diff options
Diffstat (limited to '59410-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 59410-0.txt | 2080 |
1 files changed, 2080 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/59410-0.txt b/59410-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd57637 --- /dev/null +++ b/59410-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2080 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59410 *** + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE] + + * * * * * + +VOL. III.--NO. 146. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR +CENTS. + +Tuesday, August 15, 1882. Copyright, 1882, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50 +per Year, in Advance. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: "DON'T THINK FOR A MOMENT OF GETTING ANY OTHER CANOE."] + +THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB. + +BY W. L. ALDEN, + +AUTHOR OF "THE MORAL-PIRATES," "THE CRUISE OF THE 'GHOST,'" ETC., ETC. + +CHAPTER I. + + +It is a very easy thing for four boys to make up their minds to get four +canoes and to go on a canoe cruise, but it is not always so easy to +carry out such a project, as Charley Smith, Tom Schuyler, Harry Wilson, +and Joe Sharpe discovered. + +Canoes cost money; and though some canoes cost more than others, it is +impossible to buy a new wooden canoe of an approved model for less than +seventy-five dollars. Four canoes, at seventy-five dollars each, would +cost altogether three hundred dollars. As the entire amount of +pocket-money in the possession of the boys was only seven dollars and +thirteen cents, it was clear that they were not precisely in a position +to buy canoes. + +There was Harry's uncle, who had already furnished his nephew and his +young comrades first with a row-boat, and then with a sail-boat. Even a +benevolent uncle deserves some mercy, and the boys agreed that it would +never do to ask Uncle John to spend three hundred dollars in canoes for +them. "The most we can ask of him," said Charley Smith, "is to let us +sell the _Ghost_ and use the money to help pay for canoes." + +Now the _Ghost_, in which the boys had made a cruise along the south +shore of Long Island, was a very nice sail-boat, but it was improbable +that any one would be found who would be willing to give more than two +hundred dollars for her. There would still be a hundred dollars wanting, +and the prospect of finding that sum seemed very small. + +"If we could only have staid on that water-logged brig and brought her +into port, we should have made lots of money," said Tom. "The Captain of +the schooner that towed us home went back with a steamer and brought the +brig in yesterday. Suppose we go and look at her once more?" + +While cruising in the _Ghost_ the boys had found an abandoned brig, +which they had tried to sail into New York Harbor, but they had been +compelled to give up the task, and to hand her over to the Captain of a +schooner which towed the partly disabled _Ghost_ into port. They all +thought they would like to see the brig again, so they went down to +Burling Slip, where she was lying, and went on board her. + +The Captain of the schooner met the boys on the dock. He was in +excellent spirits, for the brig was loaded with valuable South American +timber, and he was sure of receiving as much as ten thousand dollars +from her owners. He knew very well that while the boys had no legal +right to any of the money, they had worked hard in trying to save the +brig, and had been the means of putting her in his way. He happened to +be an honest, generous man, and he felt very rich; so he insisted on +making each of the boys a present. + +The present was sealed up in an envelope, which he gave to Charley +Smith, telling him not to look at its contents until after dinner--the +boys having mentioned that they were all to take dinner together at +Uncle John's house. Charley put the envelope rather carelessly in his +pocket; but when it was opened it was found to contain four new +one-hundred-dollar bills. + +It need hardly be said that the boys were delighted. They showed the +money to Uncle John, who told them that they had fairly earned it, and +need feel no hesitation about accepting it. They had now money enough to +buy canoes and to pay the expenses of a canoe cruise. Mr. Schuyler, Mr. +Sharpe, and Charley's guardian were consulted, and at Uncle John's +request gave their consent to the canoeing scheme. The first great +difficulty in the way was thus entirely removed. + +"I don't know much about canoes," remarked Uncle John, when the boys +asked his advice as to what kind of canoes they should get, "but I know +the Commodore of a canoe club. You had better go and see him, and follow +his advice. I'll give you a letter of introduction to him." + +No time was lost in finding the Commodore, and Charley Smith explained +to him that four young canoeists would like to know what was the very +best kind of canoe for them to get. + +The Commodore, who, in spite of his magnificent title, wasn't in the +least alarming, laughed, and said: "That is a question that I've made up +my mind never to try to answer. But I'll give you the names of four +canoeists, each of whom uses a different variety of canoe. You go and +see them, listen to what they say, believe it all, and then come back +and see me, and we'll come to a decision." He then wrote four notes of +introduction, gave them to the boys, and sent them away. + +The first canoeist to whom the boys were referred received them with +great kindness, and told them that it was fortunate they had come to +him. "The canoe that you want," said he, "is the 'Rice Lake' canoe, and +if you had gone to somebody else, and he had persuaded you to buy 'Rob +Roy' canoes or 'Shadows,' you would have made a great mistake. The 'Rice +Lake' canoe is nearly flat-bottomed, and so stiff that there is no +danger that you will capsize her. She paddles easily, and sails faster +than any other canoe. She is roomy, and you can carry about twice as +much in her as you can carry in a 'Rob Roy.' She has no keel, so that +you can run rapids easily in her, and she is built in a peculiar way +that makes it impossible for her to leak. Don't think for a moment of +getting any other canoe, for if you do you will never cease to regret +it." + +He was such a pleasant, frank gentleman, and was so evidently earnest in +what he said, that the boys at once decided to get "Rice Lake" canoes. +They did not think it worth while to make any farther inquiries; but, as +they had three other notes of introduction with them, Tom Schuyler said +that it would hardly do to throw them away. So they went to see the next +canoeist, though without the least expectation that he would say +anything that would alter their decision. + +Canoeist No. 2 was as polite and enthusiastic as canoeist No. 1. "So you +boys want to get canoes, do you?" said he. "Well, there is only one +canoe for you to get, and that is the 'Shadow.' She paddles easily, and +sails faster than any other canoe. She's not a flat-bottomed skiff, like +the 'Rice Laker,' that will spill you whenever a squall strikes her, but +she has good bearings, and you can't capsize her unless you try hard. +Then, she is decked all over, and you can sleep in her at night, and +keep dry even in a thunder-storm; her water-tight compartments have +hatches in them, so that you can stow blankets and things in them that +you want to keep dry; and she has a keel, so that when you run rapids, +and she strikes on a rock, she will strike on her keel instead of her +planks. It isn't worth while for you to look at any other canoe, for +there is no canoe except the 'Shadow' that is worth having." + +"You don't think much of the 'Rice Lake' canoe, then?" asked Harry. + +"Why, she isn't a civilized canoe at all," replied the canoeist. "She is +nothing but a heavy, wooden copy of the Indian birch. She hasn't any +deck, she hasn't any water-tight compartments, and she hasn't any keel. +Whatever else you do, don't get a 'Rice Laker.'" + +The boys thanked the advocate of the "Shadow," and when they found +themselves in the street again they wondered which of the two canoeists +could be right, for each directly contradicted the other, and each +seemed to be perfectly sincere. They reconsidered their decision to buy +"Rice Lake" canoes, and looked forward with interest to their meeting +with canoeist No. 3. + +That gentleman was just as pleasant as the other two, but he did not +agree with a single thing that they had said. "There are several +different models of canoes," he remarked, "but that is simply because +there are ignorant people in the world. Mr. Macgregor, the father of +canoeing, always uses a 'Rob Roy' canoe, and no man who has once been in +a good 'Rob Roy' will ever get into any other canoe. The 'Rob Roy' +paddles like a feather, and will outsail any other canoe. She weighs +twenty pounds less than those great, lumbering canal-boats, the 'Shadow' +and the 'Rice Laker,' and it don't break your back to paddle her or to +carry her round a dam. She is decked over, but her deck isn't all cut up +with hatches. There's plenty of room to sleep in her, and her +water-tight compartments are what they pretend to be--not a couple of +leaky boxes stuffed full of blankets." + +"We have been advised," began Charley, "to get 'Shadows' or 'Rice--'" + +"Don't you do it," interrupted the canoeist. "It's lucky for you that +you came to see me. It's a perfect shame for people to try to induce you +to waste your money on worthless canoes. Mind you get 'Rob Roys,' and +nothing else. Other canoes don't deserve the name. They are schooners, +or scows, or canal-boats, but the 'Rob Roy' is a genuine canoe." + +"Now for the last canoeist on the list!" exclaimed Harry, as the boys +left the office of canoeist No. 3. "I wonder What sort of a canoe he +uses?" + +"I'm glad there is only one more of them for us to see," said Joe. "The +Commodore told us to believe all they said, and I'm trying my best to do +it, but it's the hardest job I ever tried." + +The fourth canoeist was, on the whole, the most courteous and amiable of +the four. He begged his young friends to pay no attention to those who +recommended wooden canoes, no matter what model they might be. "Canvas," +said he, "is the only thing that a canoe should be built of. It is light +and strong, and if you knock a hole in it, you can mend it in five +minutes. If you want to spend a great deal of money and own a yacht that +is too small to sail in with comfort and too clumsy to be paddled, buy a +wooden canoe; but if you really want to cruise, you will, of course, get +canvas canoes." + +"We have been advised to get 'Rice Lakers,' 'Shadows,' and 'Rob Roys,'" +said Tom, "and we did not know until now that there was such a thing as +a canvas canoe." + +"It is very sad," replied the canoeist, "that people should take +pleasure in giving such advice. They must know better. Take my advice, +my dear boys, and get canvas canoes. All the really good canoeists in +the country would say the same thing to you." + +"We must try," said Joe, as the boys walked back to the Commodore's +office, "to believe that the 'Rice Laker,' the 'Shadow,' the 'Rob Roy,' +and the canvas canoe is the best one ever built. It seems to me +something like believing that four and one are just the same. Perhaps +you fellows can do it, but I'm not strong enough to believe as much as +that all at one time." + +The Commodore smiled when the boys entered his office for the second +time, and said, "Well, of course you've found out what is the best +canoe, and know just what you want to buy?" + +"We've seen four men," replied Harry, "and each one says that the canoe +that he recommends is the only good one, and that all the others are +good for nothing." + +"I might have sent you to four other men, and they would have told you +of four other canoes, each of which is the best in existence. But +perhaps you have already heard enough to make up your minds." + +"We're farther from making up our minds than ever," said Harry. "I do +wish you would tell us what kind of canoe is really the best." + +"The truth is," said the Commodore, "that there isn't much to choose +among the different models of canoes, and you'll find that every +canoeist is honestly certain that he has the best one. Now I won't +undertake to select canoes for you, though I will suggest that a light +'Rob Roy' would probably be a good choice for the smallest of you boys. +Why don't you try all four of the canoes that have just been recommended +to you? Then, if you cruise together, you can perhaps find out if any +one of them is really better than the others. I will give you the names +of three or four builders, all of whom build good strong boats." + +This advice pleased the boys, and they resolved to accept it. That +evening they all met at Harry's home, and decided what canoes they would +get. Harry determined to get a "Shadow," Tom a "Rice Laker," Charley a +canvas canoe, and Joe a "Rob Roy"; and the next morning orders for the +four canoes were mailed to the builders whom the Commodore had +recommended. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +GRAN'MA'S STITCHES. + +BY MRS. A. E. THOMAS. + + + "Hush, dear," said mamma, while busy at play + Were three little mischievous witches; + Little Charley and Lulu, and sweet baby May, + "Hush! Gran'ma is counting her stitches. + + "Don't chatter so loud. Ah, see her lips move, + To wreathe in that smile which enriches + Your own lives and mine, my dear little elves; + Ah, hear her now counting her stitches. + + "See her pearly white ball, and her soft bordered cap, + With little blue bows in the niches, + And the sheath for her glasses that lie on her lap, + While she's busily counting her stitches." + + The bright summer sped, and the beautiful snow + Came falling, and filling the ditches, + When warm little toes, wrapped in soft woollen hose, + Showed that grandma _had_ counted her stitches. + + + + +GLUCK. + +BY MRS. JOHN LILLIE. + + +When I was a child I used to be very fond of a faded little picture +which hung in my grandmother's house. It was on a staircase, and going +up and down we liked to stop and look at it, and make up stories about +it. + +[Illustration: THE OLD PICTURE ON THE STAIRWAY.] + +The picture represented a fine room, evidently in a palace, and a very +splendidly dressed lady, with a tremendous coiffure and a brocaded gown, +sitting before a spinet, or old-fashioned piano. + +Near her was seated a gentleman, also dressed in the fashion of 1770. He +seemed to be teaching her to play. The young lady was charmingly pretty, +we thought. The gentleman had a strong, rather stern face, high +cheek-bones, and a big forehead; but the look of his eyes was by no +means unkindly. Underneath the picture was engraved in script, with any +number of flourishes, "_Gluck and Marie Antoinette_." + +The little picture was of no particular merit as a work of art, yet it +possessed such an extraordinary fascination for my childish eyes that +the other day, when at a concert I listened to some of Gluck's grand +music, the strains seemed to bring it back in a flash to my mind's eye. +In imagination I saw again clearly the little ebony frame, the faded +tints, the pretty smiling young Dauphiness, and the stern, kind-hearted +master. + +Christoph Willibald, Ritter von Gluck, was born at Weidenwang on July 2, +1714. His destiny was to improve the form and style of operatic music, +and to leave behind him some of the most enchanting compositions the +world has ever listened to. + +Gluck's father was in the service of a Prince, and Christoph had all the +musical advantages of the period. He learned the violin, the organ, and +the harpsichord, and early tried his hand at composition. His ideas were +mainly dramatic, but the opera of that day was very unsatisfactory, and +Gluck's first operas were not a great advance on those of other writers. +However, he felt quite sure that something much better could be done, +and when in 1736 he went to England, he visited Handel, who was then +prosperous and busy in the court of George II. + +Gluck was only twenty-two, an eager, restless young man, with his head +full of ideas and his pockets full of manuscripts. To old Handel he +came, and showed him his music, and begging for criticism, but Handel +would only admit that it "promised well." Off went Gluck to Paris, and +there met with much encouragement from the poets and writers of the day, +as well as from the King and Queen. I do not think that, with all his +work and his success, his life could have been very happy during those +years. He was easily excited, easily depressed. He hated the wickedness +of the people about him, their light ways, their frivolous ideas, even +their splendor and riches. Paris in those days was a place in which it +was hard for a young man to fear God and himself, and that Gluck lived +free from the sins of those about him ought to make us less severe in +judging the weakness of his later years. He began to use stimulants for +his health, and gradually became addicted to drinking to drown thought +and fire him for his work. + +Fashion governed art and music very curiously in those days. It was in +1746 that there was a rage in England for what was called the "glasses." +This was in reality a harmonica--an instrument made of glasses, and +which, by applying a finger moistened with water, produced what were +considered agreeable concords. It is odd to think of the great composer +Gluck making his bow before the public at the Haymarket Theatre as a +performer on the musical glasses. In one of Horace Walpole's famous +letters he writes of this event as stirring the fashionable world. The +instrument later became very popular, and Mozart and Beethoven did not +disdain to write music for it. + +Gluck's work went on very steadily in spite of the controversies of his +friends and enemies and his personal annoyances. Final success came with +his grand opera founded on the mythological story of _Orpheus and +Eurydice_. + +I have told you that Gluck reformed the style of the opera. He modelled +his work upon the old Greek ideas of dramatic art. He felt that so far +the opera had been more like a concert--a mere collection of melodies +and ballets. He bent all his energies to making a lyric drama of opera, +and he succeeded. To Gluck we owe the best that we have had in opera +since his day. + +In Vienna much of his time and his work had to be given to the princes +and princesses who were his patrons. On one occasion the royal family +performed his opera of _Il Parnasso_. It was about this time he taught +the Archduchess Marie Antoinette, and later she wrote from Paris to her +sister speaking of him as "notre cher Gluck" (our dear Gluck). + +It was Gluck who first introduced cymbals and the big drum into the +orchestra. He fought hard over this innovation. His enemies got out +satirical pamphlets, in which his "big noises" were ridiculed, but Gluck +went his own way, determined to carry his point and prove himself right. + +Gluck's last opera was _Echo et Narcisse_. This was produced in 1779, +and soon after he retired to Vienna, where he passed his last years +among the kindest friends. In 1787 he died suddenly. + +The great object of Gluck's life was thoroughly attained. He made +himself felt in every branch of operatic performance. He improved the +method, arrangement, and especially its _dramatic_ power. He made it a +drama, and its music classical. + +This word _classical_, as applied to music, I am sure many of our young +people do not fully understand. To define it completely would be +difficult, but I will try and give you some idea of what it means. + +Strictly speaking, then, classical music is that which is written +according to rule and law: with an intention of producing the most +complete harmonies. Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Gluck, and countless +other composers wrote strictly classical music, although Gluck was not +remarkable for his counterpoint. + +Counterpoint is the "art of combining melodies." The name had a very +natural origin. In old times, when notes were designated by little +points or pricks, and several of these were joined together to produce a +harmony, it was called "point against point," or _counterpoint_. If the +rules of counterpoint are strictly observed, the piece is said to be +composed "in perfect counterpoint." + +Sometimes you will find a fragment of simple old music with various +parts added. This would be "adding counterpoint to a subject." + +Handel, when Gluck went to him first, said "he knew no more of +counterpoint than his cook," but the master of modern opera had many +other strong points, and the music of _Orpheus_ and of _Iphigenia_ will +endure while there are hearts to listen. + + + + +HURRAH! FOUR KINGS! + + +[Illustration: FREDERICK WILLIAM AUGUST VICTOR ERNEST.] + +No less than five long names belong to the little baby Prince who +nestles so cozily here on his great-grandfather's lap. The soldierly +looking old gentleman is the Emperor William of Germany. The babe is +also the great-grandson of the good Queen Victoria, but the little +fellow is too young to know to what honors he is born. His father, who +stands on the right, is himself the son of the Crown Prince, who will be +the successor of the sturdy old Emperor William when he shall have +passed away. + +"Hurrah! Four Kings!" was the joyous cry with which the royal babe was +greeted when he was first presented to the Emperor. You may look at the +four in our artist's beautiful picture, and then, perhaps, you will be +interested to hear about the christening, which took place in a gallery +of the Marble Palace at Potsdam, on the afternoon of June 11, 1882. + +This was the anniversary of the Emperor's wedding. Himself and the +Empress Augusta, his wife, the Crown Prince and Princess, and the +youthful father and mother, stood together before the clergyman, the +Emperor receiving and holding the babe in his own arms. Around this +group were clustered a great number of stately royal personages, +brilliantly dressed, and blazing with jewels and decorations. Among the +godfathers and godmothers were included not only Kings, Queens, and +Princes, but, to their delight no doubt, the youthful uncles and aunts +of the pretty baby. + +The minister preached a sermon suitable to the occasion, from the text, +"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of +these is charity." + +Three years ago, when the Emperor's golden wedding was celebrated, the +same preacher spoke from the same text, which is certainly a very +beautiful one, especially when we remember that charity as here used +means love. + +Very likely some of you are wondering how the baby Prince behaved during +the ceremony. For a while he was very good and patient, but by-and-by he +grew very restless, and presently screamed as loud and cried as heartily +as though he had been some little peasant Fritz, and not a royal little +Frederick William. All the same, the baptismal water was sprinkled on +his brow, and he received the blessing from the lips of the good +minister. He was called Frederick William August Victor Ernest. These +names have long been borne by the Kings of Prussia. May he wear them +worthily! After the christening there was a magnificent musical service +by the choir, and then the great people sat down together to an imperial +dinner. The tired little Prince was taken to his nursery, and put to +sleep with many a kiss. + + + + +LEO. + +BY EDWARD I. STEVENSON. + + +Ford Bonner may live to be a very old man--he is "going on" fifteen +now--but it is likely that he will always recollect what occurred upon a +certain dark evening in August two years ago. Ford's father and mother +were travelling in Europe that summer; hence Ford, who was all the rest +of the year a boarding-school-boy of the first water, spent his vacation +at his Uncle Pepper's country place. + +Ford's chief companion from day to day, as he scrambled among the rocky +spurs, was Leo. Leo was a Scotch grayhound, Major Pepper's particular +pet. Now one curious trait of his did equal honor to his head and heart. +He had been bought at Black's Hollow, a village--if a store, which also +was a Post-office, and six or seven dwellings, can be called a +village--about two miles further up the road, among the mountains. +Regularly once or twice a week would Leo slip innocently off in the +morning for a whole day's visiting with any four-legged playmates whose +society he had formerly relished at Black's Hollow. On such occasions +Ford had to ramble on the heights alone. + +Now Amzi Spinner, Major Pepper's hired man, had a brother who kept the +Post-office and store at the Hollow. As soon as Amzi discovered Leo's +trick of going so frequently thither of his own will, it seemed good to +him to teach the dog to carry a letter there with safety and dispatch +whenever told to do so. Amzi would tie his missives securely about the +bright-eyed, lithe dog's neck, and say in his Yankee drawl: + +"Naow, Leo, you jest make tracks for the village, double-quick. Do you +understand? That letter'd ought to git to the store. Be off!" + +Leo would leap away, barking joyfully, and in an hour return to seek +Amzi in field or barn, collared with an answer from Lot Spinner. In this +way the dog became, in a limited sense, the messenger and postman of the +family when occasion prompted, and a very quick and faithful one. + +It was the last Thursday in August when Major Pepper, finishing his +second cup of coffee at breakfast, exclaimed to his wife, "There, Helen. +I forgot to tell you last night that if you want to go down to the town +in the phaeton with me to-day and give this afternoon to picking out +those carpets, it'll suit me capitally." + +Aunt Pepper laughed. "Why does a man always choose just the wrong day of +all others?" she said, merrily. "Amzi and Mira" (Mira was Amzi's wife +and Aunt Pepper's cook) "wanted to go to New York to-day to attend that +wedding--her sister's, you recollect. They started early (at four +o'clock) for the station, and I don't expect them back until long after +we're in bed to-night. I can't leave the house and Ford to take care of +themselves." + +"Oh yes, you can," laughed Uncle Pepper. "Ford might go along if it +wouldn't be a hot and stupid day in town for him--we shall be so busy. +Leave him a good luncheon, and let him keep house by himself for once. +Leo will help him. You wouldn't mind it, eh, Ford?" + +Ford laughed too, and said that he rather guessed not. + +"We'll not be later in getting back home than six o'clock, I suppose," +said Aunt Pepper, reluctantly consenting. + +"Oh dear no," replied the Major, "and Ford will just have a fine +appetite for a late dinner." + +A half-hour later Ford and Leo, the one with his hand and the other with +his active if unimportant tail, waved Major and Mrs. Pepper good-by from +the broad piazza, and then turned themselves about to begin the work of +passing a jolly day together. Ford did not like to leave the house for +any length of time. + +A wooden swing he was contriving in the garden, the arrangement of his +collection of Indian relics, and a letter to his room-mate at the +school--one Harry North--took up all the forenoon. + +This latter, or letter business, was still on hand, and Ford was +scratching away at it in the summer-house, when Leo suddenly growled. +Then he sprang up, barking violently. A strange gentleman was leisurely +drawing near the pair of friends. Ford rose and stepped out of his +retreat. + +"I beg pardon for interrupting you, sir," began the stranger, very +pleasantly, "but are your father and mother at home to-day?" + +"My father and mother are in Europe, sir," replied Ford, "but--" + +"Ah--oh--I see," continued the civil stranger. "I had forgotten that my +old friends Major and Mrs. Pepper had no children. Is your uncle at +home?" + +"I'm sorry, sir," replied Ford, "but they have both driven to town this +morning, and will not be back till evening. Be quiet, Leo!" for Leo +persisted in showing his teeth, and making sundry impolite noises, not +to say growls, while he eyed the polite new-comer very much as if he had +been a snake. + +"A fine dog that," remarked the stranger, carelessly. "Well, since I am +unlucky enough to miss your uncle, could I see that excellent man he +employs here, Amzi--Amzi--dear me, I can not just recall his name." The +strange gentleman had a clear, rich voice. He was, by-the-way, a stout, +well-made young man, with a dark blue cravat. + +"Sorry again, sir," returned Ford, "but Amzi and Mira are away too until +quite late this evening. It just happens so. Couldn't I take your +message for uncle? Leo, be still, I tell you!" + +"You're very kind, my dear boy," said the unknown gentleman, looking at +his watch, and backing out from the summer-house gracefully, "but I +won't trouble you. I should prefer riding over from my place to-morrow +evening. Please tell your good uncle that Mr. Alexander Kingbolt--he +will remember my name--called on business, and will see him to-morrow +evening if possible, at eight. Good-by." And Mr. Alexander Kingbolt, +whistling sweetly "There's one more River to Cross," stepped into a +light buggy standing without the gate. Another gentleman sat in it, and +the two rode away talking rapidly. + +The afternoon shadows grew long; twilight closed in; Ford and Leo sat +together, the boy with his hand upon the dog's head. Both began to feel +somewhat lonely--at least Ford did. Why in the world did not the phaeton +come toiling up the steep mountain road? Halloa! a white owl fluttered +across the lawn into an acacia. + +Ford had long desired to ascertain that particular owl's private +address. He dashed after it, and Leo bore him company. Up through the +dark garden bird, boy, and dog sped. Presently Ford slipped and fell. He +uttered a cry when he rose, and found that he could put his left foot to +the ground only with a pain that sickened him, so severely had his fall +strained it. + +Very slowly and painfully Ford limped into the garden again, his unlucky +foot feeling more miserable with each step. All at once he looked +through the trees, and saw lights in the dining-room of his uncle's +house. + +Major Pepper and Aunt Helen were back, doubtless much disturbed to know +where in the world Ford and Leo had gone, or since what hour of the day. + +As he drew nearer the closed shutters, he caught the sound of low +strange voices, the faint clink of a hammer. Could it be possible +anything was amiss? Ford was frightened, but prudent. "Leo," said he, +very softly, but almost sternly, to the dog, whose ears were on the +alert too, "lie down." + +Leo obeyed. + +Forgetting his painful foot in his breathless excitement, Ford crept +down along the back of the house. The strange voices came clearly from +within. "And we'd better be quick about it," somebody was saying. + +A robbery it surely was. Ford turned the blind and looked within the +dining-room. A lamp was lit. The small safe wherein Major Pepper usually +kept his papers and any large sum of money he happened to have in the +house for a day or so was rolled out to the middle of the room. Over it +leaned a tall well-dressed man, impatiently directing another man who +knelt before it, and was working at the old-fashioned lock with some +tools he had evidently brought for the purpose. + +Ford caught sight of a profile, and the sound of "One more River to +Cross," whistled very gently. The man working at the safe door was Mr. +Alexander Kingbolt. An exceedingly frightened boy was Ford Bonner. + +"So then they can't possibly get over the bridge?" said Mr. Kingbolt, +plying his chisel. + +"All the planks are up, and hid away till we go down, I tell you," +replied the other, "and a red lantern hung across it." + +"The bridge," Ford knew at once, must mean a narrow rough structure +across a stream just before the road from town wound up the mountain. + +"They're likely on their way around by the other one. It'll take them +till midnight." + +There was a pause. Then said Mr. Kingbolt, out of breath, "Where do you +suppose that boy and the dog are?" + +"Lost on the mountain, I dare say. But if they come back before we get +through, we can fix them somehow." + +Ford slipped from below the window. The boy understood all. Many houses +in the town had been robbed lately. The "gang" had in some way learned +that Major Pepper was occasionally obliged to keep large amounts of +money in his lonely country house. They had chosen their day carefully, +made or else altered their plans that very morning, thanks to Ford's own +politeness in answering Mr. Kingbolt's questions. By a trick they had +sent Major and Mrs. Pepper around by their longest route for home. The +whole thing was a hastily but cleverly planned scheme. And Ford could do +nothing--alone; the nearest houses in the village two miles up the +mountain; his swollen foot! + +Had he forgotten Leo? The thought darted into his confused mind like a +flash. He leaned forward into a ray of light, and drew out gently his +pencil, and the envelope, still undirected, in which was his letter to +Harry North. He managed to control his excitement and terror enough to +scrawl upon it: "There are burglars in our house. Come quick, somebody. +Ford Bonner." + +The envelope was secured by Ford's shoestring to the greyhound's neck. +"Be very quiet, Leo," he kept whispering, almost beseechingly, as he led +the dog as well as he could down the far side of the garden, along the +fence, and some distance up the road, lest Leo should bark. + +"Quick, Leo! To the Post-office--to the Post-office!" he cried, +tremblingly, pushing and pointing the dog off. + +Leo refused to go. He did not understand all this mystery. Ford felt for +a stick, and shook it at him. Leo bounded away silently up the steep. +Ford half fell, half sat down, in the darkness on the grass. + +He never knew how long it was before he was startled from his stupor by +hearing stealthy steps approach down the road. He strained his young +eyes to make out a dozen tall figures moving noiselessly toward his +hiding-place. They were the astonished men from the village, roused from +their circle of gossip around the stoop of the store by Leo's advent and +extraordinary excitement. + +The letter had been discovered at once by Amzi's brother himself, who, +like the rest, with stockings drawn over his boots, headed the party. +Ford intercepted them, and made his hurried explanation. + +"Stay here," said Lot Spinner, "till we call you." + +They leaped the garden wall. A few minutes later Ford heard shouts, and +the sound of a gun or two, and a struggle on the house piazza. + +"They've got 'em!" he exclaimed, delight and relief getting the best of +his long fright and pain. + +And so they had; for when Lot Spinner came up and carried the boy down +to the house, "Mr. Alexander Kingbolt"--afterward put into jail as +Dennis Leary--his comrades, and their tools were all secured under rude +guardianship together. + +Just as Ford was helped into the house, Leo darted up. The dog had been +left behind, lest he should warn the burglars of the party coming from +the village, but he had contrived to make his escape. + +Ford joined in the cheers for him when at eleven o'clock Major and Mrs. +Pepper rode hurriedly up to the brightly lit house to hear the end of +the story which the village people up the mountain had stopped them +hurrying toward home to tell. Soon after arrived Amzi and Mira; more +explanations, and much more ado made over Ford and Leo than either of +them relished. + +"The scamps would have got away with a couple of thousand dollars, +Ford," exclaimed the Major again and again. "It was some money that a +man was to call here and get to-morrow morning." + +Leo wagged his tail complacently. + +So much for a brave boy's coolness, and an obedient dog's intelligence. + + + + +MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER.[1] + +[1] Begun in No. 127, HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. + +BY JAMES OTIS, + +AUTHOR OF "TOBY TYLER," "TIM AND TIP," ETC. + +CHAPTER XX. + +ABNER'S DEATH. + + +After Toby was left alone in the tent he remained for some time looking +at the triumphant monkey, and listening to Ben's attempts to crawl +around under the barn as fast as the cat could, when suddenly, as if +such a thought had not occurred to him before, he cried out, + +"Don't you want me to come an' help you, Ben?" + +"You keep that monkey back; that's all the helpin' I want," Ben replied, +almost sharply; and then the sounds indicated that the cat had suddenly +changed her position to one farther under the barn, while the boy was +trying to frighten her out. + +"Give it up, Ben," shouted Toby, after waiting some time longer, and not +seeing any sign of success on the part of his friend. "If you come up +here about dark, you'll have a chance to catch her, for she'll have to +come out for something to eat." + +"You take the monkey into the house, an' I'll get along all right," was +the almost savage reply. "She smells him, an' jest as long as he's +there, she'll stay under here." + +It seemed to Toby almost cruel to desert his friend and partner just at +a time when he needed assistance; but he could do no less than go away, +since he had been urged so peremptorily to do so, and catching his pet +without much difficulty, he carried Mr. Stubbs's brother away from the +scene of the ruin he had caused. + +Ben's remark that the monkey had "broke the show all up" seemed to be +very near the truth, for the boys would not think of going on with so +small a number of animals; and even if they decided to do without the +menagerie, Bob's calf had wrecked one side of the tent so completely +that that particular piece of canvas was past mending. + +"I don't know what we'll do," said Toby, mournfully, after he had +finished telling the story to Aunt Olive. "The boys act as if they +blamed me, because Mr. Stubbs's brother is so bad, and Joe's squirrels +an' Bob's mice are all gone. Ben's hen don't look as if she'd ever +'mount to much, an' it don't seem to me that he can get Mrs. Simpson's +cat an' every one of the kittens out from under the barn." + +"Now don't go to worryin' about that, Toby," said Aunt Olive, as she +patted him on the head, and gave him a large piece of cake at the same +time. "You can get a dozen cats for Mrs. Simpson if she wants 'em; and +as for mice, you tell Bob to set his trap out in the granary two or +three times, an' he'll have as many as he can take care of. I'm glad the +squirrels did get away, for it seems such a sin to shut them up in a +cage when they're so happy in the woods." + +Toby was cheered by the very philosophical view that Aunt Olive took of +the affair, and came to the conclusion that matters were not more than +half so bad as they might have been. + +"You be careful that your monkey don't get out again, an' go to cuttin' +up as he did last night, for I shall get provoked with him if he hurts +my ducks any more;" and with this bit of advice Aunt Olive went upstairs +to see Abner. + +Toby went out to the shed to assure himself that Mr. Stubbs's brother +was tied so that he could not escape, and while he was there Uncle +Daniel came in with an armful of strips of board. + +"There, Toby boy," he said, as he laid them on the floor, and looked +around for the hammer and nails, "I'm going to build a pen for your +monkey right up here in one corner, so that we sha'n't be called up +again in the night by a false alarm of burglars. Besides, it's almost +time for school to begin again, an' I'm 'most too old to commence +chasing monkeys around the country in case he gets out while you're +away." + +Had it been suggested the day before that Mr. Stubbs's brother was to be +shut up in a cage, Toby would have thought it a very great hardship for +his pet to endure; but the experience he had had in the last twenty-four +hours convinced him that the imprisonment was for the best. + +He helped Uncle Daniel in his labor to such purpose that when it was +time for him to go to the pasture the cage was built, and Mr. Stubbs's +brother was in it, looking as if he considered himself a thoroughly +abused monkey, because he was not allowed to play just such pranks as +had roused the household as well as broken up the circus scheme. + +On his way to the pasture Toby met Joe, and the two had a long talk +about the disaster of the afternoon. Joe believed that the enterprise +must be abandoned--for that summer at least--as it would take them some +time to repair the damage done, and his short experience in the business +caused him to believe that they could hardly hope to compete with real +circuses until they had more material with which to work. + +Joe promised to see the other partners that evening or the next morning, +and if they were of the same opinion, the tent should be taken down and +returned to its owner. + +"Perhaps we can fix it all right next year, an' then Abner will be +'round to help," said Toby, as he parted with Joe that night; and thus +was the circus project ended very sensibly, for the chances were that it +would have been a failure if they had attempted to give their +exhibition. + +During that afternoon Toby had worried less about Abner than on any day +since he had been sick. He had felt that his friend's recovery was +certain, and a load was lifted from his shoulders when he and Joe had +decided regarding the circus; for, that out of the way, he could devote +all his attention to his sick friend. Surely, with the ponies and the +monkey they could have a great deal of sport during the two weeks that +yet remained before school would begin, and Toby felt thoroughly happy. + +But his happiness was changed to alarm very soon after he entered the +house, for the doctor was there again, and from the look on the faces of +Uncle Daniel and Aunt Olive he knew Abner must be worse. + +"What is it, Uncle Dan'l? is Abner any sicker?" he asked, with quivering +lip, as he looked up at the wrinkled face that ever wore a kindly look +for him. + +Uncle Daniel laid his hand affectionately on the head of the boy whom he +had cared for with the tenderness of a father since the day he repented +and asked forgiveness for having run away, and his voice trembled as he +said: + +"It is very likely that the good God will take the crippled boy to +Himself to-night, Toby, and there in the heavenly mansions will he find +relief from all his pain and infirmities. Then the poor-farm boy will no +longer be an orphan or deformed, but with his Almighty Father will enter +into such joys as we can have no conception of." + +"Oh, Uncle Dan'l! must Abner really die?" cried Toby, while the great +tears chased each other down his cheeks, and he hid his face on Uncle +Daniel's knee. + +"He will die here, Toby boy, but it is simply an awakening into a +perfect, glorious life, to which I pray that both you and I may be +prepared to go when our Father calls us." + +[Illustration: "THE GREAT WHITE-WINGED MESSENGER OF GOD CAME."] + +For some time there was silence in the room, broken only by Toby's sobs; +and while Uncle Daniel stroked the weeping boy's head, the great +white-winged messenger of God came into the chamber above, bearing away +with him the spirit of the poor-farm boy. + +THE END. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration: "WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?"] + + + + +MR. THOMPSON AND THE CROWS. + +BY ALLAN FORMAN. + + +"I reckon them plaguey crows are goin' to eat up all the corn," said +'Lisha one morning during a discussion with Mr. Thompson regarding the +weather, the state of the crops, and so forth. + +"Hm!" said Mr. Thompson; then paused as if immersed in thought. "Hm!" he +continued; "I have read that in England children are employed to keep +the crows off the corn." + +"Reckon corn can't pay a very big profit there, if they have to take the +child's wages out of the price of the crop," commented 'Lisha. + +"And it struck me," continued Mr. Thompson, not heeding the +interruption, "that I might sit in the field and read, and at the same +time keep the crows away." + +"I s'pose you could, ef you didn't go to sleep," replied 'Lisha, with a +sly laugh. + +Mr. Thompson sniffed indignantly, and after a little more talk it was +decided that he should take his book and sit in the corner of the field. +After he had settled himself comfortably, and read several pages, he +began to feel drowsy. His book dropped on his knee, and his thoughts +turned to the crows. + +"I wonder what they pull up the corn for?" he murmured. "They don't seem +to eat it." + +"'Cause," replied a coarse voice just behind him. + +"'Cause why?" inquired Mr. Thompson. + +"'Cause we do eat some, and we pull up the rest for fun," replied the +voice. + +Mr. Thompson turned to look: there was a big crow sitting on the fence +gazing at him curiously, his black head was cocked on one side, and his +bead-like eyes were full of mischief. + +"Don't you know that is very wicked?" said Mr. Thompson, severely. + +"Humph!" croaked the crow, contemptuously. "If you was a crow, you'd +feel differently." + +"I should always feel like doing right," said Mr. Thompson. + +"Try it, and see," croaked the crow. + +Mr. Thompson felt himself shrinking, and his black coat was changing to +feathers. + +No sooner had the change become complete than he felt an irresistible +desire to pull up a hill of corn. As soon as he had uprooted one, he was +filled with joy and a desire to destroy. He went to work with a will, +and in a few minutes had pulled up quite a number. + +"I thought that was very wicked," croaked a hoarse voice, with a tone of +sarcasm. + +Mr. Thompson paused a moment. "It is," he admitted. "But," he added, "it +is such fun; and then men shoot us at every possible opportunity. It is +no more than fair that we should get even with them." + +"You talk like a sensible crow," said his companion. "But here comes a +man;" and he uttered a derisive "Caw!" as he flew off, followed by Mr. +Thompson. + +"Let's go down to the shore," remarked the crow, as they came in sight +of Long Island Sound. + +Soon they were on the shore of a little creek that came in from the +Sound. Mr. Thompson and his companion walked along the edge of the +water, when suddenly Mr. Thompson spied a soft crab. He made a quick +snatch for it, and caught it. His companion looked on in disdain. + +"Humph!" he said, "who wants a crab? I've got a clam." + +"What good is a clam?" retorted Mr. Thompson. "You can't open it." + +"Can't I, though?" and the crow took the clam in his beak, flew high +over the stony beach, and dropped it. The shell cracked, and the crow +ate the clam with a relish. + +"Look out! here comes a kingbird!" + +Suddenly, with an angry cry, a small gray bird swooped down upon them, +and making a vigorous peck at Mr. Thompson's eye, dashed off before he +could retaliate. + +"Come on," cried the old crow: "there is no use of sitting still and +getting our eyes picked out." + +They flew as rapidly as they could over toward the corn field, the +kingbird following them a part of the way. When they reached the field, +the crow alighted on the head of a stuffed figure which the farmer had +set up for a scarecrow. Mr. Thompson settled on the outstretched arm. + +"Yes," said the old crow, as if continuing a previous +conversation--"yes, it amuses me to see the way these farmers think to +frighten us with their stuffed figures. Now anything that is in motion, +like that bunch of feathers over there, really does scare me, for I +never know how far it will swing; but the idea of any intelligent crow +being frightened at this thing--why, it is preposterous. And then the +contemptible way in which they treat us, too--shooting us whenever they +have a chance. Now there comes a crowd up the road in a wagon. They +won't hurt us; they are afraid to shoot when the horses are around. +Hullo! one man is getting out, and, as I live, he has a gun. Let's be +off." + +But Mr. Thompson got confused, and instead of flying away, he flapped +heavily toward the corner of the field, and alighted beside his book. +The man with the gun crawled cautiously up to the fence. It was 'Lisha. + +"Wa'al, I vow, ef here ain't Mr. Thompson fast asleep!" he muttered. +"I'll give him a scare;" and cocking his gun, he discharged it close to +Mr. Thompson. + +Mr. Thompson jumped up, and looked around savagely. "What are you +shooting at?" he demanded, sharply. + +"Nothin' in particular," replied 'Lisha, somewhat abashed. "I tried to +shoot a crow, but the pesky thing flew off." + +"Of course he did. We saw you get out of the wagon, and he knew you had +come to murder him," said Mr. Thompson, severely. + +'Lisha looked at him in surprise. "I reckon you've been asleep," he +ventured. "You cum out to keep the crows off the corn, and when I cum +here, thar was two settin' on the scarecrow." + +"Yes," replied Mr. Thompson, calmly, "that was my friend and me;" and he +walked majestically toward the house. + +'Lisha looked at him in open-mouthed amazement. "Wa'al, I vow, he _do_ +hev the funniest dreams!" he muttered. "But," he added, after a moment's +reflection, "it 'pears to me one of them crows did fly over to this +corner." And 'Lisha shouldered his gun and walked home, speculating upon +the eccentricities of the "city boarder." + + + + +SOMETHING ABOUT LIGHTNING. + +BY C. J. M. + + +I wonder how many of the readers of the YOUNG PEOPLE, while watching the +vivid flashes of lightning during a summer-storm, have ever asked the +question, What is lightning? This problem has puzzled many old and wise +heads, and the solution is apparently as far off as ever. + +Scientific men are agreed that lightning is electricity, differing in no +wise from that which can be produced by rubbing a piece of amber or by +an electrical machine, except in power; but of what might be called the +inner nature of this electricity they are quite ignorant. They can only +observe and study its effects. + +Lightning is divided into two kinds, which you will recognize under the +names of sheet and forked lightning. Sheet lightning is supposed to be +caused by the discharge of electricity over a large space, while forked +lightning consists of a ball of fire rushing with exceeding swiftness +through the air, and very often destroying everything in its way. + +The passage of one of these fire-balls is nearly always in a zigzag +line, and so rapidly does it travel that it always presents to the eye +the appearance of an unbroken line. It has not yet been possible to +measure its rate of speed, but it exceeds that of light, which is +185,000 miles in a second. Some of the flashes of lightning have been +estimated at more than ten miles in length, while those from five to +eight miles long are not so uncommon. The brilliancy of some of these +flashes is so great that cases are on record where a flash has rendered +the beholder incurably blind. + +The idea that electricity and lightning were one and the same seems to +have been first entertained about the middle of the seventeenth century. +Many experiments were made to establish the relationship, but without +any decisive result, when one of our own countrymen, Benjamin Franklin, +gave a new impulse to the science. After a number of experiments, he was +impressed with the idea that a metal point raised to a great height in +the air would form a conductor for the electricity stored in the +thunder-clouds. + +Too impatient to wait for the completion of a church steeple which he +intended to make use of in his investigations, he prepared a kite, using +silk to enable it to withstand rain, and with it made his early +experiments--at first privately, because of the fear that his neighbors +would ridicule an old man's kite-flying. He raised the kite during a +storm, and was delighted to feel, on applying his finger to the string, +a slight spark. For the first time man had succeeded in coaxing the +lightning from the clouds, and playing with it. This occurred in 1752. + +Scientific men everywhere now began to devote themselves to the study of +electricity. It was discovered that lightning burns its way, setting +fire even to metals, and melting sand into glass by momentary contact. A +striking illustration of its intense heat are the fulgurites, or curious +glass tubes, produced from sand by lightning as follows: In certain +places, where the ground is formed of a particular kind of sand, and +lightning enters it from a cloud, the expansion of the air, as the +electricity rushes through, forces it back in all directions, and the +heat melts it into glass at the same time. These tubes have a diameter +of one or two inches, and ordinarily a length of two or three feet. The +interior surface is glazed, while the outside is formed of sand. Many +have been taken out of the ground entire, and placed in museums as +curiosities. It is said that fulgurites twenty to thirty feet in length +have been discovered. + +The experiments of the men to whom we are indebted for our knowledge of +these marvels of nature are not always unattended with danger. In 1753, +Richman, a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, had an iron +rod for the attraction of electricity erected on his house and continued +down into his study, in order to be better able to observe its effects. +During a violent storm he was working at some distance from the +conductor in order to be out of the way of the large sparks. He at last +incautiously approached too near, when a globe of bluish fire struck him +on the forehead, killing him instantly. + +The following incident illustrates the danger of being in a direct line +with any article of iron during a storm. A number of people were +assembled in one room of a house, conversing and watching the play of +the lightning, when one of their number was struck and instantly killed +by a flash that came from overhead. The death of this one man and the +escape of all the rest were at first regarded as one of the freaks of +which lightning is frequently guilty, but a close search revealed the +fact that the accident was strictly in accordance with natural laws. It +was found that in the room above, there hung a saw, one end of it nearly +touching the floor directly over the man's head, while in the cellar +below were a number of iron tools, among them a crowbar standing in such +a position that the upper end of it was directly beneath his feet. His +body had therefore only been a connecting link in the chain along which +the lightning had travelled. + +Another incident, but of a less tragic character, is the following. +During a violent thunder-storm lightning struck a farm-house; a ball of +fire descended through the chimney, and rolled across the floor of a +room in which three women and a child were sitting without injuring +them. It then rolled out through the kitchen, passing close to the feet +of a young man, and passed out through a crevice in the wall. It next +appeared in the pig-sty, and killed the pig without burning the straw on +which it lay. + +In olden times, before the study of the natural sciences was undertaken, +every occurrence out of the common was thought to be an act of Divine +power. Even in our days this idea has not entirely died out, and in +those countries where people are ignorant lightning is still regarded as +a mark of God's anger and a visitation sent for the punishment of sin. +But with the spread of scientific knowledge it has been robbed of its +terrors, and in the lightning-rod a means has been given us of +attracting and controlling the electric current, and thus protecting +ourselves from harm. + + + + +[Illustration: POOR OLD DOBBIN!] + + + + +JUBE'S WATER-MELON. + +BY WADE WHIPPLE. + + +It was one of the happiest moments of Jube Rosewood's life when, as he +was passing Farmer Tappan's melon patch one day, the owner hailed him, +and exclaimed: + +"Jube, I promised you a reward for driving old Brindle home the other +morning, and now if you will jump over that fence and take your pick of +those water-melons, you can tote it along home with you." + +Jube was one of the blackest little fellows that had ever basked in the +sunlight of a Georgia plantation, but his eyes and teeth flashed out +such a gleam of joy at this golden promise that his swarthy face seemed +like a dark lantern with the slide suddenly turned as he made the +delighted response: + +"Mars' Tappan, you's fetched me right whar I's lierble ter feel mo' +bleedzd to yer dan ef yo'd sot me down in a merlasses bar'l. I'll be dar +'fo' yo' min' gits a chance ter drif out o' dat rut." With this Jube +bounded over the old rail fence, and in a moment was at Farmer Tappan's +side, gazing critically and with some little wonderment at the streaked +delicacies rounding out here and there from their lowly canopies of +green. + +So eager was the happy boy to show his appreciation of the situation, +and of the possibility of the farmer's regretting his generosity, that +he sprang toward the first plump specimen of the oblong fruit which he +saw, and tapping its dainty shell, exclaimed: + +"I reckon dis'n's 'bout my meshur, an' ef yo' sez de word, I'll onhitch +de goodie, an' 'scort it down to der Rosewood shanty wid yo' +compelments." + +"All right, Jube," returned the farmer; "take it along if you can carry +it. The fruit isn't any bigger than the thanks I owe you, but I'm afraid +it _is_ a size or two beyond your strength to carry." + +"Don't let dat onsettle yo', Mars' Tappan," said Jube, as he got down on +his "hunkies" to pick his prize package. "Dis chile's 'fection fo' dis +wegetable am strong 'nuff ter gar'nty dat it won' get outer reach atter +der grip's been tuk on it, an' dat yo' kin 'pen' on." With this remark +Jube broke the stem, and thrusting his arms under the curving ends of +his game, staggeringly lifted it from the ground. + +Now Jube had a little brother at home who was every bit as big as that +water-melon, and because he had carried _him_ about very often in mere +play, he thought there would not be any trouble about managing this +inoffensive specimen of garden truck. Jube forgot, however, that the +water-melon didn't have any arms to catch hold with, and no wrinkly +trousers to catch hold of, and besides it was smooth and bunchy, and +would spoil a good deal easier if it should happen to drop. He had no +more than tottered through the rails that Farmer Tappan had let down for +him than he began to feel as if he had a baby elephant in his arms, and +before he had struggled a hundred feet down the road, he imagined the +elephant had grown big enough to be its own grandfather. + +"I 'clar' ter sakes!" he exclaimed, as, turning a bend in the highway, +he was enabled unseen by the farmer to put his burden in keeping of a +moss bank for a while--"I 'clar' ter sakes ef dat ar' 'freshment don' +'pear ter be stuff' wid cookin'-stoves. 'Pears like ef a man wuz lookin' +fo' sumfin dat wuz easy ter drop, dis yarb'd come closer ter de mark dan +a bees' nes'." Then, apparently addressing the melon, he continued: "But +yo'm gotter come 'long wid me. I sot out ter see yer hum, an' dar's whar +yo'm gonter lan' up, 'less yo' grows till yo's de size ob a fo'-hoss +wagon." + +Hereupon, Jube bent down to gather up his burden again, and after +bracing himself as if he was going to pull up a tree by the roots, and +gritting his teeth in a way that might have frightened a smaller melon, +he began to joggle himself along his journey once more. He had fixed his +trophy in such a way that his chest was made to form part of the +support, and with arms beneath for a prop, he bobbed along with his head +thrown away back to the rear of the procession, and his waist poked far +enough out in front to give the idea that he was sending it on ahead to +let the folks know he was coming. It was jostle and sway, and tug and +stagger, every inch of the way, and I am not sure but it would have +suggested to you a lone tumble-bug working his dirt-ball along a dusty +highway. + +Coming to the top of a hill, the overburdened boy was obliged to rest +again, and depositing his responsibility upon a convenient brush heap, +he straightened out the kinks in his back, brushed the perspiration from +his brow with his shirt sleeve, and taking a long breath, again +addressed the unconscious water-melon. + +"Well, dar! ef yo' hain't been swallyin' a stun fence, den my gumpshun's +slip out froo a crack somewhars sho 'nuff. Whatsumever's inside dat ar' +speckle hide o' yo'n dis chile dunno, but ef yo'm as wuff eatin' as yo'm +heaby totin', dar's mo' sweetmeats waitin' fo' der fam'ly whar I's gwine +ter interduce ye dan dey's had in a mont' er Sund'ys." + +Here Jube took another survey of the situation, and as his eye followed +the range of the rather steep roadway, and rested on a whitewashed cabin +at its foot, a look of pleasure and confidence spread over his face as +he said: + +"Dar's mammy's cabin, sartin. An' dar's whar dis yar water-million's +gwinter fotch up; an' ef dar's any mo' easier way o' gettin' it dar dan +losin' it, Jube hain't one o' der Rosewoods dat's 'quainted wid der +fac'." + +It was but the work of a moment for Jube to get the melon to the brow of +the hill, and, poising it there, he gave it a rather smart push with his +foot, and away it went down the steep. At the start, the wobbly, +end-to-end movement by which it progressed indicated a rather tardy +arrival at the Rosewood estate, but rounding the first knoll, and +getting the sudden impetus of its dip, the enterprise of that fruit was +so remarkable that Jube, with his legs going like a pair of drumsticks, +could hardly keep up with it. Another bulge in the roadway jumped, and a +livelier pace was imparted to the melon, and, panting like a winded +hound, Jube threw out his half-shod feet with frantic energy, shouting +all the time: + +"Hol' on dar! Hol' on dar! Yo'll lan' in de stun fence sho', an' squash +all yo' nat'al senses!" + +Alas that the water-melon didn't take warning! As it reached the foot of +the hill, and passed the Rosewood cabin, where Jube's brothers and +sisters were wonderingly watching the chase, the boy's foot slipped on a +cobble-stone, and as the melon rolled into a little gulley, head-first +into its bulging surface landed the unfortunate Jube. + +Was he hurt? Bless you, no. He was a little staggered, perhaps, but as +between him and the water-melon, had you been there to have witnessed +the result, you would surely have given your every ounce of sympathy to +the melon. It was turned completely inside out, and spread over the +grass-plot in every direction. Wasn't there a scene when Jube got +himself to rights, shook the melon pits out of his hair, and shouted: + +"Hey! Heyo! Clem! Cuffle! Mimy! Zekal! Pheby! Shuffle ober here libely +an' he'p me sop up dese 'freshments. Dey's goin' to waste." + +Almost in the wink of an eye about a dozen dusky youngsters were +assembled at the scene of the wreck, and as they distributed themselves +about the remains, and began a-feasting, the looks that gleamed from the +eyes bulging over the green rims of an array of fruit fragments told how +thoroughly they appreciated the inquest of Jube's water-melon. + +[Illustration: JUBE'S WATER-MELON.] + + + + +[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.] + + +A dear little girl writes the Postmistress that she is very much +frightened whenever there is a thunder-shower. The sharp flashes of +lightning and the loud claps of thunder terrify her, and she always runs +and hides in her mamma's lap. + +Well, darling Effie, you could not find a better place to hide. But I +want you to remember that the beautiful summer showers do a great deal +of good. Have you ever noticed how pure and sweet the air is after the +storm is over, and do you not love to watch the rainbow when its arch is +in the sky? + +Once, dear, a long while ago, when I was a little girl, a very heavy +thunder-storm came up in the afternoon. It grew so dark that in the +school-room, where we girls were gathered for our lessons, we could not +see each other's faces. We put away our books, and our kind teacher told +us a story to divert our minds. By-and-by, when the sun shone, and the +sky looked blue, and the rain-drops glittered on the bushes and the long +blades of grass, we sang a beautiful German choral, and I have never +forgotten the opening words: + + "It thunders, but I tremble not, + My trust is firm in God; + His arm of strength I ever sought + Through all the way I've trod." + + * * * * * + + GALVESTON, TEXAS. + + Galveston is on the sea-coast, and has a splendid beach. There is a + beautiful pavilion on it, and a great many bathing-houses. I have + been bathing twice this summer, and it is perfectly delightful. + Several nights in the week they have music, and sky-rockets are + shot off. The beach is a great place for driving. Every evening + carriages and vehicles of every description are passing up and + down. The last time I was there a buggy ran over a little boy, and + he was badly hurt. + + ETHEL T. S. + + * * * * * + + NEW YORK CITY. + + I am a little St. Louis girl, but am now living in New York. + + I am ten years of age, and have taken music lessons three years, + and like music very much. + + I have a pet bird named Jimmie; he will eat out of my hand, and is + very tame. + + My little brother Edgar is five years old, and mamma has just put + his first pants on him, and he looks so cunning marching round with + his hands in his pocket, and thinks he is quite a man. I almost + envy the little boys and girls who have nice gardens. I have one, + but it is a funny one; it is in a window, for we have no yard. We + live in a flat, but I am very fond of flowers, and so keep them in + a window. Some of your little readers may laugh at this, but it is + the best I can have, and it affords me a great deal of pleasure. + + Mamma was reading in No. 138 a letter signed "C. Harold C.," from + Mount Vernon, New York, of a little boy who could not pronounce + _F_. If _his_ mamma will take him to a physician and have his + tongue examined, she may find that he is _tongue-tied_, although + you would hardly believe it. But my little brother was troubled the + same way; he would say _sishes_ for fishes, _shogs_ for frogs, etc, + etc. The doctor said he was tongue-tied and cut his tongue, and in + a few minutes he said _fishes_ as plain as any one. Mamma used to + try and make him say words with _F_ in in this way: she would say, + "Edgar, say _F_." He would pronounce _F_ very distinctly. Now mamma + would say, "Say _fishes_." But he could not. So one day _he_ says + to mamma, "Mamma, say _F_; now say mustard." + + ROBIN D. + +The little boy who can not pronounce "f" may be tongue-tied, and then +again he may not be. I knew a little girl once who spoke so very +peculiarly until she was ten years old that people wondered what queer +foreign language Minnie used. But all at once she began to talk plainly, +as she has done ever since without the help of a physician. + + * * * * * + + MONTREAL, CANADA. + + I wrote you a letter some time ago, and asked you to print it; but + you did not, and you don't know how sorry I felt. I do hope you + will print this. I am ten years of age. I have two dear little + brothers, one named Mello and the other Garibaldi, and a sweet + little sister named Minnie; they all like YOUNG PEOPLE very much, + especially little Mello, who delights to sit for hours looking at + the pictures. I have two dear little pet squirrels, which we caught + on the mountain in little traps. We put a small piece of apple in + the trap, and set it on the fence that runs up the side of the + mountain, and it is great fun to watch them go in the traps. We + have caught more than a dozen that way. I have been to New York two + or three times, and to Philadelphia to see the Centennial + Exhibition. Did you go to it? and if so, don't you think it was + splendid? I go to school, and like it very much. I got the prize + for Grecian history this year. Don't you think that was very well + for a little girl only ten? I am going away next week to visit a + dear little girl named Dagmar, but I am only to stay about two + weeks, and when I return I hope to see my letter in YOUNG PEOPLE. I + think "Toby Tyler" is splendid, but I like Jimmy Brown's letters + best. + + MAY R. + +Of course, dear May, you set the little squirrels free soon after +catching them. Although they are very cunning pets, I can not help +feeling sorry for them when shut up in cages, for they so dearly love +their liberty, and are so merry when leaping from bough to bough in the +woods. + + * * * * * + +The cunning little letter which follows was the first effort of a wee +bit of a girlie whose papa had gone from home on a visit: + + BIGELOW PLACE, CINCINNATI, OHIO. + + DEAR PAPA,--I miss you _so_ much! We are going to have a + water-melon for dinner to-day. I love water-melons. But I love you + the best. We had a nawful storm yesterday, and it blew the roof off + a house on Walker Street. I guess the people got wet. My neck is + tired bending over. I wish you many happy returns. + + Your little baby LULA. + + * * * * * + +Here is another bright little letter from a wee girlie to her papa: + + Bridgehamton, Long Island. + + DEAR PAPA,--I hope you will come this afternoon, and bring me + home--come after two o'clock; I will be all ready. I want to know + how many tricks you have taught Gip [Scotch terrier]? How large is + Gip? How are my kittens? I don't know whether they are dead; are + they? Are they fed? How is Tom [cat]? Please bring the puppy with + you when you come down, but don't fill his stomach with meat--'tis + too indigestible. I helped to hunt the eggs yesterday, and we got + over a hundred. Papa, I have a great many little mats, pretty as + silk, made out of thistles flattened out, and they are the + prettiest little thistles you ever did see, but they were the + coarsest little thistles when Mary [nurse] picked them, just like + "needles and pins." There are some little pet birds here, but we + don't have to feed them. We can't bring them home; we will have to + leave them here. This is the last of my letter; I can't write any + more. Do you want to know why? The flies are bothering me so. + + LISA D. + + * * * * * + + UTICA, NEW YORK. + + I am nine years old to-day. I received as a present a card album + that will hold 700 cards. We have a large yard, and in it a large + tent. I had a birthday party last year, and we had a supper in the + tent, at which fifty sat down at one time. I like "Mr. Stubbs's + Brother," and am so glad Abner did not die. + + ARTHUR E. J. + + * * * * * + + BRADFORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE. + + DEAR POSTMISTRESS,--I am a little girl of eleven, living in + Massasechem Valley beside a beautiful lake, which affords great + pleasure to many. I have three sisters and one brother. We have + twelve English Jacobin doves, a little shepherd dog, a lamb, and a + kitty for pets. I have taken HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE ever since it + was first published, and I enjoy the stories very much. I think + Ninetta's poem was real nice. She is just the age of my sister Ida. + I think Toby Tyler has a hard time losing his pets. He must feel + very sad and lonesome now Mr. Stubbs's brother is gone, but I hope + he will recover him soon. + + MARIAN F. D. + + * * * * * + + THYATIRA, MISSISSIPPI. + + I have written two letters to Our Post-office Box which have not + been published; however, I will try again. I have been taking YOUNG + PEOPLE for nearly two years. I like all the stories, but "Toby + Tyler" and "Mr. Stubbs's Brother" are the best of all. I am a + little boy ten years old. I work on the farm, but have just + finished, and began to go to school last Monday. I have no pets + except one sweet little sister; her name is Lucy, and she is just + the sweetest child in the world. She is fourteen months old, can + walk and talk some, and says, "Just lookie dar," and "Who is dat?" + + JACK C. + + * * * * * + + SALEM, OREGON. + + I am a little girl twelve years old. I live with my papa and mamma + on a large farm. I have three little sisters and one brother. I + have been taking HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE for almost a year now, and + like it very much. I have not very many pets. I have a horse, a + little colt, and a cow with a calf. Mamma has two little Maltese + kittens, and they are very pretty. We spent one winter out in + Southern Oregon, where my papa owns a gold mine. It was very + lonesome there, as there were very few neighbors. My two sisters + and I go to school. The school-house is almost a mile from home. My + youngest sister is the baby; she is thirteen months old, but she + can not walk yet. + + DEADIE A. + + * * * * * + + SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY. + + I am a little boy eleven years and a half old. I have been taking + YOUNG PEOPLE since October, 1881, and like it very much. I have a + sister and brother, each younger than I, and we have three birds' + nests in our yard, and each one of the birds has four little ones. + We fed them when they were little, but the mother did not like it, + and one rainy day she threw one of them out of the nest, and we put + it back again, and she kept it, and we never fed the birds again. I + like "Talking Leaves" and Jimmy Brown's stories best, and I hope + Jimmy Brown will write some more soon. + + R. M. G. + +What a naughty mother-bird! But maybe she knew better than you did what +was good for her children. I think the little birdie must have fallen +out by accident. + + * * * * * + + LANSING, MICHIGAN. + + The schools in our city have closed, and I am so glad, for we are + going away to spend vacation. We are going to a pleasant resort + called Harbor Point, on Lake Michigan, in the northern part of the + State. We have a cottage there, and have delightful times boating + and bathing in the surf. Does the Postmistress like the stories of + Charles Dickens, and if so, which is her favorite one? Here are two + verses I made up to-day: + + Only a silver spoon, + Thin and battered and old, + Yet he thought he'd keep it for ever and e'er, + For ever and e'er to hold. + + "Oh, take it not," said the maiden-- + "Oh, take it not away," + But the tramp put it in his pocket. + And went upon his way. + + CHUB. + +Yes, dear, I am very fond of all Charles Dickens's stories, and my +favorite one is, I think, _Our Mutual Friend_. Yet I am not sure, for I +like _The Tale of Two Cities_ very much, and I am about to read _Bleak +House_ for the fifth or sixth time. The little maiden in your verses +should have taken better care of her spoon. + + * * * * * + + WARETOWN, NEW JERSEY. + + I am eight years old. I live in the country. I have a little + brother Fred, and a little baby sister Alice. We had for a pet a + shepherd dog named Colonel, but he ran away. I took YOUNG PEOPLE + last year, and Fred takes it this. I like "The Cruise of the + 'Ghost'" best. Grandpa gave Fred and me a nice fishing-pole, and + takes us fishing, and sometimes we catch lots of fish. I have been + to school part of a term; it is vacation now. I wrote this myself. + I like to read the letters from the little girls and boys. + + RALPH H. C. + + * * * * * + + CARROLLTON, MISSOURI. + + My papa gave me YOUNG PEOPLE for a Christmas present; I like it + very much. I am ten years old. I have twenty-five dolls; my largest + is a wax doll thirty inches long. I have a play-house, a set of + furniture, a set of dishes, a little trunk, and a real little cook + stove that I can cook on. We have a swing and a hammock. I have a + dear papa and mamma, but no brother or sister. We have a + canary-bird. I wish the Postmistress would tell Jimmy Brown to + write some more. + + EDITH C. + +Twenty-five dolls! Dear me! what a large family! Don't you sometimes +feel like the little old woman who lived in her shoe, and had so many +children she did not know what to do? _She_ gave them some broth, +without any bread, and whipped them all round, poor things! and sent +them to bed. You, I am sure, are not so unkind to your dollies as the +poor bothered old lady of the shoe. + + * * * * * + + BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. + + I am going to tell you about my pets. I have a terrier named Jack. + I like him very much. If I throw a stick, he will run and bring it + to me. I have seven land turtles and two water turtles. There is + one big turtle which I call grandfather of them all. I am very fond + of them. I sunk half of a barrel in the ground, and I keep it + filled with water for them to drink and swim in. They are all the + time digging in the ground. I have fifty pigeons of all colors, and + I have ten young ones. I like to watch the old ones feed their + young; they are so cunning about it. We have a big old cat named + Tom, and two canary-birds; so you see I have plenty of pets. My + sister took me over to New York to see your big building, and to + buy the story of "Toby Tyler." I have been taking YOUNG PEOPLE two + years, and think it is splendid. I think "Mr. Stubbs's Brother" is + very nice, and I hope when it is ended that you will publish it as + you did "Toby Tyler." If you do so, my mother intends to give me + money to buy it. I think I will close my letter with my best thanks + to you and Mr. Otis for writing such nice stories. + + JESSE W. P. + + * * * * * + + They built a fort upon the shore, + With merry heedless din. + They never spied the evening tide + Was rolling, rolling in. + + They made it firm and fast without, + They made it firm within. + But evermore along the shore + The tide was rolling in. + + Without a fear they slept that night, + But when they went next day, + They found no sign, no stone, no line-- + The fort was washed away. + + 'Tis ever so, my little men; you'll find it, one and all, + That forts, not only those of sand, are very apt to fall. + But if they fall, why, let them fall; away with doubt and dread, + And build again with might and main a better fort instead. + + * * * * * + + SANBORNTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE. + + MY DEAR POSTMISTRESS,--I was so glad to see your kind answer to my + letter in the C. Y. P. R. U. Perhaps you don't remember me, but I + am the girl who was reading so many exciting novels, and you kindly + suggested more solid and less exciting reading. Mamma said the same + things you did, and disliked to have me read so many love stories, + but I was so fond of them. Now I am not reading any of them. The + only novel I have read for ever so long is one, by Auerbach, called + _Edelweiss_, and it is a lovely book, I think, and so does mamma, + but really I don't care so much about reading when here in the + country as I did in Worcester, for there are so many other things + to take my attention. + + We are at the old homestead, where papa used to live when he was a + little boy, and there are such lovely walks and drives all about + here. A few days ago I ascended my first mountain. Papa and I drove + to the first pair of "bars" on the mountain-road, and tied the + horse there, and then we climbed the mountain (Mount Atkinson). It + was a long hard climb, but the view when we reached the top paid + for all our trouble. We could see blue Lake Winnipiseogee in the + distance, and on our left was Mount Lafayette, with little Victory + Mountain, close beside it. Further east was Chicorowa, + Passaconoway, off in the east the Unconoonocks, and then came + Monadnock, and even our Worcester mountain, Wachusett, besides a + great many others whose names I can not remember. + + After we had staid on the summit some time enjoying the beautiful + view, we came down, found Leonard (the horse), and drove home. It + was a beautiful ride, and we appreciated it after our toil. This + afternoon I shall take Leonard, and drive over to the post-office, + about two miles away. When it is too warm to walk or ride, I lie in + the hammock and read. Isn't Butcher and Lang's translation of the + Odyssey beautiful? But I must close this long letter. + + We children have our dear YOUNG PEOPLE forwarded to us here, and we + enjoy it so much. + + I was very much interested in the beautiful picture and interesting + account of St. Elizabeth in the last YOUNG PEOPLE. I had heard the + legend of St. Elizabeth and the Roses before, and think it is a + charming story. I never saw a paper with such beautiful pictures in + it as HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE has; and I especially like W. A. + Rogers's pictures, because he illustrated dear "Toby Tyler." But, + dear Postmistress, I _must_ stop, and I really think I like oth er + things besides novels a great deal better than I used to. + + OLIVE R. + +It is very pleasant, indeed, to receive such a letter as this, and to +find that one's advice has been so willingly taken. You were well +repaid, dear, for your trouble in climbing the mountain. Yes, you may +send your exchange again. + + * * * * * + +N. R. AND L. D. M.--When you and your friend are walking together, it is +polite for both to lift your hats to a lady with whom only one is +acquainted. If you meet a lady with whom you are only slightly +acquainted, you should wait for her to bow first. In performing an +introduction, name the lady first, in this way. "Miss ----, may I +present Mr. ----?" + +As for the causes of the war between Egypt and England, it would take a +far more learned personage than the Postmistress to make it plain to +you. The principal cause seems to be that through the Suez Canal lies +the highway to England's immense possessions in India, and England can +not afford to let Egypt shut up or barricade this path. You and other +young gentlemen who are interested in this war should read the daily and +weekly newspapers carefully, and listen to the conversation of +intelligent men who have studied the question. + +It would be well now that all eyes are turned to the East, that you +should read some volume on Egypt. _The Khedive's Egypt_, published by +Messrs. Harper & Brothers, will give you a great deal of interesting +information about Egypt as it is to-day. + + * * * * * + +C. Y. P. R. U. + +Some merry young people in Cohasset, Massachusetts, amused themselves +the other day by making a list of comparisons in common use. The result +of their efforts was sent to the Postmistress, and she thinks perhaps +some others among her boys and girls will try their hands at the same +game of words: + + Blunt as a broomstick, black as pitch, black as night, black as + jet, black as a sloe, black as ink, black as ebony, black as a + crow, brown as a berry, brown as a bun, bright as a button, bright + as a new dollar, busy as a bee, brisk as a bee, brisk as a lark, + brittle as glass, big as an elephant, big as saucers, big as + canal-boats, blind as a bat, bitter as gall, bitter as worm-wood, + busy as a beaver, bold as brass, bald as an egg, blind as a mole, + blue as indigo, cool as a cucumber, cold as a stone, cold as + charity, clear as glass, clear as crystal, clear as mud, common as + dirt, cold as Greenland, cold as ice, crooked as a ram's-horn, + crooked as a rainbow, clumsy as a cow, cunning as a fox, cross as a + weasel, cross as a bear, cross as fiddle-sticks, cross as two + sticks, cold as a frog, crazy as a loon, clean as a whistle, dead + as Chelsea, dead as a door-nail, dusty as a miller, deep as a well, + dark as Egypt, dark as a pocket, dry as a bone, dull as lead, dull + as ditch-water, dull as dish-water, deaf as a post, deaf as an + adder, dumb as a fish, early as the lark, easy as jumping over a + log, easy as kissing your hand, flat as a flounder, flat as a + pancake, fresh as a daisy, fine as a hair, fine as a fiddle, + faithless as a monkey, fat as a seal, fat as butter, fierce as a + lion, gray as glass, gray as a badger, good as pie, green as grass, + good as gold, greedy as a pig, gentle as a lamb, hot as fire, hot + as blazes, hot as fury, hot as Tophet, handy as a pocket in a + shirt, hoary as Time, hard as flint, hungry as a wolf, hungry as a + hunter, hungry as a hawk, hungry as a bear, hard as a rock, hard as + a brickbat, happy as a king, high as a kite, homely as a crow, + happy as a clam at high water, happy as a big sunflower, heavy as + lead, lean as a hen's forehead, light as a fairy, light as + thistle-down, light as a feather, long-waisted as a snake, limp as + a rag, merry as a grig, merry as a thrush, merry as a + marriage-bell, mad as a hatter, mad as a March hare, mischievous as + a monkey, meek as Moses, neat as wax, neat as a pin, old as the + hills, obstinate as a mule, proud as a peacock, proud as Lucifer, + poor as poverty, poor as a church-mouse, plain as print, pretty as + a pink, pretty as a picture, plain as daylight, playful as a + kitten, poor as a crow, patient as Job, quick as a wink, quick as a + flash, quick as lightning, right as a trivet, red as a lobster, red + as a beet, red as a rose, rich as a Jew, sick as a pussy cat, slow + as cold molasses, slow as a snail, short as pie-crust, straight as + an arrow, stiff as a ram-rod, stiff as a poker, still as a mouse, + soft as dough, swift as the wind, spry as a grasshopper, shifting + as sand, scarce as chickens' teeth, smart as a steel-trap, sure as + fate, sour as vinegar, sour as a plum, shy as a rabbit, strong as a + horse, sticky as molasses, spotted as a leopard, simple as A, B, C, + sweet as honey, sweet as sugar, stupid as an owl, soft as silk, + sound as a nut, smooth as velvet, sharp as a razor, strong as + Samson, smooth as glass, slippery as an eel, swift as thought, + sharp-eyed as a lynx, thin as vanity, thin as gauze, thin as a + rail, tight as a drum, tall as a steeple, tall as a bean-pole, true + as steel, tired as a dog, tipsy as a lord, thirsty as a fish, tough + as leather, tough as a boiled owl, thick as spatter, thick as + blackberries, wet as sop, white as a sheet, white as snow, white as + milk, warm as toast. + + * * * * * + +J. A.--The stamps you mention are not duplicates. + + * * * * * + +TOMMY P. S.--You could not do a better thing than to learn to write +short-hand. I hope you will make a very good reporter for the press. You +are beginning early to be a journalist, helping your father on his +paper. Does your pet bird know you when you go home on Saturday night? + + * * * * * + +ALLEN L.--A boy who is not strong enough to work out-of-doors should +find some pleasant occupation which he can practice in the house. Have +you a scroll-saw and a few designs? If so, you may make pretty boxes, +book-racks, frames, and easels, for which you will find a sale among +your friends. Or, if you can obtain a small printing-press, you may earn +some money by printing visiting-cards, circulars, and invitations for +your acquaintances. Perhaps, though an invalid, you are well enough to +help along a little in the house, where there is a great deal to do, and +where the mother and sisters are sometimes very tired. In the times of +canning fruit, of pickling and preserving, a clever and quick-witted boy +can render very welcome service. This kind of work ought to be paid for +as liberally as the hoeing and weeding by which your active and healthy +brothers are able to obtain their spending-money. + + * * * * * + +EVA W. AND BESSIE MCC.--Thank you, dears, for the programme of your +little entertainment. You displayed a great deal of ingenuity in +arranging it. + + * * * * * + +We would call the attention of the C. Y. P. R. U. this week to Mrs. John +Lillie's entertaining article on the great musical composer Christoph +Willibald, Ritter von Gluck, and to "Something about Lightning," by Mr. +C. J. Muller. The very little folk will be interested in the wonderful +German baby with such a long list of names, and so many royal relatives +to love him and teach him how to fill nobly the great station to which +he is born. + + * * * * * + +PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS. + +No. 1. + +TWO ANAGRAMS. + +1. On a car I vote. + + V. + +2. Dream of wit dear. + + SUKEY. + + * * * * * + +No. 2. + +TRANSPOSITION. + + Transpose a water-way of which much is told, + And find a famous Grecian god of old. + + EUREKA. + + * * * * * + +No. 3. + +DOUBLE ACROSTIC. + + A beautiful Princess of gracious mien, + Who by a brave crusading Prince was seen-- + And loved and wooed and won. The gentle wife, + In fond devotion, saved her husband's life. + Th' initial letters will disclose her name; + The final word, the kingdom whence she came. + + * * * * * + +No. 4. + +TWO NUMERICAL ENIGMAS. + +1. + + I am composed of 14 letters. I disgraced myself, and my name is in + American history. + My 3, 4, 5 is a boy's nickname. + My 5, 12, 11, 4 means finished. + My 1, 9, 10, 14 is a poet. + My 6 is an important letter of the alphabet. + My 2, 13, 4, 7, 8 is to choose. + + GERTRUDE W. + +2. + + I am composed of 24 letters, and my whole would make almost any one + happy. + My 4, 12, 18, 4, 9, 20, 3 is a river in South America. + My 17, 16, 23, 6, 12 is a city in Asia. + My 24, 5, 1, 8, 4 is a girl's name. + My 7, 2, 13, 10, 21 is something children like. + My 22, 11, 14 is a boy's nickname. + My 15, 16, 23, 16, 9 is a delicious beverage. + My 7, 19, 5 is a favorite name. + + ELVIRA R. U. + + * * * * * + +No. 5. + +THREE DIAMONDS. + +1.--1. A letter. 2. Part of the foot. 3. Circular. 4. Finis. 5. In doll. + + EUREKA. + +(_To Douglas._) + +2.--1. A consonant. 2. A line. 3. A bird. 4. A receptacle. 5. A +consonant. + +(_To North Star._) + +3.--1. A consonant. 2. Past tense of fourth word in this diamond. 3. A +great power. 4. A means of sustaining life. 5. A consonant. + + NUNKY. + + * * * * * + +ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 143 + +No. 1. + + A G N E S + O I L E R + P L A I D + A R S O N + S E N O R + +No. 2. + + J am B + I mprope R + M ezzotint O + M ello W + Y eoma N + +No, 3. + +Synagogue. Elizabeth. America. + + * * * * * + +Correct answers to puzzles have been received from Beryl Abbott, "Sam +Weller, Jun.," "Eureka," Addie Goodnow, M. Goodnow, P. Embury, Henry W. +Nichols, Florence P. Jones, Sherman Hait, F. Edwin Harris, Frank Lomas, +Arthur Valhalla, Maude A., Lillie Meyer, Elizabeth, Martha, Elsie M. K., +Jessie Oppenheimer, Max Wintner, Charley Case, Maggie Holmes, "Fuss and +Feathers," "Fern," Emily Atkinson, Gertrude W., Edgar Seeman, M. L., +Albert L. Taylor, Laura B. Gretchen, and Eddie S. Hequembourg. + + * * * * * + +[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._] + + + + +[Illustration] + + + Here comes a poor woman from baby-land, + With five small children on her hand; + One can brew, the other can bake, + The other can make a pretty round cake; + One can sit in the garden and spin, + Another can make a fine bed for the king. + Pray, ma'am, will you take one in? + + --_From Mother Goose's Melodies_. + + * * * * * + +NINE HOLES, OR EGG-HAT. + +Near a wall where the ground is level dig nine or a less number of +holes, according to the number of players, large enough for a ball to be +bowled in without difficulty. Number them, and let each player be +allotted a number, by chance or choice as it may be agreed. A line is +drawn about five yards from the holes, at which one of the players +places himself, and bowls the ball into one of the holes. The player to +whom the hole into which the ball is bowled belongs picks it up as +quickly as he can, and endeavors to strike one of the others with it +(the latter will run off as soon as they perceive that the ball is not +for themselves); if the thrower miss his aim, he loses a point, and is +called "a fiver," and it is his turn to bowl; if, however, he strike +another, he loses nothing; but the party so struck, in case he fail to +hit another with the ball, becomes "a fiver," and it is his turn to +bowl. Five or six may be struck in succession, and the ball may be kept +up, no matter how long, until a miss be made, when the party so missing +loses a point and bowls. It is also allowed for one player to accept the +ball from another, and run the risk of striking a third; thus, if A +stand close behind B, and C have the ball in front of B, A may signify +by motions that he will take the ball, which is then thrown toward him +by C; he catches it, and endeavors to strike B before he can run away; +if he miss, he loses a point, and bowls. The second bowling is conducted +precisely as the first; but he who bowls three times without passing the +ball into a hole loses a point, and if he have lost one before, becomes +"a tenner"; he must still go on, until he succeeds in putting the ball +into a hole; it is his own fault if he bowls into that which belongs to +himself. A party who misses his aim a second time becomes a "tenner," he +who loses a third point "a fifteener," and when four points are lost, +the party stands out. The game goes on until all the players are out but +one; the latter wins the game. + +This game is sometimes called "Egg-Hat," on account of the players using +their caps instead of digging holes; the ball, in this case, is tossed +into the caps instead of being bowled into the holes. + + * * * * * + +A SNAKE STORY. + +Once in my home in Ceylon, when I was a little girl, we discovered a +large snake coiled up in a corner of the chimney. It was during the +rains, and the creature had come inside for warmth. + +Well, there was a general stampede out of the room of ayahs and +children, and the men-servants were summoned to dispatch the bold +intruder. The snake was about seven feet long, and three or four inches +in diameter at the thickest part of its body. It was yellow in color, +like the old gold so much in favor now with fashionable dames. The men +came with long poles to get rid of the intruder; but whether they were +too timid to approach it, or the snake was too wide awake, I can not +tell, but the creature glided swiftly out of the room into the veranda +where we children were looking on with the ayahs, and went down into the +compound. + +I shall never forget what followed the snake's escape. The men rushed +after it, but so quickly did it trail along, they could not even reach +its tail. They were in hot pursuit; my little brother, a baby boy of +three years, stood laughing and cooing with delight at the fun, his +little legs widely astride, when, horror! the snake glided toward the +spot where he stood. The men in pursuit stopped suddenly still, the +ayahs screamed, my own heart beat with dread. + +But judge of what followed. The snake glided, or rather writhed, swiftly +between my little brother's legs, without touching him, and disappeared +quickly out of sight, probably in the crevice of a tree or hole. + +It would be idle to tell my readers what superstitious meaning was held +by the natives at my little brother's escape, but they believed that he +was especially singled out by the great God from earthly harm. + + + + +[Illustration: THE CHICKS AND THE WORM.] + + A brood of young chicks are surrounding a worm, + Much puzzled they are as they see the thing squirm. + What is to be done? they ask one another. + At length they decide upon calling their mother. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, August 15, 1882, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59410 *** |