diff options
Diffstat (limited to '58448-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 58448-0.txt | 2102 |
1 files changed, 2102 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/58448-0.txt b/58448-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b0b6b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/58448-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2102 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58448 *** + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE] + + * * * * * + +VOL. III.--NO. 140. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR +CENTS. + +Tuesday; July 4, 1882. Copyright, 1882, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 per +Year, in Advance. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: "ORDER ARMS!"] + + + + +THROUGH THE TUNNEL. + +BY EDWARD I. STEVENSON. + + +"Halloa, the house! Jedediah! Jedediah Petry! Mrs. Jedediah! Cadmus! +_Are_ you all deaf this morning? Come, come!" + +Dr. Flaxman stood up in his old chaise before the door of the last white +cottage in Wicketiquok village, and shouted until he was purple in the +face. The nine-o'clock June sun shone bright upon the closed green +blinds. A broom and a watering-pot rested in the open doorway; but the +broom and the pot seemed to be the only members of the Petry family +ready to receive an early morning call. No marvel that Dr. Flaxman grew +impatient, said several things to himself, and was just making ready to +get out of the chaise and tie his new horse, when all at once a boy came +running around the house corner, calling: "Good-morning, Doctor. Did you +call?" + +"Did I call?" echoed the Doctor, cuttingly. "Well, Cadmus Petry, I +should rather say that I did. Are you the only member of the family up +at this time o' day? Cadmus, I want your father." + +"Can't have him, Doctor," replied the lad. "Pop's gone up to Lafayette +by the early train." + +"There, now!" exclaimed the Doctor, appearing much disturbed by this +answer. "So I've missed him, after all my trouble! Well, where's your +mother?" + +"Gone with father. I'm keeping house for 'em. They won't come back +before evening. They were going to take dinner at Grandfather Fish's in +the town, and then go to Lawyer Gable's, on some important business, +they said; something about buying some more land, I believe." + +"That's just it, Cadmus," said Dr. Flaxman, looking still more vexed and +perplexed. He ran his sharp eye all over the boy from head to foot, and +then continued: "Look a-here, Cadmus. You're a pretty smart youngster, +and I think you'll have to help me--eh?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Cadmus, quietly. + +"Your father is going to buy a part of a farm to-day up in Lafayette, +and he's getting it a good deal on my advice. He asked me to go and look +at it and make some inquiries, and I did. Now I've got a letter here, my +boy, that just alters my whole judgment of the matter. I wouldn't have +your father make that bargain without first seeing this letter for +anything you can think of. It came this morning. Now couldn't you go +right up to Lafayette, catch your father and mother before they go to +the lawyer's office, and give him this letter--without fail? I can't go +myself, because Judge Kenipe's so low since yesterday; but I'll send a +telegram ahead of you to tell your father to wait until you come." + +Cadmus's face was puckered as he stood thinking. "You see, there's no +train from here now, Doctor, until afternoon, and that'll be too late. +The express don't stop, going through our village. Hello! I'll walk down +to the Junction, and get on her there. She has to stop there always. +That'll do it. Give me the letter, Doctor." + +Dr. Flaxman looked greatly relieved. He laughed, and held it out of the +chaise, with a regular battery of directions. "Now recollect, I depend +on you, Cadmus," he added, switching his black horse, and moving away. +"I'll send the dispatch. You've more than an hour to get down to the +Junction. Got money enough for your fare? All right. Good-by." And the +chaise rattled off. + +Cadmus darted into the house, and locked that up securely. A moment +later he was striding manfully down the road, bound for Rippler's +Junction, a couple of miles below the village. Presently the +daisy-bordered road crept alongside the level railway. A freight train, +steaming and rumbling along, seemed to offer Cadmus a noisy hint, so he +soon transferred himself to the track (a thing he had been soundly +lectured for doing before this morning), and tramped along on the uneven +ties, whistling as he rounded curves, like a locomotive itself--only +locomotives don't, as a general thing, whistle "Captain Jinks." Soon +Rippler's Mountain rose up in the distance before him. The railroad +passed directly through this by a tunnel. At the other end of it lay +Rippler's Junction, whither Cadmus was bound to catch that 10.15 +express. A wagon-road ran smoothly over the top of the mountain, and +came down into the town, and that was at his service. But Cadmus, +hastening along toward the great black hole in the hill-side, and +fancying himself to be in a much greater hurry than occasion at all +required, began to ask himself why, if the railroad went through the +mountain instead of over it, he, Cadmus Petry, shouldn't save time by +doing the same thing. + +Had not those dozen lectures as to walking on the railroad been given +him? Hadn't Cadmus heard that even an old and experienced "hand" +dislikes nothing worse than walking through a tunnel--had rather even do +a regular job of repairing in it? Did not everybody know that the +Rippler's Junction Tunnel was uncommonly narrow, close, and continually +shot by freight, coal, or passenger trains? To meet such in quarters so +dark and dangerous requires, indeed, a very cool head and steady nerves. +There comes to every man or boy a time in his life when he does a +foolish or a rash thing. This was such a moment for Cadmus Petry. The +great hole loomed up before him in the hill's rocky side. He looked up. +Over his head, nailed to the side of the brick facing, was a black +sign-board, on which, in white letters, Cadmus read the following +encouraging words: + +--DANGER!-- + +ALL PERSONS ARE POSITIVELY FORBIDDEN + +TO WALK THROUGH THIS TUNNEL. + +ALL PERSONS DISOBEYING THIS CAUTION + +WILL RISK LIFE AND LIMB. + +--DANGER!-- + +The lad hesitated, wavered, then gave his head a rather defiant toss, +and exclaiming, half aloud, "Sorry; but I'm in a hurry, and I can save +ten minutes by you," walked forward into the smoky gloom before him, +leaving sunlight and safety behind his back. + +Cadmus was at first rather surprised to find his novel journey less odd +and disagreeable than he had anticipated. There was very little smoke in +the tunnel at so short a distance from one of its mouths. Daylight +straggled in behind the boy's back, lighting up the road-bed with a gray +distinctness. It brought out deep black shadows along the jagged walls +of rock, and turned the rails before him to polished silver ribbons. +Cadmus walked inward as fast as he could; occasionally he ran. By-and-by +he noticed a curious sight upon turning his head. Far behind him lay the +entrance by which he had come in, now dwindled to a third of its size, +and with the air and landscape outside of it become a bright orange--an +effect sometimes noticeable if one is well within the interior of a +tunnel and looks outward. But the light amounted to worse than none by +this time. Cadmus could not see his footing after a few yards further. +He began stumbling badly in another minute. Hark! What was that low dull +rattle that echoed to the boy's ears? The sound increased to a roll, +then to a booming roar. A train was on its way toward him from daylight. +From which end was it approaching? Cadmus dared not stop to think; he +leaped aside, put out his hand, and felt the rough rocky wall. + +He pressed himself closely against this, his heart thumping until he +could scarcely stand. Was there space enough for safety between himself +and the train rushing down toward him? He dared not try to determine +now, for his ears were stunned, his breath taken away, as, ringing, +hissing, and thundering in the darkness, what must have been a heavy +freight train roared past the boy. Half choked with smoke, shaking in +every limb and nerve, the unlucky lad tottered from his terribly narrow +station, and began running forward as well as he might. Never before had +he imagined how terrible a thing was a train of cars at full speed. He +shook with terror at the idea of meeting another. A quarter of a mile +before him yet! + +Another? Before he had thought the word again, his quick ear caught its +shriek as it approached from the opening, which it seemed to Cadmus that +he should never reach alive. He caught again the booming crash of its +advent into the mountain's heart. Cadmus caught his breath, sick with +nervousness and fear. This time the space between the rail and the rock +seemed so dreadfully narrow--and it was, in truth, some inches less than +a few yards back. Nevertheless, Cadmus staggered into it, stood as +straight against the side wall as he could, his face toward it, and with +his head thrown a little upward. His enemy sped toward him, and seemed +to scorch and deafen and grind the boy with its whirling wheels as it +shot behind his very shoulders. Cadmus's hat was blown off, and no more +heard of, as no locomotive capped with a small brown chip astonished the +natives on its way to Oswego. But a slight accident like the flying away +of one's hat can be an important matter under such conditions. The +sudden whizz of wind about him and the snap of his hat guard gave a +start to the terrified boy. He lost his balance, and half crouched, half +fell, not between those unseen wheels rolling so near, but sidelong. + +The red flash of the lanterns on the platform of the last car fell on +his bent figure as the train thundered away into the darkness beyond. +Cadmus found his feet, doubtful if he were a hearing, breathing, and +generally living boy or not. But the smoke rolled past. Gleams of light +filtered through it. The worst was over, and Cadmus was safe--well +scratched and bruised, and as close to being "frightened to death" as +most persons ever have been. + +A few moments later a hatless, grimy, almost unrecognizable boy emerged +from the Junction end of the tunnel, and picked his way toward the +dépôt, trembling, but quite bold enough to decline sharply to answer any +questions that the interested switch-tenders and signal-men fired about +his ears. There was a pump handy; so Cadmus contrived to make a very +imperfect toilet before that 10.15 express came along, which spun him, +bare-headed, back over the road he had come, toward Lafayette and his +father. + +Mr. and Mrs. Petry were sitting in the old dining-room at Grandfather +Fish's, still in a state of mystification about the telegram they had +received from the Doctor. + +"What'll Lawyer Gable an' that man think of me?" exclaimed Mr. Petry. +"Here 'tis half an hour after time, and Cadmus not here yet. How was he +to come up with any letter, I'd like to know? He couldn't get aboard a +train that didn't stop at Wicketiquok." + +At which moment the door opened, and Cadmus strode manfully into the +room. "Good-afternoon, grandpa," he exclaimed, quite composedly, holding +out a very dirty white envelope toward the other members of the group. +"Hello, father! here's that letter Dr. Flaxman telegraphed you about, +and--and I walked through the tunnel to get the express. I suppose I'll +have to be whipped." + +Although it can not be said that Cadmus, in the course of the desired +explanation which followed, succeeded in convincing Mr. and Mrs. Petry +that his walking through the tunnel had been a very necessary part of +his important errand, two things may be truthfully stated: first, that +after reading Dr. Flaxman's letter, Mr. Petry at once decided not to buy +"that farm"; and second, that Cadmus did not "have to be whipped," but +went home with his parents on the afternoon train, quite subdued in +spite of a brand-new straw hat. As they shot through the tunnel, his +mother said, in a low voice, "What a mercy you weren't killed, Cadmus, +you thoughtless fellow!" + +That was about as true a thing as any one ever said about the affair. + + + + +INDEPENDENCE-DAY. + + + Through the dusty street + And the broiling heat, + To the sound of the stirring drum, + With a martial grace + And measured pace, + See the proud young patriots come! + + Why march they so, + With martial show, + These sons of patriot sires? + What glorious thought, + From the dim past caught, + Their brave young hearts inspires? + + Sure the souls of boys + Love din and noise, + And they love to march along + To the ringing cheers + That greet their ears + From the loud-applauding throng. + + But a grander thought + In their breasts hath wrought + Than the love of vain applause, + For strong and deep + Is the mighty sweep + Of their love for Freedom's cause. + + They have heard the tale + Of the hero Hale, + They have read of Washington, + And they know full well + How Warren fell + Ere the fight was scarce begun. + + And the long grand scroll + Of the muster-roll + Of Freedom's patriot band, + With hearts aflame + At each noble name, + Their eager eyes have scanned. + + And now, as they hear + Loud cheer on cheer + Roll out like a mighty wave, + They think of the bold + Brave men of old, + And the land they died to save. + + March on, brave boys, + With your din and noise, + Through the hot and dusty way, + And strong and sweet + May your hearts e'er beat + For glad Independence-day! + + + + +BURNING THE "TORO." + +BY HELEN S. CONANT. + + +At sunrise on the Fourth of July the national flag is hoisted on all +public buildings in the city of Mexico. Its pretty green, white, and red +stripes wave as gayly in the sunshine as the star-spangled banner waves +in the breeze sweeping over our own dear country, and the eagle in the +white central stripe fiercely clutches the snake in its beak and claws +as if it rejoiced in putting to death even a symbol of treachery. + +Now the Fourth of July is not a holiday in Mexico, and if you were there +you would wonder why so many flags were flying. Stop the first boy you +meet in the street, no matter if he is a poor little Indian, and he will +tell you it is because it is the Independence-day of the great sister +republic, the United States of North America. + +How many readers of YOUNG PEOPLE know the date of the Independence-day +of the United States of Mexico? They have such a day, which is kept with +great rejoicings, ringing of bells, booming of cannons, and no end of +popping fire-crackers. + +Spanish rule had long been very heavy and oppressive for the inhabitants +of Mexico, and on the Sixteenth of September, 1810, a small company of +men, led by a priest named Hidalgo, issued a proclamation calling upon +the Mexicans to rise against their tyrannical Spanish rulers. The +people were not well organized; and although their desire for liberty +was very strong, it took many years of hard fighting to drive the +Spaniards out of the country. It was not until 1821 that Mexico gained +her freedom. Hidalgo and other early leaders of the revolutionary +movement had been killed by the Spaniards, and the people were not as +yet wise enough to make good use of their liberty. They had been +oppressed so many years that they did not know how to form a true +republic. The first thing they did was to proclaim a man named Iturbide +Emperor of Mexico. The people owed much to Iturbide, for it was by his +skill and good generalship that they gained their freedom; but they +should not have made him an Emperor. He oppressed the people so much +that they soon had to rise again and drive him from the country. + +It took the Mexicans many years to learn how to live under a republican +government. They had many revolutions and much trouble, but they loved +liberty, and went to work bravely to learn how to use it wisely. They +abolished slavery more than fifty years ago, and the Constitution under +which the people are now living peacefully and happily is very much like +the Constitution of the United States. Every fourth year they elect a +President. The name of the man now in office is Manuel Gonzalez. + +The Sixteenth of September, the day on which the poor priest Hidalgo and +his little band of patriots issued the proclamation against Spanish +rule, is observed all over Mexico as a glorious Independence-day. + +At sunrise the bells ring merrily, cannons are fired from all the forts, +and thousands of little boys begin a lively sport with torpedoes and +fire-crackers. Then during the day come public meetings with patriotic +speeches, and splendid military parades with joyous martial music. + +As evening draws near, the impatience, especially of the little Indian +boys, grows so great for the fire-works to begin that long before sunset +they send up fire-balloons of bright-colored paper, and when it is dark +the air is full of these flying stars. The boys are very skillful in +making these balloons, and a boy will often have a great number of them, +which he has made himself, all ready to send up on that glorious +Independence-night. + +[Illustration: MEXICAN FIRE-WORKS--THE "TORO."] + +The fire-works are like those in this country. But there is one very +curious piece, in which the Indians take special delight. They would not +think it was Independence-night if they could not burn a "_toro_," the +Spanish word for bull. The bull is made on a frame covered with thick +leather, and pin-wheels and stars are fastened all over it. A light +frame-work is built on the bull's back as a support for spiral +fire-works and Roman candles. A young Indian takes this bull on his +head, the projecting leather sides protecting him from any danger from +falling sparks. A pin-wheel is ignited, which soon extends its fire over +the bull's whole body. The young Indian scampers up and down the street, +preceded by boys who make all the noise they can on little drums. The +crowd of spectators runs after him, shouting with delight. The bull +burns furiously, he shakes a fiery tail, his eyes are two glaring balls, +and he darts green and red and yellow sparks from his nostrils. He is a +very fierce creature, and the crowd of Indians laugh and scream as he +rushes at them. His back is a tower of fire, sending forth small aerial +bombs. At last his rage is over, the pin-wheels which covered his sides +revolve slower and slower, and with a final sputter disappear. His eyes +grow dim, and he is a very forlorn bull. The young Indian who has had +the honor of carrying him in his glory and strength emerges from the +blackened frame, and the crowd goes home to bed declaring that there +never was such a fierce and magnificent bull. + +On Fourth-of-July morning the readers of YOUNG PEOPLE must remember that +the flags are flying in their honor in the city of Mexico, for in all +honor done to our country every American boy and girl has a share. + +And on the Sixteenth of September do not forget that it is +Independence-day in Mexico, and that all the boys and girls in that +country are having a "splendid time," and that at night the young +Indians will be sure to burn a "_toro_." + + + + +MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER.[1] + +[1] Begun in No. 127, HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. + +BY JAMES OTIS, + +AUTHOR OF "TOBY TYLER," "TIM AND TIP," ETC. + +CHAPTER XIV. + +RAISING THE TENT. + + +The sails were not in a remarkable state of preservation, or Captain +Whetmore would not have taken them from his vessel; but Reddy explained +that the holes could be closed up by pasting paper over them, or by each +boy borrowing a sheet from his mother and pinning it up underneath. + +One of the sails was considerably larger than the other; but Reddy had +also thought of this, and proposed to make them look the same size by +"tucking one in" at the end. Bob returned before the sails had been +thoroughly inspected, and brought with him the coveted flag, thus +showing he had been successful in his mission. + +"Now let's put it right up, an' then we can build our ring, an' do our +practicin' there instead of goin' up to the pasture," suggested Ben. + +Since there was no reason why this should not be done, Bob and Ben +started for the woods to cut some young trees with which to make a +ridge-pole and posts, while the others carried the canvas out-of-doors, +and made calculations as to where and how it should be put up. + +When they commenced work, they had no idea but that it would be +completed before supper-time; but when the village clock struck the hour +of five, they had not finished making the necessary poles and pegs. + +"We can't come anywhere near getting it done to-night," said Toby, +surprised at the lateness of the hour, and wondering why Aunt Olive had +not called him as she had promised. "Let's put the sails back in the +barn, an' to-morrow mornin' we can begin early, an' have it all done by +noon." + +There was no hope that they could complete the work that night. +Therefore Toby's advice was followed; and when the partners separated, +each promised to be ready for work early the next morning. + +Toby went into the house, feeling rather uneasy because he had not been +called; but when Aunt Olive told him that Abner had aroused from his +slumber but twice, and then only for a moment, he had no idea of being +worried about his friend, although he did think it a little singular he +should sleep so long. + +That evening Dr. Abbot called again, although he had been there once +before that day; and when Toby saw how troubled Uncle Daniel and Aunt +Olive looked after he had gone, he asked, "You don't think Abner is +goin' to be sick, do you?" + +Uncle Daniel made no reply, and Aunt Olive did not speak for some +moments; then she said, "I am afraid he staid out too long this morning; +but the doctor hopes he will be better to-morrow." + +If Toby had not been so busily engaged planning for Abner to see the +work next day, he would have noticed that the sick boy was not left +alone for more than a few moments at a time, and that both Uncle Daniel +and Aunt Olive seemed to have agreed not to say anything discouraging to +him regarding his friend's illness. + +When he went to bed that night he fancied Uncle Daniel's voice trembled +as he said, "May the good God guard and spare you to me, Toby boy!" but +he gave no particular thought to the matter, and the sandman threw dust +in his eyes very soon after his head was on the pillow. + +In the morning his first question was regarding Abner, and then he was +told that his friend was not nearly so well as he had been; Aunt Olive +even said that Toby had better not go into the sick-room, for fear of +disturbing the invalid. + +"Go on with your play by yourself, Toby boy, and that will be a great +deal better than trying to have Abner join you until he is much better," +said Uncle Daniel, kindly. + +"But ain't he goin' to have a ride this mornin'?" + +"No; he is not well enough to get up. You go on building your tent, and +you will be so near the house that you can be called at any moment, if +Abner asks for you." + +Toby was considerably disturbed by the fact that he was not allowed to +see his friend, and by the way Uncle Daniel spoke; but he went out to +the barn, where his partners were already waiting for him, feeling all +the more sad now because of his elation the day before. + +He had no heart for the work, and after telling the boys that Abner was +sick again, proposed to postpone operations until he should get better; +but they insisted that as they were so near the house, it would be as +well to go on with the work as to remain idle, and Toby could offer no +argument to the contrary. + +Although he did quite as much toward the putting up of the tent as the +others did, it was plain to be seen that he had lost his interest in +anything of the kind, and at least once every half-hour he ran into the +house to learn how the sick boy was getting on. + +All of Aunt Olive's replies were the same: Abner slept a good portion of +the time, and during the few moments he was awake said nothing, except +in answer to questions. He did not complain of any pain, nor did he +appear to take any notice of what was going on around him. + +"I think it's because he got all tired out yesterday, an' that he'll be +himself again to-morrow," said Aunt Olive, after Toby had come in for at +least the sixth time, and she saw how worried he was. + +This hopeful remark restored Toby to something very near his usual good +spirits; and when he went back to his work after that, his partners were +pleased to see him take more interest in what was going on. + +The tent was put up firmly enough to resist any moderate amount of wind, +but it did not look quite so neat as it would have done had it not been +necessary to perform the operation of "tucking in" one end, which made +that side hang in folds that were by no means an improvement to the +general appearance. + +The small door of the barn, over which the tent was placed, served +instead of a curtain to their dressing-room; and at one side of it, on +an upturned barrel, arrangements were made for a band stand. + +Mr. Mansfield's flag covered the one end completely, and all the boys +thought it gave a better appearance to the whole than if they had made +it wholly of canvas. + +The ring, which Reddy marked out almost before the tent was up, occupied +nearly the whole of the interior; but since they did not intend to have +any seats for their audience, it was thought there would be plenty of +room for all who would come to see them. The main point was to have the +ring, and to have it as nearly like that of a regular circus as +possible, while the audience could be trusted to take care of itself. + +The animals to be exhibited were to be placed in small cages at each +corner. Reddy had at first insisted that each cage should be on a cart +to make it look well; but he gave up that idea when Bob pointed out to +him that six mice or two squirrels would make rather a small show in a +wagon, and that they would be obliged to enlarge their tent if they +carried out that plan, even provided they could get the necessary number +of carts, which was very doubtful. + +In the matter of getting sheets from their mothers they had not been as +successful as they had anticipated. No one of the ladies who had been +spoken to on the subject was willing to have her bed-linen decorating +the interior of a circus tent, even though the show was to be only a +little one for three cents. + +Reddy was quite sure he could mend one or two of the largest holes if he +had a darning-needle and some twine; but after he got both from Aunt +Olive, and stuck the needle twice in his own hand, once in Joe +Robinson's, and then broke it, he concluded that it would be just as +well to paste brown paper over the holes. + +Of course, the fact that a tent had been put up by the side of Uncle +Daniel's barn was soon known to every boy in the village, and the rush +of visitors that afternoon was so great that Joe was obliged to begin +his duties as door-keeper in advance, in order to keep back the crowd. + +The number of questions asked by each boy who arrived kept Joe so busy +answering them that, after every one in town knew exactly what was going +on, Reddy hit upon the happy plan of getting a large piece of paper, and +painting on it an announcement of their exhibition. + +It was while he was absent in search of the necessary materials with +which to carry out this work that the finishing touches were put on the +interior; and the partners were counting the number of hand-springs Ben +could turn without stopping, when a great shout arose from the visitors +outside, and the circus owners heard a pattering and scratching on the +canvas above their heads. + +[Illustration: MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER MISBEHAVES HIMSELF.] + +"Mr. Stubbs's brother has got loose, an' he's tearin' round on the +tent!" shouted Joe, as he poked his head in through a hole in the flag, +and at the same time struggled to keep back a small but bold boy with +his foot. + +Toby, followed by the other proprietors, rushed out at this alarming bit +of news, and sure enough there was the monkey dancing around on the top +of the tent like a crazy person, while the rope with which he had been +tied dangled from his neck. + +It seemed to Toby that no other monkey could possibly behave half so +badly as did Mr. Stubbs's brother on that occasion. He danced back and +forth from one end of the tent to the other, as if he had been a +tight-rope performer giving a free exhibition; then he would sit down +and try to find out just how large a hole he could tear in the tender +canvas, until it seemed as if the tent would certainly be a wreck before +they could get him down. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +PERIL AND PRIVATION. + +BY JAMES PAYN. + +WAGER ISLAND. + +Part II. + + +With their privations, insubordination increased. Some separated +themselves from the rest, and settled a league away; some built a boat, +and going up the lagoons about the island, were never heard of more. +Worse than all, some in authority misbehaved themselves, especially a +midshipman named Cozens, who had gained some influence over the men. + +Cozens had a dispute with the surgeon; then he quarrelled with the +purser, and was unquestionably of a mutinous disposition. Still it is +certain that Captain Cheap exceeded his powers when he drew out a pistol +and shot Cozens down. What was worse, he refused permission for the +wounded man to be carried into the tent, "but allowed him to languish +for days on the ground, and with no other covering than a bit of canvas +thrown over some bushes," until he died. + +Unhappily Captain Cheap distinguished himself in nothing but severity. +He never shared the sufferings of his men when he could help it; and +though our narrator, Midshipman Byron, stuck to him to the last, it is +plain he thought him a worthless creature. + +This loyal young fellow was of good family, and became grandfather of +the great Lord Byron, into whose imagination never entered stranger +things than actually befell his ancestor. + +The midshipman had built a little hut, just big enough to contain +himself and a poor Indian dog he found straying in the woods. To this +animal in his misery he became much attached. But a party of seamen came +and took the dog by force, and killed and ate it. Indeed, three weeks +afterward, when matters became much worse, Byron himself, recollecting +the spot where the poor animal had been killed, "was glad to make a meal +of the paws and skin which had been thrown aside." + +The straits to which they were by that time reduced sharpened their +ingenuity to the utmost. The boatswain's mate, having procured a water +puncheon, lashed a log on each side of it, and actually put to sea in +it, like the wise men of Gotham in their bowl, and with the assistance +of this frail bark he provided himself with wild fowl while the others +were starving. Eventually he suffered shipwreck, but was so little +discouraged by it that out of an ox's hide and a few hoops he fashioned +a canoe "in which he made several voyages." + +In the mean time the hope of all these poor people lay in the building +of a vessel out of the materials of the long-boat, with other timber +added. This task was at last accomplished. Captain Cheap's plan was to +seize a ship from the enemy, and to join the English squadron; but the +majority of the hundred men, to which number starvation had reduced the +castaways, were in favor of seeking a way home through the Straits of +Magellan. + +About this there arose a quarrel, and eventually the men threw off the +Captain's authority altogether, left him on the island, and sailed away. +A lieutenant of marines, Byron, and a few others remained with him. +These were presently joined by some deserters who had settled on another +portion of the island, so that their number now amounted to about +twenty. + +Their only chance of escape was in the barge and yawl, which in the +absence of the carpenter were patched up so as to be fit for a +fine-weather voyage. Even now their scanty stock of useful articles was +diminished by theft, and two men were flogged by the Captain's orders, +and one placed on a barren islet void of shelter. Two or three days +later, on "going to the island with some little refreshment, such as +their miserable circumstances would admit, and intending to bring him +off, they found him stiff and dead." + +All this time the weather was very tempestuous, but the occurrence of +one fine day enabled them to hook up three casks of beef from the wreck, +"the bottom of which only remained." These being equally divided, +recruited for the time their lost health and strength. + +On the 15th of December they embarked, twelve in the barge and eight in +the yawl, and steered for a cape apparently about fifty miles away. But +ere they reached it a heavy gale came on. The men were obliged to sit +close together, to windward, in order to receive the seas on their +backs, and prevent them from swamping the boats, and they were forced to +throw everything overboard, including even the beef, to prevent +themselves from sinking. As it was, the yawl was lost with half its +crew. + +The survivors, with the occupants of the barge, reached a small and +swampy island, where bad weather confined them for days. There they ran +along the coast, generally with nothing to eat but sea-tangle. At length +they ate their very shoes, "which were of raw seal-skin." + +It now became evident that the barge could not accommodate the whole +party with safety, and as it had become a matter of indifference whether +they should take their wretched chance in it or be left on this +inhospitable coast, they separated. "Four marines were left ashore, to +whom arms, ammunition, and some necessaries were given. At parting they +stood on the beach and gave three cheers" (what cheers they must have +been!) "for their comrades. A short time afterward they were seen +helping one another over a hideous tract of rocks. In all probability +they met with a miserable end." + +Finding it impossible to double the cape, which had been the object of +their journey, the rest returned to Mount Misery and Wager Island. Here +they found some Indians, the chief of whom, on promise of the barge +being given him, promised to guide them to the Spanish settlements. + +Upon this voyage their sufferings, notwithstanding what they had already +undergone, may be said to have commenced. Mr. Byron at first steered the +barge, but one of the men dropping dead from fatigue and exhaustion, he +had to take his oar. Just afterward, John Bosman, "the stoutest among +them," fell from his seat under the thwarts with a cry for food. Captain +Cheap had a large piece of boiled seal in his possession, but would not +give up one mouthful. Byron having five dried shell-fish in his pocket, +put one from time to time into the mouth of the poor creature, who +expired as he swallowed the last of them. + +Having landed in search of provisions, six of the sailors took an +opportunity of deserting in the barge, leaving Captain Cheap, Lieutenant +Hamilton, Mr. Byron, Mr. Campbell, and the surgeon--in short, all their +surviving officers behind. The Cacique, as the Indian chief was called, +had now no motive to assist them save the hope of possessing Byron's +fowling-piece, and of receiving an immense reward should they ever be in +a position to pay it. It was with difficulty that they could persuade +him to continue his assistance. His wife, however, arrived in a canoe, +and in this frail craft, which held but three persons, the chief took +the young midshipman and Captain Cheap on a visit to his tribe. After +two days' hard labor, in which we may be sure the Captain did not share, +they landed at night near an Indian village. The Cacique gave the +Captain shelter, but the poor midshipman was left to shift for himself. +He ventured to creep into a wigwam where there was a fire, to dry his +rags. In it were two women, "one young and handsome, the other old and +hideous, who had compassion on him, gave him a large fish, and spread +over him a piece of blanket made of the down of birds." The men of the +village, fortunately for him, were absent, and for some time he was well +cared for by his two kind hostesses. + +Byron's life here was a romance in itself. The occupation of the women +being to provide fish, he accompanied them in their canoe with the rest. +"When in about eight or ten fathoms of water, they lay on their oars, +and the younger of the women, taking a basket between her teeth, dived +to the bottom, where she remained a surprising time. After filling the +basket with sea-eggs, she rose to the surface, delivered them to her +companion, and taking a short time to recover her breath, dived again +and again." + +When the husband of these two women returned, he expressed his +dissatisfaction at the kindness they had shown the stranger by taking +them in his arms and brutally dashing them against the ground. But +notwithstanding this, these good creatures "still continued to relieve +the young midshipman's necessities in secret, and at the hazard of their +lives." + +After a while the whole party returned to Mount Misery, where they found +those they had left on the verge of starvation, and in the middle of +March they embarked in several canoes for the Spanish settlements. The +surgeon now succumbed to his labors at the oar; Campbell and Byron rowed +like galley-slaves, but Hamilton, strange to say, did not know how to +row, and Captain Cheap "was out of the question." He and the Indians had +seal to eat, but the rest only a bitter root to chew; and as to +clothing, Byron's one shirt "had rotted off bit by bit." + +[Illustration: BYRON CARRYING THE CAPTAIN'S SEAL.] + +The party landed, and the canoes were taken to pieces. Every one, man +and woman, with the usual exception of Cheap, had to take his share of +them; Byron had, besides, to carry for the Captain some putrid seal in +canvas. "The way being through thick woods and quagmires, and stumps of +trees in the water which obstructed their progress," the poor midshipman +was left behind exhausted. + +After two hours' rest, and feeling that if he did not overtake his +companions he was lost indeed, he started after them without his burden. +But on coming up with them he was so bitterly reproached by the Captain +for the loss of his seal and canvas that he actually returned five miles +for them. After two days of absence from his companions he again +rejoined them, in the last extremity of fatigue, but "no signs of +pleasure were evinced on their part." + +Eventually, after days of terrible suffering, they reached the Spanish +settlements at Castro, where, strange to say, they were received with +humanity. But as to eating, "it would seem as if they never felt +satisfied, and for months afterward would fill their pockets at meals in +order that they might get up two or three times in the night to cram +themselves." Even Captain Cheap was wont to declare that "he was quite +ashamed of himself," from which we may certainly infer that their +conduct was gluttonous indeed. + +The Englishmen, though well fed, received no clothing, and were carried +through the country by the Governor of Castro in a sort of triumphal +progress. At one place a young woman, the niece of the parish priest, +and bearing the appropriate name of Chloe, fell in love with young +Byron. He did not wish for this union, but he confesses that what almost +decided him to become her husband was the exhibition by her uncle of a +piece of linen, which he was promised should be made up at once into +shirts for him if he would consent. "He had, however, the resolution to +withstand the temptation." + +From Castro the English officers were taken to Santiago, the capital of +Chili, where a Spanish officer generously cashed their drafts on the +English consul at Lisbon. They received the sum of six hundred dollars, +with which sum they purchased suitable equipments. They remained at +Castro two years on parole, and eventually reached France, and thence +escaped to England, after a series of hardships and adventures such as +have rarely been equalled, and which were "protracted above five years." + +The adventures of the eighty men who had left Wager Island in the +long-boat were little less terrible. Many perished of starvation, and +those who had money or valuables offered unheard-of prices for a little +food. "On Sunday, the 15th of November," for example, "flour was valued +at twelve shillings a pound, but before night it rose to a guinea." +There was a boy on board, aged twelve years, son of a Lieutenant Capell, +who had died on the island. His father had given twenty guineas, a +watch, and a silver cross to one of the crew to take care of for the +poor boy, who wanted to sell the cross for flour. His guardian told him +it would buy clothes for him in the Brazils, whither they were bound. +"Sir," cried the poor boy, "I shall never live to see the Brazils; I am +starving. Therefore, for God's sake, give me my silver cross." But his +prayers were vain. "Those who have not experienced such hardships," +observes the narrator of this scene, "will wonder how people can be so +inhuman.... But Hunger is void of compassion." Of the eighty men only +thirty survived to reach England by way of Valparaiso. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE LITTLE PATIENT. + + + Five of us farmer's children, and one from a city street + Who never in all his lifetime knew that the roses were sweet; + And he's come to us pale and frightened, but he'll soon grow plump and + strong, + So, Rover, old fellow, you hear me: just gallop and gallop along, + + And carry this poor little patient--for that's what he is, they say-- + Down where the willows are gazing into the brook all day. + And go like the wind, dear Rover, you shall rest when the work is done + And we'll give you part of our dinner, and more than half of the fun. + + Mother was ever so happy when father came up the road + Bringing this boy for a visit; he wasn't much of a load. + And we'll feed him on cream and biscuits, and give him the best of care, + A bed that is soft as clover, and the very freshest of air. + + But, Rover, all that would be nothing--I see that you're looking wise, + And shaking your shaggy coat, dear, and laughing out of your eyes-- + Nothing, unless we loved him, and gave him plenty of play + So hurrah for our little patient, and, Rover, scamper away. + + + + +A FOURTH-OF-JULY WARNING. + +BY AN OLD BOY. + + +I remember the accident well enough, though it happened nearly forty +years ago. + +There is no doubt about it, every genuine school-boy takes a keen +delight in the Fourth of July. There is an inherent love of squibs and +crackers, wheels and blue-lights, among lads, while a good flare-up of a +bonfire is looked upon as almost indispensable. + +When I was a boy I had a strong liking for cannon. I might have become +an Armstrong, a Rodman, or a Dahlgren, if nothing had interfered to +prevent the development of my tastes in that direction. But-- Ah, that +"but"! It is as troublesome as the "if" which spoils so many good +things. + +Would the boys like to hear the story? I began with a formidable piece +of ordnance--an eighty-one-grain gun. It was an old key that I had +picked up somewhere, and I tell you it made a very good miniature +cannon. I was even more proud of it than of my first pair of boots, for +I had manufactured it all myself. I felt that I had converted a useless +old piece of iron into a weapon of modern warfare. At the end of the +tube I filed a priming hole, fastened it to a wooden gun-carriage, and a +jolly good bang I got out of it. Larger keys followed, and then brass +cannon mounted on wheels, until somehow or other I got possessed--I +can't remember how--of a monster cannon. + +No common cast-brass toy this, but a homespun, wrought-iron gun: an iron +bar, drilled, as near as I remember, with a three-quarter-inch drill; an +unscientific-looking instrument, quite ignorant of lathe and +emery-paper, but one that would and did go off. + +Various small trial charges had been set off, until, on Fourth of July +it was determined by a select committee on heavy ordnance, assembled in +my father's garden, that in the evening an experiment should be made +that would determine once for all its full powers. + +We had had a good deal of fun of one kind and another all day, but for +me nothing was one-half as interesting as that cannon. It seemed as if +all the other boys in the neighborhood thought so too, for when the +critical hour arrived there was something over two dozen of us in the +garden. We formed a circle around my cannon, and the business of loading +began. A fire-poker was secured for a ramrod, and a real good charge was +rammed home. In the excitement of the moment the poker was left in the +cannon! + +A heap of soil at the end of the garden was chosen as the "earthwork," +on which our big gun was fixed, pointing upward, though unnoticed by us, +point-blank at the parlor windows. A small heap of shavings was put +around the weapon, and one was appointed to light it. "To cover!" at +once was the order, and each one rushed to a safe place. I tremble at +this moment when I remember that, a second before the explosion, the +inevitable small boy rushed from one cover to another right in front of +the cannon's mouth. + +What a bang! and what a crash! Oh, horror! Four panes of glass gone at +once, the window-frame broken, and-- We did not act the coward and fly. +No, boys, never turn coward if you get into a scrape--and few boys of +spirit but do sometimes get into one. Stand your ground, boys, and bear +or pay whatever is fairly earned. Some of us stood our ground until +father appeared. He had been a boy himself once, and though he looked +very serious he did not scold us. At the first brush it was set down to +atmospheric concussion, but on further investigation it was found that +the brick-work was chipped and the wood-work broken; and, worse still, +inside the parlor was found the fatal poker doubled up, having just +escaped a splendid crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. +How crest-fallen I felt and looked! Father said that to remind me of the +necessity of care in handling such a dangerous toy, I should pay for two +of the panes. You can imagine I was glad not to be more severely +punished. + +That cannon was never again fired by me. The hair-breadth escape of that +small boy haunts me even now. I have never fired a gun in my life; but +for experimental purposes I have handled the strongest explosives, +including the notorious dynamite; yet never in my life has such a thrill +passed through me as did when I realized the almost miraculous escape of +my playmate, when the doubled-up projectile was picked up on our parlor +floor. + +Boys, let an old one beg of you to be careful in handling explosives. +Don't touch guns or pistols until you have a little more age upon you, +lest some playmate or school-fellow meet with an untimely end. Don't +reckon upon the lucky escape I had of being unintentionally a murderer. + + + + +ONE NIGHT. + +BY MRS. W. J. HAYS. + + +"I'd like to have been Joan of Arc." + +"And I, Queen Elizabeth." + +"Who would you have chosen, Winnie?" + +"The idea of asking a girl who is afraid in the dark!" said a sneering +voice. + +"It _is_ rather absurd," replied brown-eyed Winnie, though she flushed a +little uncomfortably, "but," she continued, "I have told you, Lulu, that +I am trying to conquer that." + +"What makes you afraid, anyhow?" queried Joan of Arc. + +"I really don't know. I suppose somebody must have scared me when I was +too little to remember." + +"Pshaw! you're afraid of burglars," said Queen Elizabeth. + +"Yes, she goes poking under her bed every night with a cane," said the +sneering voice. + +"I don't," said Winnie, indignantly. + +"Well, who would you like to have been, Winnie?" + +"Nobody." + +"Oh, what a fib! Now don't get mad, Winnie, sweetie;" and Joan of Arc +put her arm around her. + +"I am not mad, but I just will not tell you who I admire most: tortures +sha'n't get it out of me." + +"Try her!" "Try her!" was shouted in chorus; and one seized her +inkstand, another her pile of books, and a third was about to eat up her +luncheon, when a tap of the bell announced that recess was over. + +A week after this incident, one warm day in May, the teacher stopped the +class as it was filing out, and said, "Who can go see why Jennie Jessup +does not come to school?" + +No one answered. It had been so tiresome a day, and all were eager to +get home, Winnie especially, as she had been promised a little outing--a +pleasant sail to Staten Island, an evening with friends, and a glimpse +of blue waters and green fields. At the same time she thought to +herself, "I pass the house she lives in. Perhaps I might just take time +to stop." + +The teacher seemed to divine her thoughts. "I wish you would go, Winnie. +You're not afraid?" + +"Afraid of what?" + +"Well, she may be sick, and sometimes girls don't like to go to strange +houses." + +"I am not afraid. I'll go," said Winnie, just a little proudly, as the +girl passed her who had twitted her with being afraid in the dark. + +Winnie picked up her books and trudged off. "How nice it will be to get +out of the hot city!" she thought; "and what lovely lilacs I shall bring +home! I wonder if their roses are out yet, and the syringas! And what +nice teas Mrs. Graham always has!--so much better than a dinner such a +day as this! And perhaps Rob will take us out sailing. Anyway, the trip +up and down the bay will be delightful." + +So she went on anticipating, until she came to Jennie Jessup's house. It +was one of a block which had seen better days, but which now was +degenerating from contact with the crowding business of the city. + +She knocked at a door. No one replied. The occupants had gone to their +daily duties, and had not returned. She mounted another pair of stairs. +A partly open door had a small card tacked on it, upon which was the +name "Jessup." She knocked. No answer. Again she tried. This time a +far-away "Who is it?" was whispered. + +"Can I come in?" asked Winnie, pushing the door gently before her. + +"If you're not afraid," was the reply. It fairly stung Winnie. + +"What should I be afraid of?" + +"Why, of me," said Joan of Arc, in muffled accents. "Hush! don't wake +mother; she's just tired out, and here am I sick in bed. Perhaps you had +better not come in." + +"I will, though," said Winnie; "that is, if it is right. I don't want to +catch anything, and take it home to the children." + +"I don't think it is catching. My head ached awfully, and the doctor was +thinking it might turn out to be something contagious; but that fear is +over. Oh, Winnie, is it not dreadful to be sick?" + +Poor Joan of Arc was lying in a small, dark room, and in a large chair +beside her was a pale-faced woman asleep. On an easel was an unfinished +crayon head; here and there were sketches, scraps of pictures, as if +done to test a color or a method. The afternoon sun was pouring a dusty +flood of light on the faded carpet. + +Winnie turned as if to go--were not Bob and Mary Graham waiting for her? +she could fairly hear the splash of the water against the side of the +boat. Joan of Arc turned a pale, longing face toward her. + +"Oh, don't go, Winnie!" + +"Do you want me?" + +"Oh, so much! Mother is really ill herself. She has nursed me night and +day, and tried to finish that crayon too--it is an order; but she is +worn out--poor mother!" + +Winnie moved about uneasily, thinking of lilacs and roses and syringas +and the boat, but after a while she tore a slip from a copy-book and +wrote a little note to her grandmother, telling the good old lady where +she was. Then she turned to poor pale little Joan, bathed her, smoothed +her pillows, and gave her the medicine which was to be taken. + +Slowly the hours went by; no going to Staten Island this time. The clock +ticked away, the jangling bells and whistles quieted down, doors opened +and shut, people had their dinners and teas. The street grew quiet, and +little pale-faced Joan slept softly and restfully, with one hand in +Winnie's. Ten, eleven, twelve o'clock struck. Winnie must have dozed, +but now she was wakened by little Joan's arousing. + +"Oh, Winnie, I am _so_ thirsty!" + +"Yes, dear; here is some water." + +"But I _would_ so like to have some milk." + +"Where is it, Jennie?" + +"Down-stairs we have a closet under the stoop, and there's an ice-box +there. A lump of ice in the milk would be so delicious!" + +"So it would. Shall I get it?" + +"Yes, only-- Oh dear! Winnie, you don't like going down in the dark." + +No, indeed, she didn't; but what was to be done?--waken poor Mrs. +Jessup, and undo all the good that had been done? On the other hand rose +visions of horror--bats, rats, meeting midnight prowlers, all sorts of +indescribable fears without really any cause, the echoes of a frightened +childhood, when some foolish nurse had used the rod of fear to control a +sensitive nervous little one who could easily have been led by love. + +"Where is the key, Jennie, and the pitcher?" + +"The key is just here in this little drawer, and you will find a pitcher +down there. But don't go if you are afraid, Winnie. I will try to wait +till morning." + +"Now or never," thought Winnie, and she plunged out into the darkness. +The effort gave her courage. Down, down, down she went. The candle +flared and flickered; she was sure it would go out, but she had put a +match or two in her pocket. She reached the door, unlocked it, poured +the milk, and cracked the ice, when with a chill of horror a hoarse +laugh broke the midnight stillness. + +It seemed close beside her, above her, around her. For an instant she +stood as if paralyzed; then she would have sped like the wind, but a +voice said, "Can't you let me in?" + +Winnie looked up; there was a little grating over the heavy outer door. +A face, young, handsome, but shadowed with the marks of ill-doing, was +watching her curiously. Winnie shook her head. + +"Who are you, anyhow, and what are you doing in my mother's closet?" + +Winnie's voice shook. "I am a friend of Jennie's. She is sick. I am +taking care of her. Do you live here?" + +"Sometimes. It's a pretty time of night for a fellow to be out, isn't +it? Well, if Jen's sick, I'll stay away. Here, give her this;" and +between the narrow grating was slipped a bill. + +Winnie picked it up. The face disappeared: ah! what a sorry tale it had +told! She forgot her fears, but her heart ached for the toiling mother +and sick little sister when son and brother was of this sort. Upstairs +she went, seeing nothing alarming now in the darkness; all her visionary +fears had fled. But little Joan saw her white face and wide-open eyes. +Drinking the milk eagerly, she sank back on the pillow with a sigh of +satisfaction. Winnie said nothing, and Joan slept like a baby. + +When morning came, Mrs. Jessup arose rested, refreshed, and so grateful +to Winnie that she felt repaid for the little sacrifice she had made; +and then she told Mrs. Jessup of the night's occurrence, and gave her +the money. + +"My poor boy!" was all the mother said, as tears rolled down her +face--"my poor boy!" but it told of sorrow, disappointment, and grief +which even Winnie could hardly understand. + +When Joan kissed Winnie good-by that morning, she whispered, "I know who +you are like, and whom you would rather be than all the queens in the +world." + +"Who, Jennie?" + +"Florence Nightingale." + +"Yes, you have guessed rightly," answered Winnie, who not for one moment +regretted her postponed jaunt, her sleepless night, nor anything she had +done. + +Once having conquered, she had now no more trouble with fears in the +dark. + +And the jaunt came in due time, and little Joan's room was made sweet +and bright with roses and syringas that Florence Nightingale brought +from her excursion. + +But she never forgot that night. + + + + +THE OLD, OLD STORY. + +BY JIMMY BROWN. + + +We've had a most awful time in our house. There have been ever so many +robberies in town, and everybody has been almost afraid to go to bed. + +The robbers broke into old Dr. Smith's house one night. Dr. Smith is one +of those doctors that don't give any medicine except cold water, and he +heard the robbers, and came down-stairs in his nigown, with a big +umbrella in his hand, and said, "If you don't leave this minute, I'll +shoot you." And the robbers they said, "Oho! that umbrella isn't +loaded;" and they took him and tied his hands and feet, and put a +mustard plaster over his mouth, so that he couldn't yell, and then they +filled the wash-tub with water, and made him sit down in it, and told +him that now he'd know how it was himself, and went away and left him, +and he nearly froze to death before morning. + +Father wasn't a bit afraid of the robbers, but he said he'd fix +something so that he would wake up if they got in the house. So he put a +coal-scuttle full of coal about half-way up the stairs, and tied a +string across the upper hall just at the head of the stairs. He said +that if a robber tried to come upstairs, he would upset the +coal-scuttle, and make a tremendous noise, and that if he did happen not +to upset it, he would certainly fall over the string at the top of the +stairs. He told us that if we heard the coal-scuttle go off in the +night, Sue and mother and I were to open the windows and scream, while +he got up and shot the robber. + +The first might, after father had fixed everything nicely for the +robbers, he went to bed, and then mother told him that she had forgotten +to lock the back door. So father he said, "Why can't women sometimes +remember something," and he got up and started to go down-stairs in the +dark. He forgot all about the string, and fell over it with an awful +crash, and then began to fall down-stairs. When he got half-way down, he +met the coal-scuttle, and that went down the rest of the way with him, +and you never in your life heard anything like the noise the two of them +made. We opened our windows, and cried murder and fire and thieves, and +some men that were going by rushed in and picked father up, and would +have taken him off to jail, he was that dreadfully black, if I hadn't +told them who he was. + +But this was not the awful time that I mentioned when I began to write, +and if I don't begin to tell you about it, I sha'n't have any room left +on my paper. Mother gave a dinner party last Thursday. There were ten +ladies and twelve gentlemen, and one of them was that dreadful Mr. +Martin with the cork leg, and other improvements, as Mr. Travers calls +them. Mother told me not to let her see me in the dining-room, or she'd +let me know; and I meant to mind, only I forgot, and went into the +dining-room, just to look at the table, a few minutes before dinner. + +I was looking at the raw oysters, when Jane--that's the girl that waits +on the table--said, "Run, Master Jimmy; here's your mother coming." Now +I hadn't time enough to run, so I just dived under the table, and +thought I'd stay there for a minute or two, until mother went out of the +room again. + +It wasn't only mother that came in, but the whole company, and they sat +down to dinner without giving me any chance to get out. I tell you, it +was a dreadful situation. I had only room enough to sit still, and +nearly every time I moved I hit somebody's foot. Once I tried to turn +around, and while I was doing it I hit my head against the table so hard +that I thought I had upset something, and was sure that people would +know I was there. But fortunately everybody thought that somebody else +had joggled, so I escaped for that time. + +It was awfully tiresome waiting for those people to get through dinner. +It seemed as if they could never eat enough, and when they were not +eating, they were all talking at once. It taught me a lesson against +gluttony, and nobody will ever find me sitting for hours and hours at +the dinner table. Finally I made up my mind that I must have some +amusement, and as Mr. Martin's cork leg was close by me, I thought I +would have some fun with that. + +There was a big darning-needle in my pocket, that I kept there in case I +should want to use it for anything. I happened to think that Mr. Martin +couldn't feel anything that was done to his cork leg, and that it would +be great fun to drive the darning-needle into it, and leave the end +sticking out, so that people who didn't know that his leg was cork would +see it, and think that he was suffering dreadfully, only he didn't know +it. So I got out the needle, and jammed it into his leg with both hands, +so that it would go in good and deep. + +[Illustration: "WASN'T THERE A CIRCUS IN THAT DINING-ROOM!"] + +Mr. Martin gave a yell that made my hair run cold, and sprang up, and +nearly upset the table, and fell over his chair backward, and wasn't +there a circus in that dining-room! I had made a mistake about the leg, +and run the needle into his real one. + +I was dragged out from under the table, and-- But I needn't say what +happened to me after that. It was "the old, old story," as Sue says when +she sings a foolish song about getting up at five o'clock in the +morning--as if she'd ever been awake at that time in her whole life! + + + + +[Illustration: "CHERRIES ARE RIPE."] + + + + +[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.] + + +Three cheers for the Fourth of July! What American boy does not love it? +Where is the little girl who is not glad when it arrives? We hope you +will all have a splendid time on the happy holiday, meet with no +accidents, and when night comes, go to bed, to enjoy pleasant dreams. + +Vacation has come to many of you by this time. You have said good-by to +school and teachers, and have laid aside lessons and slates for a while. +Be out-doors all you can in these bright summer days, and lay in a good +stock of health for future use when the play spell is over. + +We think you will all be pleased with the feast Our Post-office Box +gives you in this Fourth-of-July number. + + * * * * * + + ORWORTH, KANSAS. + + Have you ever seen a Kansas dug-out? If you have not, I will write + you a description of one. In the first place, a hole is dug in the + ground four or five feet deep, and walled up with limestone or + sandstone about six feet high, and covered with a dirt roof. They + make these dirt roofs by putting a log lengthwise of the building, + and laying poles crosswise; then they cover the poles with + sunflowers, and place hay next, and on top of that usually a foot + or more of dirt. They usually have earth floors, and sometimes + there isn't a solitary window. I have seen dug-outs built of sod. + Wouldn't you like to live in such a house, where it is a common + thing for mice to tumble into the water bucket? The Wiggle I send + is a picture of the dug-out we used to live in when we first came + here. Will you please give it to the Wiggle master? + + We had a beautiful sunset not very long ago. It was grand. It had + been raining, and it slacked up as the sun was going down. Off in + the north-west there were some very black clouds; one of them + looked like a whale's back, another like a volcano in action. In a + few minutes they changed shape, and the best idea I can give of + them is a lot of giants contending together. The clouds seemed to + come clear to the ground. Papa said he never saw anything like it + before. The most beautiful of all was the rainbow. There was at + first a perfect arch, with rays of glory coming from the centre. In + a few minutes there was a reflected rainbow. All the time that the + rainbows lasted there was a very peculiar light, which I can't + describe. + + Papa and I are alone here, and I have to do the cooking. We will + begin to harvest next week. I am to have fifty cents per day for + cooking. I hope my letter is not too long to be published. + + THEODORE G. B. + + * * * * * + + PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. + + I am a little boy nine years old. Papa takes HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE + for my sister and me, and we like it very much. I have had the + pneumonia, and have been kept in the house two weeks, but that is + not so bad as it is for the little boy I read about in Our + Post-office Box who had to stay in the house two months, and can + not walk yet. I feel so sorry for him! I have a pet cat, and I love + it very dearly. + + RULIFF Y. L. H. + +By this time, Ruliff, I hope you are well, and able to fire off +torpedoes as gayly as did the boys in Miss Porter's story. + + * * * * * + + LONDON, ONTARIO, CANADA. + + I wrote a letter some time ago, and have been watching for it ever + since, and I was much disappointed, and think perhaps you did not + get it, and I thought I would try again. I have three little + sisters, and they all enjoy HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, and I think + "Toby Tyler" was the best story in it, and we have great laughs + over Jimmy Brown. We have five hens, and they all lay eggs; we get + four or five every day. Papa and I are gardening to-day, and we + have a lovely garden, and it is pretty hard work attending to it, + and we have hard times looking after our chickens; they dig holes + in the ground with their feet, and we are trying to shut them up + for the summer. + + FREDDIE W. F. + + * * * * * + + NEW YORK CITY. + + I am a little girl nine years old. I have no pets except four + dolls. One has not any head. Their names are Maud, Mabel, Emily, + and Sadie. I wish somebody would write more fairy stories. I am + very fond of them. I used to live in Brooklyn, and like it much + better than here. I am glad Mr. Otis has written more about Toby + Tyler, because I like him very much. My brother and I had scarlet + fever this winter, but we are all well now. I like HARPER'S YOUNG + PEOPLE very much. I have had it since it began. We have a parrot + here who cries like a baby and then imitates a nurse singing to it. + We go to the country every summer. + + BESSIE H. + +What a charming parrot! Who taught him to cry and sing so cleverly? Dear +Bessie, can not you put a new head on the poor dolly who has not any? I +feel quite sad on her account. + + * * * * * + +CAUGHT. + + Now, Bumble-bee, you just keep still; you needn't jump and buzz. + I've had such a time to catch you as never, never wuz. + I've chased you round the garden; a-cause I didn't look, + I almost fell right over into that drefful brook. + And I'm going to put you in it, though I s'pose you think you're hid. + For last week you stung my pussy; you know very well you did. + Yes, and you made us 'fraid that she was going to have a fit, + She jumped up so, and tried to catch the place where you had bit. + Yes, I shall surely drown you. But p'r'aps you've got a home, + And your little ones will wonder why you don't ever come; + And I think p'r'aps you're sorry you went and acted so: + If you'll only wait till I run away, _I b'lieve I'll let you go_. + + * * * * * + + PARKERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA. + + I have been taking YOUNG PEOPLE ever since it was published, and I + like it very much. This is the first letter I have ever written to + Our Post-office Box. We have a nice little pet canary-bird and a + little monkey. We have had the monkey four years, but we can not + tame him. Last winter it was so cold that once he was almost + frozen. At first we thought he was dead, and mamma was about to + throw him away, when she saw him move. Then she took him by the + stove to warm him, and he got well again. + + VICTORIA R. + + * * * * * + +HOW THEY KEPT THE FOURTH. + +BY MARY J. PORTER. + +"Halloa! Walter, wake-up!" cried Georgie. "Don't you know it's the +Fourth of July, and we must get up and celebrate it? All the rest of the +folks are going to the Town-Hall to hear a speech and get their dinner, +and we'll have a good time by ourselves. Do you know what the Fourth of +July is for?" + +"No," answered Walter, in a very sleepy way. + +"Well, I do; mamma told me last night. It's the anniversary of the time +when the United States made up their mind to take care of themselves. +That was more than a hundred years ago; that's ever so long, mamma says. +Now to-day, Walter, you and I will be like the United States, and take +care of ourselves; that's what independence means, and this is +Independence-day. Say, Walter, don't let anybody know that I told you, +but I heard papa telling mamma that he's going to s'prise us each with +lots of fire-works. Now I guess you'll wake up." + +"Guess I will, too," said Walter, springing to his feet. + +It did not take the boys long to dress. Sure enough they were surprised +and delighted when to each was given a toy gun and a package of +torpedoes, and then they were left to amuse themselves. + +"Tell you what I'll do," said Georgie. "I'll make an oration, and you +must be the audience, and when I get through, you must clap very hard, +and make me do it all over again." + +"All right," said Walter. "Jump up there on papa's desk, so I can hear +you better." + +Georgie mounted the desk, and began "Ladies and gentlemen,--I s'pose you +know this is the Fourth of July." Then he couldn't think of anything +else to say, so he jumped down. In doing so his foot hit the inkstand, +and a black, black stream of ink followed him to the floor. + +"Oh, dear! that's too bad!" he exclaimed. "Won't papa be sorry? Wish I +hadn't made a speech. Hurry up, Walter; get something to wipe it off +with." + +Walter tried hard; but he could not wipe away all the ink. Several big +spots remained. + +"Never mind," he said; "we'd better go out-doors and forget about it. +Let's play soldier. You and I'll be the Americans, and Brush can be the +British." + +Brush was the Newfoundland dog. + +This plan suited Georgie, and he and Walter looked about for a red coat +to put on Brush. They soon found Cousin Sarah's embroidered jacket, +which they thought would do nicely. Then they went into the yard and +coaxed Brush to be dressed up. He looked very funny when he stood on his +hind-legs with the jacket buttoned around him. + +"Now we must stand before him and present arms," said Georgie. + +"Yes, and then I'll turn around quick, and fire a torpedo. Won't that +frighten the old fellow?" + +So, after presenting arms, Walter turned his back to the enemy, and +threw a torpedo into the grass. Brush jumped after it, and in doing so +he knocked both of the Americans to the ground. Walter was a little +hurt, and he began to whimper, but Georgie helped him up, saying, "Don't +you know that soldiers never cry?" + +When the rest of the family came home, and found the ink spots in the +parlor, and Cousin Sarah's jacket spoiled, they thought it was a poor +plan to leave little boys to take care of themselves, even on the Fourth +of July. + + * * * * * + +GENOA, SOUTHERN ITALY. + +A. E. T. + +As our great national holiday approaches, perhaps the readers of YOUNG +PEOPLE would like to hear something about Genoa, where the great +Christoforo Colombo, as the Genoese call him, was born. Genoa is +situated at the foot of the Appenine range. The town, which is a very +ancient and picturesque one, commences at the river-front, and extends +some distance up these mountains. A friend of mine writes that there you +can not go up town in the sense that we do here, for so steep is the +incline that all carriages have to be furnished with brakes, lest, after +having once gone up town, one should not be able to get down town again. +The drive overlooking the river is delightful. This place is a great +stopping-point for ships plying the Mediterranean. + +The seasons there are far in advance of ours, and at this present time +the climate is intensely hot. Genoa has many beautiful buildings. The +people are so proud of their favorite that they name their hotels after +him, and also very many minor places of trade. Thus the name of Colombo +meets the traveller nearly everywhere. These devoted countrymen have +also erected a handsome monument to perpetuate his memory. Ancient as is +the city, yet they regard this noble hero with the freshness of +yesterday. Well may they be proud of a man capable of such grand +achievements, the conception of which was regal in its grandeur. + +You all know that to him we owe the blessing of our beautiful America. +What wonder that we sing so sweetly and so often, "Hail, Columbia!" + +Let us always revere his name as devoutly as his countrymen, who hug the +memory of this noble hero as close as Patti did her doll, when at the +age of ten she could not sing without it; it was an inspiration to the +little songstress. + +Let then this great man, Genoa's hero, command our love and gratitude, +while it inspires to noble deeds. + + * * * * * + + WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NEW YORK. + + I have taken your paper for some time, and I look forward from week + to week with so much pleasure, thinking of reading the pretty + stories; and I am very much interested in the puzzles; I find the + answers out myself. I am eleven years old, and have a little sister + Mollie, who is a very quaint child. We love to read about all the + little girls' pets, especially the cats and kittens, for we have + two; the mother we call Dud, and her kitten Gipsy we nickname Gip. + They are very knowing and cunning. Dud follows us when we go out, + and sometimes, when she has gone very far, waits an hour in one + place until we come back, delighted when she sees us, and runs + along perfectly contented. Our birds, Pete and John, both died, one + of old age, and the other of fits. We are to have a little dog + soon. A gentleman has made us a present of him--an English fox + terrier. We have never been to school, but are taught at home, and + I have read quite a number of letters from little girls in YOUNG + PEOPLE that have lessons at home also. We get along, because we + study, and enjoy our books. I read music quite well, so can Moll; + we practice an hour a day. We have each a baby doll that we are + very fond of; Violet Depeyster is the name of mine, and Daisy + Livingston Moll's, named after some aunties. They are very pretty + and good; they have very many pretty things we make them, for we + can both sew. I write to an uncle in Europe, and a little cousin in + the country, and rather like letter-writing, and hope this is not + too long. + + LULU K. + +Your puzzle will appear before long. It is very nicely done. + + * * * * * + + CRETE, NEBRASKA. + + I want to tell you what I did two years ago, when I was six years + old. My papa and uncle bought a drove of cattle in Colorado when + they were in the western part of the State. Papa took me out there, + and I rode one of the ponies, and helped to drive the cattle about + two weeks. I could ride just as fast as the pony could go, and + often beat the men in a race. + + I have a little saddle. We had a tent, and camped out; it was rare + fun, except when it rained. My sister Myrtle and I have a pair of + pet doves, a Maltese cat, and two dogs. I like all the stories and + letters very much. + + GEORGE A. J. + + * * * * * + + KAU, HAWAII, SANDWICH ISLANDS. + + We live on a sugar plantation, and the flume that carries the cane + to the mill runs near our house. The whole length of the flume is + eight miles. We have lots of hens, and we children take care of and + feed them, and so mother lets us sell some of them, and we saved + the money and bought a cow. She had a calf, but she was so wild + that we sold her and got another. She had a pretty little white + calf; it is real tame. We call him David. He has a collar on, and + we put a rope through the collar and lead him anywhere, and he + kicks up his heels, and seems to enjoy the play. We children have + three horses that we can ride whenever we like--Flora, Maud, and + Nellie. Nellie is very small, because she lost her mother when she + was small (a few weeks old), and had to be fed with a bottle, but + she is very gentle now. + + FRED N. H. + + * * * * * + +PUSSY'S STORY. + + Of course you all think I am a pussy cat. No wonder, when folks + call me Pussy. But you must know that one cold day in March I was + hatched. Did you ever hear that a pussy was hatched, I'd like to + know? + + Laugh away, Sue and Ned, Joe and Tom, Mattie and Artie, Polly and + Fanny! It is all true. + + One day my master went out to the barn, and there were a whole + dozen of us, shivering with cold. He brought us into the kitchen + and put us right down by the stove. Everybody came to see us, and + they all said: "Oh, the cunning little chicks! Where has the + naughty mother hen gone?" + + Then my mistress ran and brought a box, and lined it with soft wool + and warmed it, and then all of us little brothers and sisters were + crowded into it. + + The others slept like good chicks all night, but I just cried and + cried. Even the grandma was kept awake, and said, "That chicken + will not live." + + The next morning we were taken out to be fed, but my mistress said, + when she saw me, "Oh, here is one poor little fellow dead. + + "No," said grandma; "I think there is a little life in him still." + + I tried hard, and made a faint motion of my eyes, and so I was put + back under the stove. As I grew warm I kicked my little feet about, + and then the children screamed, "The chick is alive; it was in a + trance." + + So for two days they called me Cat-a-lep-sy. When I began to run + around and eat crumbs, they called me Puss-a-lep. By-and-by they + named me Pussy-willow, when the pussy-willows pushed out their + funny little fuzzy buds. + + Do you know I have been a traveller? Yes, indeed. When I was two + weeks old I was carried in a tiny basket over a hundred miles. Two + children had me, and we went in the cars. + + When we got to the new home, I was lifted out and set--where do you + suppose? Why, right in the middle of the tea table. I tell you, + things looked nice, I was so hungry. + + It is June now, and I have grown so big that my old friends would + not know me. I like the folks here. I eat out of their hands, I + perch on their heads, and hop about after them all day long, and my + name being Pussy, I try to behave as much like a kitten as + possible. + + That's all. Good-by. + + PUSSY-CHICK ----. + + * * * * * + +C. Y. P. R. U. + +You could not possibly find a prettier bit of verse than this to learn +by heart or to copy in your book of choice quotations, even though you +hunted through great volumes. It is by Lord Houghton (Richard Monckton +Milnes), and we are sure he had some dear child in his mind's eye when +he wrote it: + + A fair little girl sat under a tree, + Sewing as long as her eyes could see; + Then smoothed her work, and folded it right, + And said, "Dear work, good-night, good-night." + + Such a number of rooks came over her head, + Crying, "Caw, caw," on their way to bed; + She said, as she watched their curious flight, + "Little black things, good-night, good-night." + + The horses neighed, and the oxen lowed, + The sheep's "Bleat, bleat," came over the road, + All seeming to say, with a quiet delight, + "Good little girl, good-night, good-night." + + She did not say to the sun, "Good-night," + Though she saw him there, like a ball of light; + For she knew he had God's time to keep + All over the world, and never could sleep. + + The tall pink fox-glove bowed his head, + The violet courtesied, and went to bed, + And good little Lucy tied up her hair, + And said, on her knees, her favorite prayer. + + And while on her pillow she softly lay, + She knew nothing more till again it was day-- + And all things said to the beautiful sun, + "Good-morning, good-morning; our work is begun." + + * * * * * + +Did you ever wonder where the word etiquette came from? In former times +it was the custom in France on occasions of ceremony, or at fêtes and +festivals, to give each guest a little slip of paper, on which was +written the order of the proceedings, and some rules for the conduct of +the company. Then, if things were properly done, they were said to be +done by _ticket_. After a while the word etiquette, being a convenient +one, was brought into use in English. It is a short word for describing +how to do things in the right way. + + * * * * * + +There is no charge for the publication of exchanges. Birds' eggs and +fire-arms are prohibited as articles of exchange. + + * * * * * + +We would call the attention of the C. Y. P. R. U. this week to "Burning +the 'Toro'," by Mrs. Helen S. Conant, and to the conclusion of the +heart-rending story of Wager Island by Mr. James Payn. Then we hope the +boys will all read and profit by the "A Fourth-of-July Warning." + + * * * * * + +YOUNG PEOPLE'S COT. + +Contributions received for Young People's Cot, in Holy Innocent's Ward, +St. Mary's Free Hospital for Children, 407 West Thirty-fourth Street: + + Cash, New York, $1.25; Warrie and Edna, Sheridan, Nevada, 30c.; + Emily and Josephine Patterson, Cassel Prairie, $1; Annie Hindley, + Broadalbin, N. Y., $1.50; Clara M. Shank, Dayton, Ohio, 50c.; May, + Fred, Charlotte, and Annie Haley, Kau, Hawaii, Sandwich Islands, + $4; Willie Pier, Richland Centre, Ohio, $1; Fred Russell, Detroit, + Mich., 50c.; Ella H. and Arthur B. Poindexter, Jeffersonville, + Ind., 50c.; Mite Chest in Holy Innocent's Ward, $2.67; Nellie and + Charlie Rowe, New Haven, 75c.; Lulu and Anna Burrows, Melroy, Neb., + 30c.; James A. Nelson, Arbana, Ohio, 30c.; A. Mixia, $1; Richard B. + Morgan, Harrison, Ohio, 10c.; F. W., Gloversville, N. Y., 54c.; + total, $16.21. Previously acknowledged, $1154.14; grand total, June + 15, $1170.35. + + E. AUGUSTA FANSHAWE, Treasurer, 43 New St. + + * * * * * + + NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT. + + Please find inclosed seventy-five cents from Nellie and Charlie + Rowe for Young People's Cot. They have saved their pennies for this + purpose instead of spending them for candy and the like. + + Respectfully yours, + MRS. JAMES B. ROWE. + + * * * * * + + The dollar I inclose I saved during Lent, but have neglected + sending before now. + + A. MIXIA. + + P. S.--It is for the Young People's Cot. + + * * * * * + + KAU, HAWAII, SANDWICH ISLANDS. + + Inclosed please find four dollars, which my young people send to + Young People's Cot. There are four of them, May L. Haley, Fred N. + Haley, Charlotte A. Haley, and Annie S. Haley. Little Annie is only + three years old, and of course is too young to know or care + anything about it, but the others want me to send a dollar for her, + and when she is older, they say they will tell her all about it, + and read the papers to her, and she will be so glad that her name + is on the list, and that some little baby is lying in the Cot that + she helped to pay for. My children talk often of that little Cot + that they feel will belong partly to them. I think it was such a + beautiful idea for the children to each give their mite toward + buying it. It seems to me to be something that they will always + think of with real pleasure; it will be a little warm spot in their + hearts that will do them good, and help to make them think more of + those that are not so well off as themselves. If we did not live so + far away, we would only be too glad to send picture-books, toys, + etc. But we can only send kind wishes, and hope that you will soon + get enough money to pay for the Cot. + + MRS. C. E. HALEY. + + * * * * * + + CASSEL PRAIRIE, WISCONSIN. + + We are two little sisters; I am ten years old, and my little sister + will be six years old in July. We live in a nice valley a little + way from the Wisconsin River; it is called the Patterson Valley. We + often climb on the bluffs and pick flowers. We have to walk a mile + and a half to school. We have a very nice lady teacher. I am in the + Fourth Reader. I study reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography. + I also take music-lessons. We like YOUNG PEOPLE very much. Two kind + friends in New York made us a present of it at Christmas for this + year. We send one dollar for Young People's Cot. We like to read + the letters in Our Post-office Box. I hope you will print my letter + in it. My sister and I have four dolls. We have a dog named Dixie. + + EMILY C. and JOSEPHINE N. PATTERSON. + + * * * * * + +Correct answers to puzzles have been sent by Alfred Bruno, "Bo-Peep," +Clarence Stimson, C. B. K., Ted, Blanche Foster, "Butterfly," Ethel Cox, +"I. Scycle," Lucy A. Moise, Gustav Metz, Arthur A. Beebe, George J. +Fiske, Carrie, Charlie, and Willie Lloyd, May Wilson, Emma L. Gilbert, +Elvira R. U., Florence, Annie, and Mabel Knight, Lottie Lee Buxton, +Clara N. B., Percy M. B., Lizzie P. A., Frank Lomas, "Eureka," Frank +Millspaugh, "Sam Weller, Jun.," Allie C. Little, Bessie W. Spaulding, +R. B. Beals, Ella M. Brotherton, "North Star," Edna S., Eda C. Baldwin, +Cortland F. Bishop, E. G. Holmes, and Lulu Kirtland. + + * * * * * + +PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS. + +No. 1. + +AN ACROSTIC. + +1. An article of food popular in summer. 2. A feminine occupation. 3. A +Dutch cake. 4. A wild flower. 5. Something sweet. 6. A fairy. 7. A +cloud. 8. A mark of beauty. 9. Rest for the weary. 10. A sleeping +potion. 11. A confection. 12. A lofty perch. 13. A planet. 14. A bird. +15. The happiest time of life. Primals spell the name of a favorite +American holiday. + + MOTHER BUNCH. + + * * * * * + +No. 2. + +FOUR ENIGMAS. + +1. + + First in cradle, not in bed. + Second in barn, not in shed. + Third in one, not in ten. + Fourth in quail, not in wren. + Fifth in under, not in over. + Sixth in rover and in clover. + Seventh in top, not in cover. + My whole is considered a charming game, + And the answer to this will be its name. + + EDA L. B. + +2. + + In dog, not in cat. + In mouse, not in rat. + In man, not in boy. + In marble, not in toy. + In ale, not in wine. + In rose-bush, not in vine. + In Kate, not in Jane. + My whole is a brave little land, + Which gave birth to an author charming and bland. + + SAM WELLER, JUN. + +3. + + First in line, not in mark. + Second in dog, not in bark. + Third in clasp, not in ring. + Fourth in queen, not in king. + Fifth in stone, not in fling. + Sixth in time, not in hour. + My whole a tree with a fragrant flower. + +4. + + First in snow, not in hail. + Second in arrest, not in jail. + Third in drink, not in sot. + Fourth in pan, not in pot. + Fifth in wood, not in tree. + Sixth in bone, not in knee. + Seventh in ear, not in mouth. + Eighth in north, not in south. + Ninth in ripe, not in sweet. + Tenth in tidy, not in neat. + My whole is a thing delicious to eat. + + QUEEN CITY OF THE LAKES. + + * * * * * + +No. 3. + +THREE DIAMONDS. + +1.--1. A letter. 2. An exclamation. 3. To fascinate. 4. Skill. 5. A +letter. + +2.--1. A letter. 2. A serpent. 3. Not old. 4. A girl's name. 5. A +letter. + +3.--1. A letter. 2. Quick. 3. A country. 4. A fastening. 5. A letter. + + EUREKA. + + * * * * * + +No. 4. + +NUMERICAL ENIGMA. + + I am composed of ten letters, and am a city in the United States. + My 3, 5, 10, 7 is a musical act. + My 1, 2, 5, 8 is to tarry. + My 2, 3, 4 is a tree. + My 1, 5, 6, 7 is part of a bird. + My 4, 9, 8 is warm. + + ARTHUR A. B. + + * * * * * + +No. 5. + +AN EASY WORD SQUARE. + +1. An omen. 2. A Latin pronoun. 3. Joy. 4. Want. + + EMMA L. G. + + * * * * * + +No. 6. + +A MORE DIFFICULT SQUARE. + +1. An article of luxury. 2. An adjective. 3. Very cold. 4. To ascend. 5. +An additional clause. + + EDGAR S. + + * * * * * + +ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 137. + +No. 1. + +Mount Washington. + +No. 2. + + T riden T + I ndig O + M a B + A bilit Y + N augh T + D iml Y + T il L + I mped E + P oke R + +No. 3. + +Crow. Robin. Snow-birds. Swan. Hawk. + +No. 4. + + H O W L + O G R E + W R E N + L E N T + +No. 5. + +Egypt. Obelisk. + + * * * * * + +[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._] + + + + +[Illustration] + +WONDERFUL FIRE-WORKS. + +BY A. W. ROBERTS. + + +Among the many ingenious devices of the Chinese and Japanese in the way +of Hirayama, or day fire-works, is a huge bomb, which, when fired off, +ascends to a great height and explodes, at the same time releasing +hundreds of highly colored paper figures of both patriotic and comic +designs. + +Other varieties of this new Japanese day fire-work set free innumerable +miniature Japanese fans, parasols, and small toys, or produce grotesque +and beautiful designs in colored smoke. I have tried to give you in the +illustration an idea how they look. + +[Illustration] + +As each one of you boys who are well enough to go about is sure to set +off a certain number of "paper caps" before night comes on this Fourth +of July, 1882, I want to call your attention to a little toy that is not +only most novel and comical, but which will insure you against all +dangers from these explosives. It consists of a clown's head with a +movable jaw. At the top of the head a long string is fastened. A paper +cap is placed in the clown's mouth, and by means of the string the head +is caused to strike the pavement, the concussion causing the cap to +explode. All first-class conscientious dealers in fire-works are +refusing to sell the dangerous and so very often fatal toy cartridge +pistol, for which the clown's head forms such an excellent substitute. + + * * * * * + +BROTHER JONATHAN. + +The origin of this term, as applied to the United States, is as follows: + +When General Washington, after being appointed commander of the army of +the Revolutionary war, came to Massachusetts to organize it, and make +preparations for the defense of the country, he found a great want of +ammunition and other means necessary to meet the powerful foe he had to +contend with, and great difficulty to obtain them. If attacked in such +condition, the cause at once might be hopeless. + +On one occasion, at that anxious period, a consultation of the officers +and others was held, when it seemed no way could be devised to make such +preparations as were necessary. His Excellency Jonathan Trumbull the +elder was then Governor of the State of Connecticut, on whose judgment +and aid the General placed the greatest reliance, and remarked, "We must +consult Brother Jonathan on the subject." + +The General did so, and the Governor was successful in supplying many of +the wants of the army. When difficulties afterward arose, and the army +was spread over the country, it became a by-word, "We must consult +Brother Jonathan." The term Yankee is still applied to a portion, but +Brother Jonathan has now become a designation of the whole country, as +John Bull has for England. + + * * * * * + +"DUCK." + +"Duck" is a game that should be played by a number exceeding three, but +not more than six or eight. Each of the players being provided with a +large pebble or stone about twice the size of a cricket-ball, called a +"duck," one of them, by chance or choice, places his duck on a large +smooth-topped stone fixed in the ground. An offing being marked at eight +or ten yards' distance from the stone, the other players cast their +ducks at it in turn, endeavoring to knock the duck off its place. + +Each player, as soon as he has cast his duck, watches for an opportunity +of carrying it back to the offing, so as to cast again. If the player +whose duck is on the stone can touch another after he has taken up his +stone, and before he reaches the offing, provided his own duck remain on +the large stone, then the player so touched is out, and changes places +with the player at the stone. It sometimes happens that three or four of +the players' ducks lie so close together that the player whose duck is +on the stone can stand in a situation to be within reach of all of them; +in this case they can not, without running the risk of being touched, +pick up until one of those who are at the offing is lucky enough to +strike the duck off the large stone; then, before its owner can replace +it, which he must do before he can touch a player, they all take up +their ducks and run to the offing, where, of course, they are safe. + +Another way of playing this game is to mount three or four brickbats one +on top of the other, and to try to dislodge the upper one by throwing +the duck at it before the keeper of the castle can touch the thrower. +The player so touched becomes keeper. + + + + +[Illustration: CELEBRATING THE FOURTH OF JULY IN THE WOODS.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, July 4, 1882, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58448 *** |