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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58868 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: HARPER'S ROUND TABLE]
+
+Copyright, 1896, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All Rights Reserved.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PUBLISHED WEEKLY. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1896. FIVE CENTS A COPY.
+
+VOL. XVII.--NO. 873. TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+TIMID COUSIN VIC.
+
+BY WILLIAM DRYSDALE.
+
+
+To tell the story of Will Hall's trip to the tropics may seem like
+telling dangerous secrets and getting people into trouble. But there is
+this to be considered about it: If the Spaniards catch Will's father,
+they will shoot him, anyhow; so it can do no harm to admit that Henry
+Hall, who is Will's father, and David Hall, who is Will's uncle, are
+engaged in the perilous business of carrying patriots across from the
+Florida Keys to the Cuban coast.
+
+Will has nothing whatever to do with this business, for he is a
+school-boy in New York, storing his mind with regular and irregular
+verbs, and a vast amount of information about football and '96 pneumatic
+tires. So when his father took him down in the schooner to the Florida
+Keys to visit Uncle David, Will had no idea that ten days after leaving
+New York he would be crawling through a Cuban thicket, dodging Spanish
+soldiers.
+
+Matacumbia Key, at the very tip of Florida, where Uncle David lives with
+his daughter Vic, is a long way from New York, and Will had never seen
+either of them, and, of course, had never seen their house on the beach,
+with the whole Florida Strait for a front yard, and nothing between
+their shady piazza and the Cuban coast but eighty miles of salt water.
+
+"There ought to be some sport down there," he told the boys before he
+started. "Plenty of boating and fishing, you know, and cocoanut-trees,
+with monkeys in them, I suppose, and maybe some sharks to kill.
+Lonesome, though. You see, there ain't many people, and my cousin Vic is
+only fourteen. A little country girl of fourteen can't be much company
+for a New York chap nearly sixteen."
+
+There was sport in plenty, but not exactly the kind that Will expected.
+The "little country girl" took her cousin in hand in a way that
+astonished him, and would have made him miserable if the Cuban adventure
+had not given him a chance to show what he was made of.
+
+At first Vic was shy--painfully shy. She kept her eyes cast down, and
+only answered "Yes, sir," or "No, sir," when Will spoke to her.
+
+"I think I can bring her out after a while," he said to himself. "Of
+course she'd be a little timid at the start, 'specially with a fellow
+from a big place like New York. She's a pretty girl, too."
+
+About that there could be no doubt. Vic was large for her age, and the
+tan on her round cheeks tried to hide their natural pink, but did not
+quite succeed. When her work was done (for, being motherless, she was
+cook and house-keeper), she generally put on her boating-suit of blue
+flannel, which was as good as a bathing-suit, and it did not interfere
+when she chose to wade out to her pet sharpie, anchored just off the
+beach.
+
+The fathers were busy with their schooner, and with the men camped in
+the bush waiting to be carried over to Cuba, and Will and Vic were left
+to their own resources.
+
+"Can you shoot?" Vic asked one morning, very timidly, hardly raising her
+eyes.
+
+"Rather!" Will exclaimed. "I wish I'd brought my gun along."
+
+"I have a rifle," Vic said, and ran into the house and brought the rifle
+and a box of cartridges.
+
+Will measured off thirty paces, and stood a big cocoanut on top of a
+stump.
+
+Vic handled the rifle as if she were afraid of it, and took the first
+shot. The cocoanut did not stir. Then Will fired without hitting. After
+three or four rounds Will's bullet grazed the side of the nut, and he
+was duly elated.
+
+"You'll be all right with more practice," he told her. "I've practised a
+great deal in shooting-galleries."
+
+"I think the mark is too low for me," she answered, with becoming
+humility. "Pin a bit of paper to that tree beside the stump, about as
+high as your head."
+
+Will pinned up a scrap of paper half the size of his hand, and they
+fired several rounds without touching it. Then Vic started toward the
+house with the rifle.
+
+"Not going to give it up, are you?" he called. But her only answer was
+"Thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five"--she was pacing. When she
+reached "one hundred," she stopped and turned--one hundred paces from
+the tiny mark.
+
+"You stand there by the tree," she called, "and see whether I can hit
+the old thing from here."
+
+Will laughed, and obeyed. Crack! went the rifle.
+
+"Why," he cried, "you've hit it right in the centre! I don't suppose you
+could do that again in a week!"
+
+"I'll try," Vic answered, and fired again.
+
+"Well, upon my word!" Will shouted. "You've hit it again! What a
+remarkable accident!"
+
+Vic fired again, and made a third hole in the paper.
+
+That time Will did not say a word. He began to suspect something. Vic
+fired twice more, and made two more holes. The first hole was right in
+the centre, and the other four made a neat little circle around it.
+
+"All right, Cousin Vic," Will said, as he handed her the paper; "I owe
+you one. You're a dead shot with a rifle, and you've been making a
+beautiful guy of me."
+
+But Vic only laughed, and looked as timid as ever.
+
+Next morning the sky was overcast, and Will suggested a sail in Vic's
+sixteen-foot sharpie.
+
+"Don't you think it's rather rough?" she asked, looking doubtfully from
+the sky to the water. "Do you think it would be safe?"
+
+"Safe as a house!" Will answered, decidedly. "You needn't be afraid; I'm
+an old hand with a boat."
+
+After some hesitation Vic consented, and even determined that she had
+better sail the boat herself, as she was more used to the rigging.
+
+"All right," Will gallantly said. "If anything happens I can swim enough
+for both of us."
+
+The water was so much rougher than it looked from shore that Will began
+to feel uneasy about having a girl at the helm. They were a mile from
+the house, bobbing up and down on the waves like a cork in a mill-race,
+when Vic said they had gone far enough, and put the tiller suddenly hard
+down.
+
+"Look out! Ease her up!" Will shouted; but it was too late. The sharpie
+went over like a flash, and they were both thrown into the water.
+
+Vic went down instantly, and then came up with her arms waving wildly.
+
+"Help! help!" she cried, and the next instant she disappeared again.
+
+Will was holding on to the slender foremast, but he let go and sprang
+toward his cousin. When she came up again he seized her.
+
+"Now do as I tell you, or we'll both drown," he said, as calmly as he
+could. "Don't grab me, but put one hand on my back and let yourself
+float."
+
+She did as he told her, and he struck out toward the boat, and soon
+righted it, for Will was an excellent swimmer. Vic seemed limp as a rag,
+but he put her hands on the gunwale, and told her to hold on there while
+he baled out the water, and then he climbed in and helped Vic in over
+the stern.
+
+"Take me home," she muttered, leaning helpless against the side, and
+Will headed the boat for the beach.
+
+"Oh, Will!" she said, when they were nearly back, "how can I ever thank
+you for saving my life?"
+
+"Pshaw!" he exclaimed; "that was nothing. You know I told you I am a
+pretty good swimmer."
+
+"A minute more--" she gasped; then her feelings overcame her, and she
+buried her face in her hands.
+
+When the boat was anchored, Vic waded ashore, and ran toward the house
+very spryly for a girl who had been so weak a few minutes before. The
+two fathers had returned, and were sitting on the piazza, and when Vic
+ran up the steps, laughing, Will thought it was because she wished to
+make as light as possible of her danger.
+
+"Now, Mary Victoria Hall," her father said, much to Will's surprise,
+"you've got to stop that sort of thing. I saw that little caper out in
+the boat, and I'm not going to have you playing such tricks on your
+cousin. You must look out for this girl, Will, as she is the worst tease
+in Florida. There is not a better sailor than she in all the Keys, and
+nothing could upset her unless she chose. Why, she sails that sharpie
+fifteen miles to school every day in winter, and she knows every rock
+and reef. She tipped you over purposely, to give you a ducking."
+
+"Why, Uncle David--" Will interrupted.
+
+"Nothing else," Mr. Hall went on; "and as to drowning, you might as well
+try to drown a duck. She swam out to the Alligator Light, twenty miles,
+when she was only twelve years old. She has been making game of you,
+that's all."
+
+"You see," Vic's father continued, "she is left alone here so much,
+while I am away sponging and fishing, that I had to teach her to take
+care of herself. But I don't want her to be playing her pranks on you
+just because you live in a city and ain't used to girls who are good
+sailors and good rifle-shots."
+
+Vic looked very meek while her father was talking, but Will saw that she
+was ready to laugh at any minute. When he went into the house to change
+his clothes he was almost ready to admit that his trip to the Keys was a
+dismal failure. That a crack football-player, an expert bicycler, a
+leader in all the sports in a big school in the greatest city in the
+country, should be outdone in everything by a little country girl who
+looked as meek as a lamb, and be the butt of her jokes, was enough to
+make him feel uncomfortable. Two days after Will's gallant rescue of his
+cousin from no danger at all, he and Vic were left alone. Their fathers
+had sailed for Cuba in the schooner, with eighty men and hundreds of
+cases of ammunition. If all went well, they would be back from Cuba the
+following night. But if all did not go well? The cousins knew that any
+slight mishap might bring trouble into both families, and they were
+unusually quiet.
+
+At nine o'clock in the morning Will went out on the piazza, and the
+white appearance of the water surprised him. So did the wind, coming in
+a steady sweep from the northward, cooling the air, and churning the
+Florida Strait into foam. Vic soon joined him, looking anxiously from
+water to sky and sky to water, and shook her head.
+
+An hour later he found her pacing the piazza, looking very much
+troubled. The wind had increased, and the water was wild and furious.
+
+"It is a norther," she said, "and a bad one. I don't see why it had to
+come to-day."
+
+"It is a fair wind to carry them to Cuba," Will suggested.
+
+"It is just the wind to drive them on the rocks and wreck them," Vic
+retorted. "They will certainly try to land to-night, and they have only
+one little boat. That would be nothing among all those men."
+
+She took two or three more turns up and down, and then stopped.
+
+"I am going to cross the straits in my sharpie, Will," she said. "If
+anything happens to them the sharpie may be of great assistance. It is
+the best little sea-boat I know of."
+
+"To cross to Cuba, you mean?" Will asked, without showing any great
+surprise.
+
+"Yes," she answered. "It is only eighty miles, and I can make it before
+dark. I have made longer voyages than that."
+
+"It will be a nice little sail," Will laughed. "If you happen to meet a
+Spanish cruiser, you might capture her and bring her home."
+
+He was on his guard for another practical joke, and did not intend to be
+caught. But Vic walked up to him and seized his arm with a very earnest
+grip.
+
+"Don't think I am trying to play another trick on you, Will," she said,
+"for I am not. You don't know what danger this storm puts both our
+fathers in. I may be able to help them, and I am going to try."
+
+Her earnest manner left no doubt that she meant what she said, and Will
+became serious.
+
+"I don't know whether a small boat can live in that sea," he said, "but
+if you start for Cuba, I am going with you."
+
+Vic was not prepared for such an answer as this; but she had known Will
+only for a few days. Any of his schoolmates could have told her that
+where there was real danger to be faced he would be at the front. She
+protested against his going, for she knew the peril of such a trip in so
+small a boat; but Will was firm as a rock, and even while she urged him
+to stay behind he waded out to the sharpie and began to make it ready.
+
+"If your father is in danger," he said, "so is mine. You know I am going
+if you go, so what's the use of talking?"
+
+That eighty-mile sail across the Florida Strait in a raging storm is one
+of the things that Will cannot be induced to talk much about. It is a
+sort of nightmare to him. There was not only the physical danger, which
+was serious enough, but there was the chance that their fathers might
+land safely, and then blame them severely for undertaking such a voyage.
+
+Vic had put a jug of water and a box of biscuits under the stern seat,
+and she took the tiller as a matter of course. Will was kept busy baling
+out the water, which came over the sides in a fury of spray. But Vic
+knew that that spray was all in their favor. The force of the wind was
+so great that it kept the sea down by sweeping off the crests of waves,
+though it made an appalling smother of foam.
+
+If a boy can sit with his heart in his throat for nearly nine hours at a
+stretch, Will Hall did it that day. In a few hours the spray made crusts
+of salt upon both their faces, and in the furious gale talking was
+almost impossible. But through it all Vic kept the little sharpie headed
+due south, for she knew that the schooner would try to land just to the
+eastward of Cardenas.
+
+At four o'clock in the afternoon, with the mountains of Cuba looming up
+bold before them, they passed a broken mast floating on the water,
+weighted with torn and knotted rigging. They could not go near enough to
+make sure whether it was part of the schooner or not. But it looked
+serious.
+
+Two hours later they were in behind the reefs, and then the doubt was
+settled. All around them, in the comparatively smooth water, floated
+wreckage from some vessel that had gone to pieces, and the fragments of
+white-painted planks told the melancholy story.
+
+"We must lie alongshore till dark," Will declared, "and then make a
+search, for they may be in hiding. I still have hopes that they may have
+escaped from the schooner. Then the next thing will be to escape from
+the Spaniards, and there we can help them with the sharpie."
+
+Somehow it was Will who was in command now of the relief expedition. On
+the water Vic was confident of herself; but when the danger was from the
+Spanish coast-guard, she looked naturally to Will for directions.
+
+About eight o'clock the darkness came rapidly and they started inland to
+search for tidings, leaving the sharpie hidden among the bushes on the
+shore of a little inlet. It was a desolate part of the coast, and so far
+they had not seen a living person. Will picked up a stout piece of
+driftwood for a club.
+
+"If there is a house anywhere in the neighborhood, we must find it," he
+said. "The people will know whether any one was saved from the wreck.
+They will most likely be Cubans, and therefore friends. Keep your eyes
+and ears open, Vic, for we must dodge the Spaniards."
+
+Hardly anything could have been more hopeless than such a search made by
+a boy and girl who knew nothing of the country, nothing of the language,
+but groped their way in pitch darkness through a dense forest. But they
+were Americans, and both knew that the sharpie might mean escape from
+death for their fathers, if their fathers were not already drowned.
+Presently they discovered a path and followed it, tripping over roots
+and rocks, stumbling, scratching their faces with thorns.
+
+"Oh, Will!" Vic exclaimed, after a collision with a sharp cactus. "I
+can't go any further. I don't know what to do!" And she began to cry.
+
+"Don't think of yourself at all, Vic," Will urged. "I can take care of
+you. Maybe your father is hiding in these very woods, and our boat may
+save him. We can't go back and desert them. We must push on and find
+somebody, even if it is a Spanish soldier. Hist!"
+
+The prospect of finding a Spanish soldier was nearer than he thought,
+for the words were hardly out of his mouth before they heard the sound
+of men tramping through the bushes.
+
+As they stood and listened the sounds grew nearer--sounds of many feet,
+and words of command in Spanish.
+
+"Come away from the path!" Will whispered, and seizing Vic's arm, he
+drew her into the underbrush, and on hands and knees they crawled away
+from the danger.
+
+In a moment more the soldiers passed; thousands of them, they thought,
+by the sound, but in reality something less than a hundred. When Will
+and his cousin resumed their feet they could not find the path. To add
+to their troubles, they were lost in the Cuban forest.
+
+How long they struggled through the sharp bushes they did not know till
+afterward; but when they stopped it was because a stone wall stood in
+their way--the stone wall of a small cabin. Will felt his way along the
+wall till he found the door, but it was shut and locked. He rapped, but
+there was no response.
+
+"I am afraid it is deserted," he said; "but maybe we can get in to wait
+for daylight."
+
+Again he rapped at the door, and softly called: "Hello! Let us in! We
+are Americans and friends."
+
+Suddenly the door opened, and a familiar voice answered. "Will Hall, how
+do you come to be here?"
+
+"What's that?" said another voice inside; and Will and Vic needed no
+further telling that their fathers were found.
+
+In another minute they were inside the dark cabin, and the door was
+barred.
+
+"Where is your boat?" both the men asked, almost in the same breath.
+
+"Down by the shore," Will answered, "hidden in the bushes."
+
+"Then you have pulled us out of a tough scrape," said Vic's father.
+"Twice we have narrowly escaped capture, and we expected to be taken
+before daylight."
+
+After the wreck of the schooner they and all the men had reached shore
+safely, and the men had gone on into the mountains. But the small boat
+was stove, and the two Americans were in a trap. They had found the
+cabin, and hidden there from the Spanish guard.
+
+Vic leaned heavily upon her father when they started for the boat; and
+before they reached the shore he and Will were carrying her, for her
+strength was gone.
+
+"No wonder she is used up," said Will, as the boat beat out to the
+eastward, tacking tediously toward the American coast; "no wonder, after
+all she has been through. But how she kept up till we found you! She is
+the bravest girl in Florida, Uncle David. Our coming after you was all
+her doing."
+
+Whatever the others said about Will's share in the rescue, it was enough
+to warrant him in saying, as he does when the boys begin to talk about
+the Cuban war: "Yes, I've had a little hand in that thing myself. So has
+my Cousin Vic."
+
+
+
+
+HOW MAGIC IS MADE.
+
+BY HENRY HATTON.
+
+VI.
+
+(_Conclusion._)
+
+
+"How does Professor ---- cause a handkerchief to leave a decanter which
+he holds in his hand, and appear in another at a distance?" writes a
+correspondent.
+
+Well, that depends on who the "Professor" is. One man, who says he would
+as lief receive a slap in the face as to be called _Professor_, does a
+trick somewhat like it in this way:
+
+Two water-bottles, or carafes, the kind with large round bottoms and
+wide necks, are used. Concealed in his right hand this man has a red
+silk handkerchief folded into small compass. One of the carafes he
+proceeds to wrap in a large handkerchief, holding it mouth downward for
+this purpose, and it is while so wrapping it that he pops the concealed
+handkerchief into the mouth of the bottle, which he stands, covered, on
+the table. So much for getting the handkerchief in.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
+
+Running up his right sleeve is a fine strong cord; this goes across his
+back and out of the left arm hole of his vest, and ends in a loop which
+reaches nearly to his waist. At the end of the cord by the right hand is
+a piece of fine black sewing-silk, which is fastened into the eye of a
+strong, short needle, and this needle is bent[1] into the form of a
+double-jointed hook, as shown in Fig. 1. In this shape it will not catch
+in the sleeve.
+
+[1] The needle can easily be bent by heating it in a gas or lamp flame.
+When it has acquired the proper form it should again be heated, and,
+while still hot, be plunged into oil.
+
+As the man is returning to his stage after showing the second carafe and
+handkerchief to the audience, he attaches the hook to the latter. Then
+he pushes it well down into the carafe, using his wand for the purpose.
+Taking the carafe around the neck with his right hand, so that the mouth
+is almost at his wrist, he swings it back and forth, and then counting
+"_One--two--three!_" slips his left thumb into the loop, and at the word
+"_three_," gives a sharp jerk, and the handkerchief flies up his sleeve.
+As he stands with his right side toward the audience, and all eyes are
+fixed on the carafe, the movement of the left hand and arm is not
+noticed. The carafe which is on the table is now uncovered, and most of
+the audience, seeing the handkerchief, imagine it is the same one that
+was in the bottle, and that in some way inexplicable to them it has
+passed invisibly from one place to the other.
+
+Another performer pursues a different method. When he comes on the
+stage, he too has a handkerchief concealed in his right hand, but
+it is already fastened to the thread attached to the cord which goes
+up the sleeve. This cord is connected with what is known as a
+_spring-barrel_--that is, a heavy coiled steel spring in a brass box,
+very much like a spring tape-measure.
+
+He holds the carafe in his left hand, to show that it is empty, and then
+reaching with his right to the tail pocket of his coat, he pretends to
+take out the handkerchief, which he shows. This he pushes with a
+forefinger and his wand into the carafe. The spring-barrel is under his
+vest at the left side, and when it is time for the handkerchief to leave
+the carafe, a gentle pressure with the left-hand fingers on the button
+of the spring-barrel sets the cord in motion, and sends the handkerchief
+whizzing up his sleeve.
+
+The spring makes a great noise, and to conceal this the man calls out,
+"One! two! three!--_go!_" shouting the last word, and accompanying it by
+a stamp of the foot and a crash at the piano, which is deafening.
+
+The second carafe stands uncovered on a table, and has a small hole
+drilled in its bottom. The duplicate handkerchief which is to make its
+appearance in the carafe is arranged as follows: The centre is gathered
+into a point, and through this is run one end of a long double black
+thread. Both ends of this thread are led inside the neck of the carafe
+and out through the hole in the bottom, and again through a
+corresponding hole in the table, to the hands of an assistant, who is
+beneath the stage. The handkerchief hangs at the back of the table,
+where it cannot be seen by the audience. When it is to appear in the
+carafe, the hidden assistant gives a strong and quick pull on both ends
+of the thread, and the handkerchief flies so quickly into the carafe
+that it is impossible for the eye to follow it. When it is once inside
+the bottle the assistant pulls _on one end of the thread_, and thus soon
+pulls it through. The handkerchief is now detached, and may be taken out
+of the bottle to convince the audience that it is in no wise connected
+with any string.
+
+Such wonderful tales are told by travellers of the feats of Indian
+magicians that many believe them to be more than human. I have never
+been to India, but two very clever conjurers who visited that country,
+the late Robert Heller and Samri Baldwin, have assured me that they have
+never seen anything but the most commonplace tricks performed there. I,
+for one, believe them, for they understood every move that was made, and
+could not be deceived. Some years ago a theatrical manager introduced a
+company of Indian jugglers at his theatre, but their tricks were so
+transparent that they did not succeed in creating any great impression
+on the public.
+
+More recently a troupe of these wonderful jugglers visited us, and
+appeared at the Chicago Exposition and in other places through the
+country. They did the famous trick of putting a man in a basket and
+apparently making him disappear. It was very bad, and yet Dr. Hodgson,
+of Boston, who visited India in the interest of the London Psychical
+Society, says it was done exactly as it is done in India. One really
+clever trick they did which has as yet not been explained, and that I
+shall make plain.
+
+[Illustration: THE HINDOO BOAT.]
+
+"The Hindoo Boat," a block of wood roughly hewed into the shape of a
+boat was shown. It was hollowed out inside. Near the bow was a
+cross-piece having a hole in the centre, and in this was inserted a
+hollow mast. The other end of this mast was stuck into a hole made in a
+cocoanut, which had been cleaned out inside. Below the centre of the
+cocoanut was another hole smaller than the one which admitted the mast.
+
+The performer filled the body of the boat with water from a pitcher,
+splashing it about his table, and making a great muss. He also filled
+the cocoanut. Then at the word of command the water flowed or stopped
+flowing from the hole at E. As the performer stood at a distance from
+the boat, he had evidently no connection with it, though every control
+over it.
+
+The secret lies in the fact that the boat was pierced near the bottom
+with another hole, F, which allowed the water slowly to trickle out. As
+soon as enough had escaped to bring the water below the cross-piece, the
+air would rush up the hollow mast, and the water would be forced out of
+the hole E. This would soon fill the boat again, and as soon as that
+happened the flow would cease. The performer had only to watch the water
+in the boat, and be guided by that in giving his commands. It is nothing
+more than the old story of the Tantalus cup in a new form.
+
+A stage illusion which will compare favorably with the Hindoo tricks is
+the one known as "Flyto." In this a human being disappears from a large
+wooden cage which seemingly can conceal no one, and reappears in another
+cage which is swinging in the air.
+
+[Illustration: THE FIRST CAGE.]
+
+The first cage, or "cabinet," as it is called, is about seven feet high
+from bottom to top, and stands on slight legs, so that the spectator may
+look under it. It is hexagon in shape, and is made up, front, back, and
+sides, of doors. These doors are of slats placed about two inches apart,
+so that the audience can look in and through the entire cabinet. Inside
+the doors are red curtains on spring rollers. The background of the
+stage, or _flat_, is covered with green cloth, and the same material is
+on the floor of the stage. Outside on the top of the cabinet are four
+chains uniting in the centre in a ring.
+
+When the cabinet is first brought out the inner curtains are pulled
+down. The cabinet is run down toward the foot-lights, and turned
+completely around so that all sides may be seen. It is then pushed well
+back on the stage, four of the doors are thrown open, and all the
+curtains are run up. The audience can now see through every part. The
+curtains are pulled down and the doors are closed.
+
+A girl dressed in a fantastical costume comes on the stage and enters
+the cabinet. She is hardly inside when the performer again throws open
+the doors, and a tall man in military dress is seen inside. The girl has
+gone. The curtains are run up, but nothing is to be seen of the missing
+girl, and certainly there is no place to conceal her. The military
+gentleman pulls down the curtains, steps out of the cabinet, closes the
+door, and with the help of the performer once more rolls the cabinet
+towards the foot-lights. A rope is let down from the flies, fastened to
+the ring on top of the cabinet, and the machine is hoisted into the air.
+
+In the mean time the girl, or some one like her, has come down the
+centre aisle of the theatre and mounted the stage.
+
+[Illustration: THE SECOND CAGE.]
+
+A second cabinet, exactly like the first but a trifle smaller, is rolled
+on the stage, and this the young lady enters. No sooner are the doors
+closed than the performer cries out, "Where are you?" "Here," comes the
+answer; the curtains fly up in the swinging cabinet, and there stands
+the girl. The doors of the second cabinet are opened, but it is empty.
+
+As my readers may surmise, there are two girls in this trick as well as
+two cabinets. While it is not always possible to find twin sisters so
+like that you cannot "tell one from both," these girls in their dress
+and make up must look as much alike as possible. When the first cabinet
+is rolled on the stage the "soldier" is inside, but, as you will
+remember, the curtains are down. As soon as the cabinet is placed in
+position at the back of the stage Mr. Soldierman steps out of the back
+door and stands on the ledge.
+
+_The two back doors are furnished on the outside with green curtains_ of
+the same shade as the background and the stage covering, and herein lies
+the whole secret of the trick, for the audience do not see through those
+doors, but merely think they do.
+
+When the girl enters the cabinet she changes places with the soldier.
+Afterward when the curtains are down and the doors closed she re-enters
+the cabinet, where she remains till she releases the curtains when she
+is swinging aloft. With some slight modifications the trick might be
+arranged for the drawing-room.
+
+Most of the cabinet tricks shown on the stage depend on a back door. One
+magician has used it for many years, and showed considerable ingenuity
+in the way in which he managed to introduce the person who was to
+produce the "manifestations." My reader must not understand by this that
+he was aided by a second person in all his cabinet manifestations. When
+he was tied with ropes and placed in the cabinet all the manifestations
+that took place there were produced by him without assistance from any
+one. In such cases he simply releases one hand, having secured slack
+while he was being tied up by the committee, and with this one hand he
+rings the bells, shakes the tambourines, and "raises ructions"
+generally. Later on, when he ties himself up and re-enters the cabinet,
+he is tied in such a way that he can free both hands, and is enabled to
+take off his own coat and put on some other man's, and do all the other
+"two-hand acts."
+
+Lately he has taken to building his cabinet in full view of the audience
+so that there may be no possibility of concealing any one in it. He
+brings out a platform mounted on legs with heavy casters, puts up the
+back and sides, which are hinged together, and screws them in place;
+then adjusts the front in which are the doors. Gradually in the process
+of putting this together the cabinet is pushed about until for a moment
+it backs against the "flat." That moment is not lost, for the one who is
+to produce the manifestations steps through the scene on to the ledge
+back of the cabinet, and there clings. No sooner is the front up and
+secured than he enters by the back door. The cabinet is now turned
+around, and when it is again in position well "up stage," its occupant
+once more takes his place on the back ledge. Now the doors are opened
+and closed. The man re-enters, rings the bells, blows the horns, knocks
+over the chairs, and while the clatter is at its height, escapes to the
+back again just as the doors are opened for the last time.
+
+The performer bows. The curtain falls.
+
+     NOTE.--Articles on this subject have appeared in the following
+     numbers of the ROUND TABLE: Nos. 844, 852, 862, 866, 869.
+
+
+
+
+CROSSING THE XUACAXÉLLA.
+
+BY CAPTAIN CHARLES A. CURTIS, U. S. A.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The following day we were delayed so that we did not begin our journey
+until three o'clock. When we drove away, as long as we were in sight of
+the post, Frank and Henry looked back at Vic, who was straining at a
+cord which held her to a hinge of the great gates, uttering dismal
+canine lamentations at being left. The pleasure of their excursion
+seemed to be marred at the outset by the absence of their constant
+companion and pet.
+
+At the time of which I write there were but two wagon roads out of
+Prescott--one through Fort Whipple to the northeast, and one to the
+north. We took the latter, pursuing it along the east side of Granite
+Range for eight miles, when we passed through a rugged notch in the
+range to Mint Creek, where the road made an acute angle, and followed a
+generally southerly direction to La Paz.
+
+We halted for the night at the creek, fifteen miles from the fort. Our
+ambulance was provided with four seats--one in front for the driver,
+fixed front and rear seats in the interior, with a movable middle seat,
+the back of which could be let down so that it fitted the interval
+between the others, and afforded a comfortable bed. On the rack behind
+were carried the bedding, provisions, ammunition, and cooking utensils,
+and beneath the hind axle swung a ten-gallon keg.
+
+While supper was being prepared the boys wandered about the
+camping-place in search of the mint which gave the creek its name, and
+in a fruitless hunt for some ducks they had seen settle in the reeds.
+Clary called them to supper, and they joined me around a blanket where
+our soldier meal was spread. While we were sugaring and stirring our
+coffee the cook stood by the fire holding two long rods in his hands,
+upon the ends of which were slices of bacon broiling before the glowing
+coals. Suddenly he exclaimed:
+
+"Look there, b'ys!--look there!" raising and pointing with both sticks
+and the rashers of bacon toward the cane grass behind us.
+
+There in its very edge sat Vic, winking her eyes and twitching her ears
+deprecatingly, plainly in doubt as to her reception.
+
+"Stop, boys! Keep quiet!" I said, to prevent a movement in her
+direction. "Vic, you bad girl, how dared you follow me?"
+
+No reply; only a slow closing and opening of the eyes, and an
+accompanying forward and backward movement of the ears.
+
+"Go home! Go!"
+
+The setter rose, dropped her head, and, turning dejectedly, disappeared
+with drooping tail in the tall grass. Both boys exclaimed at once:
+
+"Don't drive her off, sir! Poor little Vic."
+
+"Well, go and see if you can coax her back. If she returns with you she
+may go."
+
+The boys ran eagerly into the grass, and soon I heard them soothing and
+pitying the dog, telling her it was all right and she could go. But it
+was evident she doubted their authority to give her permission to join
+us, for Henry presently came running towards me.
+
+"She won't come, sir. She keeps moving slowly back in the direction of
+the fort. She looks so sorry and so tired. Only think how badly she
+feels, and it is a long distance to Whipple. Can't she stay with us
+until morning?"
+
+"Then she will not come in with you?"
+
+"No. She has always followed me unless you told her not to. She never
+disobeys you."
+
+"But she followed me here; that looks very much like disobedience."
+
+"Did you tell her not to come?"
+
+"No; I forgot to."
+
+"Did she hear you tell Hoey to tie her to the gate?"
+
+"No. He was in my room at the time, and the dog was with you at the
+corral."
+
+"Then she's not to blame, sir. She's a military dog, and never disobeys
+orders."
+
+"But how guilty she looked!"
+
+"I do not think it is guilt that made her look so. If you had given her
+a positive order not to come she would have staid without being tied.
+She had expected to go, and she is terribly sorry at being left. She
+thinks there has been a mistake, and came out to see about it."
+
+"Perhaps you are right, Henry. She's certainly obeying orders now and
+going back."
+
+"Yes, sir, and in spite of our coaxing her to stay."
+
+"I'll let her go with us. Let us try an experiment. You know some people
+believe dogs understand what people say."
+
+"Yes, sir; I know Vic does."
+
+"I'll speak to her without altering my tone of voice. Now watch. Here,
+Vicky, little girl, you may go with us."
+
+Out of the reeds, bounding in an ecstasy of delight, came Vic. She
+sprang about me, then about the boys, the soldiers, and animals, and
+then approached the fire and looked for her share of the supper. It was
+settled in her dog mind that she was going with us.
+
+We resumed our journey the next morning with the first crack of dawn,
+and rode to Skull Valley. The first section of the road ran through a
+rough, mountainous, and wooded country. At the end of twenty miles it
+entered a level valley, which gradually broadened into a wide plain
+which had been occupied by settlers for farms and cattle ranges. I was
+well acquainted with the people, and called at the log house of a Mr.
+Sage to make inquiries about the horse-thieves, and to purchase some
+eggs for our next camp.
+
+As the ambulance rattled up to the door two young women appeared, whom I
+recognized as Mrs. Sage and Mrs. Bell. To my inquiry for her husband
+Mrs. Sage replied that he and Mr. Bell had left for La Paz eight days
+before, and were expected home that day.
+
+"Sorry he is not here," I said; "I wanted to inquire about two
+horse-thieves who probably passed through the valley two weeks ago."
+
+"A Mexican and a white man?" asked Mrs. Sage, making a distinction in
+complexion rather than in race.
+
+"Yes; the first rode a cream-colored pony, and the last a black--the
+property of these boys."
+
+"They were here to breakfast; arrived before we were up. The Greaser
+wanted to swap his saddle for a Mexican saddle, but husband wouldn't
+swap, so he bought it."
+
+"Did he leave the one he brought, Mrs. Sage?" asked Henry.
+
+"Yes; it's hanging on a peg beside the door in the linter."
+
+Both boys ran to the lean-to and presently returned with Henry's neat
+McClellan saddle. It had been stripped of its pouches and small straps,
+but was otherwise unharmed.
+
+"What shall I pay you for this?" asked the boy.
+
+"Oh, nothing! It cost us nothing, and I make no charge for storage. If
+it's any use to you, take it."
+
+"I wonder why Jumping Jack took off all the trimmings, sir?" said Henry
+to me.
+
+"Oh, I forgot to mention," said Mrs. Sage, "that the saddle the Greaser
+bought had nothing on it, so he shifted everything off of this to that."
+
+"Well, I'll shift everything back if we catch him, and when I come back
+I'll call and report. Thank you for the saddle."
+
+"You are entirely welcome to your property, I'm sure. Shall be glad to
+see you enjoying your pony when you return."
+
+The saddle was placed in the ambulance, and after buying some eggs and
+vegetables we started, the boys expressing their satisfaction at the
+result of our call, and feeling sanguine that we were on the trail of
+the thieves. We left the valley by a steep ascent into a mountainous
+range, and had proceeded but a short distance through a narrow and
+rugged roadway when we were overtaken by the military expressman whom we
+had left at Fort Whipple. He had come from Prescott to Skull Valley by a
+short cut.
+
+"I have a letter for you, Lieutenant," said he, approaching the
+ambulance.
+
+Unfastening the mail-pouch, he turned its contents upon the back seat. A
+heap of loose letters and three well-worn books strewed themselves over
+the cushion. Frank picked up the books and examined their titles.
+
+"Xenophon's _Memorabilia_, Euripides' _Alcestis_ and _Medea_, a Greek
+grammar!" exclaimed the astonished youngster. "What are you doing with
+these college text-books on the La Paz trail?"
+
+"Making up conditions," replied the courier, a blush deepening the brown
+of his face.
+
+"What are conditions?" asked Henry.
+
+"Oh blissful ignorance! Why was I not spared the task of enlightening
+it?" answered the courier. "Conditions are stumbling-blocks placed in
+the way of successful rowing men and footballists by non-appreciative
+college professors."
+
+"'Joseph Gould Baldwin, University of Yalvard,'" read Frank from the
+fly-leaf of the _Memorabilia_. "Is that your name, Mr. Baldwin?"
+
+"I'm so borne on the catalogue."
+
+During this conversation the letter had been handed to me, but I held it
+unopened in my hand while I listened.
+
+"Please explain, Mr. Baldwin," I said, "how a college-boy happens to be
+in Arizona running the gauntlet of this mail route and making up
+conditions in Greek?"
+
+"I was stroke in the celebrated crew that won the championship for
+Yalvard at New London a year ago, and got behind in these. I was
+conditioned, and being ashamed to go home, struck out for myself on the
+Pacific coast. I drifted about from mining-camp to cattle ranch until I
+was dead broke. This place offered, and I took it because I could find
+nothing else. I've had lots of opportunities for reflection on the
+Xuacaxélla. I'm the repentant prodigal going home to his father."
+
+"Oh, you are no prodigal, Mr. Baldwin," observed Henry. "We've heard
+about you; you are too brave."
+
+"Thank you, Henry. No; I've not wasted my substance in riotous living,
+nor eaten husks; but I've been prodigal in wasting opportunities."
+
+"Lost a whole college year, haven't you?" I asked.
+
+"I hope not. There is a German university man at La Paz who has been
+coaching me. He thinks I can go on with my old class. This is my last
+trip, and after I am paid off I am going to work hard for a few months,
+and then return to New Havbridge for examination. There's something in
+that letter which concerns me."
+
+Opening the letter, I learned that Captain Bayard knew Mr. Baldwin's
+story. He said this was to be the last trip of the courier, but that
+after his return to La Paz he would come out to meet me at Tyson's
+Wells, and report whether the horse-thieves were in town. He also
+suggested that in establishing a transshipment store-house at the
+steamboat-landing I place Baldwin in charge. The pay would be of use to
+him while "making up."
+
+[Illustration: I SAW HIM FIRE THREE SHOTS FROM HIS CARBINE IN RAPID
+SUCCESSION.]
+
+Baldwin wished us a pleasant journey, and rode away at a scrambling
+canter up the pass. He had been gone but a few moments when my
+advance-guard shouted for me to look out. Doing so, I saw the courier
+standing on a pinnacle by the way-side, on the highest point of the
+road. He was looking in the opposite direction, and I saw him fire three
+shots from his carbine in rapid succession. I dismounted the men, and
+made the necessary preparation to meet an attack. Slowly we worked up
+the height, and when we reached the narrow level at the summit found
+Baldwin and the two soldiers that formed our advance occupying a shelter
+among the rocks to the left, and gazing down the opposite slope.
+
+"What is it, Baldwin?" I asked.
+
+"A party of Indians attempted to jump me here. I think they would have
+done it, too, but for the sudden appearance of Clary and Hoey. There
+they go now--across that opening in the sage-brush!"
+
+A dozen Indians dashed across an open space south of the road, but too
+far away for effective shooting, and then two more passed over
+supporting a third between them.
+
+"You must have hit one of them."
+
+"I tried to. I think another felt the sting of a bullet, from the way he
+flung himself about."
+
+"Are you hurt?"
+
+"A slight scratch on the arm near the shoulder, and my horse is hurt."
+
+An examination of Baldwin's arm proved that the scratch was not serious,
+but I thought it best to exchange his horse for one belonging to a
+soldier. We went on, Frank and I walking in advance of the ambulance
+leaders.
+
+"There's something down there in the road by Ferrin's grave, sir," said
+Corporal Duffey. "Looks like a dead man."
+
+"Is this where Ferrin was killed?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, sir; I came here with a detail to look him up. He had built a
+little stone fort on that knoll up yonder and kept the redskins off four
+days. He kept a diary, you remember, which we found. He killed six of
+them; but they got him at last. They scattered the mail in shreds along
+the road for miles."
+
+"Who was Ferrin?" Frank asked.
+
+"He was a discharged California volunteer who rode the express before
+Mr. Baldwin."
+
+"Do you think Mr. Baldwin knew his predecessor had been killed?"
+
+"Yes; the story is well known. You boys were down at Postal's ranch when
+it happened."
+
+"I can't see why Mr. Baldwin took the place. If we had not been along he
+would have been killed to-day."
+
+"No doubt of it."
+
+We were nearing the object in the road. Suddenly the mules caught sight
+of it, backed, and crushed the ten-gallon keg under the axle against a
+bowlder; a serious mishap as our after-experience will show. Walking on
+we came to the mutilated bodies of two men, several yards apart, whom we
+had no difficulty in recognizing to be the ranchmen Sage and Bell. I
+sent a man back to Skull Valley to report their death, and with the axe,
+bayonets, and tin-cups dug a shallow grave beside Ferrin's. We placed
+them side by side and heaped a pyramid of stones above them.
+
+The courier again bade us good-by, and, our messenger to Skull Valley
+having returned, we went on. The further ride through the mountain-pass
+was accomplished without adventure, and evening found us encamped at
+Willow Springs. These springs were surrounded by immense bowlders of
+coarse granite which was undergoing slow disintegration; the whole
+region being covered with a coarse gravel, which had once been a part of
+the solid granite strata. In fact the springs were not only surrounded
+but buried beneath the gravel. We scooped it away to find the crystal
+water which lay beneath. The boys shot a few quail here of the variety
+known as the California quail, distinguished by an elegant plume of six
+feathers on the top of the head. Clary broiled them for breakfast.
+
+The road the following day was so rough that for much of the way we were
+unable to move faster than a walk, the slow walk of draught animals.
+Small fragments of granite filled the track, making it impossible to
+trot. When near a place called Soldiers' Holes, on account of some
+rifle-pits sunk there, the Corporal called my attention to a pool of
+blood in the road. Instantly the boys and I thought the gallant young
+courier had met with death. Leaving the ambulance we examined the
+locality thoroughly. Moccasin tracks filled a clump of sage-brush on the
+left, and a few crossed to the pool of blood. Tracks of two horses and a
+mule, and shoes of white men mingled with the others.
+
+The signs showed that two men had fallen, that one had been wounded, and
+that a second party had come and taken the wounded man away. The place
+was well adapted for a surprise. On the left was a long dense growth of
+low shrubbery extending from the road to the foot of a mountain-range.
+On the opposite side was an open plain.
+
+We were going on again when Frank remarked,
+
+"There seems to have been a big gathering of Apaches along this road."
+
+"Yes; a war party must be out, bent upon serious mischief. They have
+struck at two points, and I fear a third--Date Creek--may have been
+attacked by this time. That is where we are to stay to-night." Then,
+turning to Corporal Duffey, I continued: "The road from here to the
+creek is softy and loamy, and we are not likely to make much noise; keep
+the men quiet. If the Indians are at the ranch, it will be best for us
+to appear unexpectedly."
+
+"Do Indians never stand up like white men in a fight?" the younger boy
+asked.
+
+"Frequently; but their system is different from ours--although modern
+tactics seem to be adopting Indian methods, and the white man fights in
+open lines, lies down, and creeps in a manner he formerly condemned."
+
+Although this section of our march was but twenty-five miles long, our
+rate of progress had been so slow that the day was nearly closed before
+we came in sight of the line of cottonwoods that bordered Date Creek. We
+turned at last sharply to the left, and began a descent through a narrow
+ravine towards the creek. We were nearing its widening mouth when a
+half-dozen sharp reports of fire-arms broke upon our ears. A halt was
+ordered, and the men directed to prevent the animals from betraying our
+presence by whinnying or braying. Directing Sergeant Henry to remain
+behind and keep Vic with him, I went on in advance with Sergeant Frank.
+
+"What do you think is going on?" asked my companion, as several more
+reports rang out.
+
+"What I feared; the Apaches are attacking the men who went out to bring
+in the dead or wounded men at Soldiers' Holes."
+
+"And if Mr. Baldwin was not the wounded man there, I suppose he is sure
+to be in this scrape. Why not rush in with the escort and frighten them
+away?"
+
+"No doubt we could frighten them if they are not too many," I answered;
+"but we have good reason to believe that they are out in force, and it
+will be prudent for us to learn the situation at the ranch before we go
+nearer. I want to join the white men without the Indians' knowledge, if
+possible. Our presence seems to be unknown to both parties."
+
+"Then Mr. Baldwin must be the man killed."
+
+"He may be there, and the men may know we are on the road; but it
+certainly does not look like it."
+
+"Can't Vic be sent with a message?"
+
+"No; she does not know the locality, nor has she any friends at the
+ranch. She will not take a message to a stranger."
+
+We had now reached a point from which we could see a log cabin, a
+stable, and an open shed. On the side of the buildings toward us, as if
+screening themselves from an enemy in the opposite direction, were a few
+men.
+
+"If you would like me to, I can crawl to the house without being seen,"
+said Frank. "That cart, wagon, and stack will screen me."
+
+"Yes, you can do it easily. Tell Mr. Hopkins we are here, and to make no
+demonstration when we close up. I will explain a plan to him which, I
+think, will enable us to teach the Apaches a lesson. If you find Mr.
+Baldwin there, tell him to show himself at a window or door."
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+A VIRGINIA CAVALIER.[2]
+
+[2] Begun in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE No. 868.
+
+BY MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+The two days' journey that followed was very much like that of the first
+day--an early start, two hours' rest in the middle of the day, and the
+night spent at a road-side tavern. On the third day they left
+civilization behind them, and their mid-day rest was spent in the woods.
+They were then upon a lower spur of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The road
+for the first two days had been fairly good, but on the third day the
+four roans had all they could do to haul the heavy coach up and down the
+rough highway. They stood to their work gallantly, though, and Lord
+Fairfax remarked that the coach could go twenty miles farther up the
+mountain, where he had a hunting-lodge--a sort of outpost for Greenway
+Court, and where the coach was stored. Glorious weather had followed
+them. The air was keener and colder than in the low country, and Lance
+produced a huge furred mantle, in which he wrapped Lord Fairfax, who sat
+and read unconcernedly while the coach rolled and jerked and bumped
+along. George was glad to make half his day's travel on horseback, and
+the exercise, as a warmer-up, was so much better than the Earl's fur
+mantle that he felt sometimes like suggesting a gallop to Lord Fairfax.
+But he had the wit to keep his suggestions to himself, knowing that
+older men can do their own thinking much better than it can be done for
+them by fifteen-year-old boys. George had enjoyed every moment of the
+trip so far. His attacks of homesickness were few, and he got over them
+by the philosophical reflection that he would have been cruelly
+disappointed if his mother had not allowed him to come. He began a
+letter to his mother, writing a little every day, so that if he had a
+chance to visit the low country it would be all ready to send at a
+moment's notice. He was very happy. He had in prospect a new and
+delightful experience in travel and association. When that was over he
+had the cheerful hospitality and honest gayety of his Christmas at Mount
+Vernon to look forward to with his brother and his sister-in-law, whom
+he dearly loved, and dear little Betty; and after that a return home,
+where he fitted naturally and easily into the position of his mother's
+best helper and counsellor.
+
+The singular attraction between the man of the world and the
+unsophisticated young provincial gentleman grew each day. George had
+never before met any one who had Lord Fairfax's store of experience, as
+a soldier, a courtier, a man of affairs, and a member of a great
+literary circle. Nothing was lost on the boy, and the Earl was charmed
+and interested to find that a chance word dropped here and there would
+remain in George's memory, who would recall it at a suitable time to ask
+some intelligent question about it. Lord Fairfax sometimes smiled at
+himself when he realized how much of his time and thought and
+conversation was spent upon this boy, but he also realized that an
+intelligent and receptive young mind is in itself one of the most
+interesting things in the world, and when combined with the noble
+personality and high breeding of Madam Washington's son it was
+irresistible. For the first day or two he always spoke to George as "Mr.
+Washington," and neither one could tell the exact occasion when he
+dropped it for the more familiar "George." But it was done, and it put
+them upon a footing of affection at once. George continued to say "my
+lord," as that was the proper mode of address, but little by little he
+revealed his heart to his new friend, and Lord Fairfax read him as an
+open book. This was not at first, however, for George modestly conceived
+himself to be a person of no consequence whatever, and was much more
+eager to hear the Earl speak of his adventures than to tell all the
+ideas and protests and ambitions he cherished himself.
+
+On the evening of the fourth day they came to a log structure at the
+foot of the mountains, where the coach was to be left. It was in a
+cleared space on an open plateau, and above them towered the great peaks
+of the Blue Ridge, which they must cross on horseback.
+
+The night was bright and beautiful, a great vivid moon sailing
+majestically in the heavens. There was in the clearing one large cabin,
+with two beds in it and a large press, besides a table and some chairs.
+In a smaller cabin two or three men lived the year round, while built on
+to that was a substantial coach-house, where the great chariot was
+stored, except when the Earl went upon his lowland journeys in state.
+When the cavalcade stopped in the clearing Lord Fairfax alighted and
+walked into the large cabin, followed by George. A fire roared upon the
+broad, rude hearth, and in ten minutes Lance had unlocked the press, had
+taken from it some bedlinen and blankets, and had made up the beds and
+laid the table. Supper had been prepared in advance, and, as Lance was
+an excellent cook, it was not to be despised--in particular, a great
+saddle of venison, which had been hanging up for a week in anticipation
+of the Earl's arrival. George could hardly have told what part of the
+day's journey he always enjoyed most, but those suppers, with the Earl's
+entertaining conversation, and his own healthy young appetite, and the
+delicious sense of well-being when he drew up to the fire afterwards to
+listen and ask questions, were perfectly delightful to him.
+
+When they were seated at the table and about half through supper, Lord
+Fairfax asked, smiling,
+
+"How do you like the uncivilized wilderness, George?"
+
+"But this is not the uncivilized wilderness yet," answered George,
+smiling too. "We have a table and chairs, and knives and forks and
+plates, and beds and blankets, and silver candlesticks."
+
+"Still, it is the wilderness, and from now on we must depend upon
+ourselves for company. The true meaning of the wilderness is absence
+from the haunts of men. We shall be entirely alone at Greenway, except
+for a few negroes and Indians. You will probably not see a white face,
+except mine and Lance's, until you leave me."
+
+"It will be quite enough, sir," replied George. "I would rather be with
+a few people that I like than with a great crowd that I don't like."
+
+"I felt the same in my youth. Afterwards there were circumstances in my
+life which inclined me to solitude. I came to Virginia in search of it,
+and I found it; and I also found peace. Once a year I go to the low
+country--to Belvoir, my cousin William Fairfax's; to your brother's at
+Mount Vernon; sometimes to see Colonel Byrd at Westover; but I always
+return to my own fastness gladly. I feel more cheerful now than at any
+time since we started. My old friends--my books--are waiting for me in
+my library; I can only take a dozen with me when I go away. My doves and
+pigeons, my dogs and horses, will all be the happier for my return home.
+My servants will be glad to have me back--poor souls, they have but a
+dull time of it all the year round; and I myself, having lived this life
+so long, find that it suits me. I shall have your company for several
+weeks; then I shall want you again next year."
+
+"Next year, sir, I shall be sixteen, and perhaps I shall not be my own
+master. I may be in his Majesty's service. But if I can come to you
+again, you may be sure I will."
+
+When supper was over the Earl drew his chair up to the fire, and, still
+wrapped in his fur mantle--for the bitter wind blew through the cracks
+and crannies of the cabin--sat in a reverie with his deep eyes fixed on
+the blaze. George had meant that night to ask him something about the
+siege of Bouchain, but he saw that the Earl was deep in thought, and so
+said nothing. He began to wonder what his mother and Betty were doing at
+that time. It was after supper at Ferry Farm, too. His mother was
+knitting by the table in the parlor, with two candles burning, and Betty
+was practising at the harpsichord. In his mother's bedroom--"the
+chamber," as it was called in Virginia--a fire was burning, and around
+the hearth were gathered the household servants picking the seed from
+the cotton, which, when warmed by the fire, came out easily. This they
+did while waiting until they were dismissed at nine o'clock. What was
+Billy doing? and Rattler? While thinking these thoughts George dropped
+asleep, and slept soundly until Lance waked him raking down the ashes
+and preparing for the night.
+
+Next morning George wakened early, as he supposed, seeing how dark it
+was; but the sound of the rain upon the roof proved that it was not so
+early, after all. He glanced through one of the two small windows of the
+cabin and saw the water coming down in torrents. A regular mountain
+storm was upon them. George sighed as he realized this. It meant
+weather-bound for several days, as the roads across the mountains would
+be likely to be impassable after such a storm. And so it proved. For
+four days there was only an occasional let up in the downpour. Luckily,
+no snow fell. And Lord Fairfax observed his young guest narrowly in
+these days of being cooped up in a cabin, and found him less impatient
+than might have been expected. George, seeing the elaborate preparations
+that Lance always made for the Earl's comfort, imagined that he would
+ill support the inconveniences of their enforced delay; but it proved
+exactly the contrary. Lord Fairfax was not only patient but gay under
+such annoyances as a leak in the roof and their rations being reduced to
+corn-bread and smoked venison.
+
+"It reminds me of our old days in the Low Countries," he said to Lance
+the fourth night they spent at the cabin.
+
+"Yes, my lord; but, saving your honor's presence, we would have thought
+this a palace in those days. I don't think I ever was dry all over, and
+warm all over, and had as much as I could eat from the time I went to
+the Low Countries until after we had taken Bouchain, sir."
+
+"Lance has told me about that adventure, sir," said George, slyly,
+hoping to hear something more from Lord Fairfax about it.
+
+"Pshaw!" cried the Earl, smiling; "Lance is in his dotage, and can talk
+of nothing but what happened thirty or forty years ago. Our expedition
+was a mere prank. I found out nothing, and risked not only my life but
+this poor fellow's without warrant."
+
+"The Duke, sir," said Lance, very respectfully, "was of another mind.
+And, sir, I have never thought of Madame Geoffroy, and her fits and her
+fainting and her furbelows, these thirty-five years without laughing."
+
+At which George went off into such convulsions of laughter that Lord
+Fairfax knew Lance had told him the whole story.
+
+After four days of stormy weather it became clear and cold. They were
+only twenty miles from Greenway Court, but the Earl sent a man ahead to
+find out if the streams were fordable, and whether it were yet worth
+while to start. The man came back the next day about sunset, saying it
+would be possible for them to get to Greenway Court the next day.
+
+Although George had stood the confinement in the cabin stoically, he was
+delighted to be on the move again, and both he and the Earl relished
+their last supper there the more for knowing it would be the last. All
+the arrangements were made for an early start on horseback next morning,
+and at nine o'clock Lord Fairfax and George were about turning in when
+they heard a timid knock at the door.
+
+Lance, with a candle in his hand, opened the door, and at first saw
+nothing at all; but as his eyes became accustomed to the darkness he saw
+a negro boy and a dog.
+
+[Illustration: "IS MARSE GEORGE WASHINGTON HERE, SUH?"]
+
+Lance was so surprised that he did not at first speak, but the boy piped
+up very promptly, "Is Marse George Washington here, suh?"
+
+George, on hearing his name called in that voice, jumped from his chair
+as if he had been shot, and the next moment was standing face to face
+with Billy, while Rattler sprang at him with wild barks of delight.
+Billy's greeting was brief and to the point.
+
+"Heah I is, Marse George, wid Rattler."
+
+"Where on earth did you come from?" asked George, breathlessly, dragging
+the boy into the cabin. As the light of the fire and the candles fell
+upon him he looked as if he might have come three hundred miles instead
+of less than a hundred and fifty, he was so thin, so hollow-eyed, and
+gaunt. His shoes were quite gone except the uppers, and he was in rags
+and tatters; yet nothing could dim the joy shining in his beady black
+eyes, while his mouth came open as if it were on hinges. Lord Fairfax,
+turning in his chair, was struck by the look of rapturous delight on
+poor Billy's face. The boy, still grinning, answered:
+
+"F'um Fredericksburg. I tooken de horse mos' ter de ferry, and den I
+tu'n him loose, kase he had sense 'nough fer ter git ter de boat by
+hisse'f. So arter I seen him mos' up ter de boat, me an' Rattler, we all
+lights out arter de kerriage fo' Black Sam an' Gumbo have time fer ter
+hunt fer me, an' we foller de track clean f'um Fredericksburg ter dis
+heah place." Billy told this as if it were the commonest thing in the
+world for a boy and a dog to follow a coach more than a hundred miles
+from home. George was so astonished he could only stare at Billy and
+gasp out,
+
+"How did you manage to keep the track?"
+
+"Dun'no', suh," replied Billy, calmly. "Rattler, he know de way better
+'n me. When de rains come an' I los' de wheel tracks, I say ter dat ar'
+dog, 'Lookee heah, dog, we is follerin' Marse George'--_he_ know dat jes
+as well as a human; an' I say, 'You got ter fin' dat trail an' dem
+tracks,' an' dat dog he know what I was talkin' 'bout, an' he wag he
+tail, an' den he lay he nose to de groun', an' heah we is."
+
+The Earl had laid down his book and was listening intently to Billy's
+story. "And what did you live on--what did you have to eat on the
+way--let me see--nearly eight days?"
+
+"We didn't have nuttin' much," Billy admitted. "De mornin' we lef home I
+tooken a big hoe-cake an' put it in my shut when warn' nobody lookin'.
+De fus' day I eat some, an' gin some ter de dog. Arter dat I foun'
+chinquapins an' ches'nuts an' some tu'nips 'long de road-side, an' I
+could eat dem, but de dog couldn', so I kep' dat hoe-cake fur Rattler,
+an' give him de las' piece yistiddy."
+
+"Billy," asked George, with tears in his eyes, "were you _very_ hungry?"
+
+For the first time a distressed look came into the boy's face. He was at
+his journey's end, he was with Marse George, he had nothing more on
+earth to wish for; but the recollection of the hunger of those eight
+days--the cold, the weariness, the agonies of terror that sometimes
+attacked him overcame him.
+
+"Yes, suh, I was hungry," he said, with a sob, "dat's Gord's truf; an'
+ef it hadn' been fur dis heah dog you neber would ha' seed Billy no mo'.
+But dat dog, he go 'long snuffin', an' he were hongry too, I speck,
+dough he had some hoe-cake twell yistiddy; an' if de dog coul' hol' out,
+dis nigger could."
+
+"I'll never, never forget it, Billy, as long as I live," said George,
+half crying.
+
+Then Lord Fairfax spoke. "But how did you escape from being stopped on
+the road for a runaway?"
+
+"Dun'no', suh," responded Billy, using his favorite formula. "We didn't
+meet many white folks on de road, an' when we see 'em comin' we hide in
+de bushes. I 'ain' never spoke ter a human sence we lef Fredericksburg.
+In the daytime we hide somewh'yar by de road an' sleep, an' we trabbel
+'mos' all night. 'Twas de full o' de moon, an' I see dem tracks jes same
+as 'twas in daytime. Den, arter I los' 'em, dis heah dog, he jes keep de
+road hisse'f--an' here I is."
+
+"Lance," cried George, suddenly, "please get something for him to
+eat--anything--everything you have!"
+
+Billy's eyes glistened as, in a moment, Lance whipped out of the press
+some cold meat and bread, and he attacked it ravenously. Meanwhile
+George fed the dog, which was evidently the least starved of the two.
+When Billy had eaten up everything that could be produced for him, he
+quietly curled himself up near the fire, and in half a minute he was
+sleeping the sleep of the just.
+
+"What are you going to do with him?" asked Lord Fairfax of George.
+
+"Keep him with me if you will allow me, sir."
+
+"But what will your mother say? He seems to be a strong boy--his journey
+proves that--and he no doubt has his work at Ferry Farm."
+
+George smiled at the recollection of Billy's "work."
+
+"I don't think, my lord, that Billy is of the slightest use at Ferry
+Farm unless I am there. My mother, who believes in everybody's being
+industrious, has done her best to make him work. So have his father and
+mother, Uncle Jasper and Aunt Sukey. But except for waiting on me, and
+taking care of my horse, Billy will absolutely do nothing. He is not
+surly about it--he is always grinning and laughing and singing--but--I
+can't explain it exactly--he will work his fingers to the bone for me,
+but he won't work for anybody else."
+
+"I should think Billy was not a very useful member of society," remarked
+Lord Fairfax.
+
+George said not a word, but he did not like aspersions of any kind on
+Billy. Seeing this, Lord Fairfax said, in his usual kind tone:
+
+"If it gives you pleasure, you must, of course, keep him with you--and
+indeed there is nothing else to be done that I can see; and as you say
+he is no good to your mother when you are not at home, perhaps he is
+better off here. He seems a faithful little soul, and I am not surprised
+that you are touched at his devotion."
+
+George's face assumed an entirely different expression, but he merely
+said, "Thank you, sir," and in a few minutes, after throwing a bear-robe
+over Billy, George went to bed himself, with Rattler curled up by him.
+
+Next morning they took the road soon after sunrise. Billy, who had
+enough of walking for some time to come, was mounted on one of the
+pack-horses. Two saddle-horses had been brought down from Greenway for
+the Earl and his young guest; and together they led the procession along
+the rough mountain road. The scenery was wildly beautiful. Occasionally
+they wound along mighty precipices, where the horses could scarcely pick
+their way. Again, they forded mountain streams that could be breasted
+only by the most tremendous exertions. They made their way through a
+great cleft in the mountains about mid-day, and began to descend towards
+the valleys. The distance was but twenty miles, yet so difficult was the
+road that it was late in the short autumn afternoon before Lord Fairfax,
+pointing to a collection of roofs that lay directly below them in a
+sheltered part of the valley, said to George, "There is Greenway Court."
+
+By sunset they were riding up the rough road that led to the house.
+
+It was a large, low building, with stables and offices projecting on
+each side. The foundation was of stone, rudely but strongly cemented.
+Half-way up the story and a half which constituted the building the
+stone ceased, and logs, neatly and even artistically mortised together,
+were carried to the roof. The effect was not unpleasing, especially as
+many of the original forest trees had been left, and the building
+blended well with its surroundings. Broad and shallow stone steps led up
+to the main entrance, and two great oak doors studded with nails gave
+entrance to it. George noticed that all of the windows were provided
+with stout iron-bound shutters, with holes for musketry in them. The
+door was also pierced for defence, and a very slight examination showed
+that, if well garrisoned, the building could be converted into a
+tolerably strong block-house. The Earl, as if reading the thoughts in
+George's mind, remarked:
+
+"We have to be provided here for attacks from the Indians, incited by
+the French. The French have determined to extend their encroachments
+eastward and southward by a chain of forts, and I make no doubt that
+they contemplate a line that will extend from Canada to Louisiana. They
+use the Indians as secret though powerful allies, and, by encouraging
+them to harry and murder the whites in this wild part of the colony of
+Virginia, they think that it will be abandoned, and that they can
+advance their out-posts this far. Greenway Court has withstood one
+siege, and can withstand another. There is a spring directly under the
+house, and having some knowledge of mechanics, I have concealed the
+source, which is at a distance from the house, and we get the spring
+water by merely going down into the cellar. Then I keep constantly on
+hand, in this same cellar, stores of provisions and ammunition, so we
+are well able to defend ourselves, even against burning--for the Indians
+have found out the use of the torch against white men's dwellings.
+However, I hope we shall have no bouts with them while you are with us."
+
+George said nothing, but he would have been more or less than a boy if
+he had not longed in his heart for a bout with the savages, of which he
+had heard much but seen little.
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+CLEVER FEATS OF CHIMPANZEES.
+
+BY R. L. GARNER.
+
+Things are often done by monkeys which are very humanlike, but to them
+the acts may have no meaning whatever, being purely the result of
+imitation.
+
+In all my researches among monkeys my chief aim has been to determine
+the innate powers of the mind, and therefore I have not regarded the
+tricks which they are often taught to do as being an index to their
+mental qualities. I shall relate a few of the most rational acts that I
+have known chimpanzees to perform. In these cases the animal was not
+actuated by fear, but was prompted by his own desire to accomplish a
+certain end to gratify his own wish.
+
+Moses was the name of the young chimpanzee that lived with me in the
+jungle. One day as we were taking a stroll through the forest we came to
+a small branch of running water. Moses never liked to get his feet wet,
+but I thought on this occasion I would let him wade across it. The
+stream was not more than four feet wide and two or three inches deep. I
+first allowed my boy to pass over, and then I followed him, leaving
+Moses to get over by himself. When he reached the edge of the branch he
+began to beg for help. I seated myself on a log a few yards away from
+him, and he sat down on the bank of the stream. After a short time he
+walked along the bank looking for some means of crossing it without
+wading; two or three times he walked back and forth, and continued to
+beg for help. At last he discovered a clump of tall, slender bushes
+growing on the edge of the stream a few yards above the path; he went to
+these, took hold of one of them, and stood for a moment holding it; then
+he began to climb up it. He climbed up the side next to the water, and
+as he did so, the slender stalk began to bend under his weight. He
+continued to climb, and the plant continued to bend until the top of it
+almost touched the ground on the opposite side of the stream, and bore
+Moses safely across to the opposite bank. He released his hold upon the
+bush, and ran to me with a grin on his face, which was an evidence that
+he was conscious of having done a very clever thing. Whether other
+chimpanzees ever applied this means of crossing water or not I cannot
+say; but as it is not a constant habit with them, it cannot be called
+instinct. It was a piece of genuine engineering. No philosopher could
+have found a better solution to the problem.
+
+Aaron was one of the brightest of his kind that I ever saw; he died in
+England. On the voyage from Africa to that country I had a cage for him
+and his companion constructed from parts of my own cage. On board the
+ship was a stowaway, who helped me to look after my pets; the boy was
+disposed to play tricks on the chimpanzee, and, whenever he had an
+opportunity, would do something to annoy him. Aaron was very fond of
+drinking water out of a long-necked bottle; this was very convenient, as
+the neck could be thrust through the meshes of the cage, and withdrawn
+after he had finished. When the boy gave them water, he would turn the
+bottle up and pour the water over them. They did not like this, and for
+a time refused to drink at all. At last Aaron found means of escaping;
+he climbed up on the side of the cage at a safe distance from the front,
+and about on a level with the neck of the bottle; then holding fast with
+his feet to the side of the cage, reached across the angle of the
+corner, took hold of the wires with his hand above the mouth of the
+bottle, and put his lips to it; when the water was spilled it did not
+touch him, but fell to the floor. After Elishiba witnessed this a few
+times she did the same thing, showing that she perfectly understood why
+he did so and what the result was.
+
+I saw a young chimpanzee in Africa that belonged to a French officer.
+She was kept on board a small steamer that runs on the Ogowe River. This
+ape was full of mischief, and had to be tied or watched constantly to
+keep her out of harm. She had learned to untie all kinds of knots, so
+that it was very difficult to keep her confined.
+
+On one occasion when I was aboard this steamer her master tied her with
+a long line to one of the rails alongside the boat. As a rule she always
+untied the knot next to her first, but on this occasion a new kind of
+knot had been tied. About six feet from her neck a single loop was tied
+around one of the iron rails along the side of the deck; then the long
+noose end of the string was taken to a stanchion about four feet away,
+and securely tied in the angle formed by the stanchion and the rail. The
+chimpanzee tried in vain to untie the single knot in the line which was
+near to her; but as one end was fastened to her neck and the other to
+the post, there was no loose end to draw through. She slacked the knot,
+however, as far as possible, but could find no loose end; she drew it
+tight again, and then examined it. Again she slacked it, and examined
+each strand separately; she traced one strand of it to the post, then
+she traced the other to her neck. For a moment she sat as if in deep
+study; then she slipped the knot along the railing, until it was near
+the stanchion. She slackened it, and surveyed it with care; she climbed
+down upon the deck, and pulled first at one strand, then another. Then
+she climbed around the stanchion and back again; she climbed up over the
+railing, down on the outside, and back again. She climbed through
+between the rails and back again two or three times, and again examined
+the knot; she tightened the loop, and moved it along the rail to the
+place it was first tied; she climbed up and again examined the knot; she
+drew first one end and then the other, but found them both fast; she
+drew the loop out as far as it would come, and, holding it in her hands,
+she examined each strand of it again; then she cautiously lifted it and
+put it over her head, crawled through it and the loop was undone. When
+the loose line dropped on the deck, with one end still fastened to her
+neck and the other to the post, she realized that she had untied the
+aggravating loop in the middle. To release the end fast to the post was
+only the work of a moment; the look of triumph on her face was enough to
+satisfy any one that she was conscious of her victory. As soon as she
+was released she gathered the line in a roll in her hands, and set out
+to explore the boat again.
+
+Away in the interior of the Esyra country I arrived at a town in which
+there lived a fine strong chimpanzee about five years old; he was
+playing with the children in the open space between the houses, and
+appeared to take as much interest in the game as any one of them. When
+they discovered a white man in the town they all came to take a look,
+and he showed as much concern as any one else. After a time he came to
+me and climbed upon my lap; he became a little too familiar, and I had
+him taken away. Then he and the children resumed their play for a while,
+and in the mean time I inquired into his history. He was captured in the
+forest near the town when he was a little babe, and had lived there ever
+since as one of the family. He ate and played with these children, slept
+in the same houses with them, and did not seem to realize that he was
+not a human being.
+
+He belonged to one of the King's sons, who told me that the ape could
+talk, and that he could understand him. He entertained me with a number
+of feats that the animal had been taught to do. They were not mere
+tricks performed for amusement, but they were acts of usefulness. In
+fact, he was made to occupy somewhat the place of a servant.
+
+One of the things that he required him to do, by way of entertaining me,
+was to go to the spring and bring a gourd of water. He was reluctant to
+do this, but he did it. As soon as he delivered the water to his master
+he ran away and joined the children in their play. I expressed a desire
+to see him fill the gourd with water, and his master called him again,
+gave him the vessel, and we went with him. He dipped the gourd in the
+water with the mouth downward, and having submerged it, turned it on its
+side, and lifted it up. There was only a little water in the gourd; he
+repeated this act a number of times until the gourd was almost filled;
+his master said that as long as the water continued to bubble at the
+mouth of the gourd the ape would continue to dip it in, showing that he
+was aware of the cause of the bubbling.
+
+This ape knew all the people of the town by name, and knew his own name;
+he was required to aid the children in bringing firewood from the
+forest, and many other chores about the town.
+
+[Illustration: CONSUL IN STREET ATTIRE.]
+
+[Illustration: CONSUL RIDING HIS WHEEL.]
+
+One of the most intelligent and quite the best educated chimpanzee that
+I have ever seen is Consul II. He is an inmate of the Bellevue Gardens
+at Manchester, England. He is the most humanlike in his manners of any
+of his kind that have ever been known in captivity. The many clever
+feats done by this ape would fill a small volume; he has not been
+trained to perform them as tricks, simply to amuse or entertain
+visitors, but many of them he has taken up of his own accord, having
+seen others do so. The feat that impressed me most was his skill in
+riding a tricycle, and his taste for that sport. He often takes his
+machine without being told, and rides all about the place; if he finds
+it lying on its side, he sets it upright, adjusts the handle-bar, mounts
+it, and takes a ride. He propels it with ease and guides it with
+dexterity. No boy of his own age can handle it with more skill. He rides
+all about the place, around the walks and drives, all over several acres
+of ground; he steers it around the posts and corners, around the curves
+of the paths, makes his way through crowds of people without colliding
+with them. He amuses himself by the hour at this pastime. When he tires
+of it he sometimes shoves the vehicle up in some corner and leaves it.
+
+Consul also smokes cigar, cigarette, or pipe. He often finds a cigar
+stub about the place, picks it up, puts it in his mouth, and goes to his
+keeper for a light. One amusing habit he has is that of spitting; he is
+not very skilful in this, but is persistent. However, he has the
+politeness not to spit on the floor; he spreads a piece of paper on the
+floor, and uses it as a cuspidor.
+
+Consul uses a handkerchief the same as a person does; he eats with a
+knife and fork, cuts up his food with ease, and never uses his fingers
+in eating; he can blow a horn, but does not attempt to carry any tune.
+He knows the first three letters of the alphabet, which he has painted
+on a set of blocks; when asked for any one of the three, he will select
+it and hold it up.
+
+I regard the feats described above, except the last one, as being
+rational, and the result of the innate faculties of the actors. We are
+only beginning to understand the mental characteristics of animals, but
+our researches in that field are bearing abundant fruit, and we are now
+beginning to realize that all of these humbler creatures are component
+parts of the great scheme of life. When man becomes more fully impressed
+with the fact that all creatures think and feel in the same manner as
+himself, although not to the same degree, it will make the bonds of
+fellowship closer between him and nature.
+
+
+
+
+THE CIRCUS IN THE COUNTRY.
+
+BY JNO. GILMER SPEED.
+
+
+Nearbye is a very small village, and a country village at that, for it
+is approached by wagon roads only, and the silence of the streets is
+never broken by the whistle of a locomotive, as the nearest railway is
+seven miles off. The shows that come to Nearbye are few and far between,
+and the people consider them such events that they mark epochs in the
+history of the town. As in other places an old inhabitant would speak of
+the year the war began, in Nearbye the people say, "The summer that
+_Uncle Tom's Cabin_ was played in the Shoemakers' Lot," or "The autumn
+that the negro minstrels came to town." Now these two shows were ten
+years apart, but every one remembers the earlier one perfectly, except
+the children, who have been born since the honest folk of Nearbye wept
+over the tribulations of Uncle Tom. And even these think they remember
+the theatrical performance under the tent in the Shoemakers' Lot. This
+self-deception is due to the fact that they have heard so much about the
+show that they have persuaded themselves that they saw it. But these two
+shows have been entirely eclipsed in glory within the past little while,
+for there was a circus in Nearbye a few weeks ago--a real circus, with a
+caged lion and tiger, with an elephant, a camel, and a giraffe, as the
+menagerie part, while there performed in the ring bare-back riders--both
+men and women--who cavorted around the ring right merrily, and jumped
+through paper-covered hoops as though they actually enjoyed that kind of
+thing. Barnum, in my opinion, did much to spoil the circus as we see it
+in the great cities. Three or four rings in which performances are going
+on at the same time are extremely bewildering, and few spectators can
+give such undivided attention to one ring as to keep entire track of all
+that goes on in it. After an evening at the one-ring circus in the
+country I am persuaded that I am right in my opinion, and that the
+old-fashioned circus has much greater power to please than "the greatest
+show on earth."
+
+I was Miss Kitty's guest when the circus came to Nearbye, and this
+attention on her part was in recognition of the fact that I had taken
+her to the Barnum show at Madison Square Garden last spring. I consider
+that I have been amply repaid. But, really, the best part of the show
+was not under the circus tent. I doubt very much whether there was a
+small boy within four miles of Nearbye who slept a wink the night before
+the circus was to arrive. If any of them slept at all at night, it is
+very certain that none of them continued that sleep into the daylight,
+for long before the sun was up the roads leading to the village were
+dotted here and there with groups of hurrying and impatient youngsters
+hastening to the Shoemakers' Lot to welcome the arrival of the circus
+caravan, and to superintend the erection of the tent. Pretty nearly all
+the small boys in the township were on hand three hours before the first
+of the circus wagons came. The long wait had tried their patience sadly,
+and the gay tricks on each other with which they had beguiled the
+earlier time of waiting had either been exhausted because the country
+boy's repertoire of pranks is limited, or because their spirits had been
+stilled by anxiety. It was rather the spirits that had given out than
+the pranks, I fancy, for I saw evidence now and then of a gulped-down
+sigh and a half-concealed tear when John or Tom or Billy would reach the
+sad conclusion that the circus was not coming after all. But the first
+wagon drove up at half past eight, and by eleven all had arrived. The
+tent was pitched in short order, the ring was made, the side show was in
+full working order, and the circus people were as much at home as they
+ever get to be in their wandering lives.
+
+The small boys were not the only persons attracted to Nearbye in the
+early hours--not by a jugful, as the average farmer in the Nearbye
+neighborhood would be apt to say if he were writing this article. People
+of both sexes and all ages, from the gray-haired great-grandmother to
+the infant in the arms, came or were brought, as each case required,
+until there was not a vacant fence post eligible for a hitching-place
+within half a mile of the circus tent. If half a dozen holidays could
+have been combined into one, not one-third so many people would have
+been attracted to Nearbye as were brought by this little circus. Some
+city people who had gone to Nearbye for their summer vacations put on
+airs about the show, and laughed at the enthusiastic excitement of the
+country folk. Miss Kitty observed this in two young men who had been
+made welcome on the tennis-court at her father's place, and flushed with
+shame that she should know, even ever so slightly, persons of such
+affected pretension. She shook her curly little head and whispered to
+me: "We ought not to know them; they can't be gentlemen." Dear little
+soul, I dare say she was right. We ought not to have known them, and
+probably they were not gentlemen; but she will learn, when she gets to
+be a grown woman, that if she confines her acquaintance only to real
+ladies and real gentlemen--that is, to men and women who never put on
+airs and never inconsiderately assume to be better than they are, and
+who never scoff at simplicity--she will have a very narrow circle, and
+will know fewer people than almost anybody in the world. But few of the
+country people cared for the rudeness that Miss Kitty resented. They did
+not even notice it. They had come to Nearbye to have a good time and to
+see the sights, all unconscious that they furnished amusement to any
+one.
+
+As a rule they brought their dinners with them, and at twelve o'clock
+they attacked baskets and pails for the good things in them. Eating,
+with hard-working people, whether of the city or country, is not a time
+of conviviality. They eat because they are hungry, and they get through
+with the business as quickly and unceremoniously as possible. The dinner
+hour, therefore, on this day of the circus did not as a rule last more
+than ten minutes. There was another long wait of nearly two hours. But
+this wait was relieved somewhat, for every now and then the old lion
+roared portentously, and filled the souls of the youngsters with
+delightful apprehension. At one o'clock the slit in the tent, by
+courtesy called a door, was opened, and the people filed in. By half
+past one nearly every seat was filled, and the show might have begun
+then without disappointment to any, for there was no one else to come.
+All were there save the bedridden; even the two blind people in the
+township had come to hear, though they could not see.
+
+Of course the show began with what I believe they called in the
+programme the Grand Entrée. And of course every one who has ever been to
+a circus will recall how the ladies and gentlemen of the company come
+into the ring on horseback, and ride round and round with distinguished
+courtesy towards each other and towards the audience, and then ride out
+again. This recalls to those who have heard of such a time the days of
+chivalry, and some others see in the men and women in the
+sawdust-covered ring the heroes of their story-books. Miss Kitty had
+just been reading Charles and Mary Lamb's _Tales from Shakespeare_, and
+one of the ladies suggested to her the fair Rosalind, while the
+gentleman who cantered by her side seemed very like the bold Orlando.
+
+When this act was over, we were treated to performances by acrobats and
+gymnasts, and each one seemed more wonderful than any of the rest. Each
+tumbler, each jumper, each contortionist, each trapeze-swinger, each
+tight-rope walker was enthusiastically applauded, and the feats of all
+were regarded by the appreciative audience as entirely wonderful. This
+must have been very gratifying to the actors. But what pleased best were
+the acts where horses took part. Country people know about horses, and
+have opinions of those who ride and drive them. The young lady who rode
+two bare-back horses at once, now with a foot on each horse and now
+riding one and driving the other, easily bore off the palm. When she ran
+by the side of one of her steeds, as he cantered round the ring, and
+vaulted to his back without touching either mane or rein, and landed
+squarely upon her little feet, and then stood upright, the audience was
+so filled with wonder and admiration that there was a pause before the
+applause began. This evidently excited more wonder and admiration than
+anything else--more indeed than the bespangled woman who confidingly
+put her head in the lion's mouth, more than the other one who permitted
+the elephant to walk over her and then to pick her up with his trunk.
+But that which diverted the audience most of all was the trick mule--the
+mule so resourceful of pranks that he threw all the boldest riders among
+the ambitious youth of Nearbye. When Mike, the young man who is both
+hostler and barkeeper at the White Horse Tavern, wrapped his legs round
+the mule's neck and caught hold with both hands of the little fellow's
+slippery tail the people in the circus tent nearly went wild with
+delight. It was a hard tussle between Mike and the mule, but the latter
+rolled over on Mike, who let go, and scampered out of the ring defeated,
+and terrified lest the mule should kick him.
+
+The two city young men before mentioned sat near us at the performance.
+They were mightily tickled at Mike's discomfiture. Miss Kitty had not
+noticed them since expressing a doubt whether they were proper
+acquaintances. What was my surprise now to hear her speak to one of
+them, "You try it, Mr. Simpkins," she said; "I am sure you could ride
+that poor little mule." Mr. Simpkins declined in a way which implied
+that Miss Kitty was right, that he could ride the mule if he chose. Miss
+Kitty was evidently disappointed, and I am very much afraid that instead
+of being sure that Mr. Simpkins could ride the mule, she was very sure
+he could not. I have never spoken to her about her effort to entice Mr.
+Simpkins to make himself ridiculous, because I was not at all sure that
+she was not wrong thus to try to get revenge on one who had made merry
+at the expense of the simple and honest people who were her friends and
+neighbors. But even though the feeling was a very wrong one it was very
+human, and I shared in it myself.
+
+For a week after the circus, Nearbye was more deserted than I have ever
+known it before. The next Sunday comparatively few people came to
+church. The circus had been too much for them. They had to stay at home
+to recover from the excitement of so unusual an entertainment. If the
+merry clown should ever care to retire from the sawdust ring, and should
+choose Nearbye as a home, I am sure the people would make him right
+welcome; and if he wanted an office, I am certain that he could have the
+pick, and be either constable or justice of the peace, whichever suited
+him the better. The storekeepers of Nearbye for a fortnight after the
+circus had gone could not make change for a bill, as the circus
+treasurer had taken away with him pretty nearly all the silver coins in
+the township. This circus will doubtless be talked of in Nearbye when
+many of the barelegged boys who came at daylight to see it have
+grandsons eager in their turn for the passing shows, and when Miss Kitty
+has taken to spectacles and caps, and prefers a cozy corner within-doors
+to the breezy piazza or the hammock beneath the apple-trees.
+
+
+
+
+Many stories are told of actors and musicians who give tickets to their
+washwomen, their boot-makers, or to others who cannot afford to pay to
+hear the great ones with whom their trades may have brought them into
+contact. Seldom, however, do we hear an anecdote with a twist to it like
+this one concerning Paganini, and so it is possibly worth telling. One
+of his biographers is responsible for it, but he prefaces the story with
+the explanation that the great violinist was a most eccentric man, and
+although as a rule very generous, he was also at times guilty of petty
+meannesses. This was one of those times. He was to perform in a concert,
+for which the price of seats was very high. His washwoman had been
+bemoaning the fate which made her unable to afford to be present.
+Finally Paganini wrote out an order for a seat in the top gallery, and
+handed it to her. She thanked him effusively, and boasted to her friends
+of the present she had got. Great was her surprise, therefore, when she
+presented her bill for his laundry at the end of the week to have
+Paganini request her to deduct from the amount of his indebtedness the
+price of the ticket he had given her to the concert.
+
+
+
+
+ALL SEASONS.
+
+
+  I love to play in winter-time,
+    When all the earth is white with snow,
+  When down the gleaming shining hill
+    My long red sled can go.
+
+  I love to play in summer-time,
+    When in the pond beneath the trees
+  My pretty ship, with sails puffed out,
+    Goes skimming in the breeze.
+
+  MARIE L. VAN VORST.
+
+
+
+
+A RUN FROM AN "INDIAN DEVIL."
+
+BY TAPPAN ADNEY.
+
+
+Two generations have passed away from Tobique since the first settlers
+came, yet so little has man encroached upon the wild domain that the
+gaunt moose often stops and lingers with the friendly cattle, the shaggy
+bear as the spring comes round levies tribute on the defenceless flocks,
+while the balsam smells as sweet, and the crinkle of the crisp snow
+beneath the moccasined foot is still as pleasant music as of old. The
+woods seem changed but little; boys have turned men, the men have turned
+gray, and just a little more moss lies on the fallen tree-trunks. Yet
+the same change has passed over Tobique as has passed over all the
+backwoods of Maine and Canada. The dreaded panther, or "Indian devil,"
+as it is known, seldom troubles one now, or startles the forest with its
+awful cry--so human, so bloodcurdling, that its very mention sends a
+thrill through one's body.
+
+The dangers of the woods are exaggerated. No living thing is match for a
+man, and every creature among predatory beasts shuns the society of man.
+There are exceptions, as there are seasons when our black bear should
+not be provoked. So in the experience of every woodsman there have been
+times when the rule has been broken, and it is the man that has been
+hunted.
+
+Raish Turner, now a man of some fifty years of age, still lives at the
+Red Rapids, on Tobique. I have stopped at his hospitable dwelling--back
+a ways from the river, on the slope of the hill, near the timber. There
+was still the old, low cow-shed alongside the barn, and I have been with
+him along the old wood road directly back of his place that was the
+scene of an exciting adventure of his.
+
+Raish, still called "Raish," as when he was a boy of sixteen and hauled
+wood with oxen, has not forgotten the story, nor yet the long white scar
+above his temple that he will carry to his grave.
+
+The story is known to every one on Tobique, but it needs to be heard
+from Raish himself, the sturdy, kindly old back-woodsman, with homespuns
+in boot-tops, knife sheathed at his belt, and generally an axe over his
+shoulder.
+
+In the fall of one year, thirty-four years ago, about first fall, two
+hunters came out of the woods from Pokiok stream, which lay some five
+miles back of Red Rapids. They came with rather more speed than is
+customary with those who travel solely for pleasure. Their story, of
+which they sought to conceal nothing, and which was listened to the more
+gravely because of their reputation as brave men, was that in the night
+something had come around the camp, which was an open shelter with a
+fire in front. The growling of their dog awakened them.
+
+They listened, peering into the darkness, and as they listened they
+heard a cry. It was not an owl, nor any wild-cat. It seemed at first
+afar off, not loud, like a child in awful distress, and it affected them
+strangely. Their dog began to tremble, and show fear that he had never
+shown before, even before a bear. The hunters jumped to their feet,
+kindled the fire, which threw a ruddy glare all around.
+
+The thing, which they knew perfectly well, came nearer, uttering now
+and then that awful cry. They sat with their guns on their knees,
+speaking in whispers; but it did not attack them, and when daylight came
+it withdrew. When the sun rose they broke camp and made for the
+settlement.
+
+Small wonder, then, that there was a stir in the settlement, for the men
+were known to be bold, fearless hunters, and, moreover, this was the
+first panther that had come near enough to bother them, for whatever the
+men in the timber-camps might have to tell, such things did not greatly
+trouble the settlers along the river.
+
+Not long after that a woman living only two farms below went to the door
+at noonday, and saw, or thought she saw, across the field, a creature
+which she said was bigger and longer than any dog, trot away across the
+lot and enter the woods, looking back once or twice as it ran.
+
+December came, and nothing more was heard of the panther. There was snow
+enough to make good hauling. Raish and his brother Howard, who was two
+years younger, had twenty cords of wood to get in from back. One dark
+cloudy day the young fellows were hurrying to get in another load before
+darkness shut down. The oxen were swung around, head homeward, alongside
+a pile of wood. A quarter of the load was on when the oxen began to act
+queerly. They commenced to sniff, putting their noses into the air, and
+looking all around. Raish had never seen them so behave, but he went on
+loading. Presently one of the steers put his head down and gave a long,
+low moan, at the same time pawing the snow.
+
+Raish spoke to them, yet a curious feeling began to take possession of
+him, when, without a warning more than that, a cry rose upon the still
+air of the woods, and that same instant the oxen threw themselves
+against the yoke. There followed a crash of falling cord-wood as the
+sled started, and hardly slower, the boys sprang aboard, seizing hold of
+a sled-stake; and as Raish rolled over again he heard that cry, and
+something leaped into the middle of the road behind them.
+
+[Illustration: IT WAS A WILD RUN.]
+
+But that was all. The oxen plunged madly forward, and at every lurch
+their bellows mingled with the clangor of chains and the pounding of the
+sled. What power guided them along that road? Bounding over the cradle
+knolls, crashing now into this side, now into that, strewing the road
+behind them with the cord-wood sticks. It was a wild run.
+
+A quarter of a mile was passed. There was no looking back, and no
+looking forward for the pelting of ice from flying hoofs. The clearing
+is reached. Wild with fright, on the steers go. The house, the
+wood-pile, as in a swim, flash by, and then there is a crash.
+
+When Raish's memory gathered up the thread of swiftly passing events, he
+was lying on the floor of the cow-stable on the straw, and his brother,
+pale from fright, was bending over him, and there were some other
+frightened people crowded around, and a pair of steers were at the far
+end of the cow-stable. Raish was aware of some blood from an ugly cut.
+He lay stunned, they say, for some moments. Howard escaped without a
+hurt. The oxen, guided by instinct, made straight for the stable, and
+seeing the open door, made straight for refuge. The sled had struck the
+corner of the log barn, the tongue had snapped off, and the boys had
+been thrown forward; Raish's forehead struck, it was believed, either a
+sled-stake or one of the oxen's hoofs. The wonder was that both were not
+killed from the force with which they must have struck.
+
+But all this time where was the panther? It came, so some persons at the
+house said, to the edge of the timber and a little beyond, where it
+stood some while, hesitating, and then turned back to the woods, where,
+instead of taking the road, it gave a mighty spring to the limb of a
+tree, and disappeared from view, no one venturing to follow.
+
+Before the winter was over, however, some men with a small dog drove it
+to tree and shot it, after it had killed a fine heifer, no great ways
+from there. Out of curiosity the height of the panther's leap was
+measured, and it was said to be nearly eighteen feet.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]
+
+
+The annual boat-races of the Halcyon and Shattuck crews of St. Paul's
+School, Concord, were held this year on June 18th, on Lake Penacook, as
+usual. The honors of the day went to the Halcyons, whose first and
+second crews won their events, the first crew breaking the school record
+for the distance by four seconds.
+
+[Illustration: RACE BETWEEN THE FIRST CREWS, ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL, THE
+HALCYON EIGHT LEADING.]
+
+The most important of the three contests was the last race, between the
+two Senior eights. The start was made shortly before eleven o'clock in
+the morning, both crews getting away about together, rowing in good form
+and with very little splashing. The Shattucks started with a stroke of
+42, the Halcyons pulling a 40 stroke. This pace was kept up for about a
+quarter of a mile, when both crews dropped their stroke a couple of
+points, and for the rest of the race neither eight went above 38.
+
+[Illustration: THE HALCYON FIRST CREW, ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL.
+
+Holders of the record: DISTANCE, 1-1/2 miles; TIME, 8 min. 21 sec.]
+
+At the mile the boats were about even, but there the Halcyons began to
+draw slowly away, and although the Shattucks tried to keep up, they were
+unable to push their boat through the water as rapidly as their rivals.
+At the mile-and-a-half flag the Halcyon eight was two boat-lengths ahead
+of the Shattucks, and still gaining rapidly. The Shattuck stroke tried
+to hit it up, but his crew was unable to respond. The men in the Halcyon
+boat were rowing in beautiful form, with a long and regular body swing,
+and kept increasing their lead. They rushed their shell across the line
+nineteen seconds ahead of their rivals, their time over the course being
+8 min. 21 sec., the best former record for the distance being 8 min. 25
+sec., made by the Shattucks in 1891.
+
+[Illustration: THE ST. PAUL'S CREWS GOING OUT TO PRACTICE.]
+
+The Halcyon men showed no signs of fatigue, but the Shattuck oarsmen
+seemed slightly done up, although they finished in excellent form. There
+is little doubt that this Halcyon crew of 1896 is the best that ever
+rowed on Lake Penacook, most of the men being veterans, the four stern
+oars especially being the best four that the school has ever turned out,
+so far as working together in the boat is concerned. The Shattuck crew,
+on the other hand, has had a good deal of hard luck this year, and the
+men were all younger and less experienced than their rivals. The crews
+rowed as follows:
+
+  Shattuck.
+
+  Stroke--Byrd.
+  No. 7--Stillman.
+  No. 6--Glidden (Capt.).
+  No. 5--Francis.
+  No. 4--Nickerson.
+  No. 3--McKay.
+  No. 2--Nugent.
+  No. 1--Vredenburg.
+
+  Halcyon.
+
+  Stroke--Thomas.
+  No. 7--Wheeler (Capt.).
+  No. 6--Brock.
+  No. 5--Howard.
+  No. 4--Niedecken.
+  No. 3--N. Biddle.
+  No. 2--Goodwin.
+  No. 1--L. Biddle.
+
+In the race between the second crews, the Shattuck six got a better
+start than the Halcyons, and rowed 36 to the minute all through the
+race. The Halcyons overtook them at the first quarter, rowing 38. It had
+been supposed that these two crews were of about equal strength, and a
+close race was expected, but after the first quarter of a mile the
+Shattuck men seemed to go to pieces and splashed badly, and in spite of
+the continued exhortation of the cox-swain, the men were unable to hit
+up the stroke. The Halcyon oarsmen, however, rowed in good form, and
+broke the record for their event, covering the distance in 9 min. 23
+sec. The Shattuck's time was 9 min. 45 sec. The men sat in the boats as
+follows:
+
+  Shattuck.
+
+  Stroke--Warmoth.
+  No. 5--Hogle (Captain).
+  No. 4--Wilson.
+  No. 3--Winter.
+  No. 2--Kaime.
+  No. 1--Campbell.
+
+  Halcyon.
+
+  Stroke--Barker (Captain).
+  No. 5--Henderson.
+  No. 4--Hollingsworth.
+  No. 3--Drayton.
+  No. 2--Wheeler.
+  No. 1--Berger.
+
+In the race between the third crews the Shattucks again got a better
+start than their opponents, and secured a lead which they kept
+increasing as they neared the finish. Within half a mile of the line the
+Halcyons raised their stroke for a moment and tried to spurt, but they
+were unable to keep this up, and soon fell back to 35. This four did not
+row in as good form as the other Halcyon crews did, and showed
+considerable want of coaching. Their pluck, however, was good, and they
+never gave up work until they had crossed the line. The third Shattuck
+crew rowed a very steady race, showing good form for the entire
+distance. The men sat in the boats as follows:
+
+  Shattuck.
+
+  Stroke--Stoddard.
+  No. 3--Bloomer.
+  No. 2--Thompson.
+  No. 1--Keep (Captain).
+
+  Halcyon.
+
+  Stroke--Nelson.
+  No. 3--Phipps (Captain).
+  No. 2--Weston.
+  No. 1--Pruyn.
+
+The breaking of the record by the first Halcyon is a feat to be proud of
+when it is considered that in the crew which held this record previously
+were Fennessy of Harvard, and Brown and Simpson of this year's Yale
+Henley crew. There are undoubtedly several rising oarsmen in both the
+Halcyon and Shattuck boats this year. Harvard will get Byrd, Stillman,
+Glidden, Nickerson, and McKay, whereas Yale will have Francis, Nugent,
+and Vredenburg.
+
+RECORD OF CONTESTS BETWEEN THE HALCYON AND SHATTUCK CREWS, ST. PAUL'S
+SCHOOL, CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
+
+  Year.       Date.    Winner First-Crew Race.        Time of Losing Crew.
+                          1-Mile Course.
+  1871.      June 7.   Halcyon, 8 min. 32 sec.         8 min. 53 sec.
+  1872.      June 20.  Shattuck, time not given.       3 lengths.
+  1873.      June 7.   Halcyon, 8 min. 45 sec.         1 length behind.
+                          1-3/4-Mile Course.
+  1874.      June 16.  Halcyon, 10 min. 23 sec.        11 min. 8 sec.
+                          Course, 1 Mile and Return.
+  1875.      June 9.   Halcyon, 14 min. 6 sec.         14 min. 50 sec.
+  1876.      June 10.  Halcyon, 14 min. 28 sec.        15 min. 13-1/4 sec.
+  1877.      June 14.  Shattuck, 13 min. 40-1/4 sec.   14 min. 48 sec.
+  1878.      No races.
+  1879.      June 11.  Halcyon, 14 min. 2-1/4 sec.     Not taken.
+  1880.      June 3.   Shattuck, 14 min. 25-1/2 sec.   14 min. 57 sec.
+  1881.      June 2.   Halcyon, 14 min. 10 sec.        15 min. 1 sec.
+  1882.      June 13.  Halcyon, 13 min. 28-1/2 sec.    14 min. 4 sec.
+  [3]1883.   June 12.  Halcyon, 13 min. 13 sec.        13 min. 38 sec.
+  1884.      June 9.   Shattuck, 12 min. 41 sec.       13 min. 16 sec.
+  1885.      May 25.   Halcyon, 14 min. 7-1/4 sec.     [4]Not taken.
+  1886.      May 24.   Shattuck, 12 min. 51 sec.       12 min. 58-1/2 sec.
+  1887.      May 29.   Shattuck, 12 min. 42 sec.       12 min. 46-4/5 sec.
+  1888.      June 8.   Halcyon, 12 min. 32-2/5 sec.    [5]Not taken.
+  1889.      June 1.   Shattuck, 13 min. 10-1/4 sec.   Not taken.
+                          1-3/4-Mile Straightaway.
+  1890.      May 28.   Halcyon, 9 min. 2-1/2 sec.      Not taken.
+                          1-1/2-Mile Straightaway.
+  [6]1891.   May 27.   Shattuck, 8 min. 25 sec.        Not taken.
+  1892.      May 28.   Shattuck, 8 min. 29-3/4 sec.    Not taken.
+  1893.      May 29.   Shattuck, 9 min. 19 sec.        Not taken.
+  1894.      June 10.  Shattuck, time not given.       Not taken.
+  1895.      June 11.  Shattuck, 9 min. 14-1/2 sec.    9 min. 30 sec.
+  1896.      June 18.  Halcyon, 8 min. 21 sec.         8 min. 40 sec.
+
+[3] From 1883 to 1890 the first crews rowed in six-oared gigs.
+
+[4] 1885 oar broke.
+
+[5] 1888 oar-lock broke.
+
+[6] Since 1891 eight-oared shells have been used.
+
+  Year.    Date.     Winner Second-Crew Race.   Winner Third-Crew Race.
+                        1-Mile Course.
+  1871.   June 7.    No race.                        No race.
+  1872.   June 20.   No race.                        No race.
+  1873.   June 7.    No race.                        No race.
+                        1-3/4-Mile Course.
+  1874.   June 16.   Halcyon, time not given.        No race.
+                        Course, 1 Mile and Return.
+  1875.   June 9.    Halcyon, 14 min. 48 sec.        Halcyon.
+  1876.   June 10.   Halcyon, 15 min. 2-3/4 sec.     No race.
+  1877.   June 14.   Shattuck, 14 min. 9-3/4 sec.    Halcyon.
+  1878.   No races.
+  1879.   June 11.   Shattuck, 14 min. 22 sec.       Shattuck.
+  1880.   June 3.    Shattuck, 14 min. 15-1/4 sec.   Shattuck.
+  1881.   June 2.    Shattuck, 14 min. 5 sec.        No race.
+  1882.   June 13.   Halcyon, 15 min. 1 sec.         Halcyon.
+  1883.   June 12.   Halcyon, 14 min. 39-3/4 sec.    No race.
+  1884.   June 9.    Halcyon, 14 min. 45 sec.        Halcyon.
+  1885.   May 25.    Shattuck, 15 min. 11 sec.       No race.
+  1886.   May 24.    Shattuck, 14 min. 3 sec.        No race.
+  1887.   May 29.    Halcyon, 13 min. 53 sec.        No race.
+  1888.   June 8.    Halcyon, 13 min. 32-1/2 sec.    Shattuck.
+  1889.   June 1.    Halcyon, 14 min. 39-1/2 sec.    Halcyon.
+                        1-3/4-Mile Straightaway.
+  1890.   May 28.    Shattuck, 9 min. 53 sec.        Shattuck.
+                        1-1/2-Mile Straightaway.
+  1891.   May 27.    Shattuck, 9 min. 49-1/5 sec.    Halcyon.
+  1892.   May 28.    Halcyon, 10 min. 10sec.         Halcyon.
+  1893.   May 29.    Halcyon, 10 min. 23 sec.        Shattuck.
+  1894.   June 10.   Shattuck, 9 min. 25 sec.        Halcyon.
+  1895.   June 11.   Halcyon, 10 min. 21 sec.        Halcyon.
+  1896.   June 18.   Halcyon, 9 min. 23 sec.         Shattuck.
+
+For the sake of the record I append the times of the several crews, as
+officially announced:
+
+     First Crews.--Halcyons, first; time, 8 minutes 21 seconds.
+     Shattucks, second; time, 8 minutes 40 seconds.
+
+     Second Crews.--Halcyons, first; time, 9 minutes 23 seconds.
+     Shattucks, second; time, 9 minutes 45 seconds.
+
+     Third Crews.--Shattucks, first; time, 10 minutes 4 seconds,
+     Halcyons, second; time, 10 minutes 30 seconds.
+
+After the races were finished, the crowd returned from Lake Penacook to
+the school grounds, cheering the victorious crews all the way; and when
+the students reached the flag-pole on the lawn, they followed the usual
+custom of hoisting the club colors and the stroke oar of the winning
+crew. And after this had been done the young men of St. Paul's did a
+very nice thing. They presented to the coach of the crews a ticket to
+Henley and back--a present that was probably more grateful to that
+instructor than any other his pupils could have thought of.
+
+By the number of letters I have received from readers of this Department
+in Connecticut, I judge that the discussion of Hartford High-School's
+claim to the title of "Champion School" has aroused considerable
+interest in that section of the country. I am glad that this is so, for
+I believe that a wide discussion of such questions always tends toward
+good.
+
+But either I did not express myself clearly in the few paragraphs that
+the Department devoted at the time to the discussion of the question, or
+else some of my readers have failed to comprehend the drift of my
+argument. One valued correspondent writes as follows: "I was very much
+interested in the argument which recently appeared in HARPER'S ROUND
+TABLE about H.P.H.-S. claiming the National championship. You say that
+they would have to defeat in dual contests the principal schools of the
+country in order to claim it. According to that, Hartford did not win
+the championship of the Connecticut H.-S.A.A. this spring, because she
+did not defeat each one of the schools in single contests. According to
+that, there is no honor to be gained in winning the greatest number of
+points in an Association field-day. Then why not do away with these
+Associations! Your suggestion about holding sets of dual games is not
+only impracticable but also impossible for ascertaining which school is
+National champion."
+
+What I said in this Department on July 7 was that the National Games
+were a contest among "teams from leagues," and not among "teams from
+schools," and that therefore the question of school supremacy did not
+enter into the discussion. Further, I added that the only way the title
+of "Champion School" could be secured by Hartford would be for her to
+have dual meets with all other schools of her class. I should have added
+that another way for Hartford to earn the title of "Champion School"
+would be to hold a large interscholastic field-day, at which teams
+representing individual schools--not teams representing leagues or
+associations--should compete.
+
+At any track-athletic meeting where teams of athletes represent certain
+units, the team winning the greatest number of points becomes the
+victorious unit, and the athletes who aided in piling up these points,
+as representatives of that unit, are of no importance whatever so far as
+they can claim any relation to the other athletes who strove as
+representatives for the rival or defeated units. The Connecticut
+High-School A.A. is made up of a number of units--schools. Each unit
+sent a team to New Haven on June 6 to the annual field-meeting of the
+association. The athletes who came from the Hartford High-School piled
+up the greatest score: therefore the Hartford High-School is the
+champion of that association. It seems to me that this must be perfectly
+clear, and I do not understand how any one can logically deduce anything
+else.
+
+But, supposing a majority of this point-winners for the Hartford
+High-School on that day were members of the class of '96--as they
+probably were--have they any claim to the title of "Champion Class" of
+the State or of the association? Certainly not. The games at New Haven
+were not "class" games; they were "school" games, and nobody knew or
+cared to what class the winning athletes belonged. In the same way it
+was of no importance whatever, so far as the championship was concerned,
+to what school the point-winners in the National Games belonged. These
+games were held among associations, and the association that scored the
+greatest number of points became the champion association for the year.
+
+In the case of the Connecticut Association it happened that the greatest
+number of point-winners were members of the Hartford High-School. This
+may justly be a source of pride for Hartford, and for all the members of
+the High-School, but it is not a matter to interest the National
+Association, nor is it a matter for the National Association to take any
+cognizance of.
+
+The same correspondent whom I have quoted above goes on to say:
+"Therefore I think that Hartford has just as much claim to the national
+championship as she has to the Connecticut H.-S.A.A. championship, and
+as Yale has to the Intercollegiate championship." I feel perfectly
+confident that as soon as he, and others, who are of his opinion at
+present, make clear to themselves the difference between a contest among
+schools and a contest among associations, they will not think that
+Hartford has any claim whatever. I am very glad, too, that my
+correspondent cited Yale in his comparison, for it helps me to make my
+argument even clearer.
+
+Yale is a university made up of Yale College, the Sheffield Scientific
+School, the Yale Law School, the Yale Medical School, the Yale Art
+School, the Yale Divinity School, etc. On every Yale team that goes to
+the Intercollegiate games there are College men, Sheff men, and
+frequently men who are in the Medical School or other departments of the
+University.
+
+It is not necessary to look over the records to find out if a case such
+as the one I am about to cite as an example ever actually happened, for
+the illustration is just as strong whether it ever occurred in fact or
+not. But suppose that the majority of the point-winners of the Yale team
+of 1896 were Sheff men. Would the Sheffield Scientific School, for that
+reason, have any grounds to claim any kind of a championship? Of course
+not. The Sheff men went down to Manhattan Field as members of Yale
+University, just as the H.P.H.-S. athletes went to the Columbia Oval as
+members of the Connecticut H.-S.A.A., and neither body has any right to
+set up any kind of a claim for individual prowess. If I have not yet
+succeeded in making myself clear to all my Connecticut readers, I hope
+they will let me hear from them further, and I will try it again.
+
+Another point over which there has been considerable misunderstanding is
+the difference between an "Interscholastic" record and a "National
+Interscholastic" record. The Constitution of the N.I.S.A.A., in its Laws
+of Athletics, section 18, says that a national interscholastic record is
+any record made at the annual meeting of the N.I.S.A.A. A.A. An
+interscholastic record, on the other hand, is a record made by a student
+in any annual field-meeting of any league, club, or association. [The
+National Association's Constitution puts it, "any leagues, clubs, or
+associations _of this association_," but we cannot accept this as
+correct, because there are several interscholastic records held by
+associations not members of the national body.]
+
+To be brief, however, a national interscholastic record is one made at
+the national games; an interscholastic record is one made at _any_
+interscholastic meeting. As soon as space enough avails, this Department
+will print the tables of national and interscholastic records--for the
+comparison will be an interesting one.
+
+Speaking of errors, it is well to refer to one which crept into almost
+all of the reports of the performances of the National games. In the
+high jump this Department credited Sturtevant of Connecticut with first
+place, and Flournoy of Iowa with second place. The facts of the case
+were these: Flournoy and Sturtevant, the only contestants in the event,
+tied for first place at 5 ft. 8 in. Therefore they divided the points,
+each man taking four.
+
+Then they chose to jump over again for the medals, instead of tossing a
+coin, as is usual--although this athletic method of deciding the
+question is by far the more sportsmanlike. On the jump-off Flournoy was
+unable to repeat his performance of 5 ft. 8 in., and could only clear 5
+ft. 7 in., whereas Sturtevant again got over the bar at the higher
+point. This gave Sturtevant the first-place medal and Flournoy the
+second prize. But this jumping-off business had no effect whatever on
+the two associations' scores, and consequently Connecticut's figures
+should be 24 instead of 25, and Iowa's should be 7 instead of 6.
+
+While speaking of records, let me say a word in connection with the
+mile-walk figures of Eells, of the Hotchkiss School, at the Connecticut
+games last June. The performance as recorded was 7 min. 11 sec., and I
+believe these figures to be correct. When the time was announced on the
+field at New Haven some one raised a cry that it should be 8 min. 11
+sec., and a report that the official time-keepers had made an error was
+assiduously circulated.
+
+A number of letters have come to this Department since that time asking
+if 7 min. 11 sec. were the correct figures for Eells's performance, and
+I have consequently been at some pains to make a careful investigation
+into the matter. Mr. E. G. Coy and Mr. C. E. Hammett, Principal and
+Physical Director, respectively, of the Hotchkiss School, assure me that
+Eells is capable of walking a mile in 7 min. 11 sec. They must have
+every means of knowing this, Mr. Hammett especially, having seen the
+young athlete train for months before he went to the Connecticut
+Interscholastics.
+
+They assure me that the time, 7 min. 11 sec., as announced on the field
+that day, is correct, and they regret that any contrary report should
+have been circulated by some irresponsible enthusiast among the
+spectators. Considering these facts, Mr. Eells, in the opinion of this
+Department, is entitled to be considered the holder of the
+interscholastic record, and will be put down as such in the table soon
+to be printed.
+
+  THE GRADUATE.
+
+"TRACK ATHLETICS IN DETAIL."--ILLUSTRATED.--8VO, CLOTH, ORNAMENTAL,
+$1.25.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENTS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: ROYAL BAKING POWDER]
+
+A cream-of-tartar baking powder. Highest of all in leavening
+strength.--_Latest United States Government Food Report._
+
+ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
+
+
+
+
+Harper's Catalogue,
+
+Thoroughly revised, classified, and indexed, will be sent by mail to any
+address on receipt of ten cents.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: BICYCLING]
+
+     This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the
+     Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our
+     maps and tours contain many valuable data kindly supplied from the
+     official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen.
+     Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L.A.W., the
+     Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership
+     blanks and information so far as possible.
+
+
+Owing to the accumulation of queries, the Department this week will be
+devoted to replies.
+
+J. L. E. asks how to fix the proper handicaps in a bicycle-race which he
+is getting up--what plan he is to go on, what the system is, and where
+he can find a book on the subject. Handicapping in bicycling is the same
+in principle as all other handicaps, and there are the same reasons, and
+only the same reasons, for giving handicaps that there are in other
+contests. As a rule, handicapping is best left alone. It should only be
+resorted to when the differences in speed of competitors are so great
+that no one could get up a race and induce men to enter unless a
+handicap were resorted to. In long distances, in road races of 25 miles
+or more, time handicaps are usually given. The time of each
+contestant--that is, his best time for a mile, or for 35 miles--is
+ascertained, and a table made of all these. Each man, then, shows a
+certain rate per mile for 25 miles, or whatever the distance may be.
+According to this record, one man does 10, 20, or 25 miles at the rate
+of a minute a mile faster than another. In a 25-mile race, therefore, he
+should give the other about 25 minutes' start. This is, of course, a
+large handicap, but it illustrates the point. If A does 20 miles in 60
+minutes and B's record is 15 miles in 60 minutes, then, to make the race
+even, B should start on his run at 2 P.M., for example, while A has to
+wait at the scratch 15 minutes. When he finally starts at 2.15 P.M., B
+is 3-3/4 miles ahead of him. Supposing the road race was on a stretch of
+road five miles long and the course was to make it down and back four
+times--that is, twice each way. The distance handicap could be made by
+starting both A and B at the same time, with B at a position 1-1/4 miles
+from the first turn and A at the scratch; but such long-distance
+handicaps are difficult things to take care of, since it is practically
+impossible to start both men at the same moment. It is for this reason
+that time handicaps have been taken up. On short distances of a mile or
+two the difficulty is, of course, avoided, and distances can be arranged
+with simultaneous starts. A bicycle-race under 25 miles is, however, a
+dangerous and not particularly exerting affair, though there are many
+still. Ascertain, therefore, each man's record for the same distance,
+and then arrange the time handicaps, so as to give all, according to
+their records, the chance of coming in at the same moment.
+
+"WHEELMAN" asks what are the laws regarding riding on sidewalks,
+coasting, and so on, and whether these laws are the kind that are
+enforced, or if they are, like many other city and town ordinances, only
+for use in emergency, and not otherwise observed. In the first place,
+the laws, ordinances, or regulations regarding riding on sidewalks,
+scorching, coasting, and so on, are different in every city or
+township--that is, each township has its regulations concerning these
+matters, and they have been adopted to protect other people. There is a
+movement on foot to make bicycles come under the head of carriages, and
+subject to the same laws; but in the mean time several things ought to
+be borne in mind by wheelmen. Most ordinances agree in stating that in
+city or town no bicyclist shall ride on sidewalks; that too great speed
+is dangerous; that coasting, where cross-streets are common, is
+dangerous; and that anything likely to endanger foot-passengers or be
+dangerous to the wheelman must be avoided. The regulations are made to
+cover these matters. It therefore behooves the wheelman to guard against
+any of these matters; for if we all thought of the possible danger and
+inconvenience to other citizens, there would be no occasion for stricter
+regulations than there have been for carriages. Hence, if you coast in a
+city or town, you are helping the movement which will cause aldermen and
+selectmen to pass more severe laws. If you ride on sidewalks, you are in
+just so far stimulating the popular prejudice against wheels, raising
+the fines, and causing a general feeling that bicyclists must be
+legislated against. When you are on country roads, where not one person
+an hour passes, choose the side path, since it may be the only good bit
+of road; but when you come to civilization, remember that no matter how
+bad the road, and no matter how many other wheelmen may be riding on
+sidewalks, and coasting and scorching, the law asks you to keep to your
+proper place, and you are helping the cause of bicycling, to say the
+least, if you do so.
+
+     NOTE.--Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of
+     route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford,
+     Connecticut, in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New
+     Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814.
+     Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816.
+     Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in No.
+     818. Hudson to Albany in No. 819. Tottenville to Trenton in No.
+     820. Trenton to Philadelphia in No. 821. Philadelphia in No. 822.
+     Philadelphia-Wissahickon Route in No. 823. Philadelphia to West
+     Chester in No. 824. Philadelphia to Atlantic City--First Stage in
+     No. 825; Second Stage in No. 826. Philadelphia to Vineland--First
+     Stage in No. 827; Second Stage in No. 828. New York to
+     Boston--Second Stage in No. 829; Third Stage in No. 830; Fourth
+     Stage in No. 831; Fifth Stage in No. 832; Sixth Stage in No. 833.
+     Boston to Concord in No. 834. Boston in No. 835. Boston to
+     Gloucester in No. 836. Boston to Newburyport in No. 837. Boston to
+     New Bedford in No. 838. Boston to South Framingham in No. 839.
+     Boston to Nahant in No. 840. Boston to Lowell in No. 841. Boston to
+     Nantasket Beach in No. 842. Boston Circuit Ride in No. 843.
+     Philadelphia to Washington--First Stage in No. 844; Second Stage in
+     No. 845; Third Stage in No. 846; Fourth Stage in No. 847; Fifth
+     Stage in No. 848. City of Washington in No. 849. City of Albany in
+     No. 854; Albany to Fonda in No. 855; Fonda to Utica in No. 856;
+     Utica to Syracuse in No. 857; Syracuse to Lyons in No. 858; Lyons
+     to Rochester in No. 859; Rochester to Batavia in No. 860; Batavia
+     to Buffalo in No. 861; Poughkeepsie to Newtown in No. 864; Newtown
+     to Hartford in No. 865; New Haven to Hartford in No. 866; Hartford
+     to Springfield in No. 867; Hartford to Canaan in No. 868; Canaan to
+     Pittsfield in No. 869; Hudson to Pittsfield in No. 870.
+
+
+
+
+"IT."
+
+BY EMMA J. GRAY.
+
+
+Many of the games with which we are familiar in the United States are
+well known throughout Great Britain and on the Continent. But among the
+most amusing and most popular of English games is one of which we know
+little or nothing. It is dignified by the two-lettered name, "It."
+
+This is altogether suitable for the parlor, and may be played by
+everybody if we will except the very young people. It creates roars of
+laughter, on account of the funny mistakes made by the questioners. "It"
+is a great mystery, and the longer it is played the greater mystery
+often it becomes. Only those understanding this game may remain in the
+room. All others must leave; there is no alternative. One of the party,
+unfamiliar with the game, is then selected to return, and must, by
+questioning those in the parlor, learn what "it" is. When he knows "it,"
+he too must remain behind, and some one else is selected to fill his
+place. In this way the game is carried on, until each one in turn comes
+in and finds out the secret.
+
+"It" is really the person who sits at your left, but, before this is
+discovered, usually much amusement is made. The game is played in the
+following way:
+
+All in the parlor must sit in a circle, and must not change their
+positions. When the player is called in, he is told to ask a question of
+whomever he may please, and the person must correctly answer. For
+example--"Is 'it' white?" As everybody present is white, the answer is
+necessarily "Yes."
+
+The questioner then asks another person, "Is 'it' thin?" and if the
+person to the left of the person thus questioned is thin, the answer is
+again "Yes." Perhaps this question may be repeated, and some one else is
+asked, "Do you also think 'it' is thin?" and if this person has some one
+for a left-hand neighbor who is very stout, of course he answers "No."
+
+And thus the questioner is mystified, and must continue question after
+question. For a long time he may think "it" is a thing. Therefore a good
+question to put would be, "Is 'it' alive?" And then he might ask, "Is
+'it' in this room?" Then he might try complexion, and again would be
+mystified, for if he asked, "Is 'it' a brunette?" and the reply being
+"Yes," his next question, "Has 'it' dark eyes?" would perhaps have for
+answer, "No"; and, "Has 'it' light hair?" "Yes." And so the secret seems
+harder than ever.
+
+A good way is to ask the same questions over and over, and try to locate
+"it" in that way. But the questioner should not easily be discouraged. A
+few points may be given to him, such as some of the above. The players
+would better announce "It" as a trick game.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: STAMPS]
+
+     This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin
+     collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question
+     on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address
+     Editor Stamp Department.
+
+
+In the summer of 1895 a complete _unperforated_ sheet of the current 5c.
+U.S. unwatermarked was found in the post-office of New Orleans. A
+well-known collector bought the sheet for $1000. Some months later
+another collector who was looking up Plate Nos. discovered
+_unperforated_ sheets of the current 3c. and 4c. stamps on unwatermarked
+paper (Plate Nos. 47 and 50 respectively). These unperforated stamps
+have been put on the market at $24 for a pair, or $12 each in larger
+blocks. No single stamps to be sold. The demand has been very lively,
+and most of the stamps have been sold at that price.
+
+Of the 1890 issue the following are known to exist unperforated: the
+2c., 4c., 5c., and 15c. Very few copies have come on the market, and
+those have been eagerly snapped up by the big collectors. Hitherto these
+unperforated stamps have probably been mere accidents, but there is
+danger in their becoming hereafter "accidental on purpose."
+
+Plate Nos. are still booming. The early pink 2c. and ultramarine 1c. are
+comparatively easy to get. But the early Plate Nos. on watermarked paper
+are quite scarce. There must be quantities of these in the smaller
+post-offices. Fifteen dollars are offered for Plate 89 in any color.
+
+As soon as a great rarity is discovered hundred of collectors look over
+everything they can find, and, wonderful to say, the stamp supposed to
+be unique rarely remains in that condition. The 10c. Baltimore, first
+catalogued about a year ago, was hardly announced when a collector in
+Louisville found another copy on the original envelope. And now another
+copy has turned up in Washington. The other day a lady who had relatives
+living in Florence in 1852 was induced to look over her old letters, and
+among them was one envelope bearing a beautiful strip of three 2 soldi
+Tuscany worth $50 each. The strip of three is probably worth $200 at
+least. Several other rare stamps were in the same lot.
+
+The Argentine Republic has just issued a complete set of post-cards,
+embossed envelopes, and wrappers in commemoration of the eighty-sixth
+anniversary of the republic's independence. It is said that this issue
+is not to serve for a limited time, but will continue indefinitely.
+Argentine has not been very conservative in the making of new issues
+during the last decade. Complete series were issued in 1888, 1889, 1890,
+1892, with some additional values in 1891, Columbian 2c. and 5c. in
+1892, and official stamps in red and in black surcharges, with the
+inevitable inverted surcharges, some perforated, others rouletted, etc.
+
+From present appearances it looks like a good set to let alone. As to
+their appearance, they are ugly in comparison with the Greek Olympian
+stamps, which have been put on the black list. The following is a
+complete set of this commemoration series:
+
+  3 centavos post-card, orange on buff.
+  4 centavos post-card, gray on buff.
+  6 centavos post-card, violet on buff.
+  6x6 centavos post-card, violet on buff.
+  3 centavos letter-card, orange on buff.
+  4 centavos letter-card, gray on buff.
+  1/2 centavos wrapper, blue.
+  1 centavos wrapper, brown.
+  2 centavos wrapper, green.
+  4 centavos wrapper, gray.
+  5 centavos envelope, pink on buff.
+
+     L. WARREN.--The only way to detect counterfeit stamps is to know
+     what the originals are. Paper, water-mark, perforation, roulette,
+     color of ink, size, and peculiarities of the engraving, and many
+     other factors enter into the problem. Dealers usually keep an album
+     of all the different varieties of counterfeits of every stamp for
+     the purpose of comparison. Duplicate counterfeits are at once
+     destroyed. In addition, dealers, like the advanced collectors,
+     study the peculiarities of all genuine originals which come into
+     their hands, and are always ready to take time and trouble to see
+     fine collections, and talk over the different stamps. It is only by
+     this method that a man becomes an expert in these days of dangerous
+     counterfeits. Gradually an intuitive knowledge of forgeries is
+     developed, so that frequently an expert will condemn a stamp which
+     seems to be in all essentials a genuine one. If not an expert there
+     is only one way to buy valuable stamps, namely from collectors or
+     dealers, known to be experts, and known to be responsible.
+
+     W. K. DART.--The current 2c. have three forms of triangle (see
+     ROUND TABLE for May 12, 1896). They have no particular value,
+     either used or unused. I would advise you to get a catalogue for
+     25c., as it is impossible for one to quote prices on a long list of
+     ordinary stamps for every one of the many readers of the ROUND
+     TABLE. Study your stamps by the aid of the catalogue.
+
+     S. E. SEORAH.--The A.P.A. will hold their annual meeting at Lake
+     Minnetonka, a beautiful summer resort in the lake country of
+     Minnesota.
+
+  PHILATUS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A GOOD CHILD
+
+is usually healthy, and both conditions are developed by use of proper
+food. The Gail Borden Eagle Brand Condensed Milk is the best infant's
+food: so easily prepared that improper feeding is inexcusable and
+unnecessary.--[_Adv._]
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENTS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: COLUMBIA BICYCLES]
+
+
+
+
+WALTER BAKER & CO., LIMITED.
+
+Established Dorchester, Mass., 1780.
+
+Breakfast Cocoa
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Always ask for Walter Baker & Co.'s
+
+Breakfast Cocoa
+
+Made at
+
+DORCHESTER, MASS.
+
+It bears their Trade Mark
+
+"La Belle Chocolatiere" on every can.
+
+Beware of Imitations.
+
+
+
+
+Postage Stamps, &c.
+
+
+
+
+$117.50 WORTH OF STAMPS FREE
+
+to agents selling-stamps from my 50% approval sheets. Send at once for
+circular and price-list giving full information.
+
+C. W. Grevning, Morristown, N. J.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: STAMPS]
+
+100 all dif. Venezuela, Bolivia, etc., only 10c., 200 all dif. Hayti,
+Hawaii, etc., only 50c. Ag'ts w't'd at 50% com. List FREE! =C. A.
+Stegmann=, 5941 Cote Brilliante Ave., St. Louis, Mo
+
+
+
+
+STAMPS
+
+=10= stamps and large list =FREE!=
+
+L. DOVER & CO., 1469 Hodiamant, St. Louis, Mo.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Good
+
+Music
+
+Franklin Square Song Collection.
+
+GOOD MUSIC arouses a spirit of good-will, creates a harmonious
+atmosphere, and where harmony and good-will prevail, the disobedient,
+turbulent, unruly spirit finds no resting-place. Herbert Spencer puts
+his final test of any plan of culture in the form of a question, "Does
+it create a pleasurable excitement in the pupils?" Judged by this
+criterion, Music deserves the first rank, for no work done in the school
+room is so surely creative of pleasure as singing. Do we not all agree,
+then, that Vocal Music has power to benefit every side of the child
+nature? And in these days, when we seek to make our schools the arenas
+where children may grow into symmetrical, substantial, noble characters,
+can we afford to neglect so powerful an aid as Music? Let us as rather
+encourage it in every way possible.
+
+_Nowhere can you find for Home or School a better Selection of Songs and
+Hymns than in the Franklin Square Song Collection._
+
+Sold Everywhere. Price, 50 cents; Cloth, $1.00. Full contents of the
+Several Numbers, with Specimen Pages of favorite Songs and Hymns, sent
+by Harper & Brothers, New York, to any address.
+
+
+
+
+Older, and Knew More.
+
+
+A Brooklyn gentleman tells a new story of Henry Ward Beecher. Mr.
+Beecher was a great preacher and a great teacher, but he was also not
+above admitting that he was a student as well, and had things to learn
+and to unlearn. Dining with the gentleman who relates the incident, the
+probability of a civil war was discussed. It was the year 1859.
+
+"Oh no," said Mr. Beecher, positively, "the South will never make war on
+the question of slavery alone. And it has no other ground. Slavery will
+be abolished, first in the border States of Kentucky and Tennessee, and
+gradually southward to the Gulf. The controversy is spirited, but war
+will not come."
+
+Late in 1861, when the war was raging and the Northern cause was
+darkest, the great divine lunched with a parishioner, and the gentleman
+first named was also a guest. Reminded of his prediction, the question
+was put,
+
+"What do you think now?"
+
+"I am three years older, and know more," was Mr. Beecher's reply.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Kinks.
+
+NO. 8.--MORE POETICAL PICTURES.--BIRDS.
+
+Fill in the blanks with the names of the birds answering the
+description, and find out the authors' names. Answers will be published
+soon.
+
+  "The gentle ****, weary of rest,
+  From his moist cabinet mounts up on high and wakes the morning." (1)
+
+  "The **** hath sung beneath the thatch
+  Twice or thrice his roundelay." (2)
+
+  "The noisy ***,
+  Jargoning like a foreigner at his food; (3)
+  The ********, balanced on some topmost spray,
+  Flooding with melody the neighborhood." (4)
+
+  "The ****, round-breasted as a rustic maiden,
+  Paddles and plunges, busy still." (5)
+
+  "O what a winning way thou hast of wooing,
+  Gentlest of all thy race--sweet ******-****!" (6)
+
+  "The ******, then, on every tree, (7)
+  Mocks married men, for thus sings he, ***-***!" (8)
+
+  "The call of the ********
+  Is frequent and pleasant
+  When all other calls are hushing." (9)
+
+  "The **** high floating, like a sloop unladen,
+  Lets the loose water waft him as it will." (10)
+
+  "Alone, and warming his five wits,
+  The ***** *** in the belfry sits." (11)
+
+  "The tawny ***** seats his callow brood
+  High on the cliff, and feasts his young with blood." (12)
+
+  "The *********** begins his song
+  Most musical, most melancholy bird." (13)
+
+  "'Tis the merry ***********
+  That crowds and hurries and precipitates
+  With fast, thick warble his delicious notes." (14)
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Answers to Kinks.
+
+No. 7.
+
+1, Stork--Longfellow. 2, Sparrow--George Parsons Lathrop. 3, Robin; 4.
+Bluebird; 5, Sparrows; 6, Crows--Longfellow. 7, Swallows--James Barron
+Hope. 8, Partridge; 9, Woodpecker; 10, Oriole--J. T. Trowbridge. 11,
+Jay--William Howitt. 12, Thrush--John Clare. 13, Peacock--James Barron
+Hope.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Questions and Answers.
+
+H. G. Benton, Akron, O. The justices of the United States Supreme Court
+are nominated by the President of the United States, and must be
+confirmed by the Senate. The Chief Justice is named for that place, and
+does not, as in Pennsylvania and some other States, reach that place by
+seniority. "A Writer" is assured that it is not influence or a hearing
+that sells manuscripts to periodicals. The conditions of such sale are
+merit, adaptability, and demand. John M. Wadsworth asks us to print
+pictures of rare American coins and stamps. He should know that such an
+act is against the law.
+
+"S. B." asks: "How can I obtain a position out-of-doors, and go from
+place to place, seeing something of the world? I wish to combine
+business with pleasure, and I think out-of-door life would do me good. A
+position in an engineer's surveying-party is just the thing, but how can
+I obtain this?" Young men ought not to expect to combine pleasure with
+their business. Thousands of old men, who have served years in harness
+and earned a partial rest, if there be such reward, do not aim so high.
+If you seek employment with an engineer party, apply directly to an
+engineer. There is no employment bureau or agency through which you can
+deal, or, if there be, it is better to attend to the matter yourself.
+You will find addresses in the railway journals and in colleges where
+surveying and engineering are taught. When you get the place, banish at
+once any thought of pleasure as one of the objects of your occupation.
+Not to do so is wrong to your employer, and ten times more wrong to
+yourself and your future.
+
+Henry P. Budisch, who hoped to go to West Point, but changed his mind
+under necessity and went to Cornell instead, asks how many men actually
+went into the civil war from Northern States. The total was 2,772,408.
+This included drafted men as well as volunteers, and all arms of
+service. The highest number of men in arms at one time was 1,000,516, on
+May 1, 1865--just at the war's close. These were practically all
+volunteers, because the regular army during the war never exceeded
+25,463, which number it reached in January, 1863.
+
+Fred Breittner asks what is the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company
+of Boston which recently received such marked attention in England? It
+is the oldest military organization in the United States, dating from
+1638. The term "ancient" was first used in 1700, and the "honourable"
+was borrowed from a similar company in London. It is not now a part of
+the militia of Massachusetts, and is, in truth, more of a social than a
+military company. It has its headquarters in Faneuil Hall. Its rare
+uniforms are an heirloom from British Colonial times.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE CAMERA CLUB]
+
+     Any question in regard to photograph matters will be willingly
+     answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to
+     hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.
+
+DIRECTIONS FOR TONING BROMIDE PRINTS IN DIFFERENT COLORS.
+
+
+Bromide-paper coated with silver bromide and gelatine in emulsion may be
+used for contact printing as well as for enlargements. By treating the
+developed print with a lead intensifier different tones may be obtained,
+some of which are quite pleasing. Print according to directions, and
+develop with any developing solution, but eikonogen gives the best
+results. Do not develop the picture fully; development should be stopped
+as soon as detail begins to appear in the shadows. Fix the picture and
+wash it well. While it is still wet immerse it in an intensifier made as
+follows:
+
+  Nitrate of lead                 1 part.
+  Ferrocyanide of potassium       1-1/2 parts.
+  Distilled water                25 parts.
+
+This bath must be filtered before using. Leave the print in this bath
+till the image turns yellow, then wash in running water. Washing will
+turn the image white, when it may be immersed in any of the following
+baths, according to the tones desired:
+
+REDDISH-BROWN.
+
+  Nitrate of uranium      1 part.
+  Ammonium chloride       1 part.
+  Water                  10 parts.
+
+After washing and before drying place the print in this bath, and tone
+till the desired shade. Wash in two or three changes of water, and dry
+between clean blotters.
+
+Several prints of a beautiful green tone were sent in during the last
+photographic contest. One of our members sends the following formula for
+making the green tones on bromide-paper: Make up a solution of cobalt
+subchloride 1 part, and distilled water 10 parts. Let it stand for an
+hour, then filter. Print and develop according to the method given
+above, and after immersing in the lead bath, wash thoroughly, and place
+face up in the solution of cobalt. Keep the prints moving gently till
+the picture gradually assumes a fine green tone. Wash and dry with
+blotter. The same corespondent also sends the following formula for a
+reddish-brown or chestnut-color (in the prints sent in there were no
+clear whites, the high lights having a reddish tint, the paper seeming
+to have absorbed the solution): Cupric chloride, 1 part; distilled
+water, 10 parts. Immerse in the lead bath, and place the print, without
+washing, in the cupric-chloride bath.
+
+The formula given for reddish-brown with uranium is one recommended by
+Dr. Vogel. It is more reliable than the cupric chloride.
+
+Sepia-brown tones may be obtained on enamelled bromide-paper by using
+the following toning solution:
+
+  Hypo                   2-1/2 oz.
+  Ground alum              1/2 oz.
+  Granulated sugar         1/2 oz.
+  Boiling water         17-1/2 oz.
+
+Dissolve the hypo first, then add the alum and sugar. This bath keeps
+well, and can be made up in larger quantity if desired. To use, take two
+toning-trays, in one of which have a cold bath, and in the other a hot
+bath. Immerse the prints in the cold bath for a minute or two, and then,
+without rinsing, transfer them to the hot bath. After toning rinse in an
+alum bath made in the proportion of one ounce of alum to thirty-five of
+water. Wash thoroughly, and dry on a ferrotype plate.
+
+     SIR KNIGHT J. K. HUNTER asks if the "C" Daylight Kodak, with glass
+     plate attachment, is a good camera for beginners, and what outfit
+     is needed for developing and printing. The Daylight camera is a
+     very good camera, and easily managed. The outfit needed for
+     developing and printing consists of a dark-room lantern, a 4 by 5
+     celluloid or rubber developing-tray, an amber-colored glass tray
+     for the hypo or fixing bath, a 4 by 5 printing-frame, and a
+     toning-tray. Directions for making a dark-room lantern were given
+     in No. 781. You can refer to this if you wish to make your lantern
+     instead of buying it.
+
+     LADY CHARLOTTE B. TAYLOR, 1727 Q Street, Washington, D.C., has a
+     pocket Kodak which she wishes to sell. Any Knight or Lady wishing
+     to purchase is requested to write to Lady Charlotte.
+
+     SAMUEL H. GOTTSCHALK, 1810 Columbus Avenue, Philadelphia, CHARLES
+     H. WOODS, Carlinville, Ill., RALPH H. WEAND, 718 DeKalb Street,
+     Norristown, Pa., and JAMES D. WAITE, 101 West Eighty-fifth Street,
+     New York city, wish to be enrolled as members of the Camera Club.
+     We are receiving many new members for the club, and hope that we
+     shall see some very fine work in the coming contest, rules for
+     which will appear later.
+
+     SIR KNIGHT P. CONN wishes to know the best tray for the dark-room,
+     the best for a toning-tray, and the best kind of plates to use. A
+     celluloid or gutta-percha tray is a good one for developing
+     solution, and an amber-glass tray for the hypo. If one uses a glass
+     tray for hypo he never mistakes the hypo for the developing-tray. A
+     white porcelain tray is a good one for a toning-tray. There are so
+     many kinds of plates, or rather brands of plates, made that there
+     is little choice between those made by reliable manufacturers. No
+     one plate can be used for all kinds of work. Some subjects require
+     a slow plate, some a very quick plate. A medium rapid plate is the
+     better plate for general use in all-round work. A very rapid plate
+     is needed for instantaneous. If our correspondent has trouble with
+     his plates, please write to the editor.
+
+     G. I. J. asks how the tint first obtained on the paper in printing
+     can be preserved, if the toning-bath that tones the
+     florograph-paper can be used for other papers, and if a picture can
+     be easily over-developed. The reddish tone of the picture may be
+     preserved by simply fixing the print in a solution of hypo without
+     previous toning, or it may be slightly toned and then fixed. The
+     toning-bath mentioned can be used for other papers. If the
+     developer is very strong and works quickly, it is very easy to
+     over-develop a plate. To find out when the development has been
+     carried far enough, take the plate out of the solution and look
+     through it toward the red light. If the picture is clearly defined,
+     and detail well out in the shadows, the plate is developed enough.
+
+     SIR KNIGHT RALPH WEAND encloses two prints and asks what is the
+     matter with them. The reason why the pictures are so indistinct is
+     that the plate was not exposed long enough, causing the shadows to
+     appear as black patches instead of showing detail. A little longer
+     exposure would correct this defect. A formula for plain paper is
+     desired. This formula will be found in Nos. 706 and 803. It was
+     also reprinted in the circular issued last fall.
+
+     SIR KNIGHT FRED TAYLOR asks the reason of the spots on the finished
+     prints. Spots are caused by black spots in the negative, from
+     imperfections in the paper, and from imperfect toning-bath. Stains
+     on the print are caused from careless handling in the toning-bath.
+     The face of the print should never be touched, but the prints
+     lifted by the edges. Hypo will cause spots, if any comes in contact
+     with the face of the print. Care should be taken that the hands are
+     perfectly clean when toning and fixing pictures. Sir Knight Fred
+     sends the following directions for making a vignetting mask, which
+     he hopes will be of benefit to the members of the club. Take a box
+     cover that fits the printing-frame and cut a hole in it as large as
+     the plate. Over it paste a piece of opaque paper, and make an
+     opening any shape desired for the vignette--either pear-shaped,
+     oval, round, etc. Cut little slits all round the edge of this, and
+     over it paste a sheet of tissue-paper. Place the cover over the
+     printing-frame and print. If the cover is attached to the frame the
+     progress of the print can be examined without changing the shape of
+     the vignette. Sir Fred asks for some hints on retouching.
+     Directions for retouching will be printed in an early number of the
+     ROUND TABLE.
+
+
+
+
+QUICK WORK AGAIN.
+
+
+So much interest was taken by readers of the ROUND TABLE in the stories
+printed not very long ago about the rapid manufacture of a coat and a
+suit of clothes, that this little anecdote from Sweden, which is of a
+similar nature, may prove of interest. Some men, who worked in a
+wood-pulp factory at Elfvethal, got into a discussion about how fast
+wood could be made into pulp and then into paper. The result of the
+discussion was an experiment, or trial of speed, in which these men
+performed the feat of cutting down three trees, chopping them up, making
+them into pulp, then into paper, on which the evening newspapers of the
+place were printed--and it took them just two hours and a half from the
+time the first tree was hewn until the first copy of the evening paper
+was sold.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: IVORY SOAP]
+
+  A fine complexion is too rare
+    To run the risk of losing;
+  But everyone who takes good care
+    (All other kinds refusing)
+  To get pure Ivory, grows more fair
+    With every day of using.
+
+Copyright, 1896, by The Procter & Gamble Co., Cin'ti.
+
+
+
+
+Approximately
+
+the cut below represents the DeLONG Hooks and Eyes. For a complete
+understanding sew them on your dresses. They cannot unhook except at the
+will of the wearer.
+
+See that
+
+hump?
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Richardson & DeLong Bros., Philadelphia.
+
+Also makers of the
+
+CUPID Hairpin.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
+
+
+
+
+THE NEW YORK SUN _on April 11, 1896, said of_
+
+HARPER'S
+
+PERIODICALS
+
+They are handsome and delightful all, and are as friends that one is
+glad to see. They please the eye; the artistic sense is gratified by
+them; they overflow with varied material for the reader. They educate
+and entertain. They are the well-known and well-liked literary and
+artistic chronicles of the time. They are a credit to their publishers
+and to the discernment of the public that approves them. May they
+continue to be as admirable as they have been and as they are. Better
+could hardly be wished for them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+FOR SALE EVERYWHERE.
+
+
+
+
+EARN A BICYCLE!
+
+[Illustration]
+
+We wish to introduce our Teas, Spices, and Baking Powder. Sell 75 lbs.
+to earn a BICYCLE; 50 lbs. for a WALTHAM GOLD WATCH AND CHAIN; 25 lbs.
+for a SOLID SILVER WATCH AND CHAIN; 10 lbs. for a beautiful GOLD RING;
+50 lbs. for a DECORATED DINNER SET. Express prepaid if cash is sent with
+order. Send your full address on postal for Catalogue and Order Blank to
+Dept. I
+
+W. G. BAKER, Springfield, Mass.
+
+
+
+
+FOR KING OR COUNTRY
+
+By JAMES BARNES
+
+     A Story of the American Revolution. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth,
+     Ornamental, $1.50.
+
+A spirited story of the days that tried men's souls, full of incident
+and movement that keep up the reader's interest to the turning of the
+last page. It is full of dramatic situations and graphic descriptions
+which irresistibly lead the reader on, regretful at the close that there
+is not still more of it.--_Christian Work_, N. Y.
+
+A boy's story, full of movement, and full of surprises.... The picture
+of the old "Sugar House" prison in New York and of the secret societies
+of patriots are drawn with entertaining pen, and the book will instruct
+as well as interest the average boy who reads it.--_Boston Journal._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, New York.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+SHOOTING THE RAPIDS.
+
+
+  TO SHOOT THE RAPIDS SIMPLE SAMMY HEARD 'TWAS VERY BRAVE,
+  SO DOWN BEHIND THE HOUSE HE WENT AND SHOT INTO THE WAVE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+FROM THE SEASHORE.
+
+NEW USE FOR A SAND HOLE.
+
+BOBBIE (_who has been digging in the sand for an hour_). "Mollie, come
+here and look at the beautiful hole I've dug!"
+
+MOLLIE. "My! ain't it lovely! If you'll give it to me I'll take it home
+with me, and use it for a scrap-basket."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+LOST.
+
+"Hi, mamma! come here!" cried Willie; "see this funny insect."
+
+"That's what they call a sand-fiddler," said his mother.
+
+"Poor little bug," said Willie, looking all around him. "I guess he's
+lost his fiddle."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARD TO TAKE.
+
+"Well, Tommie, I saw you go into the tin-type-man's place this morning."
+
+"Yes; but I'd oughter known better. It didn't take. I don't ever get
+took. When I was waxinated it didn't take either."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A LITTLE GIRL'S VIEW.
+
+"Hoh!" cried little Janie, as the photographer came down to take a
+picture of the ocean. "He'll never get a picture of the ocean. It don't
+never stand still long enough."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A TERRIBLE CHANGE.
+
+After Polly had been at the seashore for a week she ran in to her mother
+weeping.
+
+"Oh, mamma! mamma!" she cried, holding up her brown little hand. "I'm
+a-turnin' into a 'ittle darky goyl!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A FISH STORY.
+
+There is an old darky who can be found any day perched on such freight
+as may rest on the platform of the little station at S---- up in Maine.
+He has a cheerful word for every one that will greet him, and was never
+known to lose his good-humor except on one occasion. One morning he was
+as usual perched on a bale of straw, but instead of whittling at a piece
+of stick, a habit of his, he sat with his face in his hands, gazing
+mournfully out over the little lake that stretched away among the hills.
+It was then I noticed that his nose had assumed enormous proportions,
+almost shutting out his eyes.
+
+"Why, Ike, what's the matter with your nose?"
+
+He shook his head sadly, and inquired if I had a little "baccy." I
+handed him some, and waited for an explanation about his nose.
+
+"I's neber gwan ter fish no mo', sah--no, sah! neber no mo'; 'cause
+dat's whar I's got dat nose, youse see."
+
+"How did it happen, Ike? Tell us; perhaps we can fix you up."
+
+"See dat little neck er-runnin' out past de big mountain ober dar? Well,
+round dat neck dere's a cove, and dere's as fine er trout stream runs in
+dere as dey has 'bout dis place. Ise was er-fishin' dere de oder day,
+when Ise seed er big one flittin' by a rock dat's dere. Ise thrashed dat
+spot by de hour, and dat trout he done come an' look at de fly, an'
+den--yes, sah, den dat trout laugh at me an' swim 'way. I's tried
+eberyt'ing to ketch him, but 'twa'n't any use. Den Ise grew er-thinkin'.
+What he do 'round dat stone all de time? So Ise rested very quiet and
+watched dat stone. Pretty soon Ise see er bee hummin' 'round close to de
+water and near de stone, and Ise see de trout make er leap fer him.
+
+"Dat settled it; Ise knew what ter ketch 'im wid. Ise just caught er bee
+an' put de hook in between de wings, where it wouldn't hurt him. Den Ise
+casted. Yah, yah!--he! he! Dat trout he made one leap an' he had de bee;
+but de fight was awful. He done paid no 'tention ter me, but he an' de
+bee wuz er-havin' it out--and how dey did fight! Ise got him on de bank
+at last, and dere's whar my trouble came in. Ise opened his mouth ter
+get de hook out, when out flew dat bee, and he wuz mad. Yes, sah, he
+just been er-waitin' fer me, Ise know, an' he landed plumb on my nose.
+Youse see de result. But dat's only part ob it. De trout he swelled up
+de same way. He wuz five pounds when Ise first ketched him, but when he
+was done swellin' he was too heavy ter carry home."
+
+We silently left Ike to continue his mournful contemplation of the lake.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+JACK'S PROBLEM.
+
+JACK (_mystified_). "Papa, there's one thing I don't understand
+kerzactly."
+
+PAPA. "Well, what is that?"
+
+JACK. "I dig a hole here on the beach, and a wave comes along and washes
+over it, and goes back again. Then I find the hole all filled up with
+sand. I thought the ocean was made of water, but it seems to me it's
+nothin' but sand."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NO STOPPING-PLACE.
+
+STRANGE LITTLE GIRL (_at Long Branch_). "Where are you stoppin'?"
+
+LITTLE BOY. "We ain't. We're all the time a-movin'."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Round Table, July 21, 1896, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58868 ***