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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59557 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+VOL. III.--NO. 148. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
+CENTS.
+
+Tuesday, August 29, 1882. Copyright, 1882, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50
+per Year, in Advance.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A STAMPEDE IN CAMP.]
+
+THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB.[1]
+
+[1] Begun in No. 146, HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.
+
+BY W. L. ALDEN,
+
+AUTHOR OF "THE MORAL PIRATES," "THE CRUISE OF THE 'GHOST,'" ETC., ETC.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Luckily the water was only four feet deep, as Charley found when he
+tried to touch bottom; so he stopped swimming, and with the water nearly
+up to his shoulders, stood still and began to think what to do next.
+
+The canoes--including the sunken _Midnight_--were a good mile from the
+shore, and although the sandy shoal on which Charley was standing was
+firm and hard, it was of small extent, and the water all around it was
+too deep to be waded.
+
+"You'll have to get into one of our canoes," said Harry.
+
+"How am I going to do it without capsizing her?" replied Charley.
+
+"I don't believe it can be done," said Harry, as he looked first at the
+_Sunshine_ and then at the _Twilight_; "but then you've got to do it
+somehow. You can't swim a whole mile, can you?"
+
+"Of course I can't, but then it won't do me any good to spill one of you
+fellows by trying to climb out of the water into a canoe that's as full
+now as she ought to be. Besides, I'm not going to desert the
+_Midnight_."
+
+"I thought the _Midnight_ had deserted you," said Joe. "If my canoe
+should go to the bottom of the lake without giving me any warning, I
+shouldn't think it a bit rude to leave her there."
+
+"Don't talk nonsense!" exclaimed Charley; "but come here and help me get
+my canoe afloat again. We can do it, I think, if we go to work the right
+way."
+
+Charley found no difficulty in getting hold of the painter of his canoe
+with the help of his paddle. Giving the end of the painter to Joe, he
+took the _Dawn_'s painter, and by ducking down under the water succeeded
+after two or three attempts in reeving it through the stern-post of the
+sunken canoe, and giving one end to Harry and the other to Tom. Then,
+taking the bow painter from Joe, he grasped it firmly with both hands,
+and at a given signal all the boys, except Joe, made a desperate effort
+to bring the wreck to the surface.
+
+They could not do it. They managed to lift her off the bottom, but Harry
+and Tom in their canoes could not lift to any advantage, and so were
+forced to let her settle down again.
+
+"I've got to unload her," said Charley, gloomily. "I think we can get
+her up if there is nothing in her except water. Anyhow we've got to
+try."
+
+It was tiresome work to get the water-soaked stores and canned
+provisions out of the canoe, and Charley had to duck his head under the
+water at least a dozen times before the heaviest part of the
+_Midnight_'s cargo could be brought up and passed into the other canoes.
+His comrades wanted to jump overboard and help him, but he convinced
+them that they would have great difficulty in climbing back into their
+canoes, and that in all probability they would capsize themselves in so
+doing. "He's right!" cried Joe. "Commodore, please make an order that
+hereafter only one canoe shall be wrecked at a time. We must keep some
+dry stores in the fleet."
+
+When the _Midnight_ was partly unloaded, a new and successful effort was
+made to raise her. As soon as she reached the surface Charley rolled her
+over, bottom upward, and in this position the small amount of air
+imprisoned under her kept her afloat.
+
+The cause of the leak was quickly discovered. There was a hole through
+her canvas bottom nearly an inch in diameter, made by some blow she had
+received while on the way to the lake. The wonder was, not that she sank
+when she did, but that she had floated long enough to be paddled a mile.
+It is probable that the ballast-bag, which was close by the hole, had
+partly stopped the leak at first, but had afterward been slightly moved,
+thus permitting the water to rush freely in.
+
+The surface of painted canvas dries very quickly in the hot sun, and it
+was not long before the bottom of the _Midnight_ was dry enough to be
+temporarily patched. Harry lighted his spirit-lamp and melted a little
+of the lump of resin and tallow which had been provided for mending
+leaks. This was spread over a patch of new canvas; the patch was then
+placed over the hole, and more of the melted resin and tallow smeared
+over it. In about fifteen minutes the patch was dry enough to be
+serviceable, and Charley righted the canoe, bailed her out, and by
+throwing himself across the cockpit, and then carefully turning himself
+so as to get his legs into it, found himself once more afloat and ready
+to paddle.
+
+The canoe still leaked, but the leak could be kept under without
+difficulty by occasional bailing, and in the course of half an hour the
+sand-spit for which the fleet had started was reached. It was part of a
+large island with steep, rocky shores and a beautiful little sandy
+beach. It was just the place for a camp; and though the boys had
+expected to camp some miles farther north, the sinking of Charley's
+canoe had so delayed them that it was already nearly six o'clock, and
+they therefore decided to paddle no farther that day.
+
+The canoes were hauled out on the beach and unloaded, and shored up with
+their rudders, back-boards, and a few pieces of drift-wood so as to
+stand on an even keel. Then came the work of rigging shelters over them
+for the night. Harry's canoe tent was supported by four small upright
+sticks resting on the deck and fitting into cross-pieces sewed into the
+roof of the tent. The sides and ends buttoned down to the gunwale and
+deck of the canoe, and two curtains, one on each side, which could be
+rolled up like carriage curtains in fair weather and buttoned down in
+rainy weather, served both as the doors and windows of the tent. The
+shelters rigged by the other boys were much less complete. The two masts
+of each canoe were stepped, the paddle was lashed between them, and a
+rubber blanket was hung over the paddle, with its edges reaching nearly
+to the ground. The blankets and the bags which served as pillows were
+then arranged, and the canoes were ready for the night.
+
+It was a warm and clear night, and a breeze which came up from the south
+at sunset blew the mosquitoes away. Harry found his tent, with the
+curtains rolled up, cool and pleasant; but his fellow-canoeists found
+themselves fairly suffocating under their rubber blankets, and were
+compelled to throw them aside.
+
+Toward morning, when the day was just beginning to dawn, the canoeists
+were suddenly awakened by a rush of many heavy, trampling feet which
+shook the ground. It was enough to startle any one, and the boys sprang
+up in such a hurry that Harry struck his head against the roof of his
+tent, knocked it down, upset the canoe, and could not at first decide
+whether he was taking part in a railway collision, or whether an
+earthquake of the very best quality had happened. The cause of the
+disturbance was a herd of horses trotting down to the water's edge to
+drink. There were at least twenty of them, and had the canoes happened
+to be in their path, they might have stumbled over them in the faint
+morning light; in which case the boys would have had the experience of
+being shipwrecked on dry land.
+
+A gentle southerly breeze wrinkled the water while breakfast was
+cooking, and the Commodore ordered that the masts and sails should be
+got ready for use. It was impossible to make an early start, for
+Charley's blankets had to be dried in the sun, and the hole in his canoe
+had to be repaired with a new patch in a thorough and workmanlike way.
+It was therefore ten o'clock before the canoes were ready to be
+launched; and in the mean time the wind had increased so much that the
+boys decided to use only their mainsails.
+
+The moment the sails drew, the canoes shot off at a pace which filled
+the young canoeists with delight. The canoes were in good trim for
+sailing, as they were not overloaded; and while they were skirting the
+west shore of the island the water was quite smooth. Each canoe carried
+a bag partly filled with sand for ballast, and every one except Joe had
+lashed his ballast-bag to the keelson. This was a precaution which Joe
+had forgotten to take, and before long he had good reason to regret his
+error.
+
+As soon as the northern end of the island was passed, the canoes came to
+a part of the lake where there was quite a heavy sea. The _Dawn_ and the
+_Twilight_ were steered by the paddle, which passed through a row-lock
+provided for the purpose; and Joe and Tom found little difficulty in
+keeping their canoes directly before the wind. The two other canoes were
+steered with rudders, and occasionally, when their bows dipped, their
+rudders were thrown nearly out of the water, in consequence of which
+they steered wildly. All the canoes showed a tendency to roll a good
+deal, and now and then a little water would wash over the deck. It was
+fine sport running down the lake with such a breeze, and the boys
+enjoyed it immensely.
+
+The wind continued to rise, and the lake became covered with white caps.
+"Commodore," said Charley Smith, "I don't mean to show any disrespect to
+my commanding officer, but it seems to me this is getting a little
+risky."
+
+"How is it risky?" asked Harry. "You're a sailor, and know twice as much
+about boats as I do, if I am Commodore."
+
+"It's risky in two or three ways. For instance, if the wind blows like
+this much longer, a following sea will swamp some one of us."
+
+"Oh, we're going fast enough to keep out of the way of the sea," cried
+Joe.
+
+"Just notice how your canoe comes almost to a dead stop every time she
+sinks between two seas, and you won't feel quite so sure that you're
+running faster than the sea is."
+
+The boys saw that Charley was right. The canoes were so light that they
+lost their headway between the seas, and it was evident that they were
+in danger of being overtaken by a following sea.
+
+"Tell us two or three more dangers, just to cheer us up, won't you?"
+asked Joe, who was in high spirits with the excitement of the sail.
+
+"There's the danger of rolling our booms under, and there is a great
+deal of danger that Harry's canoe and mine will broach to when our
+rudders are out of water."
+
+"What will happen if they do broach to?"
+
+"They'll capsize, that's all," replied Charley.
+
+"What had we better do?" asked Harry. "There's no use in capsizing
+ourselves in the middle of the lake."
+
+"My advice is that we haul on the port tack, and run over to the west
+shore. The moment we get this wind and sea on the quarter, we shall be
+all right--though, to be sure, we've got more sail up than we ought to
+have."
+
+The canoes were quite near together, with the exception of the
+_Twilight_, which was outsailing the others; but even she was still near
+enough to be hailed. Harry hailed her, and ordered the fleet to steer
+for a cove on the west shore. As soon as the wind was brought on the
+port quarter, the canoes increased their speed; and although the
+_Twilight_ made more leeway than the others, she drew ahead of them very
+fast. The wind was now precisely what the canoes wanted to bring out
+their sailing qualities. The _Sunshine_ soon showed that she was the
+most weatherly, as the _Twilight_ was the least weatherly, of the fleet.
+The _Midnight_ kept up very fairly with the _Sunshine_; and the _Dawn_,
+with her small lateen-sail, skimmed over the water so fast that it was
+evident that if she could have carried the big balance-lug of the
+_Sunshine_ she would easily have beaten her.
+
+The canoes were no longer in danger of being swamped; but the wind
+continuing to rise, the boys found that they were carrying more sail
+than was safe. They did not want to take in their sails and paddle, and
+though all of the sails except the _Dawn_'s lateen could be reefed,
+nobody wanted to be the first to propose to reef; and Harry in his
+excitement forgot all about reefing. The wind, which had been blowing
+very steadily, now began to blow in gusts, and the boys had to lean far
+out to windward to keep their canoes right side up.
+
+"We can't keep on this way much longer without coming to grief," Charley
+cried at the top of his lungs, so that Harry, who was some distance to
+windward, could hear him.
+
+"What do you say?" replied Harry.
+
+"We've got too much sail on," yelled Charley.
+
+"Of course we'll sail on. This is perfectly gorgeous," was Harry's
+answer.
+
+"He don't hear," said Charley. "I say, Joe, you'd better take in your
+mainsail, and set the dandy in its place. You'll spill yourself
+presently."
+
+"The dandy's stowed down, below, where I can't get at it. I guess I can
+hold her up till we get across."
+
+Tom was by this time far out of hailing distance, and was apparently
+getting on very well. Charley did not doubt that he could manage his own
+canoe well enough, but he was very uneasy about Harry and Joe, who did
+not seem to realize that they were carrying sail altogether too
+recklessly. The fleet was nearly two miles from the shore, and a capsize
+in the heavy sea that was running would have been no joke.
+
+Charley turned part-way around in his canoe to see if his life-belt was
+in handy reach. As he did so he saw that the water a quarter of a mile
+to windward was black with a fierce squall that was approaching. He
+instantly brought his canoe up to the wind, so that the squall would
+strike him on the port bow, and called out to Harry and Joe to follow
+his example. Harry did not hear him, and Joe, instead of promptly
+following Charley's advice, stopped to wonder what he was trying to do.
+The squall explained the matter almost immediately. It struck the
+_Sunshine_ and the _Dawn_, and instantly capsized them, and then rushed
+on to overtake Tom, and to convince him that Lake Memphremagog is not a
+good place for inexperienced canoeists who want to carry sail recklessly
+in squally weather.
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+THE BEDOUIN POSTMAN.
+
+BY SARA KEABLES HUNT.
+
+
+The postman in our Western lands is a common sight to city children;
+they meet him at every corner, jostle against him on their way to
+school, and spring for the messages which he brings from far-off friends
+and distant relatives. No child but has a welcome for the postman.
+
+But the carrier whose strange and picturesque figure is shown in the
+illustration on the following page has but little resemblance to our
+daily visitor on his hurrying round through our crowded cities. His
+route is the desert--a dangerous, solitary, and fatiguing journey. Borne
+by his lithe dromedary over its arid wastes, he paces the desert track,
+with no pause in the nine days' travel, save when at some oasis he stops
+to drink the cool water and to refresh his tired camel. At the edge of
+the desert he leaves his precious load, taking in exchange the return
+mail. He seldom penetrates into the cities' depths and crowded bazars,
+or rests in the fragrant gardens of Damascus, but jogs backward and
+forward over the dreary waste, loaded with messages from the outer
+world, and yet indifferent to them all, except to deliver each one in
+safety.
+
+I wonder if he never wearies of his monotonous existence, or sighs for
+some excitement in his silent journey, and for some companionship
+besides that of his enduring steed?
+
+I could never see this express-courier start forth on his desert journey
+without being reminded of some lone mariner setting sail on a wide sea
+for some distant port. The desert is so much like the ocean, with its
+boundless expanse, the same unbroken curve of the horizon, the same
+tracklessness and solitude. So the camel is often called "the ship of
+the desert." Yet monotonous as the journey of this postman seems, he has
+to be continually on the alert. It is not always silent meditation under
+the burning sky and changeless heavens. There are hidden dangers lurking
+on every side--plundering Arabs and terrible sand-storms. Many a
+traveller is buried under the fierce drifts, suffocated by the driving
+sand sleet.
+
+[Illustration: THE MAIL-RIDER OF THE DESERT.]
+
+As this singular postman swings on his way under the coppery sky, his
+Syrian song fills the silence of the desert noon; the high shrill notes
+tremble and ring in the air in a dreary strain, harmonizing with the
+sultry, unchanging landscape. The camel steps more quickly to the music,
+but the rider seems lost in a deep reverie.
+
+No monk in his cell is more isolated than this old letter-carrier, so
+shut out from the world, so separated from all human kind, yet carrying
+messages of such lively interest.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIE'S ADVENTURE.
+
+A True Story.
+
+BY E. M. TRAQUAIR.
+
+"Mamma," said Willie Beetham, "may I go down to the beach this morning?"
+
+"No, my boy; you know I don't like your going down there by yourself,
+and nurse is too busy to take you and Lucy out just yet. You can go
+there with her after luncheon."
+
+Willie looked very much disappointed. "There's no fun going out with
+nurse," he said; "she won't let me do anything. It is always: 'Now,
+Master Willie, don't go there; you'll soil your shoes. Master Willie,
+come back; you'll tumble into the water.' Going with her is all very
+well for girls and babies; but I am a big boy now. You said so yourself
+to papa the other day. I can take care of myself quite well."
+
+The "big boy" was a bonny little fellow of six years' old, with golden
+hair, and a sunny smile that won every one's heart. He was a bold,
+thoughtless boy, always getting into mischief, but of such an
+affectionate disposition, so sorry for having done anything to vex those
+he loved, that no one was ever angry with him long. This made him less
+careful, perhaps, in being obedient than he ought to have been.
+
+"No, my boy, you can't be trusted to go by yourself just yet. You can go
+into the garden and play with Lucy for a little. When nurse is ready,
+she will take you both out for a walk on the beach."
+
+Willie was very fond of his little sister, who cared for nobody so much
+as for him. So he drew her about for a while in his little cart, ran
+races, and pulled daisies with her in the field. But all would not do.
+He wanted to go down to the shore. Where he stood he could see the
+bright waves rolling in to land. He forgot all that had been said to
+him, and resolved to go. He would not stay long.
+
+"Lucy, I am going down to the beach for a little while. Wait here till I
+come back, and don't tell any one where I have gone. I'll be back in a
+quarter of an hour."
+
+Off he ran without waiting for a reply. Lucy remained quietly sitting,
+pulling the daisies, and plaiting them into a long chain, thinking how
+it would please her brother. The quarter of an hour passed, half an
+hour, an hour. Willie did not appear. Lucy was too faithful to leave her
+post; but time was beginning to hang heavy on her hands, and, besides,
+she was growing frightened at his absence. Lucy began to cry.
+
+What was Willie about meanwhile? On reaching the shore, which was only
+about five minutes' walk from the house, his delight knew no bounds at
+being able to scamper about everywhere without being perpetually called
+to order. He ran races with the waves that were rolling in, clear and
+shining, and breaking in white foam on the yellow sands, and shouted
+with glee when he just saved his distance, and escaped without even
+wetting the toes of his boots. Then he tossed about the great heaps of
+brown weed and tangle, and searched for the lovely crimson sea-weed his
+elder sister used to gather and set so prettily on white paper when she
+came home for the holidays. Then, as the tide was low, he scrambled in
+among the rocks, and in the clear pools he found crabs and cockles and
+beautiful red and striped sea-anemones. Willie was very fond of natural
+history, which his papa used to teach him occasionally, and he became so
+absorbed in examining these pretty things that he not only forgot what
+his mamma had said, but also his promise to his little sister of
+returning in a quarter of an hour.
+
+He was still busy poking about in the clear water of the pool, when he
+suddenly felt a cold plash on his foot. Starting up, he saw, to his
+dismay, that the water had been gradually creeping up and surrounding
+the low rock on which he was standing looking into the pool. At first he
+could not think how that had come about, as the sands had been quite dry
+toward the land side when he first went on to it. Suddenly it dawned on
+him that the tide must be rising. He did not know very well what the
+rising and falling tide meant, as his parents had not lived very long by
+the sea, but he remembered hearing his papa speak of people having been
+caught by the high tide and drowned. If he had started at once, he might
+still have got safely to shore by wading. But he was too much terrified
+to think of trying it. Looking about him, he saw a large flat rock near,
+and with some difficulty he succeeded in scrambling on to it. He thought
+it must be high enough to shelter him, until the tide should fall again.
+Had he not heard papa say that the tide fell as well as rose?
+
+Placed thus, as he thought, in a position of safety, Willie's spirits
+began to rise again. All his fear had vanished, and he began to pretend
+to himself that he was a shipwrecked sailor cast away on a desert
+island; and he could not help laughing with glee when the merry little
+waves, dashing against the rock he was standing on, sent up sparkling
+showers of spray that seemed trying to reach him, but couldn't.
+
+"Aha!" he thought, "you'll be clever if you catch me here on this big
+rock. I wish you'd be quick and go lower, though. I want to go home to
+mamma and Lucy."
+
+Instead of going lower, however, the water kept rising higher and
+higher, until at length a wave, in breaking on the rock, sent a shower
+of spray in Willie's face.
+
+The tide had been rising so fast that the shore seemed a long distance
+away now. The rock where he had been standing looking into the pool was
+now completely covered with water.
+
+Oh, how he wished himself now sitting with Lucy plucking daisies in the
+field! How he repented of having been so disobedient to his kind mamma,
+who, he remembered now when it was too late, never forbade him anything
+except for his own good! How he resolved that he would never, never more
+be disobedient if he should ever again reach the land! But still the
+water kept rising.
+
+In the mean time poor little Lucy sat crying on the lawn with her lap
+full of daisies.
+
+"Miss Lucy! Miss Lucy! come in and get on a clean pinafore before
+luncheon."
+
+"Lucy tan't tome in yet, nursie; Lucy p'omised to wait here for Willie."
+
+"Why, I thought Master Willie was here with you. Where is he gone to?"
+
+"Lucy no tell oo where Willie is don to. Lucy p'omised no tell 'at
+Willie is don to de beach."
+
+"Gone down to the beach, indeed? Well, his mamma will be real angry, and
+his papa too."
+
+Lucy began to cry again at the thought of papa and mamma being angry
+with Willie; but nurse carried her off to get her clean pinafore on
+before luncheon.
+
+"Are the children ready, nurse?" called papa from the dining-room. Papa
+liked to have his little people about him at meal-times.
+
+"Miss Lucy is a-coming, sir; but she says Master Willie has gone down to
+the shore."
+
+"To the shore! impossible!" says mamma. "I told him this morning he was
+not to go alone."
+
+"Well, ma'am, all I know is that Miss Lucy says so; and, as I can't find
+him nowhere, I think it must be so."
+
+"Run down to the beach and see if he is there," says papa. "If he is
+disobedient like this, we must be more severe with him in future."
+
+They began luncheon.
+
+Suddenly, in the midst of carving a fowl, Mr. Beetham dropped the
+carving knife and fork.
+
+"My dear," he said to his wife. "I hope it is not a spring-tide to-day.
+If it be, and that boy has got among the rocks, it might be a bad
+business."
+
+The almanac was consulted, and announced a high spring-tide for that
+day. Any little boy or girl who had seen the dismay on Mr. and Mrs.
+Beetham's faces on learning this would have resolved never to be
+disobedient again so as to grieve such kind parents.
+
+Mr. Beetham was starting up to go himself in search of the naughty
+little truant, when nurse rushed in to the room.
+
+"Oh, sir!" she cried, "Master Willie is standing on a rock far out in
+the sea. He is waving his handkerchief and shouting, but there is no
+getting to him."
+
+"Run for Fisherman Ralph," said Mr. Beetham.
+
+"My dear," to his wife, "don't be afraid. Ralph's boat will soon get him
+ashore. Mind little Lucy while I run down and help to get it out."
+
+But he was very much afraid, for all that, when, on reaching the beach,
+he saw his little boy standing on a point of rock that threatened every
+instant to be covered with the rising water.
+
+"Ralph," he cried, as the fisherman--a tall, stalwart figure in a blue
+cap and corduroys--came up, "where is your boat?"
+
+"Jack's gone a-fishing in it," said Ralph.
+
+"Heavens! what shall we do?" cried Mr. Beetham. "My boy will be drowned
+before my very eyes."
+
+"Not if I can help it, sir," said Ralph, throwing off his jacket. "I'm
+big enough. I'll see if I can't wade to him."
+
+"He'll never reach him," cried Mr. Beetham, running up and down the
+beach in an agony of anxiety, which was shared by all the by-standers,
+as the strong man strode on with the water above his waist, and the rock
+still not reached. It was nearly up to his shoulders before he got to
+where Willie stood.
+
+[Illustration: "STEADY! STEADY! YOUNG MASTER! I'VE GOT YOU SAFE ENOUGH
+NOW."]
+
+"Steady, steady, young master. Don't be afraid of a wetting, and don't
+hold on so fast. I've got you safe enough now." And so, half wading,
+half swimming, the gallant fellow, battling with the great waves that
+were now rolling in heavily, brought poor Willie, drenched and cold, to
+land, and laid him in his glad father's arms.
+
+Another minute and the rock had disappeared.
+
+Willie learned a lesson that day which he has never forgotten, and after
+papa, mamma, and little Lucy, there is no one he loves so much as big
+Fisherman Ralph, who saved his life on the day of the high tide.
+
+
+
+
+PERIL AND PRIVATION.
+
+BY JAMES PAYN.
+
+THE TRIALS OF PHILIP AUSTIN.
+
+
+It is not seldom, in the melancholy records of shipwreck, that the
+"noble savage" maintains the character with which writers of romance
+have invested him. He is generally cruel, pitiless, greedy of gain, and
+more to be feared by the helpless mariner than the reef or the storm.
+There have been, however, one or two exceptions to this general rule,
+and the British sailor Captain Philip Austin had reason to speak well of
+the Caribs of Tobago.
+
+In 1756 he sailed from Barbadoes, in a brig of eighty tons, to the Dutch
+settlement of Surinam. These people were so much in need of horses that
+at that time no vessel was permitted to trade with them of whose lading
+horses did not form a part, and, as well may be imagined, they were not
+the safest kind of cargo. So rigidly was this strange rule enforced that
+masters of ships were compelled to preserve the ears and hoofs of horses
+dying on the passage, and to make oath that they had embarked them alive
+for the colony.
+
+On the night of the 10th of August, of the year mentioned, when near
+their journey's end, and while Austin and his mate were keeping watch
+together, "sitting on hen-coops" and "telling stories to one another, in
+order to while away the time, according to the customs of mariners of
+all countries," the broadside of the brig suddenly turned to windward,
+through the fouling of the tiller, and there being a heavy sea on, she
+filled at once, so that five out of the nine men who formed her crew
+"were drowned in their hammocks without a groan." The vessel then upset,
+going completely over, with her masts and sails in the water, "the
+horses rolling out above each other, and the whole together exhibiting a
+most distressing sight."
+
+The coast was of sand, and the sea comparatively shallow, so that some
+portions of the brig were above water. To these the survivors clung, and
+at once stripped themselves of their clothes, except one who could not
+swim, and who was therefore without hope of saving himself by that
+means. There was one small boat, twelve feet long, fortunately unsecured
+by lashings, and this floated out, and was seized upon by the mate, but
+it was bottom upward.
+
+Austin swam out to him, and the two endeavored to right her. This, after
+many efforts, was accomplished, "the mate contriving to put his feet
+against the gunwale and to seize the keel with his hands," while Austin
+"tilted her up from the opposite side with his shoulders." She was
+still, however, full of water. This was got rid of in a very ingenious
+manner, for the enormous hat which Austin wore, "after the fashion of
+the dwellers in the West Indies," was useless to bail her. The mast of
+the brig rose and fell some twenty feet, and the captain fastened a rope
+to its top, and held on to it from the boat. Whenever the vessel rose,
+it lifted up him and the boat, by which three-fourths of the water was
+emptied; but "having no means of disengaging her from the masts and
+shrouds, they fell down, driving him and the boat under the surface, and
+nearly breaking his thigh."
+
+Despite his wound, which, however, rendered any further attempt without
+assistance hopeless, Austin threw himself into the water, and with the
+rope in his mouth swam to the men on board the brig, who, by their
+united strength, hauled the boat over the brig's stern, and emptied it.
+A hole, however, was knocked in it by this rough treatment, which was
+repaired by being stuffed with the shirt of the man who could not swim,
+and had therefore retained that garment. They had no oar, no sail, and
+except a dog belonging to the captain, "which was gladly taken in case
+of necessity," no provisions.
+
+The brig remained longer above water than might have been expected, for
+she had casks of flour and butter on board, "the former of which slowly
+imbibes water, and the latter always swims," but none of these things
+could be got at. When she sank, the boat being still kept near her, a
+chest containing clothes and linen, with chocolate and sugar, floated
+out of her, and for these poor sailors it contained more than the riches
+of the Indies. It was too large, however, to be lifted into the boat,
+which, indeed, it would have sunk; and though they exhausted every means
+to open it, they found this impossible, and had to let it go. They
+picked up thirteen floating onions, and that was all.
+
+They had no fresh-water; they were without any kind of implement except
+a knife, which was in the pocket of the sailor who could not swim, and
+they calculated that at the very nearest they were one hundred and fifty
+miles from land. Surely never were human creatures in a worse position.
+
+Not a moment, however, was lost in vain regrets. By patient perseverance
+they loosened one of the planks with which the boat was lined, and
+formed it into a kind of mast, which they tied to the foremost thwart;
+another piece of plank served as a yard, and to this they fixed their
+only pair of trousers for a sail. Two of the men had always to lie along
+the gunwale with their backs to the waves, which would otherwise have
+swamped the boat, and, even so, another had constantly to bail it by
+means of the Dutch hat.
+
+Thus they ran before the wind all night at the rate of about a league an
+hour. At daylight they ate half an onion each, which "wonderfully
+revived them," but they were tormented with agonies of thirst. Their
+naked limbs, too, were so scorched with the sun that from head to foot
+they were red and blistered as from fire. On the third day the captain
+killed his dog. He "afterward reflected on it with regret, but at that
+time no such sentiment affected him."
+
+At last the exhausted men gave themselves up to despair, and refused to
+make any more exertions for their own deliverance, nor would he who had
+to bail the boat continue to do so, though Austin fell "on his knees to
+entreat him."
+
+On the fifth day an enormous shark followed the boat--an omen the dark
+meaning of which was only too well known to them; and this depressed
+them still further. The dog had long been eaten, and they caught but one
+flying-fish, which was little indeed among so many. There were several
+heavy showers, but there was nothing to catch the rain in but the hat
+and the trousers, which had become so impregnated by salt-water that
+they were almost useless for that purpose. "Their only resource was
+endeavoring to catch a few drops as they fell into their open mouths to
+cool the heat of their tongues."
+
+The two seamen drank sea-water and became delirious, but the captain and
+mate resisted that temptation; they each kept a nail in his mouth, and
+sprinkled his head with water, which afforded but slight relief to their
+sufferings. On the eighth day the two men died, but in the evening the
+boat reached land, and the two survivors, "forsaking the bodies of their
+companions, crept out of the boat and crawled on all fours" along the
+sand. The cliffs that walled it they were quite unable to climb up.
+
+At eight in the morning a young Carib discovered them, "whose eyes, upon
+beholding their forlorn appearance, filled with tears." He understood a
+few French words, and informed them that they were on the island of
+Tobago. He brought them fresh-water, which they drank with passionate
+eagerness, and cakes of cassava and broiled fish, which they could not
+swallow.
+
+Other natives showed them similar kindness, removing the two corpses out
+of the boat "with signs of the utmost compassion," and following in all
+respects the example of the good Samaritan. They brought soup, which
+seemed to Austin the most delicious food he had ever tasted, but his
+stomach was in so weak a state that it refused to retain it. Herbs and
+broth were prepared for him by the women, and his wound was bathed with
+a lotion made of tobacco. Every morning the men lifted these
+unfortunates from their hammocks, and carried them in their arms under
+the shade of a lemon-tree while they anointed their blistered skin with
+a healing oil pressed from the tails of crabs.
+
+In consequence of this friendly care and attention Austin was able in
+three weeks to go about on crutches, and receive Carib visitors from all
+parts of the island, "none of whom came empty handed." He gave boards
+with his name cut on them, to be shown to any ship captains who might
+chance to touch on the island, and after many weeks this plan met with
+success. A sloop, bound for Martinique, laden with mules, touched at
+Sandy Point, the western extremity of Tobago, and its master at once
+sent the intelligence to Messrs. Roscoe & Nyles at Barbadoes, the owners
+of Captain Austin's bark, who promptly sent a small vessel to fetch him.
+
+When about to depart, the friendly Caribs loaded him down with presents
+of poultry and fruit, especially oranges and lemons, which they thought
+useful for his recovery. He had absolutely nothing to give them in
+return, save the boat in which he had arrived, and which they might have
+taken without his leave. More than thirty of them accompanied him to the
+beach, where, at parting from them, "neither Austin nor the mate could
+refrain from tears."
+
+The effects of the poor captain's privations were lasting. His digestion
+was so impaired that he could hardly speak or walk, and had to give up
+his calling and return to England. His case excited much public
+attention. A Bath physician, Dr. Russell, who had resided in the East,
+and was accustomed to deal with cases arising from long-protracted
+thirst in the Arabian deserts, came to London to prescribe for him. By
+means of constant bathing, and asses' milk for his only diet, Austin
+regained his health in six months, and survived his disaster
+two-and-twenty years.
+
+
+
+
+HOW BILLY WENT UP IN THE WORLD.
+
+BY ANNETTE NOBLE.
+
+Part I.
+
+
+This is the story of a boy who had red hair, a good appetite, and much
+else in common with other boys; one who rose very high in the world, who
+came down and rose again, not so high, but in a better way. He was not a
+genius, or I should not tell his story; for there are so many boy
+geniuses nowadays in books that the record of a common red-haired child
+may be more interesting, as a change.
+
+One day fifteen years ago there had been a county fair in Langham. The
+grounds were full of people even at six o'clock in the afternoon. But
+under the tent the gay bed-spreads, the oil-paintings, the hair flowers,
+and the wax-works were being taken down, while the farmers' wives were
+exchanging compliments, sample biscuit, and currant jelly. Outside the
+canvas the men were taking away the cattle--the great oxen with prize
+tickets on their horns, or sheep, or swine, or poultry. Everywhere there
+was bellowing, grunting, shouting, scolding, and some grumbling. This
+last was chiefly done by a noisy party who came to the fair, not to
+bring the grain or cattle raised by their industry, but to stare at the
+two-headed calf never raised by anybody, to bet on horses, to steal
+water-melons, and to join at last the crowd that was elbowing around a
+man with a balloon, in which he was to go up when ready. This balloon,
+already inflated, was fastened by a rope to a well-driven stake, and
+floated a little way above the ground. Among the lookers-on, some who
+pretended to know declared that it was not a very good balloon, and must
+surely come to grief.
+
+After a while the man drew down the car low enough to get into it, and
+cried out: "Does anybody wish to accompany us in our grand aerial
+flight?" He said "us," as sounding fine; but he immediately explained
+that he would take a light gentleman only.
+
+In a moment there shot from the crowd a long-legged, keen-eyed boy about
+fourteen years old, who nimbly stowed himself into the car, amid great
+laughter and shouts of "There goes Billy Knox!" "Good-night, Billy!"
+"Bring us down a star, Billy!" and like efforts at wit.
+
+"Did you ever see a chap so ready and willing to risk his life for
+nothing?" asked somebody; and another man answered, coolly, "'Tain't no
+loss if he does break his neck; nobody owns him, and the world will be
+well rid of him."
+
+Billy heard the heartless words, and turned to look at the speaker,
+while the owner of the machine arranged the ropes before getting into
+the car.
+
+[Illustration: BILLY'S FIRST RISE IN THE WORLD.]
+
+Suddenly, like a bubble from a pipe bowl, up rose the balloon, Billy in
+and the man out! The crowd gave a gasp of surprise, the man stared
+stupidly, and then, just too late, leaped up like an acrobat, and
+clutched--only air. Billy, moving slowly up, sat like a statue; but loud
+and clear came down from the car a cry, not of terror, almost one of
+triumph.
+
+"He'll be killed, sure," said the former speaker, emphatically, and his
+companion echoed, "Don't seem to care a bit about it either, just as you
+said."
+
+Some of the people thought it a trick of the owner of the balloon, but
+his frantic denial and his evident distress at the loss of his property
+proved it to have been a mishap. Meanwhile the news flew like the wind
+over the field, and in a moment hundreds of faces were upturned toward
+the vanishing balloon. Everybody hoped the boy would not meet a dreadful
+death, though a goodly number said it might better be Billy than any one
+else; and all alike watched, not sorry, if such a thing must happen,
+that they were there to see it.
+
+Up, up, went the car, and "nobody's boy" was rising far above the earth.
+The sunset light smote his red hair, and made it glitter like gold. But
+Billy was soon too far away for the crowd to jeer at him, even if the
+roughest could have done so while the boy was in such terrible peril.
+
+Billy looked down once and shouted. Then he began to wish that his
+conveyance would travel sideways, instead of rising so steadily.
+
+It occurred to him at last that if the man who owned the balloon were in
+the car, he would probably turn some "stop-cock" or other, and let
+himself down. However, Billy was not sure that he wanted to go down even
+if he could.
+
+As he rose higher and higher, the people on the ground below him began
+to look like small things crawling, and the great white tent almost like
+a card-board house. He questioned whether or not he should meddle with
+any mysterious part of the balloon. He remembered, not unpleasantly,
+having heard some one early in the day say it would certainly collapse
+of itself. If collapse meant to come down, to meddle with it might be to
+turn on steam and send him beyond the sun and moon, where he had no
+desire to go. He sailed across a forest, over a river, lost sight of the
+fair ground, and then began to come nearer earth, slowly nearer, then
+faster, the car rocking in a way that threatened to dump him out.
+
+"We are surely 'collapsing,'" thought Billy. He grew a little dizzy, the
+earth seemed coming to meet him, and all the houses, barns, and
+hay-stacks were inflated, in their turn, and getting bigger. At last a
+gnarled old tree that had been charging straight on the balloon ran into
+it, upset, tore it, and after entangling Billy in ropes and branches,
+tearing his clothes, scratching his hands and switching him like an
+old-time school-marm, let him fall roughly down to earth. He was glad to
+lie quiet, thinking first of the torn balloon, then of himself.
+
+While he was thinking, the words that he had heard that afternoon as he
+entered the car came back to him: "Nobody owns him, and the world will
+be well rid of him."
+
+Heretofore he had been proud of the fact that nobody owned him. He had
+never thought of himself as a nuisance to the community. Billy had not
+much sentiment, but to-night his heart ached as well as his limbs. He
+thought of all his past life as intently as a boy could think. He had
+begun to take care of himself when he was only eight years old. He dimly
+remembered his poor mother as always enveloped in the steam from hot
+soap suds, a practical kind of a halo, the result of her efforts to feed
+him with honestly earned bread. She died and left him to the care of a
+drunken father, who two years later followed her to the grave.
+
+The town gave Billy a home in the poor-house, but he staid there only
+three days. At the end of it he resolved to start out into the world and
+earn his own bread. He ran away to the nearest city, where he blacked
+boots, sold papers, learned a certain amount of evil in the streets, and
+some good, in a night school. Finally he tired of city life, and started
+for California, but after getting ten miles on the way, his money gave
+out, and his courage too. He found himself in the town of Langham, and
+there he staid, doing odd jobs when he could get them, and at other
+times amusing himself as best he could.
+
+There never was a fire that Billy was not close behind the hose-cart, or
+a circus that he did not ride the kicking donkey, or a county fair where
+he was not present looking out for anything in the way of fun that
+offered. His last undertaking was going up in a balloon. Now here he
+was, down again, and the question was, what should he do next?
+
+A boy in a book would have decided to become a judge, or a merchant, or
+an artist; but Billy had another ambition. He desired to become a
+negro-minstrel. He knew one, a man who wore fine clothes and had plenty
+of money. He earned it by being funny--oh, so extremely funny.
+
+While Billy was considering the matter, he heard a voice, and looking up
+saw a man following a cow. Naturally enough, the balloon, attracted the
+man's attention, and he came near enough to discover the boy.
+
+A conversation followed, in which the whole story was told.
+
+"Well," said Billy's new friend, who proved to be a tailor in a very
+small way of business, "how do you feel now?"
+
+"Lonesome and sort of empty."
+
+"Do you mean hungry?"
+
+"Perhaps that's it," said Billy.
+
+"Then you may come home with me to-night," said the man, "and after
+supper I'll see if the balloon is spoiled.'
+
+"It is only collapsed," said Billy, very pompously; but when on getting
+up to walk he found his clothing reduced to about half what he had
+before, he assumed a meeker tone, and followed his new friend
+thankfully. The cow going first, turned down a lane bordered with
+sunflowers, and stopped by the door of a wee red house. A moment after,
+a small figure with a tin pail came out of the house, and sat down to
+milk the cow.
+
+"This is my son Ben," said the host.
+
+At first Billy had taken the child for a girl, for the little boy's
+checked apron came down to his copper-toed shoes, and he wore a green
+sun-bonnet, under which Billy saw soft white hair, and a very sweet
+face. They entered a kitchen, small, bare, but very clean, where a table
+was spread with blue dishes, brown-bread, baked apples, and cold pork.
+In the chimney-corner sat a little old woman, who sang as she rocked.
+She was very deaf, but she smiled on Billy, on the tailor, and on her
+little grandson. She would have smiled on anybody, as to that. But a
+grandmother's kind face being new to Billy, he thought it beautiful. He
+found the supper exceedingly good, if not very abundant, and he was
+interested in watching Ben. The child soberly washed the dishes, and
+neatly swept up the crumbs, saying very little. The reason for his
+silence was after a while apparent to Billy: little Ben stuttered.
+
+After supper, the room being warm, and Billy being tired, he dozed in a
+corner of the old lounge. While he slept the tailor went to see about
+the balloon, and staid a long time.
+
+Later in the evening Billy was awakened by a voice. Ben was reading to
+his grandmother. She had her cap off, and her hair was as white as snow.
+She was warming her feet over the last coals, while Ben held a candle in
+one hand, and bent over an old book.
+
+"'He shall call upon me, and I will answer him,'" read the boy, in his
+awkward, stuttering tones. "'I will be with him in trouble. I will
+deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show
+him my salvation.'"
+
+Billy did not catch the last word, for the child could scarcely
+pronounce it, but he asked, abruptly, "Who will do it?"
+
+The old grandmother heard the boy's voice, and answered: "God will do it
+all for those who love Him."
+
+"Folks like you, old and good, I suppose," added Billy, as she tottered
+away to bed.
+
+Once she would have stopped to teach him some holy lesson, but now she
+had crept in her feebleness so close to the door of heaven that she was
+forgetful of all darkness that might be behind her for younger
+travellers. Billy fell asleep again, then waked up blinking. The outer
+door was open, and Ben was pulling, bracing, and otherwise guiding his
+father into the house.
+
+When the tailor was safely dumped into a wooden chair, he began to
+jabber about the "b'loon, you know--scientif'--experiment. If I got a
+chance--like to own b'loon myself--always was scientific."
+
+"Humph! that's it, is it?" said Billy, stretching out again for the
+night. He had seen too much of life to be either shocked or surprised.
+Doubtless Ben could get his drunken father to bed alone; and the child
+did indeed do it, as he often had done it before.
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE RABBIT HUTCH.]
+
+
+
+
+THE FRIDAY PICNIC.
+
+BY MATTHEW WHITE, JUN.
+
+
+"But you can't expect Hatty to put off her birthday, can you?" and Ralph
+Wicksley shied a small pebble against the hand of his friend by way of
+emphasizing the absurdity of the idea.
+
+"Oh, pshaw! of course not," replied the other boy, with a half-smile;
+"but ten chances to one it rains at a picnic anyway, and on a Friday,
+and the 13th of the month, there's no knowing what may not happen."
+
+"Why, George Hendon, how long since you've turned a superstitious
+pagan?" exclaimed a voice behind the two, who were taking a "sun bath"
+on the beach at Seamere.
+
+"Hello, Graham!" cried Ralph, springing to his feet. "We'll leave the
+matter to you. You know about the picnic we're to give your sister on
+her thirteenth birthday? Well, we've just discovered that it occurs not
+only on the 13th of the month, but on a Friday besides, and George here
+thinks we ought to postpone it on that account. It's all nonsense, isn't
+it?"
+
+"I don't believe any of the girls will go on that day," put in George,
+by way of influencing Graham Burd's answer.
+
+"And I don't believe one of them has thought of the coincidence,"
+returned the latter; "and probably never will, unless you put it into
+their heads. You're not afraid to go yourself, are you?"
+
+"Well, no, I'm not exactly afraid, but I think we'd feel more
+comfortable all around if we should choose some other day. You know
+sailors are terribly superstitious, and if, while we are in the boat,
+some one should mention the three queer facts (although I give you my
+word it won't be me), all the pleasure for some of the girls would be
+spoiled."
+
+"Oh, don't you believe it!" cried Graham. "I'm sure Hatty, for one, has
+too much sense to make herself miserable because of a mere silly old
+wives' tale, so don't put it off on her account. Besides, there'll be
+more than thirteen in the party, which fact of itself ought to calm the
+fears of the most timid."
+
+George said no more on the subject; everybody went on making
+preparations for the long-anticipated expedition to Forest Island; and
+when the day arrived, no more beautiful one could have dawned. By ten
+o'clock the Burds' tiny wharf was crowded with the young summer
+residents of Seamere, who were transferred, amid much laughter, chatter,
+and playful shrieks, to Ralph Wicksley's handsome Whitehall row-boat.
+
+"It's too bad the Maxtons can't go, isn't it?" remarked Hatty, as the
+boys pushed off, and good-byes were waved to fathers and mothers on the
+lawn. "Their cousin Jack arrived from South America last night, and as
+he can only stay with them one day, of course they didn't like to leave
+him."
+
+"Yes, I had the other boat all ready to bring along," added Ralph; "but
+as the party was thus reduced by four, I thought it would be pleasanter
+for us all to keep together."
+
+"Why, I do declare," exclaimed Albertina Brown, a few moments later,
+"there are just thirteen of us! It's lucky we're to eat on the grass and
+not at a table."
+
+"And to-day's Friday!" cried Fanny Ray.
+
+"And the 13th of the month!" added her sister Helen.
+
+"And my thirteenth birthday!" finished Hatty, whereupon a chorus of
+dismal "Oh! oh! ohs!" arose from all the girls, while Ralph cast a
+despairing glance toward Graham, and George Hendon smiled the least bit
+triumphantly at them both.
+
+"Let's go back," proposed a faint girlish voice, after the first
+excitement had subsided; but such a "cowardly course" was at once vetoed
+by a deep-toned "Forward!" from the boys, who bent to their oars with
+curved backs in their determination to prove how splendidly everything
+could be made to go off in spite of the series of ill omens.
+
+The girls, however, could think of nothing else but the wonderful
+inauspicious coincidences, and although not one of them, when questioned
+individually, would acknowledge to being really superstitious, still the
+numberless stories told in which unlucky days and figures were shown at
+their worst were almost sufficient, one would think, to sink the boat of
+themselves.
+
+Among others was the tale of the matter-of-fact ship-owner, who put no
+faith in any of the sailors' silly beliefs, and who, to prove their
+absurdity, laid the keel of a vessel on Friday, named it _Friday_,
+launched it on a Friday, at length succeeded in finding a crew for it
+commanded by a Captain Friday, set sail on that day, and--was never
+heard of afterward.
+
+To offset the depressing effects of this tragic albeit somewhat doubtful
+narrative, Ralph told about the Thirteen Club which had been recently
+organized in the city, the membership of which was restricted to
+thirteen, and which met _for dinner_ on the 13th of each month at a
+hotel the name of which was spelled with thirteen letters. "And nothing
+'perfectly awful' has befallen any one of the members so far as heard
+from," concluded Ralph, exultingly.
+
+There were certainly several grains of comfort to be extracted from this
+fact, and cheerfulness began to diffuse itself once more over the party,
+when Fanny Ray, who was steering, suddenly declared that the sight of
+salt-water on every side of her always made her thirsty for a drink of
+fresh, and a search was at once instituted for the water jug.
+
+"I saw Graham put it somewhere in the stern here," continued Fanny; "but
+don't any of you boys try to get at it, for you'll be sure to put your
+foot into the basket of cake or the jar of jelly. Here, Hatty, I think I
+feel it right down here; but Ralph says I mustn't let go of the ropes;
+so will you please stoop down and lift it out for me?"
+
+Now, as may be imagined, with a party of thirteen aboard, there was not
+much spare room in the boat, so when anything was wanted from the bottom
+of it, it had to be felt, not looked for.
+
+"I've got hold of the cork, at any rate," she presently announced, "but
+the jug seems to be wedged in some way. There, now! I've pulled the cork
+out. Oh dear! why didn't I find the handle?"
+
+"Let me try," proposed George, giving his oar to Phil Hallibey, and
+making his way aft.
+
+"Here's the glass!" exclaimed Albertina; "and I'm thirsty too."
+
+"Oh, George Hendon, right on my foot!" cried Helen.
+
+"Careful now," commanded Fanny. "I'm awfully sorry to make all this
+trouble, and--"
+
+"O--h--h! we're sinking! we're sinking! Help! help!"
+
+And the next moment it became known to them all that Hatty had mistaken
+the boat plug for the cork of the water bottle, had pulled it out, and
+that now the river was pouring in with appalling swiftness.
+
+"Pull for the flats, fellows!" shouted Ralph, tearing off his jacket as
+he spoke. "Here, George, see if you can stuff this coat into the hole;
+and, girls, keep perfectly quiet, or you'll overturn the boat. Don't
+mind if you do get wet, but sit still."
+
+Ralph spoke in loud, commanding tones that were at once obeyed; but the
+danger was by no means over. The boat was settling rapidly, the water
+being already half-way up to the thwarts, but ruined skirts and soaked
+shoes were never thought of as all sat watching breathlessly, now
+George's efforts to stop the leak, now the light streak on the river
+that marked the edge of the flats, and which was still several yards
+distant.
+
+"Pull! pull!" cried Ralph, working himself with all his strength. "Can't
+you stop it, George? We're nearly there, girls."
+
+Higher and higher rose the water in the boat; again and again was George
+baffled in his attempts to stem the incoming floods, as in the crowded
+condition of the stern he could not see what he was doing, and to ask
+any one to move would be to endanger capsizing the whole party. And all
+the while the sun shone brightly down on the sparkling river; the
+village, too, was still in sight, and not far off was the shady island
+where the picnic was to be held. It seemed terrible to think of going
+down, down amid such--
+
+"Saved!" suddenly shouted Ralph, as the boat shot out from the channel
+and in among the eel-grass. "Somebody's sure to see and take us off very
+soon, and meanwhile you needn't mind sitting in the water, as long as it
+isn't up to your eyes. It's salt, so you won't catch cold."
+
+Nevertheless the situation of the party was anything but a pleasant one,
+for the boat settled until it touched bottom, and then careened over,
+throwing both Graham Burd and Phil Hallibey into the river.
+
+"Here comes a boat!" suddenly exclaimed Albertina.
+
+"And it's the Maxtons out rowing with their cousin Jack," added Hatty.
+
+The young cousin from South America proved to be an old sailor, and
+under his superintendence the girls were soon carried ashore in
+detachments to the nearest point, after which he returned to help "raise
+the wreck."
+
+The thirteen having been dried and lunched at their several homes, they
+all met to spend the afternoon at the Maxtons', where the same useful
+cousin proved himself likewise a master-hand at entertaining, so what
+with games, stories, music, and ice-cream, the lost excursion was
+lavishly atoned for; and when a terrible thunder-storm about three
+o'clock caused them all to feel glad that they were not on Forest
+Island, even George Hendon acknowledged that in spite of coincidences
+and the boat plug, their Friday picnic was a lucky one after all.
+
+
+
+
+BITS OF ADVICE.
+
+BY AUNT MARJORIE PRECEPT.
+
+ON THE ROAD.
+
+
+Travelling in our country is both comfortable and agreeable, if the
+traveller will pay attention to a few directions. I suppose, dear little
+friends, that you have seen fussy and fidgety people on the road, who
+made themselves and other people unhappy by their behavior. The cars
+were too warm or too cold, the locomotive was going too fast or too
+slow, they feared the baby in the next seat had the whooping-cough, or
+they were sure there would be a collision. If on the water, they were in
+terror lest the engineer was racing, and the uneasiness they felt made
+them wretched.
+
+Now, my dears, listen to me. When you go on a journey you are a
+passenger; your ticket is paid for; and as you are neither captain,
+pilot, conductor, nor engineer, give yourself no trouble about the way
+car or boat is being managed. Never take responsibility that does not
+belong to you.
+
+The old Romans used to call baggage _impedimenta_. They tried to have as
+little of it as they could when on a march. Unless you are going to stay
+a long time, take no more luggage than is necessary. A little hand-bag
+or a shawl-strap, with perhaps an umbrella, is all that a young
+traveller should have to care for on a journey.
+
+When you purchase your ticket, if no older friend is with you to attend
+to the checking of your trunk, you must see to it yourself. This is very
+simple. Go with your ticket to the place to which the expressman has
+taken your trunk, show your ticket to the baggage-master, and he will
+attach a check to your goods, and give you one precisely like it. You
+must put this away in a place where you can get at it conveniently, as
+you must return it to the steamer or railway company when you claim your
+property.
+
+Never tuck your ticket out of sight or into some out-of-the-way pocket.
+Have it ready to show the conductor whenever it is called for.
+
+A little girl is sometimes uncertain what to do about her money if she
+is travelling with a gentleman. For instance, Eda is going to visit
+Angeline, and at the station in New York she is met by Angeline's
+brother Dick. She does not wish him to purchase her ticket, but she
+feels awkward about offering him the money to pay for it.
+
+The proper thing for Eda is to hand her pocket-book to Mr. Dick, and
+request him to take from it the amount of her fare. The pleasantest way,
+if the journey be a long one, would be for Eda's papa to give her escort
+a sufficient sum to pay all her expenses.
+
+People on a journey should not be selfish. Nobody should take two seats
+when only entitled to one. Two or three merry boys and girls travelling
+together should be careful not to laugh and talk so loudly that they
+annoy others. Ladies and gentlemen never do this. You can have a great
+deal of fun without being conspicuous.
+
+Never neglect a chance to do a kindness to an aged or feeble person.
+Nothing is more beautiful on the road than courtesy from the young to
+those who are old or in trouble.
+
+
+
+
+AIDS FOR YOUNG ANGLERS.
+
+BY A. W. ROBERTS.
+
+
+How often has it happened that on reaching a camping ground, hotel, or
+boarding-house near river or lake, where pickerel, bass, and large perch
+abounded, I have found no provision for the angler's sport but a boat;
+no lines, sinkers, or floats; no nets for catching live bait, and no
+bait but worms! For sunfish, cat-fish, and small perch, worms are very
+fair bait; but for pickerel, bass, and large perch, live bait is best.
+Under such trying circumstances, I have learned to get up at short
+notice and at small expense many make-shifts and aids that may be of
+great assistance and consolation to other young anglers when placed in a
+similar position.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
+
+Fig. 1 is an end section of a mosquito-net seine for taking live bait.
+The length of the seine is thirty-eight feet; depth, five feet. The
+"cork line" (A A) consists of a small-sized clothes-line. Corks not
+always being obtainable, I have used pieces of thoroughly seasoned white
+pine three inches in length and one inch in diameter (C C C). Through
+these rounded pieces of wood holes are bored, through which the
+clothes-line passes. These floats are placed eight inches apart, and are
+kept in position by the clothes-line fitting tightly in the holes. At
+the bottom of the seine another clothes-line is sewed to the netting;
+(B B). This is called the "lead line," and is for the purpose of keeping
+the lower part of the seine close to the bottom of the water. On the
+"lead line" pieces of sheet-lead one inch in length are fastened
+(H H H) twenty-eight inches apart. The "staff" (D) is a well-seasoned
+piece of hickory six feet long, to the lower end of which sheet-lead is
+also fastened (at E) to keep it down. To the staff is attached the staff
+line (F F F), thirty feet long, which is for the purpose of drawing in
+the seine after it has been cast.
+
+A seine of this size is generally worked by two persons and two boats.
+Each person takes one of the staff lines in his boat, and rowing toward
+the shore with the extended seine, describes a semicircle between the
+boats. As the shore is approached, each boat closes in, thereby causing
+the two staffs to meet, and imprison, all the fish that have come within
+the bounds of the seine. When one person works the seine, one of the
+staff lines is tied to a rock or stake on the shore, and the other line
+is taken into a boat, or the operator wades out, and causes his end of
+the seine to describe a circle until the two staffs meet. Great care
+must be taken to keep the lead line close to the bottom, otherwise the
+fish will escape. In the selection of the seining ground always avoid
+stony bottoms, snags, and brush, which will cause the seine to "roll up"
+and tear.
+
+The cost of the above-described seine ranges from three to four dollars,
+and is capable of lasting two seasons if carefully handled and spread
+out on the grass to dry after using it. A much superior article to
+mosquito net is bobinet, which will last several seasons.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
+
+Fig. 2 is a bait boat, for keeping the bait alive. It is towed behind or
+kept by the side when fishing. The top and bottom pieces consist of
+half-inch pine "stuff"; in the centre of each piece square openings are
+cut; that on the top is protected by a door made of wire-cloth of
+quarter-inch mesh, fastened to two small staples, which answer the
+purpose of hinges; over the opening in the bottom piece wire-cloth is
+nailed, to admit of a free circulation of water. Under the back end of
+the top piece a cleet is nailed, also two cleets on the bottom piece, as
+shown in the figure. At the bow of the boat an upright piece of wood is
+fastened to the top and bottom of the bait boat by means of screws. The
+sides of the boat consist of one piece of wire-cloth, the ends of which
+meet at the upright piece of wood at the bow, and are nailed with
+broad-headed galvanized nails. The top and bottom edges of the
+wire-cloth are also fastened with nails to the edges of the top and
+bottom of the boat, as shown in the figure. A tow-line is fastened to
+the bow, and the boat is complete.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
+
+When handling the bait a small hand-net (Fig. 3) is used, consisting of
+a stout piece of wire bent as shown in the figure; the straight parts of
+the wire are bound together with fishing-line, and constitute the
+handle; to this frame netting is sewed to form the net bag.
+
+When fish are caught, they ought to be kept in water to keep the scales
+soft, otherwise they become dry and set, and are troublesome to clean.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
+
+For a make-shift float I have found nothing better than a good-sized
+bottle cork, into which a cut has been made with a sharp knife or razor,
+extending from the side to the centre of the cork. Into this cut the
+line is drawn as shown in Fig. 4, A.
+
+Sheet-lead is always a useful aid in make-shift fishing-tackle, and for
+light lines makes excellent sinkers when bent and compressed around the
+line, as shown at Fig. 4, B.
+
+For a pole nothing is nicer than a light and straight piece of the
+aromatic sweet-birch. I am not a convert to hundred-dollar fishing-poles
+with polished mountings, but have reasons to still believe there is much
+virtue in birch.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
+
+For cleaning out a boat a stiff whisk-broom made of fine birch twigs
+bound together with wire or fishing-line, as shown at Fig. 5, will be
+found very useful.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
+
+Fig. 6, A and B are hand-made sinkers beaten and carved out of old lead
+pipe. The carved one, B, is first roughed out with a jackknife and
+finished up with fine emery or sand paper. A is beaten into shape with a
+railroad spike on an anvil or smooth stone. This beating and carving of
+lead is very pleasant work, the lead being of such an easy and
+good-natured temper.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
+
+For a cheap and easily obtainable bailer I have made use of an empty
+tomato or corned beef can, as shown in Fig. 7. A hole sufficiently large
+to admit of the handle is punched in the side of the can, the inside end
+of the handle is champered off so as to fit close to the inner side of
+the can; through the can and into the end of the handle a stout nail is
+driven, as at A.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
+
+A good bait for large fish is a strip cut from the under side of a small
+pickerel, perch, or sunfish, which is placed on the hook as shown in
+Fig. 8.
+
+For black bass I have found the black field and house crickets most
+excellent bait. Within the last two weeks I have taken good messes of
+horned pouts (cat-fish) with set night lines baited with "cat-worms" (so
+named by the inhabitants of the lake where I am camping). These
+"cat-worms" are those elderly, corpulent, and well-to-do angle-worms,
+that pay their respects to one another on dewy, moonlight nights. When
+using angle-worms I place them in damp moss for three days, to rid them
+of all earthy matter; this toughens them so that they may be run on the
+hook with more certainty and less bother; and, besides, they have more
+squirm in them, which is a decided gain.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+THE DANCING GOAT.
+
+BY MRS. T. W. DEWING.
+
+
+  See! This Italian boy,
+  Much to the children's joy.
+  Has taught his goat
+  With the furry coat
+  To caper and prance
+  To the tune of a dance,
+  While he will play
+  All a summer's day
+  On his mandolin
+  His bread to win.
+  At night he'll lie
+  'Neath the open sky,
+  With the grass for bed,
+  And beneath his head
+  For pillow the goat
+  With the furry coat,
+  And sleep till day,
+  When again he'll play
+  On his mandolin
+  His bread to win.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.
+
+
+What fun it is to pack a trunk! Is it not, little travellers? And how
+much more troublesome the packing is when you are coming home than it
+was when you were going away! So many pretty things collected during the
+summer are to be carried safely, so that the dear ones at home may see
+them, and that they may adorn brackets and corners, and make rooms
+beautiful the whole winter long. I hope the children who are going back
+to school with brown faces and rosy cheeks are all ready to pack away
+plenty of learning in the little minds, which are not precisely like
+trunks. You may get a trunk so full that it can hold no more; but a
+healthy boy and girl can never fill his or her mind so full of useful
+knowledge that there will not be room for something else.
+
+So, little folks, trip merrily to school, and show how much you have
+enjoyed your play by working like beavers, bees, and birds, building
+character, gathering honey, and singing cheerily all the while.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS.
+
+     I am a boy eight years old, and I want to write you a letter about
+     my little kitten Daisy. I made a little house out of a box, and I
+     made steps for her to go in the house, and I put it out in the
+     wood-shed. I put her in front of the steps, and she walked right in
+     and went to sleep, and now she sleeps there always. Last Sunday
+     evening she caught her first mouse, and she played with it for a
+     long time, and when it was dead she tried to make it alive again by
+     tossing it up in the air. This is all I have to say this time, but
+     if you like I will write to you again.
+
+  RUFUS TYLER L.
+
+You were a clever boy to make a house for your kitty. A friend of mine
+took pity one cold winter on a wandering cat that had no home. As the
+ladies of the family did not want to take so forlorn and wild a thing
+in-doors, this kind man set a box in the yard, put some straw in it for
+a bed, and every day placed a saucer of milk or a plate of food beside
+it for the poor hungry puss. Like your kitty, this one learned to know
+her own house, and grew quite plump and handsome, as well as tame, under
+the gentle treatment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  COTTAGE CITY, MARTHA'S VINEYARD.
+
+     My mother, father, brother, and myself are spending the summer at
+     Cottage City. Last Saturday we joined an excursion to Gay Head. Gay
+     Head is on the other end of the island. We enjoyed the steamboat
+     ride through Vineyard Sound, although the scenery was not very
+     pretty. We were obliged to land in row-boats, which were managed by
+     natives. These natives are a cross between the negro and American
+     Indian; they are generally very homely, with the exception of the
+     children, who soon lose their prettiness, judging by the looks of
+     their elders. We walked some distance along the beach before we
+     came to the cliffs. These cliffs extend about half a mile along the
+     shore, and are formed entirely of different-colored clay--green,
+     yellow, red, blue, white, and brown. The red resembled sunburned
+     rocks, only much brighter; the yellow looked from a distance as if
+     a load of sand had been dumped there, and rolled half-way down the
+     cliffs; the white was very pure and dazzling, and with the dark
+     green bayberry growing on it, the effect was very fine. We went
+     into the light-house and saw the light, which belongs to the first
+     class. The keeper said it flashed in ten seconds, and revolved in
+     four minutes. He has to wind it up every hour. While in the
+     light-house the steamer began to whistle, so we had to hurry back,
+     as we did not wish to get left. We found the sail home rather
+     tiresome, and were glad enough when the Seaview wharf hove in
+     sight. I am afraid that the Postmistress will think this too long
+     to print. If she does not, I will write again, and tell about my
+     excursion to Nantucket. Good-by.
+
+  A. B.
+
+Yes, dear, write again. Letters which describe what you see, and tell
+where you go, are very welcome.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  OSWEGO, NEW YORK.
+
+     I wish some of the boys and girls who write to you could see my
+     room. The ceiling is papered with nursery papers; then there is a
+     border of Japanese pictures, and the rest of the wall is entirely
+     covered with advertisement cards, some of which I bought and some
+     of which were given me. I have a large cupboard in my room, and
+     that is covered with the same cards. I have over two thousand cards
+     on the wall. I have been to New York this summer, and visited on
+     Governor's Island. I saw Generals Hancock and Sherman, and the
+     former gave me an orange. I am seven years old, and although I have
+     never been to school or studied much at home, I have learned to
+     read. I have been reading _Boys of '76_ and _Old Times in the
+     Colonies_, and like both very much. I went to Coney Island in June,
+     and came very near being lost or stolen. I have over two hundred
+     little soldiers, and have fun having battles with them. I hope you
+     will publish this very soon, and excuse me for writing such a long
+     letter.
+
+  L. W. M.
+
+Your room must be very beautiful, dear. It is what we call unique, and I
+think it must be quite gay and rainbow-like. I am glad you were neither
+lost nor stolen at Coney Island.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  WACO, TEXAS.
+
+     I am a resident of St. Louis, and am spending my school vacation in
+     Texas, where I am visiting a brother. I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE
+     since its first number, and have often wanted to write a letter to
+     the other boys. I left St. Louis July 5, coming through the State
+     of Missouri, and down through the Indian Nation, the prettiest
+     country I ever saw. I came the entire distance alone. I like Texas
+     very much, and will probably stay here until Christmas. The Brazos
+     River runs through the town, dividing it into East and West Waco.
+     It is spanned by one suspension-bridge and two railroad bridges.
+     This is one of the prettiest places in the State.
+
+  LEWIS M. H.
+
+I like to hear from a self-reliant and manly little fellow who is able
+to take care of himself on a journey.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  HUDSON, NEW YORK.
+
+     I'm going to send a letter to you, but I don't know exactly what
+     I'm going to say until I think of it as I go. I live on the banks
+     of the Hudson River. The mowing-machine is just cutting down the
+     grass. The view is beautiful from here, but still more beautiful
+     from Mr. Church's, who lives on the hill. I haven't many pets to
+     tell you about, except two canary-birds, and a lamb that is hardly
+     a lamb now, but a full-grown sheep.
+
+  NELLY G. E. (not yet six years old.)
+
+I suppose little Nelly sometimes climbs the hill to gaze with her own
+bright eyes at the golden sunsets which Mr. Church looks at from his
+pleasant home, and then paints so beautifully for the rest of us to
+enjoy. Do you know, dear, that the best letters ever written are written
+in your way--just by thinking what to say as you go on?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  HILLSDALE.
+
+     I thought I would write you a letter to let you know how much I
+     like to read YOUNG PEOPLE. I think it is a very good paper, and I
+     watch every week for the number to come. The first piece I read is
+     "Mr. Stubbs's Brother." I think a good deal of a good circus. Jimmy
+     Brown's stories are very interesting. We have a pet crow; he is
+     very tame. He flies all over the farm, and goes wherever he
+     pleases. He is afraid of other crows. When they come too close, he
+     flies to the house if he is not too far away. He likes to follow
+     along in the corn field, and pick up the bugs and worms. Good-by.
+
+  JOHN S. R.
+
+Is your crow afraid of a scarecrow? I suppose you will be surprised, but
+I once had a pet crow of my own. He was as black as black could be, and
+oh! such a mischief, and so fond of stealing things and hiding them. His
+favorite perch was on the sewing-machine. I was very, very glad when one
+day Mr. Crow flew over the hills and far away, and never came back. In
+which State is your Hillsdale, John? You forgot to tell me.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.
+
+     My grandpa has moved his house down near to ours. First they put
+     great beams under the house, and wooden rollers under them, and
+     then they built a platform in front of it to roll it on. Then they
+     fastened a chain to the house, and a rope to the chain, and then a
+     horse pulled it round a block and tackle. My grandma came out here
+     to-day and took me to ride. When my birthday comes I am going to
+     have a little party, and give the children presents instead of
+     having people give me things, and I am making some balls for some
+     of the boys. My papa has taken HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE for me ever
+     since its beginning. I like Toby Tyler very much, and I hope his
+     circus will not come to an end. I wish that lady who wrote the
+     letter about the hospital for little children would write another
+     one. I have a bird and a cat. When I give my cat anything to eat,
+     he tries to get it before I can put the plate on the ground. I went
+     to Luray this summer and took my doll, and it took me a long time
+     to get her ready. The next time I write I will tell you about the
+     cave I went into. I guess I am getting sleepy now, and I want to go
+     to bed, and I will end off my letter by saying, "Won't you please
+     print this in HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE?"
+
+     I send you a picture of my bird and cat. I am seven years old, but
+     I can only write printing letters, so mamma wrote this for me.
+
+  EVALINA CARROLL S.
+
+Thank you for the pretty picture. I like your idea of making others
+happy on your birthday. A sweet Bible verse tells us that it is more
+blessed to give than to receive. How much you must have enjoyed watching
+the moving of grandpa's house! Were you frightened when you explored the
+Luray Cave?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  CHARLOTTE, NEW YORK.
+
+     We are spending the summer at Lake Ontario, and see a great number
+     of butterflies fluttering along the road-side, and over the fields.
+     Reading the article in No. 142 of YOUNG PEOPLE on butterflies, my
+     brother and I started a collection. We have caught several
+     specimens of _Papilio turnus_ and _Papilio asterias_. We also
+     caught a beautiful butterfly which is not described in YOUNG
+     PEOPLE. Its wings are velvety black, and the hind-wings are tailed.
+     The fore-wings are marked with rows of greenish-yellow spots on the
+     margin, and the hind-wings with rows of spots of a peculiar green
+     (called gas green, I believe), and above the spots is a large
+     irregular spot covering two-thirds of the wing. We have only one
+     specimen of those yellow butterflies spoken of. They are very
+     plentiful, but I find them hard to catch, as they take alarm very
+     quickly. About four o'clock in the hot afternoons we go over to the
+     edge of the woods, where there is a break in the trees, and the
+     grass is deep, and find quantities of tawny orange butterflies
+     marked with black on the upper side and silver on the under. The
+     black and green butterfly that we caught was prettier on the under
+     side than it was on the upper. Its hind-wings were marked
+     underneath with light blue, silver, and orange. I hope that my
+     letter is not too long.
+
+  WINIFRED J. B.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  MACON STATION, ALABAMA.
+
+     I like the stories written by Jimmy Brown very much. I am very much
+     interested in "Mr. Stubbs's Brother." We have three kittens, and
+     their names are Toby, Abner, and Mr. Stubbs. While my sister and
+     brother were out driving one evening they heard a kitten crying
+     behind them, and brother got out, picked it up, and brought it
+     home. Mr. Stubbs is very playful. I have a pet lamb and a pet
+     chicken. The lamb's mother died when it was very young, so I took
+     it, and it is a large lamb now. I raised the chicken myself too. I
+     had a calf, but it died. I was twelve years old the third day of
+     June. I have three brothers and two sisters. All of us read YOUNG
+     PEOPLE except the two youngest.
+
+  SUSIE B. R.
+
+"A snow-white mountain lamb, with a maiden by its side." Do you say,
+"Drink, pretty creature, drink," to your lamb, as Barbara Lethwaite does
+in Wordsworth's poem?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.
+
+     We are a little brother and sister seven and five years old. Papa
+     buys HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE for us, and mamma reads the stories
+     first, and then tells us what she thinks we can understand. We had
+     a pair of rabbits sent to us from Indianapolis last year, but they
+     were so much trouble we gave them away; we had a little turtle no
+     larger than a twenty-cent piece, but that is dead; it lived two
+     years. The sweetest pet we ever had was our dear little brother
+     Arthur. He died last November, and we all miss him very much. He
+     was so cunning! He was one year and a half old. We have never
+     written to YOUNG PEOPLE before, and hope this will be published.
+
+  HARRY and EMILY F.
+
+A baby brother is indeed a darling, and the best of pets. I am very
+sorry your little Arthur died.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  ROCKPORT, MASSACHUSETTS.
+
+     I thought I would write to you to tell you about my dolls. I have
+     four; three of them are wax and one is china. One of the wax ones
+     is nearly two years old, and I like her the best of all. She has
+     curly hair all over her head, and can open and shut her eyes. Her
+     name is Bessie B. Stamford. My next oldest doll is Kitty C.
+     Stamford. She has light hair, which she wears braided down her
+     back. Next comes Gertrude Bell Stamford. Santa Claus gave her to me
+     last Christmas at a Christmas tree in our church. She was sitting
+     in a cunning blue chair. She has dark hair and a bang. My littlest
+     one is a four-cent china doll. Her name is Bertha Agnes Cross. I
+     have a cunning little doll carriage with a canopy top. As I can not
+     write very well myself, my sister is writing this for me. I like to
+     read the letters in Our Post-office Box very much.
+
+  HELEN E. B.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  ISLE OF PINES, CUBA.
+
+     Some time has passed since I have had the pleasure of writing to
+     the Post-office Box. I will begin by telling something about the
+     Isle of Pines, where I am spending some months. The air of this
+     place is very pure and healthy, because there are a great many
+     beautiful pines and warm mineral springs; so a great many sick
+     people come to breathe this delicious air. It is also famous for
+     its exquisite fruits--pine-apples, mangos, and others. When it
+     rains, in less than a half-hour the ground dries, as it is sandy.
+     There are many parrots and mocking-birds and wood-peckers and larks
+     here. The wild flowers are very beautiful, and there is a great
+     variety of them. The "St. Peter" flowers, which grow out of old
+     trees and fences, look like pretty butterflies; some are yellow and
+     white, some rose-color and brown. I send you one to show you how
+     pretty they are.
+
+  MARY DE A.
+
+Thank you very much for the pretty specimen, which lost none of its
+beauty on the way to New York, it had been so daintily pressed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  GREENVILLE, NEW JERSEY.
+
+     I want to tell all your readers of the beautiful view we have from
+     here. The town is situated between New York and Newark bays. From
+     the back balcony we can look out through the Narrows and see all
+     the shipping, and down the bay, and see the Coney Island steamers,
+     the Staten Island ferry-boats, and the great ocean steamers that
+     come puffing up the bay. We also have a lovely view of Staten
+     Island and Brooklyn. We have delightful bathing in New York Bay and
+     in Newark Bay; it is still. We go in nearly every day, and enjoy it
+     very much. I have a brother Henry who is nine years old, and a
+     sister Hattie, seven years old. Our mamma and papa are both dead,
+     and we live with grandma and uncle. I love to lie in the hammock on
+     the balcony and look out over the bay and watch the sails and
+     row-boats.
+
+  PINK B.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  LA MOILLE, ILLINOIS.
+
+     I feel almost acquainted with you. I have a nice little black dog.
+     I have a cart and harness. I hitch him up, and drive him all
+     around. I had a hard time training him. I have two pet cats; one is
+     Molty White; a little girl in Nebraska gave him to me when he was a
+     kitten. He is a big cat now. My other is a kitten; I call her Het.
+     I also have a pet canary-bird, whose name is Mart. I had a pigeon,
+     and it got out of the box, and flew away. I have a little Leghorn
+     rooster as white as snow, and his comb is as double and as red as a
+     tulip. I had a female canary; she was a lovely singer. Did you ever
+     hear of a female bird singing before? My father is a doctor. There
+     are five doctors in town.
+
+  GEORGE IDEN R.
+
+What a beauty that rooster must be! I'm afraid the little black dog
+thought _he_ had a hard time when you were training him to act as a
+pony.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  BRANDY STATION, VIRGINIA.
+
+     My first letter was not put in. I thought I would write again. My
+     little sister Alice has a pet duck; it sleeps in mamma's room. One
+     night it slept in mamma's slipper, and another night it got into
+     the baby's crib and slept there all night, and in the morning when
+     mamma took the baby up it cried to get up too. I think that was
+     very cunning. We have three pet chickens. It has been very rainy;
+     it rains nearly every evening. Mamma has some very large spring
+     chickens. We have an old dog fourteen years old. I have five
+     sisters and one brother: Rena Louisa, Sadie Summers, Emily Palmer,
+     Alice Remington, Lilian, and Charles Palmer. Good-by.
+
+  FRANKLIN S.
+
+What a droll duck! Please thank sister Rena for her letter. We have not
+room to print both this time.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+C. Y. P. R. U.
+
+A TOWER OF PORCELAIN.--The Porcelain Tower at Nankin, in China, is nine
+stories high, and rises two hundred feet into the air. It is founded on
+a strong and solid basis of brick-work. Twelve feet thick at the bottom,
+it tapers gradually and gracefully to the top, where it ends in a point,
+crowned by a golden ball. Around it is a railing of rough marble. By
+twelve steps you reach the first floor, and by narrow stairs you climb
+to the ninth story. Between each story and the next there is a kind of
+pent-house or shed on the outside of the tower, from the eaves of which
+are hung little brass bells, growing smaller as you approach the top.
+These are set in motion by the wind, and keep up a musical chiming. Each
+story is built of strong timbers, the ceilings are adorned with
+paintings, and the light comes in through latticed windows. Every roof
+is covered by tiles of delicately painted porcelain, and the whole
+elegant, fairy-like structure is a wonder of architecture.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We direct the attention of the members of the C. Y. P. R. U. to "The
+Trials of Philip Austin," another of Mr. James Payn's thrilling
+narratives of "Peril and Privation"; also to an interesting and timely
+article entitled "Aids for Young Anglers," and to Aunt Marjorie's "Bits
+of Advice" on travelling.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+YOUNG PEOPLE'S COT.
+
+Contributions received for Young People's Cot, in Holy Innocent's Ward,
+St. Mary's Free Hospital for Children, 407 West Thirty-fourth Street:
+
+     In memory of Walter Griswold Hartshorn, born July 17, 1870, New
+     York, $5; Franklin P. Noble, Cornwall-on-Hudson, $2.20; Mathilde,
+     Nattie, and Eugene Reynal, New York, $15; Frank, Lottie, and Belle
+     Wood, Columbus, Ohio, $1; May Ringwalt, Cincinnati, Ohio, $1; C. E.
+     Carney, Sheepscott Bridge, Maine, $2; Louis How, St. Louis, 50c.;
+     In memory of little Margie's birthday, Chicago, $2.50; Cash, $1;
+     total, $30.20. Previously acknowledged, $1201.85; grand total,
+     August 15, $1232.05.
+
+  E. AUGUSTA FANSHAWE, Treasurer, 43 New St.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  COLLEGE HILL.
+
+     Please accept the inclosed one dollar for Young People's Cot from
+     May Ringwalt, Cincinnati, Ohio. She has taken great pleasure in
+     saving little by little until said amount has been reached. May it
+     help to comfort some little one, blessing him that gives and him
+     that receives. Yours,
+
+  M. I. RINGWALT.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  SHEEPSCOTT BRIDGE, MAINE.
+
+     I am thirteen years old. I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE ever since it
+     started. I have had to leave my school. The doctor says I hurt my
+     knee on my velocipede, and I have been doctored ten weeks. I can go
+     without my crutch now some. I am very glad when I am in the hammock
+     to see my YOUNG PEOPLE coming, and thought about the Cot for little
+     children, so my father has given me two dollars for a birthday
+     present, and I send it for the Cot, and hope it will help some poor
+     little lame boy. He bought me a printing-press, but I am too lame
+     to use it.
+
+  C. E. CARNEY.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK.
+
+     The inclosed two dollars and twenty cents are the proceeds of a
+     circus which my brothers, my sisters, and my little friends held
+     recently. I ought to mention Victor, the shepherd dog, who I
+     thought did his part better than anybody else. Some of our mothers
+     contributed the refreshments because we went without fire-crackers.
+     We all voted to send it to you for Young People's Cot. The poor
+     children that occupy the Cot don't have so much fun as we do in
+     sending the money and in the circus.
+
+  FRANKLIN P. NOBLE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.
+
+     I send fifty cents, which I earned myself by gargling alcohol when
+     I was sick. I did not like to do it, so mamma said she would give
+     me five cents each time I did it. The money is for Young People's
+     Cot. Yours truly,
+
+  LOUIS HOW.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Correct answers to puzzles have been received from "Gretchen," Mabel
+Louise Grey, Don, Tommy Tipton, Maude Estelle Remsen, "Fuss and
+Feathers," Lulu Dodge, John Botts, "Joco," A. E. Cressingham, "Queen
+City of the Lakes," Lina Schoonmaker, Frank Nathan, Hammond and Lubman,
+Edgar Seeman, Charlie Lamprey, Kate Marshall, L. D. and F. G., Ione I.
+Austen, George D. C., Thomas Morgan, Bessie and Blanche Niven, Alice
+Ward, Mary E. Bromley, "Catspaw," "Try, try again," Lucie Dickson,
+Cecile and Fanchon, Emma Nusbaum, Harold Tucker, Joe Dunn, P. J. M.,
+Ellen M. M., Lois Sinclair, William K., Albert Feihl, Prudy, Louis
+Frost, Florence Hanington, "Old Putnam's Pet," George A. Drovin, Addie
+W. Robson, David Heinemann, Willie Gilmour, Eleanor Conklin, Harry
+Johnston, and Eddie S. Hequembourg.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
+
+No. 1.
+
+THREE WORD SQUARES.
+
+1.--1. A heavenly body. 2. One of the United States. 3. Liquids. 4. A
+feature.
+
+2.--1. A bird. 2. To lessen. 3. A girl's name. 4. Not far.
+
+  F. D. M.
+
+3.--1. A fabric used in printing-offices. 2. Not dead. 3. Languishes. 4.
+Something that comes to pass. 5. Ceases.
+
+  GEORGE D. C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 2.
+
+CHARADE.
+
+  My first is a dish
+    You often have seen.
+  My second is to test
+    Or to strive, I ween.
+  My whole is a place
+    For both fat and lean.
+
+  WILL A. METTE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 3.
+
+FOUR ENIGMAS.
+
+1.
+
+  My first is in ginger, but not in spice.
+    My second in oven, but not in range.
+  My third is in lovely, but not in nice.
+    My fourth is in steady, but not in change.
+  My fifth is in even, but not in smooth.
+    My sixth is in narrow, but not in wide.
+  My seventh is in roughen, but not in soothe.
+    My eighth is in movement, but not in glide.
+  My ninth is in ruddy, but not in pale.
+    My whole is a flower on hill and in dale.
+
+  MOTHER BUNCH.
+
+2.
+
+  My first is in crown, but not in king.
+  My second in article, not in thing.
+  My third is in round, but not in straight.
+  My fourth is in come, but not in wait.
+  My fifth is in stung, but not in sting.
+  My sixth is in clasp, but not in ring.
+  My whole is a flower of early spring.
+
+3.
+
+  First in hay, but not in grass.
+  Second in girl, but not in lass.
+  Third in cave, but not in den.
+  Fourth in duck, but not in hen.
+  Fifth in orange, but not in plum.
+  Sixth in fraction, not in sum.
+  Seventh in way, but not in rut.
+  Whole a tree that bears a nut.
+
+  QUEEN CITY OF THE LAKES.
+
+4.
+
+  First in Anna, not in Prue.
+  Second in Susie, not in Fan.
+  Third in Tina, not in Nan.
+  Fourth in Ella, not in Lou.
+  Fifth in Rosa, not in Kate.
+  Do I bloom, dears, early or late?
+
+  CRICKET.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 4.
+
+NUMERICAL ENIGMA.
+
+  I am composed of 18 letters, and commemorate an important event in
+      American history.
+  My 4, 8, 18, 16 is a toy.
+  My 3, 14, 11, 1, 5, 6 is a word describing quantity.
+  My 7, 12, 15, 16 is a favorite place.
+  My 11, 2, 9, 10, 5, 13 is a plant.
+  My 10, 16, 17, 18 is a fast.
+
+  EDGAR SEEMAN.
+
+No. 5.
+
+HIDDEN NAMES OF GIRLS.
+
+  1. How wet the rain makes the roads!
+  2. Well, I dare say you are right.
+  3. Go, my child, and learn your lessons.
+  4. Look, Ted, it has frozen the milk.
+  5. Dear mamma, be lenient to him.
+  6. The Lizard is a cape in England.
+  7. Ethel, lay hold of baby's frock, or he will fall.
+  8. Ah, well, endeavor to do your best, and then I shall be pleased.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 145.
+
+No. 1.
+
+      S           S
+    M A N       A P E
+  S A L A D   S P E A R
+    N A P       E A R
+      D           R
+
+      M            S
+    M A D        I N K
+  M A D A M    S N E E R
+    D A M        K E N
+      M            R
+
+No. 2.
+
+HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.
+
+No. 3.
+
+  S Y C A M I N E
+  Y A R D A R M
+  C R E A S E
+  A D A P T
+  M A S T
+  I R E
+  N M
+  E
+
+No. 4.
+
+  A L A B A S T E R
+    O P I A T E S
+      E A R E D
+        S O W
+          N
+
+No. 5.
+
+  SIX - IX = S
+  IX  -  X = I
+  XL  -  L = X
+
+No. 6.
+
+  H E A R T
+  E N T E R
+  A T O N E
+  R E N T S
+  T R E S S
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A REBUS.]
+
+
+
+
+BIPEDS AND QUADRUPEDS.[2]
+
+[2] From _New Games for Parlor and Lawn_. By GEORGE B. BARTLETT. New
+York: Harper & Brothers. _In Press._
+
+
+This merry game may seem trifling, but if any wise scoffer thinks he can
+play it without making many ludicrous mistakes, let him try it and see;
+for simple as it is, it keeps the attention on the alert, and the
+faculties on the strain. The players stand in two lines, facing each
+other, with a leader at the head of each line. It is the duty of the
+leaders of the lines to call out the letters, which they can change as
+often as they please. There must be an umpire chosen also, who sits at
+the head of the lines at an equal distance from each. The umpire must
+call out the numbers, which are number two and number four, and also
+count ten slowly while each player is guessing. He calls out either one
+of the above numbers the moment the leader has given out the letter, and
+then begins to count. When the leader of the right side gives out a
+letter, the second in line on the left side listens to the number called
+by the umpire, as he knows that number two refers to a biped, and number
+four to a quadruped, and that he must name some member of the animal
+kingdom answering to the above description which begins with the letter
+called by the leader of the opposite side. If he fails to do this
+correctly before the umpire counts ten, he must cross over and take his
+place at the foot of the opposite line. The umpire must see that there
+is no mistake, such as repeating any name once used, or giving to any
+animal too many or too few feet. When the player on the left has
+answered, whether correctly or not, the leader of the same side in his
+turn calls out the same or any other letter, the umpire follows with his
+number, as before, and if the second player on the right fails to answer
+correctly, he crosses over and belongs to the left side, standing at the
+foot of the line. If the player answers the question properly, he keeps
+his place, and ties a white handkerchief around his neck to show that
+the next question addressed to his side must be answered by the player
+who stands next him in the line. When the game has gone on for half an
+hour, the umpire calls out "Time," and the side which has the most
+players is declared the victor.
+
+The game must go on with the greatest rapidity, and the efforts of the
+players to answer rapidly without mistake are very amusing, as most of
+them make the most ludicrous blunders, after which they are obliged to
+march across to the other side as prisoners. The shouts of laughter with
+which they are received by their captors render their play-fellows
+anxious to avoid their fate, while their very anxiety makes them more
+liable to follow in their footsteps.
+
+Thus the fortunes of each side may vary, as it often happens that a
+side, when reduced to but one or two players, may fortunately gain in
+number, until at last it may triumph.
+
+So this little game teaches concentration, perseverance, and natural
+history, and furnishes amusement also.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+SWALLOWS IN FURNISHED LODGINGS.
+
+A pair of swallows built their nest, composed chiefly of clay, in the
+corner of an out-house. Owing to the extreme heat and dryness of the
+weather the nest lost its moisture, shrank, and was splintered into
+several pieces, the half-fledged brood of four being thrown to the
+ground. They were found huddled together amongst the ruins, no doubt
+thinking, like chickens contemplating their broken egg-shells, that it
+was very extraordinary. In the hope that, if suitable accommodation was
+provided, the parents would again feed and tend their young, I fixed a
+small wooden box by means of a few nails against the wall exactly where
+the nest had been, first transferring into it the lining of the latter,
+and depositing within the young swallows. In half an hour the old birds,
+who had been flying about in a state of great excitement, and watching
+the proceedings, took food to their young family, and continued to do so
+day after day, quite recognizing the box as their new home. I used daily
+to unfix it, and look in to see how my young friends were progressing.
+This I did during the parents' absence, putting the box back before
+their return. One day, however, they caught me with the box in my hand.
+I of course replaced it at once, and withdrew. When I next looked, a few
+hours afterward, I found that the birds had procured some moist clay,
+and so buttressed the box against the wall that it could not be
+dislodged without first breaking the clay. Being thus checkmated, I was
+compelled to wait until the young birds were able to leave the home I
+had provided for them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+LITTLE MAY.
+
+  What's become of little May?
+  She has disappeared to-day,
+  And instead of her sweet self
+  Here's a strange and frowning elf.
+
+  Pouting lips and angry brow--
+  Ah! but they are changing now,
+  And the smiles have come to stay;
+  Welcome back, you darling May.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: A BAD PLACE TO MEET.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, August 29, 1882, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59557 ***