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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59387 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: HARPER'S ROUND TABLE]
+
+Copyright, 1896, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All Rights Reserved.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PUBLISHED WEEKLY. NEW YORK, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1896. FIVE CENTS A
+COPY.
+
+VOL. XVII.--NO. 882. TWO DOLLARS A YEAR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+WYMPS.
+
+BY EVELYN SHARP.
+
+
+Little Lady Daffany had just been betrothed to the Prince, and there
+were great rejoicings all over the town in consequence. The people were
+allowed to cheer as much as they liked, and every child in the country
+had a whole holiday and a penny bun, and nobody had an unhappy moment
+from sunrise to sunset. All the Fairies were invited to a magnificent
+banquet in the palace that lasted five hours and a half; and the
+betrothed couple sat at one end of the table, and talked to one another;
+and the King and Queen sat at the other end, and hoped that everything
+would go well. The Queen fanned herself, and murmured at intervals. "The
+wish of my heart"; and the King grumbled to himself because he could not
+get enough to eat. The King had a very healthy appetite, and he always
+gave a banquet whenever there was the least occasion for one.
+
+"I really don't think we have left any one out this time," said the
+Queen, in a satisfied tone. One of the Fairies _had_ been left out at
+the Prince's christening, and the usual misfortunes had followed in
+consequence.
+
+"That is because I sent out all the invitations myself," replied the
+King, crushingly. "These things require only a little management."
+
+The words were hardly out of his royal mouth when a sudden darkness fell
+upon the room, just as though a curtain had been drawn across the sun.
+One ray of sun continued to shine, however, and that was the one that
+shone over Lady Daffany's head; and down this one something came
+sliding at a terrific pace, and tumbled into a dish of peaches just in
+front of her. The conversation stopped with a jerk, and the people in
+the street ceased cheering at the same moment, though they could not
+have told any one why they did not go on.
+
+"I am going to faint!" the Queen was heard to exclaim; but no one was
+sufficiently unoccupied to attend to her. The eyes of every one were
+fixed on the one ray of sunlight that shone over Lady Daffany's head
+into the dish of peaches on the table.
+
+"Now that's a stupid place to keep peaches," said the cause of all this
+disturbance; and the funniest little man imaginable clambered out of the
+dish of peaches and looked inquisitively down the long table. He was
+very small and of a misty appearance, and he was dressed from head to
+foot in dull yellow fog, and his face was brimful of mischief. He looked
+as though he had done nothing all his life but make fun of people; for
+he had very small eyes that twinkled, and a very large mouth that
+smiled, and the rest of his face was one mass of laughter wrinkles.
+
+"So you thought you were going to leave the Wymps out, did you?" he
+said, sitting down comfortably on the edge of a large salt-cellar, and
+swinging his legs backwards and forwards. "You will say you never heard
+of the Wymps next, I suppose!"
+
+That was just what every one in the room was thinking, but no one had
+the courage to say so.
+
+"To be sure! to be sure! How stupid of us not to recognize you at once!"
+said the Queen, who had not fainted, after all.
+
+"Most absurd! Why, the children in the schools could have told us that,
+eh?" added the King, glancing at the Royal Professor of Geography, who
+sat on his right hand.
+
+"No doubt; no doubt. Though it does not belong to _my_ branch of
+learning," said the latter, looking cheerfully at the Royal Professor of
+History, who was trying, for his part, not to look at anybody at all.
+
+"Then if you know such a lot about us, how was it you didn't ask us to
+the banquet, eh?" shouted the little Wymp in a most disagreeable manner.
+
+"Dear me!" said the Queen. "Is it possible you never had the letter?"
+
+"I have no doubt," added the King, "that it was never posted."
+
+"Or perhaps it was not properly addressed," suggested Lady Daffany,
+politely.
+
+The Wymp looked from one to the other and winked; then he stood on his
+head and burst into a fit of laughter.
+
+"It is no use, dearest," said the Prince, gloomily. "We have never heard
+of the Wymps, and we had better own it at once. I suppose that means
+another bad gift, and I had quite enough of that at my christening. It
+is enough to set one against banquets altogether. There's always some
+one left out. First, it's Fairies, then it's Wymps. Now, then, Mr. Wymp,
+just tells us where you came from, and why you are here, and get it
+over, will you?"
+
+"Now that's sensible. I think I'll shake hands with you," said the Wymp,
+coming down on his feet again, and standing on tiptoe to grasp the
+Prince's hand. The Prince felt it was like shaking hands with a very
+damp sponge.
+
+"Now I'll tell you what it is," continued the Wymp, climbing up a
+decanter, and standing with one foot on the stopper and the other tucked
+up like a stork's; "the Wymps have been left out of this banquet
+altogether, and Wymps are not people to be trifled with. Why people make
+such a fuss about Fairies I never can make out. Now if you'd left some
+of _them_ out, it wouldn't have made any difference. They just overcrowd
+everything, and it's not fair."
+
+The Fairies fluttered their wings indignantly at this, but the Fairy
+Queen reminded them that it was not polite to make a quarrel in somebody
+else's house, and the Wymp went on undisturbed.
+
+"So I have come down from the land of the Wymps, which is at the back of
+the sun, just to remind you that you mustn't leave us out again.
+However, I see I am spoiling the fun, so I will be off again. But I may
+as well mention"--here he looked straight at the Prince and burst out
+laughing again--"that in future you will always tell people what you
+think of them. Ha! ha! ha! that is the Wymps' gift to you. Good-by!"
+
+And away he sped up the sunbeam again, and the curtain fell away from
+the sun, and the people in the street went on cheering just where they
+had left off, and the conversation broke out again at the very place it
+had been interrupted, and no one would have thought that anything had
+happened at all. But the Prince heard nothing but the Wymp's mocking
+laughter, and he sat silent for the rest of the day.
+
+"Are you ill, dear Prince?" asked the Queen.
+
+"Of course not! You are a tiresome old fidget," said the Prince,
+crossly. Now the Prince was noted for his excellent manners; he was even
+known to speak politely to his horse and his spaniel; so when the
+courtiers heard his reply to the Queen, they began to whisper among
+themselves, and the guests made ready to depart.
+
+"It is the heat; you must really excuse him," said the King, getting up
+from the table with a sigh.
+
+"What nonsense!" said the Prince. "It is not hot at all. It is your
+fault for having such a stupid long banquet."
+
+"We have enjoyed ourselves _so_ much," said the guests, as they filed
+past him.
+
+"Oh no, you haven't," retorted the Prince; "you have been thoroughly
+bored the whole time, and so have I."
+
+"It is the Wymps' gift," whispered the courtiers.
+
+Two large unshed tears stood in Lady Daffany's eyes when she bade the
+Prince good-night.
+
+"Do you think _I_ have been bored the whole evening?" she asked him,
+softly.
+
+"No, dearest," said the Prince, kissing her white fingers; "for you have
+been with me all the time."
+
+And that, of course, was the truth, so she went away happy.
+
+The days rolled on, and everybody began to wonder at the change in the
+Prince. He had always been considered the most charming Prince in the
+world, but now he had suddenly become one of the most unpleasant. He
+told people of their faults whenever they were introduced to him, and
+although he was generally right, they did not like it at all. He said
+the Royal Professor of Geography was a bore, and although no one in the
+kingdom could deny it, the Royal Professor of Geography naturally felt
+annoyed. At the state ball he told the King he could not dance a bit,
+and though the King's partners certainly thought so too, that did not
+make it any better. But when he told the Queen, in the presence of the
+Royal Professor of History, that her hair was turning gray under her
+crown, the Queen said it was quite time something was done.
+
+"The dear fellow cannot be right in his head," she said; "he must have a
+doctor."
+
+So the Royal Physician was sent for, and he came in his coach-and-four
+and looked at the Prince; and he coughed a good deal, and said he must
+certainly have a change of air.
+
+"The Royal Physician always knows," said the Queen.
+
+"But what is the matter with me?" asked the Prince.
+
+"That," said the Royal Physician, coughing again, "is too deep a matter
+for me to go into just now. In fact--"
+
+"In fact, you don't know a bit, do you?" said the Prince; and he burst
+out laughing just as unpleasantly as the Wymp had done when he stood on
+his head.
+
+So the Royal Physician drove away again in his coach-and-four, and the
+Prince went on telling people exactly what he thought of them. The only
+person to whom he was not rude was the little Lady Daffany, for he
+thought nothing but nice things about her, and therefore he had nothing
+but nice things to say to her. But for all that, she was most unhappy,
+for she could not bear hearing that other people disliked the Prince;
+and all the people were beginning to dislike him very much indeed. So
+one day she slipped out of her father's house quite early in the
+morning, and went into the wood at the end of the garden. Now she was so
+kind to all the animals and flowers, that the Fairies had given her the
+power of understanding their language; so she went straight to her
+favorite squirrel, who lived in a beech-tree in the middle of the wood,
+and she told him all about the Prince and the Wymps' gift. The squirrel
+stopped eating nuts, and ran after his tail for a few moments without
+speaking. Then he winked his eye at her very knowingly, and nodded his
+smart little head several times, and spoke at last in a tone of great
+wisdom.
+
+"You must go to the Wymps and intercede for the Prince," he said, and
+cracked another nut.
+
+"But would they listen to me?" asked Lady Daffany, doubtfully.
+
+"Go and try," said the squirrel. "The Wymps are not bad little fellows,
+really. They like making fun of people, that's all; and they saw the
+Prince was a bit of a prig, so they thought they would give him a
+lesson, don't you see?"
+
+"Perhaps they will think I am a prig too," said Lady Daffany, sadly.
+
+"My dear little lady," laughed the squirrel, "the Wymps never make fun
+of people like you. Just you go and find the biggest sunbeam you can,
+and climb up it until you come to the land of the Wymps at the back of
+the sun. Only you must go with bare feet and with nothing on your head.
+Now be off with you; I want to finish my breakfast."
+
+The biggest sunbeam she could find was the one that came in at the
+library window and sent her father, the Count, to sleep over the state
+documents. And there she took off her little red shoes and stockings,
+and pulled the golden pins out of her hair, and let it fall loosely
+round her shoulders, and she began to climb slowly up the ray of
+sunlight. At first it was very hard work, for it was very slippery, and
+she was frightened of falling off; but she thought of the Prince, and
+went on as bravely as she could. And then it seemed as though invisible
+hands came and helped her upwards, for after that it was quite easy, and
+she glided up higher and higher and higher until she came to the sun
+itself--the big round sun. And she went straight through the sun, just
+as though it were a paper hoop at the circus, and she tumbled out on the
+other side into a land of yellow fog. There was no sunshine there, and
+no moon, and no stars, and no daylight--nothing but a dull red glow
+over everything, like the light of a lamp.
+
+"Why," said Lady Daffany, feeling her clothes to see if they were
+singed, "I always thought the sun was hot!"
+
+"I have no doubt you did; it is quite absurd what mistakes are made
+about the sun," said a familiar voice, and, looking round, she saw the
+identical Wymp who had come to disturb the betrothal banquet.
+
+"Hullo! I've been expecting you," he said, as he recognized her. "Why
+didn't you come before?"
+
+"Because you didn't send me an invitation," said Lady Daffany, merrily;
+and she made him a court bow. Now it is true that the Wymps spend their
+lives in laughing at other people, but they are not accustomed to being
+laughed at themselves; so when Lady Daffany continued to be amused at
+her own joke the Wymp drew himself up very stiffly and looked offended.
+
+"I don't see anything whatever to laugh at," he said, severely, "and you
+had better come along and explain to the King why you've come."
+
+Then he led her through the dimly lighted land of yellow fog, and they
+passed crowds of other little Wymps who were all so like himself that it
+was difficult to tell one from another; for they were all dull yellow
+and misty in appearance, and they all had small eyes and large mouths,
+and their faces were all covered with laughter wrinkles. They seemed to
+be spending their time in turning somersaults and tumbling over one
+another, and laughing loudly at nothing at all. But the Wymp who was
+with Lady Daffany did not laugh once; he just trotted along in front of
+her and did not speak a word, so that she really was afraid she had hurt
+his feelings, and she began to feel sorry.
+
+"Please, Mr. Wymp, I didn't mean to laugh at you at all," she said, very
+humbly.
+
+"That's all very well," said the Wymp, sulkily, "but no Wymp ever allows
+any one else to make a joke. Come along to the King."
+
+"But it wasn't a joke!" cried Lady Daffany.
+
+"Oh, well, if it wasn't a joke, that's another matter. Not that I
+_should_ have called it a joke myself, but I thought you meant it for
+one," said the Wymp, more cheerfully. "Now why have you come up here at
+all?"
+
+She hastened to tell him about the Prince, and how much he had been
+changed by the Wymps' gift, and how she wanted to intercede for him; and
+her voice grew so sad as she thought about it all that the Wymp had to
+turn round and shout at her.
+
+"Don't get gloomy," he cried, turning several somersaults in his
+agitation. "Nobody is ever gloomy in the land of the Wymps. Make another
+bad joke if you like, but stop being dreary--_do_."
+
+At this moment they suddenly came upon the Wymp King, who was sitting
+asleep on his throne all by himself. He was just like the other Wymps,
+except that he looked too lazy to turn somersaults, and he had no
+laughter wrinkles at all.
+
+"Is that the King? He doesn't look much like a King," whispered Lady
+Daffany.
+
+"He hasn't got to look like a King," said the Wymp. "We choose our Kings
+because they are harmless, and don't want to make jokes, and will keep
+out of the way. We once had a King who looked like a King--we used to
+live in the sun then--but he did so much mischief that the sun people
+turned us out, and we have had to live at the back of the sun ever
+since."
+
+Lady Daffany felt glad that the kind of King she was accustomed to _did_
+look like a King, but she had no time to say so, for just then the Wymp
+jumped on the throne and woke up the King by shouting in his ear.
+
+"Does any one want anything?" asked the Wymp King, waking up with a
+jerk, and putting on his crown and his spectacles.
+
+Lady Daffany dropped on her knees in front of the throne and tried not
+to feel frightened.
+
+"Please, your Majesty--" she began, timidly.
+
+"Who is she talking to?" cried the Wymp King. He had a very gruff voice,
+through living in a yellow fog all his life; and he spoke so loudly that
+he completely drowned the rest of her speech.
+
+"Say what you want, and don't give him any titles; he's not used to
+them," whispered the Wymp.
+
+"Why, I don't believe he is a King at all," said Lady Daffany, standing
+up again.
+
+"Who says I'm not a King at all?" shouted the Wymp King, angrily.
+
+"If you make any more of your bad jokes, I won't try to help you at
+all," said the Wymp. "Why don't you say what you want at once?"
+
+So Lady Daffany set to work and told the whole of her story, and begged
+the Wymp King to take back his fatal gift so that the Prince should no
+longer tell people what he thought about them until they all came to
+dislike him.
+
+When she had finished, the King gave a great yawn and took off his
+crown.
+
+"Doesn't he tell them the truth then?" he asked, sleepily.
+
+"Yes, I--I suppose so," she answered, doubtfully.
+
+"Then why should they mind?" said the Wymp King.
+
+Lady Daffany shook her head. "They do mind," she said.
+
+"Then it's very stupid of them," said the Wymp King, very drowsily.
+"However, if that's all, the gift can be passed on to you instead. Now
+go away; I am going to sleep again."
+
+He was already sound asleep, and not another word could be got out of
+him. Lady Daffany tried not to cry, and turned away.
+
+"I suppose every one will dislike _me_ now," she said, sorrowfully; "but
+of course that is better than their disliking the Prince."
+
+"Nonsense," said the Wymp, as he led her to the back of the sun; "that
+would be too good a joke for the King to make. You wait and see.
+Good-by."
+
+And away she went through the sun again, and came out on the bright side
+once more, for the sunbeam had moved on since the morning, and then she
+ran in-doors to find her shoes.
+
+"That's all right," said the Count, putting away the state documents
+with a great show of relief; "you're just in time for tea. Where have
+you been all day?"
+
+"I've been for a walk, at least a fly--no, I mean a ride," stammered
+Lady Daffany. "I'm not quite sure which it was."
+
+"Never mind," chuckled the Count; "I expect you were with the Prince,
+and didn't notice, eh? Then of course you have heard the wonderful news
+of the Prince's recovery."
+
+"Then the Wymp _did_ speak the truth!" cried Lady Daffany, clapping her
+hands for joy.
+
+"What Wymp?" asked the Count. "_This_ has nothing to do with the Wymps.
+It was a strange physician who came from a far land, and he touched the
+Prince's tongue, and made him every bit as polite as he used to be. So
+you can be married at last, and the Prince can go into society again."
+
+"A strange physician?" said his daughter. "I wonder where he has gone
+now?"
+
+"That's just it," said the Count, pouring out his sixth cup of tea; "he
+didn't go anywhere. He turned three somersaults down the palace steps,
+and when they ran to pick him up there wasn't anybody to pick up."
+
+"Then it must have been a Wymp," thought Lady Daffany, and she wandered
+out into the garden to think it all over.
+
+"I wonder if I have really got the Wymps' gift instead of the Prince,"
+she said to herself. Just then the Prince himself came through the
+bushes to find her. He no longer looked grave and unhappy, and there was
+a radiant look on his face.
+
+"Don't you think I have been a very disagreeable Prince lately?" he
+whispered, as he stooped to kiss her.
+
+"I think you are the dearest Prince in all the world," she answered,
+softly.
+
+"All the same, the Royal Professor of Geography _is_ an old bore, isn't
+he?" said the Prince.
+
+"Oh no, I don't think so. He is only clever," answered Lady Daffany.
+
+"But the Queen-Mother's hair _is_ turning gray. Haven't you noticed it?"
+persisted the Prince.
+
+"I really think you are mistaken, dearest," said Lady Daffany.
+
+And she never found out whether she really had the Wymps' gift or not.
+But the Prince and the people loved her to the end of her days.
+
+
+
+
+CANAL LOCKS FOR OCEAN STEAMERS.
+
+
+It was at one time supposed that the railroads would be able to carry
+freight so much cheaper and quicker that the canals would gradually
+become useless, and only the heaviest and most unimportant class of
+goods would be sent from place to place over the all-water inland
+routes. One of the reasons for this was that the canals had not advanced
+in any way since they were first built--that is, the mechanism of locks
+had not been improved, and no other methods had been devised by which
+canal traffic might be made speedier. But about six years ago an
+American engineer, Mr. Chauncey N. Dutton, invented a lock which many
+experts think will probably revolutionize canal traffic, and make it
+possible to build a waterway from New York to the Great Lakes, following
+the line of the Hudson and using Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence
+River.
+
+The lock invented by Mr. Dutton is founded upon the already well-known
+and widely utilized principle of compressed air, and although at first
+it looks complicated to the average person, it is said by mechanics and
+engineers to be a very simple affair. The lock is called a pneumatic
+balance lock. It is made up of two sections, each of which may very well
+be compared to elevators. These elevators are in reality huge tanks,
+each about 510 feet long, 65 feet wide, and capable of holding 26 feet
+of water. These tanks are placed in other steel tanks which correspond
+to the shafts of an elevator, and these shafts are placed alongside of
+one another. Of course the shafts of these great elevators are sunk as
+deeply into the earth as it is necessary to raise a ship into the air,
+or up to the higher level of the canal. The sunken portions of the
+shafts are filled with water, and the tanks, or elevators, are arranged
+so that they work up and down like balanced scales--that is, when one is
+at the higher level the other is at the lower level. Compressed air does
+all the work. Perhaps by looking at the diagram this may be more clearly
+made apparent.
+
+[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF LOCKS.]
+
+The two tanks are connected by a great pipe 21 feet in diameter. Where
+it connects immediately with the locks this pipe is flexible and moves
+up and down with the tanks, and looks very much like a huge elephant's
+trunk. Through it the compressed air shifts, at the will of the
+operator, from one shaft to the other.
+
+Therefore, supposing one of the tanks is at the highest point of one of
+the shafts, the other will naturally be at the lowest level of the other
+shaft. The upper tank is supported by compressed air resting on a body
+of water which fills the lower portion of the shaft--that is, the part
+sunken down into the earth. All that it is necessary to do now in order
+to bring the upper tank or elevator down to the level of the lower tank
+is to open a valve, and allow the compressed air to run out of one shaft
+into the other, which it will do at a velocity twenty-eight times that
+of water. The weight of the descending tank, of course, is the power
+which forces the air through the pipe from one shaft into the other, and
+as soon as the two tanks reach the balancing-point they will stop. In
+order to get the elevator down to the bottom level, therefore, it is
+necessary to allow water to run into that compartment which needs to be
+made the heavier and to allow water to run out of the other. It is plain
+to be seen, therefore, that this invention is bound to crowd out the
+old-fashioned stationary canal lock if it can be constructed cheaply
+enough.
+
+[Illustration: PNEUMATIC LOCKS IN OPERATION.]
+
+The canal lock of to-day is a very slow working affair, as we all know,
+and is such a clumsy piece of mechanism that only ships of a limited
+tonnage can pass through it. When a canal-boat comes along it is let
+into the first lock, and if that is on the higher level the gates are
+closed, and the water is allowed to run out until the boat is floating
+on a level equal to that in the other portion of the lock. Then the
+gates are opened, and the boat passes on. If it is necessary, on the
+other hand, to raise the vessel from the lower to the higher level, much
+more time has to be consumed in order to pump the lock full of water.
+
+By Mr. Dutton's method, however, the vessel comes along the canal, and
+it may be as large a ship as an ocean freighter, and it may carry as
+great a cargo as 12,000 tons, and yet it can slip into one of the great
+steel tanks 510 feet long, and a boy can open the compressed-air valve,
+and let the great ship travel gently down the elevator shaft until it
+reaches the lower level of the canal. The operation requires perhaps
+fifteen minutes, instead of hours; and no more time is necessary for
+ships of equal tonnage going in the other direction, since a much
+greater weight of water can be run into the upper tank from the higher
+level of the canal than could be counterbalanced by any kind of
+steamship that would need to be lifted from the lower level.
+
+A company has been organized to build a canal from the Atlantic to the
+Great Lakes, and it is its intention to use Mr. Dutton's locks along the
+way; not more than two or three will be necessary. But as it will cost
+about one hundred million dollars to carry out the enterprise, it may be
+some years before they will be able actually to begin work.
+
+It is the belief of those interested in the construction of this great
+canal that there is no economy in cheap construction. Good results may
+only be obtained by good work. The Suez Canal, for example, is cheaply
+constructed; it is only 72 feet wide at the bottom, and large ships may
+pass one another only when one goes into a sort of siding, where it
+usually runs aground. The expense of getting ships out of the sand,
+since the traffic was first opened through the canal, has far surpassed
+the sum for which the canal could have been constructed so as to avoid
+such delays and accidents. Therefore it is proposed that any maritime
+canal to be built should be fully 250 feet wide, and 30 feet deep at
+least.
+
+One of the great undertakings which would be connected with the
+construction of such a canal would be the reversion of the current of
+Lake Champlain, in order to deepen the water in the upper Hudson. This
+would be done by diverting a portion of the waters of the St. Lawrence
+River into Lake Champlain, and such a condition of affairs would develop
+at Waterford an immense water-power, nearly equal to one-third that of
+Niagara Falls. This water-power could be used for developing
+electric-power, and the canal could be illuminated with electric-light
+at night so as to make traffic almost as easy in the dark hours as in
+the daytime.
+
+The effects of such an enterprise would be far-reaching. An open-water
+route from the Atlantic to Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and
+Milwaukee would make those great inland cities practically seaports, and
+therefore the people who live in those cities would be able to purchase
+all sorts of commodities more cheaply than they can now, because the
+charges of transportation by water directly from foreign countries would
+be much cheaper than it is now, when there has to be a transshipment of
+the goods on the coast, and transportation by rail, which is expensive.
+On the other hand, the people of those other cities would also be able
+to sell more of their own products, and to greater advantage to
+themselves, because they could deliver them in foreign countries more
+cheaply than they can now.
+
+
+
+
+THE TOCSIN.
+
+BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER.
+
+
+  When the tocsin sounds a rally, over hill and over valley
+    You will hear a sudden rushing and the tramp of marching feet;
+  From the lowland to the highland, swift through continent and island,
+    When the tocsin sends its thrilling call, shall answer willing feet.
+
+  For the young folks will be ready, rallying with faces steady,
+    At the moment when vacation slips with laughing haste away;
+  Dear old books for weeks neglected will be joyfully collected,
+    Borne with looks of purest pleasure to the school on opening day.
+
+  In the fortress of the mountains, by the gentle falling fountains,
+    Elves and fays will miss the army late who made the forests ring,
+  But the school-house will be swarming, teachers' hearts for gladness
+      warming,
+    When the gallant host is gathered and again the children sing.
+
+  Soon will sound for instant rally, over hill and over valley,
+    That old tocsin which so often we have heard in days of yore,
+  And with merry faces beaming, to the same dear places streaming,
+    At a quick-march will the pupils hurry through the school-room door.
+
+
+
+
+IN THE OLD HERRICK HOUSE.[1]
+
+[1] Begun in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE No. 879.
+
+BY ELLEN DOUGLAS DELAND.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+"Come into the drawing-room," said Miss Herrick in her most commanding
+tones.
+
+Valentine and Elizabeth obeyed. They remained standing while she seated
+herself in the identical carved chair from which so short a time before
+had dangled the shabby shoes of Eva Louise Brady.
+
+"Who were those children?"
+
+"Eva Louise and Bella Brady," replied her niece.
+
+"And what were they doing here?"
+
+"They--they have been playing jack-stones, and--and eating."
+
+"Eating! Playing jack-stones! And how, may I ask, did they happen to
+come?"
+
+"We were giving a party, Val and I, especially for the Bradys, Aunt
+Caroline. I was afraid you might not exactly like it, and so I think if
+I explain you will understand better."
+
+"It certainly requires an explanation," said Miss Herrick, stiffly. "I
+suppose that if I had not returned unexpectedly early I should have
+known nothing of it. I find that you are not to be trusted at all."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Caroline, don't say that! Indeed I am to be trusted; only Val
+and I--"
+
+"Leave Valentine out of the question. It is you who are responsible."
+
+"But Val thought of it," began Elizabeth, eagerly. "At least he thought
+of part of it."
+
+Then she stopped. Valentine thus far had said nothing. Was he not going
+to stand by her? She looked at the boy, but still he remained silent.
+
+"I am waiting for your explanation," said her aunt.
+
+"Well, we saw Eva Louise from the window, and Val said--at least we both
+thought we would go down and see her. And then on the way I told Val I
+was so sorry for them, and would like to have a party for them, and he
+said--at least we both thought it would be very nice to ask them over,
+and I remembered about that feast in the Bible. Don't you remember, Aunt
+Caroline, where people are told what kind of parties to give? Perhaps
+you have never read just that part of the Bible, for you never do give
+that kind of a party. Your people are all so rich and come in carriages,
+but it really does say somewhere something about inviting the poor and
+the lame and the halt and the blind. Well, of course I know the Bradys
+are poor, and I thought very likely they were halt, and so I decided to
+ask them."
+
+Miss Herrick was becoming interested in spite of herself. There was
+something very original about her niece, she thought, and she certainly
+was beautiful to look at as she stood before her with the earnest look
+in her great dark eyes, and her high-bred manner of carrying her head.
+
+"Continue," she said, as Elizabeth paused for breath.
+
+"There is not much more to tell except that Val went out and got the
+things to eat. Of course we had to give them something to eat, Aunt
+Caroline, and we didn't like to ask the servants."
+
+"And where were the servants all this time?"
+
+"I don't exactly know."
+
+"This must be looked into. I leave you in Marie's charge when Miss Rice
+is not here."
+
+"I never see much of Marie," remarked Elizabeth, composedly.
+
+"You should have told me of this before. But where did you have the
+party? In which room?"
+
+Again there was silence. Elizabeth looked once more to Valentine for
+assistance, but none was forth-coming. A faint color spread over her
+face and she clasped her hands tightly behind her back, but she gazed
+steadfastly into her aunt's eyes as she replied, "In the locked room."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Miss Herrick, not in the least comprehending.
+
+"The locked room in the third-story back buildings. The room with the
+padlock."
+
+"Elizabeth!"
+
+The child was frightened at the effect of her words. Miss Herrick's face
+grew very white. It was some minutes before she could control her voice
+sufficiently to speak.
+
+"Have you been there before?" she asked at last.
+
+"Yes, often," faltered the little girl.
+
+"How did you get in?"
+
+"I--I found the keys one day when I was looking for them in your little
+Chinese cabinet."
+
+[Illustration: "AND DO YOU CALL THIS AN HONORABLE PROCEEDING?"]
+
+"And do you call this an honorable proceeding?"
+
+"No, not so very."
+
+If Aunt Caroline would only scold her, thought Elizabeth. She was so
+calm. The child attempted to excuse herself.
+
+"I had wondered about that room so long, Aunt Caroline. I really did
+want to know something about my own family, and you and Aunt Rebecca
+never would tell me. I--I am very sorry."
+
+Miss Herrick did not reply. Presently she turned to Valentine.
+
+"Have you anything to say for yourself?"
+
+"Why, no, not exactly. I didn't really understand about the room.
+Elizabeth had been there lots of times before I came, and it was her
+idea about the party in the first place."
+
+"I see," said his aunt, with faint scorn in her voice; "it is merely
+another case, repeated from time immemorial, of 'the woman tempted me
+and I did eat.'"
+
+"I don't understand you, Aunt Caroline," said Elizabeth.
+
+But Valentine did understand, and he blushed scarlet.
+
+Miss Herrick, after her last remark, relapsed into thought.
+
+"There is another thing," said Elizabeth, presently; "we broke one of
+your plates."'
+
+"So we did," said Valentine. Then, with evident effort--"at least, I
+did. Elizabeth had nothing to do with it. I broke it."
+
+His little sister looked at him gratefully. At last he was coming to
+her rescue. But this final bid of information made small impression on
+Miss Herrick. She was leaning back in her chair lost in thought.
+
+"Is--is that room still open?" she asked at length.
+
+"Yes, Aunt Caroline."
+
+"Go up and close it; and then, Elizabeth, come to my room. I wish to
+speak to you alone."
+
+The children, glad to escape, ran up stairs. The door of the room stood
+wide open, the plates containing the few remnants of the feast were
+piled recklessly together--everything was in disorder.
+
+They carried the dishes down to the pantry, and put the table back into
+its accustomed place. They straightened things up as best they could,
+and then they pulled in the blinds and closed the windows.
+
+Elizabeth locked the door and descended with the keys to her aunt's
+room. Her party had been a failure from beginning to end. It was very
+hard for her to keep from crying, but she was determined not to do
+it--in Valentine's presence, at least.
+
+She found Miss Herrick still in her bonnet. She was standing by the
+dressing-table, and she held the little cabinet in her hand. She took
+the keys without a word, put them in the drawer, and shut it with a
+snap. Then she opened her desk, the key of which she always carried on
+her person, and placed the cabinet inside.
+
+"I should have done this before," she said. "Is there anything else that
+you have been prying into?"
+
+Elizabeth's tears refused to be suppressed another moment. She covered
+her face with her hands.
+
+"I never pry!" she cried. "It was only that one room, and I did so want
+to know about it. I wouldn't have done it if you had only answered more
+questions. I have such a stupid time. You won't let me go to school, and
+you won't tell me anything. And I was all alone, and my father doesn't
+come home, and I want him--I want him so much! Aunt Caroline"--suddenly
+drying her eyes and fixing them upon her aunt--"don't you really think
+my father will come home soon?"
+
+"I doubt if he ever comes home."
+
+"Aunt--Caroline!" Then, after a moment's silence: "But I wrote to him
+and begged him to come. I said if he couldn't afford it, I would pay for
+him when I got my money. I really did, Aunt Caroline."
+
+Miss Herrick laughed harshly. She was too much disturbed with the
+discovery about the closed room to be careful of her niece's feelings.
+
+"Quite unnecessary on your part, Elizabeth. Your father has all the
+money he needs, and much more. That is not the reason he does not come.
+I will explain to you, since you are so insistent. I have refrained from
+doing so before, but I see there is nothing else to do now. Your father
+left home immediately after the death of your mother. He was deeply
+attached to her. Your mother, you know, died shortly after you were
+born, and your father simply could not bear the sight of you."
+
+"Could not bear the sight of _me_?"
+
+"No. In fact, his one desire was to get away from everybody and
+everything connected with his former life. He has lived abroad ever
+since, and I doubt if he ever comes home."
+
+"What will he say when he gets my letter?" asked the child.
+
+"I don't know, I am sure. You ought never to have written that letter. I
+don't know what he will say."
+
+"Aunt Caroline, would you mind if--if I went up to my room now?"
+
+"Not yet. I have not finished. You deserve a severe punishment for
+prying into that room, Elizabeth. I have not yet decided what it shall
+be. Your curiosity must be controlled. What difference need it make to
+you if forty rooms in the house are locked?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"I should think not. That room is connected with the tragedy of my life.
+I doubt if you ever know about it. Perhaps when you are a woman you may
+be told of it, but that cannot be decided now. And I ask you never to
+mention the subject to me again."
+
+"No, Aunt Caroline, I won't."
+
+"You may go now."
+
+"Yes, Aunt Caroline."
+
+Elizabeth walked across the large room to the door. Then she paused a
+moment, and turning abruptly, she flew back to her aunt's side.
+
+"Aunt Caroline, you said my father could not bear the sight of me when I
+was a baby. Perhaps I was not a nice baby; some are not--the Brady baby,
+for instance. Don't you think--don't you really think, Aunt Caroline,
+that if my father were to meet me now he might like me just a
+teeny-weeny bit? Is there nothing nice about me, Aunt Caroline? Val, my
+own brother, likes me. The Brady girls used to like me, only they don't
+seem to now. I never know whether you and Aunt Rebecca do or not, but I
+hope you do. But don't you think, Aunt Caroline, _dear_ Aunt Caroline,
+that if my father ever does come home he might grow to like me a
+little?"
+
+Her aunt looked at her. Then she stooped and kissed her. "Yes, my dear.
+Yes, I think he might."
+
+"Then I am going to hope more than ever for him to come. Yes, I am going
+to pray for it. Every night and morning of my life I am going to ask God
+to send my father home to me, and I really think, Aunt Caroline, that
+some day he will come."
+
+And then she went up to her room and cried for an hour.
+
+Valentine returned to Virginia in a few days. He felt sorry for
+Elizabeth, forced to remain forever in the stiff old house with those
+stiff old aunts, as he designated them.
+
+"And she is not half bad," he said to himself, as he was being whirled
+rapidly homeward in the train; "she is really a good sort, though she
+does get herself into such mighty scrapes. She is a plucky one, though.
+You don't catch her shirking any of the blame. Well, neither would I
+with anybody but that dragon of an Aunt Caroline. Elizabeth is more used
+to her, I suppose."
+
+And then he gave himself up to thoughts of the coming football match,
+for which he would get home just in time.
+
+With Elizabeth life went on about as usual. She missed Valentine sadly,
+and she felt almost jealous of her cousin Marjorie, who would always
+have the pleasure of his society.
+
+Miss Rice was engaged to stay all day now. It was shown to the child
+plainly enough that she was not to be trusted. She resented this,
+although she knew there was reason for it. She did hate to be watched,
+she said to herself.
+
+For months the child brooded over her lonely existence, and the strange
+fate of having a father who did not wish to see her, and a brother who
+did not live with her, and who, she was quite sure, preferred his cousin
+to his sister.
+
+Day after day when the postman rang the door-bell she looked for an
+answer to her letter, and day after day she was disappointed, until she
+grew thin and pale, and her aunts at length became alive to the fact
+that she was not well. Thoroughly alarmed, they sent for the family
+physician.
+
+He knew something of the state of affairs in Fourth Street, and of the
+unnatural life which the little girl had thus far lived, and he
+determined to seize this opportunity for improving matters.
+
+"The child should live in the country," he said, when Elizabeth had been
+sent from the room.
+
+"Just what I thought," said Miss Herrick, in a relieved tone. "She will
+go out to our place next week. It is nearly April, so it will not be
+unbearable."
+
+"But that won't do. Does she have any playmates there?"
+
+"No, not many."
+
+"I thought not. And does her governess go too?"
+
+"Certainly. We could not get along without Miss Rice. My sister and I
+are away so much."
+
+"Precisely. And now, my dear Miss Herrick, I am going to speak plainly
+to you. Unless you send that child away she will die before your very
+eyes. She should be in some happy home where she would have companions
+of her own age. Boarding-school would be better than nothing. Send her
+to boarding-school."
+
+"My dear doctor! My niece at a boarding-school? Never!"
+
+"Why not? There are plenty of good schools where she would be happy and
+well cared for. Then she must go somewhere else. Send her to her
+mother's relatives in the South. They live in the country, don't they?
+Let her grow up with Valentine. The brother and sister had much better
+be together."
+
+"It is out of the question, doctor. I do not want to give up my niece,
+and I cannot consent to her being brought up in that large family of
+boys and girls. She would grow very rough among them."
+
+"The rougher the better, say I," said the doctor, rising to go, "and I
+tell you plainly, Miss Herrick, unless you do something of that sort
+there is no saving the child. Drugs won't keep her alive. She needs no
+medicine, but a natural, free child's life, and the sooner you send her
+to get it the better. She behaves precisely as if she had something on
+her mind. What is it?"
+
+"I don't know, I am sure," cried Miss Herrick, who was deeply alarmed.
+"I can't imagine what it is, unless it is about her father. Miss Rice
+says she talks in her sleep about his not coming home to her."
+
+"And he ought to come home to her," said the doctor, who had been a
+friend of Edward Herrick's when they were boys. "What right has a man to
+shirk his responsibilities in this way?"
+
+"Poor Edward!" began Miss Herrick.
+
+"Fudge and fiddlesticks for 'poor Edward'!" exclaimed the doctor,
+walking about the room. "You have much more reason to say 'poor
+Elizabeth.' But I had better take myself off before I say anything to be
+sorry for. Good-morning."
+
+And the front door slammed before Miss Herrick had recovered from her
+astonishment at his last speech.
+
+She repeated his opinion of Elizabeth to her sister, and then she wrote,
+though much against her will, to Mrs. Redmond. She could not understand
+why the life with her father's sisters should not be the best thing in
+the world for Elizabeth, but apparently it was not.
+
+Several letters passed between Miss Herrick and Mrs. Redmond before
+matters were finally arranged, and until they were Elizabeth was told
+nothing. When everything was settled, even to the day and the train by
+which she was to go, Miss Herrick announced to her that she was to pay a
+visit of indefinite length to her aunt in Virginia.
+
+"Oh, I don't want to!" exclaimed Elizabeth.
+
+"That makes no difference," returned her aunt. "You must."
+
+"But I won't!" cried the child, stamping her foot. "You have no right to
+send me away from home."
+
+"Be quiet, Elizabeth! Your temper is becoming quite ungovernable. I hope
+your aunt Helen will be able to control you."
+
+"She will never have a chance, Aunt Caroline. Rather than go there I
+will run away from here--I will!"
+
+"Nonsense!" said Miss Herrick, and thought no more of the threat.
+
+Elizabeth left the room, pondering deeply. It would be quite impossible
+for her to go among strangers, and so far away. Her father might come
+home any day. She must be at home herself to receive him.
+
+And besides, she could not possibly go to live at her aunt Helen's
+house, where there were so many boys and girls, among them the
+incomparable Marjorie of whom Val had spoken so much. Elizabeth
+remembered all about her, although several months had elapsed since his
+visit. Her lonely life with its burden of grief and disappointment in
+regard to her father had told upon her even more than the doctor
+suspected. She dreaded going among people whom she did not know, and at
+this distance Valentine also seemed a stranger.
+
+Anything would be preferable to going to Virginia, even life at the
+Bradys', her only friends.
+
+And this suggested something to her. She would disappear from her home
+and take refuge with the Brady family. She had read in the newspaper of
+people disappearing from their homes, therefore it would be quite
+possible. Life at the Bradys' would not be altogether desirable, but
+anything was better than being sent away off to Virginia to live with
+Marjorie.
+
+And if she were at the Bradys' she would be near enough to hear of her
+father's return, if he ever came. She would ask them to say nothing
+about her being there, and she would be careful not to go near the back
+of the house, so there would be no chance of her being discovered, for
+her aunts would never think of looking for her there.
+
+Her mind was fully made up. She would take refuge with the Brady family.
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+A VIRGINIA CAVALIER.
+
+BY MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL.
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+George's second summer's work was less like a pleasure expedition than
+his first had been. He spent only a few days at Greenway Court, and then
+started off, not with a boy companion and old Lance, but with two hardy
+mountaineers, Gist and Davidson. Gist was a tall, rawboned fellow,
+perfectly taciturn, but of an amazing physical strength and of hardy
+courage. Davidson was small but alert, and, in contradistinction to
+Gist's taciturnity, was an inveterate talker. He had spent many years
+among the Indians, and, besides knowing them thoroughly, he was master
+of most of their dialects. Lord Fairfax had these two men in his eye for
+months as the best companions for George. He was to penetrate much
+farther into the wilderness, and to come in frequent contact with the
+Indians, and Lord Fairfax wished and meant that he should be well
+equipped for it. Billy of course went with him, and Rattler went with
+Billy, for it had now got to be an accepted thing that Billy would not
+be separated from his master. A strange instance of Billy's
+determination in this respect showed itself as soon as the second
+expedition was arranged. Both George and Lord Fairfax doubted the wisdom
+of taking the black boy along. When Billy heard of this, he said to
+George, quite calmly,
+
+"Ef you leave me 'hine you, Marse George, you ain' fin' no Billy when
+you gits back."
+
+"How is that?" asked George.
+
+"'Kase I gwi' starve myself. I ain' gwi' teck nuttin' to eat, nor a drap
+o' water--I jes gwi' starve twell I die."
+
+George laughed at this, knowing Billy to be an unconscionable eater
+ordinarily, and did not for a moment take him in earnest. Billy,
+however, for some reason understood that he was to be left at Greenway
+Court. George noticed, two or three days afterwards, that the boy seemed
+ill, and so weak he could hardly move. He asked about it, and Billy's
+reply was very prompt.
+
+"I 'ain' eat nuttin' sence I knowed you warn' gwi' teck me wid you,
+Marse George."
+
+"But," said George, in amazement, "I never said so."
+
+"Is you gwi' teck mo?" persisted Billy.
+
+"I don't know," replied George, puzzled by the boy. "But is it possible
+you have not eaten anything since the day you asked me about it?"
+
+"Naw, suh," said Billy, coolly. "An' I ain' gwi' eat twell you say I kin
+go wid you. I done th'ow my vittles to de horgs ev'ry day sence den--an'
+I gwi' keep it up, ef you doan' lem me go."
+
+George was thunderstruck. Here was a case for discipline, and he was a
+natural disciplinarian. But where Billy was concerned George had a very
+weak spot, and he had an uncomfortable feeling that the simple,
+ignorant, devoted fellow might actually do as he threatened. Therefore
+he promised, in a very little while, that Billy should not be separated
+from him--at which Billy got up strength enough to cut the pigeon-wing,
+and then made a bee-line for the kitchen. George followed him, and
+nearly had to knock him down to keep him from eating himself ill. Lord
+Fairfax could not refrain from laughing when George, gravely, and with
+much ingenuity in putting the best face on Billy's conduct, told of it,
+and George felt rather hurt at the Earl's laughing; he did not like to
+be laughed at, and people always laughed at him about Billy, which vexed
+him exceedingly.
+
+On this summer's journey he first became really familiar with the
+Indians over the mountains. He came across his old acquaintance Black
+Bear, who showed a most un-Indian-like gratitude. He joined the camp,
+rather to the alarm of Gist and Davidson, who, as Davidson said, might
+wake up any morning and find themselves scalped. George, however,
+permitted Black Bear to remain, and the Indian's subsequent conduct
+showed the wisdom of this. He told that his father, Tanacharison, the
+powerful chief, was now inclined to the English, and claimed the credit
+of converting him. He promised George he would be safe whenever he was
+anywhere within the influence of Tanacharison.
+
+George devoted his leisure to the study of the Indian dialects, and from
+Black Bear himself he learned much of the ways and manners and
+prejudices of the Indians. He spent months in arduous work, and when, on
+the 1st of October, he returned to Greenway, he had proved himself to be
+the most capable surveyor Lord Fairfax had ever had.
+
+The Earl, in planning for the next year's work, asked George one day,
+"But why, my dear George, do you lead this laborious life, when you are
+the heir of a magnificent property?"
+
+George's face flushed a little.
+
+"One does not relish very much, sir, the idea of coming into property by
+the death of a person one loves very much, as I love my brother
+Laurence. And I would rather order my life as if there were no such
+thing in the world as inheriting Mount Vernon. As it is, I have every
+privilege there that any one could possibly have, and I hope my brother
+will live as long as I do to enjoy it."
+
+"That is the natural way that a high-minded young man would regard it;
+and if your brother had not been sure of your disinterestedness you may
+be sure he would never have made you his heir. Grasping people seldom,
+with all their efforts, secure anything from others."
+
+These two yearly visits of George's to Greenway Court--one on his way to
+the mountains, and the other and longer one when he returned--were the
+bright times of the year to the Earl. This autumn he determined to
+accompany George back to Mount Vernon, and also to visit the Fairfaxes
+at Belvoir. The great coach was furbished up for the journey, the
+outriders' liveries were brought forth from camphor-chests, and the four
+roans were harnessed up. George followed the same plan as on his first
+journey with Lord Fairfax, two years before--driving with him in the
+coach the first stage of the day, and riding the last stage.
+
+On reaching Mount Vernon, George was distressed to see his brother
+looking thinner and feebler than ever, and Mrs. Washington was plainly
+anxious about him. Both were delighted to have him back, as Laurence was
+quite unable to attend to the vast duties of such a place, and Mrs.
+Washington had no one but an overseer to rely on. The society of Lord
+Fairfax, who was peculiarly charming and comforting to persons of a
+grave temperament, did much for Laurence Washington's spirits. Lord
+Fairfax had himself suffered, and he realized the futility of wealth and
+position to console the great sorrows of life.
+
+George spent only a day or two at Mount Vernon, and then made straight
+for Ferry Farm. His brothers, now three fine tall lads, with their
+tutor, were full of admiration for the handsome, delightful brother, of
+whom they saw little, but whose coming was always the most joyful event
+at Ferry Farm.
+
+George was now nearing his nineteenth birthday, and the graceful,
+well-made youth had become one of the handsomest men of his day. As
+Betty stood by him on the hearth-rug the night of his arrival, she
+looked at him gravely for a long time, and then said:
+
+"George, you are not at all ugly. Indeed, I think you are nearly as
+handsome as brother Laurence before he was ill."
+
+[Illustration: "NEVER WILL YOU BE HALF SO BEAUTIFUL AS OUR MOTHER."]
+
+"Betty," replied George, looking at her critically, "let me return the
+compliment. You are not unhandsome, but never, never, if you live to be
+a hundred years old, will you be half so beautiful as our mother."
+
+Madam Washington, standing by them, her slender figure overtopped by
+their fair young heads, blushed like a girl at this, and told them
+severely, as a mother should, that beauty counted for but little, either
+in this world or the next. But in the bottom of her heart the beauty of
+her two eldest children gave her a keen delight.
+
+Betty was, indeed, a girl of whom any mother might be proud. Like
+George, she was tall and fair, and had the same indescribable air of
+distinction. She was now promoted to the dignity of a hoop and a satin
+petticoat, and her beautiful bright hair was done up in a knot becoming
+a young lady of sixteen. Although an only daughter, she was quite
+unspoiled, and her life was a pleasant round of duties and pleasures,
+with which her mother and her three younger brothers, and above all, her
+dear George, were all connected. The great events in her life were her
+visits to Mount Vernon. Her brother and sister there regarded her rather
+as a daughter than a sister, and for her young sake the old house
+resumed a little of its former cheerfulness.
+
+George spent several days at Ferry Farm on that visit, and was very
+happy. His coming was made a kind of holiday. The servants were
+delighted to see him; and as for Billy, the remarkable series of
+adventures through which he alleged he had passed made him quite a hero,
+and caused Uncle Jasper and Aunt Sukey to regard him with pride, as the
+flower of their flock, instead of the black sheep.
+
+Billy was as fond of eating and as opposed to working as ever, but he
+now gave himself the airs of a man of the world, supported by his
+various journeys to Mount Vernon and Greenway Court, and the possession
+of a scarlet satin waistcoat of George's, which inspired great respect
+among the other negroes when he put it on. Billy loved to harangue a
+listening circle of black faces on the glories of Mount Vernon, of which
+"Marse George" was one day to be King, and Billy was to be Prime
+Minister.
+
+"You niggers livin' heah on dis heah little truck-patch 'ain' got no
+notion o' Mount Vernon," said Billy, loftily, one night, to an audience
+of the house-servants in the "charmber." "De house is as big as de
+co't-house in Fredericksburg, an' when me an' Marse George gits it we
+gwi' buil' a gre't piece to it. An' de hosses--Lord, dem hosses! You
+'ain' never seen so many hosses sence you been born. An' de
+coaches--y'all thinks de Earl o' F'yarfax got a mighty fine coach--well,
+de ve'y oldes' an' po'es' coach at Mount Vernon is a heap finer'n dat ar
+one o' Marse F'yarfax. An' when me an' Marse George gits Mount Vernon,
+arter Marse Laurence done daid, we-all is gwine ter have a coach lined
+wid white satin, same like the Earl o' F'yarfax's bes' weskit, an' de
+harness o' red morocky, an' solid gol' tires to de wheels. You heah me,
+niggers? And Marse George, he say--"
+
+"You are the most unconscionable liar I ever knew!" shouted George, in a
+passion, suddenly appearing behind Billy; "and if ever I hear of your
+talking about what will happen at Mount Vernon, or even daring to say
+that it may be mine, I will make you sorry for it, as I am alive."
+
+George was in such a rage that he picked up a hair-brush off the chest
+of drawers and shied it at Billy, who dodged, and the brush went to
+smash on the brick hearth. At this the unregenerate Billy burst into a
+subdued guffaw, and looking into George's angry eyes, chuckled,
+
+"Hi, Marse George, you done bus' yo' ma's h'yar-bresh!" Which showed how
+much impression "Marse George's" wrath made on Billy.
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+A QUEER HOSPITAL.
+
+
+  "I went to the animals' fair,
+  The birds and beasts were there"--
+
+at any rate it was the animals' hospital, and there were enough birds
+and beasts for a fair. The hospital is in charge of the New York College
+of Veterinary Surgeons, and that, if you please, is part of the
+University of New York; so if you wanted to send your dickey-bird there
+for the pip, he would be in a manner under the sheltering wing of all
+the D.D.s and LL.D.s that shine as the regents of that noble
+institution.
+
+New York people are apt to call this the dog hospital, but that must be
+because they take more interest in the dogs than in its other inmates,
+for here you can get medical treatment for any living thing except a
+human being. Horses, cows, dogs, and cats form the steady bulk of its
+beneficiaries, but elephants and white mice are among them too.
+
+And not only animals are brought here, but the doctors go out and make
+them professional visits. One of the doctors is now attending the
+curious dreadful-looking Gila monster at the Zoo in Central Park; he
+comes--the monster, not the doctor--from Arizona, near the Gila River,
+and he is two feet long, with a body like an alligator and a head like a
+snake; he is in a low state of health, and neither food nor drink has
+passed his lips for seven months. How is that for a poor appetite?
+
+The doctor does not have much hope of him; the matter seems to be that
+he was kept too warm and fed too much (on raw eggs) last winter, when he
+ought to have been hibernating, or something like it.
+
+A great deal of the hospital's most interesting practice is among the
+animals kept in zoological gardens or in travelling shows. An old circus
+lion was brought here not long ago to have his ulcerated tooth pulled.
+Now if the toothache makes you feel as "cross as a bear," how cross does
+the toothache make a live lion feel?
+
+To tell the truth, no one at the hospital wanted to know how cross that
+lion did feel--they thought it was a case in which it would be folly to
+be wise. The first thing to be done was to drop nooses of rope on the
+floor of his cage, and then draw them up when he put his foot in one--he
+knew he had "put his foot in it" when he found himself snared--and so,
+step by step, get him bound and helpless. If you will think how
+particularly hard it is to tie up a cat, you may guess that it is no
+joke to make a lion fast; he is just like a stupendous cat in his
+agility and slipperiness. The only way to render him helpless is to get
+his hind quarters tied up outside his cage, and his head bound fast
+within it; the next thing, for dental work, is to put a gag in his
+mouth; that is the easier because there is no trouble at all about
+getting him to open his mouth--he does it every time any one goes near
+him.
+
+When they have these beasts of the jungle at the hospital their keepers
+have to stay with them; but even then they can't always prevent
+mischief. A baby elephant from a big circus was about the most
+disorderly patient they ever had there, though, in spite of her
+naughtiness, she became quite a pet with everybody about. She had a cold
+and the sniffles when she first came, and was subdued and patient, just
+like some stirring children when they are sick; but as she got better
+she almost pulled the whole place down in her efforts to get something
+to play with. She reached out of her stall and took a large office clock
+off the wall. No one had supposed she could reach it, and she had broken
+it to what her keeper called smithereens before he could stop her. If
+she could find a crack anywhere, destruction began; if it was in the
+plaster, the plaster was ripped off; if between boards, up came a board.
+But the baby was not so likely as some of her grown-up relatives to just
+knock down the side of the house and walk out, which is an occurrence
+always possible when you have an elephant come to see you. Elephants are
+poor sailors; they get dreadfully seasick, and often when they are just
+landed they are brought to the hospital to recuperate. Gin is the great
+remedy in that case; they particularly love gin, and all their medicine
+is usually given to them in gin.
+
+When medicine cannot be given disguised in drink or food, it is usually
+squeezed down the patient's throat with a syringe. The horses are very
+good about that operation, but the dogs are often troublesome at first;
+but both dogs and horses soon learn that they are with friends, and then
+they are wonderfully good and grateful even when the doctors have to
+hurt them.
+
+For many dogs little can be done until they have been in the institution
+several days and the doctors have made friends with them; after that
+they almost always turn out good patients--not always. Do you want to
+know why some dogs can't be treated there at all? Because they are so
+homesick; they pine and fret so that their masters, or oftener in these
+cases it is their mistresses, have to come and take them away, and they
+must needs have medical attendance at home. One of the most aristocratic
+patients ever treated here was a French poodle supposed to be worth a
+thousand dollars. He wore a little diamond bracelet on one paw, and he
+could do tricks enough to earn his living on the stage; but he did not
+have to earn his living. He came to the hospital to have his teeth
+attended to, and some of them were filled with gold. One of his tricks
+was to laugh, and when he did that all his gold fillings showed.
+
+Many of the pet lap-dogs, particularly those that belong to women, come
+to the hospital because they have been overfed. The doctors tell a bad
+story about pugs particularly being little gluttons. On the other hand,
+they say that many fine and valuable dogs don't get meat enough. Dogs
+need meat, but some mistaken people think it's better to try to make
+vegetarians of them, and then the dogs are apt to get the ricketts. The
+big baby St. Bernards suffer much in this way; it takes a great deal of
+meat to make a grown St. Bernard out of a young one, and if he does not
+have enough the job won't be properly done.
+
+The cats and dogs stay in one big ward, each one in its own iron cage,
+and the cats must understand that the cages are strong, for they don't
+seem to mind being near the dogs at all. In fact, one of the doctors
+says he put his own cat in this ward for a while, and when she came home
+she showed an entire change of heart about dogs; instead of the terror
+she had always felt of them, she was ready to be good friends with the
+canine members of her own family. There is a big tin roof railed in that
+makes an exercising-ground for the convalescent dogs, but the cats have
+to take the air in a big cage some six feet square that is built on the
+roof; they can climb too well to be trusted loose.
+
+One of the most cheerful patients in the place now is a canary that has
+had a leg amputated; he gets on much better than you would if you had
+only one leg; he chirps, and hops about comfortably, and the doctors
+think he will soon take to singing again--the brave little bird.
+
+All the appointments of the place are as careful and scientific as they
+can be anywhere; there are special wards for contagious diseases, and in
+all operations hands, towels, bandages, and instruments are sterilized
+after the most approved modern methods. Ether and cocaine are frequently
+used to save pain, but best of all is the way everybody in the place
+seems to have a genuine kind feeling, sometimes a warm affection, for
+the poor yet lucky sufferers.
+
+
+
+
+THE VOYAGE OF THE "RATTLETRAP."
+
+BY HAYDEN CARRUTH.
+
+
+VII.
+
+"Come, stir out of that and get the camels ready for the desert!"
+
+This was Jack's cheery way of warning Ollie and I that it was time to
+get up on the morning of our start into the sand hills.
+
+"Any simooms in sight?" asked Ollie, by way of reply to Jack's remark.
+
+"Well, I think Old Browny scents one; he has got his nose buried in the
+sand like a camel," answered Jack.
+
+It was only just coming daylight, but we were agreed that an early start
+was best. It was another Monday morning, and we knew that it would take
+three good days' driving to carry us through the sand country. We had
+learned that, notwithstanding what our visitor of the first night had
+said, there were several places on the road where we could get water and
+feed for the horses. We should have to carry some water along, however,
+and had got two large kegs from Valentine, and filled them and all of
+our jugs and pails the night before. We also had a good stock of oats
+and corn, and a big bundle of hay, which we put in the cabin on the bed.
+
+"Just as soon as Old Blacky finds that there is no water along the road
+he will insist on having about a barrel a day," said Jack. "And if he
+can't get it he will balk and kick the dashboard into kindling-wood."
+
+A little before sunrise we started. It was agreed, owing to the increase
+in the load and the deep sand, that no one, not even Snoozer, should be
+allowed to ride in the wagon. If Ollie got tired he was to ride the
+pony. So we started off, walking beside the wagon, with the pony just
+behind, as usual, dangling her stirrups, and the abused Snoozer, looking
+very much hurt at the insult put upon him in being asked to walk,
+following behind her.
+
+For three or four miles the road was much like that to which we had been
+accustomed. Then it gradually began to grow sandier. We were following
+an old trail which ran near the railroad, sometimes on one side and
+sometimes on the other; and this was the case all the way through the
+hills. The railroad was new, having been built only a year or two
+before. There were stations on it every fifteen or twenty miles, with a
+side track, and a water-tank for the engines, but not much else.
+
+There was no well-marked boundary to the sand hills, but gradually, and
+almost before we realized it, we found ourselves surrounded by them. We
+came to a crossing of the railroad, and in a little cut a few rods away
+we saw the sand drifted over the rails three or four inches deep,
+precisely like snow.
+
+"Well," said Jack, "I guess we're in the sand hills at last if we've got
+where it drifts."
+
+"I wonder if they have to have sand-ploughs on their engines?" said
+Ollie.
+
+"I've heard that they frequently have to stop and shovel it off,"
+answered Jack.
+
+As we got farther among the sand dunes we found them all sizes and
+shapes, though usually circular, and from fifteen to forty feet high. Of
+course the surface of this country was very irregular, and there would
+be places here and there where the grass had obtained a little footing
+and the sand had not drifted up. There were also some hills which seemed
+to be independent of the sand piles.
+
+We stopped for noon on a little flat where there was some struggling
+grass. This flat ran off to the north, and narrowed into a small valley
+through which in the spring probably a little water flowed. We had
+finished dinner when we noticed a flock of big birds circling about the
+little valley, and, on looking closer, saw that some of them were on the
+ground.
+
+"They are sand-hill cranes," said Jack. "I've seen them in Dakota, but
+this must be their home."
+
+They were immense birds, white and gray, and with very long legs. Jack
+took his rifle and tried to creep up on them, but they were too shy, and
+soared away to the south.
+
+[Illustration: OUR FIRST CAMP IN THE SAND HILLS.]
+
+We soon passed the first station on the railroad, called Crookston. The
+telegraph-operator came out and looked at us, admitted that it was a
+sandy neighborhood, and went back in. We toiled on without any incident
+of note during the whole afternoon. Toward night we passed another
+station, called Georgia, and the man in charge allowed us to fill our
+kegs from the water-tank. We went on three or four miles and stopped
+beside the trail, and a hundred yards from the railroad, for the night.
+The great drifts of sand were all around us, and no desert could have
+been lonelier. We had a little wood and built a camp fire. The evening
+was still and there was not a sound. Even the blacksmith's pet,
+wandering about seeking what he could devour, and finding nothing, made
+scarcely a sound in the soft sand. The moon was shining, and it was warm
+as any summer evening. Jack sat on the ground beside the wagon and
+played the banjo for half an hour. After a while we walked over to the
+railroad. We could hear a faint rumble, and concluded that a train was
+approaching.
+
+"Let's wait for it," proposed Jack. "It will be along in a moment."
+
+We waited and listened. Then we distinctly heard the whistle of a
+locomotive, and the faint roar gradually ceased.
+
+"It's stopped somewhere," I said.
+
+"Don't see what it should stop around here for," said Jack. "Unless to
+take on a sand-hill crane."
+
+Then we heard it start up, run a short distance, and again stop; this it
+repeated half a dozen times, and then after a pause it settled down to a
+long steady roar again.
+
+"It isn't possible, is it, that that train has been stopped at the next
+station west of here?" I said.
+
+"The next station is Cody, and it's a dozen miles from here," answered
+Jack. "It doesn't seem as if we could hear it so far, but we'll time it
+and see."
+
+He looked at his watch and we waited. For a long time the roar kept up,
+occasionally dying away as the train probably went through a deep cut or
+behind a hill. It gradually increased in volume, till at last it seemed
+as if the train must certainly be within a hundred yards. Still it did
+not appear, and the sound grew louder and louder. But at the end of
+thirty-five minutes it came around the curve in sight and thundered by,
+a long freight train, and making more noise, it seemed, than any train
+ever made before.
+
+"That's where it was," exclaimed Jack. "At Cody, twelve miles from here,
+and we first heard it, I don't know how far beyond. If I ever go into
+the telephone business I'll keep away from the sand hills. A man here
+ought to be able to hold a pleasant chat with a neighbor two miles off,
+and by speaking up loud ask the postmaster ten miles away if there is
+any mail for him."
+
+We were off ploughing through the sand again early the next morning. We
+could not give the horses quite all the water they wanted, but we did
+the best we could. We were in the heart of the hills all day. There were
+simply thousands of the great sand drifts in every direction. Buffalo
+bones half buried were becoming numerous. We saw several coyotes, or
+prairie wolves, skulking about, but we shot at them without success. We
+got water at Cody, and pressed on. In the afternoon we sighted some
+antelope looking cautiously over the crest of a sand billow. Ollie
+mounted the pony and I took my rifle, and we went after them, while Jack
+kept on with the wagon. They retreated, and we followed them a mile or
+more back from the trail, winding among the drifts and attempting to get
+near enough for a shot. But they were too wary for us. At last we
+mounted a hill rather higher than the rest, and saw them scampering away
+a mile or more to the northwest. We were surprised more by something
+which we saw still on beyond them, and that was a little pond of water
+deep down between two great ridges of sand.
+
+"I didn't expect to see a lake in this country," said Ollie.
+
+I studied the lay of the land a moment, and said: "I think it's simply a
+place where the wind has scooped out the sand down below the water-line
+and it has filled up. The wind has dug a well, that's all. You know the
+operator at Georgia told us the wells here were shallow--that there's
+plenty of water down a short distance."
+
+We could see that there was considerable grass and quite an oasis around
+the pond. But in every other direction there was nothing but sand
+billows, all scooped out on their northwest sides where the fierce winds
+of winter had gnawed at them. The afternoon sun was sinking, and every
+dune cast a dark shadow on the light yellow of the sand, making a great
+landscape of glaring light covered with black spots. A coyote sat on a
+buffalo skull on top of the next hill and looked at us. A little owl
+flitted by and disappeared in one of the shadows.
+
+"This is like being adrift in an open boat," I said to Ollie. "We must
+hurry on and catch the Rattletrap."
+
+"I'm in the open boat," answered Ollie. "You're just simply swimming
+about without even a life-preserver on."
+
+We turned and started for the trail. We found it, but we had spent more
+time in the hills than we realized, and before we had gone far it began
+to grow dark. We waded on, and at last saw Jack's welcome camp-fire.
+When we came up we smelled grouse cooking, and he said:
+
+"While you fellows were chasing about and getting lost I gathered in a
+brace of fat grouse. What you want to do next time is to take along your
+hat full of oats, and perhaps you can coax the antelope to come up and
+eat."
+
+The camp was near another railroad station called Eli. We had been
+gradually working north, and were now not over three or four miles from
+the Dakota line; but Dakota here consisted of nothing but the immense
+Sioux Indian Reservation, two or three hundred miles long.
+
+The next morning Jack complained of not feeling well.
+
+"What's the matter, Jack?" I asked.
+
+"Gout," answered Jack, promptly. "I'm too good a cook for myself. I'm
+going to let you cook for a few days, and give my system a rest."
+
+[Illustration: "HE WOULD SOMETIMES GET HIS RECIPES MIXED UP."]
+
+This seemed very funny to Ollie and I, who had been eating Jack's
+cooking for two or three weeks. The fact was that the gouty Jack was the
+poorest cook that ever looked into a kettle, and he knew it well enough.
+He could make one thing--pan-cakes--nothing else. They were usually
+fairly good, though he would sometimes get his recipes mixed up, and use
+his sour-milk one when the milk was sweet, or his sweet-milk one when it
+was sour; but we got accustomed to this. Then it was hard to spoil young
+and tender fried grouse, and the stewed plums had been good, though he
+had got some hay mixed with them; but the flavor of hay is not bad. We
+bought frequently of "canned goods" at the stores, and this he could not
+injure a great deal.
+
+We did not pay much attention to Jack's threat about stopping cooking.
+He got breakfast after a fashion, mixing sour and sweet milk as an
+experiment, and though he didn't eat much himself, we did not think he
+was going to be sick. But after walking a short distance he declared he
+could go no farther, and climbed into the cabin and rolled upon the bed.
+
+Ollie and I ploughed along with the sand still streaming, like long
+flaxen hair, off the wagon-wheels as they turned. In a little valley
+about ten o'clock Ollie shot his first grouse. We saw some more
+antelope, and met a man with his wife and six children and five dogs and
+two cows and twelve chickens going east. Ho said he was tired of
+Nebraska, and was on his way to Illinois. At noon we stopped at
+Merriman, another railroad station. Jack got up and made a pretense of
+getting dinner, but he ate nothing himself, and really began to look
+ill.
+
+We made but a short stop, as we were anxious to get out of the worst of
+the sand that afternoon. We asked about feed and water for the horses,
+and were told that we could get both at Irwin, another station fifteen
+miles ahead. We pressed on, with Jack still in the wagon, but it was
+dark before we reached the station. We found a man on the railroad
+track.
+
+"Can we get some feed and water here?" I asked of him.
+
+"Reckon not," answered the man.
+
+"Where can we find the station agent?"
+
+"He's gone up to Gordon, and won't be back till mid-night."
+
+"Hasn't any one got any horse feed for sale?"
+
+[Illustration: "THERE ISN'T A SMELL OF HORSE FEED HERE."]
+
+"There isn't a smell of horse feed here," said the man. "I've got the
+only well, except the railroad's, but it's 'most dry. I'll give you what
+water I can, though. As for feed, you'd better go on three miles to
+Keith's ranch. It's on Lost Creek Flat, and there's lots of hay-stacks
+there, and you can help yourself. At the ranch-house they will give you
+other things."
+
+We drove over to the man's house, and got half a pail of water apiece
+for the horses. They wanted more, but there was no more in the well. The
+man said we could get everything we wanted at the ranch, and we started
+on. The horses were tired, but even Old Blacky was quite amiable, and
+trudged along in the sand without complaint.
+
+Jack was still in the wagon, and we heard nothing of him. It was cloudy
+and very dark. But the horses kept in the trail, and after, as it seemed
+to us, we had gone five miles, we felt ourselves on firmer ground. Soon
+we thought we could make out something, perhaps hay-stacks, through the
+darkness. I sent Ollie on the pony to see what it was. He rode away, and
+in a moment I heard a great snorting and a stamping of feet, and Ollie's
+voice calling for me to come. I ran over with the lantern, and found
+that he had ridden full into a barbed-wire fence around a hay-stack. The
+pony stood trembling, with the blood flowing from her breast and legs,
+but the scratches did not seem to be deep.
+
+"We must find that ranch-house," I said to Ollie. "It ought to be near."
+
+For half an hour we wandered among the wilderness of hay-stacks, every
+one protected by barbed wire. At last we heard a dog barking, followed
+the sound, and came to the house. The dog was the only live thing at
+home, and the house was locked.
+
+"Well, what we want is water," I said, "and here's the well."
+
+We let down the bucket and brought up two quarts of mud.
+
+"The man was right," said Ollie. "This is worse than the Sarah Desert."
+
+"Fountains squirt and bands play 'The Old Oaken Bucket' in the Sarah
+Desert 'longside o' this," I answered.
+
+It was eleven o'clock before we found the wagon. We could hear Jack
+snoring inside, and were surprised to find Snoozer on guard outside,
+wide awake. He seemed to feel his responsibility, and at first was not
+inclined to let us approach.
+
+We unharnessed the horses, and Ollie crawled under the fence around one
+of the stacks of hay and pulled out a big armful for them.
+
+"The poor things shall have all the hay they want, anyhow," he said.
+
+"I'm afraid they'll think it's pretty dry," I returned, "but I don't see
+what we can do."
+
+Then I called to Jack, and said, "Come, get up and get us some supper."
+
+After a good deal of growling he called back, "I'm not hungry."
+
+"But we are, and you're well enough to make some cakes."
+
+"Won't do it," answered Jack. "You folks can make 'em as well as I can."
+
+"I can't. Can you?" I said to Ollie. He shook his head.
+
+"You're not very sick or you wouldn't be so cross," I called to Jack.
+"Roll out and get supper, or I'll pull you out!"
+
+"First fellow comes in this wagon gets the head knocked off 'm!" cried
+Jack. "Besides, there's no milk! No eggs! No nothing! Go 'way! I'm sick!
+That's all there is," and something which looked like a cannon-ball shot
+out of the front end of the wagon, followed by a paper bag which might
+have been the wadding used in the cannon. "That's all! Lemme 'lone!" and
+we heard Jack tie down the front of the cover and roll over on the bed
+again.
+
+"See what it is," I said to Ollie.
+
+He took the lantern and started. "Guess it's a can of Boston baked
+beans," he said.
+
+"Oh, then we're all right," I replied.
+
+He picked it up and studied it carefully by the light of the lantern.
+
+"No," he said, slowly, "it isn't that. G--g, double
+o--gooseberries--that's what it is--a can of gooseberries we got at
+Valentine."
+
+"And this is a paper bag of sugar," I said, picking it up. "No gout
+to-night!"
+
+I cut open the can and poured in the sugar. We stirred it up with a
+stick, and Ollie drank a third of it and I the rest. Then we crawled
+under the wagon, covered ourselves with the pony's saddle-blanket, and
+went to sleep. But before we did so I said:
+
+"Ollie, at the next town I am going to get you a cook-book, and we'll be
+independent of that wretch in the wagon."
+
+"All right," answered Ollie.
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: ADVENTURES WITH FRIEND PAUL.]
+
+BY PAUL DU CHAILLU.
+
+
+Part II.
+
+Now we must put our heads together and think of the outfit necessary for
+our explorations. It is not a small undertaking to explore the great
+equatorial African forest, and a great many things are required.
+
+It troubles me when I think of our outfit, for I dislike luggage, and I
+have learned that the less luggage a man has with him the better off he
+is; the fewer wants he has the better off he is; the fewer people he has
+round him the more independent he finds himself; and the more he can
+help himself the freer and the happier he is. But when he has to buy the
+right of way in Africa, he cannot travel with little luggage, for he is
+obliged to get a lot of things and goods, not only to give to the Kings
+who send him forward, but also for the men who are to be his followers
+and carry his goods and outfit. He has to give presents to his hunters,
+who face dangers and sometimes death with him.
+
+An explorer has also to take care of his followers, and to have a
+fellow-feeling for them when they are ill, so he must take quantities of
+medicine for his people and for himself.
+
+If he expects to have some big hunting and to kill birds, he must have
+lots of powder and small shot and bullets. He must have shot-guns and
+rifles. If he wants to stuff the animals and birds he kills, he must
+have the instruments and other things necessary for the purpose.
+
+If the explorer wants to astonish the natives and fill them with wonder,
+he must take with him articles that will surely help him to attain that
+purpose. The explorer should also have a careful personal outfit, so
+that he may not be in want of clothing or shoes before he can return.
+
+So, dear young folks, we have to think a good deal about what we need,
+and be very busy before we sail from New York for our destination, the
+west coast of Africa, and we are to land somewhere on the Gulf of Guinea
+by the equator. We must first buy our goods; money in gold and silver
+coins is of no value among the savage Africans. A rod of gold or copper
+or brass is the same in their eyes, except that they would prefer the
+brass rod to one of silver. The gold or the brass rod would be of the
+same value. Friend Paul would have been a poor spirit in a short time if
+he had had nothing to give to the natives, and nothing to pay them with
+when they carried his loads. In fact, nobody would have carried his
+loads; no King would have sent him to another King, and in the course of
+time they would have become tired of giving him food for nothing. What
+made me a great spirit in their eyes was what I gave them, the strange
+things I carried with me.
+
+_Goods to buy._--We must have a lot of beads of different sizes and
+colors. They must be opaque--that is, not transparent--if not, the
+natives will not take them at any price. The beads are the most
+important item of the outfit. In many tribes the natives only wear
+strings of beads round their waists, and, if they are rich, also copper
+or brass rings, round their necks, or several round their wrists or
+ankles. White beads are very much prized by the cannibal tribes, among
+whom I have been; they string them in their hair and beards. One must
+have black beads--these are prized very much by non-cannibal
+tribes--also red, blue, yellow, green, and brown beads. Large beads of
+the size of our marbles, and even larger, are very much valued by some
+tribes. All these beads are manufactured in Venice, Italy, and nowhere
+else.
+
+After the stock of beads, the most important item is that of copper or
+brass. You must have a good stock of brass and copper rods about the
+thickness of your little finger and 2-1/2 feet long--these are used
+round the neck, ankles, and wrists; brass kettle; large shallow copper
+dishes about 2-1/2 feet in diameter--with these they make hollow rings
+for the neck, wrists, or ankles; a little quantity of cheap cotton goods
+with gaudy patterns; a few gaudy coats with sleeves of different colors
+to the body of the coat--the natives like bright colors; a few cotton
+umbrellas of very bright colors--these and the coats are for chiefs, who
+also like opera-hats. No one but people of royal blood in some tribes
+can wear high hats, and often a hat is the only thing Kings or Princes
+wear.
+
+Red woollen caps; fire-steel and flints together for the natives to
+start a fire with; files; knives; fish-hooks; and a good many small
+looking-glasses; a few flint guns--the kind known as Tower guns, made
+especially for the natives of the Guinea coast; and coarse powder for
+chiefs ruling over tribes where the use of firearms is known; a few
+bright second-hand yellow and plush waistcoats with large brass buttons
+of the size of dollars are also very much appreciated by the people of
+royal blood; a few colored shirts. Trousers are of no use. I had to
+throw away those I bought for the natives; no one would wear them. Beads
+are the most useful to pay the porters with. Of course the explorer
+could travel with fewer articles, but the stock I have described is one
+that gives him great prestige.
+
+_Medicine._--These are medicines that are essential. The most important
+of all is quinine. When not a physician, it is not necessary to take
+with you an apothecary shop. I took calomel, morphine, laudanum,
+rhubarb, castor-oil, Epsom salts, Fowler's solution of arsenic, ammonia,
+a couple of bottles of brandy to be mixed with laudanum, some lancets,
+and pincers. Fever and dysentery are the two diseases to be most dreaded
+by the white man, especially the fever. Many white men who go to Africa
+die of fever. I always used to take big doses of quinine--ten, twenty,
+thirty, forty grains at a time, and repeated those doses two or three
+times during the day.
+
+_Ammunition._--Let us attend to the ammunition. First we must get some
+good rifles that are strong and not complicated in their mechanism, for
+the big forest is a bad country for rust; some shot-guns, and also
+revolvers and hunting-knives. We must take, if we wish to make a large
+collection of birds to take home, hundreds of pounds of the smallest
+kind of shot for small birds, and then hundreds of pounds of large-size
+shot for larger birds; a great many cartridges, and large numbers of
+bullets for the rifles, and buck-shot; steel-pointed bullets and
+explosive bullets. Powder for ammunition must always be plentiful. My
+ammunition alone amounted to over ten thousand pounds.
+
+_For preserving the skin of animals and birds._--Fifty pounds of
+arsenical soap; arsenic, one hundred pounds; scalpels, a dozen; pincers;
+big knives, half a dozen; camphor.
+
+I had a peculiar way of preserving my butterflies.
+
+_Things to astonish the natives._--Musical boxes; powerful magnets;
+round plain Waterbury clocks; lots of matches; electric battery. Hardly
+anything I had astonished the natives more than my musical boxes. When I
+used to put these playing in the midst of the street, they thought many
+spirits were talking to me. They marvelled when they saw the magnet
+holding in the air their knives or spears. My round plain Waterbury
+clocks, which only cost me a dollar apiece, were of great service to me.
+I used to hang them outside of my huts, and the tick-tack used to
+frighten the natives, and they did not dare to come round my huts at
+night, for they thought the noise inside the clock was made by guardian
+spirits. The matches were objects of great curiosity to them, and a
+present of a box of matches to a King, or even a few matches, was highly
+prized by him. The electric battery used to bring terror into their
+hearts after they had received a shock.
+
+_Provisions._--A little stock of rice, for it takes time to get
+accustomed to the food of the country, which is chiefly of plantain and
+manioc. I had some flour, for I intended to make my own bread on the
+coast. I had coffee--coffee and quinine I never was in want of. I had
+two little filtered coffee-pots. The forest was so full of malaria that
+very seldom I woke without a headache in the morning, and the first
+thing I did was to make a cup of coffee; after drinking it my headache
+went away. Do not forget to take salt with you, for salt becomes
+priceless in the interior, and to be without salt is a great privation.
+
+A thorough explorer who goes in wild and unknown regions must find his
+way by astronomical observation, so that he may be able to present a
+reliable map on his return. This part of the outfit alone is quite an
+item and somewhat expensive, for not only must you have instruments to
+find out your longitude and latitude, but you must have others to give
+you the height of the country, the temperature in the sun and in the
+shade. You must have a number of watches; these are absolutely necessary
+in order to know your longitude. Never mind if they do not go very well;
+but you must time the space of time by minutes and seconds between the
+observations.
+
+_Scientific instruments._--Five watches; one I wore at home, and four
+were specially made for observation. They were large, and of silver, and
+made especially for me. The hands were very black, and so were the hands
+marking the seconds, so that the minutes and seconds could be distinctly
+seen. If my watches had stopped, I should not have been able to find my
+longitude--that is, to know how far east or west I was. Four sextants;
+one for taking altitudes of the stars and planets, in connection with a
+lunar (a lunar is to find the distance between the moon and one of the
+eleven lunar stars), to an artificial horizon--that is, an improved iron
+trough which I filled with quicksilver kept in an iron bottle, to
+imitate the sea; on this the stars were reflected, and with the aid of
+my sextant I could see when they were on the meridian. Three
+thermometers for knowing the height of the country by boiling water; two
+thermometers to know the heat of the sun, marked to 230°; three other
+thermometers, graduated for Fahrenheit and Centigrade. (I wish we might
+give up the Fahrenheit, for it has no scientific basis.) Three aneroids
+to know approximately the height of the country while on the march, to
+avoid making observations by boiling water, which takes so much longer
+time; two telescopes; four compasses; universal sun-dial; two magnifiers
+or reading-glasses, to find out quickly the degrees, minutes, and
+seconds marked on the sextants; one extra bottle of mercury, containing
+seven pounds, for artificial horizon; rain-gauge, to find out the amount
+of rain falling in the country; scale; two protectors, circular, with
+compass rectifier; paper, slates and slate-pencils; nautical almanacs
+for four consecutive years; memorandum-books for keeping journals.
+Skeleton maps, ruled in squares. Note-books.
+
+_Clothing._--This item is a very important part of the outfit of the
+explorer. I was more afraid to be without shoes than anything else, for
+if the worst came I could have made garments with the skins of goats,
+gazelles, or antelopes. Clothing of wool is of no value whatever in the
+jungle. After a few hours nothing but shreds would be left. Twill goods
+which are strong are the best. These should be of dark blue, which
+become lighter in color as they are washed. No coats, but a certain kind
+of blouse, as here represented, of very strong material, just as strong
+as the trousers, with many pockets, etc. The shirts must be of gray
+flannel, just like our common shirts. This avoids underwear. Panama hat
+with high crown, in which you can put green leaves or wet towels when
+going in the sun. I learned how to make soap by boiling ashes, then
+using the water that had been boiled, and mixing with palm-oil or some
+other oil, and boiling these two together. In many tribes I had to do my
+own washing, for the natives, who rubbed their bodies with clay and oil
+or powder of colored wood, did not know what dirt was. Oh, how I used to
+hate washing-day! One must have an outfit of needles of different sizes.
+These I kept in quicksilver salve, otherwise they become useless in a
+few days on account of the rust. No neck-ties. One hundred pairs of lace
+boots, these coming above the ankles, with no high heels, and soles not
+too thick, so that they may bend when jumping from the root of one tree
+to another. The nails were of copper, for, as I have said before, iron
+gets rusty so quickly in the great forest; forty-eight pairs of strong
+twilled trousers; forty-eight flannel shirts; ten dozen pairs socks.
+Such is the outfit friend Paul had with him.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+PHOTOGRAPHING A FLASH LIGHTNING.
+
+
+Having your camera all ready, the apparatus pointing out of the open
+window of your room, which room must be the uppermost one in your house,
+how are you going to manage so as to catch a picture of the lightning?
+
+Theoretically, the photographing of a star does not seem so difficult;
+practically, however, innumerable precautions are necessary.
+Astronomical photography has got the matter down very fine. Your camera
+follows automatically the movement of the stars, but it is a mechanism
+which requires great delicacy in perfecting, and which costs several
+thousands of dollars.
+
+The great astronomer does not do a great deal of active star-hunting. He
+may not sit down exactly in an arm-chair, but he makes himself fairly
+comfortable at his work. That scientific person, however, with a hobby
+for photographing meteors must be active. He has to be on the full jump.
+He knows that at a fixed time of the year and in a particular part of
+the heavens there are to be found a stream of meteors. There is,
+however, little certainty about his catching a first-class one. The
+field of the camera not being large, he cannot sweep the whole heavens.
+So it often happens that though he may have secured an assorted lot of
+meteors, the one particular and brilliant shooting star which he has
+seen with his eyes has escaped his camera. Meteors do not pose. That is
+not in their nature.
+
+If the meteor is eccentric, what about the flash of lightning? You may
+have any number of storms during a summer, but they are not always
+accompanied with visible electrical phenomena. There may be plenty of
+lightning, however, but not in your horizon. But say there is a
+first-class storm, and with lightning. You have read the meteorological
+data for the day, and can in a measure anticipate this storm. If you are
+weatherwise, you know your local conditions, where is north, south,
+east, and west, and if experienced, you ought to be fairly certain as to
+the possible direction the storm should come from. Anyhow, you are
+prepared and have everything ready. Even should the lightning come, as
+far as taking its picture goes you may be disappointed. The storm may
+move so rapidly that all the electrical phenomena occur directly
+overhead or back of you. There may be what seems to you but a feeble
+discharge of electricity, but it is its distance from you which makes
+you think so. Then the flash is so far away that the light of it is
+insufficient, and so a poor, dull, uncertain picture is the resultant.
+
+It is quite a feat to take a first-class flash of lightning, and with
+reluctance I am forced to conclude that there is much luck about it. But
+if chance enters for nine-tenths in the photography of lightning, there
+is the one single tenth which is constantly in your favor--that is, if
+you are adaptive, watchful, and always ready. You may look for lightning
+a whole summer and never catch a fine flash, through no fault of your
+own; and the very next summer, at a first essay, you may secure a
+magnificent print.
+
+On the 13th of July of this year, at 9 P.M., I was watching a heavy
+storm in Brooklyn, New York; and my attention was directed to one great
+blinding flash of lightning, which, starting almost at the zenith,
+blazed across the sky and came to earth in some region unknown. I never
+saw a more vivid flash. It ought to have particularly riveted my
+attention, but it did not, and for this reason: It had just so happened
+that I had become interested in what are side flashes, or what are
+called "supplementary" ones. Now the question has been mooted as to what
+is the character of what seems to our vision to be second flashes--that
+is, apparent flights of electrical fluid coincident with the first or
+strongest one, and some scientific men think that as often as not we see
+the reflection of the important flash mirrored by the clouds in many
+different directions.
+
+Intent on that side issue, though appreciative of the main discharge, my
+attention was called to two lines of lesser brilliancy which appeared to
+the right. "If," I said, "somebody had only photographed it all, how
+glad I should be!"
+
+Imagine my pleasure when next day Julius Roger, Jun., an amateur
+photographer living next door to me, casually asked me "whether I had
+noticed the lightning of the night before"? My reply was "that I had
+noted it"; but I did not mention what I thought was a special feature of
+the electrical display.
+
+"Here is one flash I took," said the young gentleman, and he showed me
+the photograph, an exact copy of which illustrates this article. On
+examining it, the first thing I did was to look for the particular side
+show, and there it was.
+
+"Did you notice these?" I asked, pointing to the two cross lines.
+
+"Not," said the young gentleman, "when I took the picture. I went for
+the main flash. When the picture was developed, then they came out, and
+they surprised me." I asked the photographer how the print was produced.
+This is his exact reply:
+
+"It was about nine. I noticed the storm, and that the lightning appeared
+in the same westerly direction. There were quite a number of flashes
+coming in succession from the same quarter of the heavens. I pointed my
+camera to that position, leaving it exposed. When that particular flash
+made its appearance it impressed itself on the sensitive plate. Then I
+quickly closed the camera and developed the plate. The picture was taken
+on a Crown Cramer plate, which I believe to be particularly sensitive."
+
+"You have certainly been on the watch for such a picture for a long
+time," I said.
+
+My photographer's--who is a singularly modest young gentleman--reply
+was, "Maybe he had."
+
+Looking at the print it will be seen how the effect of the brilliancy of
+the flash is heightened because of the intervention of a steeple, and
+there is even a luminous spot in the window of the steeple, where the
+lightning shines through it. The two side flashes are perfectly shown to
+the right. The exact time having been noted, I found out that this
+particular flash of lightning demolished a house in New Jersey, the
+distance of which from Brooklyn was, as the crow flies, nineteen miles.
+
+  BARNET PHILLIPS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]
+
+     [_The series of four papers on the Science of Football, by Mr.
+     W. H. Lewis of the Harvard Football Team of 1893, begun in this
+     Department in the issue of September 8, is continued this week, and
+     will be concluded in the next number of_ HARPER'S ROUND TABLE.]
+
+
+Offensive team-play in the game of football means every man in every
+play every time.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
+
+First, in logical order, is the start-off, or opening play. The eleven
+should line up on the 55-yard line--the centre of the field. The rules
+allow three men to start before the ball, but not more than five yards
+back. The three fastest men should be selected for the flying start,
+preferably the two ends and a half-back. The ends should be out in the
+wings of the line, and the half-back near the centre; one of the
+remaining backs--full-back if he be not the kicker--should stand at
+about the 40-yard line to look out for a return. The other players
+should be lined up on either side in equal numbers, and at intervals far
+enough apart to sweep the field. (See Fig. 1.) The ball should be kicked
+as far down the field as possible without kicking into touch or kicking
+over the goal-line. The object is to gain as much distance as possible
+by the kick.
+
+The only way to retain possession of the ball after the start-off, is to
+kick it so that it will roll slowly enough to allow the rushers to
+follow it closely, and with force enough to carry it only the required
+distance. This was done by accident in one great match, and was thought
+a very good play.
+
+The direct attack is a style of offence generally known as "straight"
+football, "common," "ordinary," or "barn-yard" football. The object of
+this style is to take a given point by force instead of by stratagem. To
+illustrate the principle, take a few ordinary plays.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
+
+Full-back through right guard and centre is shown in Fig. 2: 1 showing
+the formation before the play starts; 2 showing where the play hits the
+line; 3 showing the runner through the line, everybody into the play.
+The centre and right guard will have to block longer than the other
+players, but should get into the push as quickly as possible. The play
+starts on right guard and centre, and goes there; there is no feint made
+in any other direction. The right half may be sent through right guard
+and tackle in the same way, the quarter-back, left half, and full-back
+behind him, or the left half may be sent through the other side in a
+similar manner. These are commonly called dive-plays. In them the backs
+should stand from three and one-half to four yards back. The success of
+the plays depends upon the runners reaching the line with all steam
+possible at the moment it opens, and in the whole eleven getting behind
+and pushing, as there will always be something to push against.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
+
+Circling the end is shown in Fig. 3. This may be done as in either Part
+2 or 3 of that diagram.
+
+In either case the backs should unconsciously stand back a foot or two
+farther than for dive-plays. The interference should be headed far
+enough out to draw out the opposing rush-line. The end should help block
+the opposing tackle. If the opposing end is a very good one, two men
+should be assigned to him, as in 3, Fig. 3; if not, one, as in 2, Fig.
+3. The interference should keep the opposing eleven on the inside as far
+as possible.
+
+The indirect attack is commonly called trick-play. Trick is hardly the
+word to use, however, because it has a suggestion of unfairness about
+it. The word "strategic" perhaps best characterizes this class of play.
+The growth of this style has been marvellous in the last few seasons.
+The tendency at present seems pretty strong in the opposite direction,
+towards straight football. One of the oldest tricks is the familiar
+criss-cross between the two half-backs. There is a very good criss-cross
+between tackle and end. The end should be near the side line, say over
+on the right. Let the left tackle run twice, and on the second run give
+it to the end, who has the long field, and if he is speedy he should
+make a good run. There are also plays in which the ball is concealed, as
+in the famous play used by Stagg's team, in which the opponents were
+drawn out towards the flank, and a runner was sent through the centre.
+
+Kicking is the easiest method of gaining ground, although it gives the
+ball to the opponents; but it is better to allow the opposing team to
+have the ball on its 25-yard line than to have it yourself on your own
+25-yard line. It is almost impossible, when the teams are anywhere near
+equally matched, to rush the ball from goal to goal without
+relinquishing it. One team starting from its own 25-yard line may rush
+the ball to the centre of the field, or to its opponents' 40-yard line.
+There it is more than likely to lose it. The defensive team is getting
+stronger all the time, and the offensive one weaker. An eleven should
+have a scheme for a kicking game determined by the relative strength of
+its rushing and kicking. How much kicking can be done depends on the
+direction of the wind more than upon anything else.
+
+Do not wait until the third down to kick. Your opponent expects you to
+kick, because you must. Good judgment should be exercised in the placing
+of the kicks. A team should not kick from right under its own
+goal-posts, because of danger of the ball's striking an upright or the
+cross-bar. Change the territory by running a play out on the end, then
+kick.
+
+_Signals._--A signal is a sign of some kind given to indicate to the
+player the play to be used, and the time of its execution. Signals
+should be as simple as possible, so as to be easily understood by the
+side using them. The signals, once decided upon, should be thoroughly
+learned by constant drill, drill, drill! It is important that every man
+should know them thoroughly. They ought to be second nature to him. They
+should be perfectly clear to him the moment they are given, so that
+there is no conscious effort of the memory at all. Without them there
+can be no concert of action, and team-play is absolutely impossible.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
+
+In the first place, there must be a vocal signal, as it is almost
+impossible for the whole eleven to catch a visible signal. A very simple
+code is to number the holes in the rush-line from left to right, or
+_vice versa_, and then disguise the hole number by some simple
+combination of figures. (Number the holes as shown in Fig. 4.) Let the
+hole where the play is to be made be the second digit of the second
+number. If the signal were "12, 61, 83," then 61 would denote the hole
+or indicate a play around the left end; the numbers 23, 24, etc., would
+indicate a play between left guard and centre. There are six possible
+variations from this simple code.
+
+There may also be a system with an index number--as 43, for instance.
+Let the hole number be the second digit of the first number after the
+index; the numbers "81, 43, 36," call for a play between right guard and
+tackle, 6 being the number of that hole. The plays may be numbered, and
+the figure indicating the play may be disguised. Or plays may be
+lettered, as is often done. All formations should be numbered or
+lettered in some way.
+
+If the play called for does not indicate which back is to carry the
+ball, the quarter-back should have a silent visible signal of some kind.
+Usually the quarter uses finger signals, putting the hand behind his leg
+where it cannot be seen by the opponents. One finger may indicate the
+left half; two fingers, the right half; and three fingers, the
+full-back, or middle man. Pulling up trousers or stockings, or
+scratching the head, may also indicate what man is to take the ball.
+
+The signal should be called once only. The second calling is not
+necessary at all; besides, it slows up the game. Men feel that they have
+plenty of time after the first call, and loaf to their places. They are
+not particular about catching the first signal, since it must be given
+again.
+
+The signal should be called by the quarter-back, as the play must be
+started by him, and he is in a better position to see the best
+opportunity for the next play, and he can be easily heard from either
+flank of the line. If the captain should change a play, he should not
+call the signal himself, but tell his quarter the play he wants.
+
+The signal should be called loudly enough to be heard by every man in
+the midst of the din of battle. The quarter should put as much
+earnestness and enthusiasm as possible in the calling of the signals.
+Snap them out, and let the merry war go on!
+
+Where sequences are played without vocal signal, the quarter should have
+some sign for his back, although it is not absolutely necessary.
+Sequences should be short. The time to play them is at the opening of
+the game. They cannot be played continuously, as the contingencies of
+the game cannot easily be foreseen.
+
+_Generalship._--The generalship of the game devolves upon the captain.
+There must be one head on the field, and only one. A game may be largely
+planned before going upon the field. At the time the game is being
+mapped out is the occasion for consultation with coaches and players.
+Before the game it may be decided what is to be done under given
+conditions of wind and weather, or what is to be done if the team gets
+the ball at start-off or not. By studying an opponent's preceding games,
+it is sometimes possible to determine somewhat in advance the kind of
+game that is likely to succeed against that particular team. The
+strength and weakness of the team must be considered also.
+
+First, consider the matter of generalship without reference to the
+opposing team. There are two ways of advancing the ball--one by kicking,
+the other by rushing. The rushing game is divided into straight football
+and strategic. There are practically three schools of football: the
+simple straight football, the strategic, and the kicking. The right use
+of these different methods of advancing the ball, the proper proportion
+of each kind of plays, is the great problem of good generalship. Simple
+straight football should form the basis of the offensive game. This is
+more easily executed, and is less exhausting upon body and mind. A trick
+requires the doing of so many things by each individual at a given time
+that there is produced a great mental strain. Men begin to worry and
+wonder whether the trick will succeed. And if a fine trick fails they
+despair of the success of anything else, and so lose spirit. At any
+rate, they have lost that force and energy necessary to play good, hard,
+straight football. The trick should be merely an incident of the game.
+Its proper function is simply to add a little uncertainty, and to keep
+the other side guessing. It is a mistake to think that the only
+scientific game is the strategic one. The science of the straight game
+does not lie in the formation, but solely in the execution.
+
+The bulk of rushing games should be straight football. Three or four
+tricks, or half a dozen at most, are a sufficient number. The whole
+repertoire of plays should be not less than twenty nor more than thirty.
+A few plays well executed are better than a load of stuff indifferently
+learned. It may not be best in all cases to have the kicking game the
+dominating feature of the offence. That will depend largely upon whether
+the team is best at rushing or kicking. A judicious admixture of both is
+the desideratum. If a team has the wind in its favor, it should take
+advantage of it and kick often. If it has the wind against it, it will
+be forced to rush more or less. When a team is down in its own
+territory, if it is going to rush, the play should be one that is likely
+to make considerable ground if it succeeds, and an open play of some
+kind should be the one used.
+
+In bringing the ball in from touch it is not wise to always use the
+"long field." The "short field" often yields good ground.
+
+The plays should be varied enough to keep the opposing line in its
+normal position. If one point be continuously attacked, that point will
+be strengthened. If the middle of the line be attacked, the middle will
+close up. If the flank or end be attacked, this line will be opened
+because of a movement towards the end in order to better protect it. The
+line should be continually opened and shut so as not to allow the
+opponents to concentrate at any given point.
+
+The speed in playing is another feature in generalship. It is not the
+number of plays per minute that counts, but the speed in execution.
+Hasten, but do not hurry, is the rule here as everywhere else.
+Enthusiasm and not excitement is what is wanted. Too rapid a succession
+of plays results in a jumble merely, and a sort of feverish excitement
+instead of deadly execution. Still, it must not be understood that a
+calm, deliberate, sort of a game is the one to be played. When the
+opposing team is on the run, there should be no let up in the fire. As
+the advancing party gets nearer the goal, the harder, faster, and more
+aggressive should be the game. No time should be given the other side to
+pull itself together, but it should be driven back and over the
+goal-line; then it is time to rest. If the opposing side is weak on the
+ends or at a particular end, it is good generalship to take advantage of
+that weakness. The same thing is true of tackle or centre. This is to be
+considered, however, that opponents will always endeavor to re-enforce
+or strengthen a known weakness. The result is that nominally the weakest
+point may be the strongest. It is well to try the whole line
+occasionally. The strong man may be caught off his guard. While plays or
+downs should not be wasted against stone wall, the brutal policy of
+attacking one point at all time until it gives way should not be
+indulged in even on the ground of generalship. A team ought to make the
+best use of its own strong points. If a particular back is good at
+carrying the ball, give him enough to do, but do not kill him. If there
+is a back particularly good at kicking, kick, and kick frequently. If a
+tackle or guard is good at making holes or immensely superior to the man
+opposed to him, send the plays through that point.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The ninth season of the Cook County High-School Football League opens
+this year with the promise of a larger membership than ever before, none
+of the nine teams which were members of the League last year having
+dropped out, and with the possibility of five new teams coming in. This
+Association was organized in 1888, and the only schools which were
+originally members now left in the Association are Hyde Park, Lake View,
+and Englewood. They are the strongest schools of the section, and one of
+them has each year carried off the championship. Lake View got the
+pennant in 1888, 1890, 1892, and 1893; Hyde Park in 1889 and last year;
+Englewood in 1891 and 1894.
+
+The Hyde Park team seems to be stronger than any of the others this
+year, and should repeat the success of last fall. Seven members of last
+year's eleven are back in school, and a large number of candidates are
+training for the open places. West Division has bright prospects
+likewise. They had a strong eleven last year, and also have seven of the
+old men back, and about thirty candidates trying for places.
+
+The men in training for the Englewood High-School team are a heavy set,
+and should develop into a strong eleven. Lake View High-School ought to
+appear somewhere near the top at the end of the season; in Wiezerowski,
+captain of the team, they have the best end that has ever played in the
+League. The Manual-Training School players are laboring with the
+difficulty of an unsportsmanlike faculty, and will probably be unable to
+develop a good eleven. Evanston High is also unfortunate in having but
+three of last year's men back again, but with good coaching they ought
+to be able to do something by the end of the season. Oak Park H.-S. is
+about as badly off, having but two players of last year's team in
+school, and few men capable of filling the vacancies. Oak Park's eleven
+last year made the State record of scoring the greatest number of points
+in any one game; it defeated English High, 80-0.
+
+     LEO LYON, SAN FRANCISCO.--See HARPER'S ROUND TABLE for August 13
+     and 20, 1895.
+
+      K. W. WRIGHT, NEW YORK.--_Defender_'s measurements are given as
+      follows: Length, 124 ft.; water-line, 89 ft.; breadth, 23 ft.;
+      draught, 19 ft. The lead in her keel weighs 80 tons. You will find
+      an article on the building of _Defender_ in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE
+      for September 17, 1895.
+
+"TRACK ATHLETICS IN DETAIL."--ILLUSTRATED.--8VO, CLOTH, ORNAMENTAL,
+$1.25.
+
+  THE GRADUATE.
+
+
+
+
+[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.
+
+Owing to the number of questions, we devote the entire Department to
+answers this week.
+
+     SIR KNIGHT LUTHER PFLUEGER sends a description of a way in which
+     one of his friends made lantern-slides. He bought some glass strips
+     of a size to fit his lantern [Lantern-slide covers could be
+     used.--Ed.] and some transfer-pictures which are used by
+     school-boys to embellish their books. He gave the strips of glass a
+     thin coat of mucilage, and allowed it to dry. He then applied the
+     paper, which had been wet in such a way that the paper was
+     thoroughly soaked, but the face of the picture was dry. (The
+     pictures could be wet by thoroughly saturating a piece of
+     blotting-paper with water, and laying the pictures on it, face up.)
+     He then pressed the pictures on to the glass, took hold of one
+     corner of the paper, and pulled it off, leaving, if successful, the
+     thin film of the picture on the glass. This part of the operation
+     requires carefulness. This method enabled him to make cheap and
+     pleasing slides. Thanks for the description; some of our amateurs
+     will be glad to try it.
+
+      SIR KNIGHT CHARLES M. TODD says he is thinking of buying a small
+      camera, and wishes to know what apparatus he would need for
+      developing, etc.; which are the best, films or dry-plates, and if
+      they are manipulated in the same way; if blue prints are
+      permanent; what prints can be made the cheapest; and the name of
+      some good work on photography. Sir Charles adds that the first
+      thing he looks for in the ROUND TABLE is the Camera Club
+      Department. The outfit required for developing and finishing
+      pictures is: one red light; one developing-tray, 4 by 5; one
+      fixing-tray, 4 by 5; one toning-tray, 5 by 8; one printing-frame;
+      one ferrotype-plate for drying prints; one 4 oz. glass graduate.
+      See No. 781 for directions how to make a lantern, and also hints
+      on reducing expenses. Dry-plates are easier for the beginner to
+      manage than the films, but fine negatives are made with either.
+      The same treatment is given both, with the exception of drying.
+      The films, after washing, are soaked for five minutes in a
+      solution made of 1/2 oz. of glycerine and 16 oz. of water. This
+      prevents the film from curling. Blue prints are permanent; they
+      are also the cheapest. Wilson's _Photographics_ is a good work on
+      photography.
+
+      SIR KNIGHT B. P. ATKINSON asks how photographs should be prepared
+      for prize contests; if pictures can be copied with an 8 by 10
+      camera and a single lens; when an article on posing will be
+      published; if exposure meters are reliable; what is the cause of
+      negatives having a spotted appearance when ice is used; how
+      pin-holes in negatives can be remedied; what kinds of lenses are
+      best for landscapes. Platinotype prints make the most artistic
+      photographs, and should be mounted on plate-sunk cards. These
+      cards are made specially for platinotypes; full directions for use
+      come with the platinotype-paper. Pictures may be copied with an 8
+      by 10 camera, but the single lens would be hardly suitable for
+      fine copying. A rectilinear wide-angle lens is a good lens for
+      copying. Suggestions for posing will be given in the early number
+      of the ROUND TABLE. Exposure meters are not always reliable. The
+      spotted appearance of the negative is probably caused by using the
+      water at too low a temperature. The temperature should never be
+      below 50° to insure good work. Pin-holes may be covered by
+      painting them over with retouching fluid, and, when dry, taking a
+      fine camel's-hair brush dipped in lampblack (moist water-color),
+      and touching the spot very lightly with the lip of the brush,
+      taking care that it does not lap over on to the film. A little
+      practice will enable one to fill up pin-holes or light spots so
+      that they will not be noticed in the print. For landscape-work a
+      single achromatic lens will give sharp definition and good
+      contrasts. For general landscape-work a medium-angle, rectilinear
+      lens will be found satisfactory. The angle of view of the lens
+      should be from 45° to 60°.
+
+
+
+
+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]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: BICYCLING]
+
+     This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the
+     Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our
+     maps and tours contain many valuable data kindly supplied from the
+     official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen.
+     Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L.A.W., the
+     Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership
+     blanks and information so far as possible.
+
+
+[Illustration: Copyright, 1896, by Harper & Brothers.]
+
+Continuing the journey begun last week from Chicago, we start from
+Joliet for the run to Ottawa. From Joliet continue along the river and
+canal. It might be well to inquire the condition in which the tow-path
+and the road happen to be at the time of your going over the trip, in
+order that you may take the one most used by wheelmen. Sometimes the
+tow-path is better, and other times the road should be taken. Here is
+one of the advantages of being a member of the L.A.W., since the local
+consul will gladly give you any information on this matter or any other
+concerning that particular country that you may desire. Generally
+speaking, it is well to keep to the tow-path, as the ride is more
+picturesque along the canal.
+
+From Joliet run in a westerly direction, turning sharp to the left at
+the outskirts of the town, and continuing until the railroad and canal
+are crossed, proceeding then either along the canal, or, if you take the
+road, following the route marked on the map which runs between the canal
+and the river. After crossing the railroad and the canal, keep to the
+right instead of crossing the river, and the road to Channahon, twelve
+miles away, is clear except at a point about half-way from Joliet, where
+the left fork should be taken. Passing through Channahon, turn westward
+to the right, and then running almost directly westward, crossing the
+railroad, instead of keeping to the left, and running down by the canal.
+Before crossing the C.R.I. and P. Railroad, turn southward to the canal,
+and following the tow-path run into Morris, where dinner can be had. To
+leave Morris ride northward across the track again, thence westward, not
+far from the railroad, to Seneca, between ten and eleven miles away.
+Proceed on the main road, always in the vicinity of the canal and
+railroad, through Marseilles on to Ottawa. The road turns a couple of
+miles before Ottawa is reached southward, crosses the canal and
+railroad, and runs then into the city.
+
+This trip is most of the way over capital road; there are few hills, and
+there is a good deal of diversity of scenery. Much of the interest of
+the trip is in the different points of historic interest along the way
+and in the vicinity of Ottawa. The distance from Joliet is about
+forty-five miles, but it can easily be done in a day by even
+inexperienced riders, owing to the level country and the good condition
+of the roads.
+
+     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. City of
+     Chicago in No. 874. Waukesha to Oconomowoc in No. 875; Chicago to
+     Wheeling in No. 876; Wheeling to Lippencott's in No 877;
+     Lippencott's to Waukesha in No. 878; Waukesha to Milwaukee in No.
+     879; Chicago to Joliet in No. 881.
+
+
+
+
+[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.
+
+
+Two hundred thousand sets of the 1860 issue of the Nova Scotia stamps
+have turned up, and the entire lot is said to have been sold to a
+syndicate of Canadian dealers. The find is so large that prices on this
+set must fall very much. The veteran dealer J. W. Scott states that
+fifteen years ago he purchased several hundred sets lacking the 5c. from
+a gentleman in Ottawa at about 50c. per set. The 5c. has been the
+commonest of all this issue during the past decade.
+
+The proposed philatelic club-house in New York is probably an
+accomplished fact. One hundred gentlemen have subscribed $25 each to pay
+rent for the first year and furnish the house, which will probably be
+the meeting-place for all the metropolitan societies! All auctions are
+to be held in the club-house, which is to be a general rendezvous for
+all philatelists, and the centre of all philatelic matters in America.
+
+The Geneva exhibition has been a great success. The stamps were well
+shown, and the local committees made things pleasant for all visitors.
+The exhibition closed with a grand dinner to which 125 gentlemen sat
+down.
+
+There were 82 Zurich 4 rappen, 82 Geneva 10 centimes, 32 Vaud 4
+centimes, shown, almost all of which were in used condition. These are
+the stamps worth from $100 to $200 each, but the bulk of them were in
+the albums of eight or nine of the exhibitors. Pastor Lenhard took the
+gold medal for the best Swiss stamps, Stanley Gibbons the gold medal for
+the best collection of any one country. He exhibited his Trinidad and
+St. Vincent collection, worth $25,000.
+
+Plate No. 89 is the scarcest of all the plate numbers. Dealers offer $25
+each for either the top, bottom, or side imprints of that number. It has
+been ascertained that 9000 sheets of 400 each were printed, each quarter
+sheet of 100 stamps bearing the plate number on two sides; thus 72,000
+copies of this plate number were issued. Who has any? Of No. 116, which
+is also quite scarce, over 75,000 full sheets of 400 each were printed,
+probably one-half on un-watermarked paper.
+
+A collection of 20,000 buttons, including specimens of those worn on all
+the uniforms in the world, has been left by a rich Englishman named
+Hamilton, who died recently in Vienna. He had also brought together 352
+fans, which had each belonged to beautiful women. Another fad of English
+collectors is the buttons of servants bearing their employer's coats of
+arms.
+
+The button craze is rapidly growing, and probably will reach its climax
+early in November, after which time it will gradually die out. Several
+collectors have over 300 different buttons in every variety of shape,
+size, color, design, and motto. The buttons were sold early in the
+season for $30 a thousand, but the price has come down to $7 a thousand.
+Specially handsome buttons are $10 a thousand. The sidewalk peddlers
+sell them at 2c. each, or three for 5c.
+
+In consequence of the civil war the Postmaster-General of the U.S.
+directed that on and after June 1 all mail matter coming from the
+seceded States prepaid by U.S. stamps be held for postage, and sent to
+the dead-letter office at Washington. In August the Postmaster-General
+directed that Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, and
+Pennsylvania could prepay letters by stamps of the 1847, 1851, and 1857
+issues until October 1, from other loyal States east of the Rocky
+Mountains until October 15, and from California, Oregon, New Mexico,
+Utah, and Washington until October 21, after which dates all stamps
+issued prior to 1861 were valueless, but would be redeemed up to October
+21. After the war was over millions of these U.S. stamps were offered to
+dealers by parties who got control of the stock on hand in Southern
+post-offices in 1861. They were very cheap then, but are growing dearer
+every day.
+
+     R. A. FITZGERALD.--I cannot say what would be the value of the
+     original Ordinance of Secession of the State of Alabama. I should
+     think that some of the Southern historical societies would be glad
+     to buy it.
+
+      H. D. T.--Unperforated U.S. Revenues, 25c. Certificate worth 25c.;
+      40c. Inland Ex., $5; $2 Mortgage and $3 Charter, $1.50 each. Your
+      $2 bill is worth face only. Your other questions are too vague.
+
+      A. COHN.--The 1868 U.S. 1c. blue grilled is quite scarce, either
+      used or unused. If you iron soaked stamps you will probably
+      obliterate the grill.
+
+      A. A. SCOTT.--The most advanced collectors of U.S. Revenues prefer
+      to buy the unperforated stamps in pairs or blocks. This of course
+      costs a good deal of money, and ordinary collectors must be
+      content with single specimens. Such copies should have a good
+      margin, on all four sides. There are many faked unperforated
+      stamps, which are made from the ordinary perforated stamps with
+      wide margins.
+
+      R. CREIGHTON.--Split stamps have been used in the U.S., but, with
+      one possible exception, without authority of the U.S. government.
+
+      EDWARD HUBBARD, 515 Myrtle Street, El Paso, Tex., wants stamps in
+      exchange for Porto Rico and Mexico stamps.
+
+      A. MERRIAM.--Coins made in the Philadelphia mint have no special
+      mark of origin. Coins made in the Carson City mint are marked
+      "C.C."; the San Francisco, "S."; the Dahlonega, "D."; the New
+      Orleans, "O."
+
+      W. R. WHEELER.--U.S. Revenues were first used in October, 1862,
+      and almost every legal or commercial document (policies, leases,
+      conveyances, etc.) used during the next ten years bore Revenue
+      stamps. Also every receipt, and check, every box of matches or
+      bottle of medicine, every photograph, every barrel of beer,
+      package of tobacco, etc. In fact, very few things escaped taxation
+      in those days. After the war ended, one tax after another was
+      removed until only the tobacco and liquor taxes remained. These
+      pay taxes by stamps to this day.
+
+      GEORGE WERNER.--Most of the Central American States have been
+      using "Seebeck" stamps during the past six years. It makes very
+      little difference whether these stamps are used or unused. Of the
+      earlier issues the unused are generally the rarer.
+
+      SIDNEY MULHALL.--Always use hinges, and of the best quality. Care
+      must be taken in turning over leaves, or the book should be
+      examined beginning at the last page and going backwards. The 1885
+      Corea stamps were probably never used. The 1895 issue is in use at
+      present.
+
+      F. PULIS.--There are four varieties of the 1802 cents, and they
+      can be bought of dealers at 10c. to 35c. each.
+
+      M. S. TAYLOR.--I cannot assist you in the sale of your album. As a
+      rule albums two or three years old are valueless.
+
+      CARRIE E. BALL.--The only small cent which is scarce is the 1956
+      flying eagle. All the others are in common use.
+
+  PHILATUS.
+
+
+
+
+It was in the dusty smoking-car on the Long Island Railroad that the
+following was overheard. A number of anglers were grouped together
+discussing their big catches, and at times the wind that rushed by the
+car windows fairly groaned with the weight of the wonderful stories that
+it carried away. An old man in the corner with a short clay stump of a
+pipe stuck between his lips turned slowly around in his seat and
+surveyed the group. Giving a hitch to his trousers, which nearly
+dislocated the pins that held them together, he approached the boys.
+
+"Tellin' fish stories, eh, boys? Well! well! Did ye ever hear what the
+whale that swallered Jonah did?"
+
+"No, never heard about that," said one of the anglers.
+
+"Never heard that, eh? Well, he went around and hunted up a lot of other
+whales, and then he bored them to death tellin' them how the largest man
+he ever caught wriggled loose and got away."
+
+
+
+
+DON'T WORRY YOURSELF
+
+and don't worry the baby; avoid both unpleasant conditions by giving the
+child pure, digestible food. Don't use solid preparations. _Infant
+Health_ is a valuable pamphlet for mothers. Send your address to the New
+York Condensed Milk Company, N.Y.--[_Adv._]
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENTS.
+
+
+
+
+Postage Stamps, &c.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: STAMPS]
+
+100, all dif., & fine =STAMP ALBUM=, only 10c.; 200, all dif., Hayti,
+Hawaii, etc., only 50c. Agents wanted at 50 per cent. com. List FREE!
+=C. A. Stegmann=, 5941 Cote Brilliant Ave., St. Louis, Mo.
+
+
+
+
+STAMPS
+
+=10= stamps and large list =FREE!=
+
+L. DOVER & CO., 1469 Hodiamont, St. Louis, Mo.
+
+
+
+
+105
+
+Stamps, Java, Congo, hinges, album, 5c. Agts. at 50% get _free_ album,
+&c. =BULLARD=, 97 Pembroke St., Boston, Mass.
+
+
+
+
+112
+
+foreign stamps: Honduras, Uruguay, Mexico, etc., 5c. H. L. ASHFIELD, 767
+Prospect Ave., N. Y.
+
+
+
+
+4 c.
+
+Unused Columbian 6c.; 50 var. 6c.
+
+P. S. Chapman, Box 151, Bridgeport, Ct.
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH GILLOTT'S
+
+STEEL PENS
+
+Nos. 303, 404, 170, 604 E.F., 601 E.F.
+
+And other styles to suit all hands.
+
+THE MOST PERFECT Of PENS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THOMPSON'S EYE WATER]
+
+
+
+
+EARN A BICYCLE!
+
+[Illustration]
+
+We wish to introduce our Teas, Spices, and Baking Powder. Sell 75 lbs.
+to earn a BICYCLE; 50 lbs. for a WALTHAM GOLD WATCH AND CHAIN; 25 lbs.
+for a SOLID SILVER WATCH AND CHAIN; 10 lbs. for a beautiful GOLD RING;
+50 lbs. for a DECORATED DINNER SET. Express prepaid if cash is sent with
+order. Send your full address on postal for Catalogue and Order Blank to
+Dept. I
+
+W. G. BAKER, Springfield, Mass.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: PISO'S CURE FOR CONSUMPTION]
+
+CURES WHERE ALL ELSE FAILS.
+
+Best Cough Syrup. Tastes Good. Use in time. Sold by druggists.
+
+
+
+
+Giving a Nut Social.
+
+Autumn approaches, and evening entertainments in-doors will soon be in
+order. Besides, the chestnut burs are getting large, and almost before
+we are aware of it they will be opening. A nut social is a novel thing,
+and it can be made as amusing, mysterious, or instructive as you wish,
+with genuine nuts and metaphorical nuts--geographical, historical,
+literary, or social.
+
+Issue your invitations in a form to stimulate curiosity. You might put
+"Nut-cracking," "Nut Social," or "Mixed Nuts" as a title on the outside,
+with a big interrogation mark filling the centre, and the words
+"Contributions requested" below, with date and place of entertainment in
+the lower left-hand corner. Or better still, perhaps, paint a large nut,
+or a group of small ones, with nut-crackers and picks, if you choose, in
+the upper left-hand corner, and the words "To crack" in the centre,
+followed by place and date as before.
+
+Your invitations may simply ask the pleasure of Miss Bessie M.'s or Miss
+Flora T.'s company. Engage several of your bright young friends to give
+a little description of some nut, impersonating it as far as possible,
+telling where found, its habits, manner of growth, uses, and any other
+interesting facts regarding it, concealing its name, and weaving as much
+mystery about it as possible. Have these descriptions only two or three
+minutes long, but as bright, catchy, and witty as may be. Then, after
+each nut is described, give a chance for quizzes and guesses regarding
+it. Intersperse the chat with an occasional strain of familiar music,
+which, in accordance with the nut cracking scheme, may be identified and
+the composer guessed. Brought in at unexpected intervals, it will
+require quick wits to name them readily.
+
+To give variety to the entertainment, noted personages, books,
+characters in fiction, or works of art may be represented by the
+different guests, or an art gallery may be improvised by the hostess.
+The greater the variety of puzzling things, the greater will be the
+interest and the more enjoyable the entertainment. Everything, as far as
+possible, must be in the nature of a nut--to be cracked.
+
+The refreshments should be of nuts, or something having nuts as an
+ingredient, as nut-cakes, nut-candies, etc. Have a nut salad if you
+like--a dish of nuts decorated with autumn leaves, intermingled with
+slips of paper containing conundrums, enigmas, puzzling Questions, etc.,
+to be guessed by the recipients; or you may have nut bonbons of this
+same kind. Or, after carefully cracking English walnuts, substitute for
+the meats your paper nuts, unite the two half shells with a drop or two
+of mucilage, and serve with each plate of refreshments. Provide every
+guest with paper and pencil to record his guesses as he makes them, and
+give a prize for the greatest number of correct answers, and a
+booby-prize for the least. A silver nut-cracker or a set of nut-picks
+would be appropriate for the former, and a hammer for the latter. Try
+it, and you will like it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Kinks.
+
+No. 33.--A COMBINATION KINK.
+
+  My first is in zinc, but not in lead;
+  My second in rose, but not in red;
+  My third is in disc, but not in tray;
+  My fourth is in black, but not in bay;
+  My fifth is in paid, but not in lynx;
+  My sixth in dilates, but not in blinks;
+  My seventh in martlet, but not in crow;
+  My eighth is in cut, but not in mow;
+  My ninth is in shrine, but not in fane;
+  My tenth is in walnut, but not in plane;
+  My eleventh in alley, but not in lane;
+  My whole is a nickname bestowed on the capital of Virginia.
+
+The solution to the above cross-word enigma forms the central column
+(reading downward) of the following acrostic, the initials of which are
+the same throughout:
+
+Crosswords.--1. Invigorating. 2. Thought long and anxiously. 3. A cloth
+ornamented with raised work. 4. Devoted to books. 5. Dimmed as to sight.
+6. A heraldic term denoting a strip surrounding the field. 7. Indian
+sage--thoroughwort. 8. Relating to the _Fagus_. 9. A fourteenth-century
+helmet, basin-shaped. 10. Jeers. 11. In falconry, pieces of leather used
+to bind up the hawk's wing.
+
+  AB SINTHAY.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 34.--CHARADE.--A TRIPLE CHARACTER.
+
+  I sang my most melodious song,
+    My sweetest roundelay,
+  In vain, to win a wanderer's love;
+    Then threw my life away.
+
+  And now in distant Indian seas,
+    Beneath the wild waves' roar,
+  I sit, a prisoner in a cell,
+    And sing of love no more.
+
+  Afar within the realms of space,
+    Where planets hold their sway,
+  I shine to guide the wanderer's feet
+    Along the homeward way.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 35.--A FLEET OF SHIPS.
+
+  My fleet of ships went over the sea,
+    Bound for a distant shore.
+  One day, they all came back to me,
+    And marvellous freight they bore.
+  The first brought home a cargo of love,
+    The second, labor and toil;
+  A title the third on me bestowed;
+    The fourth gave claim to the soil;
+  The fifth my knees bent low in prayer;
+    The sixth gave control of men;
+  The seventh another put under my care;
+    The eighth in my hand laid a pen;
+  The ninth sent me far away from my home;
+    The tenth gave me limitless power;
+  The eleventh put me in charge of a court;
+    The twelfth made learning its dower;
+  Number thirteen brought me a steed;
+    Fourteen forth sent me to preach;
+  Fifteen gave charge of other men's goods;
+    Sixteen brought duty to teach;
+  Seventeen to another bound me for years;
+    Eighteen left no leisure from writing;
+  Nineteen supplied me aid in my work;
+    While twenty gave position for fighting.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 36.--TWO GOOD ANAGRAMS.
+
+1. A police captain's order:
+
+     "Examine hat and roll."
+
+A well-known American statesman.
+
+     2. "Ever turn, stout Louisa."
+
+A famous negro patriot.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Answers to Kinks.
+
+No. 30.
+
+Central letters, right-hand hour-glass, _Apelles_; central letters,
+left-hand hour-glass, _Phidias_.
+
+1.--1. D. 2. Sen. 3. Selah. 4. Deluder. 5. Nadir. 6. Her. 7. R.
+
+2.--1. R. 2. Sad. 3. Spire. 4. Railing. 5. Dried. 6. End. 7. G.
+
+3.--1. Dappled. 2. Habas. 3. Bit. 4. D. 5. Die. 6. Chart. 7. Plaster.
+
+4.--1. Rotates. 2. Paper. 3. Bed. 4. L. 5. Ale. 6. Tread. T. Glisten.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 31.
+
+1. Apple. 2. Salt. 3. "Butter" (goat). 4. Mace. 5. "Nutmeg"
+(Connecticut). 6. Flounder, 7. Quince (in _Midsummer-Night's Dream_). 8.
+Pepper (K.N.--Cayenne). 9. Eggs. 10. Flower (flour).
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 32.
+
+1. Grapes, rapes, apes, pes. 2. Sago, ago, go. 3. Acorn, corn, orn. 4.
+Flax, lax, ax.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Does Progress Lie this Way?
+
+     My father is a teacher in a missionary school here, and on Sundays
+     he assists in the mission services. I assist, too, playing an
+     American cabinet organ and helping with the singing. The other
+     evening a gentleman called at our house for a chat. He is a
+     Japanese of perhaps forty, and he spent ten years in Europe and
+     America. He speaks Spanish, French, English, German, and Chinese,
+     besides his own tongue, in the latter of which he is perfectly
+     versed. He has visited every city of importance in the western
+     world, and is therefore a judge of customs. Suddenly he said to my
+     father, "What an inconvenient man you are!"
+
+     Father looked up in astonishment, and inquired why.
+
+     "Why? Because you require, like all western people, so much to make
+     you comfortable. And out of all you have you get no more comfort
+     than do we Japanese from our little. No, not so much comfort by
+     half. For instance, you pay to live here--how much?"
+
+     "Two dollars per day," replied my father.
+
+     "Ah," said our Japanese acquaintance, "I pay seventy-five sen, or
+     about forty cents of your money. And I am just as happy and as
+     comfortable as you are. To be sure, you have tables, and chairs,
+     and bedsteads, and dressing-cases, wash-bowls, pitchers, mirrors,
+     and goodness knows what in your rooms. I have nothing of the sort.
+     They are too much trouble to care for. A nice cool mat and quilt
+     form a good enough sleeping outfit for me. And you make yourself so
+     much work at your meals, using all those pitchers and plates,
+     goblets, spoons, pepper-pots, and the rest. Then, when you eat, you
+     crowd yourselves into one room. I eat alone. My meals are served on
+     a tray by a pretty maid, who kneels before me as I eat, chatting
+     and making herself interesting.
+
+     "When you travel you take with you, either to tote about, or hire
+     some one to carry for you, a great amount of luggage. As for me,
+     the hotel furnishes me a dressing-gown and a night-robe, and I buy
+     a fresh tooth-brush each morning for a sen. No; say what you
+     please, you western folk are inconvenient people. You do not follow
+     the line of the least resistance. You make too much effort to live,
+     and the cost is too great in nerves, brains, flesh, blood, and
+     worry."
+
+  G.
+  KYOTO, JAPAN.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Questions and Answers.
+
+Helen Disosway asks whence comes the caper of which the caper sauce is
+made. It is a small bud that grows in very hot climates, especially in
+the East Indies. It is gathered before the petals have unfolded. The
+work of collecting these buds is very slow, hence the expensiveness of
+the sauce of commerce. The seed-pod of the caper is also used. It makes
+a delicious pickle. The caper plant is perennial, but dies down and
+seemingly disappears in the autumn. It grows best on dry and hot stony
+ground. It is sometimes used in the East to surmount rockeries, because
+it lives on little soil, while its foliage is delicate and its silvery
+flowers are ornamental.
+
+Charles R. Botsford: Articles descriptive of magic have appeared in the
+following recent numbers of HARPER'S ROUND TABLE: 844, 852, 862, 866,
+869, and 873. The numbers may be had by applying to the publishers.
+Eleanor Little, aged twelve, Marblehead, Mass., collects bicycle
+buttons. Perhaps you do too. If so, you will be glad to have Miss
+Eleanor's address. Earl L. Hendricks, Box 626, Savannah, Ill., collects
+fossils and mineral specimens and wants correspondents. So does Edith S.
+Lewis, 1418 Eighth Avenue, Kearney, Neb., who also writes verses and
+stories. She is fourteen. James Fahlberg, 520 Barbey Street, Brooklyn,
+wants to join the staff of an amateur paper in Brooklyn. We are not
+advised of any Brooklyn amateur paper that wishes to increase its staff,
+but suggest that Sir James apply to Beverly S. King, 1625 Atlantic
+Avenue.
+
+"E. W. S." is fifteen and wants to enter the United States navy. He must
+apply to the member of Congress from his district. Had he given his
+address we could have told him the name and address of his member. Any
+local politician can tell him. So can his postmaster. Appointments are
+made only as vacancies occur at Annapolis. If you fail to hear from your
+Congressman, write to the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C.,
+asking when a vacancy will occur in your district. Hon. Hilary A.
+Herbert is the secretary's name. You will receive a prompt reply.
+Applicants must pass rigid physical and mental examinations, but the
+latter covers the common branches only. No, fifteen is not too old to
+enter. David B. Hendricks: "University Extension" means an extension of
+university teaching to men and women too old and perhaps too poor to
+attend universities--that is, carrying university lectures to those who
+cannot come for them. It was inaugurated by the universities of Oxford
+and Cambridge, in England, but soon copied by Columbia, Pennsylvania,
+and Chicago in this country. There is also an American Society for the
+Extension of University Teaching that is unconnected with any
+university, and sends out lecturers from Princeton, Columbia, Chicago,
+and other leading universities, and even business men and principals of
+high-schools. The course includes art, astronomy, biology, chemistry,
+civics, forestry, travel, history, literature, mathematics, music,
+philosophy, sanitation, and sociology. Lectures in courses may be had on
+any or all of these subjects. There are examinations and diplomas. The
+usual plan is for local societies, either existing ones or those formed
+for the purpose, to select their subjects and apply to the Extension
+Society for lecturers. The cost, when divided among a society, is
+moderate, and many courses are given in villages as small as Moodus.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Making and Flying Tail-less Kites.
+
+"E.W.D." asks, "Will you kindly tell me how to make and fly tail-less
+kites?" These kites are common in Holland, and are therefore called
+Holland kites. They are easily made, and there is no bother about
+getting exactly the right amount of ballast for them. A good size is 4
+feet for the main upright stick. For cross-stick use ash or hickory, and
+have it exactly 3 feet long. Attach strings to each end and tie it at
+the back, curving the cross-stick into the form of a bow. This curve
+must be varied with the strength of the wind. If the wind is strong,
+tighten the bow cord, and give the bow more curve. The bow is fastened
+to the upright 1 foot below the upper end of the latter. Attach a
+belly-band at the contact of the stick and the bow and at the bottom of
+the stick. To determine the length of the belly-band let its angle just
+reach the ends of the bow, at which angle the kite string is to be
+attached. These measurements may be larger or smaller, but if varied at
+all they must be varied alike. The proportions here given must be
+maintained, or the kite will not be a success. Each side of the kite
+must be of equal weight. Lift the kite by the belly-string, balancing
+lower end on a finger-point. If it tips to one side, paste bits of paper
+in the light side till both sides are equal. The stick, bow, and cords
+must be as light as their duties will warrant. Covering may be as in any
+other kite. If correctly made, kites of this pattern require no tails,
+and the gentlemen who furnishes the information says that the first one
+he made staied up all day the first time he flew it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mounting Bird Feathers.
+
+     Will some one tell me how to mount my bird-feather collections? I
+     will be very thankful for any information on the subject.
+
+  JAY F. HAMMOND, R.T.K.
+  HARFORD, N.Y.
+
+We suppose these collections to be made of feathers that the birds have
+no longer any use for. No Knight or Lady would take what is another's,
+and the feathers are certainly the bird's so long as he has need for
+them. Let us know how to artistically mount feather collections--where
+said feathers are gathered after the bird has shed them. The Table will
+be glad to print the morsel or morsels on the subject.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Cure for His Breath.
+
+Washington had for many years a famous caterer Mr. John Chamberlin. The
+other day Mr. Chamberlin died. Once a man, entering his restaurant, said
+in his hearing: "How I would like a fine steak smothered in onions! I'd
+have it, too, if it were not for the breath."
+
+Chamberlin replied: "You needn't worry about onion breath. Order the
+steak, find when you get your bill I'll have it so large it'll take your
+breath away."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Ivory Soap]
+
+There are only a few brands of manufactured articles that are kept by
+_all_ grocers. Ivory Soap is one of these.
+
+THE PROCTER & GAMBLE CO., CIN'TI.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THOMPSON'S EYE WATER]
+
+
+
+
+HARPER'S NEW CATALOGUE,
+
+Thoroughly revised, classified, and indexed, will be sent by mail to any
+address on receipt of ten cents.
+
+
+
+
+"THE MARTIAN"
+
+A NEW SERIAL
+
+WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY
+
+GEORGE DU MAURIER
+
+THE AUTHOR OF
+
+"TRILBY" and "PETER IBBETSON"
+
+     _This novel has the wonderful charm of reminiscence and the
+     interest connected with the development of a mystery which made
+     Peter Ibbetson and Trilby world-famous. The opening chapters
+     present a delightful picture of school-boy life in Paris a
+     generation ago._
+
+The first instalment is in
+
+HARPER'S MAGAZINE
+
+FOR OCTOBER
+
+OUT TO-DAY
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, New York
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A gentleman owning a cotton estate had a characteristic old "mammy" who
+never could be found without her pipe. One day her employer asked her if
+she expected to go to heaven.
+
+"Deed I does--'deed I does."
+
+"But, auntie, you know you smoke a great deal, and the angels surely
+will not like that."
+
+"But Ise won't smoke up dar, sah!"
+
+"No; still they will smell tobacco on your breath."
+
+"'Deed dey won't, sah. Ise reckon I done leave m' bref here."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A SMALL BOY'S REASON.
+
+"Hi, Freddie!" cried his father, as the boy entered the elevator to go
+upstairs. "What are you going upstairs for?"
+
+"So's I can come down again in the elevator," said Freddie.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NO BETTER IN SOME WAYS.
+
+"Isn't the mountain air bracing?" said Mr. Hicks.
+
+"Yes, pretty bracing," said Wallie. "It doesn't make my bicycle go any
+better, though, pumping this mountain air into the tires, than the plain
+old home air does."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NO LITTLE DOG THERE.
+
+"How did you find your little dog when you got home from the country,
+Polly?"
+
+"Didn't find him."
+
+"Why, was he lost?"
+
+"No. He'd growed to be a big dog."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+IN THE MOUNTAINS.
+
+TOMMIE. "My papa's gone fly-fishing this morning."
+
+NELLIE. "Poh! That's a queer thing to do, I think. I can sit right here
+in the hotel and catch all the flies I want without going fishing for
+'em."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Sam, I'm proud of you," said the Mayor of the town. "It was a noble
+deed to jump into the water and save a drowning man."
+
+"Yes, sah."
+
+"Indeed it was, Sam. There you were on a dark night peacefully pursuing
+your way home, when the screams of a dying man reached your ears, and
+without a moment's hesitation you rushed down to the deserted pier and
+plunged into the cold water at the risk of your life, and rescued a
+fellow-being. Ah, Sam, it was certainly a noble deed, and again I say
+it, I'm proud of such a citizen, and the town joins me in bestowing its
+hearty well-wishes on you."
+
+"Yes, sah."
+
+"But, Sam, what makes you so glum about it?"
+
+"Well, jedge, it's like dis. I done jump as you say, and collar dat man,
+and bring him ter shore, but wa'd you think? I owe dat man five dollars
+for six months, and I spects I'll get anoder of dem bills fer it same as
+before. Dat's my luck to rescue de man what Ise owes money to."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: THE TRACKS THE DUCK LEAVES.]
+
+  THIS DUCKLET'S TRACKS SO MUCH RESEMBLE AUTUMN LEAVES, THAT THEY
+  ARE OFTEN BY THE NORTH WIND GATHERED UP AND BLOWN AWAY.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's Round Table, September 22,
+1896, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59387 ***