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If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Really so stories - -Author: Elizabeth Gordon - -Illustrator: John Rae - -Release Date: September 4, 2022 [eBook #68902] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REALLY SO STORIES *** - - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - -Each story has an illustrated title and begins with an -illustrated drop-cap. Unless a caption is present, the -[Illustration] tag has been skipped in the titles and drop-caps -for smoother text continuity. Of the rest, illustrations without -a caption have a short description in parentheses, for example -[Illustration: (Publisher’s colophon)]. - -Text in italics is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Text in -Small Capitals has been rendered in ALL CAPITALS. First words of -each story - ALL CAPITALS in the original - has been rendered here -in sentence case. - -The text, including punctuation, was preserved as in the original -except for the following: - - on page 9, “holiday than Chrstmas” was changed to “holiday than - Christmas” - on page 19, “Weems ‘Life of Washington,’” was changed to “Weems’ - ‘Life of Washington,’” - on page 19, “Aesops Fables” was changed to “Aesop’s Fables” - on page 48, the text beginning with “The idea of having” was moved - to a new paragraph. - on page 67, “of it’s beauty” was changed to “of its beauty” - - - - - [Illustration: Really So Stories] - - - - - [Illustration: (Globe)] - - REALLY~SO - ~STORIES~ - - _by_ - Elizabeth Gordon - - [Illustration: (Flower)] - - _Pictures - by_ - John Rae - - - - - [Illustration: (Publisher’s colophon)] - _Published by_ - P.F. Volland Company - Chicago - New York Boston Toronto - - - - - [Illustration: (Publisher’s colophon)] - Copyright 1924 - P.F. Volland Company - Chicago, U.S.A. - (All rights reserved) - - Copyright, Great Britain, 1924 - - Printed in U.S.A. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - _Page_ - How the New Year Knows When to Come 9 - About the Telegraph 12 - How the Military Salute Came 14 - Candlemas Day 16 - Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday 18 - About Valentines 21 - Why We Celebrate George Washington’s Birthday 24 - About Boy Scouts 26 - St. Patrick’s Day 28 - Lent 31 - Palm Sunday 32 - The Story of the Bible 33 - Good Friday 35 - About Easter 37 - Trailing Arbutus or Mayflower 39 - About Pearls 42 - About Mr. and Mrs. Pelican 44 - Indian Day 47 - About Hats 49 - Mother’s Day 51 - About Forks 53 - About Silk 54 - All We Know About Strawberries 57 - Children’s Day 59 - About Carrier Pigeons 60 - About Coal 62 - Flag Day 65 - The Sea-gull Monument 67 - Fourth of July 69 - Mr. Irish Potato 72 - Old Abe, the Wisconsin War-eagle 75 - About Clocks 77 - About Cotton 80 - About Coral 82 - The Star-Spangled Banner 84 - About Umbrellas 87 - Hallowe’en 88 - About Wolves 89 - How Thanksgiving Came 91 - Christmas 93 - - - - -The Boy named Billy - - -There was once a boy named Billy, who spent a summer in the woods -with Somebody. - -Somebody had expected to have a wonderful time telling him -stories; but it turned out that the boy named Billy did not care -for made up stories. He would listen, if they were sufficiently -exciting, but even stories of wolves and bears and tigers were -not very much worth while unless they were _really so_. - -He wanted to know about the beginning of things, and what certain -days meant, and who started customs, and ever and ever so many -things that you’d never suppose a small boy would be interested -in. - -So, I’ve been wondering if there are not many boys like Billy -who, also, like to know about things that are _really so_. - -And so, I’ve written down a good many of the things Somebody and -the boy named Billy talked about after the lights were out and -the fireflies came, during that wonderful summer in the north -woods. - - Your very own, - - [Illustration: _Elizabeth Gordon_] - - - - -[Illustration: New Year’s Day ... long ago] - -How the New Year knows when to come - - -The boy named Billy had begged to be allowed to stay up to greet -the New Year. He had something he wanted to ask him if he could -only see him, but he presently got so sleepy that his eyes -wouldn’t stay open and so off he went to bed and to sleep. - -But all at once there was a great tooting of whistles and ringing -of bells, and a skyrocket went “_whiz_” right past his window. -The boy named Billy sat up straight in bed. - -“Oh,” said he, rubbing his eyes, “the New Year has come and I -didn’t even see him.” - -“Happy New Year, Billy,” said a jolly little voice. The boy named -Billy rubbed his eyes to make sure--yes--he _really did believe_ -that there was a roly-poly little person sitting on the edge of -the clock shelf swinging his bare pink feet and smiling happily. - -“Why,” gasped Billy, “who are you?” - -“Whom did you expect?” asked the little fellow. “I’m Father -Time’s youngest year, to be sure. Haven’t got my license, or my -number yet; I’m waiting until this racket stops. Were you looking -for me for any special reason?” - -“What I want to know,” said the boy named Billy, “is, how does -the world know where one year ends and a new one begins?” - -“That’s some question, youngster,” said the jolly New Year, -laughing merrily, “and it took the funny old world some time to -settle it. You see the year cannot be divided evenly into months -and days, because the time actually required for the earth’s -journey around the sun is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 -seconds. You call that the solar year, because the word ‘solar’ -means concerning the sun. - -“The old Romans tried having the New Year come on March first, -but they had no real system, and were always in trouble. So -Julius Caesar, the king, told the world that it was most -important to have a calendar that could be depended upon to take -care of all the time, because there wasn’t any too much, anyhow. -So with the help of some very wise men he took the twelve new -moons of the year and built a calendar around them. This was -called the Julian calendar, and every fourth year figured this -way was made a ‘leap year,’ and was given an extra day, making it -366 days long. - -“But putting in a whole day every four years was too much, and -after this calendar had been used over 1,500 years it was found -that the calendar year was about ten days behind the solar year -which wouldn’t do at all. - -“So Pope Gregory XIII directed that ten days be dropped from the -calendar that year and that the day after October 4, 1582, should -be October 15. Then he rearranged the calendar so the New Year -would begin January 1 and the calendar year and the solar year -kept together. The Gregorian or New Style calendar as this one -was called is the one we are using today. - -“New Year’s Day has been celebrated in various ways since the -dawn of civilization, and if today we could travel around the -world on a magic carpet what a wonderfully interesting sight we -would see! - -“If you were in China you might think the Chinese saved their -holidays to celebrate all at once. They close their shops for -several days while they make merry with feasts and fireworks and -general exchange of gifts and good wishes. In preparation every -debt must have been paid, every house swept and cleaned, and each -person furnished with holiday clothes and a supply of preserved -fruits, candies, and ornamental packages of tea to give to his -acquaintances. - -“In some European nations, especially France and Scotland, New -Year’s Day is a more important holiday than Christmas. If you -were a French peasant child you might put a wooden shoe on the -hearth for a gift at Christmas, but grownups in France exchange -gifts at the New Year festival, at which time there are family -parties, with much merrymaking. - -“In America the observance of New Year’s Day is varied. New -Year’s Eve there are ‘watch night’ services in the churches--gay -street revelers--dancing and theater parties; and New Year’s Day -is a time for general entertaining and visiting. However, the -old custom of keeping open house and making New Year’s calls has -practically disappeared. - -“People are always glad to see the New Year and always welcome -us in some glad and cheery way,” went on the New Year. “And it -has always been the custom among all people to exchange gifts and -greetings in the name of Happiness on New Year’s day. The Old -Year is supposed to take away all sorrow and sadness, and the -little New Year is supposed to bring nothing but happiness into -the world, so it depends upon each person to see that he gets his -share of the happiness.” - -“How?” asked the boy named Billy. - -“Easily,” answered the little New Year. “By living straight, -playing fair, being kind and honest and helping those not so -fortunate as you are. That’s all there is to it, little friend. -And there goes the last whistle and now for three hundred and -sixty-five days of real living. Happy New Year, Billy.” - -“Now I wonder,” murmured Billy sleepily, “if that was _really -so_, or did I dream it. I’m going to read up on that calendar -thing the very first thing I do, and I’m going to play I saw the -New Year anyway; and I’m going to try to do just as I think he -would want me to ’cause I want my share in making this year a -very, very happy one.” - - - - -About the Telegraph - - -[Illustration: MORSE’S FIRST TELEGRAPH INSTRUMENT] - -“Mother has just had a telegram from Grandmother that she’s on -her way to visit us,” said the boy named Billy. “I’m strong for -Grandmother and I’m going to train to meet her.” - -“We’re all _fond_ of Grandmother,” corrected Big Sister, “and -we’re all going to the train to meet her. Who brought the -telegram?” - -“Nobody brought it,” said the boy named Billy. “When it got to -town it just hopped off the telegraph wires and hopped on the -telephone wire and came right out here. That’s got magic beaten a -mile I’ll say. Whoever invented the telegraph system anyhow?” - -“Oh, you with your ‘who inventeds’!” said Big Sister. “Why don’t -you study up such things yourself?” - -“I can read it afterwards,” said the boy named Billy, “but when -Somebody tells it to me that makes a story of it. Please, who did -invent the Telegraph?” - -“Samuel F. B. Morse did,” said Somebody. “He was born at -Charlestown, Massachusetts, April 27th, 1791, and lived until -April 2nd, 1872. He was a portrait painter, and student of -chemistry, and went to London to study painting under Benjamin -West, where he made such progress that when he returned to -America he was given a commission to paint a full length portrait -of LaFayette.” - -“LaFayette was some hero and worth painting,” said the boy named -Billy, “but when do we come to the telegraph?” - -“Right now,” smiled Somebody. “The idea of electricity had been -talked of for a long time, and while Mr. Morse was away on one -of his trips to England it was found by some experimenting that -electricity could be conveyed by means of wire over distances. - -“A gentleman whom Mr. Morse met on ship board told him of these -experiments and it brought to his mind the old belief held by -Benjamin Franklin that intelligence some time would be conveyed -by electricity, a belief which he had always shared. He went to -work to perfect an instrument and a code for the system which he -had in mind, with the result that when the boat landed his idea -was ready to present.” - -“He struck before the iron was hot, didn’t he?” - -“In a manner of speaking, yes,” said Somebody, “but it was two -long years after that before the system was completed and in -working order. And it took quite some persuasion also to get -other people to believe in it, but finally Congress voted him -thirty thousand dollars to help him along with his project and so -he won out. - -“Where, before, it had taken months and years to get word from or -to distant places, it could now be done almost instantly. Samuel -Morse’s life was one long record of courage, integrity, patience -and faith.” - -“Bob White and I are fixing up a wireless on the roof of our -garage,” said the boy named Billy. “It’s two hours before -Grandmother’s train pulls in. Don’t forget to call me, and many -thanks, Somebody!” - - - - -How the Military Salute came - - -“I can’t seem to get the real snap into the salute that Sergeant -Jim does,” said the boy named Billy. “He drills me on it every -time I see him. But try as I may I can’t seem to get the style -into it, and I’ve just got to learn it before I go into Scout -camp; want to spring it on the fellows.” - -“Sergeant Jim didn’t learn it in a lesson or two, either,” said -Somebody. “He had it literally drilled into him. So don’t get -discouraged, Billy.” - -“I’m not discouraged; I’m going to get it,” said the boy named -Billy. “Sergeant Jim says that when he first went into the -service he just hated the salute. But after a while when he began -to know what it meant, he didn’t mind it. What does it mean? Why -should a soldier salute an officer? An officer’s no better than a -soldier, is he?” - -“Depends on how you look at it,” said Somebody quietly. “The -officer occupies a higher position and the salute is a matter of -courtesy--like saying ‘Good morning,’ to your mother, or the boy -next door.” - -“It is also a matter of discipline, isn’t it?” asked Big Sister. - -“It has grown to be that, of course,” answered Somebody. “But -it first came into being because the soldiers who were called -the ‘Free Men of Europe’ were allowed to carry arms, while the -slaves or serfs and poorer classes were not. When one military -man met another it was customary for him to raise his arm to show -that he had no weapon in it, and that the meeting was friendly. -The slaves and serfs, not being allowed to carry weapons, passed -without salute. But so imitative are we all that it was not long -before everybody was saluting everybody else, which did not -suit the aristocratic army men, who then resolved to make their -salute so hard to learn that it could not be imitated without -real military service, so that an outsider using it would brand -himself as a commoner by his incorrect manner of saluting.” - -“And so that’s how it became,” said the boy named Billy. “Well, -I may not be a soldier, but I am going to _get it_ if Sergeant -Jim’s patience holds out.” - -“You may not be a soldier, but you are a soldier’s grandson,” -said Somebody. “And all of your people have been soldiers when -there was any need to fight for the Stars and Stripes.” - -“I’ll be right there when the Grand Old Flag needs me,” said the -boy named Billy. “And when I’m needed, I’m going to be a captain, -so I’ve just got to get this salute right.” - -“You’ll have to watch your step in more ways than one,” said Big -Sister; “to be an officer in Uncle Sam’s Army means that you must -be very well educated, a real gentleman, able to train your men, -keep discipline, and make yourself popular with them. - -“You should see them drill at West Point, Billy. They know, these -fine, clean young men, that some day they will be officers in -Uncle Sam’s army so they are earnest--quick to learn and accept -the teaching of experienced instructors. Strict mental and -physical discipline is necessary to make first rate officers.” - -“Leave it to me,” said the boy named Billy, drawing himself up -and putting real snap into the salute. “I’m going to be what -Sergeant Jim calls a ‘regular.’” - - - - -Candlemas Day - - -[Illustration: Ye Prophet] - -“Bob White’s Grandfather says that we’re going to have six weeks -more good hard winter,” said the boy named Billy on one bright -Candlemas day, “because it’s been so sunshiny all day that the -old ground-hog couldn’t help seeing his shadow when he came out.” - -“Well, I certainly hope he proves to be a false prophet this -time,” said Big Sister. “I’ve had all the winter I want right -now.” - -“Oh, Sis, what do you mean you’ve had enough winter!” exclaimed -the boy named Billy, reproachfully, “winter’s the jolliest time -there is--with all the coasting and the tobogganning and skating. -I’m hoping it will stay cold so we can have another carnival. -Wasn’t the last one a peach! Bob White’s father said he had never -seen better fancy skating or more exciting races. He told us -to be a fancy skater you have to have good balance, a sense of -rhythm, and no little athletic ability. I’m going to practice -so I can do stunts at the carnival next year. Say, Somebody, is -there anything to that ground-hog story?” - -“Probably not,” said Somebody, “Mr. and Mrs. Arctomis Monax, more -familiarly known as Brother and Sister Woodchuck, are pretty wise -little people, and are more than likely sleeping the sleep of -the just at this time; yet I have heard of them being lured from -their dens by unusually bright weather long before the vegetation -upon which they feed had started and that they paid for their -foolishness with their lives, which is too bad, because they are -really nice little folk.” - -“Why do they hibernate?” asked the boy named Billy. - -“They belong to the family who do such things,” said Somebody. -“They, and the bears, and some other animals, find it more -convenient to store up fats in their little round bodies in the -summer time, and to curl up and sleep through the winter months, -when there is nothing to eat that they really like. Saves a lot -of trouble.” - -“Where did that old yarn come from about them coming out on this -day?” asked the boy named Billy. - -“The myth is very likely of Indian origin,” said Somebody, “but -there is also an old Scottish rhyme to the effect that ‘if -Candlemas day be fine and clear there’ll be twa winters in the -year.’” - -“Do you know why the 2nd of February is called Candlemas day?” -asked the boy named Billy. - -“It is another of those old made over Pagan Festivals,” said -Somebody. “The early Romans always used to burn candles on that -day to the goddess Februa, who was the Mother of Mars, making a -very beautiful and impressive occasion of it. - -“Pope Sergius, after the way of those old priests, wished to do -away with all the old pagan rites but did not dare to openly -raise the question, so he gave orders for candles to be burned on -that day to the Mother of Christ hoping that in the new festival -the old one would be lost sight of, which proved to be true. The -occasion is still celebrated in some churches, and consecrated -candles are supposed to be burned for protection from all evil -influences for the balance of the year.” - -“But there are so many of those old saints days that are so -entirely forgotten,” said Big Sister, “I wonder why Candlemas is -so universally remembered?” - -“I think our friends, the Woodchucks, are responsible for that,” -said Somebody, with a smile. - - - - -Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday - - -“It’s Lincoln’s birthday tomorrow, and we do not have school,” -said the boy named Billy. “But I’ve got to tell the class this -afternoon why I think Lincoln was the greatest American.” - -“Suppose you tell us what you do know about him,” suggested -Somebody. - -“Well,” said the boy named Billy, “I know he was born in Hardin -County, Kentucky, in a poor little old log cabin, on February -12th, 1809. That he lived there until he was seven years old, -when he went with his family to Indiana, where they were even -poorer than before. - -“His mother was never very strong, poor lady, and the rough way -in which they had to live was very hard for her, and she died -when Abraham was only nine years old. But she taught him to be -good, honest and true, and ‘learn all he could and be of some -account in the world.’ - -“After while, his father brought him another mother who was -very good to him and as he said later, ‘Moved heaven and earth -to give him an education.’ His school years were few, but he -was determined to know things, so he studied every minute and -often walked ten miles to borrow a book. When he was twenty-one -he owned six books, the Bible, Pilgrim’s Progress, the Arabian -Nights, Statutes of Indiana, Weems’ ‘Life of Washington,’ and -‘Aesop’s Fables.’ He used to read after his work was done by the -light of the fire on the family hearth. He almost memorized the -Bible. - -“He was very kindhearted and once when he went to New Orleans -with a flat boat full of lumber to sell, he saw some slaves being -sold. It affected him so strongly that he said if he ever got a -chance he was going to ‘hit that thing hard!’ He was never idle, -and he was absolutely honest, and to be depended upon. - -“When he was 21 he went with his parents to a wilderness farm in -Illinois, which state almost lost him, because if there had not -been a flood making travel impossible he, with his family, would -have gone on to Wisconsin where they had started for. - -“After studying law, and practicing it for a good many years, and -being sent to Congress he was elected to be the president of the -United States in 1860, being the 16th president of the land. He -was in the presidential chair all through the civil war and when -he was shot, soon after his second election, the whole country -mourned for the man who had ‘_hit that thing hard_’ and abolished -slavery.” - -“Do you know his most famous address?” asked Sister. - -“Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech!” exclaimed Billy. “Well, I should -say--‘Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth -upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and -dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. -Now we are engaged in the great Civil War, testing whether that -nation or any nation so conceived and dedicated can long endure. -We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to -dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for -those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It -is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But -in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we -cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who -struggled here have consecrated it far above our power to add or -detract. The world will little know nor long remember what we say -here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, -the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work -which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is -rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining -before us, that from these honored dead we take increased -devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure -of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall -not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a -new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the -people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.’” - -“You seem to know a good many things about Lincoln after all,” -said Somebody, smiling proudly. - -“Yes, but I do not know why he was the ‘_greatest_ American’,” -said Billy. - -“He was the ‘greatest American’,” said Somebody, “because he -loved the Union and determined that it must at all costs be -preserved. Because he knew that ‘united we should stand, but that -divided we must fall.’ Because his own life counted for nothing -where the Union was concerned. Because it is due to him and to -him only that we are not broken up into small independent states, -but are gathered together under the best flag that the sun ever -shone upon. Never has the world seen a greater example of wisdom, -patience, patriotism and moral courage than animated his every -act. Abraham Lincoln is our greatest American because he stood -for honesty, loyalty, affection, willing service, and striving -after every kind of good.” - -“I’ve got it now,” said the boy named Billy. - - - - -About Valentines - - -“Will you mail these Valentines for me please, Billy?” asked Big -Sister. - -“Sure,” said Billy. “Gee, that reminds me, we’re going to have a -Valentine box at school and I better get some to give Bob White, -and Pete and Jack--what a bunch of them you’re sending--do you -send Valentines to all the people you know?” - -“No, indeed,” said Big Sister, “only to those whom I know best -and care most about.” - -“It’s a funny custom,” said Billy, “who ever started it any how?” - -“I think it’s a splendid custom--a friendly, cheerful way to say -‘Hello, I’m thinking about you,’” said Big Sister, “and I’m much -obliged to old St. Valentine for beginning it.” - -“Did _he_ start it?” asked the boy named Billy in surprise, “you -wouldn’t think a _saint_ would be bothering his head about such -things as _Valentines_.” - -“As a matter of fact,” said Somebody, “St. Valentine had nothing -to do with it. He was a most pious man who went about his -business with no thought of any thing frivolous I’m sure. He very -likely did not know that he had been chosen as the patron saint -of the day. - -[Illustration: He was a pious Man with no Thought of anything frivolous] - -“It was the custom in ancient Rome to celebrate the feasts of -Lupercalia through the month of February in honor of Pan and Juno -and these feasts were very gay, indeed. There was a custom of the -young Pagans by means of which they chose their dancing partners -for the day, of writing the name of a young man and a young -woman and having a drawing. The young man keeping the young lady -whose name he had drawn, as his partner for the day. - -“The Christian Pastors of the churches objected to this fun -making and so they put the names of Priests in the boxes to be -drawn in place of the young women, and St. Valentine’s name came -out as the guardian or saint of the day. - -“He was accepted as such, but the young people went on -celebrating the day in the way to which they were accustomed and -out of that grew the idea of Valentine’s day.” - -“That was a jolly way for it to start, wasn’t it?” exclaimed the -boy named Billy. - -“When did people begin sending Valentine messages to each other?” -asked Big Sister. - -“In early times in England and very likely also in other parts -of the world,” said Somebody, “it was the custom to send a gift -to the one who had been chosen as a young man’s Valentine. This -custom grew more popular year by year, until, as the gifts must -be worth while, it very likely grew burdensome, and the sending -of gifts was in a manner discontinued. Then some bright person -hit upon the plan of sending dainty creations made of lace paper -with bright and witty verses written on them. Even that custom -was about worn out when some one in England sent a lacy affair to -Miss Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, who saw in it -a way to make some money; so she started making Valentines for -sale, and succeeded so well that the making of them and the sale -of them has grown to be a very great and important industry.” - -“So poor old St. Valentine just had the day _wished_ on him,” -said the boy named Billy. “What ever did become of him?” - -“He offended someone,” said Somebody, “and was beheaded.” - -“Playful, weren’t they?” said the boy named Billy, as he gathered -up the Valentines. - - - - -Why we celebrate George Washington’s Birthday - - -The boy named Billy came into the room to say goodbye to Somebody -before going to the celebration of George Washington’s birthday -at the schoolhouse. - -“Your face has some black streaks on it, Billy,” said Somebody. -“Better go and remove them and come back and tell me about it.” - -“I don’t like to talk about it,” said the boy named Billy, as he -came back from the wash room. “Mom scolded me.” - -“What was it all about?” asked Somebody. - -“I left my cap on the living room table again. Mom found it there -and she held it up for me to see and said, ‘William!’” - -Somebody tried not to smile. “That was severe! But George -Washington was often reproved by his mother.” - -“George Washington,” said the boy named Billy, in astonishment. -“Did anyone ever scold _George Washington?_” - -“Indeed, yes,” said Somebody, “and in a very unique way, too. -Mary Ball Washington was a wonderful woman, with quantities of -good sense and a remarkable idea of truth and justice. It is said -of her that when her children disobeyed, or were in need of being -reprimanded that she did not trust herself to do it in her own -language, but that she always used the words of the Bible.” - -“That was a queer way to scold,” said Billy. - -“It worked judging from what we know of George and his boyhood,” -remarked Somebody. “When he was fourteen he wished to go to -sea, but as his mother thought it best that he should not, -he abandoned the idea and was given two additional years of -schooling, chiefly in mathematics, and so prepared himself for -the profession of a surveyor.” - -“Sixteen, and finishing school!” exclaimed the boy named Billy. - -“School was rather a different affair in George Washington’s -day,” said Somebody. “He was born in the country, at a small -place named Bridges Creek, Virginia, on the twenty second of -February, 1732, and at that time the country was very small and -had few schools.” - -“It must have been fun being a surveyor,” said Billy. - -“It was not much _fun_, Billy Boy,” Somebody told him. “It was -a severe test of character and capacity, but George Washington -always accomplished every task given him with success, and -reported on it with brevity and modesty. - -“The traits of steadfastness of character which he had displayed -in school and among his playmates now came out prominently. He -excelled in running, wrestling, and horseback riding in his youth -and in later years, because of his wisdom, patience, tolerance, -courage and consecration to the righteous cause of liberty became -the father of his country.” - -“My but his mother must have been proud of him,” said Billy. - -Somebody nodded. “It was to his mother, a woman of strong and -devoted character, that George Washington owed his moral and -religious training. Even when her son had risen to the height of -human greatness, she would only say, ‘George has been a good boy, -and I’m sure he will do his duty.’” - -“Guess I better tell Mom I’m sorry about leaving my hat on the -living room table,” said the boy named Billy. - -“I would if I were you,” said Somebody. - - - - -About Boy Scouts - - -“Get my new Scout suit,” said the boy named Billy, coming in with -himself all in khaki. “Look at the buttons, ’n the leggins ’n -all!” - -“It’s very Scouty looking,” said Big Sister. “I hope you’ll keep -it that way.” - -“Have to,” said the boy named Billy, “or get a demerit. Going for -drill now over on the parade ground in front of the armory. Got -just long enough for Somebody to tell me when and where the Boy -Scout movement started.” - -“The Boy Scout movement,” said Somebody, “started in England in -1908 being launched by Sir Robert S. S. Baden Powell.” - -“Oh say!” exclaimed the boy named Billy, “why did we have to let -England beat us to it?” - -“We didn’t--exactly,” said Somebody, smiling at the zeal of -the young patriot, “because at that very time we had two -organizations which had the same purpose in view. One was called -the Wood-Craft Indians founded by Ernest Seton Thompson, and -another called the Sons of Daniel Boone founded by Dan Beard. -Both men were popular writers of out of door stories, and greatly -interested in boys and their sports and activities. - -“Scouting gives a boy something to do, something he likes to -do, something worth doing. It has succeeded in doing what no -other plan of education has done--made the boy want to learn. It -organizes the gang spirit into group loyalty. - -“In 1910 both these organizations were combined under the title -of the Boy Scouts of America, and as you of course know, Billy -Boy, before a boy can become a Scout he must take the Scout oath -of office.” - -“Yes, indeed,” said the boy named Billy. “Wait, ’til I see if I’m -up on that. ‘On my honor I will do my best--To do my duty to God -and my country, and to obey the scout law; to help other people -at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, -and morally straight.’ - -“A scout is required to know the Scout oath and law and subscribe -to both. But his obligation does not end here. He is expected not -only not to forget his oath and law, but to live up to them in -letter and spirit from first to last.” - -“Fine!” said Somebody. “That sounds like a perfectly good working -rule. Now what are some of your ideals as Scouts?” - -“Well,” said Billy, “we’re divided into three classes. -Tenderfoot, that’s what Bob White and I are as yet, but we’ll -grow--second class Scouts and first class. According to Scout law -one must have honor, loyalty, unselfishness, friendliness, hatred -of snobbishness, must be courteous, be really kind to animals, -and always obedient to fathers and mothers ’n Somebodys, be -gentle, fair minded, save money, look out for fires and clean up -after oneself.” - -“On account of that last item, thanks be that you joined the -Scouts, Billy,” said Big Sister, “and just to help you along, -suppose you run up and wash the bowl where you just washed your -hands.” - -“Oh, excuse me, Sis!” said the boy named Billy, “I guess I -forgot, but I won’t after this. - -“I’m going to have a lesson on first aid this morning, so if you -ever get a sprained ankle or anything I can hold the lines until -the doctor gets here. S’long.” - -“All of which means that I scrub up after the youngster myself,” -said Big Sister, “but Billy’s a pretty good scout at that.” - - - - -Saint Patrick’s Day - - -“Bob White’s going to march in the St. Patrick’s day parade,” -said the boy named Billy, “and that leaves me without a thing to -do, unless Somebody will tell me _who_ St. Patrick was and why -all Irish people think so much of him.” - -“Strange as it may seem,” said Somebody, “St. Patrick was not an -Irishman at all, but was by birth a Scotchman, having been born -in Scotland about 372. When he was sixteen or seventeen years old -he was stolen by Pirates and taken to Ireland and made to work at -herding swine. He was a very studious boy and in the seven years -that he remained a swineherd he learned the Irish language and -the customs of the people. - -“He then made up his mind that swineherding was not the right -sort of occupation for a bright-minded youth like himself, so he -escaped to the Continent, where after more years of study he was -ordained by Pope Celestine and sent back to Ireland to preach -Christianity to the people. - -“But the old priests did not like him. He was very likely too -bright for them, and they persecuted him, and made things very -uncomfortable for him. Finally he was obliged to leave there, but -before he went he cursed the lands of the other priests so that -they would not bear crops, just to even up things. - -[Illustration: But just then an Angel came] - -“He was none too comfortable himself, but he did not mind small -discomforts because one cold and snowy morning when they were -on the top of a mountain with no fire to cook their breakfast St. -Patrick told his followers to gather a great pile of snowballs, -and when that had been done he breathed upon them and immediately -there was a great glowing fire, and they got breakfast very -nicely. This and other miracles made him very popular, and so -when the scourge of snakes came he was sent for and begged to -disperse the reptiles. - -“‘Easy,’ said St. Patrick, ‘bring me a drum.’ When the drum came -he began beating it with such vim and vigor that he broke its -head, and it looked for a time as though the trick would fail. -But just then an angel came and mended the drum and the snakes -were forever banished. Just to prove it they kept the drum for -many centuries. - -“These and other marvels were performed by St. Patrick, who lived -to be 121 years old, dying on his birthday, March 17th, 492. - -“Historians have relegated many stories about Saint Patrick -to the realm of myth, but the shamrock remains the emblem of -Ireland, proudly worn by Irishmen the world over on Saint -Patrick’s Day, March seventeenth. The true shamrock (in Irish -seamrog, meaning “three-leaved”) is the hop clover, which much -resembles our common white clover, except that the flower is -yellow instead of blue-green. Large shipments of shamrocks are -brought to the United States for Saint Patrick’s Day.” - -“So the shamrock is the National emblem of Irish people,” said -Billy. - -“Yes,” said Somebody. “And it is said that no snake can live -where it grows. - -“Perhaps if one will take the trouble to think it out, one may -find in that belief the idea of faith and loyalty and love -of country for which the Irish people are noted, and that -emblematically it means that no traitor to Ireland can live near -the Shamrock.” - -“I see,” said the boy named Billy, “they feel as we do about our -Eagle, don’t they?” - - - - -Lent - - -“Wish I had somebody to go skating with,” said Billy one winter -afternoon. - -“Where’s Bob White?” asked Big Sister looking up from her book. - -“It’s Ash-Wednesday, and his folks are Catholics,” said the -boy named Billy, “and they have after school services. What is -Ash-Wednesday and what does it mean, any way?” - -“Ash-Wednesday,” said Somebody, “is the beginning of Lent, which -lasts forty days and ends with the Saturday before Easter Sunday. -It is supposed to commemorate the forty days fasting Christ did -before His Crucifixion.” - -“My,” said the boy named Billy, “I never could fast forty hours -let alone forty days! How is it supposed to help a person to go -without food for so long?” - -“Fasting,” said Somebody, “is to teach the lesson of self -restraint, and self control, and to help us endure discomforts -without complaining, how to refrain from all unkind thoughts -of others, to control our tempers and make us better people -generally. - -“It’s a very good idea for each one of us to give up something -during Lent; something that we like very much indeed, and to give -the money that it would have cost to some one who really needs -food and comforts.” - -“Do you do that?” asked the boy named Billy. - -“I try to,” said Somebody. - -“Oh, I see!” said the boy named Billy. - - - - -Palm Sunday - - -“Tomorrow is Palm Sunday,” said the boy named Billy. “Why do some -churches give the people palm branches to carry?” - -“On the Sunday preceding the crucifixion Christ made his -triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. All the people came out to -meet him, strewing palm branches in his path to do him honor, -just as you school children all cheer when the president, or some -great hero comes to town.” - -“Jerusalem is a warm country and must have many beautiful -flowers,” said the boy named Billy. “Why didn’t they bring -flowers instead of stiff, rusty palm branches?” - -“Because they wished to show him _all_ honor,” said Somebody. -“And the palm was their emblem of joy and peace and victory. His -goodness and power were beginning to have their effect on the -minds of the people. They were beginning to believe that Jesus -was really the Christ whom their forefathers had promised would -come and bring them comfort, peace and general good tidings.” - -The boy named Billy looked puzzled. “So they hailed him on Palm -Sunday and crucified him the following Friday!” - -Somebody nodded. “Human praise and opinion is like that--it is -always a variable thing full of chance and change--unstable--but -Jesus wasn’t moved for a moment by the praise and flattery of the -people, because he knew what was in store for him in Jerusalem. -He knew that Judas Iscariot, one of his own disciples, would -betray him to the chief priests and magistrates who hated him, -because they were afraid he would convert the people and uncover -their own wickedness. Christ Jesus knew that he must suffer -violence at the hands of those who hated goodness so that he -might prove beyond shadow of doubt, by his resurrection, that -love is greater than hate--that love is always victorious, -because God is Love.” - -“I think this is the best really-so story of all!” said Billy. - - - - -The Story of the Bible - - -“Billy,” called Big Sister one Saturday evening, “want to go to -the movies?” - -“Can’t, thank you, Sis,” called back the boy named Billy. “Got to -study my Sunday School lesson.” - -After a half hour of deep study the boy named Billy put the book -on the table and said, “That’s great stuff, that story of David -and Goliath. Who wrote the Bible, please? It _was_ written by -someone, was it not?” - -“There were many sacred books written by many different men at -many different periods of the world’s history,” said Somebody, -“which were accepted as the inspired Word of God. - -“At first these were put out as separate volumes, but after a -long time they were gathered together and bound into one volume. - -“The books of the Old Testament were originally written in Hebrew -and those of the New Testament in Greek. Think of the labor of -love it must have been to make copies of the Bible. In those days -it all had to be done by hand as printing was not invented until -a thousand years after the new Testament was written.” - -“Some undertaking,” said the boy named Billy. “Were all other -books made the same way?” - -“Yes, indeed,” said Somebody, “a book was a priceless possession -in those days, and there’s not much wonder that there were very -few scholars--only priests and physicians had the leisure to -become learned, even if they could have obtained the books from -which to study.” - -“The Bible we have is then a translation,” said the boy named -Billy. - -“The Bible was translated into various languages,” said -Somebody, “but the first English version was translated from the -Latin by a priest named John Wycliffe, of Lutterworth, England. -He believed that the Bible belonged to everybody and should be -put into such form that everyone could read it. But instead of -being thanked and made much of for the very great service he -was doing he was put out of the church and called a heretic for -daring to meddle with the word of God--which did not stop his -work at all, because he finished it. After his death no one -did any more about it for a hundred years or so until Johan -Guttenberg discovered the art of printing, and when in 1454 the -use of movable type was found possible many copies of the Bible -were printed and everyone could have his own. - -“In 1516 Erasmus, a learned Greek scholar, published the New -Testament, which was translated by William Tyndale, who was so -persecuted by those who did not want it published that he was -obliged to go to Germany to finish his work; even there he was so -hampered that it was not until 1525 that the New Testament was -finally printed. - -“Merely as literature, it has made a deeper impression upon the -human mind than has any other book, and the extent to which -it has helped shape the world’s ideas cannot be estimated. No -matter how much you know of poetry or prose, you cannot consider -yourself well read unless you are thoroughly acquainted with the -Bible.” - -“It is wonderful that the language has been kept so beautiful -after all those translations and copyings,” said the boy named -Billy. - -“Very likely it was changed a good bit,” said Somebody, “but its -wonderful message of Truth has not been changed.” - -“I don’t know where there’s another story like that of David,” -said Billy, “and the one about Joseph’s coat has any one of the -six best sellers beaten a mile.” - -“Perhaps you’ll like to know,” said Somebody, “that the Bible, -year in and year out is _THE_ best seller.” - -“I don’t wonder,” said the boy named Billy. - - - - -Good Friday - - -“Tomorrow will be Good Friday,” said the boy named Billy. “That -is the day on which Christ Jesus was crucified, wasn’t it, -Somebody?” - -“Yes,” said Somebody, “and is why it is remembered by us all in -one way or another--by church services, or in our thoughts.” - -“Of course I know the story,” said the boy named Billy, “but -won’t you please tell it over again?” - -“Early in the morning Christ Jesus prayed to God, his Father, -saying that his mission had been accomplished (you’ll find this -beautiful prayer in the seventeenth chapter of St. John’s gospel, -Billy boy). Then he went into the Garden of Gethsemane with his -disciples. Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, -knew the place where he would be and went there with a band of -men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees. (The -Pharisees were narrow minded people who paid excessive regard to -empty tradition and dead ceremonies. They observed the form, but -neglected the spirit of religion.) - -“Jesus was arrested, and brought before the Sanhedrin, the -Jewish council of priests and elders. After a hasty trial they -pronounced him guilty of death for blasphemy. They said ‘we have -a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself -the Son of God.’ St. John 19:7. And He _was_ the Son of God, -sent by the loving Father to bring understanding to the people so -they might obey and love God and know the blessing of trusting -Him always. - -“Then the council of priests and elders delivered Jesus to -Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate didn’t sympathize -with the wishes of the people. He said, “I find in him no fault -_at all_.” But the people insisted that he give him up to be -crucified, so he washed his hands to show them that he took no -responsibility in the affair whatsoever. And they took Jesus -away--put a crown of thorns on his head, and followed him with -taunts and abuse of every kind as he, bearing his cross, led the -way to Golgotha, the place of his execution. - -“There on that never to be forgotten Calvary, Christ Jesus was -crucified with a criminal on either side. - -“Jesus’ body was taken from the cross and placed in a tomb by -Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Three days later, on the -first day of the week, when some of the women came with spices -to embalm the body, they found the tomb empty. An angel who kept -watch told them that Christ had risen from the dead. The risen -Christ appeared first to Mary Magdalene, the once sinful woman -from whom Jesus had cast out seven devils, and who had become -one of the most devoted of his followers; and then to others -who were close to him. He spent forty days on earth after his -resurrection, and then from the midst of his disciples he was -taken up to heaven. He left no writings and no organized church. -But from recollections of his teachings his followers later put -together the record of his ministry, as we have it in the New -Testament, and with it there slowly took shape also the organized -Christian church, which more and more has ruled men’s lives.” - -“I wish I had been there,” said the boy named Billy, “I could -have helped some way, I know.” - -“You can help every day, Billy Boy,” said Somebody, “by being -kind to everybody, and doing unto others just the thoughtful, -loving things you want others to do unto you.” - - - - -About Easter - - -“Aren’t my hands a _sight_!” laughed the boy named Billy. “Wish -Somebody would tell me how to get these colors off.” - -“I should say they are a sight,” said Somebody; “all the colors -of the rainbow and several more besides. What’s on them?” - -“Easter egg dyes,” said Billy; “they splashed, but we got some -beauties.” - -“Try some salt and vinegar and a nail brush and soap,” said -Somebody. “You’ll find some on my wash stand.” - -The boy named Billy scrubbed with right good will. “It’s coming -off,” he said. “Say, Somebody, please tell me why Easter doesn’t -stand still, like Christmas and New Year’s Day. What makes it -come in March one year, and likely as not in April the next? A -day is a day, isn’t it? Then why do we never know when to look -for it? Last year we gathered pussy willows, and this year it’s -cold enough to skate.” - -“It is puzzling until you understand about it,” said Somebody, -as Billy came back with his hands as clean as could be expected. -“Let’s talk about it. There seems to be no authentic record of -the actual date of Christ’s death and burial and resurrection. We -know that the Crucifixion was on Friday, and the Resurrection was -on Sunday, but the date has never been accounted for, although -Easter has been celebrated as a church festival since the early -days of the Christian church. - -“To settle all such disputes it was finally decided by the -Council of Nicaea in 325 A. D. that the celebration of the -festival commemorating the Resurrection should fall on the first -Sunday after March 21st and the full moon.” - -“And why was the festival called Easter?” asked the boy named -Billy. - -“It is a sort of made-over festival,” said Somebody. “The early -Christians called it the Paschal festival, and it was so called -until the Christian religion was introduced among the Saxons, -who had a Spring festival themselves of which they were very -fond, held in honor of their Spring goddess Eostre. They seemed -inclined to like the new religion, but refused to give up their -goddess, so the Christians decided to keep the festival and the -name, but to use it in commemoration of the resurrection of -Christ.” - -“Who was this lady named Eostre?” asked the boy named Billy. “She -must have been pretty important.” - -“Eostre, meaning ‘from the East, or Venus, the goddess of -beauty,’ was supposed to have been hatched by doves from an -immense egg which descended from heaven and rested on the -Euphrates. Out of it came the goddess of Spring and of beauty to -bring warmth and sunshine into the world,” said Somebody. - -“That must be where the idea of the Easter egg comes from,” -said the boy named Billy. “I was wondering about that. It’s -interesting; tell me some more.” - -“There are many beautiful legends concerning Easter,” said -Somebody. “One which was quite generally believed in Ireland was -that on Easter morning the sun dances. But of course we take that -with a grain of salt.” - -“Just as we take our Easter eggs,” laughed the boy named Billy. -“Thank you so much, Somebody; and now I’ll run and get some -flowers for Mother. I’m going to get her a beautiful Easter -lily.” - - - - -Trailing Arbutus or Mayflower - - -“See what I’ve got for Mom,” said the boy named Billy bursting -into Somebody’s room one bright morning in the latter part of -April. “May Flowers! Beauties! Found them away over in the pine -woods just peeping out from under a snow bank.” - -“Beauties indeed,” agreed Somebody, “I’m glad you cut them so -carefully. Most children do not understand the importance of -cutting wild flowers instead of tearing them up by the roots.” - -“I ought to understand it unless I’m a _dunce_,” laughed Billy, -“you and Mom tell me about it often enough. But why is it called -Mayflower when it always comes in April? Of course I know its -real name is Trailing Arbutus.” - -“The Mayflower,” said Somebody, “is spring’s first messenger -wherever it will grow, and its appearance is governed by the -length of the winter, and not by the calendar. I’ve heard of it -in the Rocky Mountains in August. It seems not to be able to live -in very warm places, but loves to snuggle its blossom children -under the snows of winter, who, when they awake push aside the -blankets and creep out to tell the world that spring has come. - -“And small as it is,” went on Somebody, “the dear little pink -flower has made history for itself. It was the first flower -to welcome the Pilgrim Fathers and Mothers to the new world -and as spring, on the bleak coast of Massachusetts, is a late -comer, it probably appeared in May, and was christened Mayflower -by the pioneers who knew no other name for it. Anyway it was -very welcome to those poor people who had come through so many -hardships, with its glorious message that the long and cruel -winter was over.” - -“Was the boat named after the flower or the other way around?” -asked the boy named Billy. - -“I think it must have been that the flower was named after the -boat,” answered Somebody, “as the Mayflower was the boat they -came over in--a little sailing vessel of one hundred and eighty -tons. Yet no other ship’s arrival has had such significance as -that of this little vessel, which brought the Pilgrim Fathers to -America in 1620. The sailing of the Mayflower meant a great deal -to the future of mankind, because the Pilgrim Fathers formed the -compact that established the government of the people, by the -people, and for the people. It is well known that they loved the -little posie, the first thing that welcomed them with a smile of -hopefulness.” - -“Why do we not try to cultivate it in our gardens?” - -“It starves in gardens,” said Somebody, “very likely because -its needs are not studied. Science has found that it has upon -its roots a friendly fungus which nourishes it. And this friend -refuses to live in the soil of the ordinary garden. Experiments -have been made with soils, and seed from the Mayflower fruit has -been planted and has made some progress, so I’ve heard.” - -“I did not know that the flower _had_ a fruit,” said the boy -named Billy. - -“I have seen only a few,” said Somebody. “It is a small fruit -which tastes not unlike a strawberry. Mrs. Ant knows all about -it, and it is very likely due to her that you find the flower in -places where it never has been found before.” - -“So,” said the boy named Billy, “when one tries to provide a new -home for Lady Trailing Arbutus, one must not only please her very -dainty tastes but those of her friends.” - -“You’ll never get very far with flowers or friends, Billy Boy,” -said Somebody, “unless you study them very carefully and try with -all your heart to understand them.” - -Billy grinned. “What time do you look for Mayflower fruit?” said -he. - -“Along about wild strawberry time,” said Somebody. - -[Illustration: The “Mayflower”] - - - - -About Pearls - - -“My,” said the boy named Billy. “I nearly broke my tooth on the -bone of this oyster. Isn’t it funny? It’s as round as a shot and -just as hard.” - -Everybody laughed, but Somebody said, “That isn’t a bone, Billy; -old Mr. Oyster has no bones. That’s a pearl. Too bad you didn’t -find it before it was cooked, because then you might have had it -set in a pin to wear in your scarf. Now that it has been cooked, -it is worthless.” - -“I’m in luck, anyhow,” said Billy, “because I didn’t break my -tooth. But how did a pearl ever get inside an oyster?” - -“It makes its home there,” said Somebody. “Lives snugly year -after year inside Mr. Oyster’s shell and pays no rent at all.” - -“Tell me about it,” demanded the boy named Billy. “I always -supposed that pearls grew at the bottom of the sea.” - -“So they do,” said Somebody, “about fifteen fathoms deep is where -the pearl bearing oyster lives. He is rather particular about -his home and selects a place where there is a swift current of -water. There he and his family lie on the hard bed of the ocean -and wait for the current to bring their food. Sometimes they -prefer to attach themselves to an overhanging ledge, where they -live closely huddled together. The ancient peoples had all sorts -of beliefs and ideas about the origin of the pearl. One of the -most poetical was that it was made from a drop of dew which the -oyster came up to the top of the ocean to get. Another was that -pearls were the tears of angels who wept over the sorrows of the -world.” - -“But what are they really?” asked the boy named Billy, his eyes -big with interest. - -“Science has discovered,” said Somebody, “that Mr. Oyster -accidentally gets a grain of sand, or a small insect inside his -shell, which becomes uncomfortable; but as the oyster has no way -of opening his door and putting an unwelcome guest outside, it -remains. Very likely the unwelcome guest hurts. So Mr. Oyster -says, ‘All right, then stay if you want to. But you can’t go on -hurting me if I know myself.’ And so he builds a wall of the -stuff that the inside of his shell is made of between himself -and the cause of the trouble. After about four years the oyster -is likely to be caught by pearl fishers, the pearl found, and -the shell used for inlaid work on boxes, knife handles and other -things. - -“The finest pearls are gathered in the East, the most valuable, -worth tens of thousands of dollars, coming from the oysters of -the Persian Gulf. The largest pearl fishery in America is that -of lower California, from which come the largest and the finest -black pearls on the market. - -“Carl von Linné, the great Swedish naturalist and botanist, -discovered that pearls could be grown by opening the shell of the -oyster and slipping a small bead of lead or wax inside the shell -and then putting the oyster back in his bed for three or four -years. Acting upon that idea, the Chinese and Japanese people -have established great pearl raising industries and turn out a -large amount of pearls every year. They are very pretty, and of -good color, but being flat on one side they cannot be made into -necklaces. In several of our states the fresh water clams are -pearl bearers; the Mississippi River industry being the one of -most value. The shells are used for pearl buttons and the flesh -of the mussels are fed to the pigs.” - -“Makes you think of that verse in the Bible about casting your -pearls before swine, doesn’t it?” laughed Billy. - - - - -About Mr. & Mrs. Pelican - - - “Said Pelican quite pleasantly, - ‘Come little fish and play with me’; - Said little fishie in a fright, - ‘I’ve heard about your appetite,’” - -read the boy named Billy from little Sister’s Bird Children book. -“Wise little fishie wasn’t he youngster?” said he. “Why is a -Pelican anyway--he isn’t good to be eaten and his feathers aren’t -worth anything, and he doesn’t do anything except to eat fish in -great quantities, at least that is all I’ve ever heard about.” - -“Long ago,” said Somebody, “when the first expeditions went -across the Colorado desert which had been, until the Colorado -River cut it off, a part of the Gulf of California, some one -remarked that if the desert could be watered it could be made -to raise food enough for a nation. There was the Colorado River -going to waste, of course, but how to harness it up and make it -provide water for the desert which it had made was a question -which no one could answer. - -“But along in 1904 it was decided to make the attempt to turn a -part of the river back into its old bed and make it work. The -river wasn’t quite ready to go back and when she did she meant to -go in her own sweet way--but if they wanted her to back into that -old bed, why back she would go--and, taking things in her own -mighty hands, back she did go with a rush. There was that old -Salton Sea Sink--she would first fill that up, and from there it -would be easy to give the people all the water they wanted on the -desert. - -“This was serious! There was a railroad in her track--but what -did that matter--people wanted water and water she would give -them. It was a Nation’s work to stop that runaway river, but -at last it was done, and lo and behold--there was that lovely -little sea shining like a jewel in the middle of the desert. They -eventually made the Colorado give them water enough besides to -water the desert which is now called the Imperial Valley where -rice and fruit and cotton and many other things are raised.” - -“That is interesting,” said the boy named Billy. “But where does -Mr. Pelican fit in?” - -“Right here,” said Somebody. “For along about this time very -probably along came Mr. and Mrs. Brown Pelican looking for a -home. And here was a lovely sea with lots of dear little islands -in it just big enough for two. But after they had started their -nest they discovered that their private sea had no fish in it. -Very probably Brown Pelican said they would move back to the -coast, but that Mrs. Pelican wouldn’t listen to him but said, -‘Here we have a whole ocean all to ourselves; let’s raise our -own fish--we’ll go right now and bring back our pockets full of -mullets and plant them.’ So they did with the result that the -Salton Sea is now one of the most important fisheries in the -state of California.” - -“That’s _some_ story,” said the boy named Billy. “But is it a -_Really So_ one?” - -“According to scientists it is,” said Somebody. “The Pelican has -long been known to be the best friend of the game warden, which -is why he is protected. He is supposed to carry fish to inland -streams and ponds which otherwise would not have them.” - -“Well, he should advertise,” said the boy named Billy, “nobody -knows how useful he is.” - -“Perhaps he is too modest,” said Somebody. - - - - -[Illustration: They believed in Monsters, and Witches] - -Indian Day - - -[Illustration: DOG DANCER] - -“Tomorrow is Indian Day,” said the boy named Billy, “and there -isn’t going to be any school; we’re all going out to see their -games and get acquainted; anybody seen my scout suit? It isn’t in -my closet.” - -“It has gone to the cleaner’s,” said Mother. “I knew you’d want -it tomorrow and so I sent it out; it will be back this afternoon.” - -“Thanks, Mom,” said Billy, “you always do think of everything. -Why are the Indians called Indian? Did they name themselves that -the way other people do?” - -“No,” said Somebody. “That was the name Columbus gave to the -natives when he reached the islands and mainland of our country -under the impression that he had arrived at the coast of Asia, -which he had set out to find.” - -“How did those people ever come to be here?” - -“It is supposed,” said Somebody, “that they had crossed from -Asia to Alaska, and were cut off in some way from returning and -so drifted inland and started colonies which prospered until it -spread across the whole continent. Some may have come from China, -and there is even a tradition that some were from the lost tribes -of Israel, but no one really knows. All we know is that if they -were not really natives of this land that they must have come -from somewhere and that they had degenerated into savages or had -never been lifted above it. - -“But take it all in all they were pretty good savages until they -were aroused by the whites; they had laws of their own, and a -religion, and real languages distinguishing the different tribes; -they had kings and principalities, and the Great Spirit was very -real to them. To the Indian everything in Nature had a real -personality and was inhabited by a spirit either good or bad. - -“They believed in monsters, and fairies and witches. The women -were the only ones who could declare war, and when prisoners were -brought in they had the right to adopt them into the tribe, or if -they did not like them to send them to death.” - -“Sweet and gentle ladies, weren’t they?” said the boy named -Billy. “I’m glad that they’re just folks nowadays.” - -“I’m glad also,” said Somebody, “and this move to have a day set -aside for the purpose of getting better acquainted is a move in -the right direction.” - -“I wonder who thought of doing that,” asked the boy named Billy. - -“The idea of having a day set apart for the celebration of -the deeds of the red race belongs to Mr. A. C. Parker, State -Archaeologist of New York, who launched it at the National -Conference at Denver; but no date being set at that time it was -later taken up at the Lawrence Kansas conference, when President -Coolidge of the Society of American Indians moved to have May -13th appointed as Indian Day, which was done. The different -states, in addition to this, have nearly all set apart days of -their own as Indian days. That of Illinois being September 4th.” - -“We folks in America do get around to doing our duty in time, if -you give us time enough,” said the boy named Billy. - -“It was high time in this case,” said Somebody. - -“Sure was,” said Billy. “I’m going to get acquainted with some -Indian about my own age and get some pointers about how to use -that bow and arrow Uncle Ned brought me from out west!” - - - - -About Hats - - -“In that direction,” the cat said, waving his right paw, “lives -the hatter. And in that direction,” waving the other paw around, -“lives a March hare. Visit either you like--they’re both mad!” - -The boy named Billy was reading aloud from Alice in Wonderland, -and when he had finished this sentence he looked up, keeping his -place with his finger shut in the book, and said, “I know what a -March hare would be; it would mean any old hare in the month of -March, very likely, but what’s a hatter? Is it a real animal, or -a madeup creature, like the Unicorn or the Dodo Bird, or is it -just a man who sells hats, as a grocer does groceries?” - -“You’ve come very close to the real meaning of it,” said -Somebody, “for a hatter, as I see it, is one who makes hats.” - -“Why, of course,” said the boy named Billy, “if I’d taken time -to think a little about it I’d have known. When did people begin -to wear hats, anyway, and what made them do it? They’re a great -bother--always blowing off when one is out-of-doors and having to -be hung up when one is indoors--they’re no good except to keep -one’s head warm and hair would do that if we gave it a chance.” - -“Up to a certain point, Billy,” laughed Somebody, “if hair would -only stay on as well as hats do even, I’m sure everybody would -agree with you, but hair does not stay put in a good many cases, -and hats are far better and much less trouble than it would be to -wear wigs. No, I think the hat is a very useful invention. - -“In fact, it is said that the earliest form of hat was a sort -of hood which was tied on over the head to keep the hair from -blowing ‘every which way,’ as it was common for both men and -women to wear the hair long and to allow it to hang loosely.” - -“When did the kind of hats that we wear begin to be stylish?” - -“About the time men began to cut their hair short, I suppose,” -said Somebody. “The chimney-pot hat, from which all the other -shapes grew, is only a little more than a hundred years old.” - -“What are hats made of?” asked Billy. “I don’t mean ladies’ hats, -of course, they are made of everything, but the kind we men wear.” - -Somebody smiled. “The kind you men wear are made of various -things. The very fine ones are made from Beaver fur and Coney -fur, and Molly Cotton Tail furnishes material for a great many -with her long hair which is chopped very fine, and some are made -entirely of wool. The braid for the straw hats comes almost -entirely from Italy, China and Japan, but is sewed and blocked in -this country.” - -“Do we make many hats here?” asked Billy. - -“Yes, indeed,” said Somebody, “making hats was one of our -earliest and most profitable industries. In 1675 laws were passed -prohibiting the sale of Raccoon fur outside the provinces, -because they were so valuable to the hatters, and it has grown -into one of our greatest industries.” - -“Well,” said the boy named Billy, “I know now what a hatter is, -but I still do not know what he was mad _about_?” - -“That was just a figure of speech,” said Somebody, “meaning that -he was not quite right in his head!” - -“Oh!” said the boy named Billy, going on with the story. - - - - -Mother’s Day - - -“I wish Somebody would help me with this greeting for Mother’s -Day,” said the boy named Billy. “I can’t think of anything; and -we get marked on it in school, too.” - -“Upon whose work do you usually get marks?” asked Big Sister. - -“Why, my own, of course,” flashed Billy, “but this is different.” - -“It will be easy,” said Somebody, “if you will just think about -Mother and write what you would like to say to her.” - -“Mom’s the best thing in the world,” said Billy, “but these are -to be read aloud and the other fellows would call me sissy!” - -“When President Garfield was inaugurated,” said Somebody quietly, -“the very first thing he did after taking the oath of office was -to kiss his mother.” - -“With everybody looking on?” asked Billy. - -“Yes, with everybody looking on,” said Somebody. “That was his -big and splendid way of telling everybody just what he thought of -his mother and of thanking her for all the things she had done -for him.” - -“Being his mother was enough,” said the boy named Billy, “what -more did she do for him?” - -“His father died when he was just three years old,” said -Somebody, “leaving his mother nothing in the world except a -stony farm in the wilderness. She had to work the farm with the -help of her eldest son, who was fourteen years old, and also do -all the work of the house. Indeed, there was one summer when she -lived on one scanty meal a day so that the children might have -enough. This made a great impression on James, who resolved that -when he grew up he would take great care of her. - -“Washington said he owed his success in life to his mother, who -gave him his strict sense of honesty and fairness. - -“Napoleon said of his mother, ‘She watched over us with devotion, -and allowed nothing but what was good and elevating to take root -in our understanding.’ - -“Abraham Lincoln’s mother died when Abraham was ten years old, -but she had taught him all she knew of reading, writing, and -arithmetic, and also to take pains with everything he did, and to -love God and fear no man. - -“Although Lincoln never forgot his own dear mother, it was to his -father’s second wife that he often said he owed his success, as -she almost moved heaven and earth to give him an education.” - -“Have we always had Mother’s Day?” asked Billy. - -“No, indeed,” said Somebody. “It’s quite recent. Miss Anna Jarvis -of Philadelphia, who lost her own dear mother in 1906, presented -the world with the idea of setting aside a day for the honoring -and remembering of all mothers. The world was ready for the idea, -and gladly took it up, and so we have this beautiful custom, -which is yearly growing stronger, of remembering our mothers in -some special way, sending a flower or a greeting, and wearing -a white carnation to show our love and devotion to our own -particular mother.” - -“Well,” said the boy named Billy, “Mom’s the best thing in the -world any way.” - -“Then say so,” said Somebody, “right out in meeting.” - -“I will!” said Billy. - - - - -About Forks - - -“Why so sad and solemncholy?” asked Somebody of the boy named -Billy. - -“Mother sent me away from the table ’cause I took my pie up in -my fingers,” said Billy. “Grandfather said that fingers were -made before forks, but Mother said perhaps they were, but that -didn’t excuse me for forgetting my table manners. Who made forks, -anyhow? I _wish_ they _hadn’t_.” - -“Well, Son,” said Somebody, “had you been born before the year -1600 it would have been quite correct for you to have eaten your -meat from your fingers. But it was terribly messy and there had -to be a servant called a ewer-bearer whose duty it was to pass -around a basin of water and a napkin with which to wash away -the stains of the food. But at last some bright Italian person -hit upon the idea of copying the large meat forks with which -the roast was handled, and making them small enough to be used -individually. Visitors to Italy were much interested in the fork. - -“Many people thought it a useless invention and it was the middle -of the 17th century before the people of England consented to use -it. Queen Elizabeth was the first lady in England to own a fork, -and hers could not have been much good as a table implement, as -it was made of crystal, inlaid with gold and set with sparks of -garnets. - -“The first forks were very small and narrow, with two prongs, but -after people got used to the idea they were made larger. Silver -knives and forks were first used in England in 1814 and could -only be afforded by the very wealthy.” - -“That’s interesting,” said the boy named Billy. “I’m glad -I didn’t have to learn to eat peas with those funny little -two-tined forks. I guess I’ll go and beg mother’s pardon.” - - - - -About Silk - - -“This is a piece of Sister’s new silk dress,” said the boy named -Billy. “It looks as though the fairies had woven it out of -cobwebs.” - -“It was made by something more wonderful than fairies, if that is -possible,” said Somebody. “It was spun by a queer little worm who -needed it for his own slumber robe, and had no idea in the world -of giving it to sister for a party dress.” - -“You mean the silk-worm’s cocoon, of course,” said the boy named -Billy. - -“About 4,500 years ago there was a Chinese Empress whose name -was Si-Ling-Shi, who used to spend a great deal of time in her -garden, and as she loved Nature very much she became interested -in the worms who lived on her mulberry trees. There were so many -of them, and the thread they spun was so strong and beautiful -that she thought if it could be unrolled without being tangled or -broken it could undoubtedly be spun into a web. - -“She knew if the chrysalis were left alive to emerge the thread -would be broken and spoiled, so she had some of the cocoons -devitalized and experiments proved her theories correct. - -“The rest of the world tried hard to induce China to give their -secret of silk-making but to no avail, so the Emperor Justinian -sent some young monks to China to study and to get the secret. -After some years they went back to Constantinople with enough -eggs of the silk-worm butterfly in their hollow pilgrim staffs to -begin raising them. - -“But even after they had the eggs it was not easy to raise them -as the children of Mr. and Mrs. Bombyx Mori can only be raised -where the mulberry tree will grow.” - -“After they get the cocoons how do they get the silk unwound?” -asked the boy named Billy. - -“That’s interesting,” said Somebody. “I had a chance to see the -process at the Panama Pacific Fair. When the worm is ready to -spin, and has shed his coat four times, he is about three weeks -old. Then he hangs himself on the limb of the tree which has -nourished him, and begins to spin. He moves his head around for -three whole days, spinning two threads at the same time, until -he is completely covered, when he stops spinning and starts to -transform. He has spun about 1,200 yards of double-threaded silk. -Of course he must not live to emerge so after three or four days -he is put in a gently heated oven until he is dead. Then he is -immersed in hot water and stirred with a long-handled brush until -the ends of the threads are loosened, when he is put into another -pan of hot water with several other cocoons and the ends of the -threads are passed through an eyelet to keep them from tangling -and are wound upon spools or reels into pale golden skeins of -what is called raw silk. Afterward it is bleached and colored and -woven into webs,” said Somebody. - -“That’s got any fairy story beaten a mile,” said Billy. “I’d -really like to try out that process with Lady Luna’s cocoon, but -she is such a beauty after she comes out that it would be too bad -to destroy her.” - -“Indeed it would,” said Somebody, “and we’ve got to have beauty -as well as utility in this world, Billy.” - -“Sure,” said Billy grinning, but he understood. - - - - -[Illustration: The Fairies in the West of England are very -careful of the Strawberry Crop] - -All we know about Strawberries - - -“Strawberries and cream for supper,” sang out the boy named -Billy, “wild ones. Got ’em over in the clearing in the woods -where the fire ran through last year. Whoppers! I wonder how they -ever got there, and why do we call them strawberries? They are -far from being the color of straw. Just look at my hands.” - -“Look at your face, too, Billy,” laughed Somebody. “You surely -did splash.” - -“Guess I did,” said Billy, as he repaired the damage. “I couldn’t -resist those strawberries. Where did they get the name from?” - -“Nobody knows--at least nobody whom I have been able to trace,” -said Somebody. “I’ve always been interested in that question -myself, and I’ve consulted many authorities and have found out -just exactly as much as the two people found out from each other -in the early English rhyme, which goes: - - “Ye manne of ye wildernesse asked me, - How many strauberies growe in ye sea? - I answer maybe as I thought goode - As manie red herring as growe in ye woode.” - -“That sounds as though they didn’t find out a blessed thing,” -said the boy named Billy. - -“Exactly,” laughed Somebody. “Izaak Walton’s tribute to the -strawberry in the ‘Compleat Angler’ is very well known. He said, -‘Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God -never did.’ The only information I have been able to gather is -that ‘the strawberry is a perennial herb of the genus fragaria, -order of rosacea,’--that it ‘appears to have been a native -of Eastern North America where it appears as a common wild -strawberry.’ The strawberry seems to have been grown in gardens -less than six hundred years, for though knowledge of it goes back -to the time of Virgil, and perhaps earlier, it was not cultivated -by the people. - -“The Germans have some beautiful legends concerning it. It is -said that the Goddess Frigga was very fond of the fruit and that -it was supposed to be her task to go with the children to gather -them on St. John’s day; and that on that day no mother who had -lost a little child would taste a strawberry because if she did, -the little one in Paradise could have none; because the mother on -earth had already had the share belonging to it. - -“The fairies in the West of England are very careful of the -strawberry crop and woe betide the one who picks the blooms or -the unripe fruit. The farmers are always careful not to displease -the fairies and always leave a great many ripe berries for them, -as they are known to be very fond of them. The Bavarian farmer, -knowing the capricious disposition of the elves, is said to tie a -basket of the ripe berries between the horns of his cow so that -they may sit and enjoy them in comfort and also be more friendly -toward the cow.” - -“That’s all right interesting,” said the boy named Billy, “but it -doesn’t explain why there are berries in the clearing in the wood -now, where there never were any before, nor tell us why they are -called strawberries.” - -“I fancy the birds and the winds could tell you how the -strawberry seeds came to the clearing in the wood,” said -Somebody; “and as for the other, let us keep our minds and our -ears open and perhaps we shall hear more about it in some way or -other.” - -“I can hear something right now that satisfies me,” said the boy -named Billy; “that’s the dinner gong. Me for wild strawberries -and Jersey cream!” - - - - -Children’s Day - - -“What have you been doing all day that I have not had even a -glimpse of you?” asked Somebody, as the boy named Billy came in, -looking rather hot and dusty, one Saturday afternoon in June. -“Better go bathe your face at my wash-stand and then come and -tell me what’s been so interesting--baseball or fishing.” - -“Neither baseball nor fishing,” said the boy named Billy, “but -it’s been lots of fun just the same. I’ve been helping the ladies -over at the church put up the flags and bunting for decorations -and to fix up the pulpit with palms and potted plants; Bob -White’s been helping, too; we’re the tallest boys in Sunday -School. Tomorrow is Children’s Day, you know. What’s the meaning -of Children’s Day and do they always have it? I don’t seem to -remember anything about it before this year.” - -“That is because you are older now and able to help,” said -Somebody. “It used to be the custom for each church to have -Children’s Day at any time in the year that was most convenient -for them, but back in 1883 the Presbyterian Church said, ‘This -scattering Children’s Day all over the year is not right and must -stop--let’s all get together and agree upon one particular day -and keep that and celebrate it!’ And all the other Churches saw -the sense of that so they agreed on June--the second Sunday in -June, as being warm and sunny weather with flowers blooming and -everyone able to get out.” - -“But where did the idea of Children’s Day come from?” asked the -boy named Billy. - -“It probably grew out of that wonderful saying of Our Savior: -‘Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for -of such is the kingdom of heaven,’” said Somebody. - - - - -About Carrier Pigeons - - -“Bob White’s carrier pigeon has lost its mate,” said the boy -named Billy. “He won’t eat or take any notice of anything--just -sits humped up making queer little sounds as if he were grieving. -Do you suppose that he realizes what has happened to the little -mate?” - -“Perhaps not, in so many words,” said Somebody, “but he misses -her and realizes that things are different. It’s a well-known -fact that carrier pigeons never replace a lost mate, which -reminds me of a story I heard about pigeons, out in Washington -State, which might interest you.” - -“Is it a _really-so story_?” asked Billy. - -“Yes indeed,” said Somebody, “a really, truly-so story. It was -this way. There was a pigeon fancier in Seattle, who, during the -great war, raised carriers for the government, and in order to -train the young birds for use in the battle-fields, he used to -take them on the engine of the Shasta Limited train, which is the -fastest one going south out of Seattle, down as far as Centralia, -a small town on the line, where no stop is made by the limited, -and then to liberate them and let them make their way back home. - -“One particularly beautiful and promising pair of black and white -birds had been in training for some time in this way, when, in -returning to the loft the little lady bird was lost.” - -“Some spy had shot her very likely,” said Billy. - -“Well, as to that of course they never knew, it might have been -a hawk you know,” said Somebody, “but her mate would not return -home without her. He just flew between the two places searching -for her, but at last returned to the place where he had seen her -for the last time, at Centralia, where a kind-hearted farmer who -lived near the railroad track fixed him up a cote, hoping that he -might forget his loss. - -“The pathetic part of the story is in the fact that every day -when the Shasta Limited came along the little fellow would fly to -meet it, dropping until he was on a level with the engine, and -flying along with it for as long as he could keep up, hoping that -from the window of the engine his little mate would come to meet -him. Then he would return to the farm house to wait until the -next day. - -“The train men were much interested in him, and always gave him -the signal that they were coming. He paid no attention to any -other train, but for a year, at the time I was there, he had been -meeting the Shasta every day.” - -“Poor little fellow,” said the boy named Billy. “Did you see him -yourself?” - -“Yes, I did,” said Somebody. “I chose that train on purpose -because I had heard the story in Seattle. When it was time for -the bird to appear the conductor of the train came and told me -about it and I watched for him. He came straight as an arrow -through the tree tops, and his flying was beautiful to see, as he -accommodated himself to the swift flying train and its suction. -At one time he was not more than six inches above the track, but -gradually gained until he was on a level with the engineer’s cab.” - -“Poor little fellow,” said the boy named Billy. “I hope he forgot -after awhile.” - -“So do I,” said Somebody. - - - - -About Coal - - - “Down in a coal mine underneath the ground, - Where a ray of sunshine never can be found, - Digging dusky diamonds all the year around - Down in a coal mine underneath the ground,” - -sang the boy named Billy as he put more coal on Somebody’s fire. - -“Where _did_ you dig up that old coal-miner’s chantey, Billy -Boy?” asked Somebody. - -“Bob White’s great-grandfather sings it sometimes in the funniest -quivery old voice ever--” said the boy named Billy. “He used to -be a foreman in a coal-mine in Pennsylvania when he was young, so -Bob says. What’s a Chantey, please? I thought it was just a funny -old song.” - -“A Chantey is a song that workmen sing as they work, and make up -for themselves,” said Somebody. “Sometimes they have a stanza to -start with and then everybody adds a little and after a time it -takes on the character of the men who sing it. The men who work -in the woods, and the river men, especially those of Canada, have -wonderful Chanteys.” - -“It’s very interesting,” said Billy, “why do they call coal -‘dusky diamonds’ in their chantey?” - -“Because both coal and diamonds are carbon,” said Somebody, “you -knew that, Billy.” - -“Guess I did,” said Billy, giving the fire an extra poke, “only -I didn’t stop to think. But I don’t believe I know just exactly -what makes them after all.” - -“In the case of coal--pressure,” said Somebody. “This old world -of ours has been a long time in the making; at some time in its -history dense forests, which had been centuries in growing, were -crushed and buried by some disturbance of the earth and under -the mountains of earth and rocks were pressed into a rock-like -substance composed of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen, -with sulphur and silica added. The carbon and gases burn up, and -what is left is what you take away in the form of ashes before -you go to school mornings, like the good boy that you are.” - -“Is coal everywhere under us then?” asked the boy named Billy. - -“Probably not,” answered Somebody. “It is usually found in -streaks, very likely because there was much open country where no -forests grew. Then, too, the moving glacier or flood or whatever -it was that destroyed the forests may have taken them a long way -from home before it buried them.” - -“The coal we burn in the furnace is not like the sort that you -burn in your grate,” said the boy named Billy. - -“The Anthracite, or hard coal which is used in furnaces,” said -Somebody, “is the kind that has been under most pressure and is -found at a greater depth than the Bituminous or soft coal which -is found nearer the surface.” - -“Who was the first to find out that coal would burn?” asked Billy. - -“Nobody knows,” said Somebody. “Perhaps some little mother whose -babies were cold and chilly found some black rocks and used them -for a fireplace to hold the little sticks which she was burning -to cook breakfast over, and found that the stones also burned.” - -“I’ll bet that’s right,” said Billy. “I can just see the picture. -What kind of mother would she have been?” - -“Anglo-Saxon,” said Somebody, “as they were the first to use it -as a fuel. They have been known to have used coal since 842 A. D.” - -“As useful as coal itself is, its derivatives are more so,” went -on Somebody. “From coal tar is made so many articles of daily use -that it would be impossible to tell you about them all.” - -“Old King Coal,” sang Billy. “Thanks, Somebody--I’m off for a -swift skate on the ice this morning!” - - - - -[Illustration: “A true Star has but five Points”] - -Flag Day - -[Illustration: REVOLUTIONARY FLAGS USED BEFORE THE ADOPTION OF -THE STARS AND STRIPES] - - -“I can’t seem to make this flag-staff do what I want it to,” said -the boy named Billy. - -“Let me help you,” said Somebody; “I’ll hold it while you clamp -it to the window-sill.” - -“Just when did we begin to have Flag Day, please?” - -“Flag Raising Day is one of the youngest of our National -anniversaries, but is fast becoming one of the most popular,” -said Somebody. “The custom came about at the request of the Sons -of the Revolution that a day be set aside for honoring of the -Flag, and was first observed on the 14th of June, 1894, on the -117th anniversary of the adoption of the Flag by Congress, when -the Governor of New York ordered it to be flown on all public -buildings in the State.” - -“Please tell me just how the flag became,” said Billy. - -“Previous to the year 1777,” said Somebody, “each state had its -own flag. But at a convention of the Revolutionary statesmen, -which was held in Philadelphia in that year, a committee was -appointed to consider the report upon the subject of a flag which -should be the standard of all the colonies; and on June 14th, -1777, Congress passed a resolution that the flag of our country -should bear thirteen stripes, one red and the other white, and -that the union should be thirteen white stars on a field of blue. -General George Washington, who was a member of the committee, -with Robert Morris and Colonel Ross, made a rough sketch of the -flag and took it to a Mrs. Betsy Ross who was famed for her -skillful needle work, asking her if she could make such a flag. - -“I can,” said Mrs. Ross, “but a true star has but five points, -where yours has six,” and picking up her scissors she deftly cut -a five-pointed star. It was at once seen that the star of five -points was much more beautiful and the committee commissioned -Mrs. Ross to make a sample flag. - -The first flag made was raised in Philadelphia, but was soon -copied and flown over the entire land. - -“Where it still flies,” said the boy named Billy, saluting, “and -will always continue to fly. But when was it changed? The field -is now full of stars, though it has only thirteen stripes.” - -“When Kentucky and Vermont were admitted to the Union,” said -Somebody, “the flag was changed to fifteen stars and fifteen -stripes; but in 1818 Congress voted to restore the thirteen -stripes and to add a new star for every state, on the first -Fourth of July after the state had been admitted to the Union. - -“There is a story to the effect that at a Fourth of July dinner -given some years ago in Shanghai, the English Consul, in toasting -the British flag, said: ‘Here’s to the Union Jack, the flag of -flags, the flag that has floated on every continent and every sea -for a thousand years and upon which the sun never sets.’” - -“Did he get away with that?” asked Billy. - -“Not very well,” said Somebody. “Eli Perkins, the celebrated -American humorist, who was present, rose to his feet and said, -“_Here’s_ to the Stars and Stripes, emblem of the New Republic. -When the setting sun lights up its stars in Alaska, the rising -sun salutes it on the rockbound coast of Maine. It is the flag of -liberty, never lowered to any foe, and the _only_ flag that has -ever whipped the flag upon which the sun never sets.” - -“I guess that held him for a while!” said the boy named Billy, -saluting. - - - - -The Sea-gull Monument - - -“What are you reading, Billy Boy, all alone to yourself?” asked -Somebody one evening after supper. - -“Story about an old grey and white sea-gull that got mixed up -with some crude oil which a ship had thrown out, and got his -feathers so covered with it that he could neither swim nor fly,” -answered the boy named Billy, “and how some children fed him and -took care of him until he got a new coat of feathers; he was sure -in a bad fix, only for their kindness.” - -“I was reading in a book about birds the other day,” said Big -Sister, “that the gull is a protected bird, but it did not state -why. I suppose on account of its beauty, isn’t it?” - -“Not entirely,” said Somebody. “They are splendid scavengers, -and are protected on that account--your friend the gull who got -into trouble, Billy, was very likely following the vessel for -the things thrown out from the kitchen--but outside of that they -ought to be protected on account of their grace and beauty and -the life and movement that they give to the upper air. They are, -as far as I know, the only birds in the world to have a monument -erected to them, and not a small one either but a great shaft of -granite.” - -“Oh, say, Somebody,” said the boy named Billy, “you’re so much -better than any story book--what about these wonderful birds?” - -“It was like this,” said Somebody. “When the Mormons went all -the way across the sands of the desert, to improve the land on -the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, they met with many -hardships and discouragements. After two years, when they had -succeeded in getting water on the land, had planted things that -were growing beautifully, and even had fields of waving grain -which they were looking forward to harvesting, young fruit -orchards started and vegetables growing, it seemed like a dream -come true.” - -“I’ll say so,” said the boy named Billy. - -“Well, then,” said Somebody, “just as they had all those things -and were as happy as could be, waiting for harvest time, and -working at building more homes, along came a plague of black -crickets, and began to devour every growing thing in sight. The -crickets ate anything and everything. When the fields no longer -looked promising they began on the clothing and bedding. It was -impossible to hang out the family washing, because a drove of -these hungry crickets would swoop down on it and leave a trail of -gnawed holes. - -“The people fought the pests with every weapon they had, but it -did no good, and they had to simply stand by and see everything -eaten and destroyed. - -“When everything they knew of had been done, there was sent out -a call for the people to come into the middle of town for prayer -that the scourge might be lifted. - -“All day long they prayed--and just before evening there came -a white cloud from the west which proved to be _millions_ of -sea-gulls, every one of which had brought along a perfectly -good appetite for black crickets, and before you could say Jack -Robinson there wasn’t a single cricket left to tell the tale. -Right then and there, those poor Mormon farmers turned the prayer -meeting into a day of Thanksgiving. - -“In fact, so thankful were they that they built in Temple Square -in Salt Lake City a beautiful granite monument called The -Monument To The Sea-Gulls, and declared the sea-gull to be the -sacred bird of Utah forever.” - -“Well, _could_ you blame ’em?” said the boy named Billy. - - - - -Fourth of July - - -“Hello, Scout,” said Uncle Ned, who had dropped in for dinner, as -the boy named Billy came in in his new khaki uniform, “whither -away?” - -“I’m just getting my kit packed,” said the boy named Billy, “we -Juniors are going to hike out to Long Lake for over the Fourth.” - -“You’ll miss all the fireworks,” said Uncle Ned. - -“No, we won’t, we’ll be back before evening,” said Billy. “We’ve -got to because we’re going to have Company fireworks on the -Parade Grounds--every fellow’s going to bring his own and pool -’em--Dad’s given me some regular sky-shooters to celebrate my -country’s birthday with.” - -“Not much like the unsafe and insane Fourth your Dad and I used -to have when we were youngsters,” grinned Uncle Ned. “We had real -gunpowder those days.” - -“Dad’s told me all about it,” said Billy. “It must have been -loads of fun. I like a big noise as well as anybody, but I sort -of like to be all in one piece when I take the count at bedtime, -and Dad has always missed that finger of his a lot--that middle -one he lost the Fourth just after he was nine years old.” - -“Guess I do know,” said Uncle Ned. “I carried him in to Mother, -and I’ll never forget how she looked, either.” - -“Well,” said the boy named Billy, “when it comes to having fun -that would make Mom sorry I’ll go without the fun.” - -“You’re all right, Billy Boy,” said Somebody, who had been -listening to the conversation, “those old fellows did not have -half the fun they think they did.” - -[Illustration: Fireworks!] - -“Well,” said the boy named Billy, “she’s a grand old country and -I’ll help celebrate her birthday every time, but I’m glad that -they pay more attention to us boys nowadays and let us have hikes -and scout suits and drills and everything. It would be hard to -find a place where a boy can have a better time just being a boy, -than in this good old Land o’ the Free--don’t you think?” - -“’Deed and I do, Billy Boy, think just that!” said Somebody. - -“Somebody, what is in the Declaration of Independence?” - -“Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia gives it briefly,” said -Somebody. “‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all -men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator -with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, -liberty and pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, -governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers -from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of -government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right -of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a -new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and -organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most -likely to effect their safety and happiness-- - -“‘We, therefore--do solemnly publish and declare, That these -United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and -Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance -to the British crown, and that all political connection between -them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally -dissolved; and that as free and independent States, they have -full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, -establish commerce and do all other acts and things which -independent States may of right do. And for the support of this -declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine -Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our -fortunes, and our sacred honor.’” - - - - -Mr. Irish Potato - - -“Oh, goody,” said the boy named Billy. “Baked potatoes for -supper--I can smell them--I am certainly grateful to Old Ireland -for sending us her wonderful potatoes. I’m going to have cream on -mine and eat every bit of the jacket.” - -“So shall I,” said Somebody, laughing. “I don’t know of anything -more appetizing than a big well-baked potato, but I must tell -you, Billy Boy, that the cause for gratitude is the other way -around--Ireland has America to thank for potatoes. But we surely -owe her a vote of thanks for showing us what a useful article of -food we were neglecting to use.” - -“Why! Where did the potato come from if not from Ireland--they’re -always spoken of as Irish Potatoes--” said the boy named Billy. - -“The botanical books have this to say about it,” said Somebody. -“Potato--Solanum tuberosa--a native of Chile, Peru, and the Rocky -Mountains of North America. - -“The potato was taken to England from America in the early part -of the 16th century by Sir Francis Drake who saw in it a valuable -food for cattle. But when the grain crops failed in 1772 the -people, especially those in Ireland, began to grow the potato -extensively for food for the people, and as it was so easily -raised it soon became very popular, and was eagerly adopted by -the Irish as their very own. - -“In the United States the growing of early potatoes for northern -markets is an important industry as far south as Florida and the -Bermudas; but potatoes flourish best in climates which are just -too cool for corn. There is a belt of 120,000,000 acres, running -from Newfoundland, maritime Canada, and New England, through New -York, Pennsylvania, and the American and Canadian Lake region, -and by way of the Yukon Valley almost into the Arctic Circle, -where potatoes have been found amazingly productive. The giant -Idaho and Montana potatoes, which often weigh several pounds, are -favorites for baking. - -“Growing from seed seldom produces satisfactory potatoes, but -seedsmen plant them in the hope of discovering new and desirable -varieties, as did Burbank when he grew from seed the potato which -bears his name. There are now perhaps a thousand well-developed -varieties, while at the time of the American Revolution there -were only two, the red and the white. In growing potatoes, the -most perfect tubers should be chosen, cut in pieces and planted; -the new plants grow from the eyes or buds on the cuttings. - -“The cultivation of the potato has played an important part in -the history of Europe. In certain parts of Germany it helped to -check the famines caused by the Thirty Years’ War. By 1688 it had -become the staple food of the Irish peasantry, and the failure -of the potato crop in 1845 and the resulting famine started the -first great wave of Irish immigration to the United States.” - -“I was reading an old poem about that Irish famine the other -day,” said the boy named Billy, “where a little boy was begging -his mother for just one grain of corn--I felt so sorry for him, -but I can see now that he suffered hunger so that all the other -children in the world might have good food all their lives--I -hope someone gave him a nice hot baked potato before he got too -hungry. There’s the dinner gong--Hurrah for the Irish!” - -“Hurrah for us, too!” said Somebody. - -“Sure,” said the boy named Billy. - - - - -[Illustration: Wherever his Regiment ... went, there was Old Abe!] - -Old Abe, the Wisconsin War-Eagle - - -“Teacher was reading to the class about Old Abe, the war Eagle, -today,” said the boy named Billy. - -“What about him,” asked Big Sister, “I do not remember anything -about him in my United States History.” - -“Teacher said he was not really historical--just an incident in -the history of the Civil War, but he is most interesting,” said -the boy named Billy. “He went through three years of the war and -was in the thick of every battle, where he seemed to be having -the time of his life, understanding which side he belonged to -very well indeed. One day when the Confederate soldiers had been -told by their officers to ‘get that old bird’ and they were all -firing on him as hard as they possibly could, Old Abe went up in -the air and stayed there circling ’round and ’round--screaming -his head off, and when the battle was over he went back to his -standard minus a few feathers but still all in one piece, as Big -Brother says.” - -“Wherever did they get him?” asked Big Sister. - -“Some people say Old Abe was caught in the spring of 1861 on the -banks of the Flambeau River in Wisconsin when the Indians were -making their maple sugar, by the son of Chief Thunder-Of-Bees. He -climbed to the top of the tall tree where the Eagles had their -nest and took the baby bird out when the old ones were away. -Others say that he chopped the tree down and had a fight with the -old birds, but finally escaped with the little one who was then -about as large as a hen. Anyway he got him, and took him home -to the children, where he became quite one of the family, until -when it was planting time Chief Sky sold him for a bushel of seed -corn. A man named Mills then bought him from his owner for five -dollars and presented him to a Company of young volunteers who -were organizing to go to the front. - -“The boys thought Mr. Eagle was great fun, and they made him -enlist, by putting the colors around his neck and a shield on his -breast so that he was really a living United States Emblem. Then -they christened him ‘Old Abe’ in honor of the president, and made -a standard for him, and after that wherever his regiment, the 8th -Wisconsin, went, there was Old Abe in all his glory, so that the -regiment became known as the Eagle Regiment. - -“After the war he was taken back to Madison where he had started -from three long years before, and was given a perch in the -Capitol where he held a reception every day. P. T. Barnum wanted -to buy him and so did many others, but he could not be purchased. -There wasn’t money enough in the world to buy him. - -“In the winter of 1864-5 he was taken to the big fair at Chicago -where his photographs were sold for the benefit of sick and -wounded soldiers, and he earned in that way 16,000 dollars. In -1876 he was taken to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia -where he was greatly admired, and when that was over he was taken -home again to his perch in the State Capitol at Madison. - -“In 1881 the bird died of old age and the people of Madison had -his skin stuffed and mounted on his old perch. There Old Abe -stood, looking every inch a war eagle and a hero, until the State -House burned.” - -“That is a very interesting story,” said Somebody. - -“It is in a book called ‘The Great Seal’ by a Mr. J. Cigrand,” -said the boy named Billy. “I’m going to read it all when I can -read a little better.” - - - - -About Clocks - - -[Illustration: EARLY AMERICAN CLOCK] - -“Look at my new wrist-watch! Mom gave it to me for my -birthday--isn’t it a beauty?” said the boy named Billy. “Radium -dial ’n all; I can see what time it is in the dark. Handy when -I’m on hikes, no more stopping to scratch matches. Stem winder ’n -everything.” - -“Goodness, Billy,” said Big Sister. “Anyone would think to hear -you that there never was a watch like that of yours. We all have -watches.” - -Billy grinned. “Well,” he said, “I’ve wanted it so long. A fellow -_needs_ something to tell time by. Who discovered how to tell -time anyhow?” - -“The first Caveman, probably,” said Somebody. “He needed to let -the ladies of the family know when he was coming home to dinner, -so he very likely pointed to the sun, and drew a line in the -sand, to tell them that when the sunshine reached that spot he -would be home and that dinner better be forthcoming pronto! That -was the sundial idea, which was the only way of time-telling for -ages. Cleopatra’s needle is supposed to have been one of the -big sun dials. But as it was certainly inconvenient not to be -able to tell the time on dark days, it was only a matter of time -when some more convenient method of recording the hours would be -found. When it did appear it was in the shape of the clepsydra, -or water thief, a brass bowl with a hole in the bottom, which -was floated on top of another bowl full of water, the principle -being that when the bowl had filled itself with water an hour had -passed, then a slave would empty the bowl, and hit it with a rod -to announce the hour.” - -“But someone must have sat up all night to watch the bowl and -strike the hours,” said the boy named Billy. - -“Precisely,” said Somebody, “so they consulted the stars, and -discovered that they could divide the night into ‘watches’ of so -many hours duration, and then they had different watchmen to sit -up with the clepsydra, and announce the hours. - -“The Priests of Babylon were very wise men indeed, and it was -not long until they had figured out how to divide the years into -months and weeks and days and hours and minutes and seconds. - -“But it was not until 1581 that a young Spaniard, standing in -the Cathedral of Pisa discovered, by watching a swinging lamp, -the principle of the pendulum. He noticed that when it moved a -short distance, it moved slowly, and that the farther it moved, -the faster became the motion, making the long swing in the same -time as it did the shorter one. And in this way was the pendulum -applied to the making of time-telling machines. - -“In the 12th Century there were clocks which struck the -hours, but which had no dials or hands, but after the idea of -time-telling machines started it traveled fast, and in the 14th -Century real clocks began to appear. - -“We have not time to go through the whole fascinating story of -how the idea progressed, but we know that in Shakespeare’s time -there were watches that could be carried in the pocket.” - -“Why were they called ‘watches’ instead of clocks,” asked the boy -named Billy. - -“The clock, or orloge, as they were then called, struck the -hours, and the watch was very probably so named from the silent -‘watches of the night’,” said Somebody. “That last is just a -guess, but it’s as good as anybody’s guess at that.” - -“Who made the first clock in America?” asked the boy named Billy. - -“Eli Terry did, in the year 1809,” said Somebody, “and after a -time he got Seth Thomas to help him. As soon as people realized -what a very great convenience it was to be able to keep accurate -time, nobody wanted to be without a clock. And then people began -to travel more and needed to have something portable with which -to tell time, and so the convenient watches came to be made. - -“‘What time is it?’ you ask. Centuries of scientific progress, -with vast labor and years of patient study, have been necessary -to answer that question. You’ll find that men had to delve into -mathematics, the mysteries of astronomy, the wonders of physics -and chemistry, before they could force the hands on the dial to -tell you when to start for school or to catch your train. As -you look at a clock, remember that every time the minute-hand -passes from one of its marks to the next, it shows that this huge -globe on which we live has covered more than 1,000 miles of its -headlong journey. - -“And then along came Madame Curie, the brilliant French -scientist, and discovered radium, the merest shadow of which -makes the dial of your watch luminous for as long as it lasts. - -“There is a very famous clock in Strasbourg which not only -tells the time of day, but also the day of week, the month, -and the position of the moon and the planets. At various times -processions of tiny figures cross a stage, including a cock that -crows. The day of week is indicated by a separate little figure -which takes its place on a tiny platform. - -“A watch is perhaps the most wonderful little machine in the -world. Packed in a case sometimes no bigger than a twenty-five -cent piece and less than a quarter of an inch thick are from one -hundred and fifty to eight hundred separate parts. And there you -are, Billy Boy!” - -“Time for bed,” said Mother. “And don’t linger too long admiring -your new watch or it will be time to get up.” - -“Goodnight everybody, and Somebody,” said the boy named Billy, -“and thanks again, Mom, for the watch. I’ve never before had such -a jimdandy birthday gift.” - - - - -About Cotton - - - “Away down South in the land of cotton - Cinnamon seed and sandy bottom - Look away, look away, look away down South in Dixie,” - -sang the boy named Billy. - -“Wherever did you dig up that old Dixie song?” Somebody asked, -smiling. “I haven’t heard it in years.” - -“Bob White’s Grandfather is always singing it,” said the boy -named Billy, “and we play soldier to it--it has such a dandy -swing to it--listen: - - “‘In Dixie Land I’ll take my stand - To live and die for Dixie--Look away-- - Look away--look away down South in Dixie’ - ---it’s an old war song, isn’t it?” - -“It is one of the old negro melodies which the boys adopted as a -marching song in the Civil War,” said Somebody, “and very dear to -the hearts of everyone from the ‘land of cotton’.” - -“I’ve been meaning to ask something about cotton--Teacher says -that if coal is king in America cotton is easily queen. I did -not know before that it was so important--I thought you just -made house dresses and aprons of it. Bob White says that when he -was down South with his folks last winter the fields were all -blossomed out white and the people were picking the flowers.” - -“Bob should have asked questions about it,” said Somebody, “and -in that way he would have found out that the white ‘blooms’ were -in reality the ripened cotton, or boll, as it is called. When the -cotton has gone to seed it is ready to be picked, and if left to -itself would in time blow away in the winds, scattering its seeds -just as old Grandfather dandelion does his. - -“But it is far too valuable to be left to do that, so it is -carefully picked and prepared for market; but valuable as the -fibre, the seed, which is deeply embedded in the cotton, is -almost more so. But the seed is very hard to get at, and before -the cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney it was a year’s work -for one person to clean the seeds from enough cotton to make one -bale, but now with the machinery they have it is easy to prepare -many bales in one day.” - -“Where did it come from?” asked Billy. - -“Most of it,” said Somebody, “came from our own Southern States, -but it has been grown in Asia and Egypt for centuries, being one -of the oldest plants on record.” - -“What are some of the uses of cotton?” asked Billy. - -“They are so many I couldn’t begin to tell you,” said Somebody, -“but all our bed linen is made from it, as well as most of our -curtains, and underwear and the dainty things Little Sister -wears, as well as the lovely voile dresses that make Mother look -like a bunch of posies. It is indispensable for bandages and pads -to dress wounds with and for many other things.” - -“I think it’s wonderful,” said the boy named Billy, “how many of -the things that we use every day just grow.” - -“Yes, indeed,” said Somebody, “Mother Nature has put everything -we could possibly need, in this good old world of ours, and -expects us to use our brains to find out just how to use them.” - -“Thanks, Somebody,” said the boy named Billy, “I’m going over to -tell Bob White all about those wonderful cotton flowers he thinks -he saw!” - - - - -About Coral - - -“Uncle Bob has just returned from California,” said the boy named -Billy, “and has brought Big Sister a necklace of very beautiful -coral beads; not a bit like the dark red branchy looking ones -that she has had since she was a baby! These are rose pink with -little hand-carved roses all over them. What sort of a stone is -coral, and where is it found? It’s lovely!” - -“Strictly speaking,” said Somebody, “although coral has all the -appearance of stone it isn’t that at all, although it is just as -dangerous to a ship to run aground on a reef of it as it would be -to run on the rocks--it’s so jagged and sharp. It is really the -bones you might say of living creatures which made their homes in -that particular spot for ages and dying have left their skeletons -behind them for a monument. - -“These little sea animals are called polyps and the coral grows -inside their soft outer structure just as your bones do inside -your flesh. Among the greatest architects in the world are the -little coral-making animals, creatures of shallow water in the -warmer seas. Some kinds live all alone, but the commoner ones -live in colonies of many individuals united by a stalk with -many branches--sort of a family tree you might say--indeed they -were once called plant animals. They have a very helpful and -economical way of living,” went on Somebody, “for when something -good to eat swims or floats within reach of one little polyp’s -mouth he sucks it in, swallows it, and all his hungry relatives -get the benefit of it.” - -“That’s what I’d call being real chummy,” said the boy named -Billy. “How do they manage that?” - -“They have a sort of family stomach,” said Somebody, “or -reservoir into which all food absorbed by the colony goes.” - -“I don’t believe I’d like that very well,” said Billy. “One -fellow might have to eat all the things he didn’t care about and -another would get all the pie.” - -“I do not suppose the polyp has much to boast of in the way of -the sense of taste,” laughed Somebody, “but you’ve got to admit -that he does his duty as he sees it without shirking.” - -“I should say he does,” said Billy. “What else does he do besides -working for the good of his family?” - -“He has a quite important hand in making the ‘beauteous land,’” -said Somebody. “The Great Barrier Reef of Australia, extending -a thousand miles along the coast and in some places from one to -three miles wide, was made entirely by the Polyps. Also the keys -of Florida, as well as the Everglades, are made entirely upon -coral foundation.” - -“That is very interesting,” said the boy named Billy. “But if -there is so much of it why is it so expensive?” - -“There’s only one kind that is precious,” said Somebody. “That -is the _corallium rubrum_ of the Mediterranean Sea. It was once -supposed to be endowed with sacred properties of a mysterious -nature; the Mandarins of China wear coral buttons made from it -as their badge of office. There is also a very rare black coral -which makes its home in the warm water of the Great Australian -Barrier Reef. The Italians are the greatest coral workers, making -a most valuable industry of making jewelry and buttons and other -small articles. - -“There’s a lot more to learn about this subject, but that’s all I -am able to tell you just now,” said Somebody. - -“Thanks,” said the boy named Billy. “I’ll read up on it.” - - - - -[Illustration: FRANCIS SCOTT KEY] - -The Star-spangled Banner - - -The boy named Billy came running into the house one morning, full -of the joy of living and singing at the top of his voice, “O, -long may the star-spangled banner still wave, o’er the land of -the free-ee and the home of the brave.” - -“Get a step-ladder, Billy. You’ll never reach that ‘land of the -free’ any other way,” advised Big Sister. - -“Well, say,” said Billy grinning, “I’m not a prima donna; it -takes a real voice to climb up there. I love it, but I wish there -were not so many high places in it. Francis Scott Key never -thought of me when he wrote it, that’s sure.” - -“Francis Scott Key hadn’t a thing to do with it, silly-Billy,” -said Big Sister. “How do you learn your history anyhow?” - -“Well, Somebody, please tell me who did write it then?” asked -Billy. “That’s what teacher said anyway.” - -“Perhaps it was not made quite clear to you, Billy Boy, that the -words only were written by Francis Scott Key. You’re not alone in -wishing that it was not quite so difficult; when I come to that -high note I always stand on tiptoe and I’ve never struck it yet, -and nine out of ten people have the same difficulty; yet I love -it, as we all do. - -[Illustration: When we were at war with England] - -“As to who really wrote it there seems to be no clear record, -some crediting it to Dr. Samuel Arnold, an Englishman, but others -claim it for John Stafford Smith, who made it over from an old -French composition. Anyway, it was used as a popular song in -England for some years and was used in other ways also. - -“In 1798 it was used by Robert Treat Paine in a political way, -for a song called ‘Adams and Liberty.’ - -“Everyone knows how the words came to be written. It was in the -Summer of 1814 when we were at war with England; the British -under General Ross appeared in the vicinity of Washington and -after overcoming feeble resistance took the capital and set fire -to the White House and some other public buildings. The President -and the Cabinet fled, while pretty Dolly Madison bundled up the -most precious White House treasures, including Washington’s -picture and the original draft of the Declaration of Independence -and carried them to safety. Then the British prepared to bombard -Baltimore from the sea and attack it from the land side. Francis -Scott Key was sent with a friend to the British Fleet to get a -prisoner of war. As the British were about to attack the town -and the Fort he was not allowed to return, and you may imagine -how anxiously he watched for the dawn to come and with what joy, -when the mists rolled away that he beheld the starry banner still -flying from the fort. With the tears of thankfulness streaming -down his cheeks he wrote the first stanza of his now world-famous -song and later in the day, when he had returned to the city, he -finished the poem. - -“It was first printed under the name of ‘The Bombardment of Fort -McHenry,’ in the Baltimore American and immediately became very -popular.” - -“It’s a great song,” said the boy named Billy, “but I think -almost anyone could have written a great song under those -conditions--if he could write at all.” - -“Yes indeed,” agreed Somebody. - - - - -About Umbrellas - - -[Illustration: (Man with Umbrella)] - -“It’s raining, Billy,” called Mother from upstairs, “take your -umbrella when you go to school.” - -“O Mother, _please_” said the boy named Billy, “I just _hate_ to -carry an umbrella--_whoever_ invented the old things anyway?” - -“I guess old Mr. Toad invented the idea when he hunched under -the first toadstool; and next after him was an honorable Chinese -gentleman who got his idea from the branches of the umbrella tree. - -“In olden times no one but those of royal family were allowed to -use the umbrella, and then only as a protection from the sun, as -they were made only of the daintiest silks and brocades, and even -of rice paper,” said Somebody. - -“It did not seem to occur to anyone that it could be used as -a protection against the rain until early in the eighteenth -century, when it was introduced in England. Even then people -hesitated to use it on account of the ridicule it called forth.” - -“So you see,” said the boy named Billy, “I’ve got a good right -not to like to carry one.” - -“M-m--yes,” said Somebody. “Only you will observe, that as soon -as people began to really realize what a very sensible article it -was and how much it saved them in the way of spoiled clothes, not -to mention damp shoulders, of course they didn’t mind at all what -a few foolish ones thought who did not know a good thing when -they saw it.” - -“Time for school, Billy,” called Mother, “and never mind taking -your umbrella--the rain is over.” - -“Oh, goody!” exclaimed the boy named Billy. - - - - -Hallowe’en - - -“What are you going to do with that monstrous pumpkin, Billy -Boy,” asked Big Sister, one crisp autumn day. - -“Going to make a Jack O’Lantern of it,” said the boy named Billy. - -“Somebody, why do we dress up and make believe we’re a lot of -witches on Hallowe’en when we know there is nothing like that in -the world?” - -“All Hallow Eve,” said Somebody, “is the name given to the vigil -of Hallowmas, which falls on the night before the Feast of All -Saints Day. The Ancients lighted bonfires on that night to scare -away ghosts and witches. - -“The Romans had a festival in honor of Pomona, the goddess of -fruits, in which apples featured, which accounts for the custom -of bobbing for apples in tubs of water, which to this day the -young folks think is so much fun.” - -“That’s all right for girls,” said the boy named Billy, “but -regular fellows can find something better to do.” - -“What, for instance?” asked Big Sister. - -“Oh, making Jack O’ Lanterns, and playing tricks on other -fellows,” said Billy. - -“I know a fine trick that a lot of husky chaps like you and Bob -White and your gang could play on another fellow,” said Somebody. - -“What is it?” asked Billy. “We’re game for almost anything that -you could suggest.” - -“Old Grandsire Johnson, who lives all alone in that little house -at the edge of town, has just had his winter’s coal delivered,” -said Somebody. “I think it would be fine if the Hallowe’en -spirits would go up there while he is at prayer meeting tonight -and put it all in the shed for him.” - -“Oh, fine,” said the boy named Billy. “I know a bunch of healthy -spooks that would just love a little job like that.” - - - - -About Wolves - - -“Look at this funny old pair of curly-toed skates that I found in -that funny old horse-hair trunk in the attic,” said the boy named -Billy. “They look like toys, and seem about big enough for little -sister. Nobody ever could have really used them to skate with, -could they?” - -“Those skates were your great-grandmother Ellen’s racing skates,” -said Somebody, “and if they had not been rather practical and not -at all the toys they look, in comparison with the ones in use -now, you would not be here this afternoon.” - -“Why?” demanded the boy named Billy, sensing a story. - -“Your great-grandmother Ellen,” said Somebody, “was considered -to have been the most expert skater, the most fearless rider, -and the most popular young lady in the section of the country -where she grew up, and on the day of which I am speaking, she had -one of the most thrilling adventures ever staged anywhere, not -excepting the movies.” - -[Illustration: TIMBER-WOLF!] - -“A _really-so story_!” exclaimed the boy named Billy, “and in the -family, too!” - -“It was many, many years ago,” said Somebody, “and happened away -up in the wilds of Maine, where your great-great-grandfather -lived with his family on the farm which he had taken away from -the forest. - -“Nobody lived at the head of the lake, which was long and -narrow and more like a river in appearance, except your -great-great-grandfather and his sons and daughters; but half -way down, about ten miles, there was a small village, where the -post-office was and where the young people of the surrounding -country used to gather for their dances and good times. So one -day in winter, when great-grandmother Ellen was about seventeen -years old, she started out early to skate down to the settlement -to a party. The party proved entertaining, and also the farewells -detained her, and she was dismayed to see that just as she was -getting her last skate-strap firmly fastened, the sun was going -down behind the tall hemlock trees. - -“Ten of the thirty minutes it would take her to skate home -had gone and all was well, then far behind her she heard the -long-drawn hunting call of the timber wolf. - -“A few moments later, almost parallel with her, there broke -from the forest a pack of the hunger-stricken beasts. Instantly -the girl swerved in a skilful zigzag--and instantly the wolves -swerved in the same direction--their long claws slipping on the -ice as they swerved. On they came again and again. Sometimes they -were so near that their snapping jaws almost caught her skirts, -and to gain time she managed to unwind her long wool scarf, -which she allowed to float behind her, to be seized and torn to -pieces, which gave her a moment’s advantage. Then, just as she -was wondering how much longer she could go on there were shots, -and the pack scattered, leaving behind several of their number.” - -“What happened?” asked the boy named Billy. - -“The men, coming in from work, discovered Ellen was late, and one -remembered he heard wolves down the lake. He picked up his rifle -and skated down to meet his sister.” - -“May I have these skates?” asked Billy. “I like to look at them -and remember that they belonged to a real girl. I’ll hang them on -my wall.” - -“I’m sure that great-grandmother Ellen would be very happy to -have them belong to you, Billy. You’re just the kind of boy that -she would have approved of,” said Somebody. - - - - -How Thanksgiving came - - -“Gobble, gobble, gobble,” said Mr. Turkey Cock proudly spreading -his wonderful turkey tail fan and looking as pompous as no one -but he can look. - -“Oh, you funny, conceited bird,” said the boy named Billy, “you -won’t be so noisy next Thursday when we have you for Thanksgiving -dinner. But that reminds me--won’t somebody please tell me why -the turkey is called our National bird? I thought it was the -eagle. And why do we always have Thanksgiving Day on Thursday?” - -“Well, you see, Son,” said Somebody, “it started this way. As you -of course know, our Pilgrim Fathers and Mothers came over in the -Mayflower and landed on Plymouth Rock on November 21st, 1620; -just one hundred and two brave souls in a strange land, full of -strange people who might well resent their being there. Although -it was late in the year and cold weather, they managed to build -themselves houses of a sort; but with the best that they could do -more than half of them perished that first terrible winter. - -“When Spring came, those who were left, with the help of the -Indians, bravely planted the crops and started to make a home in -the wilderness. The Indians gave them corn for seed and taught -them how to plow the land and fertilize it, and with the seed -that they had brought with them they managed so well that when -harvest time came they had a bountiful yield. To express their -gratitude to God who had so marvelously prospered them, as well -as to show their friendliness to the Indians, Governor Bradford -issued a proclamation to the effect that they would have a -Thanksgiving feast to which Chief Massasoit and his braves were -to be invited, which should last from Thursday morning until -Saturday night. That was in October, 1621. - -“But the Pilgrim Mothers, remembering the harvest festivals of -England, with the barbecued sheep and oxen which they used to -have, said ‘How can we make a feast? We have no meat.’ ‘Meat,’ -said Governor Bradford, ‘why the woods are full of it.’ So he -sent four of his very best riflemen out into the forest for wild -turkeys, and they brought back so many that there was enough meat -for the three days feasting for the colonists and their guests, -the Indians. And ever since then no Thanksgiving feast could be -really right without a nice plump turkey.” - -“Did the Indians like the feast?” asked the boy named Billy. -“Indeed they did,” said Somebody; “they liked it so well that -Chief Massasoit sent his young men back with a gift of nice fat -deer which they had shot especially for the colonists. Chief -Massasoit wanted to show Governor Bradford that the Indians knew -how to play fairly.” - -“So that’s how Thanksgiving became,” said the boy named Billy. - -“Yes,” answered Somebody, “but it was a long time after that -before it became the good old holiday that we know now. - -“In the first year of his office, President George Washington -issued a proclamation recommending that November 26, 1789, be -kept as a day of “national thanksgiving” for the establishment -of a form of government that made for safety and happiness. -After that, it was only held at odd times, but in 1863 it became -a National holiday and the last Thursday in November is always -proclaimed by the President as a day of prayer and thanksgiving.” - -“We’re going to have the whole family here for dinner this year,” -said the boy named Billy; “and we’re going to have turkey and -cranberry jelly and pumpkin pie ’n’ everything.” - -“_Gobble_, gobble, gobble,” remarked Mr. Turkey Cock. - -“We shall!” remarked the boy named Billy, laughing. - - - - -Christmas! - - - “God rest ye merry gentlemen - Let nothing you dismay, - Remember Christ our Savior - Was born on Christmas day,” - -sang the boy named Billy, a bit off key. “_Billy_” begged Big -Sister, “please get that correctly--you’ll throw the whole choir -off if you sing it that way--come to the piano and I’ll drill you -until you can _sing_ it!” - -“Run along now, you’re letter perfect,” said Big Sister after a -half-hour of practice, “I’m going to wrap up my gifts now, and -it’s no fair peeking, either.” - -“Oh, I don’t care anything about your gifts,” said Billy, “I’m -going to stay right here and Somebody is going to tell me all -about Christmas and why we give gifts and everything. Was it -because the wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus?” - -“Perhaps,” said Somebody, “but it seems more likely that it grew -out of the realization of God’s great gift to the world--the -gifts of Love and Friendliness and Peace which He bestowed upon -us in sending His only son to teach us how to live.” - -“‘Peace on earth, good will toward men,’” quoted Billy softly. -“That’s enough to make people happy.” - -“Christmas was not always the happy time that it is now,” said -Somebody. “The early Christians had rather a hard time of it.” - -“I remember,” said the boy named Billy, “I never could understand -how they had the courage to keep it up.” - -“They were upholding Truth,” said Somebody, “and Truth is the -strongest thing in the world.” - -“Was Christ really born on December 25th?” asked Billy. - -“Probably not,” said Somebody. “The Eastern church celebrated -January 6th, as the date of birth, calling it Epiphania, while -the Western church celebrated December 25th, calling it Natalis. -The Pagans had a festival at this season of the year called -THE BIRTHDAY OF THE SUN of which they were very fond. Out of -this grew the idea of using that time to celebrate the birth of -Christ, the spiritual Sun of the world. This gradually took the -place of the old pagan festival.” - -“The singing of Christmas songs is an English custom, is it not?” -asked Billy. - -“Yes,” said Somebody. “There are many beautiful old-world customs -which were left behind when the Puritans came to the new world in -search of a place in which to worship in their own way. - -“In Devonshire, England, it is said that the bees sing all night -long in their hives the night before Christmas, and if you are -wise you will go and wish them a Merry Christmas and hang a bit -of holly on each hive, else you may get no honey next year. - -“And you must on no account ask to borrow a match or a bit of -fire on Christmas day, because fire is the symbol of the heart of -the house and of happiness, and you must always add to and not -take away from the happiness of others. - -“In spite of the Puritan’s striving to leave behind them all the -old legends, several did survive. I remember that one Christmas -Eve when I was a small child, my mother being away at a party, I -was taken at midnight out to the stable to see the cattle, who -were supposed to be on their knees, worshipping the child who -was born in a manger.” - -[Illustration: The Pagans had a Festival called the Birthday of -the Sun] - -“And were they?” asked the boy named Billy. - -“I couldn’t really say,” said Somebody, “but they all scrambled -to their feet when they saw the light of the lantern, and asked -for clover hay. It seemed to me that we had disturbed their -slumbers! - -“In Norway is a most beautiful old custom that might well be -copied everywhere,” went on Somebody, “which is called ‘The -Ceremony of Feeding the Birds.’ Two or three days before -Christmas bunches of oats are placed on the roofs and tied to the -branches of trees and shrubs, loads of grain being brought into -the towns for the purpose. And no one would dream of sitting down -to his own dinner without first giving every animal on the place -an extra portion in the name of Christ.” - -“How did the Christmas-tree custom first begin?” asked Billy. -“There is a tale to the effect that St. Boniface once came upon -a group of Pagans at the Thunder Oak to which a living child had -to be sacrificed every year, and, holding the Cross in front of -the victim told the story of the coming of Christ. The child was -saved, and the Oak destroyed by lightning, and in its place was -seen a young fir tree pointing with its tall green finger toward -heaven. From that time on Christianity was openly professed, -until it has now covered the whole world. - -“Today the observance of Christmas is universal. In England and -America the little folks hang up their stockings in a row before -the fireplace--in France the children place wooden shoes on the -hearth to receive their gifts, and Norwegian children have a -lot of fun hunting their new toys which have been tucked away -in unexpected places. Everywhere it is above all the children’s -holiday.” - -“That’s interesting,” said the boy named Billy. “Thank you and -Merry Christmas, Somebody.” - -“Same to you Billy Boy,” said Somebody. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REALLY SO STORIES *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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