubbing his eyes, and shivering in the bitter cold. "'Most mid-night,
+more likely."
+
+"Alle same, _sitkum sun_ some place; don't he?" queried the Indian,
+laughing at his own joke.
+
+By the time they had swallowed a cup of tepid tea, and lightened their
+packs by making a hearty meal of cold meat and hard bread, dawn was
+breaking, and there was light enough to pick their way up the
+treacherous slope of the Cleaver. As they cautiously advanced, many a
+bowlder slipped from beneath their feet and bounded with mighty leapings
+into the depths behind them. Dodging these, sliding in the loose
+gravels, lifting and pulling each other up rocky faces from one narrow
+ledge to another, and ever looking upward, they finally gained the
+summit of the mighty ridge.
+
+From here they could gaze down the opposite slope nearly a thousand feet
+to the gleaming surface of the great Cowlitz glacier, with so much of
+its ruggedness smoothed away by distance that it looked a river of milk
+with a line of black drift in its centre, flowing swiftly through a
+rock-walled cañon and pouring into a sea of cloud. On the far southward
+horizon could be seen the glistening cone of Mount Hood, kissed by
+earliest sunbeams, and in the middle distance the volcanic peaks of St.
+Helens and Adams. Near at hand, pinnacles of the Tatoosh Range were
+breaking through the clouds like rocky islets in a billowy sea. Before
+them the rugged backbone of the Cleaver, stripped of every particle of
+its earthy flesh, stretched away in quick ascent to the frowning mass of
+Gibraltar.
+
+The Cleaver carried them half-way up the sombre face of this mighty
+rock, and from that point's narrow ledge creeping diagonally up the
+precipice at a steep angle was the trail they must follow. Not only was
+this rocky pathway steep and narrow, but it shelved away from the wall,
+and in many places afforded only a treacherous foothold. At any point
+along its length a slip, a misstep, or an attack of dizziness would mean
+almost certain destruction.
+
+Foot by foot and yard by yard M. Filbert's little party ascended this
+perilous way, here walking and trusting to their alpenstocks for
+support; there crawling on hands and knees. Sometimes one would go
+cautiously ahead over a place of peculiar danger, with an end of the
+rope firmly knotted beneath his arms, while his companions, with firm
+bracings, retained the other part, ready to haul him up if by chance he
+should plunge over the verge and dangle above the abyss at the end of
+his slender tether.
+
+[Illustration: THE ICE ABOVE GIBRALTAR.]
+
+At the terminus of the ledge they were confronted by a sloping wall of
+solid ice, in which they must cut steps and grip-holes for feet and
+hands. As they slowly and painfully worked their way up this precarious
+ladder they were continually pelted by pebbles and good-sized stones
+loosened by the sun from an upper cliff of frozen gravel.
+
+At length the toilsome ascent was safely accomplished, and with a
+panting shout from Alaric and a hurrah from Bonny, the whole party stood
+on the summit of that mountain Gibraltar. Here they rested and lunched;
+then, full of eager impatience, pushed on over the narrow causeway
+connecting the mighty rock with the vastly mightier snow-cap beyond.
+
+This snow, that had looked so faultlessly smooth from below, was found
+to be drifted and packed into high ridges, over which they slowly
+toiled, frequently pausing for breath, and inhaling the rarefied air
+with quick gaspings. At length a bottomless crevasse yawned before them,
+spanned only by a narrow bridge of snow. With an end of the rope knotted
+beneath his arms, Bonny, being the lightest, essayed to cross it. Before
+he reached the farther side the treacherous support broke beneath him,
+and, with a frightened cry, Alaric saw his comrade plunge out of sight
+in the yawning chasm. He brought up with a heavy jerk at the end of the
+rope, and they cautiously drew him back to where they stood.
+
+As he reappeared above the edge of the opening his face was very pale,
+but he called out, cheerfully. "It's all right, Rick! Don't fret!"
+
+After a long search they discovered another bridge, and it bore them
+across in safety, one at a time, but all securely roped together.
+Finally, late in the afternoon, the longed-for summit was attained, and
+though nearly toppled over by a furious wind, they stood triumphant on
+the rocky rim of its ancient crater. This was half a mile in diameter,
+and filled with snow, but its opposite or northern side was the highest.
+So to it they made their weary way, following the rocky path afforded by
+the rim, and barely able to hold their footing against the wind.
+
+When they at last attained the point of their ambition, a reading of the
+barometer showed them to be standing at a height of 14,444 feet above
+sea-level, and with exulting hearts they realized that, as Bonny
+expressed it, they had put the highest peak of the Cascade Range beneath
+their feet.
+
+The view that greeted them from that lofty outlook was so wonderful and
+far-reaching that for a while they gazed in awed silence. Mount Baker,
+two hundred miles away, close to the British line, was clearly visible,
+as were the notable peaks to the southward, even beyond the distant
+Columbia and over the Oregon border.
+
+"C'est grand! c'est magnifique! c'est terrible!" exclaimed M. Filbert,
+at length breaking the silence.
+
+As for Alaric! To have achieved that summit was the greatest triumph of
+his life; but his heart was too full for utterance, and he could only
+gaze in speechless delight.
+
+The Indian too gazed in silence as, leaning on his ice-axe, he
+contemplated the outspread empire that but a few years before had
+belonged solely to the people of his race.
+
+Bonny was as deeply impressed as either of his companions, but found it
+necessary to express his feelings in words. "This must be the top of the
+world!" he cried; "and I do believe we can see it all. I tell you what
+it is, Rick Dale, I've learned something about mountains this day, and
+now I know that they are the grandest things in all creation."
+
+At their feet the rock wall dropped so sheer and smooth that no man
+might climb it, and then came the snow, sweeping steeply downward for
+miles apparently without a break. Far beyond lay the vast sea of forest,
+seeming to cover the whole earth with its green mantle. The gleaming
+glaciers, looking like foaming cascades frozen into rigidity, were
+swallowed by it and hidden. It rolled in billows over the mighty
+mountain flanks that radiated from where they stood like the spokes of a
+colossal wheel, and dipped into the intervening valleys. Nowhere was it
+broken, save by the few bald peaks that struggled above it and by the
+threadlike waters of Puget Sound. Even on the west there was no ocean,
+for the volcanic, snow-crowned Olympics, one of which was smoking, as
+though in eruption, hid it from view.
+
+Our lads could have gazed entranced for hours on the crowding marvels
+outspread before them had they been warmed and fed and rested and
+sheltered from the fierce blasts of icy wind that threatened to hurl
+them from the parapet on which they stood. As it was, night was at hand,
+they were faint and trembling from weariness, and wellnigh perished with
+the stinging cold. It was high time to turn from gazing and seek
+shelter.
+
+Inside the crater's rim numerous steam jets issued from fissures in the
+rocky wall, and these had carved out caverns from the adjacent ice. Here
+there were roomy chambers, steam-heated and storm-proof, awaiting
+occupancy, and to one of these M. Filbert led the way.
+
+In this place of welcome shelter numbed fingers were thawed to further
+usefulness by the grateful steam, a small fire was lighted, packs were
+opened, and in less than an hour a bountiful supper of hot tea, venison
+frizzled over the coals, toasted hard-bread, and prunes was being
+enjoyed by as hungry and jubilant a party as ever bivouacked at the
+summit of Mount Rainier.
+
+After supper the Frenchman lighted a cigarette, the Indian puffed with
+an air of intense satisfaction at an ancient pipe, our lads toasted
+their stockinged feet before the few remaining embers of the fire, and,
+in various languages, all four discussed the adventures of the day.
+
+Although they had much to say, their conversation hour was soon ended by
+their weariness and by the ever-increasing cold which even a jet of
+volcanic steam could not exclude from that chamber of ice. So they
+speedily slipped into their sleeping-bags, and, lying close together for
+greater warmth, prepared to spend a night under the very strangest
+conditions that Alaric and Bonny, at least, had ever encountered.
+
+Some hours later the occupants of the ice-cave became conscious of the
+howlings of a storm that shrieked and roared above their heads with the
+fury of ten thousand demons; but knowing that it could not penetrate
+their retreat, they gave it but slight heed, and quickly dropped again
+into the sleep of weariness.
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+BLOWN FROM THE RIM OF A CRATER.
+
+When our lads next awoke they were oppressed with a sense of suffocation
+and uncomfortable warmth. It was still dark, and M. Filbert was striking
+a match in order to look at his watch.
+
+"Seven o'clock!" he cried, incredulously. "How can it be?"
+
+"_Cole suass!_" (snow) exclaimed the Indian, to whom the flare of light
+had instantly disclosed the cause of both darkness and suffocation. The
+cave was much smaller than when they entered it, and was also full of
+steam. Its walls were covered with moisture, and rivulets of water
+trickled over the floor.
+
+"_Cultus snow!_ Heap plenty! Too much! _Mamook ilahie_" (must dig),
+continued the Indian, springing to his feet, and making an attack on the
+drifted snow that had completely choked the cavern's mouth. When he had
+excavated a burrow the length of his body, Bonny took his place, while
+Alaric and M. Filbert removed the loosened snow to the back of the cave,
+where they packed it as closely as possible.
+
+Although a faint light soon appeared in the tunnel, it was a full hour
+before it was dug to the surface of the tremendous drift and a rush of
+cold air was admitted.
+
+A glance outside showed that while no snow was falling at that moment,
+the day was dark and gloomy, and the mountain was enveloped in clouds
+that were driven in swirling eddies by fierce gusts of wind.
+
+In spite of the threatening weather, M. Filbert declared that they must
+begin their retreat at once, as they had but one day's supply of food
+left, while the storm might burst upon them again at any minute and
+continue indefinitely. So, after a hasty meal of biscuit and cold meat,
+the little party sallied forth. The Indian, having no longer a burden of
+fire-wood, relieved Alaric of his camera, and led the way. M. Filbert
+followed, then came Alaric, while Bonny brought up the rear.
+
+Oh, how cold it was! and how awful! To be sure, the dangers surrounding
+them were hidden by impenetrable clouds, but they had already seen them,
+and knew of their presence. As they started to traverse the rocky
+crater rim that still rose slightly above the snow, the entire summit
+was visible; but a few minutes later a furious gust of wind again
+shrouded it in clouds so dense as to completely hide objects only a few
+feet away.
+
+Just then Alaric tripped on one of his boot-lacings that had become
+unfastened, and very nearly fell. That was no place for tripping, and
+such a thing must not happen again. So he paused to secure the loosened
+lacing, and, as he stooped over it, Bonny cried impatiently from behind:
+
+"Hurry up, Rick! the others are already out of sight, and it will never
+do to lose them in this fog."
+
+The necessity for haste only caused the lad's numbed fingers to fumble
+the more awkwardly, and several precious minutes were thus wasted.
+
+With his task completed, Alaric, full of nervous dread, started to run
+after their vanished companions, slipped on a bit of glare ice at a
+place where the narrow path slanted down and out, and pitched headlong.
+Bonny saw his danger, sprang to his assistance, slipped on the same
+treacherous ice, and in another moment both lads had plunged over the
+outer verge of the sheer wall.
+
+Neither Alaric nor Bonny could ever afterwards tell whether they fell
+twenty feet or two hundred in that terrible, breathless plunge. Almost
+with the first knowledge of their situation they found themselves
+struggling in a drift of soft, fresh-fallen snow, and a moment afterward
+rolling, bounding, and shooting with frightful velocity down an icy
+rooflike slope of interminable length.
+
+At length, after what seemed an eternity of this terrible experience,
+though in reality it lasted but a few minutes, they were flung into a
+narrow snow-filled valley that cut their course at a sharp angle, and
+found themselves lying within a few feet of each other, dazed and sorely
+bruised, but apparently with unbroken bones, and certainly still alive.
+
+As they slowly gained a sitting posture and gazed curiously at each
+other, Bonny said, impressively:
+
+"Rick Dale, before we go any further I want to take back all I ever said
+about the life of a sailor being exciting, for it isn't a circumstance
+to that of an interpreter."
+
+"Oh, Bonny, it is so good to hear your voice again! Wasn't it awful? and
+how do you suppose we can ever get back?"
+
+"Get back!" cried the other. "Well, if we had wings we might fly back;
+but there's no other way that I know of. We must be a mile from our
+starting-point, and even to reach the foot of the place where we dove
+off we'd have to cut steps in the ice every inch of the way. That would
+probably take a couple of days, and when we got there we'd have to turn
+around and come down again, for nothing except a bird could ever scale
+that wall."
+
+"Then what shall we do?"
+
+"Keep on as we have begun, I suppose, only a little slower, I hope,
+until we reach the timber-line, and then try and follow it to camp."
+
+"I wonder if we can?"
+
+"Of course we can, for we've got to."
+
+Painfully the lads gained their feet, and with cautious steps began to
+explore their surroundings. They walked side by side for a few yards,
+and then each clutched the other as though to draw him back. They were
+on the brink of a precipice over which another step would have carried
+them.
+
+While they hesitated, not knowing which way to turn nor what to do, the
+clouds below them rolled away, though above and back of them they
+remained as dense as ever, and a view of what lay before them was
+unfolded.
+
+Rocks, ice, and snow; sheer walls on either side of them, and a
+precipitous slope forming an almost vertical descent of a thousand feet
+in front. There were but three things to do: Go back the way they had
+come, which was so wellnigh impossible that they did not give it a
+second thought; remain where they were, which meant a certain and speedy
+death; or make their way down that rocky wall. They crept to its brink
+and looked over, anxiously scanning its every feature and calculating
+their chances. The first thirty feet were sheer and smooth. Then came a
+narrow shelf, below which they could see others at irregular intervals.
+
+"There is only one way to do it," said Bonny, "and that is by the rope.
+I will go first, and you must follow."
+
+"I'll try," replied Alaric, with a very pale face but a brave voice.
+
+So Bonny, with the knowledge of knots that he had learned on shipboard,
+made a noose that would not slip in one end of their rope, tied half a
+dozen knots along its length for hand-holds, and fastened its other end
+about his body. Then he looped the noose over a jutting point of rock,
+and, slipping cautiously over the brink, allowed himself to slide slowly
+down.
+
+It made Alaric so giddy to watch him that he closed his eyes, nor did he
+open them until a cheery "All right, Rick!" assured him of his comrade's
+safety. Now came his turn, and as he hung by that slender cord he was
+devoutly thankful for the strength that the past few weeks had put into
+his arms. He too reached the ledge in safety, and then, with great
+difficulty, on account of the narrowness of their foothold, they managed
+to whip the noose off its resting-place. Now they _must_ go forward, for
+there was no longer a chance of going back. In vain, though, did they
+search that smooth ledge for a point that would hold their noose. There
+was none, and the next shelf was twenty feet below.
+
+"We must climb it, Rick, and this time you must go first. Put the loop
+under your arms, and I will do my best to hold you if you slip; but
+don't take any chances, or count too much on me being able to do it."
+
+There were little cracks and slight projections. Bonny held the rope
+reassuringly taut, and at length the feat was accomplished. Then Alaric
+took in the slack of the rope as Bonny, tied to its other end, made the
+same perilous descent.
+
+So, with strained arms and aching legs, and fingers worn to the quick
+from clutching the rough granite, they made their slow way from ledge to
+ledge, gaining courage and coolness as they successfully overcame each
+difficulty, until they estimated that they had descended fully five
+hundred feet. Now came another smooth face absolutely without a crevice
+that they could discover, and the next ledge below was further away than
+the length of their dangling rope. There was, however, a projection
+where they stood over which they could loop the noose.
+
+"We've got it to do," said Bonny, stoutly, "and I only hope the drop at
+the end isn't so long as it looks." Thus saying, he slipped cautiously
+over the edge, let himself down to the end of the rope, dropped ten
+feet, staggered, and seemed about to fall, but saved himself by a
+violent effort. Alaric followed, and also made the drop, but whirled
+half round in so doing, and but for Bonny's quick clutch would have gone
+over the edge.
+
+There was now no way of recovering their useful rope; and fortunately,
+though they sorely needed it at times, they found no other place
+absolutely impossible without it. Now came a rude granite stairway with
+steps fit for a giant, and then a long slope of loose bowlders, that
+rocked and rolled from beneath their feet as they sprang from one to
+another. They crossed the rugged ice of a glacier, whose innumerable
+crevasses intersected like the wrinkles on an old man's face, and had
+many hair-breadth escapes from slipping into their deadly depths of
+frozen blue. Then came a vast snow-field, over which they tramped for
+miles with weary limbs but light hearts, for the terrors of the mountain
+were behind them and the timber-line was in sight. Darkness had already
+overtaken them when they came to a steep rock-strewn slope, down which
+they ran with reckless speed. They were near its bottom when a bowlder
+on which Bonny had just leaped rolled from under him, and he fell
+heavily in a bed of jagged rocks.
+
+As he did not regain his feet, Alaric sprang to his side. The poor lad
+who had so stoutly braved the countless perils of the day was moaning
+pitifully, and as his friend bent anxiously over him he said, in a
+feeble voice,
+
+"I'm afraid, old man, that I'm done for at last, for it feels as though
+every bone in my body was broken."
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+RIGS AND MAKESHIFTS OF THE SMALL BOAT.
+
+BY DUDLEY D. F. PARKER.
+
+
+While a boy may not have occasion or the good fortune to handle or own a
+large boat, he is almost certain, if he lives near water, to have
+something to do with a bateau, skiff, or small boat of some character.
+Or perchance he may own a row-boat of the St. Lawrence skiff variety,
+and may wish to put a sail on it. Now there is nothing more clumsy and
+dangerous than a badly rigged small boat. By badly rigged is not meant
+only the boat whose spars are imperfect, or other things connected with
+her rig radically wrong, but also the boat that carries a rig that may
+be perfectly suitable for another class, but is entirely out of place in
+one of this size. A thing to be avoided in all small boats is
+unnecessary rigging; too many halyards and sheet ropes are in the way,
+and, where the rigging is on a very small scale, are very apt to get
+tangled or out of order when most wanted. So it may readily be seen
+that, for instance, the jib-and-mainsail rig of a twenty-five-foot boat,
+with its accompanying number of sheets, stays, and halyards would be
+totally out of place in a fourteen-foot bateau. The whole attention of
+the natives or "shell-backs" in or near our fishing villages has been
+devoted to the originating of makeshifts for the avoidance of everything
+that makes the construction and handling of a boat more difficult. Their
+idea seems to have been that anything that could be accomplished without
+the aid of mechanical means, simply by the use of a little extra muscle,
+had better be done that way.
+
+[Illustration: PLATE 1.]
+
+[Illustration: PLATE 2.]
+
+[Illustration: PLATE 3.]
+
+It might be said that in the small boat are seen the various rigs, in
+their simplicity, whose principles have been elaborated and altered to
+meet the different conditions required. Taking them in order of
+simplicity, we first come to the "leg-o'-mutton" rig. Here only two
+spars are used, and no halyards. In No. 1 (Plate I) the boom has no
+jaws, and is held in place at the mast by catching the projecting end in
+a sling, and by poking the other end through a cringle in the leech. The
+only lacing required is to fasten the sail to the mast, the sail only
+being fastened to the boom (more properly sprit) at the points
+mentioned. If it is found to bag, the remedy is to shorten the sling
+until the sail sets flatly. This can never be entirely accomplished, as
+the sail, being supported by the boom only at the extreme outer end and
+the mast at the other, is very apt to stretch in a stiff breeze.
+
+Advancing a step, we come to the remedy of this trouble (Fig. 2, Plate
+I). It is the introduction of jaws at the mast, instead of the rope
+sling. The tendency to bag is removed, as the sail is fastened at
+frequent intervals by lacing to the boom, along which it may be kept
+stretched tightly. Also the tendency of the boom to slide forward is
+effaced as it butts up against the mast. In this method a much lighter
+spar can be used, as the strain is made to come more or less throughout
+its whole length, whilst in the first-mentioned it comes wholly at the
+ends. The principal objection against the "leg-o'-mutton" rig in general
+is the great length of mast required. This is one of its most serious
+drawbacks, and the other is the inability to reef the sail. Of course
+modifications of this rig have been made, introducing halyards and
+supplying reef points, but a discussion of that is beyond the scope of
+this paper, such modifications being rarely seen on a small boat.
+
+As mention has been made of lacing a sail to spars, perhaps it would be
+just as well to digress a little here, and speak of three well-known
+methods of lacing. The first, A, (Plate III), is the simplest and about
+as effective as any. The sail is fastened to the boom by an
+"over-and-over" lacing. In B, the sail is held by a series of
+"half-hitches," and in the third, or C, the lacing runs through eyes
+screwed into the boom.
+
+The next step in rendering the rig more compact is to shorten the mast.
+This can only be done at the cost of an increase in the complexity of
+the rigging. A new spar is introduced, and the sail is cut down from a
+triangle to an area having four sides. Some means had to be found to
+support the upper edge, and a study of the last three sail plans will
+show some of the methods in use. Figs. 3 and 4 are nearly equal, as far
+as simplicity goes, though Fig. 3 is simpler on account of the absence
+of lacings on the upper edge. This is commonly known as the
+"sprit-sail," and, taking all things into consideration, it seems to be
+the most efficient and handiest of all the rigs. Of course it is not as
+efficient in some respects as the sail in Fig. 5, the same trouble being
+experienced on the top edge as in the "leg-o'-mutton"--bagging--but it
+possesses the advantage of greater simplicity. If we examine this rig we
+will readily see that it is any large fore-and-aft sail reduced to its
+simplest form. We find, instead of the gaff and the two halyards to hold
+the sail up, all this is replaced by the simple device of the pole
+(sprit), one end of which is stuck in a cringle in the upper corner of
+the sail, and the other caught in a sling. The sail does not move on the
+mast, and is laced to it. The boom has jaws at the mast, and the sail is
+laced on, or sometimes the device shown in No. 1 is resorted to, though
+the former method will be found to make this sail set better. There are
+no reef points, and the only way to reef is to drop the peak by removing
+the sprit. Of course it must be understood that this rig is not at all
+practicable in a boat of any size, but in any of about the size of a
+row-boat it will be found to be most convenient.
+
+In the next device (No. 4) we approach nearer to the regular
+"fore-and-aft" sail. There can be seen the introduction of a yard to
+which the upper edge of the sail is laced, as to the ordinary gaff. No
+halyards are used, and the yard is lashed to the mast, and held at the
+proper angle to keep the sail flat by a rope fastening its lower
+extremity to the mast. The only objection to this rig is that the yard
+has a tendency to give and to permit the sail to bag. This rig is
+frequently seen on duck-boats. There is no method of reefing except
+dropping the yard, unless reef points are introduced.
+
+[Illustration: A DUCK-BOAT TYPE.]
+
+Taking a step further we come to the "fore-and-aft" sail proper. Here we
+find the introduction of a gaff, which might be looked upon as the
+shortening of the yard in the preceding rig. There are jaws on both boom
+and gaff, and the sail is movable on the mast, being usually held on by
+loops, the gaff moving up and down. To take the place of the lashings in
+the preceding rigs, ropes (halyards) fastened to this spar and passing
+through blocks at the mast-head and so down have been introduced.
+Because of the ability to hoist and lower the sail, reefing is
+accomplished by a row, or rows, of little ropes (reef points), by which
+it is tied down, thus reducing it to almost any size desired according
+to the number of reefs tied in. Most small sails of this character have
+at least one row, and some two; though the small cat-boat usually has
+three. In a previous article (HARPER'S ROUND TABLE, No. 827) a
+description of how to tie a reef in the sail of a larger boat was given.
+The principle is the same in all sized sails, and perhaps it will only
+be necessary to add here that the reef points are not tied around the
+boom but around the part of the sail taken in by the reef (D, Plate
+III). The stop at the outer cringle, however, is tied around the boom. A
+simple means of reefing, which may be used in all the rigs except the
+first, is by rows of holes of the same character as the leech cringle;
+and after pulling the sail down to the proper distance (most sails laced
+to the mast can, with a little care, be moved), hold the reef in by a
+single lacing through them, in the same manner as the sail is laced on
+in A. A stop at the leech is required, as in the preceding method.
+
+[Illustration: ST. LAWRENCE SKIFF WITH FORE-AND-AFT SAIL.]
+
+Many combinations are made with the jib. There seems to be about only
+one common way of rigging a jib for a small boat. A pretty clear idea
+may be gained from the sketch (Plate I). As may be seen, no stay is
+used, the sail usually being bound with a rope, which gives it
+sufficient strength; no halyard is used, either the jib being lashed to
+the mast, and lowered and hoisted when it is stepped or unstepped. The
+lower edge is laced to a boom, which is secured to the bow with a
+lashing about four inches long, a third of its length projecting. The
+sheet rope is fastened to the inner extremity. The most common
+combination is the jib and sprit-sail, generally known as the "skiff
+rig" (see sketch). It is quite often used with one of the
+"leg-o'-mutton" sails. The most general use of the "leg-o'-mutton"
+types, however, is either two together, as in the sharpie rig, or
+separately as the only sail in the boat.
+
+[Illustration: A SHARPIE-RIGGED OYSTER-BOAT.]
+
+Perhaps a few words on the spars would be in place here. First, taking
+the stick itself; it should always be a straight-grained piece of wood,
+as free from knots as possible, and well seasoned. The several spars
+require different degrees of tapering. The aim of the taper is to reduce
+weight, by concentrating the greatest amount of material at the point
+most strained, and removing the surplus. The mast should leave little
+taper, except in the "leg-o'-mutton"--where it is tapered very much
+towards the head--and ought to be nearly the same size throughout its
+whole length, the thickest part, if any, from a short distance above the
+deck or brace to a few inches below. It should have a slight taper at
+the head and a pretty good sized one at the heel where it enters the
+step. The boom should have a slight gradual taper, the thickest part
+being between a quarter and a third of the distance from the mast to the
+end of the spar, and the mast end much heavier than the other. The
+making of the jaws has been described in a previous article (HARPER'S
+ROUND TABLE, No. 818). The thickest part of the gaff should be about a
+third of the distance from the mast. The sprit should be about the same
+thickness throughout its entire length. In the yard rig the thickest
+part of the yard should be in about the same relative position to the
+mast as it is in the gaff.
+
+[Illustration: A DOUBLE-END CLAM-BOAT.]
+
+Turning now to the rigging of the boat; the only one of the rigs
+requiring halyards is the fore-and-aft sail (No. 5). The method of
+threading can readily be understood from a study of the sketch. No. 5
+(Plate II) is only practicable for a small boat, but No. 6 is more
+suitable for a larger one. About the only other thing requiring mention
+in the rigging are the different methods of reeving the sheet rope. No.
+1 and No. 2 are the simplest, the only difference between them being the
+positions of the fastened ends. In the first the end is secured to the
+boat, and in the second it is fastened to the boom. The device shown in
+the third sketch is a trifle more complicated. The fourth one is the
+most intricate of all, but has the least drag on the sheet, as every
+time the rope passes over a wheel in a block by so much is the pull
+diminished. This rig requires the introduction of a double block on the
+traveller, and perhaps a snatch block to ease the pull when close
+hauled.
+
+As blocks have been mentioned, perhaps it would be as well to say that
+small galvanized iron blocks can be procured at very little cost, and
+will accomplish all that is required of them. Of course, if the boat's
+owner is inclined to spend more money, wooden blocks will make the
+rigging neater and run easier. Travellers are used to fasten sheet ropes
+to the boat, and may be made in two ways, either out of iron or rope.
+The iron traveller in this case is an iron rod carrying a ring to which
+the block is attached, bent down at the ends, which are threaded and
+fastened with nuts through the stern. The rope traveller is a strong
+cotton rope, the ends fastened on each side of the boat, and the rope
+passing through a ring on the lower side of the block. In the rigging
+may be also included the cleats for belaying the halyards and sheets.
+For the halyards, and for purposes where it is desirable to fasten the
+rope securely and for some time, a cleat shaped like E is best; but if
+it is desired to fasten the rope temporarily, or to use it as a means of
+breaking the pull on the rope, the jam-cleat F is the most efficient, a
+turn or two causing the rope to jam. Leaving the rigging, we will turn
+to the boat proper.
+
+[Illustration: SKIFF-RIGGED BATEAU.]
+
+There are three methods of keeping a boat from making leeway (going
+side-ways)--by a centre-board, leeboard, or keel. The last is
+impracticable for a small boat, and will not be considered. There are
+two varieties of centreboards in use--the ordinary drop pattern, as used
+in the larger boats, and the dagger. The drop is generally triangular in
+shape, held in place by a pin at the lower corner of the trunk passing
+through the apex. The dagger is only a board or board shaving a
+projecting cap on the top, so that it will not fall through the trunk,
+and is lifted entirely clear when not wanted. The drop pattern is a
+little more convenient, but somewhat difficult to make. The drop is just
+as efficient, and can never get out of order, whilst easily replaced if
+broken. It is the one most used by the "natives." The only danger of
+this board, and one that must be always borne in mind when sailing in
+waters where bars abound, is that it cannot raise up when it strikes an
+obstruction as the drop will, and, if you are not watchful, may upset
+your boat. The leeboard seems only a miserable apology at the best, and
+is only pardonable when you do not desire to cut a hole in your boat's
+bottom to build a trunk. The only practicable method is to make a
+movable board with clamps that fit over the gunwale, and move it to the
+lee side as the boat's course changes. In a previous article (HARPER'S
+ROUND TABLE No. 818) there has been described how to make a rudder with
+tiller and yoke-line attachments, and it will be unnecessary to go into
+details here. The yoke lines are sometimes the only way of steering in
+some types of boats, as, for example, the St. Lawrence skiffs. In the
+sea skiffs and river bateaux there is an extremely simple means of
+steering by an oar. It is held in two places, either in a lock or groove
+cut in the stern-board or under the lee counter. The stern oar is used
+in much the same manner as a rudder, but the lee oar is kept out of the
+water most of the time, only being immersed when the boat begins to
+fetch up, and taken out as soon as this tendency is corrected. The
+reason of this is that the oar, being rested against the gunwale,
+projects over the side at quite an angle from the fore and aft, and
+hence, if kept in all the time, it would throw the boat's head off.
+
+There is quite an extensive use of the jib in this class of boats. The
+jib can be made to exert quite an influence on the boat's speed, and if
+the sails are nearly balanced the boat can be held on a straight course
+by proper trimming. It is only by experience that the trim of the jib
+can be learned, as it depends on the balancing of the sails, on how
+close you are sailing, and on the strength of the wind. When going about
+let slack the jib-sheet just before the boat begins to round up,
+trimming it again when on the other tack. If the jib is out too far it
+has a tendency to flap, and if too flat, there is a tendency of the
+boat's head to fall off the wind.
+
+
+
+
+A SKATING ADVENTURE.
+
+
+Tim lived in Minnesota. His mother had forbidden his attending a skating
+carnival that was to be held at some lumber mills ten miles down the
+river. Against her orders, however, Tim had clapped on his skates, and
+was whirring along the frozen stream.
+
+He kept in the middle of the stream to avoid the dark shadows cast by
+the trees and any soft ice along the banks. It was a beautiful moonlight
+night, sharp and cold. The pine and fir trees along the banks
+crystallized with ice crackled as the wind sighed through them. He had
+gone about five miles, and was speeding along past some small brush that
+lined the bank, when he heard the noise of something heavy crashing
+through it. The thought of wolves came to his mind, and he grew
+frightened.
+
+He looked in the direction of the sounds, and there, skulking along, was
+a dark shadow, surely a wolf. Thoroughly frightened, he paused, and then
+thinking he would not be noticed, slowly turned, and began skating back.
+But the dark shadow hesitated, and then also turned and followed him.
+Tim skated faster and faster, but on came the shadow. Fear now fell upon
+him and lent him additional speed, and his skates fairly hummed along
+over the ice.
+
+The dark shadow had left the bank, and had taken to the centre of the
+frozen stream, bounding along after Tim with rapid leaps. As Tim glanced
+back he was sure he could see the red distended nostrils and gleaming
+eyes of the wolf, his tongue hanging from his mouth.
+
+Every now and then came the sharp yelp of the animal, and on the still
+air he could plainly hear its panting breath. "Oh, why did I come?" he
+thought, and the tears froze on his cheeks. At last a light appeared. It
+was his house. He knew that wolves seldom enter a clearing or village,
+and with renewed efforts he made for the foot of his garden, that
+bordered on the river. But on came the panting shadow, and as he reached
+the garden and attempted to run up the bank his skates tripped him. With
+a loud cry for help he fell.
+
+When he came to, the blue starry sky stared down at him, and the fearful
+dark shadow was softly licking his face. Then Tim saw what a coward he
+had been, for it was neighbor Ransom's big Newfoundland dog that had
+been lost a couple of days before.
+
+The dog, seeing and recognizing Tim, had joyfully chased after him,
+doubtless thinking he was skating away from him in fun. Tim got up
+slowly, thoroughly frightened by his evening's adventure, and unclamping
+his skates, determined that he would never disobey his mother again.
+
+
+
+
+GYPSY'S FURY.
+
+BY WILLIAM HEMMINGWAY.
+
+
+Of all the wild animals tamed by man, the elephant is in many respects
+the most dangerous and treacherous. All old animal-trainers know that.
+In spite of the many tales that are told about the good nature and
+honesty of these gigantic brutes, no experienced man will trust them.
+You will notice, for example, at the circus, that the man who puts the
+herd of elephants through a lot of tricks always faces them, or, if he
+turns his back, he does so only for an instant. And while the crowd is
+applauding the evolutions and capers of the big fellows, you will notice
+half a dozen helpers armed with elephant hooks ready to jump into the
+ring and help the trainer at a moment's notice. No one can tell at what
+moment an elephant may become sulky and obstinate. When that happens the
+brute must be led away as soon as possible. It is useless to try to
+force him to go on with his tricks.
+
+Living for years in confinement, having little exercise or none, the
+poor elephants become sickly, worried, and irritable. They suffer
+physical changes. If you look closely at an elephant that has been kept
+long in captivity, you will see that the knees of his hind legs are bent
+inward, and that the legs look weak and wobbly. That is the result of
+swaying from side to side, which the elephant does partly from
+nervousness and partly from want of exercise. The beasts deteriorate
+mentally in as great a degree, and you will find it the rule that old
+elephants are bad-tempered.
+
+In Chicago, not long ago, Gypsy, a gigantic elephant, killed a man, and
+kept a whole neighborhood in terror for three hours. The man had been
+warned to keep away from her, and his overconfidence in his ability to
+subdue the savage beast cost him his life.
+
+Gypsy is forty-five years old, and weighs five tons. She spent the
+winter in Chicago with a circus, and was kept in a stable at No. 232
+South Robny Street. Her name used to be Empress years ago, but she
+killed a man, and her owners gave her a new name and hoped she would
+never become vicious again. But an elephant that goes wild is like a
+horse that runs away. She may not misbehave for a long time, but she is
+almost certain to do great harm sooner or later. Gypsy had been
+irritated for several days before her outbreak. Her regular trainer and
+handler, Bernard Shea, was called away to Omaha, and Gypsy did not like
+to be left in the care of a stranger. She was not fond of Frank Scott,
+who took charge of her. She allowed him to bring her food and water, but
+she grew angry whenever he took her out for exercise. On Tuesday night
+she saw a mouse running along a ledge in the barn, and this frightened
+her into a panic. She trumpeted and tugged at her chain, and could
+hardly be quieted. Scott did all he could to soothe her, but she was
+restless all night long.
+
+Frank Scott took Gypsy out for exercise early on Wednesday afternoon.
+W. H. Harris, who owns the elephant, says he often warned Scott not to
+do this, but the man persisted. There is an alley between Jackson and
+Van Buren streets, and here the keeper made the big beast trot up and
+down for ten minutes, while he sat astride of her neck close behind the
+back of her huge head. Twice she balked and shook her great ears, but
+Scott jabbed her with a sharp prod and forced her to go on. This prod or
+hook is a bit of steel shaped like a rooster's spur, fastened to the end
+of a short thick wooden handle. It has been the instrument used for ages
+in controlling elephants. When Gypsy came to the door of the barn again
+she stopped, and tried to turn in. There was a malicious gleam in her
+little eyes, and she had swung her ears forward--a sure sign of anger in
+an elephant.
+
+"Go on, Gyp!" Scott commanded, sharply. But the elephant shook her head
+and advanced toward the barn door. The man drove the steel hook deep
+into her ear. She screamed with pain, and with a wild toss of her head
+threw Scott to the ground. She wrapped her trunk around him, and picked
+him up as easily as you would lift a little doll. She held him high
+above her head and roared. Mr. Harris, her owner, and three other men
+who had been attracted by the noise came running up the alley. Mr.
+Harris shouted to the elephant to be still, but she seemed not to hear
+him. She walked across the alley, and threw Scott against a building. An
+ambulance and a squad of twelve policemen had been called now, but they
+could do nothing for a time. Gypsy was infuriated, and she charged
+wildly up and down the alley. As she ran away again, two men quickly
+jumped out of the barn and carried Scott in. The ambulance took him to
+the hospital, but he never recovered consciousness.
+
+More than five hundred persons had gathered by this time to see the
+furious elephant. The police had all they could do to keep many of them
+out of the alley. Two policemen, leaving the box from which they had
+sent a call for the patrol wagon, had to run to avoid Gypsy. A blow from
+her trunk swept past them with a rush that doubled their speed.
+Thirty-six more policemen came up and helped to drive back the crowd.
+The streets for blocks around were cleared of people, because if the mad
+beast should choose to leave the alley she could not be stopped, and she
+would certainly kill everybody she could reach. It would be too late to
+try to escape after she came out, for a mad elephant runs like the wind.
+The speed of a horse is child's play compared with the mighty rush of
+this clumsy giant when enraged. All the fire-arms in the neighborhood
+were brought out, but the circus men prevailed on the police not to let
+them be used, as ordinary rifle-bullets would only have made Gypsy more
+angry without hurting her at all.
+
+After running up and down the alley until she was tired, Gypsy at last
+sauntered into the barn. The circus men quickly closed the doors behind
+her. These doors were made of great oak planks four inches thick, firmly
+riveted together, yet they were no more of a barrier to the elephant
+than a paper hoop is to a circus rider. The moment Gypsy heard the doors
+swing into place she wheeled around and ran out of the barn. She left
+the doors in splinters. She did not slacken her pace, nor did she seem
+to know that she had met an obstruction as she was passing through the
+massive oaken structure. Once more she galloped blindly up and down the
+alley. An old elephant man said that bread would quiet the animal, so
+some one hurried to a bakery and soon returned with ten newly baked
+loaves. These were thrown over a fence into the alley, and Gypsy ate
+them greedily. Ten more were brought up and fed to her, and more after
+that, until she had consumed fifty loaves. As she ate, her rage seemed
+to pass away. When the fiftieth loaf had disappeared she wandered into
+the barn once more. Claude Orton, a trainer, tried to fasten a chain
+around Gypsy's leg, but she pushed him away; yet she showed no signs of
+rage against him. A big piece of canvas was hung over the broken door.
+Gypsy walked over and felt it carefully with her trunk, but she made no
+attempt to break through. At the end of an hour she allowed Orton to
+chain her leg, and she quietly remained after that in her accustomed
+place.
+
+
+
+
+DANDELION DOWN.
+
+
+  Happy spirit of the air,
+    Floating all the sunny day
+  Here and there and everywhere
+    Down the shadowy woodland way,
+
+  I would like to be like you,
+    Tossing, drifting down the May,
+  'Neath the skies of cloudless blue
+    With the breezes e'er at play.
+
+  R. K. MUNKITTRICK.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: From Chum to Chum]
+
+BY GASTON V. DRAKE.
+
+XVIII.--FROM BOB TO JACK.
+
+
+  GENEVA.
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     DEAR JACK,--I did dream about that Guillotine as I was afraid I
+     would and it wasn't any fun. I'm sorry I went to bed that night. I
+     thought I went to the barber's to get my hair cut and all he had to
+     cut it with was the guillotine. He said his scissors were off being
+     ground but if I wouldn't wiggle the guillotine was just as safe,
+     and it was, though I didn't enjoy it very much until I waked up and
+     found it was all a dream, and then like a donkey I went and told Ma
+     all about it and she said I'd have to stop eating _Table d'hôte_.
+     Do you know what _table-d'hôte_ is? It's French for a kind of a
+     dinner where you eat everything there is on the bill of fare, and
+     it's great because they ring in three or four different kinds of
+     desert in such a way that nobody thinks of telling you it isn't
+     good for you. First you have soup and then you have fish and next
+     comes a patty which is generally a sort of chicken-hash short cake,
+     and it goes right to the spot. Then you have roast lamb with mint
+     sauce and green pease about as big as bird shot cooked with sugar
+     and soft as peaches. Then comes another desert called sherbet,
+     which is only lemon water ice and you think your dinner is over
+     when pop! in walks the waiter with some kind of a bird, with some
+     salad. Then you have cheese and then a pudding and on top of the
+     pudding ice-cream and cake. They call the cakes petty fours but I
+     could eat 'em by the petty sixes and I do. If you ever come abroad
+     don't forget to eat all of these dinners you can. They're cheap and
+     good only don't try to get one by asking for a Tay-bill-de-hote as
+     you'd think it was called. No Frenchman would know what you meant,
+     but if you call for a _Tar-bull-doat_ they'll bring it in a minute.
+     Ma said it was too many of these that was making me have dreams
+     like the guillotine one but Pop said he didn't think it was; the
+     boy is naturally excited by what he sees and hears about. We'll
+     have to tell Jules to stop telling him stories. I'd rather go
+     without the table d'hôte said I. And there it dropped and you can
+     bet I'm not going to bring the subject up again no matter if I
+     dream my head's being chopped off.
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     We left Paris yesterday. We didn't any of us want to come away but
+     our time was up and so we left leaving about ninety-nine per cent.
+     of the city unvisited. We didn't see the cemetery or go to the
+     opera or any of those places--at least I didn't. Pop went to see
+     the cemetery and he said it was not very cheerful and reminded him
+     of a city of bathing houses, which I think must have been a mighty
+     queer looking cemetery. Jules took me and the babies to the circus,
+     but it isn't like our circus. There wasn't any pink lemonade or
+     monkies or things like that, but all sorts of goings on in the ring
+     and only one ring which I don't think is much and all the clowns
+     cracked their jokes in French so I was just as glad when it was
+     over.
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     It was a long ride from Paris to Geneva. Fourteen hours and near
+     the end a Frenchman insisted on getting into our compartment which
+     Pop had paid a man to let us have all to ourselves--and wasn't Pop
+     mad! He tried to tell the Frenchman he had no business there, but
+     his French got mixed up with several other languages and Pop never
+     was strong on pantomime so the man didn't catch the idea until we
+     got to Geneva and then he got out, but it was too late. All this
+     time Jules was in the next car but we couldn't get at him to tell
+     him, and that made Pop more nervous than ever. However we all got
+     here alive and Pop has calmed down. He couldn't help calming down
+     here. It's a beautiful city and clean as a whistle--I don't mean a
+     railroad whistle, but the clean kind. It's right on the lake and
+     such green water you never saw and way off in the distance Mount
+     Blanc plays peek-a-booh with you through the clouds. Mount Blanc is
+     the finest Alp I ever saw and it looks good enough to eat--like a
+     great big plate of ice-cream. I wanted Jules to get up early the
+     next morning and go out and climb it with me and have a snow-ball
+     fight, but he says it takes nine hours to get to it riding all the
+     way in a wagon, and two days more to climb it. It hardly seems
+     possible, but I guess he knows because he's done it--leastways he
+     says he has though Pop doubts it. Pop says Jules is a French
+     Sandboys who has done a heap of things which no man ever did, but I
+     don't care he's a good fellow to go with and I like him. He told me
+     that when he climbed up Mount Blanc it was so cold it contracted
+     his head so that he couldn't keep his hat from sliding down over
+     his eyes, and as he had lost his golf cap and wore a beaver this
+     was trying because it prevented him from seeing many of the things
+     that other people who have climbed the mountain have seen and made
+     books of. Jules wants to write a book and I wish he would because
+     I'd like to read it. He's had so many things happen in his life.
+     Why the time he went up this Mount Blanc he encountered a polar
+     bear that wanted to eat him and Jules was willing he should because
+     he said he was so cold he was willing to go anywhere where it was
+     warm and he says the inside of a bear is a great deal warmer than
+     the outside of a bear, but in his frozen state he didn't know what
+     he was doing and so fought like a tiger and killed the bear, which
+     warmed him up a good deal and really in the end saved his life, for
+     if it hadn't been for the bear's skin he'd have frozen while he was
+     up on top of the mountain which rises to a height of 16,000 feet
+     above the level of the sea.
+
+     [Illustration]
+
+     Pop and I went into a place this morning where there was a race
+     going on between two music-boxes and one of 'em did a tune in at
+     least a minute less time than the other one did the same tune. I
+     enjoyed it very much but Pop called it a din and said let's go, so
+     we went. Aunt Sarah may be musical but I've heard her play the
+     piano and she can't get through that Cavalere Rusticannio half so
+     quick as one of these music-boxes.
+
+     Pop bought me a gold watch here yesterday, but I don't see what
+     good it's going to do me because he says he thinks he'll carry it a
+     year himself until it gets regulated.
+
+     When we get to Genoa where Columbus used to go I'll write again.
+
+  Yours always,   BOB.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]
+
+
+The New England Interscholastics will be held next Friday instead of
+Saturday, because of the Harvard-Pennsylvania ball game which is to be
+played on Holmes Field on the latter date. The events will number
+fourteen, being the regular inter-collegiate programme, except that the
+bicycle event will be limited to a one-mile race.
+
+[Illustration: ANDOVER'S SPRINTERS.]
+
+The English High-School athletes are determined to win this meet. They
+have won every championship so far this year, and will make a strong bid
+to complete the season victors in every department. Their chances at the
+present writing seem much brighter than those of any other school.
+Worcester Academy, however, will have plenty of fire in its eye. Its
+backers claim to be sure of three firsts, which is a big bonus to begin
+with. Worcester is smarting under the poor showing made in the winter
+meet, and is sure to retrieve itself this spring. Andover, too, will
+send down a hot set of runners.
+
+For the sprints the Worcester men count on Robinson, who can run in
+.10-1/5. But Kane of E. H.-S., who had his first experience in racing in
+the winter meet, is backed by his schoolmates to win the event. Owens of
+Newton, Mason of W.H.-S., Duffy of E.H.-S., Jones of Andover, Kennington
+of Dedham High, Seaver of Cambridge High, and Hersey of W. A., make a
+list that, with Kane and Robinson, probably includes the six starters in
+the final heat. This list will have to be enlarged to fit the 220. Boyce
+of Brookline High, who won the 150 at the Harvard open games early in
+May, runs with a beautiful stride and finishes strong, and is making a
+specialty of this game. Carleton of Hopkinson's is training for this
+event. His legitimate distance is the quarter; but a recent serious
+illness will prevent his getting into condition for that exhausting
+race, and he will probably confine himself to the 220 in hope of beating
+his old rival, Robinson. With Carleton in good form, this 220 ought to
+furnish an exciting race.
+
+There are a dozen lads around Boston who can run the quarter in better
+than .55. In the interscholastic relay race at the Harvard games English
+High's winning team of Kane, Purtell, Hanson, and Emery averaged
+.54-1/2. Emery has been selected to win this event for them Friday. To
+do it he will have to beat men like Badger of W.H.-S., Shirk of W.A.,
+Clapp and Huntress of Hopkinson's, Garrett of Cambridge High, and
+Thompson of C.M.T.S. Thompson and Badger are the best of the lot, and
+with Emery ought to get the three places. The race will probably be run
+in one heat, as heretofore, although the field in the event, which is
+the prime favorite in New England, will be unusually large. Burke's
+record is not in danger, but the race is sure to be a pretty one.
+
+Albertson of Worcester High will be out to win the half this year, and
+with Dadnum and Boyle of the same school will make a trio of exceedingly
+high-class performers. Hartwell of W. A., Burdon of Newton, Gaskell of
+Andover, if he is in condition, and Applegate of Cambridge High, ought
+to be well bunched at the finish. Purtell will not run this distance
+this year, but has assigned the task of beating Albertson to Hanson, who
+won the 600 so pluckily at the winter meet. If Porter of Chauncy Hall
+enters the half-mile, Hanson may find it hard to get better than third.
+
+Mills of Berkeley School is almost sure of the mile, with Sullivan,
+W. H., second, now that Dow of E.H.-S. has stopped training. Dow's
+withdrawal will be a severe loss to E.H.-S., and will lower their
+chances materially. Lincoln of Boston Latin, Richardson and Palmer of
+Andover, and Porter of Chauncy Hall will keep the race from dragging.
+Laing's old record of 4.34 will probably stand; but the winner should
+make at least 4.37.
+
+Purtell in the high and Ashley and Converse in the low hurdles are a
+good team from E.H.-S. Purtell takes the flights in excellent form, and
+is particularly strong in the short dash to the tape. His special rival
+will be Cady, from Andover, who bears a name of international reputation
+in hurdling. English High is backing Ashley and Converse to win two
+places in the low hurdles, shrewdly reckoning that Seaver of Brookline
+is devoting too much time to baseball and tennis. But Mason of W.H.-S.
+is still in the game, and so is Hallowell of Hopkinson's; and Boyce of
+Brookline has developed into a dangerous man this spring.
+
+English High has three good walkers, Rudickhauser, Mohan, and O'Toole.
+The best of them is O'Toole, who walks in perfect form, and is an
+experienced athlete. He ought to get first out of the race. His nearest
+rival, now that Delaney of W.H.-S. is barred, is Mallette of B.L.S.
+Mallette has improved wonderfully since he has been out-of-doors. He is
+a big strong fellow, very different from the wiry O'Toole, and could
+give him a hard race, except that he is very liable to break when hard
+pressed. He won the mile walk at the Harvard games, having the limit
+handicap, but got two warnings. Crouse of Andover and Lockwood are both
+working hard, and if they can manage to stay on the track, ought to make
+it a hard race.
+
+It would be hard to make a prediction in regard to the bicycle-race,
+since so much depends on accidents. Stone of Andover is riding better
+than any one else just at present, and, barring smash-ups and pockets,
+ought to draw first. The pole vault will probably go as it did in the
+in-door meet--Johnson of W.A. first, Sharey of Cushing Academy second,
+and a big lob of other lads tied for third. Johnson already holds the
+out-door record of 10 feet 7 inches, and is going after it again this
+spring. Duffy of E.H.-S. has been doing some good work lately, and is
+likely to get a place.
+
+The high jump will probably go to Arthur Rice, of Noble's; Perry of
+Andover, Howe of W.A., Rotch of Hopkinson's, and Converse of E.H.-S. are
+any of them likely to get a place. The shot is a sure thing for O'Brien,
+E.H.-S.; next to him is Edmands of W.A.; Heath of Hopkinson's or Coe of
+Noble's ought to get third place.
+
+Andover and Worcester held their second dual games a week ago Saturday,
+at Andover, and Worcester for the second time defeated her old rival. It
+is true that the Andover team was slightly crippled by the loss of Senn
+and Peck, who were "ineligible" for faculty reasons, and of Gaskell, who
+was laid up. Nevertheless, it is doubtful if the presence of these men
+would have been of great assistance, for Andover was strong as it was in
+their events.
+
+ANDOVER-WORCESTER DUAL GAMES, ANDOVER, MAY 23, 1896.
+
+  Event.                     Winner.             Performance.
+  100-yard dash              Jones, A.                 10-3/5 sec.
+  220-yard dash              Jones, A.                 23-1/5  "
+  Quarter-mile run           Robinson, W.              52-2/5  "
+  Half-mile run              Richardson, A.      2 m.  10-1/5  "
+  Mile run                   Palmer, A.          5 "    1      "
+  Mile walk                  Lockwood, W.        8 "    7      "
+  Two-mile bicycle           Stone, A.           5 "   33-2/5  "
+  120-yard hurdles           Edmands, W.               17-3/5  "
+  220-yard hurdles           Hersey, W.                28-3/5  "
+  Throwing 12-lb. hammer     Edmands, W.       115 ft.
+  Putting 16-lb. shot        Edmands, W.        86  "   8     in.
+  Running high jump          Johnson, W.         5  "   7-1/4  "
+  Running broad jump         Hersey, W.         21  "   1-1/2  "
+  Pole vault                 Johnson, W.        10  "
+
+  Event.                     Second.             Third.
+  100-yard dash              Robinson, W.        Clark, W.
+  220-yard dash              Gould, W.           Clark, W.
+  Quarter-mile run           Johnson, W.         Newcombe, A.
+  Half-mile run              Bennett, W.         Hartwell, W.
+  Mile run                   McPherson, W.       Poynter, A.
+  Mile walk                  Crouse, A.          Wright, A.
+  Two-mile bicycle           Manning, A.         Whitney, W.
+  120-yard hurdles           Cady, A.            Shirk, W.
+  220-yard hurdles           Lindenburg, A.      Cady, A.
+  Throwing 12-lb. hammer     Dunston, A.         Campbell, W.
+  Putting 16-lb. shot        Campbell, W.        Hersey, W.
+  Running high jump          Perry, A.           Long, A.
+  Running broad jump         Therrein, W.        Williams, A.
+  Pole vault                 Perry, A.           Kendall, W.
+
+                              Points.
+  Event.                     A.      W.
+  100-yard dash              5       3
+  220-yard dash              5       3
+  Quarter-mile run           1       7
+  Half-mile run              5       3
+  Mile run                   6       2
+  Mile walk                  3       5
+  Two-mile bicycle           7       1
+  120-yard hurdles           2       6
+  220-yard hurdles           3       5
+  Throwing 12-lb. hammer     2       6
+  Putting 16-lb. shot        0       8
+  Running high jump          3       5
+  Running broad jump         1       7
+  Pole vault                 2       6
+                            --      --
+  Total                     45      67
+
+[Illustration: F. A. EDMANDS.]
+
+The star athletes of the day were the Worcester men Edmands and Bascom
+Johnson. Edmands took first place in three events, the shot, the hammer,
+and the high hurdles--which, by-the-way, is exactly what Holt of Andover
+did in these same games last year. Johnson was not far behind Edmands in
+the number of points he scored. He took first in the high jump and the
+pole vault, and second in the quarter-mile run. Robinson, of whom
+Worcester expected so much, disappointed his schoolmates in not winning
+the 100. A little later, however, he redeemed himself by taking the
+quarter in the easiest kind of way in very good time.
+
+In the low hurdles and broad jump Worcester produced a dark horse in
+Hersey. He is a promising young athlete, and ought to take some points
+at the New England Interscholastics on Friday. The mile walk was easy
+for Lockwood, who secured a big lead early in the race, and beat out his
+Andover opponents by fully a quarter of a lap. Jones, the new Andover
+sprinter, won both dashes with ease. He is a large powerful runner, and
+moves along the path in fine form. He has three years more in school,
+and will undoubtedly make a fine record for himself before he graduates.
+
+On account of Gaskell's being unable to run in the half, Richardson, who
+took second in the mile last year, was put in there to represent
+Andover. He ran a good race and won. McPherson of Worcester was picked
+for first man in the mile, but Palmer of Andover outran him. He showed
+good head-work all the way around, and beat his pace-maker with a strong
+dash at the finish.
+
+It is interesting to note that, excepting in the distance runs and the
+walk, the conditions this year in respect to winners of events were
+exactly reversed from that of last season, the case of Holt and Edmands
+being the most striking. Andover is strong in the sprints this year, but
+weak in field events, whereas Worcester, whose representatives made such
+a poor showing on the field last year, captured every turf event on this
+occasion.
+
+The Connecticut interscholastics will be held next Saturday at New Haven
+on the Yale field instead of at Hartford as last year. There are three
+new members of the League--Black Hall, University School of Bridgeport,
+and Hopkins Grammar of New Haven--and their entries will materially
+affect the result.
+
+With so much new material it is impossible to guess who will win the
+dashes, none of last year's point winners being in school. With the high
+hurdles it is the same, now that Cady has gone to Andover, but the low
+hurdles ought to go to Hotchkiss with Cheney. Foster of Bridgeport
+H.-S. and Luce of Hartford H.-S. will have a close race in the quarter.
+In the half Bassett of New Britain ought to win in time pretty close to
+2.05.
+
+The mile will bring out a great many new men, and at the present writing
+there is no one of great enough promise to claim it in advance.
+Tichbourne of Hillhouse ought to take the walk. Lyman of Hotchkiss and
+Strong of Hartford will have a hard fight for first place in the bicycle
+event. Sturtevant of Hartford should take the high jump, with Goodwin of
+Hotchkiss second. The broad jump is claimed by a dark horse from the
+University School, of Bridgeport. In the pole vault Paulding of Black
+Hall will have to do his best to defeat Sturtevant. The latter defeated
+Paulding at the Yale games of May 2 with a leap of 10 ft. 4-3/4 in., but
+Paulding can go higher than that.
+
+Ingalls of Hartford High seems to have a pretty sure thing of it in the
+hammer and shot. At the Hartford H.-S. games a week ago Saturday he
+threw the 16-pound hammer 113 ft. 6-1/2 in., and put the same weight
+shot 36 ft. 1 in. At these games Luce took the 100-yard in .10-2/5. If
+he can repeat this performance Saturday he ought to take that event.
+
+[Illustration: C. W. BEGGS, JUN.,
+
+Winner of the Princeton Interscholastic Tennis Tournament.]
+
+The Princeton Interscholastic Tennis Tournament was won again this year
+by Lawrenceville. The victor was C. W. Beggs, Jun., who won the Chicago
+Interscholastic Tennis Tournament last year. He has been doing a good
+deal of track-athletic work this spring, and it had hardly been hoped by
+Lawrenceville that he could pull out first honors in tennis;
+nevertheless, he went in strongly at Princeton a week ago Saturday, and
+earned the privilege of representing that association at Newport in
+August. The runner-up, H. Little, as well as the winners of third and
+fourth places, H. Richards, Jun., and J. P. Kellogg, are Lawrenceville
+men.
+
+Although forty or fifty schools had been invited to the Princeton
+tournament, not more than six were represented on the courts. Next year,
+however, it is probable that there will be a much larger representation.
+In the preliminary round McMillan of the Princeton Preparatory School
+defaulted to Richards, Lawrenceville, who defeated King, New York
+Military Academy, 6-1, 6-1, in the first round. Kellogg, Lawrenceville,
+beat Musselman, N.Y.M.A., 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Beggs beat Cook, Hackettstown
+Institute, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; and Little, Lawrenceville, beat Trump,
+Kiskiminetas School, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, making a clean sweep for
+Lawrenceville in the first round.
+
+In the semi-finals Beggs beat Richards, 6-4, 6-0; and Little beat
+Kellogg, 8-6, 6-3. In the finals Beggs won from Little, 7-5, 6-1, the
+third set being defaulted. Outside of the Lawrenceville players, Cook of
+Hackettstown Institute was decidedly the best man, and shows
+considerable promise. Beggs won handily over the other Lawrenceville
+men, and is probably the best tennis-player Lawrenceville has ever had.
+The fact that there are thirty tennis-courts on the school grounds, and
+that there exists a regulation for compulsory play, brings out every
+year some very fair material, and serves also to develop good men like
+this year's champion, who may come to Lawrenceville from other schools.
+
+[Illustration: PRINCETON INTERSCHOLASTIC TENNIS CUP.
+
+Won by Lawrenceville.]
+
+The silver cup, of which a picture is given herewith, is now the
+property of Lawrenceville School, having been won for three successive
+years--in 1893, by J. H. Smith; in 1894, by S. G. Thomson, now one of
+Princeton's best tennis men; and in 1895, by M. G. Beaman, now at
+Harvard. This cup was offered by the Princeton Lawn-Tennis Association.
+The cup now being competed for has been offered by Mr. T. E. McVitty, of
+Bryn-Mawr, a graduate of Lawrenceville. The conditions under which it is
+offered for competition are the same as those of the previous cup, but
+this trophy is far handsomer than the first.
+
+The Inter-Academic League's Tennis Tournament was held in Philadelphia,
+on the Belmont Cricket Club grounds. J. K. Willing, of De Lancey, was
+the winner, defeating S. H. McVitty, also of De Lancey, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3,
+in the finals. Willing will probably go to Newport in August to
+represent the Inter-Academic League. This will be the first time that
+the Philadelphia schools have sent a representative to the national
+tournament.
+
+     F. L. R. S. JR.--1. There is a chapter on the care of a bicycle in
+     _Track Athletics in Detail_ (Harper & Brothers, $1.25). 2. We
+     cannot recommend any individual make of wheel. 3. The different
+     manufacturers have various ways of designating the "year" of their
+     machines. Inquire at the agency for the make you wish to learn
+     about.
+
+  THE GRADUATE.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENTS.
+
+
+
+
+Up Hills
+
+[Illustration]
+
+with ease on Hartford Tires. Their firm, elastic construction prevents
+loss of power and makes rough places smooth.
+
+[Illustration: Hartford Single Tube Tires]
+
+The Standard Single-Tubes
+
+On most high grade bicycles. Can be had on any if you insist. The
+pleasure and safety of bicycling depend on proper tires.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Hartford Rubber Works Co.
+
+NEW YORK. CHICAGO. HARTFORD, CONN.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: ROYAL BAKING POWDER]
+
+
+
+
+Arnold
+
+Constable & Co
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HIGH-GRADE
+
+COSTUMES.
+
+_Outing Suits, Wraps,_
+
+_Top Coats, and Capes,_
+
+At a reduction of from
+
+33 to 50%
+
+_to close balance of this season's stock._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Broadway & 19th st.
+
+NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+HARPER'S
+
+ROUND TABLE
+
+Not only is it excellent in its written text, but artists make its pages
+artistically beautiful.--_Chicago Inter-Ocean_, Feb. 22, 1896.
+
+5 CENTS A COPY $2.00 A YEAR
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: BICYCLING]
+
+     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 many 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.]
+
+Continuing our trips in Connecticut, it seems wise to give the run up
+through the middle of Connecticut from New Haven, through Hartford, to
+Springfield. Leaving the City Hall at New Haven, run out by Elm Street
+four blocks, and then turn right to Dixwell Avenue, which should be kept
+to until Cheshire is reached. The road is in excellent condition, is
+very easily kept to, and there are few hills until just after leaving
+Cheshire. On leaving Cheshire keep to the right, and follow the main
+road to South Meriden, turning there sharp to the right, and when within
+about a mile and a half of Meriden--that is, on the outskirts of the
+city--turn sharp to the left, and run through the centre of Meriden
+itself. Passing out on the northeast of Meriden, take North Colony
+Street until the Cedar Hill Cemetery is reached, having passed through
+Berlin, Newington, and to the eastward of Newington Junction.
+
+The road from Meriden up to Cedar Hill Cemetery is almost unmistakable,
+except that on passing through Berlin the rider should keep to the right
+instead of running into the centre of the town, and thus take the direct
+route to Cedar Hill Cemetery. This road is in admirable condition, and
+is not very hilly, except at Cedar Hill itself. On passing the cemetery
+keep to the left, rather than running straight in, and follow the
+macadam, then turn right and run direct into the City of Hartford. It is
+possible, however, to keep to the left just before entering Berlin, and
+run into the centre of the town at the railroad station, continuing from
+there direct to New Britain, then following the road given two weeks ago
+from New Britain to Hartford, that is, from New Britain to Elmwood and
+thence to Hartford itself.
+
+This route from New Haven to Hartford is one stage on another tour from
+New York to Boston. We have already given, some months ago, the route
+from New York, through New Haven, New London, and Providence, to Boston.
+This route extends from New York to New Haven, then to Springfield
+through Hartford, from Springfield to Worcester, and from Worcester to
+Boston. The route, however, is not nearly so good as far as road-bed is
+concerned, is more hilly, and the average wheelman is advised to take a
+train from Springfield to Worcester. Our object in giving this journey
+across Connecticut is not so much to lay out that particular route to
+Boston as to give directions for the best methods of crossing the State
+and leading up into the Berkshire Hills, where some of the most
+picturesque riding in the northeastern part of the United States is to
+be found.
+
+     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 in 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; Poughkeepsie to Newtown in No. 864; Newtown
+     to Hartford in No. 865.
+
+
+
+
+[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.
+
+
+A girl who writes from a remote part of North Carolina inquires whether
+I approve of the bicycle for girls. It appears that where she resides
+there are still people who look rather doubtfully on the wheel as not
+adapted to feminine use, and who think girls should avoid it. These good
+people belong to a class with whom I was very familiar in my own youth.
+Then great stress was laid on being "ladylike," and the worst thing
+which could be said of a girl was that she was a hoyden or a tomboy. Our
+point of view has changed so much that we in the great cities, where
+public opinion is formed, and where all opinions are heard and sifted
+one by one, are surprised when we hear a condemnation of the bicycle.
+Doctors unite in praising it, and girls in ordinary health cannot do
+better than ride as their brothers do. Of course a beginner must be
+prudent, not take too many risks, and avoid going for long distances
+alone. A party of girls accompanied by an expert rider or a teacher may
+start out and enjoy a lovely day's journey, or, if all is arranged
+beforehand, set forth for a trip of some days or weeks, under proper
+escort and chaperonage. But a novice must not go far from home, or risk
+rough roads.
+
+As for myself, I do approve of the bicycle for girls. My questioner's
+inquiry is whether a girl loses caste by riding a wheel. Emphatically
+no. It is as proper to ride a wheel as to ride a pony or to walk. But a
+girl must ride with grace and fearless courage. She must have the right
+kind of saddle, must have her handle-bars at the right height, and be
+dressed so that her skirts will not entangle or entrap her. There is no
+pleasure which surpasses that of swift motion, when one is young and
+strong and the blood courses buoyantly through the veins, whether the
+motion come from skating, running, riding, or going forward in any sort
+of progress which requires exercise. The old Greeks understood this, and
+one of their favorite goddesses was always flying along. Look her up in
+your mythology, and you will find which one I mean. Her name is very
+short, and a popular American author wrote a beautiful story about her,
+which I am sure you all have read.
+
+This query of Annabel W. L. about corsets for growing girls needs a very
+definite answer. No girl should wear a corset while her figure is
+developing. A girl confined in an inelastic cage composed of steel and
+bone and buckram can never move as freely and carry herself as
+gracefully as one whose loose and comfortable style of dress affords
+free play to every part of her body. Skirts should be light, and dress
+throughout arranged with a view to deep breathing and the pleasure of
+unrestricted movement. Fancy a girl's learning to row or working in the
+gymnasium in tightly fitting corsets! A small waist is not beautiful or
+desirable. Health is beauty, and a look of strength and vigor the thing
+our girls should crave.
+
+  MARGARET E. SANGSTER.
+
+
+
+
+1896 Hartford Bicycles
+
+Reduction in Price.
+
+Patterns Nos. 1 and 2, from $80 to $65
+
+Patterns Nos. 3 and 4, from $60 to $50
+
+Patterns Nos. 5 and 6, from $50 to $45
+
+This is the best value for the money offered in medium-grade machines.
+
+COLUMBIAS
+
+=The Standard of the World=--acknowledge no competitors, and the price is
+fixed absolutely for the season of =1896= at
+
+$100
+
+If you can't buy a Columbia, then buy a Hartford.
+
+All Columbia and Hartford Bicycles are ready for immediate delivery.
+
+POPE MFG. CO.
+
+General Office and Factories, HARTFORD, CONN.
+
+Branch Stores and Agencies in almost every city and town. If Columbias
+are not properly represented in your vicinity, let us know.
+
+
+
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+100 all dif. Venezuela, Bolivia, etc., only 10c., 200 all dif. Hayti,
+Hawaii, etc., only 50c. Ag'ts w't'd at 50% com. List FREE! =C. A.
+Stegmann=, 5941 Cote Brilliante Ave., St. Louis, Mo
+
+
+
+
+=STAMPS!= 100 all dif. Bermuda, etc. Only 10c. Ag'ts w'td at 50% com. List
+free. L. DOVER & CO., 1469 Hodiamont, St. Louis, Mo.
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH GILLOT'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.
+
+
+
+
+THE NEW YORK SUN _on April 11, 1896, said of_
+
+HARPER'S
+
+PERIODICALS
+
+They are handsome and delightful all, and are as friends that one is
+glad to see. They please the eye; the artistic sense is gratified by
+them; they overflow with varied material for the reader. They educate
+and entertain. They are the well-known and well-liked literary and
+artistic chronicles of the time. They are a credit to their publishers
+and to the discernment of the public that approves them. May they
+continue to be as admirable as they have been and as they are. Better
+could hardly be wished for them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+FOR SALE EVERYWHERE.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: Commit to Memory]
+
+the best things in Prose and Poetry, always including good Songs and
+Hymns. It is surprising how little good work of this kind seems to be
+done in the Schools, if one must judge from the small number of people
+who can repeat, without mistake or omission, as many as Three good songs
+or hymns.
+
+[Illustration: Clear, Sharp, Definite,]
+
+and accurate Memory work is a most excellent thing, whether in School or
+out of it, among all ages and all classes. But let that which is so
+learned be worth learning and worth retaining. The Franklin Square Song
+Collection presents a large number of
+
+[Illustration: Old and New Songs]
+
+and Hymns, in great variety and very carefully selected, comprising
+Sixteen Hundred in the Eight Numbers thus far issued, together with much
+choice and profitable Reading Matter relating to Music and Musicians. In
+the complete and varied
+
+[Illustration: Table of Contents,]
+
+which is sent free on application to the Publishers, there are found
+dozens of the best things in the World, which are well worth committing
+to memory; and they who know most of such good things, and appreciate
+and enjoy them most, are really among the best educated people in any
+country. They have the best result of Education. For above Contents,
+with sample pages of Music, address
+
+Harper & Brothers, New York.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
+
+
+
+
+Swiss Funerals.
+
+
+     This is a solemn subject to write about, but the funerals in
+     Switzerland, at least in the part of Switzerland I know, are so
+     strange that I think it may interest the Table to hear about them.
+     In the first place, when a person dies a notice is put in the
+     paper, always with a deep black margin around it. Here is one I
+     translated from a German paper.
+
+     DEATH NOTICE.
+
+     To sympathetic relations, friends, and acquaintances, we here
+     announce the sad news that our much-beloved husband, grandfather,
+     father, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle,
+
+     MR. FRIEDRICH KARL MULLER,
+
+     Surgeon,
+
+     departed this life in his sixtieth year, after much suffering, and
+     blessed with the comfort of our holy religion.
+
+     For quiet sympathy beg,
+
+     St. Gall, the 25th of December, 1895,
+
+     The deeply mourning wife,
+
+     MARIA MULLER, née FUCHS,
+
+     Fanny, her daughter,
+
+     in the name of all the relations.
+
+     The mourning urn will be exhibited from
+
+     1.30 till 4 o'clock P.M.
+
+     You will perhaps wonder what a mourning urn is. In front of the
+     house where the person died there is placed a little black table,
+     covered with a black cloth, on which stands a large black jar. Into
+     this the friends and acquaintances of the family drop little
+     black-margined visiting-cards, sometimes with a few words of
+     sympathy on them. The urn is put out on the table on the day of the
+     funeral.
+
+     No one except gentlemen ever go to the church-yard, and they
+     generally follow the hearse on foot, though sometimes carriages are
+     used. The horses that draw the hearse have long black cloaks on,
+     with places cut out for them to see through. One custom I like is
+     that whenever a gentleman sees a funeral passing him, he takes off
+     his hat until it has gone by, whether he knew the dead person or
+     not.
+
+     The graveyards over here are very different from the American ones.
+     None have separate lots belonging to their family, but persons are
+     buried according to the year in which they died. For instance, I
+     once had a French governess who walked with me to the cemetery one
+     day. She happened to remember that her grandfather died in 1879,
+     and found his grave immediately, but we had the greatest hunt for
+     the place where her grandmother was buried, as the date of her
+     death had escaped mademoiselle's memory. I have forgotten the exact
+     date myself, but I remember that we at last discovered her grave in
+     quite another part of the cemetery, as she died while young, and
+     was buried in the rows for 1867 or 1868. I must confess I think
+     this custom very disagreeable, and like our American way much
+     better.
+
+  MARIAN GREENE, R.T.F.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For the Natural History Club.
+
+     There have been living in an old willow-tree in our yard this
+     winter six very dark colored birds, the size of a robin, with long
+     slender bills. They have a whistle call very much like the
+     mockingbird, and have only shown themselves on very warm days early
+     in the morning. They evidently get their food from a neighboring
+     chicken-pen. We have been here fifteen years and have never seen
+     these little guests before. I should like some one interested in
+     ornithology to see them and tell me how they happened here.
+
+  L. E. B.
+  YONKERS, N. Y.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Going Back to Old Greece.
+
+     We wish to tell you of our Chapter of Minerva's Owlets, organized
+     this winter for the purpose of gaining an idea of Greek and Latin
+     mythology, "and," as our constitution says, "for having a good time
+     withal." We each bear the name of an Olympic deity, and during our
+     meetings call each other by those names.
+
+     After the regular business meeting at which, of course, Jupiter
+     presides, a god and goddess each gives an autobiographical sketch
+     of their wanderings among mankind, and then necter and ambrosia are
+     served, usually by mortal hands. The meetings are not always held
+     upon Mt. Olympus, but often at the different haunts of ye deities.
+     Already have we met in the palace of Jupiter, in Venus's arbor,
+     with Neptune in his submarine grotto, in Diana's temple, and in the
+     grove of Athena.
+
+     Ye gods and goddesses have interested themselves so much in the
+     affairs of mortals that they are now expending their godly
+     abilities in behalf of the Good Will Farm. They hope to be able to
+     soon send to it the greetings of
+
+  YE CHAPTER OF MINERVA'S OWLETS.
+  MINNEAPOLIS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE CAMERA CLUB.]
+
+     Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly
+     answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to
+     hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.
+
+HINTS FOR THE DARK ROOM.
+
+
+All bottles containing chemicals should be plainly labelled, not only to
+prevent mistakes in mixing solutions, but also to avoid accidents from
+careless handling. Chemicals which are poisonous should have some
+distinctive mark on the bottle. One of the best, and one which is easily
+distinguished in the dark-room, is a strip of white paper, two inches or
+more in width, pasted entirely round the bottle.
+
+A good strong paste which keeps well, and sticks so fast that the label
+is not easily detached from the bottle, is made as follows:
+
+  Gum-arabic                     2 oz.
+  Gum-tragacanth (powdered)      2  "
+  Acetic acid                    1-1/2 drs.
+  Glycerine                      2 oz.
+  Water                          4  "
+
+Heat the water and dissolve the gum-arabic and the gum-tragacanth, then
+add the glycerine and acid. Stir till thoroughly mixed, and put in a
+wide-mouthed bottle. This is a very good paste for sticking labels,
+etc., but is not good for mounting photographs. A good black ink for
+marking labels is made from--
+
+  Lamp-black              12 grs.
+  Indigo                   4  "
+  Copal (powdered)         2 drs.
+  Oil of lavender          2 oz.
+
+Heat the oil and dissolve the gum-copal in it, then stir in the
+lamp-black and indigo. This ink will not corrode, and it will not fade.
+
+To prevent chemicals running down the side of the bottle when pouring,
+coat the rim of the bottle with paraffin wax by dipping the mouth of the
+bottle in the melted wax.
+
+All trays must be washed after using. The decomposition of chemicals in
+an unwashed tray will often spoil fresh solutions if put into the tray.
+Never leave solutions standing in trays; when through using turn the
+solution into a glass bottle. When not in use trays should be turned
+upside down on a shelf or table.
+
+Developing solutions should be filtered between each using. Bits of film
+often come off the plate, and if left in the developer will settle on
+the plate and cause a spot on the negative. The better way is to filter
+a solution after using and before returning it to the bottle.
+
+To ensure perfectly clear negatives always use clean hypo. Hypo which
+has been used several times becomes a dark muddy color, and is apt to
+stain the negative. Hypo is so cheap that one can afford to use fresh,
+and run no risk of spoiling negatives.
+
+In placing plates in the holders, instead of using a brush for dusting,
+take a piece of surgeon's cotton, roll it into a soft ball, and rub
+lightly over the plate. This will remove the specks of dust, and will
+not scratch the plate.
+
+It often happens when travelling that a dark room is not always to be
+found in which to change plates in the holders. The provident amateur
+carries a candle with him, and when no dark room is convenient he lights
+the candle, sets it _under_ a table, and changes the plates _on_ the
+table. This can be done with perfect safety if care is taken that no
+reflected light strikes the plates. The plates being in the shadow, and
+the light from the candle being rather dim, the plates are not injured
+any more than by a red light.
+
+     Letters are often received asking what one must do in order to
+     become a member of the Camera Club. All that is necessary in order
+     to become a member is to send name and address to the editor and
+     state your desire.
+
+     GEORGE H. BAYNES, JUN., St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., and
+     HOWARD PRESTON BARTRAM, No. 67 Washington Street, Newark, N. J.,
+     both wish to be enrolled as members of the Camera Club. Sir Howard
+     asks what is the object of the club. Its object is to raise the
+     standard of amateur photography among young people, and by helpful
+     suggestions aid its members in perfecting themselves in the art of
+     making pictures with the camera. It also keeps its members informed
+     in regard to the best methods and new discoveries in the mechanical
+     part of photography, and each year offers valuable prizes for the
+     best pictures submitted by members of the club, in order to
+     stimulate them to excel in photography.
+
+     SIR KNIGHT E. D. BALL, Spartansburg, S. C., wishes to correspond
+     with some amateur photographer living in the tropics, as he would
+     like to make exchanges of photographic views.
+
+     SIR KNIGHT CHARLES E. BOTSFORD, Newark, N. J., asks for a
+     blue-print solution which will keep, how to make sensitive plates,
+     and how to make paper like solio, aristo, etc. He also encloses two
+     blue prints made from a formula given in the ROUND TABLE, and asks
+     why one is not good. Blue-print sensitizing solution will keep for
+     a long time if not mixed. Keep the two solutions separate till
+     wanted for use, and wrap the bottles in non-actinic paper, or keep
+     them in a dark-room. Directions for making sensitive plates would
+     occupy too much space to allow giving them in "Answers to Queries."
+     Both sensitive plates and solio and aristo papers are so cheap, and
+     are so much better made than an amateur can make them, that it is
+     better to buy them ready prepared. The trouble with the print from
+     the negative is that it was not printed long enough, and faded in
+     the washing. Print till the shadows are deeply bronzed. The paper
+     sent seems to be very evenly sensitized and of a good color. Also
+     asks for the address of George McCarthy.
+
+     SIR KNIGHT SPRAGUE CARLETON asks what is the reason of the
+     transparencies which he makes having no detail. He says he prints
+     one second, and develops according to directions, using Eastman's
+     plates and formula. The proper way to print transparencies is to
+     print by the dark-room lantern. Place the plate in the holder, then
+     open the door of the lantern, and holding the printing-frame twelve
+     or fifteen inches from the light, print for at least five seconds,
+     moving the frame a little all the time, so that the picture may
+     print evenly. Some negatives will require a longer time than
+     others, just the same as if printing on paper. If the dark-room
+     lantern is not suitable, use a No. 2 kerosene burner turned about
+     half-way down, and expose the plate from three to ten seconds,
+     according to the density of the plate.
+
+
+
+
+[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.
+
+
+All U. S. stamps are first engraved on a soft steel die, which is
+afterwards hardened; several impressions of the die are then made on a
+roller of soft steel, which is subsequently hardened. Impressions from
+the roller are then made upon the soft steel plates used in printing.
+The following are some of the ways in which minor varieties of the
+design are caused: By the shifting of the roller during the making of
+the plate, causing the top and bottom parts of the stamp to be doubled;
+by missing the guide-lines, causing them to appear in the stamp; by
+retouching the die roller or plate--each plate is retouched, but some of
+the dies and rollers are not; by a brittle roller--small pieces break
+off and become embedded in the plate, causing white blotches to appear
+in the design; by re-entering--that is, impressing the roller twice on
+the same stamp in the plate; also by the wearing of the plate.
+
+A unique medal is said to be preserved in the Paris mint. It is a very
+large gold piece bearing on the obverse the Emperor Napoleon's portrait,
+and the reverse Hercules strangling the giant Antæus. The inscription is
+_Descente en Angleterre_ (Invasion of England), and _Frappé à Londres_
+(Struck in London). The die was broken after the collapse of Napoleon's
+plan, and only the proof copy preserved.
+
+The movement among the younger philatelists to collect late issues only
+is growing everywhere. The low prices at which the bulk of the stamps
+issued during the last ten years can be had is a great argument in its
+favor. In 1890 the first postage-stamp ever issued was fifty years old.
+One collector in England began with the stamps current January 1, 1890,
+and now has a collection in ten albums of seventy pages each. The
+"Seebecks" appear, but they cost so little, are so handsome in
+themselves, and as the issues have undoubtedly done postal duty, many
+collectors will not be frightened off even by the S. S. S. S. I wonder
+whether the Seebecks, fifty years after their issue, will not be as
+scarce and as much sought after as early English, French, etc.?
+
+     W. H. BANGS.--The quarter-dollar is worth face only; the 3c.
+     Playing Card green is worth $4 perforated, $15 unperforated.
+
+     J. HUNG.--The collection of entire U. S. envelopes means the
+     spending of a large amount of money and the exercise of patience,
+     as the rare envelopes only turn up occasionally. Many collectors of
+     entire envelopes do not try to collect all sizes, but take one of
+     each die on each paper. Other collectors prefer to take their U.S.
+     envelopes "cut square"--that is, the die only, leaving a large
+     square margin. This is the usual method, and U. S. envelopes are
+     likely to increase in value every year.
+
+     J. RIVO.--See answer to T. L. Watkins, No. 864. Ribbed paper is
+     ordinary paper (wove or laid), run between rollers having fine
+     lines cut in them longitudinally. Many ordinary stamps present the
+     appearance of ribbing in consequence of their having been pasted on
+     ribbed paper envelopes or wrappers. Personally I do not believe in
+     the so-called ribbed paper U. S. stamps.
+
+  PHILATUS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Ivory Soap]
+
+The best is not always low in price, but the housekeeper can have the
+best soap without extravagance.
+
+Ivory Soap costs little, but experienced persons know that no other can
+do the same work and do it as well.
+
+THE PROCTER & GAMBLE CO., CIN'TI.
+
+
+
+
+_There is lots of pleasure, satisfaction and health corked up in a
+bottle of HIRES Rootbeer. Make it at home._
+
+Made only by The Charles E. Hires Co., Philadelphia.
+
+A 25c. package makes 5 gallons. Sold everywhere.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
+
+
+
+
+EARN A BICYCLE!
+
+[Illustration]
+
+We wish to introduce our Teas, Spices, and Baking Powder. Sell 75 lbs.
+to earn a BICYCLE; 50 lbs. for a WALTHAM GOLD WATCH AND CHAIN; 25 lbs.
+for a SOLID SILVER WATCH AND CHAIN; 10 lbs. for a beautiful GOLD RING;
+50 lbs. for a DECORATED DINNER SET. Express prepaid if cash is sent with
+order. Send your full address on postal for Catalogue and Order Blank.
+
+W. G. BAKER, Springfield, Mass.
+
+
+
+
+PLAYS
+
+Dialogues, Speakers, for School, Club and Parlor. Catalogue free.
+
+=T. S. Denison=, Publisher, Chicago Ill.
+
+
+
+
+SOME NEW BOOKS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TRACK ATHLETICS IN DETAIL.
+
+     Compiled by the Editor of "Interscholastic Sport" in HARPER'S ROUND
+     TABLE. Illustrated by Instantaneous Photographs. 8vo, Cloth,
+     Ornamental, $1.25. In "HARPER'S ROUND TABLE Library of Sports."
+
+Each chapter of this book treats of a different event of track and field
+athletics, and is illustrated by instantaneous photographs of the
+leading athletes of America. These pictures show the detail of the work
+for each event, and the text gives instruction and advice which will
+prove most valuable not only to athletes who cannot avail themselves of
+the services of a trainer, but to more experienced performers as well.
+In an appendix are given the A. A. U. rules and tables of amateur,
+inter-collegiate, and interscholastic records.
+
+FOR KING OR COUNTRY.
+
+     A Story of the American Revolution. By JAMES BARNES. Illustrated.
+     Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.50.
+
+A boy's story, full of movement, and full of surprises.... The picture
+of the old "Sugar House" prison in New York and of the secret societies
+of patriots are drawn with entertaining pen, and the book will instruct
+as well as interest the average boy who reads it.--_Boston Journal._
+
+TOMMY TODDLES.
+
+     By ALBERT LEE. Illustrated by PETER S. NEWELL. Square 16mo, Cloth,
+     Ornamental, $1.25.
+
+There is plenty of droll fun in this book.... We pity the person who can
+refuse to grin at some of the jocund surprises, sprung like steel traps
+by the story's comical turns, preposterous as it is.--_Independent_,
+N. Y.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, New York.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: WAITING FOR THE BOAT.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ON A RAINY DAY.
+
+"Mamma," said little Herbert, the other day, "what good are my rubber
+boots, anyhow?"
+
+"Why, to keep your feet dry when you go out in the rain."
+
+"If that is so, mamma," said little Herbert, triumphantly, "may I go out
+now and play in the rain?"
+
+"No; I am afraid you will catch croup."
+
+"What, mamma dear, with my rubber boots on?"
+
+"Yes, Herbert, with your boots on."
+
+"Then I can't see what good the rubber-boots are," protested Herbert.
+
+"They're to wear that you may keep on the safe side. On the safe side of
+your health."
+
+"Mamma," asked Herbert, "I don't want to appear rude or impertinent, but
+has my health really a safe side?"
+
+"It has."
+
+"Which side is it, mamma, the inside or the outside?"
+
+Here Herbert's mother, entirely out of patience, looked into the fire.
+
+"Mamma," said Herbert, presently, "you keep me in the house when I'm
+naughty, don't you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And when I'm good you don't let me go out. Now what's the use in being
+good?"
+
+"Sometimes you get a piece of cake for it."
+
+"I forgot all about that, mamma. Now I'm going to be good all the time;
+then, I suppose, I can live on cake."
+
+"That would make you sick."
+
+"Then it would be as bad as playing in the rain. No, it wouldn't,
+either; it would be a great deal better. Can I have a piece of cake now,
+mamma?"
+
+"Yes, if you'll keep still."
+
+He agreed, and when he got the piece of cake he became so absorbed in it
+while absorbing it that he could not only not ask questions, but
+actually couldn't answer any.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+JUST THE SAME.
+
+TOMMY. "Baby Indians must be just like baby geese, mamma."
+
+MAMMA. "Why so?"
+
+TOMMY. "Why, because the down on their heads all turns into feathers
+when they grow up."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+IMPORTANT ANATOMICAL INFORMATION.
+
+The _Junior League_ is a paper "published semi-occasionally, or whenever
+it is convenient, by children, for children, in aid of children." In the
+May issue are printed a number of articles that took prizes in a recent
+story competition, and from among these we copy the following essay on
+"Bones," which took the prize in Class V.:
+
+"Bones is the framework of the body. If I had no bones in me I should
+not have so much shape as I have now. If I had no bones in me I should
+not have so much motion, and teacher would be pleased, but I like to
+have motion. Bones give me motion, because they are sometimes hard for
+motion to cling to. If I had no bones, my brains, lungs, heart, and
+larger blood-vessels would be lying around in me and might get hurt, but
+now my bones get hurt, but not much unless it is a hard hit.
+
+"If my bones were burned, I should be brittle, because it would take the
+animal out of me. If I was soaked in acid, I should be limber. Teacher
+showed me a bone that had been soaked; I could bend it easily. I should
+rather be soaked than burned. Some of my bones don't grow close to my
+others snug, like the branches to the trunk of a tree, and I am glad
+they don't, for if they did, I could not play leap-frog and other good
+games that I know. The reason why they don't grow that way is because
+they have joints. Joints is good things to have in bones. They are two
+kinds. The ball and socket joint like my shoulders is the best. Teacher
+showed it to me only it was the thigh of a cow. One end was round and
+smooth and whitish. That is the ball end. The other end was hollowed in
+deep. That is the socket and it oils itself. It is the only machine that
+oils itself. It never creaks like the school door. There is another
+joint that doesn't seem much like a joint. That is the skull. It don't
+have no motion. All my bones put together make a skeleton. If I leave
+out any or put any in the wrong place it ain't no skeleton. Some animals
+have their skeletons on the outside. I am glad I ain't them animals for
+my skeleton like it is on the chart wouldn't look well on my outside."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+INCONSISTENT.
+
+  "I saw a funny thing to-day,"
+    Said little Arabella;
+  "A man was walking in the rain
+    Beneath a sun-umbrella."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A DOG-DAY QUERY.
+
+"Mamma," said little Jimmy the other day, "if a dog's bark is worse than
+his bite, why don't they choke him off with a collar instead of putting
+a muzzle on him?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE ROUND YEAR.
+
+MAMMA. "Can you tell me how many seasons there are, Herbert?"
+
+HERBERT. "Yes, mamma, there are four--kite, skating, baseball, and
+football."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Round Table, June 2, 1896, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57969 ***