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diff --git a/28131.txt b/28131.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..43b8182 --- /dev/null +++ b/28131.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1345 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Nursery, March 1877, Vol. XXI. No. 3, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Nursery, March 1877, Vol. XXI. No. 3 + A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February 20, 2009 [EBook #28131] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NURSERY, MARCH 1877 *** + + + + +Produced by Emmy, Juliet Sutherland and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. Music +by Linda Cantoni. + + + + + + + +THE + +NURSERY + + +_A Monthly Magazine_ + +FOR YOUNGEST READERS. + +VOLUME XXI.--No. 3. + + BOSTON: + JOHN L. SHOREY, No. 36 BROMFIELD STREET, + 1877. + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by + +JOHN L. SHOREY, + +In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. + +FRANKLIN PRESS: RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, 117 FRANKLIN STREET, BOSTON. + + +[Illustration: Contents] + +IN PROSE. + + An Old-Time Scene 65 + Nelly's First Lesson in Dancing 69 + Old Jim 71 + Second Lesson in Astronomy 73 + How a Rat was once Caught 74 + To Sea in a Tub 76 + Drawing-Lesson 81 + A Woodchuck Hunt 82 + The Schoolmistress 85 + Peter and Polly 88 + Tommy and the Blacksmith 89 + In the Country 91 + Dodger 93 + The Mother-Hen 94 + + +IN VERSE. + + Tom-Tit 68 + A Lenten-Song 79 + A Mew from Pussy 86 + Down on the Sandy Beach 90 + Song of the Cat (_with music_) 96 + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: VOL. XXI. No. 3.] + + + + +AN OLD-TIME SCENE. + + +[Illustration: L]OOK at the picture, and see if you can tell what has +roused all those children up so early in the morning. There is Mary in +her stocking-feet. There is Ann in her night-dress. There is Tom, bare +armed and bare legged. + +Why have they all left their beds, and run into the play-room in such +haste? And why is little Ned, the baby, sitting up in the bed, as though +he wanted to come too? + +It is plain enough that the children use that room for a play-room; for +you can see playthings on the mantle-piece. But why are they all +flocking about the fireplace? And why is mamma coming upstairs with a +dust-brush in her hand? And why is that cloth hung over the fireplace? +And whose are those bare feet peeping from under it? + +"Oh!" perhaps you will say, "it is Santa Claus; and the children are +trying to catch him." Oh, no! Santa Claus never allows himself to be +caught in that way. You never see even his feet. He never leaves his +shoes on the floor, nor dirty old brushes, nor shovels. It is not Santa +Claus--it is only a chimney-sweeper. + +"But what is a chimney-sweeper?" I think I hear you ask. Well, we do not +have such chimney-sweepers now-a-days, at least not in this part of the +world. But ask your grandfathers and grandmothers to tell you about the +chimney-sweepers that were to be seen in Boston forty or fifty years +ago, and I warrant that many of them will remember just such a scene as +you see in the picture. + +In those days, before hard coal fires had come in use, chimney-sweepers +were often employed. They were small boys, working under the orders of a +master in the business, who was very often a hard master. Generally they +were negroes; but, whether so or not, they soon became so black with +soot, that you could not tell them from negroes. + +The chimney-sweepers always came early in the morning, before the fires +were lighted; and their coming was a great event to the children of a +household. "When a child," says a famous English writer, speaking of the +chimney-sweepers of London, "what a mysterious pleasure it was to +witness their operation!--to see a chit no bigger than one's self enter +into that dark hole--to pursue him in imagination, as he went sounding +on through so many stifling caverns--to shudder with the idea, that 'now +surely he must be lost forever!'--to revive at hearing his feeble shout +of discovered daylight,--and then (oh, fulness of delight!) running out +of doors, to come just in time to see him emerge in safety!" + +There are chimney-sweepers even now; but none of the old-fashioned kind. +In many places it is forbidden by law to send boys up the chimneys. So +the modern chimney-sweeper puts his brush on the end of a pole, which is +made in joints, like a fishing-rod, and, by attaching joint after joint, +thrusts it farther and farther up the chimney. + +[Illustration: THE MODERN CHIMNEY-SWEEPER.] + +[Illustration] + + + + +TOM-TIT. + + + WHAT is it? What is it? + Only a feather + Blown by the wind + In this cold stormy weather, + Hunted and hurried so + Hither and thither? + Leaf or a feather, + I know not if either. + There, hark now, and see! + 'Tis alight on a tree, + And sings, "Chick-a-dee-dee, + Chick-a-dee-dee!" + I know it! you know it! + 'Tis little Tom-tit. + + Look at it! Look at it + Flutter and hover! + Only a tuft of down + On it for cover! + Only a bare bough + To shelter it over! + Poor little rover, + Snow-fields for clover + Are all that you see! + Yet listen the glee + Of its "chick-a-dee-dee, + Chick a-dee-dee!" + Hark to it! look at it! + Little Tom-tit! + + How is it? Why is it? + Like a snow-flurry, + With swish of wings, + And a swoop and a scurry, + Comes a whole flock of them + Now in a hurry! + Busy and merry + The little things, very; + Watch them, and see + How blithe they can be + With their "Chick-a-dee-dee, + Chick-a-dee-dee!" + Each one such a bit + Of a little Tom-tit! + + MRS. CLARA DOTY BATES. + +[Illustration] + + + + +NELLY'S FIRST LESSON IN DANCING. + + +GRANDPA MASON has not quite forgotten his dancing days. So one day, when +little Nelly said, "I wish I knew how to dance like Emma Drake!" grandpa +replied, "I'll teach you, Nelly, if you will bring me my accordion." + +So Nelly brought the accordion; and grandpa seated himself in his old +wooden arm-chair. First he taught her the steps, and then said, "Now, +Nelly, you must try to move round just as you saw Emma do; and be sure +and keep time to the music." + +Nelly made a courtesy, and began to dance; and, as grandpa looked on, +his heart seemed to dance with her; for he felt young once more, and +went back, in thought, to the times when he was about as old as she. + +That was a long while ago--more than seventy years. He sighed as he +thought of his little brothers and sisters, all now gone to the better +world. But Nelly's merry look soon drove away his sad mood. + +"Well done, Nelly!" said he. "You will make a dancer; for you follow the +music well, and step out lightly and easily. Now let me see you rise a +little on your left foot, and whirl round once." + +Nelly did it, and grandpa said, "Bravely done, little girl! Here ends +your first lesson in dancing. To-morrow we will have another. Now get +your new 'Nursery,' and let me hear one of the stories; for we must take +care of the head, as well as the heels." + +Nelly laughed; but, when she began to read, the tune she had just heard +came back to her, and she could hardly keep from dancing up and down. + +"One thing at a time, darling," said grandpa. "If we would do one thing +well, we must not let our thoughts wander to something else. Tell me +when you think you can give your thoughts to reading. I can wait." + +Nelly took a few more dancing-steps, whirled around twice, made a +courtesy, then came, and read so well, that grandpa said, "You deserve a +good mark for reading, my dear. Now, whether you read, or whether you +dance, mind this:-- + + "What you do, if well you would do it, + Rule your thoughts, and give them all to it." + + IDA FAY. + +[Illustration] + + + + +OLD JIM. + + +JIM is a fine large horse. He lives in the engine-house, and draws the +hose-carriage. His stall is so made that, when the alarm-bell strikes, +it opens in front of him, leaving the way clear for him to rush out and +take his place in front of the hose-carriage. + +One night, the hoseman (who sleeps upstairs in the engine-house, so as +to be all ready if there is an alarm of fire) heard a great noise down +below,--a stamping and jumping, as if the horses were getting ready to +go to a fire, when there was no alarm at all. He went softly to the +stairway, and looked down; and there was Jim, jumping over the shafts of +the hose-carriage, first one way, then another, just to amuse himself. + +One day old Jim was in the yard behind the engine-house, and a man went +out to catch him, and lead him in. But he rushed and pranced around the +yard, and would not be caught. Then the man set out to drive him in; and +what do you think Jim did? + +Instead of going in at the open door, he made a leap, and went in at the +open window, without breaking a glass, or hurting himself in the least. +No one who saw the window would believe that such a great horse could +possibly have gone through it. + +When Jim is fed, he sometimes puts his nose in the oats, and throws them +all out on the floor. Then he begins to eat them up, and, after he has +eaten all he can reach standing, he goes down on his knees, and reaches +out with his long tongue, and picks up every oat he can find. + +Outside of his stall, on one side, is a watering-trough, where Jim is +taken to drink. The water comes through a pipe, and is turned on by a +faucet. Two or three times the water was found running, so that the +trough overflowed, when no one had been near to meddle with it. + +At last the men suspected that Jim was the rogue, and they kept very +still, and watched one night till Jim thought he was all alone. Then +they saw him twist himself almost double in his stall, stretch his long +neck out, take the faucet in his teeth, turn on the water, and get a +good drink. But he could not shut it off again. + +Jim is a brave horse to go to a fire; but there is one thing that +frightens him dreadfully, and that is--a feather duster! He is not +afraid of any thing he sees in the streets, and the greatest noise of +the Fourth of July will not scare him; but show him a feather duster, +and his heels will fly up, and he will act as if he were going out of +his senses. + +The firemen think Jim a most amusing horse; and they sometimes say that +he understands as much as some people do, and can do most every thing +but talk. + + H. W. + +[Illustration] + + + + +SECOND LESSON IN ASTRONOMY. + + + "Twinkle, twinkle, little star: + How I wonder what you are, + Up above the world so high, + Like a diamond in the sky!" + +DID any of you find the red star I asked you to look for last month? I +hope you did; for I want you to look at it again while I tell you +something about the "twinkle" of it. + +Look very carefully, first at the red star, and then at just as large a +white star; and, if your eyes are bright, you will see that the white +one twinkles the most. I wish I could tell you why; but I think nobody +knows. + +Be very careful, though, not to choose a white star that is not a star; +for, as that twinkles very little, you may think I am mistaken. + +"A star that is _not_ a star?" I think I hear you say, "How I wonder +what you are!" Well, I will tell you. + +Although most of the "diamonds in the sky," commonly called stars, are +real stars, or suns like our sun, a few of them are not suns, but solid +globes or worlds like that which we inhabit, warmed and lighted by our +sun. When the sun is shining on them, they look bright to us; but it is +only the light of our own sun thrown back, or reflected. They give no +light themselves. + +Because they have our sun, we and they are like members of one family. +We call them "planets" (just as our earth is called "a planet"), and are +as familiar with their names as if they were our brothers and sisters. +One of them, for instance, is called Venus; another, Jupiter; and +another, Saturn. Can you remember these hard names? + +Now you would never notice the difference between these few stars and +all the others, if you did not look very carefully to see whether they +twinkle or not. And I would advise you to ask somebody to point them out +to you whenever they are in sight. + +I cannot tell you exactly where to look for them, because they wander +about a good deal, and I do not know where they will be when you happen +to read this number of "The Nursery." + +From all this you will see that you will have to be very particular what +kind of a star you look at when you say,-- + + "Twinkle, twinkle, little star." + + M. E. R. + + + + +HOW A RAT WAS ONCE CAUGHT. + + +DO you know what sly and cunning creatures rats are? The picture shows +how they sometimes contrive to carry off eggs. The old fox in the +background seems to be watching the performance with great interest. + +But, cute as they are, they sometimes get caught. I am going to tell you +how a rat was once caught by a clam. It happened when I was a little +child, and lived with my mother. Whether such a thing ever happened +before or since, I do not know; but this is a true story. + +[Illustration] + +One day, my father went to town, and bought some clams. When he came +home, I took them down cellar in a basket, and laid them on the brick +floor of the cellar. Now, when clams are put where it is dark and cool +and quiet, they open their shells. If you should go softly up, and put a +straw in one of their mouths, it would clasp its shells together so +tightly, that you could not get them open. + +The cellar was under my mother's bed-room; and in the night she heard a +great noise, like something bumping and slamming, down below. Being a +brave woman, she lighted a candle, and went down stairs; and what do you +think she found? I will tell you; for I am sure you would never guess. + +When the house came to be still with the night-stillness, and every one +was in bed, an old rat had come out of his hole, and gone foraging +around for his supper. As he walked majestically along, swinging his +long tail after him, it happened to switch into a clam's opened shell, +when, presto change! the clam was no longer only a clam: it was a +rat-trap. + +It pinched hard; and I am sure it hurt the old rat very much. He ran +across the cellar to his hole; and the clam bounced on the bricks as he +went; and that was what my mother had heard. The rat could not get the +clam into the hole. It held him fast by the tail all the rest of his +life, which was not long; for he was killed soon after. + + LIZZIE'S MAMMA. + + + + +TO SEA IN A TUB. + + +HERE is a picture of a boy trying his new boat in a tub of water. His +brothers and sisters are looking on. His elder brother seems to be +pointing out some fault in the rig of the boat. Perhaps he thinks the +sails are too large. The dog Tray takes a good deal of interest in the +matter. I wonder what he thinks of it. + +But the story I am going to tell you is about a little girl named Emma, +and what happened one day, when she went out in the yard to play. Her +mother had told her not to go outside the gate: so she looked around the +doorway to see what she could find to play with. There stood a great tub +full of water; and there, close by, was a pile of chips. "Boats!" said +Emma to herself: "I'll sail boats!" + +It didn't take a minute to get six of the nicest chips well afloat; but +after all they were not much better than rafts. + +"I must put on sails," said Emma. And running into the sitting-room, +and getting some pins, and then putting a bit of paper on each pin, and +sticking a pin upright in each chip, at last she had her little boats +with little sails, going straight across the tub with a fair wind. + +[Illustration] + +Once a fly alighted on one of the boats, and took quite a long voyage. +That made Emma think of trying to find other passengers; and she picked +up a great ground beetle, and put him aboard. Poor beetle! he didn't +want to go, and he wasn't used to it. He tumbled about on the deck; the +boat tipped under him, and the next thing Emma knew he was overboard. + +"Oh, he mustn't drown!" she cried. "I must get him out!" And she stooped +over in great haste to save the poor beetle. But it was a large tub, and +a very deep one too; and what did little Emma know about being careful? +She lost her balance, and down into the water she went, with a great +splash that wrecked all the boats in the same instant. "Mother, mother!" +screamed a choking, sputtering voice, as Emma managed to lift her head. + +Her mother heard it, and flew to the spot. It didn't take long to get +Emma into the warm kitchen, to pull off the wet clothes, to wrap her in +a blanket, and set her before the fire in the big rocking-chair, with a +bowl of hot ginger-tea to drink. There Emma sat, and steamed, and begged +for stories. By eleven o'clock she couldn't stand it any longer, and by +noon she was out in the yard again, playing tea-party, and not one whit +the worse for her sudden cold bath. But what became of the poor beetle? + + MARY L. B. BRANCH. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +A LENTEN-SONG. + +FROM THE GERMAN. + + + QUOG, quog, quog, quog! + A very unmusical note: + This eminent basso, Mr. Frog, + Has surely a cold in his throat. + But he does his best, with a good intent, + The little speckled man; + For every frog must sing in Lent, + As loud as ever he can. + + Quog, quog, quog, quog! + When the morning sky is red, + He sits on the slippery, mossy log, + With the rushes over his head. + He does his best, with a good intent, + The little sprawling man; + For every frog must sing in Lent, + As loud as ever he can. + + Quog, quog, quog, quog! + When the evening sky is pale, + He nestles low in the sheltering bog, + While the gentle dews exhale. + He does his best, with a good intent, + The little struggling man; + For every frog must sing in Lent, + As loud as ever he can. + + Quog, quog, quog, quog! + He strains till he shakes the reeds, + And scares his neighbor, Miss Polly Wog + As she hides in the water-reeds. + He does his best, with a good intent, + The little panting man; + For every frog must sing in Lent, + As loud as ever he can. + + Quog, quog, quog, quog! + Oh! aren't you afraid you'll burst? + You should have put on, dear Mr. Frog, + Your girdle of leather first. + But on he goes, with his good intent, + The little gasping man; + For every frog must sing in Lent, + As loud as ever he can. + + OLIVE A. WADSWORTH. + +[Illustration: DRAWING-LESSON BY HARRISON WEIR.] + + + + +A WOODCHUCK HUNT. + + +ONE September morning, before breakfast, Ned and Harry went woodchuck +hunting. They took Dick, who is a big, fat, spotted coach-dog, and Gyp, +a little black-and-tan, with short ears, and afraid of a mouse,--both +"such splendid hunters," Harry said. + +Gyp ran ahead on three legs; and Dick walked sedately behind. Ned +carried the bow, and Harry, the three arrows: and it was enough to make +any wise woodchuck tremble to see them. + +First they crossed a potato-field, and then a meadow where there was a +brook, and where they lost Gyp so often among the bogs, that Harry +carried him at last so as to know where he was. Dick ran through the +brook, and shook himself over Ned's new sailor-suit; but that was no +matter. + +Then they came to a rickety old stone wall, and Dick barked. "It must be +a woodchuck in the wall. We've got him!" shouted Ned. "Down comes the +wall!" Then the stones fell; and Gyp jumped up and down with excitement, +while Dick gave a low and terrible growl. "He must be here," said Ned. + +But, as he was not to be found, Dick was reproved for giving a false +alarm; and they all jumped over the stones of the old wall, and ran up +the hill towards the walnut-grove, where woodchucks were sure to be as +thick as nuts. + +"Here's a fresh hole!" shouted Harry. "Now it's almost breakfast-time: +he'll be out before long. Come on, Mr. Chuck, we're waiting for you." + +So the boys lay down flat on the mound of earth, and peered into the +hole, by way of inviting its owner to come out and be shot; while Dick +and Gyp gave persuasive growls and yelps. + +[Illustration] + +Strangely enough no woodchuck appeared; and after waiting an +"age,"--five minutes long,--the brave hunters decided to dig in. "We +ought to have brought spades," they said; but sticks and stones and +hands did very well in the soft, wet earth. + +About the time that Harry got out of breath, and Ned had dropped a stone +on his foot, Dick barked furiously at something moving under a +hazel-bush. "Shoot, Ned, shoot!" Harry shouted. "Whiz" went an arrow +straight into the bushes, where it lodged, and never more came out. + +"A chase, a chase!" cried Ned, throwing down his bow; and away they +went,--Harry and Ned, Dick and Gyp,--over stones and fences, bushes and +bogs, in pursuit of something; but whether it was a woodchuck or a cat +they never got near enough to tell. Suddenly it disappeared in a +corn-field. + +Dick and Gyp put their tails between their legs, and dropped their ears; +but Ned and Harry spied some pumpkins ripening among the stacked corn. + +"Gay for Jack-o-lanterns!" said Harry. "Wouldn't they frighten Belle and +Lucy, though!" + +So two of the biggest pumpkins were cut off. "Now let's take 'em home," +said Harry, thinking of his breakfast. But, oh, how heavy those pumpkins +grew! In getting over a wall, Harry's fell and was smashed: so the boys +took turns in carrying the other one. + +Mamma stood on the piazza, in a fresh white morning-dress. She heard +Dick and Gyp, and then she saw her little boys. Oh, what a sight!--the +striped stockings and blue sailor-suits all one shade of yellow brown +earth! + +"Did you have good sport?" asked papa, coming to the door. + +"Splendid! Found lots of _holes_," said Ned, dumping the pumpkin. And +what they did with the pumpkin, perhaps I'll tell you another time. + + MISS A. H. R. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE SCHOOLMISTRESS. + + +"THERE are many thousand words in our language," said Ellen, reading +from a book, "and some words are used for one purpose, and some for +another; and the same word may be used in different ways. When your +uncle gave you a lot of shells last December, what did you do with them, +Edwin?" + +"I classified them: that is, I put one kind into one heap, and another +kind into another heap; and so on." + +"Well, that is just the way we do with words; we put them in classes +which we call Parts of Speech. Now, there is one class of words which is +made up of name-words or nouns; that is, of words that are used as names +of persons or things. In the sentence, 'Birds fly,' _birds_ is a noun, +and _fly_ is a verb." + +"I think I knew that much already, Schoolmistress." + +"Well, sir, since you know so much, let me hear you correct the mistakes +in the following sentence: 'A pear or peach, when they are ripe, are +good food for the boy or girl who like them.'" + +"It should be: 'A pear or a peach, when it is ripe, is good food for the +boy or girl who likes it.'" + +"Well done, Edwin! go up to the head of your class." + +Edwin walked round his sister, as she sat in her chair, and then gravely +took his place again before her. + +"Here are two sentences, Edwin: 'I fell down,' and 'I fell down stairs.' +_Down_ is not the same Part of Speech in the two sentences. What is it +in the first?'" + +"An Adverb; and in the second it is a Preposition." + +"Well, sir, school is dismissed. You may go. I shall give you a good +mark in grammar." + + IDA FAY. + + + + +A MEW FROM PUSSY. + +IN ANSWER TO "A SQUEAK."[A] + + + I AM only the lazy old cat + That sleeps upon somebody's mat: + I sit in the sunshine, + And lick my soft paws, + With one eye on mousie, + And one on my claws. + Little mouse, little mouse! look out how you boast! + Of just such as you I have eaten a host! + I'm a much smarter cat than you seem to suppose; + I have very keen eyes, and, oh--such a nose! + + +[Illustration] + + I'm an innocent looking cat; + I am well aware of that: + I squint up my eyes, + And play with the flies, + But underneath I am wondrous wise: + I know where your nest is, + And just where you hide + When you have been thieving, + And fear you'll be spied. + I saw your small tracks all over the meal; + And I saw your tail, and I heard you squeal + When grandmamma's broom + Nearly sealed your doom, + And you went whisking out of the room. + I am only a lazy old cat: + I care not much for a _rat_; + But a nice tender _mouse_ + About in the house + Might prove a temptation too great, + Should I be in a hungry state. + Little mouse, little mouse! Beware, beware! + Some time, when you think not, I shall be there, + And you'll not only look at, + But feel of, my paws; + And, the first thing you know, + I'll be licking my jaws, + And washing my face with an innocent air, + And mousie will be--oh, where? oh, where? + + RUTH KENYON. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[A] See January number, page 18. + + + + +[Illustration] + +_Peter._--Fresh baked peanuts! Give a fellow some, Polly. + +_Polly._--Yes, Peter, you shall have a good share. + +[Illustration] + + + + +TOMMY AND THE BLACKSMITH. + + +_Tommy._--Do you shoe horses here, Mr. Blacksmith? + +_Blacksmith._--Yes, little man: that's my business. + +_Tommy._--Well, I want my horse shod. + +_Blacksmith._--How much can you pay for the job? It will take a good +deal of iron to shoe such a big horse as that. + +_Ruth._--He wants you to do it for nothing, Mr. Blacksmith. + +_Blacksmith._--Every trade must live, my little lady. If Tommy can +afford to keep a horse, he ought to be able to pay for having it shod. + +_Tommy._--I will pay you next Christmas. + +_Blacksmith._---Never run in debt, my lad. If you can't pay for a thing +on the spot, do without it. Shun debt as you would poison. + +_Ruth._--That is just what my grandfather says. + +_Tommy._--Well, when I get some money, I'll come again, Mr. Blacksmith; +for this horse must be shod, if there's iron enough to do it with. +Good-by! + +_Blacksmith._--Good-by, Tommy! Good-by, Ruth! + + ARTHUR SELWYN. + + + + +DOWN ON THE SANDY BEACH. + + + DOWN on the sandy beach, + When the tide was low; + Down on the sandy beach, + Many years ago, + Two of us were walking, + Two of us were talking + Of what I cannot tell you, + Though I'm sure you'd like to know. + + Down in the water + A duck said, "Quack!" + Up in the tree-top + A crow answered back, + Two of us amusing, + Two of us confusing: + So we had to give up talking, + And just listen to their clack. + + "Quack!" said the little duck, + Swimming with the tide; + "Caw!" said the saucy crow, + Swelling up with pride, + "I'm a jolly rover, + And I live in clover: + Don't you wish that you were here, + Sitting by my side?" + + "Quack, quack!" said the duck, + Very much like "No." + "Caw, caw!--ha, ha!" + Laughed the silly crow: + Two of us delighting, + Two of us inviting + To join the merry frolic + With a ringing ho, ho, ho! + + Crack!--and a bullet went + Flying from a gun! + Duck swimming down the stream, + We on a run, + Wondered why or whether + We couldn't be together + Without another coming in + And spoiling all the fun! + + JOSEPHINE POLLARD. + +[Illustration] + + + + +IN THE COUNTRY. + + +FANNY and Willy are having a nice ride on the back of the great +cart-horse. + +Mamma points at Willy with her sun-shade, and says, "Hold on tight, +little boy." Pink, the dog, says, "Bow-wow! Take me up there with you." + +[Illustration] + +Kate and Jane have the care of the biddies. They feed them with corn +every day. The hens flock around the door as soon as the two girls come +out. + +Kate and Jane both say that the hens are fond of them; but I think they +are still more fond of the corn. + + A. B. C. + +[Illustration] + + + + +DODGER. + + +DODGER is a full-blooded Scotch terrier. His eyes are the brightest of +all bright eyes; and he acts just as one might suppose from his name. He +dodges here and there,--under the sofa, and behind the stove, and up in +a chair, and sometimes puts his paws up on the baby's cradle. + +The other day, the baby's red sock dropped off from his foot; and Dodger +slyly picked it up, and, going to a corner of the room, ate off the red +tassels that were on it. I don't think he will do it again; for he did +not act as though they tasted very good. + +Dodger has many cunning ways. He will bring his master's slippers, sit +up straight, pretend to be dead, and do many other funny things. Just +now his master is trying to teach him to shut a door. + +Dodger belongs to a little boy in Hartford, Conn., who has read "The +Nursery" for five years. The little boy's name is Georgie, and I am + + GEORGIE'S MAMMA. + + + + +THE MOTHER-HEN. + + +BY the side of my home a river runs; and down close by the banks of it +lives a good family named Allen. Mr. Allen keeps a large number of hens +and ducks. One old hen had twice been put to sit on ducks' eggs, and +hatched two broods of ducks. + +The first brood she hatched took to the water as soon as they saw it, as +all little ducks will. The old hen was almost crazy at such behavior on +the part of her chicks, and flew down to the water's edge, clucking and +calling at a great rate. However,--to her great surprise, +probably,--they all came safely to land. Every day after that, when the +little ducks went for a swim, their hen-mother walked nervously back +and forth on the shore, and was not easy till they came out of the +water. + +By and by, after those ducks had all grown large, the hen hatched +another brood. These, too, at first sight of the water, went in for a +swim. The old hen was not quite as frightened as before, but stood and +looked at them, clucking a little to herself, as if to say, "Strange +chickens these of mine; but yet, if they like it, I don't know as I need +care, so long as they don't ask me to go with them." So, after a while, +that brood grew to be big ducks. + +One day last summer, as I sat on the bank of the river, looking at the +pretty blue rippling water, who should come walking proudly down to the +water's-edge but, Mrs. Hen with another brood of little, waddling, +yellow ducks behind her! She led them clear to the edge of the water, +saw them start off, and, turning away, went contentedly to scratching at +some weeds on the shore, taking no more notice of her little family. She +had come to regard this swimming business as a matter of course. + +Now one little duck, for some reason,--maybe he was not so strong as the +others,--had not gone into the water with the rest, but remained sitting +on the shore. Presently the mother-hen, turning round, happened to spy +him. She stopped scratching, and looked at him as if she were saying, +"All my chickens swim: now what is the matter with you? I know it must +be laziness; and I won't have that." + +Then spreading out her wings, and making an angry clucking, she flew +towards the unlucky duckling, took him by the back of his neck in her +beak, and threw him as far as possible into the water. As she walked +back to her weeds again; it seemed almost as if I could hear her say,-- + +"The chicken who can swim and _won't_ swim must be made to swim." + + L. W. E. + +[Illustration: Music] + + + + +SONG OF THE CAT. + + + Words by A. LLOYD. Music by T. CRAMPTON + + 1. The cat and her kittens recline in the sun, + Mew! mew! mew! + They're fond of their food and they're fond of their fun; + Mew! mew! mew! + Their old mother says they must sit in a row, + The biggest is Jack and the little one Joe, + And now altogether they make the place ring, + With the one song they know and the chorus they sing: + Mew! mew! mew! . . . + Mew! mew! mew! + + 2. My dear little kittens when you are well grown, + Mew! mew! mew! + Some day you will each have a home of your own; + Mew! mew! mew! + You'll catch all the mice and you'll kill all the rats, + And grow up, I hope, both respectable cats, + Don't get in the cupboard, nor kill the poor lark, + Keep away from big dogs and get home before dark; + Mew! mew! mew! . . . + Mew! mew! mew! + + 3. The kittens they listen'd and said they'd be good, + Mew! mew! mew! + And not kill the birds nor destroy the young brood! + Mew! mew! mew! + They lov'd their good mother, and tho't 'twould be nice, + To grow strong and hearty and catch and kill mice. + She wash'd all their faces and put them to bed, + And now what do you think was the last thing they said; + Mew! mew! mew! . . . + Mew! mew! mew! + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +The January edition of the Nursery had a table of contents for the first +six issues of the year. This table was divided to cover each specific +issue. A title page copied from the January edition was also used for +this number. + +A comma was changed to a period on page 94 (tasted very good). + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Nursery, March 1877, Vol. XXI. No. +3, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NURSERY, MARCH 1877 *** + +***** This file should be named 28131.txt or 28131.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/1/3/28131/ + +Produced by Emmy, Juliet Sutherland and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. Music +by Linda Cantoni. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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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