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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Happy Days for Boys and Girls, 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: Happy Days for Boys and Girls
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: December 20, 2009 [EBook #30720]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAPPY DAYS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sam W. and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                          HAPPY DAYS
+                             FOR
+                        BOYS AND GIRLS.
+
+
+            [Illustration: {Three children playing}]
+
+
+                       136 ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+                       CONTRIBUTIONS BY
+
+  LOUISA M. ALCOTT, ALICE AND PHOEBE CAREY, C. A. STEPHENS,
+     MARY N. PRESCOTT, WILLIAM M. THAYER, F. CHESEBORO,
+            J. G. WOOD, S. W. LANDER, and others.
+
+
+                        PHILADELPHIA:
+                       PORTER & COATES,
+                     822 CHESTNUT STREET.
+
+
+
+
+                       Copyright, 1877,
+           BY HORACE B. FULLER AND PORTER & COATES.
+
+
+                          PRESS OF
+                      HENRY B. ASHMEAD.
+                        PHILADELPHIA.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: YOUNG FISHERS.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A bird and nestlings}]
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+PROSE.
+
+                                                                PAGE
+  Accident, The                       _Louisa M. Alcott_         280
+
+  Adventure in the Life of Salvator
+      Rosa                            _L. D. L._                  84
+
+  African Elephant, The               _J. G. Wood_               319
+
+  Animal in Armor, The                                            75
+
+  Aunt Thankful                       _M. H._                    253
+
+  Barn Swallows                       _W. Wander_                194
+
+  Birds                               _F. F. E._                  25
+
+  "Bitters"                                                      203
+
+  Books and Reading                                               36
+
+  Bruin at a Maple-Sugar Party        _C. A. Stephens_           313
+
+  Camels                              _J. G. Wood_               339
+
+  Cave at Benton's Ridge              _F. E. S._                 350
+
+  Charley                                                        368
+
+  Charlie's Escape                                               109
+
+  Charlie's Christmas                                             79
+
+  Crippled Boy, The                   _S. W. Lander_             374
+
+  Daisy's Temptation                                             111
+
+  Daring Feat                                                    183
+
+  Davy Boys' Fishing-Pond             _L. M. D._                 130
+
+  Envy Punished                                                  271
+
+  Every Cloud has a Silver Lining                                 31
+
+  Faithful Friends                    _X._                       237
+
+  Fairy Bird, The                     _Louisa M. Alcott_         207
+
+  Fred and Dog Stephen                                           205
+
+  Giraffe, The                        _J. G. Wood_               188
+
+  Going for the Letters                                          198
+
+  Good Word not Lost                                             308
+
+  Gratitude of a Cow                                             196
+
+  Haunts of Wild Beasts               _C. A. Stephens_           355
+
+  Help Yourselves                     _Wm. M. Thayer_             46
+
+  Holiday Luck                        _Sara Conant_              296
+
+  How a Good Dinner was Lost          _Fannie Benedict_          256
+
+  How Maggie paid the Rent                                       227
+
+[Illustration: {Children sledding}]
+
+  How Sweetie's "Ship came In"        _Margaret Field_            96
+
+  Hunting Adventure                                              362
+
+  If; or, Bessie Green's Holiday                                 176
+
+  Iron Ring, The                      _A. L. O. E._               76
+
+  It takes Two to Make a Quarrel                                 306
+
+  John Stocks and the Bison           _Author of "Drifting
+                                          to Sea"_               138
+
+  Kindness Rewarded                                               28
+
+  Kindness to Animals                 _Robert Handy_             284
+
+  Lace-making                                                     44
+
+  Lame Susie                                                     261
+
+  Lion the Fire-dog                   _Benjamin Clarke_           38
+
+  Lion on the Threshold                                          190
+
+  Marcellin                                                       82
+
+  Merry Christmas                     _E. G. C._                 166
+
+  Monkeys                             _L. B. U._                 301
+
+  Motherless Boy, The                                             49
+
+  Mouse and Canary, The                                          287
+
+  Mrs. Pike's Prisoners               _M. R. W._                 123
+
+  My Mother's Stories                 _E. E._                    303
+
+  My Story                            _S. P. Brigham_            332
+
+  Nearly Lost                                                    365
+
+  Neddy's Half Holiday                                           121
+
+  Nicolo's Little Friend              _H. A. F._                 390
+
+  Nino                                _Sara Conant_              244
+
+  Orchard's Grandmother               _S. O. J._                   9
+
+  Parsees, The                                                   371
+
+  Polly Arrives                       _Louisa M. Alcott_         282
+
+  Ponto                                                          310
+
+  Puppet                              _Mary B. Harris_           162
+
+  Puss                                _Robert Handy_             293
+
+  Que                                 _Mary B. Harris_           144
+
+  Reason and Instinct                 _Flaneur_                   60
+
+  Reginald's First School-Days                                   384
+
+  Rough                               _M. R. O._                  17
+
+  Sally Sunbeam                                                  251
+
+  Saved by a Fiddle                   _Sir Lascelles Wraxall_    211
+
+  Song of the Bird                                               323
+
+  Squanko                             _F. Cheseboro_             274
+
+  Squirrels                                                      160
+
+  St. Bernard Dog                                                 53
+
+  Stitching and Teaching              _E. G. C._                 152
+
+  Stories about Dogs                                             137
+
+  Strange Combat, A                   _C. A. Stephens_           116
+
+  Sweet One for Polly                 _Louisa M. Alcott_         277
+
+[Illustration: {Two children having a picnic}]
+
+  Thorns                                                         347
+
+  Tim the Match-Boy                                              268
+
+  Truant, The                                                    393
+
+  Two Friends. A Story for Boys                                  288
+
+  Two Gentlemen in Fur Cloaks                                    107
+
+  Uncle John's School-Days                                       234
+
+  What Nelly gave Away                                           115
+
+  White Butterfly                                                 63
+
+  Wings                                                          273
+
+  Working is Better than Wishing                                  65
+
+  Young Artist, The                                              218
+
+
+POETRY.
+
+  All among the Hay                                              286
+
+  Annie                                                          175
+
+  Answer to a Child's Question                                   113
+
+  Bird's Nest, The                    _Mary. N. Prescott_        216
+
+  C--A--T                                                        186
+
+  Cherry-Time                                                    128
+
+  Child's Petition                                               392
+
+  Child's Prayer                                                 137
+
+  Children                                                        62
+
+  Children's Song                                                141
+
+  Cleopatra                           _Edgar Fawcett_            388
+
+  Common Things                                                  249
+
+  Coral-Workers, The                                              37
+
+  Counting Baby's Toes                                           345
+
+  Dinner and a Kiss                                              381
+
+  Dream of Summer, A                  _Mary N. Prescott_          29
+
+  Erl King                            _Mary N. Prescott_         241
+
+  Faithful unto Death; or, The Sentry
+      of Herculaneum                  _W. B. B. Stevens_         230
+
+  Flight of the Birds                                             56
+
+  For the Children                                                58
+
+  Forced Rabbit, The                                             180
+
+  From Bad to Worse                   _Alice Cary_               331
+
+  Frost, The                                                      22
+
+  Good-Humor                                                      35
+
+  Good Shepherd, The                                              52
+
+  I am Coming                                                    110
+
+  Kind to Everything                                              68
+
+  Let him Live                        _Mary R. Whittlesey_       300
+
+  Little Helpers                                                  73
+
+  Little Home-body                    _Geo. Cooper_              119
+
+[Illustration: {Two figures walk through a snowy landscape}]
+
+  Little Red Riding-Hood              _L. E. Landon_             224
+
+  My Little Hero                                                  92
+
+  My Mother                                                      382
+
+  Minutes                                                        196
+
+  My Picture                                                      23
+
+  Music Lesson, The                                               22
+
+  Nothing to Do                                                  105
+
+  Now the Sun is Sinking                                         206
+
+  Our Daily Bread                                                157
+
+  Preparing for Christmas                                        143
+
+  Rich and Poor                       _Ellen M. H. Gates_         42
+
+  Rigmarole about a Tea-Party                                    206
+
+  Robin Redbreast                                                 95
+
+  Rustic Mirror, The                  _M. R. W._                 222
+
+  Sailing the Boats                   _George Cooper_            305
+
+  Secret                              _Mary R. Whittlesey_       264
+
+  Shakspeare                          _Richard H. Stoddard_      389
+
+  Sheep and the Goat                                             328
+
+  Silly Young Rabbit, The                                        242
+
+  Silver and Gold                     _Ellis Gray_               265
+
+  Smiles and Tears                                               390
+
+  Snow-Fall                                                      151
+
+  Snow-Man, The                       _Marian Douglas_           192
+
+  Song of the Rose                    _T. E. D._                  41
+
+  Sparrow, The                                                   122
+
+  Spring has Come                                                202
+
+  Story of Johnny Dawdle                                          47
+
+  Summer                                                          78
+
+  That Calf                           _Phoebe Cary_               70
+
+  To the Cardinal Flower              _M. R. W._                  40
+
+  Touch Not                                                       61
+
+  Two Mornings                        _Mary N. Prescott_         267
+
+  Under the Pear Trees                                           349
+
+  Up and Doing                                                   182
+
+  Vacation                            _Beverly Moore_            232
+
+  War and Peace                                                  126
+
+  Way to Walk                         _M. R. W._                 337
+
+  We should hear the Angels singing   _Kate Cameron_              91
+
+  What so Sweet                       _Mary N. Prescott_         344
+
+  What the Clock says                                            149
+
+  Why                                                             24
+
+  Willie's Prayer                                                159
+
+  World, The                          _Lilliput Lectures_        185
+
+  Worship of Nature                                              361
+
+
+
+
+HAPPY DAYS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Settlers run from the native inhabitants}]
+
+THE ORCHARD'S GRANDMOTHER.
+
+
+I must ask you to go back more than two hundred years, and watch two
+people in a quiet old English garden.
+
+One is an old lady reading. In her young days she was a famous beauty.
+That was very long ago, to be sure; but I think she is a beauty
+still--do not you?
+
+She has such a lovely face, and her eyes are so sweet and bright! and
+better than that, they are the kind which see pleasant things in
+everybody, and something to like and be interested in. I hope with all
+my heart yours are that kind, too.
+
+The other person is a little child. She was christened Mary Brenton,
+like her grandmother; but she was called Polly all her days, for
+short; and we will call her so.
+
+She is sitting on the grass with a little cat in her arms, which she
+is trying to put to sleep. But the kitten is not so accommodating as
+a doll would be, and just as Polly does not dare to move for fear of
+waking her, she makes up her mind that a run after a leaf and a play
+with any chance caterpillar which may be so unlucky as to cross her
+path, will be very preferable, and tries to get away.
+
+It is one of the most delightful days that ever was. September, and
+almost too warm, if it were not for the breeze that brings cooler air
+from the sea. Once in a while some fruit falls from the heavily-laden
+trees, and the first dead leaves rustle a little on the ground. The
+bees are busy, making the most of the bright day; for they know of the
+stormy weather coming. The sky is very blue, and the flowers very
+bright. Two swallows are playing hide-and-seek through the orchard,
+and chasing each other in great races, now so close to the ground that
+it seems as if their feet might catch in the green grass, and now away
+up in the air over the high walls out towards the hills; and just as
+one loses sight of them, and turns away, here they are again. And in
+the kitchen the girls are clattering the dishes and laughing; and do
+you hear some one singing a doleful tune in a cheery, happy voice?
+
+That is Dorothy, Polly's dear Dorothy, who waits upon grandmother,
+with whom she has been to France, and Holland, and Scotland, and who
+can tell almost as charming stories as grandmother herself.
+
+The house is large and old, with queer-shaped windows, all sizes and
+all heights from the ground, and a great many of them hidden by the
+ivy. That is the outside; and if you were to go in, you would find
+large, low rooms, filled with furniture that you would think queer and
+uncomfortable. And there are portraits in some of them, one of Polly,
+probably painted not very long before, in which she is attired after
+the fashion of those days, and looks nearly as old as she would now
+if she were living!
+
+Now let us go back to the garden. The kitten has escaped, and Polly is
+wishing for something to do.
+
+"Where's Dolly?" says grandmother. "Find her, and then gather some
+apples and plums, and have a tea drinking."
+
+The doll had been very ill all day; it was strange in grandmother to
+forget it. She had fallen asleep just before dinner, and been put
+carefully in her bed; it would never do to wake her so soon. And
+besides, a tea party was not amusing when there was no one to sit at
+the other end of the table. This referred to Tom, Polly's dearest
+cousin, who had just left her after a long visit; and she missed him
+sadly.
+
+"And," says Polly, "I do not think I should care for it if he were
+here, if I could have nothing but apples. I'm tired of them. I have
+eaten one of every kind in the garden to-day, even the great yellow
+ones by the lower gate. I think they're disagreeable; but I left them
+till the very last, and then I was afraid they would feel sorry to be
+left out. I think I will eat another, though; and I will not have a
+party--it's a trouble. Which kind would you take, grandmother?"
+
+"One of the very smallest," says the old lady, laughing; "but stop a
+moment. I have one I'll give you;" and she took a beauty from her
+pocket, and threw it on the grass by Polly.
+
+"That's the very prettiest apple I ever saw," says the child. "Where
+did you get it? Not off our trees. 'Father gave it to you?' and where
+did he find it?"
+
+Grandmother did not know.
+
+[Illustration: LITTLE POLLY.]
+
+After admiring her apple a little more, Polly eats it in a most
+deliberate manner, enjoying every bite as if it were the first she had
+eaten that day, and when she has finished it, gives a contented little
+sigh, and sits looking at the fine brown seeds which she holds in
+her hand. Presently she says, earnestly,--
+
+"Grandmother!"
+
+"What now, Polly?"
+
+"I wish I had that dear little apple's two brothers and two sisters,
+and I would put them in the doll's chest until to-morrow; I wouldn't
+eat them to-day, you know."
+
+"I will tell you what you can do," says grandmother. "Are those seeds
+in your hand? Go find Dorothy, and ask her to give you the empty
+flower-pot from the high shelf at my window; and then you can fill it
+with dark earth from one of the flower-beds, and plant them; then by
+and by you will have a tree, and can have plenty of your apple's
+children."
+
+That was a happy thought. And Polly puts the seeds carefully on a
+leaf, and runs to find Dorothy. Now she comes back with a queer little
+Dutch china flower-pot, and sits down on the grass again, and makes a
+hole in the soft brown earth with her finger, and drops the fine seeds
+in.
+
+For days she watered them, and carried them to sunny places; but at
+last she grew very impatient, and one morning, when she was all alone
+in the garden, very much provoked that they had not made their
+appearance, took a twig and explored; and the first poke brought to
+light the little seeds, as shiny and brown as when they left the
+apple. It was a great disappointment, and Polly caught them up, and
+threw them as far away as she could, and with tears in her eyes ran in
+to tell grandmother.
+
+"Ah," said the dear old lady, "it was not time! Thou hast not learned
+thy lesson of waiting; and no wonder, when there are few so hard, and
+thou art still so young."
+
+Then she sent Polly back to the garden, and the pot was put in its
+place, again. And a week or two after, as grandmother was just going
+to make room in the earth for a new plant, she saw growing there a
+little green sprig, which was not a weed. She listened a moment, and
+heard the child's voice outside.
+
+"Polly, my dear, are you sure you scattered all the seeds of your
+pretty apple the day you were so provoked at their not having begun to
+grow for you?"
+
+The child reddened a little, and turned away.
+
+"I don't know, grandmother. I think so; I wished to then."
+
+How delighted she was when the old lady showed her the treasure, and
+how carefully it was watched and tended! For one little seed had been
+buried deeper than the rest, and now in the sunshine of grandmother's
+wide window it had come up. Every pleasant day it was placed somewhere
+in the sun, and at night it was always carried to Polly's own room.
+Her dolls and other old play-house friends, formerly much honored, and
+of great consequence, were quite neglected for "the apple tree," as
+she always called the tiny thing with its few bits of leaves.
+
+And now we must leave the Brentons' old stone house and the garden.
+All this happened in the days of King Charles I., when there was a
+great war, and the country in a highly discordant state. Polly's
+father was on the king's side, and one day he did something which was
+considered particularly unpardonable by his enemies, and at night he
+came riding from Oxford in the greatest hurry he had ever been in; and
+riding after him were some of Cromwell's men. It was bright moonlight,
+and as he rode in the paved yard the great dogs in their kennels began
+to bark, and that waked Polly's mother, in a terrible fright at
+hearing her husband's voice, and sure something undesirable had
+happened.
+
+Squire Brenton hurried in to tell her, in as few words as possible,
+what he had done, and that he was followed, and had just time to say
+good by, and take another horse, and rush on to the sea, where he
+hoped to find a fishing-boat, by means of which he could escape.
+
+"And you," said he, "had better take Polly and one of the men, and
+ride to your cousin Matthew's; for in their rage at my escape, they
+may mean to burn my house. I little thought a month ago,--when he
+offered you 'a safe home,' and I laughed in his face, and said, 'Give
+your good wife the same message; for she may not find your house so
+safe as mine by and by,'--that you would need to accept so soon."
+
+"But I cannot go there now," said Mistress Brenton; "for cousin
+Matthew is away with the Roundhead army, and his wife and sister have
+gone to the north. I'll go with you. Listen: I heard one of the maids
+say to-day that a ship sails to-morrow at daybreak from the bay by
+Dunner's with a company of Puritans for Holland, on their way to one
+of the American colonies. We will go for a time to our friends in
+Amsterdam, and be quite safe."
+
+Anything was better than staying where he was; and Squire Brenton,
+bidding her hurry, went to the stables with his tired horse, and
+waking one of his men whom he could trust, told him why he was there,
+and to say, when the men came, that he was in Oxford yesterday, when
+they had a letter, and that Mistress Brenton had gone north to some
+friends. He gave him some messages for his brother, and then, sending
+him out to a field with the horse he had been riding, which would
+certainly have betrayed him, he went back to the yard, trying to keep
+the two fresh horses still, while he listened, fearing every moment to
+hear his pursuers coming down the road.
+
+Presently out came Mistress Brenton, carrying some bundles of
+clothing, and a few little things besides, and wrapped in a great
+riding cloak; and at her side walked Polly, very sleepy, and looking
+wonderingly in the faces of the others, and asking all manner of
+childish questions.
+
+Suddenly she ran back to the house, just as her father was going to
+lift her on his horse; and when she came back, what do you think she
+had? Together in a little bag were her doll and kitten, and one arm
+held tightly her little apple tree, wrapped in some garment of her own
+which she had found lying near it.
+
+And then they rode away. The poor child, after begging them to go to
+her uncle's, so she might say good by to grandmother, fell asleep,
+holding fast her treasures all the while.
+
+There was a faint glimmer of light over the sea as they neared the
+shore, and they saw anchored at a little distance a small ship, and
+could see the men moving about her deck; for the wind had risen. Mr.
+Brenton found a man whom he knew, in whose charge he left the horses,
+and then a fisherman rowed them to the vessel.
+
+The captain was nowhere to be seen, and the sailors paid no attention
+to them as they came on deck in the chilly morning twilight; and they
+went immediately below, and hid themselves in a dark corner, thinking
+they might have to go ashore if discovered, and that it was best to
+keep out of sight until it was too late to turn back. In the darkness
+they fell asleep. This may seem very strange; but remembering the long
+ride, and the fright they had been in, and that now they felt safe, we
+can hardly wonder. At any rate, it was the middle of the afternoon
+before Colonel Brenton--I think I have never given him his title
+before--made his appearance on deck, to the great astonishment of the
+captain and all the other people, who knew him more or less. He told
+the captain what had happened, saying at the end he would pay him
+double the usual passage money to Holland, where he meant to stay for
+a while; and at this the rough man really turned pale.
+
+"Holland, _Holland_!" said he; "do you not see we're going down the
+Channel? We are bound direct for America."
+
+The story says that Colonel Brenton was almost beside himself, and
+offered large sums of money to be taken back, or to France; but the
+captain would not consent, saying that they had made good progress,
+and it was late in the year. The ship would come back in the spring,
+and he must content himself.
+
+Those of the ship's company who knew our friends had great wonderings
+at their having turned Puritans, until they knew the true state of
+affairs. Must not it have been dreadful news to Mistress Brenton, and
+was it not really a dreary prospect--a dreary journey in that frail
+ship, and at the end a cold, forlorn country? and all the stories of
+the Indians' cruelties to the settlers came to her mind. They could
+not, in all probability, return for many months. No one whom she cared
+particularly for would be there to welcome them. Polly did not take it
+very much to heart, though she cried a little because she was not to
+go to Holland, which she had heard so much of from her grandmother and
+Dorothy. It was a great many days before they gave up their hope of
+falling in with some vessel to which they might be transferred; and
+the first two weeks were sunshiny and pleasant, with a good wind. But
+soon it grew bleaker and colder, and they suffered greatly. All
+through the pleasant days, Polly had been having a very enjoyable
+time. There were several children on board, and they had games around
+the deck and in the cabin.
+
+It was delightful to have the kitten, who had a cord tied around her
+neck; and when she was not in Polly's arms, she was generally anchored
+for safety in the cabin. Every day she had part of her little
+mistress's dinner; and though she missed the garden, and the dead
+leaves that nestled about the walks, and made such nice playthings,
+and the sedate old family cat, her mother, and her mother's numerous
+poor relations who lived in the stables, she was by no means unhappy.
+And the doll's expression was as complacent as ever, though she had
+worn one gown an astonishing length of time. But if you could have
+seen the care the little tree received! It was carefully wrapped in
+the same little cloak Polly put round it the night they left home, and
+only on the warmest days it was taken on deck to have the sunshine;
+and every day it had part of Polly's small allowance of water; and
+when the kitten had had its share, there would often be very little
+left.
+
+The weary days went slowly by. The ship was slow at the best, and the
+winds were contrary. The provisions grew less and less, and the water
+was almost exhausted. Two people--a man, and a child Polly had grown
+very fond of--died, and were buried in the sea. The sky was cold and
+gray, and it snowed and rained, and every one looked sad and
+disheartened. It was terribly desolate. Polly could not often go on
+deck, for the frozen spray and rain made it very slippery and
+dangerous there; and her mother told story after story, and did her
+best to shorten the longest December days she had ever known. And soon
+there came a terrible bereavement. One night there was a great storm,
+and the dearly-beloved kitten, frightened to death by the things
+rolling about, and the pitching of the ship, broke the cord and rushed
+out in the darkness, and never was seen any more. I think a little cat
+has never been so mourned since the world began. That night, the Dutch
+flower-pot, with its leafless twig, went rolling about the cabin
+floor, and half the earth was scattered in the folds of its
+wrappings, and carefully replaced next morning.
+
+But at last the voyage was ended; they saw land, and finally came
+close to it and went ashore, Polly with her dear doll and something
+else rolled up in a little gray cloak. The ship was to stay until
+spring; and there seemed no hope of getting back to England until
+then. It was hard to decide what to do; but at last Colonel Brenton
+heard of some men whom he had known, who had been made prisoners in
+some of the battles in the north of England and sent to the
+Massachusetts colony by Cromwell, who had feared to imprison them.
+They had been sent to the settlement in York.
+
+So the Brentons joined a party going there, or to places beyond. It
+was the last of January that they came to York, and were warmly
+welcomed at the great garrison, where they lived till spring. Polly
+found a very nice child to play with. There had been a good harvest,
+and the Indians were uncommonly peaceable. They had great log fires in
+the wide fireplace in the east room; and for a winter in those times,
+it was very comfortable. The flower-pot was deposited in a chink of
+the great chimney. Polly had insisted upon bringing it with her; and
+though "the tree" at that time was a slender little straight stick,
+she had firm faith that spring time would give it leaves again. And
+strange to say, she was not disappointed; for all the exposure had not
+destroyed it. The first of June came, and they were still living in
+the garrison-house, looking every day for a messenger to tell them the
+ship was ready to go back. Some people on their way to one of the
+eastern settlements, early in April, had told them there were no signs
+of her sailing; and since then they had heard nothing. How dismayed
+they were, early in June, to find the ship had sailed nearly two
+months before! It seemed as if everything was against them; and they
+could live no longer in the garrison. So the Brentons had a little log
+house near by, and "the squire" worked every day in the great field
+down towards the river. It must have been such a strange life for
+them! and I suppose their thoughts often went back to the dear English
+home. When Mistress Brenton looked from the small window in her log
+house out over half-cleared fields, and saw the garrison-house, and
+her husband working among the hills of corn with his gun close by,
+every now and then looking anxiously about him, she would remember the
+wide window, with its cushioned seat, in her own room at home, and the
+sunny garden, with the flowers and bees, and the maids and men singing
+and chattering in the distance, and the dear voice of grandmother
+singing the old church hymns. It was a great change; but days much
+more forlorn than these were yet to come.
+
+The Indians came around the settlement in large numbers, and no one
+dared to be out alone. At night the people waked in fear at the
+slightest noise; and in the daytime it was after the same fashion.
+News came of whole settlements having been murdered or made captives,
+and some of their own neighbors disappeared finally; and then the
+suspense was terrible. At last, one day Mrs. Brenton had gone up to
+the garrison to see one of the women, who was ill, and most of the men
+were in the field. Polly went with her mother; but the women were
+talking over something about the king and Parliament, which she found
+very uninteresting, and soon she unfastened the great outer door, and
+unwisely ran out with her doll in her arms, and went down to the field
+to see the men at work. But on her way, she bethought herself of a
+charming stump she had seen out at one side of the path, and went to
+visit it. None of the men happened to see her. She talked to the
+doll, and made a throne for her of the soft moss growing around her,
+and had been playing there some time, when suddenly she heard shouts,
+and thought they must be killing a snake, and looked up to see all the
+men running up the hill to the garrison, with a great many Indians
+chasing them; and she heard a gun fired, and saw one of the men who
+had petted and been very kind to her, and told her stories, fall to
+the ground. Ah, how frightened she was!
+
+The doll was snatched from her throne, and the poor little girl ran
+towards the garrison, too, right towards the Indians. It was weary
+work running over the rough ground,--and the tall grass was not much
+better,--and then on, up the hill. By this time the men had succeeded
+in getting in; and the wicked-looking Indians, after a yell of
+disappointment, turned to go back to the one who lay dead on the
+hill-side, and to escape the bullets which would come in a moment from
+the loopholes. O, if she could only get by them!
+
+Up the hill she hurried as fast as the poor tired little feet could
+carry her, hugging the doll, almost breathless, with the great tears
+falling very fast, and still crying, "Wait, father!"
+
+I am glad I know one kind thing the Indians of those days did. As they
+turned, they saw her coming, and some hurried forward a little to
+seize her; and it would have been so easy. But one spoke, and they all
+stopped, and laughed, and shouted, and the child got safely in.
+
+Then the Indians went to the Brentons' house, and some others, and
+burned them; but luckily the apple tree was at the play-house, by a
+large rock, at a little distance, and the wind was not in that
+direction; and after they disappeared, it was brought up to the fort,
+safe and sound.
+
+It soon grew tall and strong, and in a little while was entirely too
+large for its pot; and finally Polly was forced to put it in the
+ground. It was hard to do it; for she had cared for it, and loved it
+so long, and this was giving it up, in a measure. And I think if she
+had understood that now it must be left behind, it would have been
+almost impossible to have persuaded her. Her father comforted her by
+telling her he could get quantities of the apples not very far from
+home, and she could plant more seeds as soon as she liked, or, far
+better than that, he would graft a tree.
+
+In September, news came that a ship was going to the east coast of
+England; and they were all heartily glad, in spite of the long,
+dangerous voyage; and leaving the York friends, who had been so kind,
+and whom they would probably never see any more, Polly gave the little
+tree to a Masterson child, her great friend, who promised to wrap it
+in straw for winter, and to be very kind to it and fond of it. And I
+think she must have been faithful to her charge. Mistress Brenton laid
+some of the leaves in the little book she had had in her pocket that
+night, almost a year ago, when they left home. So they went to Boston,
+and sailed for the old country.
+
+I know nothing more of them; but we will hope their voyage was a short
+and easy one, and that they reached home on a pleasant, sunny day, and
+grandmother was there, and Dorothy, and all the people, and Polly had
+stories to tell as wonderful as Dorothy's, and all true, and that they
+were all happy forever after.
+
+A while ago I stood on the hill with an old farmer, eating one of a
+pocketful of apples he had given me, and said how very nice it was,
+and that I had never seen any like it.
+
+"There are none of my apples sell half so well," said he. "I've forty
+young trees that have been bearing a few years; and over to the right
+you see some old ones. Mine were grafted from those and my father
+took his grafts from an old tree I'd like to show you;" and as we
+walked towards it, he said, "It looks, and I guess it is, as old as
+any around here. My father always said it was brought from England in
+a flower-pot by some of the first settlers. Perhaps you have heard the
+story. It's very shaky. The high winds last fall were pretty hard on
+it. It will never bear again, I am afraid. I set a good deal by the
+old thing. The very first thing I can remember is my father's lifting
+me up to one of the lower limbs, and I was frightened and cried. I
+believe I think more of that tree than of anything on my farm. My wife
+always laughs at me about it. Well, it has lasted my time. I'm old and
+shaky, too; and I suppose my sons won't miss this much, and will like
+the young orchard best."
+
+"And you and I like your orchard's grandmother," said I.
+
+                                                    S. O. J.
+
+
+
+
+ROUGH.
+
+
+He was a donkey, and we called him Rough. He belonged to Gerald and
+me. We didn't keep him for his useful qualities, and we certainly
+didn't keep him for his moral qualities; and I don't know what we did
+keep him for, unless, for the best reason in the world, that we loved
+him.
+
+He was always getting us into scrapes, the most renowned of which was
+one Rough's enemies were fond of alluding to.
+
+We were bidden to a christening one fair spring morning; and we not
+only accepted the invitation, but promised to bring apple-blossoms, to
+fill the font and make the church look gay. We had an old apple
+orchard, that bore beautiful blossoms, but worthless fruit; and of
+these blossoms we had leave to pick as many as we chose.
+
+So we filled the donkey-cart with them, and set forth for the
+christening, which was to be at a little church about a mile or more
+distant from our farm. Rough's enemies will tell how we arrived when
+the christening was all over, and our apple blossoms faded.
+
+We were never so happy as when we had a whole leisure afternoon to go
+off with Rough in the donkey-cart, and our little sister Daisy by
+Gerald's side, on the board that served as seat, and I lying on my
+back on the bottom of the cart, with my heels dangling out of it. So I
+would lie for hours, whistling and looking up at the drifting clouds,
+or with my hat over my eyes to keep out the sun.
+
+One afternoon, early in March, when the roads were almost knee deep in
+mud, and the last of the melting snow made a running stream on either
+side of the road, we were slowly travelling along after the manner I
+have described. We were going to take a longing look at the skating
+pond, two miles from our farm. We were forbidden to try the dangerous
+ice, but meant only to look upon the scene of our winter's delight.
+
+"Some one's in the pond!" cried Daisy.
+
+"How do ye know?" said I, not removing my hat from my face.
+
+You see Daisy was only six years old, and I hadn't much faith in her
+observation.
+
+"Cos I sees 'em with my own eyes."
+
+I jumped up and looked. It was only a hat I saw. Gerald meanwhile
+said nothing, but had pulled up Rough (who not only stopped, but lay
+down in the mud), and looked. I watched him, to see what he thought,
+or proposed to do.
+
+[Illustration: {A child collecting flowers together}]
+
+People had a way of trusting to Gerald's judgment rather than their
+own, and were generally better off for it.
+
+"It _is_ some one in the pond," said Gerald; and then followed a short
+discussion as to whether we should leave Daisy alone to the mercies of
+Rough, which resulted in our leaving Rough, and taking Daisy along
+with us down to the pond.
+
+We could see a boy, apparently about Gerald's age, swimming and
+striving to keep up, and catching at the ice, which broke as he clung
+to it. He swam feebly, as if benumbed and wearied.
+
+"Keep a brave heart!" roared Gerald; "we'll save you!" and then began
+to take off his boots and coat. The boy sank--under the ice, this
+time. We could see it bobbing up and down as he swam beneath it.
+
+"Stay here till I call you," said Gerald to me, as he stepped from the
+shore on to the ice, and walked out towards where the swimmer was
+hidden by the ice. I stood breathless, with my eye on Gerald.
+
+The ice began to crack under him. He lay down on his stomach, and
+pulled himself forward with his hands. Up came the swimmer not far
+from him.
+
+"Keep up! Gerald will save you!" cried Daisy.
+
+The poor fellow cast one despairing look at Gerald, and sank again.
+Gerald had gone as far as was practicable on the ice. I could hear it
+cracking all over, and see the white cracks darting suddenly over ice
+that had looked safe.
+
+Up came the boy again.
+
+"Keep up! keep up!" cried Daisy, in an excited treble. "Gerald will
+save you!"
+
+But the boy could hear nothing. He had his eyes closed, and seemed to
+have fainted. Gerald reached out, and clutched him by the arm. How the
+ice cracked all about him! My heart was in my mouth; I thought he was
+in. I began to take my coat off.
+
+"A scarf!" said Gerald, speaking for the first time.
+
+I took off my own, and picked up Gerald's from the ground, and tied
+them firmly together. I saw that they were too short. Daisy offered
+hers. I took it, with an inward fear, if the child should catch cold;
+it seemed paltry to think of it at such a moment. I stepped out on the
+ice, and went a few steps, when Gerald cried,--
+
+"Stop!"
+
+I obeyed like a soldier.
+
+"Throw it now!"
+
+I threw the long string of scarfs. Gerald dexterously caught it, and
+upholding the poor boy with one hand, with the other passed the string
+under his arms, and tied the ends of it to his own arm. Then he paused
+a moment before attempting the hazardous work of coming ashore, and
+looked at me speculatively. I knew what he meant. There was a shadow
+of trouble in his face that had nothing to do with his own danger. He
+was weighing the possibility of his falling in, and my doing the same
+in trying to save him, and Daisy alone on the shore. I gave a cheering
+"Go ahead, old fellow!" and he began to push himself back again,
+dragging his senseless burden after him by the scarf tied to his arm.
+
+Crack! crack! crack! went the ice all about him, and little tides of
+water flooded it. At last it seemed a little firmer. Gerald rose to
+his feet, and dragging the boy still in the water after him, began to
+walk slowly towards the shore, not seeming to notice how the sharp
+edges of the ice cut the face and forehead of the poor half-drowned
+boy.
+
+Again the ice began to crack and undulate. Gerald stood still for a
+moment, and the piece on which he stood broke away from the rest, and
+began to float out. He jumped to the next, which broke, and so to the
+next, and the next, till he neared the shore. Then he paused a moment,
+and looked at me.
+
+"Go ashore!" he roared like a sea captain.
+
+Then I noticed that I stood on a detached piece of ice, but nearer
+land than Gerald. I found no difficulty in gaining the shore.
+
+"Now stand firm and give a hand!" said Gerald.
+
+I grasped his hand, and he jumped ashore, and together we lifted the
+boy out of the water. Daisy burst into tears, crying,--
+
+"O, Gerald, Gerald, I thought you'd be drowned!"
+
+Gerald very gently put her clinging arms away from him, saying,
+firmly,--
+
+"Don't cry, Daisy. We have our hands full with this poor fellow."
+
+I got the skates off the "poor fellow," and gave them to Daisy to
+hold. She, brave little woman, gulped down her tears, and only gave
+vent to her emotion, now and then, by a little suppressed sob. Gerald
+began beating the hands and breathing into the mouth and nostrils of
+the seeming lifeless form before us.
+
+"Is he dead, Gery?" said I.
+
+"No!" said Gerald, fiercely. It was evident that he wouldn't believe
+he had gone through so much trouble to bring a dead man ashore. "Look
+for his handkerchief, and see if there's a mark on it."
+
+I fished a wet rag out of the wet trousers pocket, and found in one
+corner of it the name "Stevens."
+
+"There's a farmer of that name two miles farther on. I don't know any
+one else of that name. Must be his son. We'll take him home;" and he
+began wrapping his coat about the poor boy; but I insisted on mine
+being used for the purpose, as Gerald was half wet, and his teeth were
+already chattering. "We must get him off this wet ground as soon as
+possible," said Gerald; and together we lifted him, and slowly and
+laboriously bore him to the donkey-cart in the road.
+
+By this time Gerald had only strength enough to hold the reins, and we
+set out forthwith for the Stevens farm, I, with what help Daisy could
+give, trying to bring some show of life back to the stranger. Perhaps
+the jolting of the cart helped,--I don't know,--but by and by he began
+to revive, and at last we propped him up in one corner of the cart,
+with his head supported by Daisy's knee.
+
+I shall not soon forget how long the road seemed, and how I got out
+and walked in deep mud, and how, when poor Rough seemed straining
+every muscle to make the little cart move at all, Gerald insisted on
+getting out, too, and leading Rough; how the sun set as we were wading
+through a long road, where willow trees grew thick on either side, and
+Daisy said, "See; all the little pussies are out!" how, at last, we
+reached the Stevens farm, and restored the half-drowned boy to his
+parents. I remember, too, how they were so utterly absorbed, very
+naturally, in the welfare of their boy, as to forget all about us, and
+offer us no quicker means of return home than our donkey-cart.
+
+They came to call on us the next day, and to thank us, and specially
+Gerald, with tears of gratitude. And Gerald was a hero in the village
+from that day forth.
+
+I remember well how dark it grew as we waded slowly and silently
+home, and how poor little Rough did his very best, and never stopped
+once.
+
+I think he understood the importance of the occasion; but those who
+were not Rough's friends, believe it was a recollection, and
+expectation of supper, that made him acquit himself so honorably.
+
+As we neared our home, we saw a tall figure looming up in the dark,
+and soon, by the voice, we knew it was Michael, one of the farm hands,
+sent to seek us.
+
+"Bluder an nouns," he exclaimed, "it is you, Mister Gery! An' yer
+muther, poor leddy, destroyed wid the fright. An' kapin' the chilt out
+to this hair. Hadn't ye moor sense?"
+
+We explained briefly; and Daisy begged to be carried, as the cart was
+all wet.
+
+With many Irish expressions of sympathy, Michael took the child in his
+arms; and so we arrived at home, and found father and mother half
+distracted with anxiety, and the farm hands sent in all directions to
+look for us. We were at once, all three of us, put to bed, and made to
+drink hot lemonade, and have hot stones at our feet, and not till then
+tell all our experiences, which were listened to eagerly.
+
+Daisy escaped unhurt, I with a slight cold, but Gerald and poor little
+Rough were the ones who suffered. Gerald had a severe attack of
+pneumonia, from which we had much ado to bring him back to health, and
+Rough was ill. They brought us the news from the stable on the next
+morning. We couldn't tell what was the matter; perhaps he had strained
+himself, perhaps had caught cold. We could not tell, nor could the
+veterinary surgeon we brought to see him. Poor Rough lay ill for
+weeks, and one bright spring morning he died.
+
+They told us early in the morning, before we were out of bed, how, an
+hour ago, Rough had died.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE MUSIC LESSON.]
+
+THE MUSIC LESSON.
+
+
+    Touch the keys _lightly_,
+      Nellie, my dear:
+    The noise makes Johnnie
+      Impatient, I fear.
+
+    He looks very cross,
+      I am sorry to see--
+    Not looking at all
+      As a brother should be.
+
+    Whatever you're doing,
+      Bear this always in mind:
+    In all _little things_
+      Be both _thoughtful_ and _kind_.
+
+
+
+
+THE FROST.
+
+
+    The frost looked forth one still clear night,
+    And whispered, "Now I shall be out of sight;
+    So through the valley and over the height
+          In silence I'll take my way:
+    I will not go on like that blustering train,
+    The wind and the snow, the hail and the rain,
+    Who make so much bustle and noise in vain,
+          But I'll be as busy as they."
+
+    Then he flew to the mountain, and powdered its crest;
+    He lit on the trees, and their boughs he dressed
+    In diamond beads; and over the breast
+          Of the quivering lake he spread
+    A coat of mail, that it need not fear
+    The downward point of many a spear
+    That he hung on its margin, far and near,
+          Where a rock could rear its head.
+
+    He went to the windows of those who slept,
+    And over each pane like a fairy crept:
+    Wherever he breathed, wherever he stept,
+          By the light of the moon were seen
+    Most beautiful things: there were flowers and trees;
+    There were bevies of birds and swarms of bees;
+    There were cities with temples and towers, and these
+          All pictured in silver sheen!
+
+    But he did one thing that was hardly fair:
+    He peeped in the cupboard, and finding there
+    That all had forgotten for him to prepare--
+          "Now, just to set them a-thinking,
+    I'll bite this basket of fruit," said he,
+    "This costly pitcher I'll burst in three,
+    And the glass of water they've left for me
+          Shall 'tchick!' to tell them I'm drinking."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A woman and two children with a calf}]
+
+MY PICTURE.
+
+
+    I have a little picture;
+      Perchance you have one too.
+    Mine is not set in frame of gold;
+      'Tis first a bit of blue,
+    And then a background of dark hills--
+      A river just below,
+    Along whose broad, green meadow banks
+      The wreathing elm trees grow.
+
+    Upon an overhanging ridge
+      A little farm-house stands,
+    Whose owner, like the man of old,
+      Has builded "on the sands;"
+    And yet, defying storms and wind,
+      It stands there all alone,
+    And brightens up the landscape
+      With a beauty of its own.
+
+    Fairy-like my picture changes
+      As the seasons come and go.
+    Now it glows 'neath summer's kisses;
+      Now it sleeps 'mid winter's snow.
+    I can see the breath of spring-time
+      In the river's deeper blue,
+    And autumn seems to crown it
+      With her very brightest hue.
+
+    Ah. I'd not exchange my picture
+      For the choicest gem of art;
+    Yet I must not claim it wholly;
+      It is only mine in part;
+    For 'tis one of nature's sketches--
+      A waif from that Great Hand
+    Which hath filled our earth with models
+      Of the beautiful and grand.
+
+
+
+
+WHY?
+
+
+    Why are the blossoms
+      Such different hues?
+    And the waves of the sea
+      Such a number of blues?
+    So many soft greens
+      Flit over the trees?
+    And little gray shadows
+      Fly out on the breeze?
+
+    Why are the insects
+      So wondrously fair;
+    Illumining grasses
+      And painting the air?
+    You dear little shells,
+      O, why do you shine?
+    And feathery sea-weed
+      Grow fragile and fine?
+
+    Why are the meadows
+      Such gardens of grace,
+    With infinite beauty
+      In definite space?
+    Each separate grass
+      A world of delight?
+    O, food for the cattle,
+      Why are you so bright?
+
+    Why are our faces
+      Such lovable things,
+    With lips made for kisses,
+      And laughter that sings?
+    With eyes full of love,
+      That sparkle and gleam,
+    Through beautiful colors,
+      That change like a dream?
+
+    Think for a moment--
+      Look up to the sky;
+    Question your heart; it
+      Will answer the Why!
+    Bright is the glitter
+      Of beauty unfurled--
+    Boundless the love that
+      Has fashioned the world!
+
+
+
+
+BIRDS.
+
+
+The wisdom of God is seen in every part of creation, and especially
+in the different kinds of birds. The beauty displayed in their
+graceful forms and varied colors strikes every beholder, while the
+adaptation of their organs for the purposes of flight, their peculiar
+habits and modes of living, are a constant source of admiration to the
+student of nature.
+
+Almost everything about the shape of a bird fits it for moving rapidly
+in the air, and all parts of its body are arranged so as to give it
+lightness along with strength. The soft and delicate plumage of birds
+protects them from cold or moisture; their wings, though so delicate,
+are furnished with muscles of such power as to strike the air with
+great force, whilst their tails act like the rudder of a ship, so that
+they can direct their course at pleasure with the utmost ease.
+
+The internal structure of a bird also is such as to help it to sustain
+itself in, and to fly quickly through, the air. Its lungs are pierced
+with large holes, which allow air to pass into cavities in the breast,
+and even into the interior of the bones. It is thus not only rendered
+buoyant, but is enabled to breathe even while in rapid motion. Two
+sparrows, it is said, require as much air to maintain their breathing
+properly as a guinea pig.
+
+In many other ways the skill and goodness of God are seen in the "fowl
+of the air." Their necks and beaks are long, and very movable, so that
+they may readily pick up food and other objects from the ground. The
+muscles of their toes are so arranged that the simple weight of the
+body closes them, and they are able, in consequence, to sit on a perch
+a long time without fatigue. Even in a violent wind a bird easily
+retains its hold of the branch or twig on which it is sitting. Their
+bills are of almost all forms: in some kinds they are straight; in
+others curved, sometimes upwards and sometimes downwards; in others
+they are flat; in some they are in the form of a cone, wedge-shaped,
+or hooked. The bill enables a bird to take hold of its food, to strip
+or divide it. It is useful also in carrying materials for its nest, or
+food to its young; and in the birds of prey, such as the owl, the
+hawk, the falcon, eagle, etc., the beak is a formidable weapon of
+attack.
+
+The nostrils of birds are usually of an oval form, and are placed near
+the base of the beak. Their eyes are so constructed that they can see
+near and distant objects equally well, and their sight is very acute.
+The sparrow-hawk discerns the small birds which are its prey at an
+incredible distance. No tribe of birds possesses an outward ear,
+except those which seek their food by night; these have one in the
+form of a thin, leathery piece of flesh. The inside ear, however, is
+very large, and their hearing is very quick.
+
+[Illustration: BIRD'S NEST.]
+
+Another admirable feature in the structure of birds consists in their
+feathers. These are well adapted for security, warmth, and freedom of
+motion. The larger feathers of the body are placed over each other
+like the slates on the roof of a house, so that water is permitted to
+run off, and cold is kept out. The down, which is placed under the
+feathers, is a further protection against the cold; and hence it is
+most abundant in those species that are found in northern climates.
+The feathery covering of birds forms their peculiar beauty: on this,
+in the warm climates, Nature bestows her most delicate and brightest
+colors.
+
+[Illustration: {An apteryx, or kiwi}]
+
+Another point which sets forth the resources of Infinite Wisdom is the
+structure and uses of the wings of birds. The size of the wings is not
+always in proportion to the bulk of their bodies, but is accommodated
+to their habits of living. Accordingly, birds of prey, swallows, and
+such birds as are intended to hover long in the air, have much longer
+wings, in proportion to their size, than hens, ducks, quails, etc. In
+some, such as the ostrich, the cassiowary, and the penguin, the
+largest quill-feathers of the wing are entirely wanting.
+
+Then, again, how varied is the flight of birds! The falcon soars above
+the clouds, and remains in the air for many hours without any sign of
+exertion. The swallow, the lark, and other species, sail long
+distances with little effort. Others, like the sparrow and the
+humming-bird, have a fluttering flight. Some, as the owl, fly without
+any noise; and some, like the partridge, with a loud whir.
+
+                        "Around the head
+    Of wandering swain the white-winged plover wheels
+    Her sounding flight, and then directly on
+    In long excursion skims the level lawn,
+    To tempt him from her nest."
+
+How graceful are the motions of the hawk, sweeping higher and higher
+in circles, as he surveys far and wide the expanse of fields and
+meadows below, in which he hopes to espy his prey. Our paper would be
+too long were we to say even a little about the roosting, the
+swimming, or running, the migration, the habits and instincts, the
+varied notes and pleasant songs, of the endless species of birds.
+
+All these subjects are well worthy of being carefully studied; for
+they all show the design of their Creator. The extraordinary creature
+represented in the engraving is the "Apteryx," or "wingless bird" of
+New Zealand. It was not known to European naturalists till of late
+years, and for a long time the accounts which the natives of New
+Zealand gave of it were discredited. A specimen of it, preserved in
+brine, was, however, brought to this country, and a full description
+of the bird given.
+
+The kirvi-kirvi, as the New Zealanders call it, stands about two feet
+high. Its wings are so small that they can scarcely be called wings,
+and are not easy to find under the general plumage of the body. Its
+nostrils, strange to say, are at the tip of the beak. The toes are
+strong, and well adapted for digging, the hind one being a thick,
+horny spur. To add to the singularity of this creature, it has no tail
+whatever. The kirvi-kirvi conceals itself among the extensive beds of
+fern which abound in the middle island of New Zealand, and it makes a
+nest of fern for its eggs in deep holes, which it hollows out of the
+ground. It feeds on insects, and particularly worms, which it disturbs
+by stamping on the ground, and seizes the instant they make their
+appearance. Night is the season when it is most active; and the
+natives hunt it by torchlight. When pursued, it elevates its head,
+like an ostrich, and runs with great swiftness. It defends itself,
+when overtaken, with much spirit, inflicting dangerous blows with its
+strong spur-armed feet.
+
+In this instance, as in all others, God has wisely adapted the very
+shape and limbs of the creature to the habits by which it was intended
+to be distinguished.
+
+                                                    F. F. E.
+
+
+
+
+KINDNESS REWARDED.
+
+
+When Agrippa was in a private station, he was accused, by one of his
+servants, of having spoken injuriously of Tiberius, and was condemned
+by that emperor to be exposed in chains before the palace gate. The
+weather was very hot, and Agrippa became excessively thirsty. Seeing
+Thaumastus, a servant of Caligula, pass by him with a pitcher of
+water, he called to him, and entreated leave to drink. The servant
+presented the pitcher with much courtesy; and Agrippa, having allayed
+his thirst, said to him,--
+
+"Assure thyself, Thaumastus, that if I get out of this captivity, I
+will one day pay thee well for this draught of water."
+
+Tiberius dying, his successor, Caligula, soon after not only set
+Agrippa at liberty, but made him king of Judea. In this high situation
+Agrippa was not unmindful of the glass of water given to him when a
+captive.
+
+He immediately sent for Thaumastus, and made him controller of his
+household.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {People gathering hay}]
+
+A DREAM OF SUMMER.
+
+
+    West wind and sunshine
+      Braided together,
+    What is the one sign
+      But pleasant weather?
+
+    Birds in the cherry-trees,
+      Bees in the clover;
+    Who half so gay as these
+      All the world over?
+
+    Violets among the grass,
+      Roses regretting
+    How soon the summer 'll pass,--
+      Next year forgetting.
+
+    Buds sighing in their sleep,
+      "Summer, pray grant us
+    Youth, that its bloom will keep
+      Fragrance to haunt us!"
+
+    Rivulets that shine and sing,
+      Sunbeams abetting,--
+    No more remembering
+      Their frozen fretting.
+
+    Sweet music in the wind,
+      Sun in the showers;
+    All these we're sure to find
+      In summer hours.
+
+                         MARY N. PRESCOTT.
+
+[Illustration: SUMMER FLOWERS.]
+
+
+
+
+EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING.
+
+
+"Please, Mr. Mate has _that_ cloud a silver lining?"
+
+The question was asked by little Kate Vale, the daughter of an
+emigrant, who, with her mother, was following her father, who had gone
+before to New York. Katie was a quiet, gentle little child, who gave
+trouble to no one. She had borne the suffering of seasickness at the
+beginning of the voyage so patiently, and now took the rough sea-fare
+so thankfully, that she had made a fast friend of Tom Bolton, the
+mate. Bolton had a warm, kindly heart, and one of the children whom he
+had left in England was just the age of Katie; this inclined him all
+the more to show her kindness. Katie often had a piece of Bolton's
+sea-biscuit; he told her tales which he called "long yarns," and
+sometimes in rough weather he would wrap his thick jacket around her,
+to keep the chill from her thinly-clad form. Katie was not at all
+afraid of Bolton, or "Mr. Mate," as she called him, and she took hold
+of his hard brown hand as she asked the question,--
+
+"Has that cloud a silver lining?"
+
+Bolton glanced up at a very black, lowering cloud, which seemed to
+blot the sun quite out of that part of the sky.
+
+"Why do you ask me, Kate?" said the sailor.
+
+"Because mother often says that every cloud has a silver lining, and
+that one looks as if it had none."
+
+Tom Bolton gave a short laugh.
+
+"None that we can see," he replied; "for the cloud is right atween us
+and the sun. If we could look at the upper part, where the bright
+beams fall, we should see yon black cloud like a great mass of silvery
+mother-o'-pearl, just like those that you yesterday called shining
+mountains of snow."
+
+Katie turned round, and raising her eyes, watched for some minutes
+the gloomy cloud. It was slowly moving towards the west, and as it did
+so, the sun behind it began to edge all its dark outline with
+brightness.
+
+"See, see!" exclaimed Katie; "it is turning out the edge of its silver
+lining. If I were up there in the sky, I suppose that all would look
+beautiful then. But I don't know why mother should take comfort from
+talking of the clouds and their linings."
+
+The mother, Mrs. Vale, who was standing near, leaning against the
+bulwarks, heard the last words of her child, and made reply,--
+
+"Because we have many clouds of sorrow here to darken our lives, and
+our hearts would often fail us but for the thought, 'There is a bright
+side to every trial sent to the humble believer.'"
+
+And Mrs. Vale repeated the beautiful lines,--
+
+    "Yon clouds, a mass of sable shade
+      To mortals gazing from below,
+    By angels from above surveyed,
+      With universal brightness glow."
+
+Katie did not quite understand the verse, but she knew how patiently
+and meekly her mother had borne sudden poverty, the sale of her goods,
+and the bitter parting from her beloved husband. Bolton also had been
+struck by the pious courage of one who had had a large share of
+earthly trials.
+
+"_Your_ clouds at least seem to be edged with silver," he observed,
+with a smile; and as he spoke, the glorious beams of the sun burst
+from behind the black mass of cloud, making widening streams of light
+up the sky, which, as Katie remarked, looked like paths up to heaven.
+
+The vessel arrived at New York, after rather a rough voyage, and Mrs.
+Vale, to her great delight, found her husband ready at the port to
+receive her. He brought her good tidings also. A fortnight before her
+landing he had procured a good situation, and he was now able to take
+her and their child to a comfortable home. Past sorrows now seemed to
+be almost forgotten.
+
+[Illustration: {Katie and Bolton on the deck of the ship}]
+
+Bolton, who, during a trying voyage, had shown much kindness to Mrs.
+Vale as well as to Katie, was invited during his stay at New York to
+make their house his home. He had much business to do as long as he
+remained in the great city, so saw little of the Vales except in the
+evenings, when he shared their cheerful supper, and then knelt down
+with them at family prayers. The mate learned much of the peace and
+happiness which piety brings while he dwelt under the emigrant's roof.
+
+But ere long the day arrived when Bolton's vessel, the Albion, was to
+start for England. She was to weigh anchor at one o'clock, and at
+midday the mate bade good by to his emigrant friends.
+
+"A pleasant journey to you, and a speedy return; we'll be glad to see
+you back here," said Henry Vale, as he shook the mate by the hand.
+
+Bolton's journey was to be much shorter, and his return much more
+speedy than he wished, or his friends expected. He was hastening down
+to the pier to join his vessel, when he saw hanging up in a shop
+window a curious basket, made of some of the various nuts of the
+country prettily strung together.
+
+"That's just the thing to take my Mary's fancy," said the mate to
+himself. "I've a present for every one at home but for her; it won't
+take two minutes to buy that basket."
+
+Great events often hang upon very small hooks. If Bolton had not
+turned back to buy the basket, he would not have been passing a house
+on which masons were working at the very moment when a ladder,
+carelessly placed against it, happened to fall with a crash. The
+ladder struck Bolton, and he fell on the pavement so much stunned by
+the shock, that he had to be carried in a senseless state into the
+shop of an apothecary.
+
+Happily no bones were broken, but it was nearly an hour before the
+mate recovered the use of his senses. He then opened his eyes, raised
+his head, and stared wildly around him, as if wondering to find
+himself in a strange place, and trying to think how he came to be
+there. Bolton pressed his aching forehead, seeking to recall to his
+memory what had happened, for he felt like one in a dream. Soon his
+glance fell on the clock in the apothecary's shop, and at the same
+instant the clock struck _one_! Bolton started to his feet, as if the
+chime of the little bell had been the roar of a cannon.
+
+"The Albion sails at one!" cried the mate; and without so much as
+stopping to look for his oilskin cap, with bandaged brow and
+bareheaded, Bolton rushed forth into the street, and, dizzy as he
+felt, staggered on towards the pier from which the vessel was to sail.
+
+It was not to be expected that the sailor's course should be a very
+straight one, or that with all his haste he should manage to make good
+speed. The streets of New York seemed to be more full of traffic than
+usual, and twice the mate narrowly escaped being knocked down again by
+some vehicle rapidly driven along the road. At last, breathless and
+faint, and scarcely able to keep his feet, poor Bolton arrived at the
+wharf to which his ship had been moored but an hour before. But the
+Albion was there no longer--the vessel had started without the
+mate--he could see her white sails in the distance; she was already
+on her way back to Old England, and she had left him behind!
+
+This was a greater shock to poor Bolton than the blow from the falling
+ladder had been. He stood for several minutes gazing after the ship
+with a look of despair, then slowly the sailor returned to the house
+of the Vales.
+
+"Nothing more unlucky could possibly have happened," muttered the mate
+to himself. "Here's a pretty scrape that I shall get into with my
+employers; the mate of their vessel absent just at the time when he
+ought to have been at his post! Then I've nothing with me--nothing,
+save the clothes that I stand in! All my luggage is now on the waves,
+and a precious long time it will be before I shall see it again. But I
+don't care so much for the luggage; what I can't bear to think of is
+my wife and my children looking out eagerly for the arrival of the
+good ship Albion, and then, when she reaches port, finding that no Tom
+Bolton is in her! I wish that that stupid basket had been at the
+bottom of the sea before ever I set eyes on it!"
+
+Pale, haggard, and looking--as he was--greatly troubled, Bolton
+entered the house of the Vales, which he so lately had quitted. The
+family were just finishing their dinner; and not a little astonished
+were they to see one whom they had believed to be on the wide sea.
+
+"Here I am again, like a bad half-penny," said the sailor; and sitting
+down wearily on a chair which Katie placed for him directly, Bolton
+gave a short account of what he called the most unlucky mischance that
+had ever happened to him in the course of his life.
+
+The Vales felt much for his trouble, and begged him to remain with
+them until he could get a passage in some other vessel bound for
+England.
+
+[Illustration: THE MAN AT THE WHEEL.]
+
+"And don't take your accident so much to heart," softly whispered
+little Katie; "you know mother's favorite proverb--'Every cloud has a
+silver lining.'"
+
+"Sometimes, even in this life, we can see the silver edge round the
+border," observed Mrs. Vale.
+
+Bolton had too brave a heart and too sensible a mind to give way long
+to fretting, though he did not see how so black a cloud as that which
+hung over his sky could possibly have anything to brighten its gloom.
+He tried to make the best of that which he could not prevent, and
+retired to rest that night with a tolerably cheerful face, though with
+a violent headache, and a heartache which troubled him more.
+
+Bolton slept very little that night, nor indeed did any one else in
+the house; for with the close of day there came on a violent storm
+which raged fiercely until the morning. Katie trembled in her little
+cot to hear how the gale roared and shrieked in the chimneys, and
+rattled the window-frames, and threatened to burst open the doors. The
+child raised her head from the pillow, and thanked the Lord that her
+sailor friend was not tossing then on the waves.
+
+But far more thankful was Katie when tidings reached New York of what
+the storm had done on that terrible night. Bolton was sitting at
+breakfast with his friends on the third day after the tempest, when
+Vale, who was reading the newspaper, turned to the part headed
+"Shipping Intelligence."
+
+"Any news?" inquired Tom Bolton, struck by the expression on the face
+of his friend.
+
+Instead of replying, Vale exclaimed, "How little we can tell in this
+life what is really for our evil or our good! You called that accident
+which prevented your sailing in the Albion an 'unlucky mischance.'"
+
+"Of course I did. My wife and children are impatient to see me--"
+
+"Had you sailed in that ship," interrupted Vale, "they would never
+have seen you again. The Albion went down in that storm!"
+
+What was the regret of Tom Bolton on hearing of the disaster, and what
+was his thankfulness for his own preservation, I leave the reader to
+guess. Often in after days did the little American basket remind him
+in his own home of what others might have called the chance that led
+him to turn back on his way to the ship, and so caused the accident
+which vexed him so much at the time.
+
+
+
+
+GOOD-HUMOR.
+
+
+    I am a first-rate fairy--
+      "Good-Humor" is my name;
+    I use my wand where'er I go,
+      And make the rough ways plain;
+
+    And make the ugly faces shine,
+      The shrillest voices sweet,
+    The coarsest ore a golden mine,
+      The poorest lives complete.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A boy sits reading in an armchair}]
+
+BOOKS AND READING.
+
+
+I really am in doubt whether or not the young folks ought to be
+congratulated in consequence of the great number of juvenile books
+which are being placed before them about this time. An excellent book
+is certainly excellent company; but there is a limit to all things;
+and so we may have too many books, taking it for granted that all are
+good ones.
+
+You all know, that, as a general rule, people in America read too
+much, and think too little. Reading is a benefit to us only when it
+leads to reflection. It is useless when it leaves no lasting
+impression on the mind; it is _worse_ than useless if the lesson it
+conveys be not a really good one.
+
+Suppose you sit down to a well-furnished table at a hotel to eat your
+dinner. The waiter hands you a bill of fare, upon which is printed a
+long list of good and wholesome dishes, and then quietly waits until
+you order what you wish. You are not expected to eat of every one,
+however attractive they may be, but rather to select what you like
+best,--enough to make a modest meal,--and let that suffice.
+
+But the selection is not all. If you expect to gain health and
+strength by your dinner, you must eat it in a proper manner; that is,
+slowly. Otherwise nature's work will be imperfectly done, and your
+food become a source of bodily harm, instead of a benefit.
+
+Now, it is precisely so with the food of the mind, which comes to you
+through books. You are not expected to read everything which comes
+within your reach. You should rather select the best, and, having done
+so, read them slowly and carefully. You may read too much as well as
+eat too much; and while the one will injure your body, the other will
+as certainly harm your mind.
+
+One of the worst evils which too much reading leads to is a habit of
+_reading to forget_. You know what a bad habit is, how it clings to
+us, when once contracted, and how hard it is to be shaken off. Some
+boys and girls read a book entirely through in a single evening, and
+the next day are eagerly at work on another, to be as quickly
+mastered. No mind, however strong, can stand such a strain. You see at
+once that it would be absolutely impossible for them to remember what
+they read. And so they read for a momentary enjoyment, and gradually
+fall into the habit I have spoken of--reading to forget. I need not
+tell you that such a habit is fatal to any very high position in life.
+
+How often we hear parents boast that their children are "great
+readers," just as if their intelligence should, in their opinion, be
+measured by the number of books and papers which they had read! Need I
+say, that, on the contrary, they are objects of pity?
+
+But how much may we read with profit? That is a question not always
+easy to answer. Some can read a great deal more than others. Yet, if
+young people read slowly, and think a great deal about the subject,
+there is very little danger of their reading too much, provided they
+select only good books; because good books are very scarce--much more
+so in proportion to the number printed than they were twenty years
+ago; and there are very few young persons who have too great a supply
+of good works placed within their reach.
+
+I have mentioned one evil which results from too much reading, and
+will only briefly allude to another equally important. Children who
+attend school have no time to devote to worthless books. Their studies
+consume many hours. If, aside from the time which should be devoted to
+play, to their meals, and the various duties of home, they will read a
+useless book every day or two, their health is sure to suffer. The
+evil consequences may not be at once apparent, but in later years the
+penalty will certainly have to be paid. This reflection alone, if
+there were no other reason, should induce the young to discard all
+useless books, and read only such as shall have a tendency to make
+them wiser and better.
+
+
+
+
+THE CORAL-WORKERS.
+
+
+    The little coral-workers,
+      By their slow but constant motion,
+    Have built those pretty islands
+      In the distant dark-blue ocean;
+    And the noblest undertakings
+       Man's wisdom hath conceived
+    By oft-repeated efforts
+       Have been patiently achieved.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Lion carries a baby's basket down some stairs}]
+
+LION THE FIRE DOG.
+
+
+Lion, who was a cross between a Great St. Bernard and a Newfoundland
+dog, came into the possession of the superintendent of the London fire
+brigade when he was but twelve months old. His first retreat was in
+the engine-house, where, on some old hose and sacking, he made himself
+as comfortable as he could, and coiled himself up, like the tubing on
+which he lay. Considering that he was thus placed in charge of the
+engine-house, he resented the first occasion on which a fire occurred
+at night. The fire bell rang, and the firemen crowded to the spot,
+prepared to draw forth the engine, when a decided opposition was made
+on the part of Lion, who showed a determination to fasten himself on
+the first fireman who dared to enter the house. In this way the
+faithful dog kept them all at bay until the arrival of his master,
+whom he instantly recognized and obeyed. As soon as the horses were
+harnessed, and the engine was in motion, Lion bounded along in
+company, and was present at his first fire. After that time, he
+attended no less than three hundred and thirty-two fires, and not
+only attended, but assisted at them, always useful, and sometimes
+doing work and saving life, which, but for him, would have been lost.
+
+His chief friends, the firemen, say it would take a long while to tell
+all his acts of daring and sagacity; but we must, in justice to his
+memory, record some of the most notable.
+
+Whenever the fire bell rang, Lion was immediately on the alert,
+barking loudly, as if to spread the dire alarm. Then, as soon as his
+master had taken his place on the engine, and before the horses were
+off, he led the way, clearing the road and warning every one of the
+approach of the engine, and spreading the news of the fire by his loud
+voice.
+
+On one occasion, when the horses were tearing along the streets as
+fire engine horses alone can, a little child was seen just in front of
+the engine. To stop the horses in time was impossible, though the
+driver did his best. The brave hearts of the firemen sank within them
+as they felt they must drive over the little body. Bystanders raised
+their arms and shrieked as they witnessed an impending catastrophe
+which they could do nothing to avert. No human help could avail, and
+it must needs be that the engine of mercy, on its way to save life,
+must sacrifice the life of an innocent, helpless child!
+
+But stay! Human eyes were not the only ones that took in that sad
+scene, and that saw the impending doom of the little one. Brave,
+sagacious, and fleet, Lion saw at a glance the danger that threatened
+the child, and springing forward, he knocked him down; then seizing
+him firmly in his jaws, he made for the pavement obliquely, and gently
+deposited his charge in the gutter just as the engine went tearing by.
+
+But this was only an incident by the way; Lion's real work began when
+the scene of the fire was reached. As soon as the door was opened, or
+dashing through the window if there was a delay in opening the door,
+the noble animal would run all over the burning house, barking, so as
+to arouse the inmates if they were unaware of the danger; and never
+would he leave the fire until he had either aroused them or had drawn
+the attention of the firemen to them.
+
+Once the firemen could not account for his conduct. Darting into the
+burning house,--the ceilings of which had given way,--and then out
+again to the firemen, he howled and yelled most loudly. It was
+believed that no one was in the house, but Lion's conduct made his
+master feel uneasy.
+
+Still nothing could be done by way of entering the house, as the fire
+was raging fiercely, and the house would soon fall in. Finding that
+his entreaties were not regarded, and suffering from burns and
+injuries, the noble animal discontinued his efforts, but ran uneasily
+round the engine, howling in a piteous manner; nor would he leave the
+spot after the fire was put out until search was made, when beneath
+the still smouldering embers, the firemen discovered the charred body
+of an old man, whom he had done his utmost to save.
+
+Lion's noble efforts, however, were often crowned with success; and
+many a one has to bless the wondrous qualities with which God had
+endowed him.
+
+At one fire, after the inmates had made their escape, a cry was raised
+that "the baby had been left behind in the cradle up stairs," though
+no one seemed to be able to indicate the room. The fire had so far got
+hold of the dwelling, such dense volumes of flame and smoke were
+issuing from every opening, that it was impossible for any fireman to
+enter, and the crowd stood horror-stricken at the thought of the
+perishing babe.
+
+The crisis was a terrible one; an effort was made, an entry was
+effected, and some of the men ventured some distance within the
+burning pile, only to retrace their steps.
+
+At this emergency, Lion dashed past the men, disappeared amid the
+flames, but returned in a minute into the street with the empty cradle
+in his powerful jaws. The consequence of this almost incredible
+feat--which was witnessed by many--may be better imagined than
+described.
+
+The fact that Lion did not re-enter the house--which, though badly
+burned, he would doubtless have done had he left the child behind--was
+sufficient to convince the dullest intellect that the child was
+secure; and it was very soon ascertained that the object of search was
+safe in a neighboring house.
+
+No wonder, then, that this noble animal endeared himself to all who
+knew him; and those who knew him best loved him the most. For fourteen
+years Lion continued his noble and useful career as public benefactor,
+as friend and companion to the firemen, and as mourner at their
+graves; for he attended the funerals of no less than eleven of them.
+
+Death came to him at length; for last year he died from injuries
+received in the discharge of his self-imposed duties.
+
+There are few of our readers who would not have liked to pat that
+brave old dog; there are fewer still who may not learn useful and
+valuable lessons from the speaking testimony of that dumb animal.
+
+                                            BENJAMIN CLARKE.
+
+
+
+
+TO THE CARDINAL FLOWER.
+
+
+    O, my princely flower, shall I never win
+    To your moated citadel within,
+                     To your guarded thought?
+
+    The pansies are proud; but they show to me
+    Their purple velvets from over the sea,
+                     With gold inwrought.
+
+    And they gently smile wherever we meet;
+    They seem to me like proud ladies sweet
+                     From a foreign shore.
+
+    Wild primrose buds in my very hand
+    Their odorous evening stars expand,
+                     And all their lore.
+
+    But your strange eyes gleam as they pass me by,
+    And seem to dream of a warmer sky,
+                     Far over the sea.
+
+                                  M. R. W.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A woman, an elderly man and two children watch
+    butterflies in a garden}]
+
+THE SONG OF THE ROSE.
+
+
+    I come not when the earth is brown, and gray
+    The skies; I am no flower of a day,
+    No crocus I, to bloom and pass away;
+
+    No cowslip bright, or hyacinth that clings
+    Close to the earth, from whence it springs;
+    Nor tulip, gay as song birds' wings.
+
+    I am the royal rose, and all things fair
+    Grow fairer for my sake; the earth, the air,
+    Proclaim the coming of the flower most rare.
+
+    Green is the earth, and beautiful the sky,
+    And soft the breeze, that loves to linger nigh;
+    I am the rose, and who with me shall vie?
+
+    The earth is full of gladness, all in tune
+    With songs of birds; and now I come, O June,
+    To crown thee, month of beauty, with my bloom.
+
+                                  T. E. D.
+
+
+
+
+RICH AND POOR.
+
+
+    My dear little girl, with the flowers in your hair,
+    Stop singing a moment, and look over there;
+    While you are so safe in the sheltering fold,
+    With treasures of silver, and treasures of gold,
+    Just a few steps away, in a dark, narrow street,
+    With no pure, cooling drink, and no morsel to eat,
+    A poor girl is dying, no older than you;
+    Her lips were as red, and her eyes were as blue,
+    Her step was as light, and her song was as sweet,
+    And the heart in her bosom as merrily beat.
+
+    But now she is dying, so lonely and poor,
+    For famine and fever crept in at the door.
+    While you were so gay, in your beautiful dress,
+    With music and laughter, and friends to caress,
+    From the dawn to the end of the weariful day,
+    She was always at work, with no moment for play.
+    She saw you sometimes, but you seemed like a star
+    That gleamed in the distance, so dim and afar.
+    And often she wondered if God up above
+    Remembered the poor girl, in pity and love.
+
+    Ah, yes, _He remembered_, 'mid harpings and hymns,
+    And loud alleluias, and waving of wings,
+    He heard in _His_ heaven the sound of her tears,
+    And called her away while the sun of her years
+    Was yet in the east; now, she never will need
+    From you any more a compassionate deed.
+    Nay, some time, perhaps, from her home in the skies,
+    She will look back to see you with tears in your eyes,
+    For sooner or later we quiver with pain,
+    And down on us all drops the sorrowful rain.
+
+    She never will need you; but many bereft,
+    Hungry, and heart-sore, and homeless are left.
+    You can, if you will, from the place where you stand,
+    Reach downward to help them; the touch of your hand,
+    The price of one jewel, the gift of a flower,
+    May waken within them, with magical power,
+    A hope that was dying. O, don't be afraid
+    The poor and the desolate spirit to aid.
+    The burdens are heavy that some one must bear,
+    You dear little girl with the flowers in your hair.
+
+                        ELLEN M. H. GATES.
+
+[Illustration: RICH AND POOR.]
+
+
+
+
+LACE-MAKING.
+
+
+"See, mamma what is the woman doing? She looks as if she was holding a
+pin-cushion in her lap and was sticking pins in it."
+
+"So she is, my dear," Ellen's mother remarked. "But that is not all
+she is doing. There is a cluster of bobbins hanging down one side of
+the cushion which are wound with threads, and these threads she weaves
+around the pins in such a manner as to make lace."
+
+"I never saw anybody make lace that way. I have seen Aunt Maria knit
+it with a crochet-hook."
+
+"This is a different kind of lace altogether from the crocheted lace.
+They do not make it in the United States. The woman whom you see in
+the picture lives in Belgium in Europe. In that country, and in some
+parts of France and Germany, many of the poorer people earn a living
+at lace-making. The pattern which in making the lace it is intended to
+follow is pricked with a pin on a strip of paper. This paper is
+fastened on the cushion, and then pins are stuck in through all the
+pin-holes, and then the thread from these bobbins is woven around the
+lace."
+
+"Can they work fast?"
+
+"An accomplished lace-maker will make her hands fly as fast as though
+she were playing the piano, always using the right bobbin, no matter
+how many of them there may be. In making the pattern of a piece of
+nice lace from two hundred to eight hundred bobbins are sometimes
+used. In such a case it takes more than one person--sometimes as many
+as seven--at a single cushion."
+
+"It must be hard to do."
+
+"I dare say it would be for you or me. Yet in those countries little
+children work at lace-making. Little children, old women and the least
+skilful of the men make the plainer and coarser laces, while
+experienced women make the nicer sorts."
+
+"What do they do with their lace when it is finished?"
+
+"All the lace-makers in a neighborhood bring in their laces once a
+week to the 'mistress'--for women carry on the business of
+lace-making--then this 'mistress' packs them up and takes them to the
+nearest market-town, where they are peddled about from one
+trading-house to another until they are all sold."
+
+"Do they get much for them?"
+
+"The poor lace-makers get hardly enough to keep them from starvation
+for their fine and delicate work; but the laces, after they have
+passed through the hands of one trader after another, and are at last
+offered to the public, bring enormous prices. A nice library might be
+bought for the price of a set of laces, or a beautiful house built at
+the cost of a single flounce."
+
+"I think I should rather have the house, mamma."
+
+"So should I. But the people who buy these laces probably have houses
+already. There is over four million dollars' worth of lace sold every
+year in Belgium alone."
+
+Ellen thought she should never see a piece of nice lace without
+thinking of these wonderful lace-makers, who produce such delicate
+work and yet are paid so little for it; and while she was thus
+thinking over the matter, mamma went quietly on with her sewing.
+
+[Illustration: LACE-MAKERS.]
+
+
+
+
+HELP YOURSELVES.
+
+
+Many boys and girls make a failure in life because they do not learn
+to help themselves. They depend on father and mother even to hang up
+their hats and to find their playthings. When they become men and
+women, they will depend on husbands and wives to do the same thing. "A
+nail to hang a hat on," said an old man of eighty years, "is worth
+everything to a boy." He had been "through the mill," as people say,
+so that he knew. His mother had a nail for him when he was a boy--"a
+nail to hang his hat on," and nothing else. It was "Henry's nail" from
+January to January, year in and out, and no other member of the family
+was allowed to appropriate it for any purpose whatever. If the broom
+by chance was hung thereon, or an apron or coat, it was soon removed,
+because that nail was "to hang Henry's hat on." And that nail did much
+for Henry; it helped make him what he was in manhood--a careful,
+systematic, orderly man, at home and abroad, on his farm and in his
+house. He never wanted another to do what he could do for himself.
+
+Young folks are apt to think that certain things, good in themselves,
+are not honorable. To be a blacksmith or a bootmaker, to work on a
+farm or drive a team, is beneath their dignity, as compared with being
+a merchant, or practising medicine or law. This is PRIDE, an enemy to
+success and happiness. No _necessary_ labor is discreditable. It is
+never dishonorable to be _useful_. It is beneath no one's dignity to
+earn bread by the sweat of the brow. When boys who have such false
+notions of dignity become men, they are ashamed to help themselves as
+they ought, and for want of this quality they live and die unhonored.
+Trying to save their dignity, they lose it.
+
+Here is a fact we have from a very successful merchant. When he began
+business for himself, he carried his wares from shop to shop. At
+length his business increased to such an extent, that he hired a room
+at the Marlboro' Hotel, in Boston, during the business season, and
+thither the merchants, having been duly notified, would repair to make
+purchases. Among all his customers, there was only one man who would
+carry to his store the goods which he had purchased. The buyers asked
+to have their goods carried, and often this manufacturer would carry
+them himself. But there was one merchant, and the largest buyer of the
+whole number, who was not ashamed to be seen carrying a case of goods
+through the streets. Sometimes he would purchase four cases, and he
+would say, "Now, I will take two, and you take two, and we will carry
+them right over to the store." So the manufacturer and the merchant
+often went through the streets of Boston quite heavily loaded. This
+merchant, of all the number who went to the Marlboro' Hotel for their
+purchases, succeeded in business. He became a wealthy man when all the
+others failed. The manufacturer, who was not ashamed to help himself,
+is now living--one of the wealthy men of Massachusetts, ready to aid,
+by his generous gifts, every good object that comes along, and honored
+by all who know him.
+
+You have often heard and read the maxim, "God helps those who help
+themselves." Is it not true?
+
+                                          WILLIAM M. THAYER.
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF JOHNNY DAWDLE.
+
+
+    Here, little folks, listen; I'll tell you a tale,
+    Though to shock and surprise you I fear it won't fail;
+    Of Master John Dawdle my story must be,
+    Who, I'm sorry to say, is related to me.
+
+    And yet, after all, he's a nice little fellow:
+    His eyes are dark brown and his hair is pale yellow;
+    And though not very clever or tall, it is true
+    He is better than many, if worse than a few.
+
+    But he dawdles at breakfast, he dawdles at tea--
+    He's the greatest small dawdle that ever could be;
+    And when in his bedroom, it is his delight
+    To dawdle in dressing at morning and night.
+
+    And oh! if you saw him sit over a sum,
+    You'd much wish to pinch him with finger and thumb;
+    And then, if you scold him, he looks up so meek;
+    Dear me! one would think that he hardly could speak.
+
+    Each morning the same he comes tumbling down,
+    And often enough is received with a frown,
+    And a terrible warning of something severe
+    Unless on the morrow he sooner appear.
+
+    But where does he live? That I'd rather not say,
+    Though, if truth must be told, I have met him to-day;
+    I meant just to pass him with merely a bow,
+    But he stopped and conversed for a minute or so.
+
+    "Well, where are you going?" politely said I;
+    To which he replied, with a groan and a sigh,
+    "I've been doing my Latin from breakfast till dinner,
+    And pretty hard work that is for a beginner."
+
+    "But now I suppose you are going to play
+    And have pleasure and fun for the rest of the day?"
+    "Indeed, but I'm not--there's that bothering sum;
+    And then there's a tiresome old copy to come."
+
+[Illustration: JOHNNY DAWDLE.]
+
+    "Dear me!" I replied, and I thought it quite sad
+    There should be such hard work for one poor little lad;
+    But just at that moment a lady passed by,
+    And her words soon made clear that mistaken was I:
+
+    "Now, then, Mr. Dawdle, get out of my way!
+    I suppose you intended to stop here all day;
+    The bell has done ringing, and yet, I declare,
+    Your hands are not washed, nor yet brushed is your hair."
+
+    "Ho, ho!" I exclaimed; "Mr. Dawdle, indeed!"
+    And I took myself off with all possible speed,
+    Quite distressed that I should for a moment be seen
+    With one who so lazy and careless had been.
+
+    So now, if you please, we will wish him good-bye;
+    And if you should meet him by chance, as did I,
+    Just bid him good-morning, and say that a friend
+    (Only don't mention names) hopes he soon may amend.
+
+
+
+
+THE MOTHERLESS BOY.
+
+
+One day, about a year ago, the door of my sitting-room was thrown
+suddenly open, and the confident voice of Harvey thus introduced a
+stranger:
+
+"Here's Jim Peters, mother."
+
+I looked up, not a little surprised at the sight of a ragged, barefoot
+child.
+
+Before I had time to say anything, Harvey went on:
+
+"He lives round in Blake's Court and hasn't any mother. I found him on
+a doorstep feeding birds."
+
+My eyes rested on the child's face while my boy said this. It was a
+very sad little face, thin and colorless, not bold and vicious, but
+timid and having a look of patient suffering. Harvey held him firmly
+by the hand with the air of one who bravely protects the weak.
+
+"No mother!" said I, in tones of pity.
+
+"No, ma'am; he hasn't any mother. Have you, Jim?"
+
+"No," answered the child.
+
+"She's been dead ever so long; hasn't she, Jim?"
+
+"Yes, ever since last winter," he said as he fixed his eyes, into
+which I saw the tears coming, upon my face. My heart moved toward him,
+repulsive as he was because of his rags and dirt.
+
+"One of God's little lambs straying on the cold and barren hills of
+life," said a voice in my heart. And then I felt a tender compassion
+for the strange, unlovely child.
+
+"Where do you live?" I asked.
+
+"Round in Blake's Court," he replied.
+
+"Who with?"
+
+"Old Mrs. Flint; but she doesn't want me."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Oh, because I'm nothing to her, she says, and she doesn't want the
+trouble of me." He tried to say this in a brave, don't-care sort of
+way, but his voice faltered and he dropped his eyes to the floor. How
+pitiful he looked!
+
+"Poor child!" I could not help saying aloud.
+
+Light flashed over his pale face. It was something new to him, this
+interest and compassion.
+
+"One of God's little lambs." I heard the voice in my heart saying this
+again. Nobody to love him--nobody to care for him. Poor little boy!
+The hand of my own child, my son who is so very dear to me, had led
+him in through our door and claimed for him the love and care so long
+a stranger to his heart. Could I send him out and shut the door upon
+him, when I knew that he had no mother and no home? If I heeded not
+the cry of this little one precious in God's sight, might I not be
+thought unworthy to be the guardian of another lamb of his fold whom I
+loved as my own life?
+
+"I've got heaps of clothes, mother--a great many more than I want. And
+my bed is wide. There's room enough in the house, and we've plenty to
+eat," said Harvey, pleading for the child. I could not withstand all
+these appeals. Rising, I told the little stranger to follow me. When
+we came back to the sitting-room half an hour afterward, Jim Peters
+would hardly have been known by his old acquaintances, if any of them
+had been there. A bath and clean clothes had made a wonderful change
+in him.
+
+I watched the poor little boy, as he and Harvey played during the
+afternoon, with no little concern of mind. What was I to do with him?
+Clean and neatly dressed, there was a look of refinement about the
+child which had nearly all been hidden by rags and dirt. He played
+gently, and his voice had in it a sweetness of tone, as it fell every
+now and then upon my ears, that was really winning. Send him back to
+Mrs. Flint's in Blake's Court? The change I had wrought upon him made
+this impossible. No, he could not be sent back to Mrs. Flint's, who
+didn't want the trouble of him. What then?
+
+[Illustration: THE MOTHERLESS BOY.]
+
+Do the kind hearts of my little readers repeat the question, "What
+then?" Do they want very much to know what has become of little Jim
+Peters?
+
+It is just a year since my boy led him in from the street, and Jim is
+still in our house. No one came for him. No one inquired about him. No
+one cared for him. I must take that last sentence back. God cared for
+him, and by the hand of my tender-hearted son brought him into my
+comfortable home and said to me, "Here is one of my lambs, astray,
+hungry and cold. He was born into the world that he might become an
+angel in heaven, but is in danger of being lost. I give him into your
+care. Let me find him when I call my sheep by their names."
+
+As I finished writing the last sentence a voice close to my ear said
+"Mother!" I turned and received a loving kiss from the lips of Jim. He
+often does this. I think, in the midst of his happy plays, memory
+takes him back to the suffering past, and then his grateful heart runs
+over and he tries to reward me with a loving kiss. I did not tell him
+to call me "Mother." At first he said it in a timid, hesitating way,
+and with such a pleading, half-scared look that I was touched and
+softened.
+
+"She isn't your real mother," said Harvey, who happened to be near,
+"but then she's good and loves you ever so much."
+
+"And I love her," answered Jim, with a great throb in his throat,
+hiding his face in my lap and clasping and kissing my hand. Since then
+he always calls me "Mother;" and the God and Father of us all has sent
+into my heart a mother's love for him, and I pray that he may be mine
+when I come to make up my jewels in heaven.
+
+
+
+
+THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
+
+
+    Jesus says that we must love him.
+      Helpless as the lambs are we;
+    But He very kindly tells us
+      That our Shepherd He will be.
+
+    Heavenly Shepherd, please to watch us,
+      Guard us both by night and day;
+    Pity show to little children,
+      Who like lambs too often stray.
+
+    We are always prone to wander:
+      Please to keep us from each snare;
+    Teach our infant hearts to praise Thee
+      For Thy kindness and Thy care.
+
+
+
+
+THE ST. BERNARD DOG.
+
+
+By the pass of the Great St. Bernard travellers cross the Pennine
+Alps (Penn, a Celtic word, meaning _height_) along the mountain road
+which leads from Martigny, in Switzerland, to Aosta, in Piedmont. On
+the crest of the pass, eight thousand two hundred feet above the sea
+level, stands the Hospice, tenanted by about a dozen monks.
+
+This is supposed to be the highest spot in Europe inhabited by human
+beings. The climate is necessarily rigorous, the thermometer in winter
+being often twenty-nine degrees below zero, whilst sixty-eight degrees
+Fahrenheit is about the highest range ever attained in summer. From
+the extreme difficulty of respiration, few of the monks ever survive
+the period of their vow, which is fifteen years, commencing at the age
+of eighteen.
+
+This hospice is said to have been first founded in the year 962, by
+Bernard, a Piedmontese nobleman. It will be remembered that it was
+over this pass Napoleon, in May, 1800, led an army of thirty thousand
+men into Italy, having with them heavy artillery and cavalry.
+
+For poor travellers and traders the hospice is really a place of
+refuge. During winter, crossing this pass is a very dangerous affair.
+The snow falls in small particles, and remains as dry as dust.
+Whirlwinds, called "tourmentes," catch up this light snow, and
+carrying it with blinding violence against the traveller, burying
+every landmark, at once put an end to knowledge of position.
+Avalanches, too, are of frequent occurrence.
+
+After violent storms, or the fall of avalanches, or any other unusual
+severity of winter weather, the monks set out in search of travellers
+who may have been overwhelmed by the snow in their ascent of the
+pass. They are generally accompanied in their search by dogs of a
+peculiar breed, commonly known as the St. Bernard's Dog, on account of
+the celebrated monastery where these magnificent animals are taught to
+exercise their wondrous powers, which have gained for them and their
+teachers a world-wide fame. On their neck is a bell, to attract the
+attention of any belated wayfarer; and their deep and powerful bay
+quickly gives notice to the benevolent monks to hurry to the relief of
+any unfortunate traveller they may find.
+
+Some of the dogs carry, attached to their collars, a flask of spirits
+or other restorative. Their wonderfully acute sense of smell enables
+them to detect the bodies of persons buried deeply beneath the surface
+of the snow, and thus direct the searchers where to dig for them. The
+animal's instinct seems to teach it, too, where hidden chasms or
+clefts, filled with loose snow, are; for it carefully avoids them, and
+thus is an all-important guide to the monks themselves.
+
+We have stories without number as to what these dogs accomplish on
+their own account; how they dig out travellers, and bring them,
+sometimes unaided by man, to the hospice.
+
+[Illustration: THE ST. BERNARD DOG.]
+
+A few years ago one of these faithful animals might be seen wearing a
+medal, and regarded with much affection by all. This noble dog had
+well deserved the distinction; for one stormy day he had saved
+twenty-two individuals buried in their snowy envelope. Unfortunately,
+he met, at a subsequent period, the very fate from which he had
+rescued so many persons. At the worst season an Italian courier was
+crossing the pass, attended by two monks, each escorted by a dog
+(one being the wearer of the medal), when suddenly a vast avalanche
+shot down upon them with lightning speed, and they were all lost.
+
+Another of these dogs, named "Barry," had served the St. Bernard
+Convent during twelve years, and had saved the lives of fifteen
+persons during that time. Whenever the pass was obscured by fogs and
+wintry snow-storms, he would go forth in search of lost travellers. It
+was his practice to run barking till he lost his breath, and he would
+venture into the most dangerous places. If, as sometimes happened, he
+did not succeed in drawing out from the snow some traveller stiffened
+with cold or overcome with exhaustion, he would run back to the
+convent and fetch some of the monks.
+
+One day this brave dog found a little child in a half-frozen state. He
+began directly to lick him, and having succeeded first in restoring
+animation, and next in the complete resuscitation of the boy, he
+induced the child, by his caresses, to tie himself on his back. When
+this was effected, he transported the poor child, as if in triumph, to
+the hospice. When overtaken by old age, the glorious dog was pensioned
+off by way of reward, and after his death his body was stuffed and
+placed in the museum at Berne.
+
+It is said that dogs of this variety inherit the faculty of tracking
+footsteps in snow. A gentleman once obtained a pup which had been
+produced in London by a female of the St. Bernard breed. The young
+animal was brought to Scotland, where it was never observed to give
+any particular tokens of a power of tracking footsteps until winter.
+Then, when the ground was covered with snow, it showed the utmost
+inclination to follow footsteps; and such was its power of doing so,
+that though its master might attempt to confuse it by walking in the
+most irregular fashion, and by inducing other persons to cross his
+path in all directions, yet it always followed his course with great
+precision.
+
+Sir Thomas Dick Lander, who for many years resided at Grange House,
+Edinburgh, had a fine dog of the St. Bernard breed presented to him.
+Its bark was so loud that it could be distinguished at the distance of
+a mile. Its bark once led to its recovery, when stolen by some
+carters. "Bass," as the dog was named, had been missing for some time,
+when it was brought back to Grange House by a letter-carrier, who said
+that in going along a certain street, he heard a barking inside a
+yard, and at once recognized the voice of Bass. "He knocked at the
+gate," writes Sir Thomas, "and immediately said to the owner of the
+premises,--
+
+"'You have got Sir Thomas Lander's big dog.'
+
+"The man denied it.
+
+"'But I know you have,' continued the letter-carrier. 'I am certain
+that I heard the bark of Sir Thomas's big dog; for there is no other
+dog in or about all Edinburgh that has such a bark.'
+
+"The man then admitted that he had a large dog, which he had bought
+for a trifle from a couple of coal carters; and at last, with great
+reluctance, he gave up the dog to the letter-carrier, who brought him
+home here."
+
+Sir Thomas, after describing many of Bass's characteristics, then
+proceeds:--
+
+"He took a particular fancy for one of the postmen who delivers
+letters here, though he was not the man whom I have already had
+occasion to mention. It was the duty of this postman I now allude to,
+besides delivering letters, to carry a letter-bag from one receiving
+house to another, and this big bag he used to give Bass to carry. Bass
+always followed that man through all the villas in the neighborhood
+where he had deliveries to make, and he invariably parted with him
+opposite to the gate of the Convent of St. Margaret's, and returned
+home.
+
+"When our gate was shut, to prevent his following the postman, the dog
+always leaped a high wall to get after him. One day, when the postman
+was ill, or detained by some accidental circumstance, he sent a man in
+his place. Bass went up to the man, curiously scanning his face,
+whilst the man retired from the dog, by no means liking his
+appearance, and very anxious to decline all acquaintance with him. But
+as the man left the place, Bass followed him, showing strong symptoms
+that he was determined to have the post-bag. The man did all he could
+to keep the possession of it. But at length Bass, seeing that he had
+no chance of getting possession of the bag by civil entreaty, raised
+himself on his hind legs, and putting a great fore paw on each of the
+man's shoulders, he laid him flat on his back in the road, and quietly
+picking up the bag, he proceeded peaceably on his wonted way. The man,
+much dismayed, arose and followed the dog, making, every now and then,
+an ineffectual attempt to coax him to give it up.
+
+"At the first house he came to he told his fears and the dilemma he
+was in; but the people comforted him by telling him that the dog
+always carried the bag. Bass walked with the man to all the houses at
+which he delivered letters, and along the road till he came to the
+gate of St. Margaret's, where he dropped the bag; and making his bow
+to the man, he returned home."
+
+
+
+
+THE FLIGHT OF THE BIRDS.
+
+
+    O wise little birds! how do you know
+            The way to go
+    Southward and northward, to and fro?
+
+    Far up in the ether piped they:
+            "We but obey
+    One who calleth us far away.
+
+    "He calleth and calleth year by year
+            Now there, now here;
+    Ever He maketh the way appear."
+
+    Dear little birds, He calleth me
+            Who calleth ye:
+    Would that I might as trusting be!
+
+[Illustration: FEEDING THE BIRDS.]
+
+
+
+
+FOR THE CHILDREN.
+
+
+    Come stand by my knee, little children,
+      Too weary for laughter or song;
+    The sports of the daylight are over,
+      And evening is creeping along;
+    The snow-fields are white in the moonlight,
+      The winds of the winter are chill,
+    But under the sheltering roof-tree
+      The fire shineth ruddy and still.
+
+    You sit by the fire, little children,
+      Your cheeks are ruddy and warm;
+    But out in the cold of the winter
+      Is many a shivering form.
+    There are mothers that wander for shelter,
+      And babes that are pining for bread;
+    Oh, thank the dear Lord, little children,
+      From whose tender hand you are fed.
+
+    Come look in my eyes, little children,
+      And tell me, through all the long day,
+    Have you thought of the Father above us,
+      Who guarded from evil our way?
+    He heareth the cry of the sparrow,
+      And careth for great and for small;
+    In life and in death, little children,
+      His love is the truest of all.
+
+    Now come to your rest, little children,
+      And over your innocent sleep,
+    Unseen by your vision, the angels
+      Their watch through the darkness shall keep;
+    Then pray that the Shepherd who guideth
+      The lambs that He loveth so well
+    May lead you, in life's rosy morning,
+      Beside the still waters to dwell.
+
+[Illustration: BED-TIME.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A dog breaks a hole through ice to get a drink}]
+
+REASON AND INSTINCT.
+
+
+Are dogs endowed with reason? As you grow up, you will spend many
+happy hours in the contemplation of this interesting question. It does
+sometimes seem as if there could be no possible doubt that dogs, as
+well as horses, elephants, and some other of the higher animals, are
+gifted with the dawn of reason, so extraordinary are some of their
+acts.
+
+It is but a few days since a dog in Vermont saved a house from
+burning, and possibly the inmates. The dog discovered the fire in the
+kitchen, flew to his master's apartment, leaped upon his bed, and so
+aroused the people to a sense of their danger.
+
+"As I was walking out one frosty morning with a large Newfoundland
+dog," says the Rev. J. C. Atkinson, "I observed the animal's repeated
+disappointment on putting his head down to drink at sundry ice-covered
+pools. After one of these disappointments, I broke the ice with my
+foot for my thirsty companion. The next time Tiger was thirsty, he did
+not wait for me to 'break the ice,' but with his foot, or, if too
+strong, by jumping upon it, he obtained water for himself."
+
+Here seems to be the manifestation of a desire to _learn from
+observation_.
+
+After the battle of Fredericksburg, it fell to my duty to search a
+given district for any dead or wounded soldiers there might be left,
+and to bring relief. Near an old brick dwelling I discovered a soldier
+in gray who seemed to be dead. Lying by his side was a noble dog, with
+his head flat upon his master's neck. As I approached, the dog raised
+his eyes to me good-naturedly, and began wagging his tail; but he did
+not change his position. The fact that the animal did not growl, that
+he did not move, but, more than all, the intelligent, joyful
+expression of his face, convinced me that the man was only wounded,
+which proved to be the case. A bullet had pierced his throat, and
+faint from the loss of blood, he had fallen down where he lay. His dog
+had _actually stopped the bleeding from the wound by laying his head
+across it_. Whether this was casual or not, I cannot say. But the
+shaggy coat of the faithful creature was completely matted with his
+master's blood.
+
+Strange as these facts may appear, we should not confound INSTINCT
+with intelligence which comes from REASON. There is a wide difference
+between them. Before long I propose to discuss this matter to some
+extent, in an article which I have already begun.
+
+
+
+
+TOUCH NOT.
+
+
+    Touch not the tempting cup, my boy,
+      Though urged by friend or foe;
+    Dare, when the tempter urges most,
+      Dare nobly say, No--no!
+    The joyous angel from on high
+    Shall tell your soul the reason why.
+
+    Touch not the tempting cup, my boy;
+      In righteousness be brave;
+    Take not the first, a single step,
+      Towards a drunkard's grave;
+    The widow's groan, the orphan's sigh,
+    Shall tell your soul the reason why.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Two girls, their arms full of flowers and foliage}]
+
+CHILDREN.
+
+
+    What could we without them,
+      Those flowers of life?
+    How bear all the sorrows
+      With which it is rife?
+    As long as they blossom,
+      Whilst brightly they bloom,
+    Our own griefs are nothing,
+      Forgotten our gloom.
+
+    We joy in the sunshine--
+      It sheds on them light;
+    We welcome the shower--
+      It makes them more bright;
+    On our pathway of thorns
+      They are thrown from above,
+    And they twine round about us,
+      And bless us with love.
+
+    Bright, beautiful flowers,
+      So fresh and so pure!
+    How could we without them
+      Life's troubles endure?
+    So guileless and holy,
+      Such soothers of strife,
+    What could we without them,
+      Sweet flowers of life?
+
+
+
+
+THE WHITE BUTTERFLY.
+
+A TALE FOR CHILDREN.
+
+
+Very slowly and wearily over road and hedge flew a white butterfly one
+calm May evening; its wings had been torn and battered in its flight
+from eager pursuers, who little cared that their pleasure was
+another's pain. On, on, went the fugitive, until it came to a little
+garden so sweet and quiet that it rested from its flight and said,
+"Here, at least, I shall find peace; these gentle flowers will give me
+shelter." Then, with eager swiftness, it flew to a stately peony. "Oh,
+give me shelter, thou beautiful flower!" it murmured as it rested for
+a second upon its crimson head--a second only, for, with a jerk and an
+exclamation of disgust, the peony cast the butterfly to the ground.
+With a low sigh it turned to the pansy near. Well, the pansy _wished_
+to be kind, but the butterfly was really very tattered and dirty; and
+then velvet soils so easily that she must beg to be excused. The
+wall-flower, naturally frank and good-natured, had been so tormented
+all day by those troublesome bees that she solemnly vowed she would do
+nothing more for anybody.
+
+The tulips were asleep; and the other flowers, trying to emulate fair
+Lady Rose, held their heads so very high that they, of course, did not
+hear the low, soft cry, "Oh, will no one give me shelter?" At last
+there came an answer, "I will, gladly," in a shy and trembling tone,
+as though fearing to be presumptuous, from a thick thorny bush which
+helped to protect the more dainty beauties from the rough blasts of a
+sometimes too boisterous wind; in consideration of which service the
+flowers considered the briar as a good, useful sort of thing,
+respectable enough in its common way, but not as an equal or
+associate, you understand. With gratitude the forlorn butterfly rested
+all night in the bosom of one of its simple white blossoms.
+
+When night had gone and the bright sun came gliding up from the east,
+calling on Nature to awake, the flowers raised their heads in all the
+pride of renewed beauty and saluted one another. Where was the forlorn
+butterfly? Ah! where? They saw it no more; but over the white blossom
+where it had rested there hovered a tiny fairy in shining, changing
+sheen, her wand sparkling with dewdrops. She looked down on the
+flowers with gentle, reproachful eye, while they bent low in wonder
+and admiration.
+
+"Who is it?" they asked. "How beautiful! how lovely!"
+
+The fairy heard them with a smile, and said, "Fair flowers, I _was_ a
+shabby butterfly; what I _am_, you see. I came to you poor and weary;
+and because I was poor and weary you shut me out from your hearts."
+
+The pansy and the wall-flower bent their heads in sorrow, and Lady
+Rose blushed with shame.
+
+"If I had only known!" muttered the peony; "but who would have thought
+it?"
+
+"Who indeed?" laughed the fairy; "but learn, proud peony, that he who
+thinks always of self loses much of life's sweetness--far more than he
+ever suspects; for goodness is as the dew of the heart, and yieldeth
+refreshment and happiness, even if it win no other recompense. But it
+is meet that it should be rewarded. Behold, all of you!" and the fairy
+touched with her wand the white blossom on which she had rested,
+saying, "For thy sweetness be thou loved for ever!" At these words a
+thrill of happiness stirred the sap of the rough, neglected briar, and
+a soft, lovely blush suffused the petals of its flowers, and from its
+green leaves came forth an exquisite odor, perfuming the whole garden
+and eclipsing the other flowers in their pride.
+
+Then the fairy rose in the air, and hovering over her resting-place
+for a moment ere she vanished said, "Such is the reward of goodness.
+Fare thee well, sweet briar!"
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Tom and Pearson on the deck of the ship in the snow}]
+
+WORKING IS BETTER THAN WISHING.
+
+
+"Now then, Tom, lad, what's up? in trouble again?" asked a
+good-natured sailor of his messmate, one snowy day on the wide
+Atlantic.
+
+The boy was leaning moodily against the bulwarks of the vessel--a
+pleasant, ruddy young fellow of fourteen, but with a cloud on his face
+which looked very like discontent.
+
+Snow was falling heavily, but he did not heed it; he looked up,
+however, at the approach of his friend, and answered,--
+
+"I'm all right, Pearson; it isn't that. I was only wishing and
+wondering why I can't get what I want; it seems a shame, it does!" and
+Tom paused abruptly, half choked by a sob.
+
+"What is it, Tom?" asked Pearson; "have the other lads been plaguing?
+Such a big, hearty fellow as you ought not to fret for that."
+
+"I don't," said Tom, sharply; "it's not that; but they've found out
+that my little brother is in the workhouse at home, and they throw it
+at me. I'd do anything to get him out, too, for he oughtn't to be
+there: we come of a better sort, Pearson," he said, proudly; "but
+father and mother dying of that fever put us all wrong. Uncle got me
+to sea, and then, I suppose, he thought he'd done enough; so there was
+only the workhouse left for Willy. He's the jolliest little chap,
+Pearson, you ever saw, and I'd work day and night to get him out, if I
+could; but where's the use? A poor boy like me can do nothing; so I
+just get in a rage, or don't care about anything, and fight the other
+lads; or I'm had up for neglect of duty, or something."
+
+"And so you lose all chance of getting on, and being able in time to
+help your little brother," said Pearson, as if musing; "but what's
+that you have in your hand, Tom--a picture?"
+
+"It's Willy," said the boy; "yes, you may look, Pearson. Mother had it
+taken just before she fell ill; he's only four, but he's the prettiest
+little chap, with yellow hair all in curls. I dare say they've cut
+them off, though," he added, bitterly. "There's a bit of a sickly
+child on board, belonging to the tall lady in black, that reminds me a
+little of him, only he isn't near as pretty as Willy."
+
+"Yes, he is a pretty little lad," said Pearson, returning the
+photograph; "and now, Tom, mind my word: I am an old fellow compared
+to you, and I'll give you a bit of advice. The little lad is safe, at
+any rate, in the workhouse; he's got food and clothes, and you
+couldn't give him that; so be content, and try to do your own duty. If
+you get a good character, instead of being always had up for sulking
+or fighting, that's the best chance for you, and, after you, for
+Willy. As for the lads' teasing, why, be a bit hard of hearing, and
+before many years, I warrant, you'll be having Willy aboard ship as
+boy, when you're an able-bodied seaman."
+
+Tom laughed. "Thank you, Pearson. Well, I'll try; but I do get wishing
+and bothering of nights."
+
+"Ah, that wishing's a poor trick," said Pearson; "give it up, Tom, and
+work instead."
+
+People don't often take advice, but this time it was followed. A great
+deal of rough weather came on; every one had as much as he could do,
+and Tom worked with the best of them, and to his great joy was noticed
+by the ship's officers as a willing lad.
+
+One bright morning brought all the passengers on deck,--the ship was
+bound for Rio,--and among them came the tall lady in black, with her
+little boy in her arms. Tom's duties took him near her, and he could
+not but steal a glance at the little face like Willy's; but, O, so
+pale and pinched now! The child had suffered dreadfully in the rough
+weather; it was doubtful whether he would see land again, he was so
+weakened. Tom felt sorry for the little fellow, but his work engrossed
+him, and he had nearly forgotten the white-faced child, when, to his
+great surprise, the captain called him. The lady in black was a
+relative of the captain, and it seemed that while Tom had been
+glancing at the sick child, the child had been watching him, and had
+taken a fancy to his clear round face, and active movements.
+
+"Let me see what sort of a head-nurse you can make," said the captain
+to Tom; "this little fellow will have you carry him, he says, and
+teach him to climb the rigging."
+
+Tom smiled, but instantly checked himself, as hardly respectful to the
+captain.
+
+They dressed Carlo up in a suit of sailor clothes. To be sure they
+were rather large for him, but then it was such fun to be a real
+little sailor. Under Tom's care his face soon grew round and fat, and
+his merry laugh rang out on the air. And now he would live to see his
+father and his birthplace again, for he was born in South America, and
+had only left his Portuguese father for a few months, to accompany his
+English mother on a visit to her relatives.
+
+The day before they sighted land, Tom was sent for into the captain's
+cabin, and there a wonderful proposal was made to him--that he should
+give up sea life, and go to Bella Sierra as little Carlo's attendant.
+Carlo's parents were rich people; little Carlo had taken a great fancy
+to him, and he would have good wages.
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE SAILOR.]
+
+It sounded very pleasant; but little Willy! he should never see
+him--it would not do. Tom hesitatingly explained this to Carlo's
+mother, drawing the little photograph out of his pocket the while.
+
+Then came the last and best proposition,--that Willy should come out
+on the _Flying Star's_ next voyage, and live, too, at Bella Sierra.
+Mrs. Costello--the lady in black--promised to pay all expenses, and
+put him in charge of the stewardess. Carlo, her only child, had grown
+so fond of Tom, that she would do anything to keep him.
+
+"Such an active, willing boy," she explained to the captain. "I have
+often watched him at work, and admired the way in which he did it."
+
+"Well, lad," said Pearson, when Tom came to tell him the news, "wasn't
+I right when I told you that the best way you could work for Willy
+was by doing your own duty? If you had gone on in that half-and-half,
+discontented way, no rich lady would have cared to have you about her
+house--would she?"
+
+Tom looked thoughtful. "Yes, you were right, Pearson; you've done it
+all; and now I want you to do one thing more. Please look after Willy
+a bit when he comes out; he's such a daring little chap, he'll always
+be running away from the stewardess."
+
+"Ah, you want me to be nurse now--do you?" said Pearson; "all right,
+lad, and as the song says, 'Don't forget me in the land you're going
+to.' And you can still stick to my old motto, that 'Working is better
+than Wishing.'"
+
+
+
+
+KIND TO EVERYTHING.
+
+
+    Softly, softly, little sister,
+      Touch those gayly-painted wings;
+    Butterflies and moths, remember,
+      Are such very tender things.
+
+    Softly, softly, little sister,
+      Twirl your limber hazel twig;
+    Little hands may harm a nestling
+      Thoughtlessly, as well as big.
+
+    Gently stroke the purring pussy,
+      Kindly pat the friendly dog;
+    Let your unmolesting mercy
+      Even spare the toad or frog.
+
+    Wide is God's great world around you:
+      Let the harmless creatures live;
+    Do not mar their brief enjoyment,
+      Take not what you cannot give.
+
+    Let your heart be warm and tender--
+      For the mute and helpless plead;
+    Pitying leads to prompt relieving,
+      Kindly thought to kindly deed.
+
+[Illustration: SOFTLY, SOFTLY, LITTLE SISTER.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The farmer and the calf}]
+
+THAT CALF!
+
+
+    To the yard, by the barn, came the farmer one morn,
+      And, calling the cattle, he said,
+    While they trembled with fright, "Now, which of you, last night,
+      Shut the barn door, while I was abed?"
+      Each one of them all shook his head.
+
+    Now the little calf Spot, she was down in the lot;
+      And the way the rest talked was a shame;
+    For no one, night before, saw her shut up the door;
+      But they said that she did,--all the same,--
+      For they always made her take the blame.
+
+    Said the horse (dapple gray), "I was not up that way
+      Last night, as I now recollect;"
+    And the bull, passing by, tossed his horns very high,
+      And said, "Let who may here object,
+      I say 'tis that calf I suspect!"
+
+    Then out spoke the cow, "It is terrible, now,
+      To accuse honest folks of such tricks."
+    Said the cock in the tree, "I'm sure 'twasn't me;"
+      And the sheep all cried, "Bah!" (There were six.)
+      "Now that calf's got herself in a fix!"
+
+    "Why, of course, we all knew 'twas the wrong thing to do."
+      Said the chickens. "Of course," said the cat;
+    "I suppose," cried the mule, "some folks think me a fool;
+      But I'm not quite so simple as that;
+      The poor calf never knows what she's at!"
+
+    Just that moment, the calf, who was always the laugh
+      And the jest of the yard, came in sight.
+    "Did you shut my barn door?" asked the farmer once more.
+      "I did, sir; I closed it last night,"
+      Said the calf; "and I thought that was right."
+
+    Then each one shook his head. "She will catch it," they said;
+      "Serve her right for her meddlesome way!"
+    Said the farmer, "Come here, little bossy, my dear!
+      You have done what I cannot repay,
+      And your fortune is made from to-day.
+
+    "For a wonder, last night, I forgot the door, quite;
+      And if you had not shut it so neat,
+    All my colts had slipped in, and gone right to the bin,
+      And got what they ought not to eat--
+      They'd have foundered themselves upon wheat."
+
+    Then each hoof of them all began loudly to bawl;
+      The very mule smiled; the cock crew;
+    "Little Spotty, my dear, you're a favorite here,"
+      They cried. "We all said it was you,
+      We were so glad to give you your due."
+      And the calf answered, knowingly, "Boo!"
+
+                              PHOEBE CARY.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: HELPING MOTHER.]
+
+LITTLE HELPERS.
+
+
+    Planting the corn and potatoes,
+      Helping to scatter the seeds,
+    Feeding the hens and the chickens,
+      Freeing the garden from weeds,
+    Driving the cows to the pasture,
+      Feeding the horse in the stall,--
+    We little children are busy;
+      Sure, there is work for us all.
+
+    Spreading the hay in the sunshine,
+      Raking it up when it's dry,
+    Picking the apples and peaches
+      Down in the orchard hard by,
+    Picking the grapes in the vineyard,
+      Gathering nuts in the fall,--
+    We little children are busy;
+      Yes, there is work for us all.
+
+    Sweeping, and washing the dishes,
+      Bringing the wood from the shed,
+    Ironing, sewing and knitting,
+      Helping to make up the beds,
+    Taking good care of the baby,
+      Watching her lest she should fall,--
+    We little children are busy;
+      Oh, there is work for us all.
+
+    Work makes us cheerful and happy,
+      Makes us both active and strong;
+    Play we enjoy all the better
+      When we have labored so long.
+    Gladly we help our kind parents,
+      Quickly we come to their call;
+    Children should love to be busy;
+      There is much work for us all.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE PUZZLED PUPPIES.]
+
+THE ANIMAL IN ARMOR.
+
+
+This picture of three curious little puppies looking at a tortoise
+reminds me of a story told of a countryman who saw some land-tortoises
+for the first time at a fair held in a market-place of his native
+village. Very much surprised at their queer look, he asked the man who
+was selling them how much they were.
+
+"Eighteenpence a pair," was the answer.
+
+"Eighteenpence!" said the man; "that is a great deal for a thing like
+a frog. What will you take for one _without the box_?"
+
+Little folks would not make such a stupid mistake as this; they would
+know that this strange-looking animal between its two shells was a
+tortoise. There are different sorts--some that live on land, and some
+in water. Those that live in the sea are called turtles, and their
+shells are not so hard as that of the land-tortoise. It is easy to see
+why this is: a turtle would not be able to swim with so thick a shell;
+it would be much as if a man in armor were to try. Their shells are
+not all in one, but joined together by a sort of gristle, which
+enables them to move with greater ease and not so stiffly.
+
+Directly any one hears the name of tortoise, he begins to think of
+tortoise-shell. This ought really to be called turtle-shell, as it is
+made from the shell of the hawk's-bill turtle. Tortoise-shell is made
+by soaking the plates of the shell in warm water until they are soft;
+then they are pressed into the shapes wanted in warm iron moulds, and
+taken out and polished.
+
+Some of the sea-turtles are very fierce; and although they have no
+teeth, their jaws are so strong that they can bite a walking-stick in
+half. Land-tortoises are quite harmless; they only attack the insects
+they feed upon. They go to sleep, like the dormouse, in the winter,
+but they do not make a burrow; they cover themselves with earth by
+scraping it up and throwing it over their bodies. In doing this they
+would find their heads and tails very much in the way if it were not
+that they are able to draw them in between their shells. No one, of
+course, knows how they find their way out again in the spring; but it
+is supposed that they scratch the earth away and throw it underneath
+them, at the same time pushing their way up.
+
+Tortoises live to a very great age. One was given to the Zoological
+Gardens in 1833 which had already lived seventy years in Port Louis,
+in the island of Mauritius. Its shell, from the head to the tail,
+measured four feet four inches and a half, and it weighed two hundred
+and eighty-five pounds.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A Chinese man fishing with birds}]
+
+THE IRON RING.
+
+
+Chang Wang was a Chinaman, and was reputed to be one of the shrewdest
+dealers in the Flowery Land. If making money fast be the test of
+cleverness, there was not a merchant in the province of Kwang Tung who
+had earned a better right to be called clever. Who owned so many
+fields of the tea-plant, who shipped so many bales of its leaves to
+the little island in the west, as did Chang Wang? It was whispered,
+indeed, that many of the bales contained green tea made by chopping up
+spoiled black tea leaves, and coloring them with copper--a process
+likely to turn them into a mild kind of poison; but if the unwholesome
+trash found purchasers, Chang Wang never troubled himself with the
+thought whether any one might suffer in health from drinking his tea.
+So long as the dealer made money, he was content; and plenty of money
+he made.
+
+But knowing how to make money is quite a different thing from knowing
+how to enjoy it. With all his ill-gotten gains, Chang Wang was a
+miserable man; for he had no heart to spend his silver pieces, even on
+his own comfort. The rich dealer lived in a hut which one of his own
+laborers might have despised; he dressed as a poor Tartar shepherd
+might have dressed when driving his flock. Chang Wang grudged himself
+even a hat to keep off the rays of the sun. Men laughed, and said that
+he would have cut off his own pigtail of plaited hair, if he could
+have sold it for the price of a dinner!
+
+Chang Wang was, in fact, a miser, and was rather proud than ashamed of
+the hateful vice of avarice.
+
+Chang Wang had to make a journey to Macao, down the great River
+Yang-se-kiang, for purposes of trade. The question with the Chinaman
+now was, in what way he should travel.
+
+"Shall I hire a palanquin?" thought Chang Wang, stroking his thin
+mustaches; "no, a palanquin would cost too much money. Shall I take my
+passage in a trading vessel?"
+
+The rich trader shook his head, and the pigtail behind it--such a
+passage would have to be paid for.
+
+"I know what I'll do," said the miser to himself; "I'll ask my uncle
+Fing Fang to take me in his fishing-boat down the great river. It is
+true that it will make my journey a long one; but then I shall make it
+for nothing. I'll go to the fisherman Fing Fang, and settle the matter
+at once."
+
+The business was soon arranged, for Fing Fang would not refuse his
+rich nephew a seat in his boat. But he, like every one else, was
+disgusted at Chang Wang's meanness; and as soon as the dealer had left
+his hovel, thus spoke Fing Fang to his sons, Ko and Jung:--
+
+"Here's a fellow who has scraped up money enough to build a second
+Porcelain Tower, and he comes here to beg a free passage in a
+fishing-boat from an uncle whom he has never so much as asked to share
+a dish of his birds'-nests soup!"
+
+"Birds'-nests soup, indeed!" exclaimed Ko; "why, Chang Wang never
+indulges in luxuries such as that. If dogs' flesh were not so cheap,
+he'd grudge himself the paw of a roasted puppy!"
+
+"And what will Chang Wang make of all his money at last?" said Fing
+Fang, more gravely; "he cannot carry it away with him when he dies."
+
+"O, he's gathering it up for some one who will know how to spend it!"
+laughed Jung. "Chang Wang is merely fishing for others; what he
+gathers, they will enjoy."
+
+It was a bright, pleasant day when Chang Wang stepped into the boat of
+his uncle, to drop slowly down the great Yang-se-kiang. Many a civil
+word he said to Fing Fang and his sons, for civil words cost nothing.
+Chang Wang sat in the boat, twisting the ends of his long mustaches,
+and thinking how much money each row of plants in his tea-fields might
+bring him. Presently, having finished his calculations, the miser
+turned to watch his relations, who were pursuing their fishing
+occupation in the way peculiar to China. Instead of rods, lines, or
+nets, the Fing Fang family was provided with trained cormorants, which
+are a kind of bird with a long neck, large appetite, and a particular
+fancy for fish.
+
+It was curious to watch a bird diving down in the sunny water, and
+then suddenly come up again with a struggling fish in his bill. The
+fish was, however, always taken away from the cormorant, and thrown by
+one of the Fing Fangs into a well at the bottom of the boat.
+
+"Cousin Ko," said the miser, leaning forward to speak, "how is it that
+your clever cormorants never devour the fish they catch?"
+
+"Cousin Chang Wang," replied the young man, "dost thou not see that
+each bird has an iron ring round his neck, so that he cannot swallow?
+He only fishes for others."
+
+"Methinks the cormorant has a hard life of it," observed the miser,
+smiling. "He must wish his iron ring at the bottom of the
+Yang-se-kiang."
+
+Fing Fang, who had just let loose two young cormorants from the boat,
+turned round, and from his narrow slits of Chinese eyes looked keenly
+upon his nephew.
+
+"Didst thou ever hear of a creature," said he, "that puts an iron ring
+around his own neck?"
+
+"There is no such creature in all the land that the Great Wall
+borders," replied Chang Wang.
+
+Fing Fang solemnly shook the pigtail which hung down his back. Like
+many of the Chinese, he had read a great deal, and was a kind of
+philosopher in his way.
+
+"Nephew Chang Wang," he observed, "_I_ know of a creature (and he is
+not far off at this moment) who is always fishing for gain--constantly
+catching, but never enjoying. Avarice--the love of hoarding--is the
+iron ring round his neck; and so long as it stays there, he is much
+like one of our trained cormorants--he may be clever, active,
+successful, but he is only fishing for others."
+
+I leave my readers to guess whether the sharp dealer understood his
+uncle's meaning, or whether Chang Wang resolved in future not only to
+catch, but to enjoy. Fing Fang's moral might be good enough for a
+heathen, but it does not go nearly far enough for a Christian. If a
+miser is like a cormorant with an iron ring round his neck, the man or
+the child who lives for his own pleasure only, what is he but a greedy
+cormorant with the iron ring? Who would wish to resemble a cormorant
+at all? The bird knows the enjoyment of _getting_; let us prize the
+richer enjoyment of _giving_. Let me close with an English proverb,
+which I prefer to the Chinaman's parable--"Charity is the truest
+epicure, for she eats with many mouths."
+
+                                                 A. L. O. E.
+
+
+
+
+SUMMER.
+
+
+    I'm coming along with a bounding pace
+      To finish the work that Spring begun;
+    I've left them all with a brighter face,
+      The flowers in the vales through which I've run.
+
+    I have hung festoons from laburnum trees,
+      And clothed the lilac, the birch and broom;
+    I've wakened the sound of humming-bees,
+      And decked all nature in brighter bloom.
+
+    I've roused the laugh of the playful child,
+      And tired it out in the sunny noon;
+    All nature at my approach hath smiled,
+      And I've made fond lovers seek the moon.
+
+    For this is my life, my glorious reign,
+      And I'll queen it well in my leafy bower;
+    All shall be bright in my rich domain;
+      I'm queen of the leaf, the bud and the flower.
+
+    And I'll reign in triumph till autumn-time
+      Shall conquer my green and verdant pride;
+    Then I'll hie me to another clime
+      Till I'm called again as a sunny bride.
+
+
+
+
+CHARLIE'S CHRISTMAS.
+
+
+Oh how cold and miserable everything is! Hardly a thought to be
+uppermost on Christmas eve in the mind of a little school-boy; and yet
+it was that which filled the mind of Charlie Earle on the Christmas
+eve of which I am going to tell you. Only a few hours before, he had
+been as happy as any boy could be. Everybody was going home, and
+everybody was in the highest spirits and full of the most delightful
+hopes of what the holidays would bring them; and now everybody except
+Charlie has gone home, and he is left alone in the dreary school-room,
+knowing that at any rate Christmas day, and maybe many other days, are
+to be spent away from home, and from all the pleasant doings which he
+had pictured to himself and others only the very day before.
+
+The coming of the post-bag had been scarcely noticed in the
+school-room that morning. So when old Bunce, the butler, looked in at
+the door and said, "Master Earle is wanted in the doctor's room," the
+boys all wondered, and Charlie's neighbor whispered to him, "Whatever
+can he want you for, Earle?" The doctor's tale was soon told, and it
+was one which sent Charlie back to the school-room with a very
+different face to the one with which he had left it. A letter had come
+to Doctor West from Charlie's father, and in it a note from his mother
+to Charlie himself, written the night before, and saying that a
+summons had come that very morning calling them to Charlie's
+grandmother, who was very ill, and that they were starting for
+Scotland that night and would be almost at their journey's end when
+Charlie got the news. The note said that Laura, Charlie's sister,
+would go with them, but that they could not wait for Charlie himself,
+so they had written to Mrs. Lamb, Charlie's old nurse, who lived about
+ten miles from Dr. West's, and had asked her to take charge of him for
+a day or two, till more was known of his grandmother's state and some
+better plan could be made for him. It was sad enough for Charlie to
+hear of the illness of his kind old grandmother--sad enough to see the
+merry start of the other boys, while he had to stay behind; but to
+have to think of Christmas day spent away from father and mother, away
+from Laura and home, was excuse enough for a few bitter tears. But
+unpleasant things come to an end as well as pleasant ones, and
+Charlie's lonely waiting in the school-room came to its end, and he
+found himself that afternoon snugly packed into the Blackridge coach,
+and forgetting his own troubles in listening to the cheery chatter of
+the other passengers, and in looking at what was to be seen as the
+coach rolled briskly along the snow-covered road. It was quite dark
+when they reached Blackridge, and Charlie looked out at the people
+gathered round the door of the "Packhorse Inn," and a sudden fear
+filled his mind lest there should be no one there to meet him; but he
+soon saw by the light at the inn door Nurse Lamb herself, with her
+kind face looking so beaming that it seemed a little bit like _really_
+going home.
+
+"Here, father," said Nurse Lamb to her jolly-looking husband; "here's
+Master Charlie, safe and sound! You bring the luggage in the barrow
+while I take him home quick, for I am sure he must be cold."
+
+And so nurse bustled Charlie off down a lane and across a meadow, till
+they came to a wicket-gate, beyond which stood the back of a low,
+deep-thatched cottage half buried in snow. On getting round to the
+front the door was opened by a little girl, and nurse called out,
+"Here, Molly, here we are;" adding, "Molly is my step-daughter, Master
+Charlie--the one I used to tell you about before I was married, when
+we were down at Hastings."
+
+[Illustration: WINTER.]
+
+When they got into the house, there was the kitchen with its rows of
+bright pewter plates, its wide hearth and roaring fire, its hams
+hanging to the beams, all just as they had been described in the days
+when nurse's new home at Blackridge Farm was a subject of never-ending
+interest to the two children in Mrs. Earle's nursery.
+
+After he had had a capital tea, Charlie was allowed to go round with
+the farmer to see that the horses were all right for the night,
+Charlie carrying the lantern and feeling himself quite a man as he
+followed the farmer into the stable. There was much coming and going
+at the farm that evening, for was it not Christmas eve? and nurse was
+busy sending off gifts to neighbors who were not so thriving as
+herself, and busy, too, in making preparations for the morrow. Charlie
+meanwhile sat in the settle and made friends with Molly, who was about
+his own age and knew much more, though she was only a girl, about dogs
+and rabbits and tadpoles than London-bred Charlie. By and by they
+helped to stir the great plum-pudding, and dressed the kitchen and
+parlor with evergreens, till nurse called them to come and hear the
+chimes.
+
+And Charlie thought it very beautiful as he stood at the door and
+listened to the bells. And as they stood there the wind wafted to them
+also the voices of the choir as they went on their round through the
+village, singing their carols; and then Charlie went to bed with
+"Hark, the herald angels sing!" ringing in his ears.
+
+Next morning Charlie, as he ran down stairs, could hardly believe this
+was really Christmas day, all was so unlike any Christmas he had known
+before; but in the kitchen he found one thing like the Christmas
+mornings at home, for he found quite a little pile of parcels beside
+his plate, containing the pretty gifts prepared by father and mother
+and Laura, and sent by them to nurse, so that at any rate the little
+lad should not be robbed of this part of his Christmas pleasures.
+There was a note, too, from mother, saying that she and father and
+Laura were safe in Edinburgh, and that grandmother was better, and
+that she hoped to tell him in her next letter when they and he should
+meet at home in London. Such a bright beginning was enough to make all
+the rest of the day bright; and bright it was. Charlie found plenty to
+do till church-time, as Molly showed him all the nooks and corners
+about the farm.
+
+The old church, with its high pews and country congregation made
+Charlie feel that he must be dreaming. Surely it could not be
+Christmas, but must be the autumn? and he and Laura and everybody had
+come away from London for the holidays?
+
+No; it was no dream. It was really Christmas; for there, round the
+pillars, were the holly-wreaths with their red berries, and there,
+behind the chancel-screen, were the same Christmas texts as in their
+church in London. When service was over, Charlie and Molly hurried
+home to help Martha, the farm-girl, to have all in readiness for the
+Christmas dinner. But after dinner there was not much sitting
+still--at any rate for Charlie; for who could think of sitting still
+indoors, when outside there were a pond covered with ice and a
+farmyard full of horses and dogs?
+
+Nor was the evening after tea without its pleasure. When the snow
+began to fall, and the doors and windows were tightly closed, then a
+huge log was piled on the fire; and while Farmer and Mrs. Lamb sat and
+talked before it in the parlor, Charlie and Molly had a fine game of
+romps in the big kitchen with Martha; and when they were tired of
+that, they sat on the hearth and roasted chestnuts, while nurse read a
+Christmas tale to them.
+
+And here I must leave Charlie finishing his Christmas day, hoping that
+any who read this story of it may agree with Charlie in thinking, when
+he laid his head on the pillow that night, that, though it had been
+spent far from home, it had not been an unhappy day, after all.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Marcellin and the hunter}]
+
+MARCELLIN.
+
+
+Marcellin, a young shepherd boy, who tended his father's flock upon
+the mountains, having penetrated a deep gorge to search for one of his
+sheep which was missing, discovered in the thickest of the forest a
+man lying upon the ground overcome with fatigue, and faint from want
+of food.
+
+"My poor lad," said the man, "I am dying from hunger and thirst. Two
+days ago I came upon this mountain to hunt. I lost my way, and I have
+passed two nights in the woods."
+
+Marcellin drew some bread and cheese from his knapsack, and gave to
+the stranger.
+
+"Eat," he said, "and then follow me. I will conduct you to an old oak
+tree, in the trunk of which we shall find some water."
+
+The food satisfied his hunger; then he followed Marcellin, and drank
+of the water, which he found excellent. Afterwards the boy conducted
+him down the mountain, and pointed out the way to the city.
+
+Then the hunter said to the shepherd boy, "My good lad, you have saved
+my life. If I had remained in the mountain another night, I should
+have died. I will show you my gratitude. Come with me to the city. I
+am rich; and I will treat you as if you were my own son."
+
+"No, sir," said Marcellin; "I cannot go with you to the city. I have a
+father and a mother who are poor, but whom I love with all my heart.
+Were you a king, I would not leave my parents."
+
+"But," said the hunter, "you live here in a miserable cabin with an
+ugly thatched roof; I live in a palace built of marble, and
+surrounded with statues. I will give you drink in glasses like
+crystal, and food upon plates of silver."
+
+"Very likely," responded Marcellin; "but our house is not half as
+miserable as you suppose. If it is not surrounded with statues, it is
+among fruit trees and trellised vines. We drink water which we get
+from a neighboring fountain. It is very clear, though we do not drink
+from crystal cups. We gain by our labor a modest living, but good
+enough. And if we do not have silver ware in our house, we have plenty
+of flowers."
+
+"Nonsense, my boy! Come with me," said the hunter; "we have trees and
+flowers in the city more beautiful than yours. I have magnificent
+grounds, with broad alleys, with a flower garden filled with the most
+precious plants. In the middle of it there is a beautiful fountain,
+the like of which you never saw. The water is thrown upward in small
+streams, and falls back sparkling into the great white marble basin.
+You would be quite happy to live there."
+
+"But I am quite happy _here_," replied Marcellin. "The shade of our
+forests is at least as delicious as that of your superb alleys. Our
+fields are running over with flowers. You can hardly step without
+finding them under your feet. There are flowers around our
+cottage--roses, violets, lilies, pansies. Do you suppose that our
+fountains are less beautiful than your little jets of water? You
+should see the merry brooks bounding down over the rocks, and running
+away through the flowery meadow."
+
+"You don't know what you refuse," rejoined the hunter. "If you go into
+the city, you will be put to school, where you can study all
+departments of art and science. There are theatres, where skilful
+musicians will enchant your ears by harmony. There are rich saloons,
+to which you will be admitted, to enjoy splendid fêtes. And since you
+so much love the country, you shall pass your summer vacation with me
+in a superb chateau which I possess."
+
+"Well, I am greatly obliged to you," replied the shepherd boy; "but I
+think I had better stop with father and mother. I can learn everything
+useful in our village school. I am taught to fear God, to honor my
+parents, and to imitate their virtues. I don't wish to learn anything
+beyond that. Then your musicians, which you tell about, do they sing
+any better than the nightingale or the golden robin? Then we have our
+concerts and our fêtes. We are right down happy when we are all
+together on Sunday evening under the trees. My sister sings, while I
+accompany her upon my flute. Our chants can be heard a long way off,
+and echo repeats them. And in the evening, when we stay in the house,
+grandfather is with us. We love him so much because he is so good. No,
+I will not leave my parents. I will not renounce their home, if it is
+humble. I cannot go to the city with you."
+
+The hunter saw that it was of no use to argue the point; so he said,--
+
+"What shall I give you, then, to express my gratitude for your
+services? Take this purse, filled with gold."
+
+"What need have I of it? We are poor, but we want nothing. Besides, if
+I accept your money, I should _sell_ the little service I have been
+able to render. That would be wrong; my mother would blame me for such
+conduct. She tells me that we ought always to assist those who are in
+trouble and want without expecting pay for it."
+
+"Generous boy! What shall I give you as a mark of my gratitude? You
+must accept something, or I shall be greatly disappointed."
+
+"Is it so?" asked Marcellin, playfully. "Then give me the cup which
+is suspended at your side--that one on which is engraved a picture of
+some dogs pursuing a stag."
+
+The hunter joyfully gave the cup to the happy shepherd boy, who,
+having once more indicated the way which would lead to the city, bade
+him good day, and went back to his flock.
+
+And the rich man returned to his splendid dwelling, having learned
+that it is the proper use of the means we have, rather than wishing
+for greater, which brings happiness and contentment.
+
+
+
+
+AN ADVENTURE IN THE LIFE OF SALVATOR ROSA.
+
+
+There is in the museum at Florence a celebrated painting, which calls
+to mind a thrilling adventure of Salvator Rosa when quite young.
+
+The scene represents a solitude, very rugged and sublime--mountains
+upon every side, with their tops covered with snow, while through the
+dark clouds in the sky a few straggling sunbeams find their way to the
+valley. Upon the border of an immense cliff stands a group of men
+whose costume denotes them to be brigands of the Apennines. Upon the
+very edge of the precipice, erect and calm, is a young man, surrounded
+by the brigands, who are preparing to throw him into the depths below.
+The chief is a short distance away, and seemingly about to give the
+fatal signal. A few paces in advance stands a female, of strange
+beauty, waving her hand menacingly towards the chief as if commanding
+that the young man's life be spared. Her manner, resolute and
+imperious, the countenance of the chief, the grateful calmness of the
+prisoner, all seem to indicate that the woman's order will be obeyed,
+and that the victim will be saved from the frightful death with which
+he has been menaced.
+
+This picture, as will be readily guessed, is the work of SALVATOR
+ROSA. Born at Arenella, near Naples, in 1615, of poor parents, he was
+so admirably endowed by nature that, even in his boyhood, he became a
+spirited painter, a good musician, and an excellent poet. But his
+tastes led him to give his attention to painting.
+
+Unfortunately, some severe satires which he published in Naples made
+him many enemies in that city, and he was obliged to fly to Rome,
+where he took a position at once as a painter. Leaving that city after
+a while, he went to Florence, and there found a generous encouragement
+and many friends, and there his talent was appreciated by the world of
+art.
+
+The environs of Florence afforded him superior advantages in
+developing his genius. The Apennines, with their dark gorges, their
+picturesque landscapes, and their snow-clad peaks, pleased his wild
+imagination. In their vast recesses he found his best inspirations and
+his most original subjects. Often he wandered for days over the abrupt
+mountains, infested with bandits, to find work for his ambitious
+pencil.
+
+One day he had advanced farther than usual into the profound and
+dangerous solitudes. He sat down near a torrent, and began to sketch a
+wild landscape before him. All of a sudden he saw, at the summit of a
+rock near at hand, a man leaning upon his carbine, and apparently
+watching him with great curiosity. A large hat, with stained and torn
+brim, covered his sun-burnt visage; a leather belt bound his dark sack
+to his body, and gave support to a pistol and hunting-knife,
+invariably carried by the brigands of the mountains. His black beard,
+thick and untidy, concealed a portion of his face; but there could be
+no doubt that his dark glance was fixed upon the stranger who came to
+invade his domain.
+
+For almost any other but our hero, the sudden apparition of that wild
+and menacing figure would have been good cause of terror. But Salvator
+was a painter, and a painter in love with his art; and he had in that
+strange costume, that forbidding look, something so much in harmony
+with the aspect of nature about him, that he at once made the man a
+subject of study.
+
+"I mustn't lose him," he said; "he's an inhabitant of the country. He
+comes just in the nick of time to complete my landscape; and his
+position is quite fine."
+
+And, drawing tranquilly his pencil, he began to transfer the outlines
+of the brigand to his album, when the stranger, coming a few paces
+nearer to him, said, in a rough voice,--
+
+"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
+
+"Well, my good fellow, I come to take your portrait, if you'll hold
+still a bit," responded the painter.
+
+"Ah, you jest with me! Have a care," said the other, coming still
+nearer.
+
+"No," replied Salvator, seriously; "I am a painter; and I wander over
+these mountains with no other purpose but to admire these beautiful
+landscapes, and to sketch the most picturesque objects."
+
+"To sketch!" cried the brigand, with evident anger, hardly knowing
+what the word meant. "Do you not know that these mountains belong to
+us? Why do you come here to spy us out?"
+
+At these words he gave a shrill whistle, and three other men, clothed
+like himself, came towards the spot from different directions.
+
+"Seize this man!" he said to his companions; "he comes to observe us."
+
+All resistance was useless. And so, after having tried in vain to
+prove his innocence, the young man was surrounded and seized.
+
+"March!" cried the man who had first met him. "You must talk with our
+chief."
+
+The leader of these brigands was a man about forty years of age, named
+Pietratesta. His great physical strength, his courage, and, more than
+all the rest, his energy, had made him a favorite among his
+companions, and given him authority over them. Famous among the
+mountains for his audacious crimes, condemned many times to an
+outlaw's death, pursued in vain by the officers of the law, habituated
+for years to a life of adventure, pillage, and murder, he treated his
+prisoners without pity or mercy. All who were unable to purchase their
+liberty by paying whatever ransom he fixed, were put to death. He
+looked upon civilized people not as men, but as prizes.
+
+As he saw the captive approach, he asked the usual question,--
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"Salvator Rosa, a Neapolitan painter, now resident of Florence."
+
+"O, a painter! A poor prize, generally. But you are famous, I hear;
+the prince is your friend. Your pictures sell for very large prices.
+You must pay us ten thousand ducats."
+
+[Illustration: {Sivora, the chief's wife, standing on the cliff edge}]
+
+"Ten thousand ducats, indeed! Where do you suppose I can get so much?"
+
+"Well, as for that, if you haven't got the money, your friends must
+get it for you."
+
+"But my friends are not rich."
+
+"Ah, excuse me!" said the chief, smiling. "When one has a prince for a
+protector, he is always rich."
+
+"It is true that the prince is my patron; but he owes me nothing."
+
+"No matter if he don't. He would not be deprived of such an artist as
+you for a paltry ten thousand ducats."
+
+"He pays me for my pictures; but he will not pay my ransom."
+
+"He _must_," said the robber, emphatically; "so no more words. Ask
+your friends, if you prefer, or whoever you will; but bring me ten
+thousand ducats, and that within a month; otherwise you must die."
+
+As the chief uttered these words, he walked away, leaving Salvator in
+the middle of the ground which formed the camp.
+
+During the short conversation two children came from one of the tents,
+being attracted by the noise. Their little blond heads, curiously
+turned towards the captive, their faces, tanned by the sun, but
+animated by the crimson of health and youth, and their picturesque
+costume had attracted the attention of the painter. When the chief had
+gone away, he approached them, and smiled. The children drew away
+abashed; then, reassured by the air of goodness which the young man
+wore, they came nearer, and permitted him to embrace them.
+
+"Are you going to live with us?" said the eldest, who was about eight
+years of age.
+
+"I don't know, my little friend."
+
+"O, I wish you would! It is so nice to stop in these mountains. There
+are plenty of beautiful flowers, and birds' nests, too. I have three
+already; I will show them to you, and then we will go and find some
+more. But what is that you have got under your arm?"
+
+"It is my sketch-book."
+
+"A sketch-book? What is a sketch-book?"
+
+"It is what I carry my pictures in."
+
+"Pictures? O, do let me see them!"
+
+"Yes, indeed; here they are."
+
+"What pretty pictures! O, mother, come and see! Here are mountains,
+and men, and goats. Did you make them all?"
+
+Attracted by the call of the child, a lady came out of the principal
+tent. She was yet young, tall, and covered with a medley of garments
+from various costumes. Her face sparkled with energy, and might have
+been called beautiful. She threw a sad glance at Salvator, and
+approached him haughtily, as if to give an order. But seeing the two
+children busily looking over the sketch-book, and observing the
+familiar way with which both treated their new acquaintance, she
+appeared to change her manner somewhat, and began to look at the
+pictures herself, and to admire them. At the end of half an hour the
+mother and the children seemed like old friends of Salvator Rosa.
+
+The woman was the wife of the chief. A daughter of an honorable
+family, she married a young man at Pisa, her native city, who proved
+to be captain of this band of robbers. She could not well leave the
+company into which she had been betrayed; and so, with a noble
+self-denial, she became resigned to her hard lot. An unwilling witness
+of the many crimes of her husband and his companions, she suffered
+cruelly in her resignation. Yet her fidelity, her virtue,--things
+rarely known, but sometimes respected among these mountain
+brigands,--had given her a moral power over the men as well as over
+her husband. More than once she had used this means to temper their
+ferocity, and obtain pardon for their unfortunate prisoners.
+
+Just then one of the brigands came and brought to the prisoner the
+order from the chief that he should write to his friends to obtain
+money for his ransom. The man was going, under a disguise, to the city
+of Florence; and he offered to deliver any letters intrusted to his
+care. He indicated the place where the ten thousand ducats must be
+left, so that Salvator might inform his correspondent.
+
+Our hero had many devoted friends; but nearly all were artists like
+himself, and without fortune. Nevertheless, he decided to write to one
+of them. He gave orders that all the pictures in his studio should be
+sold. He hoped that the money which they would bring, together with
+what his friends could advance to him, would amount to the sum
+demanded by the chief.
+
+This done, Salvator easily persuaded himself that he should soon be
+set at liberty, and the artist recovered his unconcern, and almost his
+usual good spirits. The country around him was full of romantic
+studies for his pencil. He had, besides, found in the society of the
+children of Pietratesta two charming companions. He instructed them in
+the elements of his art; and his pupils, to both of whom the study was
+quite new, seemed never to grow tired of their task.
+
+In a moment of good humor, he drew caricatures of each member of the
+band, which created a great deal of amusement. Then he drew, with
+great care, the portraits of the two children. This attention
+profoundly touched the heart of the mother, and her tender sympathy,
+almost wasting among these unfeeling men, found a secret pleasure in
+rendering the captivity of the young painter less unhappy and less
+hard. She conversed with him familiarly, and it gave her great
+pleasure to see the care which he took to instruct her children.
+
+So Salvator Rosa, to whom the band gave quite a considerable degree of
+liberty, never dreamed of taking improper advantage of it. Thanks to
+his fancy and his recklessness as an artist, he almost forgot that he
+was the prisoner of a cruel master, and that his life was in peril.
+
+But the ransom, which he had sent for, came not. Whether the letters
+he had written failed to reach their destination, or whether his
+friends were deaf to his request for assistance, he received no
+answer. He wrote repeatedly, but always with the same result.
+
+And so the months slipped by, and the chief began to grow impatient at
+the long delay. His wife had more than once calmed his anger, and
+prevented any catastrophe. At length several weeks went by, in which
+the expeditions of the band were unfruitful. The provisions were
+running low, and Pietratesta saw in his captive one unprofitable
+mouth. Sivora, his wife, felt her influence to be growing weaker and
+weaker under the increasing destitution and continued delay.
+
+One day Pietratesta encountered his prisoner, and, addressing him in
+an irritated voice,--
+
+"Well?" he said, as if his question needed no other explanation.
+
+"Nothing yet," responded Salvator Rosa, sadly.
+
+"Ah, this is too much!" cried the brigand. "I begin to think you are
+playing with me. But do you know the price Pietratesta makes those pay
+who cross him?"
+
+"Alas! I am far from trying to deceive you. You know that I have done
+all in my power to obtain my ransom. I have written to various
+persons; your own men have taken my letters. You see that it is not
+my fault."
+
+"It is always the fault of prisoners when their ransom is not paid."
+
+"Wait a little longer. I will write again to-day."
+
+"Wait! wait! A whole year, month after month, has gone by, and you
+repeat the same old story. A year--an age for me--I have waited. Do
+you think I have been making unmeaning threats? Do you expect to abuse
+my patience with impunity? It has given out at last--the more so as,"
+added he, now that he felt his anger increasing, "I ought to have
+settled this affair a long while ago. This is your last day, observe
+me."
+
+At a sign from their chief, four bandits seized the young man, and
+bound him. As Salvator was led away, he cast one sad look at the
+dwelling where he had passed many happy hours, and from which he was
+going to his death. For a moment he stopped to say farewell to the
+children, who were standing at the door crying and stretching out
+their little naked brown arms towards him.
+
+A few moments later, Sivora, who had been gathering flowers in the
+mountains, returned home. Observing that her husband, as well as
+Salvator, was absent, and her children in tears, she guessed the
+painful truth.
+
+"Where is Salvator?" she asked of the eldest.
+
+"They have bound him, and carried him away," responded the child,
+still crying.
+
+"Which way?"
+
+"Down yonder," was the reply of the child, pointing with its finger in
+the direction of a rocky cliff already too well known for its horrible
+scenes.
+
+"Alas, wretched man!" exclaimed Sivora, almost frantically, as she
+comprehended the new crime her husband was about to commit. She sat
+down for a moment, covered her face with her hands--a prey to the
+most unspeakable anxiety. Then, rising suddenly, her eyes flashing
+with determination,--
+
+"Come!" she said, resolutely; "come, my children. Perhaps we may yet
+be in time."
+
+And, taking the hands of her little ones, who followed her with
+difficulty, but yet eagerly, she darted away at a rapid pace in the
+direction taken by the brigands.
+
+While the men were hurrying Salvator along, the chief maintained a
+profound silence. His band followed him as dumb as slaves who go to
+execute the will of their master, which they know is law. They soon
+arrived at the summit of a cliff, which overhung a yawning abyss
+beneath. After having taken one look over the precipice, and examined
+the neighborhood rapidly, Pietratesta cried, "Halt!" and the whole
+body came to a rest.
+
+"There is just a quarter of an hour for you to live," he said, turning
+to his prisoner. "You have time to die like a Christian. Make your
+prayer."
+
+The young man hesitated for a moment, threw his agitated eyes around,
+then, kneeling on the rock, he prayed earnestly. The men stood
+unmoved, as if they had been statues cut from stone.
+
+Salvator rose, with a calm demeanor, and said, addressing the chief in
+a firm tone,--
+
+"My life is in your hands, I know. You are going to kill me without
+any cause. I have prayed," he added, with a voice full of authority,
+"for the salvation of my soul, and repentance for thine. God will
+judge us both. I am ready."
+
+Immediately the brigands seized the young man, and hurried him towards
+the precipice. Already they waited but the signal of their chief,
+already Pietratesta had given the fatal command, when a cry was heard
+not many paces distant, which suspended the preparations.
+
+"Stop!" exclaimed a harsh voice.
+
+The bandits, astonished at the interruption, turned to see whence it
+came. A woman ran towards them, her hair in disorder, her countenance
+pale and agitated, her dark eyes flashing with determination. She held
+by their hands two children, who, with weeping eyes, were hastening,
+with all the speed their young limbs could carry them, towards the
+precipice.
+
+It was Sivora.
+
+As she came forward the chief uttered an exclamation of disappointment
+and anger.
+
+"Why do you come here?" he asked, in an irritated voice.
+
+"You know well enough," responded Sivora, without any sign of
+intimidation. "What are you about to do? What is the crime of this
+young man? What is the wrong he has committed? You know he is
+innocent, and that it is not his fault that the price of his ransom
+has not been paid. Why commit a useless crime? You have too many on
+your soul already," she added, in a low, sad voice. "Since it is not
+too late, let the young man go. His ransom is not absolutely
+necessary. If it was, would his death bring it to you? Remember with
+what care and solicitude he has treated your children! with what
+patience he has instructed them in his art! See, they weep, as if
+their hearts would break, at the wrong you would do their friend! It
+is they--it is I--who ask clemency. You will not kill Salvator; you
+will pardon him for the love you bear your children."
+
+As she said these words she pushed the two little blond heads into the
+arms of their father.
+
+The brigands, hesitating, touched, without knowing why, struck with an
+involuntary respect for the woman, remained immovable, with their eyes
+fixed upon their chief, as if waiting to ascertain his wishes. He
+stood, brooding, nervous, his eyes bent upon the ground, hardly daring
+to look upon Sivora, at once his suppliant and accuser, a prey to
+violent emotions. The authority of that respected voice, and the
+irritation at being deprived of his revenge,--the invincible love he
+had for the woman, and the shame of giving way before his men,--all
+these warring considerations, the effects of which were plainly to be
+seen on his swarthy face, spoke of the severe contest going on within.
+
+At length his evil genius got the control.
+
+"What do I care for his solicitude and his tenderness?" he said, in a
+coarse voice. "He would forget all as soon as he should get out of our
+hands; and he would, no doubt, send the police after us if we should
+let him go. I know what the promises of captives are worth. Besides,
+_I_ command here, I alone, and I will be obeyed. Take away these
+children; and you, comrades, despatch your your prisoner."
+
+"Ah! is it so?" exclaimed Sivora, in a piercing voice, throwing
+herself before the bandits, who were pushing their victim towards the
+chasm. "Then I will beg no more; I _command_ now. Listen to me well,
+for these are my last words. You know with what devotion, with what
+resignation, I have supported this bitter life which you brought me to
+among these mountains. The isolation, the sorrow, the shame, I have
+endured for thee. I have never complained. I hoped, after such
+sacrifices, you would at length listen to my words, and renounce your
+bad life. But since you do not care for my devotion, since I am
+nothing to you, listen well to my words, Pietratesta. If you dare to
+commit this odious crime, look for a mother for your children, for,
+with your victim, you will slay your wife!"
+
+So saying, she advanced close to the brink of the cliff, over which
+she could spring at the signal from her husband.
+
+Salvator, motionless and rooted to the spot, in silence, full of
+anxiety, observed this strange scene. The robbers, hardened by crime,
+for the first time hesitated at the command of their chief, and fixed
+their eyes upon the beautiful woman to whom despair added a new charm.
+They quailed before her authority, and stood as motionless as statues.
+
+Pietratesta, overwhelmed by the recollections which the woman's words
+awakened, alarmed at her threats and her resolution, hung his head,
+like a guilty wretch before a just judge, while Sivora, with wild
+countenance, piercing voice, and imperial manner, her long black hair
+loosely falling upon her shoulders, with her arms extended towards the
+abyss, almost resembled an ancient goddess, who suddenly appears at
+the moment of crime, arrests the homicidal arm, and subjects the
+criminal to punishment. There was in her figure an imposing grandeur,
+before which the rude men, for an instant recalled to themselves, felt
+humiliated and condemned.
+
+Astounded by that firmness and devotion, ashamed of his violence
+towards the woman who was living a life of outrage, the chief, after
+some moments of moody silence, said, in an altered voice,--
+
+"You wish it! He is free!"
+
+Salvator threw himself upon his knees before his preserver, covered
+her hand with kisses and tears, and pressed, with transport, the two
+children in his arms. Completely wild with happiness and gratitude, he
+abandoned himself to the buoyancy of his generous nature, when Sivora
+said to him, in a whisper,--
+
+"Go! go quickly! The tiger is only sleeping!"
+
+They put a bandage over the eyes of the young man, so that he might
+not see the path by which he descended from the mountains, and two of
+the brigands then conducted him to the highway which led to the city.
+
+Hardly had he entered Florence, yet sad from the recollection of the
+scene in which he came near being a victim, when the young painter
+hastily sketched the principal details; and, some time after, the
+picture of which we have spoken was composed, and hangs this day in
+the museum at Naples, admired and pointed out to all visitors.
+
+                                                    L. D. L.
+
+
+
+
+WE SHOULD HEAR THE ANGELS SINGING.
+
+
+    If we only sought to brighten
+      Every pathway dark with care,
+    If we only tried to lighten
+      All the burdens others bear,
+    We should hear the angels singing
+      All around us, night and day;
+    We should feel that they were winging
+      At our side their upward way!
+
+    If we only strove to cherish
+      Every pure and holy thought,
+    Till within our hearts should perish
+      All that is with evil fraught,
+    We should hear the angels singing
+      All around us, night and day;
+    We should feel that they were winging
+      At our side their upward way!
+
+    If it were our aim to ponder
+      On the good that we might win,
+    Soon our feet would cease to wander
+      In forbidden paths of sin;
+    We should hear the angels singing
+      All around us, night and day;
+    We should feel that they were winging
+      At our side their upward way!
+
+    If we only did our duty,
+      Thinking not what it might cost,
+    Then the earth would wear new beauty
+      Fair as that in Eden lost;
+    We should hear the angels singing
+      All around us, night and day;
+    We should feel that they were winging
+      At our side their upward way!
+
+                             KATE CAMERON.
+
+
+
+
+MY LITTLE HERO.
+
+
+    "How we wish that we knew a hero!"
+      Say the children, pressing round;
+    "Will you tell us if such a wonder
+      In London streets can be found?"
+
+    I point from my study-window
+      At a lad who is passing by:
+    "My darlings, there goes a hero;
+      You will know his oft-heard cry."
+
+    "'Tis the chimney-sweep, dear father,
+      In his jacket so worn and old;
+    What can _he_ do that is brave and true,
+      Wandering out in the cold?"
+
+    Says Maudie, "I thought that a hero
+      Was a man with a handsome face."
+    "And I pictured him all in velvet dressed,
+      With a sword," whispered little Grace.
+
+    "Mine is only a 'sweeper,' children,
+      His deeds all unnoticed, unknown;
+    Yet I think he is one of the heroes
+      God sees and will mark for his own.
+
+    "Out there he looks eager and cheerful,
+      No matter how poorly he fares;
+    No sign that his young heart is heavy
+      With the weight of unchildish cares.
+
+[Illustration: MY LITTLE HERO.]
+
+    "Home means to him but a dingy room,
+      A father he shudders to see;
+    Alas for the worse than neglected sons
+      Who have such a father as he!
+
+    "And a mother who lies on a ragged bed,
+      So sick and worn and sad;
+    No friend has she but this one pale boy--
+      This poor little sweeper-lad,
+
+    "So rough to others, and all unskilled,
+      Yet to her most tender and true,
+    Oft waking with patient cheerfulness
+      To soothe her the whole night through.
+
+    "He wastes no time on his own scant meals,
+      But goes forth with the morning sun;
+    Never a moment is wasted
+      Till his long day's work is done.
+
+    "Then home to the dreary attic
+      Where his mother lies lonely all day,
+    Unheeding the boys who would tempt him
+      To linger with them and play.
+
+    "Because she is helpless and lonely,
+      He is doing a hero's part;
+    For loving and self-denying
+      Are the tests of a noble heart."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A robin sits on a snowy branch}]
+
+ROBIN REDBREAST.
+
+
+    Robin, Robin Redbreast,
+      O, Robin, dear!
+    And what will this poor Robin do?
+      For pinching days are near.
+
+    The fireside for the cricket,
+      The wheat-stack for the mouse,
+    When trembling night winds whistle,
+      And moan all round the house.
+    The frosty way like iron,
+      The branches plumed with snow--
+    Alas! in winter, dead and dark,
+      Where can poor Robin go?
+      Robin, Robin Redbreast,
+        O, Robin dear!
+      And a crumb of bread for Robin,
+        His little heart to cheer.
+
+
+
+
+HOW SWEETIE'S "SHIP CAME IN."
+
+A CHRISTMAS STORY.
+
+
+It will be a real honest story--of how Christmas came to a poor cold
+home, and made it bright, and warm, and glad. A _very_ poor home it
+was, up three flights of worm-eaten, dirt-stained stairs, in the old
+gray house that stood far up a narrow, crooked alley, where the sun
+never shone except just a while in the middle of the day. He tried
+hard to brighten up the place a little, but the tall houses all about
+prevented him. Still he slanted a few golden beams even into that
+wretched home away up under the eaves; for though the few small panes
+of glass in the narrow windows had been mostly broken out, and their
+places filled with boards nailed tight to keep out the wintry winds,
+and rain, and snow, still there were some left through which a feeble
+ray did sometimes creep and make glad the hearts of the children. Five
+fatherless children lived with their mother in that old garret. Night
+and day the mother sewed, taking scarcely any rest, and yet found it
+hard to keep all the little toes and knees covered, and could get only
+the poorest food for the five hungry mouths. The thought that, work
+never so hard, she could not earn enough to give them one hearty,
+satisfying meal, made her heart ache.
+
+Three boys and two girls, in one old naked room, with only their
+mother to care for them, and she so poor, that for years she had not
+had a new gown, or a new bonnet! Yet she liked pretty new clothes, as
+well as any one ever did, I know.
+
+Of these five little folks, the oldest was Harry, the newsboy; then
+came Katie, and Willie, and Fred, and, last of all, wee Jennie.
+
+Though Harry was the oldest, yet _he_ was not very old. Just
+twelve--a thin, white little fellow, with eyes that always looked as
+if they wanted more. More what? Well, more sunshine; more warm
+clothes, and bright, hot fires, and, O, very much more to eat!
+Sometimes he would make fifty cents in a day, selling newspapers, and
+then he would hurry joyfully home, thinking of the hungry little
+mouths it would help to fill. But some days he would hardly earn ten
+cents the whole long day. Then he would go slowly and sadly along,
+wishing all sorts of things--that he could take home as much meat as
+he could carry to the little ones who had not eaten meat for so long
+they had almost forgotten how it tasted; or that the gentlemen, who
+owned the clothing stores which he was passing, would say to him,
+"Come in, my little fellow, and help yourself to as many warm clothes
+as you want for yourself and your little brothers at home;" or that he
+could find a heap of money--and his mouth would water, thinking of the
+good things which he could buy and take home with some of it.
+
+The other children always knew whether it had been a good or bad day
+with Harry, by the way he came up the stairs. If he came with a hop,
+skip, and a jump, they knew it meant a good day; and a good day for
+Harry was a good evening for them all.
+
+Though Katie was really the name of the second child, she hardly ever
+was called so; for her mother, and the children, and all the
+neighbors, called her Sweetie, she was so good and so thoughtful for
+others, so sweet-tempered and kind. She did everything so gently that
+none of them could ever love her half as much as she deserved. Though
+only ten years old, and very small and pale, she did every bit of the
+housework, and kept the ugly old room and its faded furniture so neat,
+that it seemed almost home-like and pretty to them all. It was
+happiness enough for the little ones to get her first kiss when she
+came back from an errand, to sit by her at table, and, above all, to
+lie closest to her at night. Willie, and Fred, and Jennie, all slept
+with her on a straw bed in the corner; and they used to try to stretch
+her little arms over them all, so that even the one farthest off might
+feel the tips of her fingers, so dearly did they love her.
+
+They had once owned more than one bedstead, and many other comfortable
+things besides; but when their father was killed at the great factory
+where he worked, their mother was obliged to sell almost everything to
+get enough money to pay for his funeral, and to help support her
+little family; so that now she had only a narrow wooden settee for her
+bed, while Harry stretched himself on a couple of chairs, and the rest
+slept all together in the bed on the floor. Poor as they were, they
+were not very unhappy. Almost every night, when their mother took the
+one dim candle all to herself, so that she could see to sew neatly,
+Sweetie would amuse the other children by telling them beautiful
+stories about the little flower people, and the good fairies, and
+about Kriss Kringle--though how she knew about him I can't tell, for
+he never came down their chimney at Christmas.
+
+"And, when my ship comes in," Sweetie used to say, "I'll have the
+tallest and handsomest Christmas tree, filled to the top with candies
+and toys, and lighted all over with different-colored candles, and
+we'll sing and dance round it. Let's begin now, and get our voices in
+tune." Then they would all pipe up as loud as they could, and were as
+happy as if they half believed Sweetie's ship was ready to land.
+
+But there came a hard year for poor needle-women: it was the year I am
+writing about, and Sweetie's mother found it almost impossible to get
+even the necessaries of life. Her children's lips were bluer, their
+faces more pinched, and thin, threadbare clothes more patched than
+ever. Sweetie used to take the two boys, and hunt in the streets for
+bits of coal and wood; but often, the very coldest days, they would
+have no fire. It was very hard to bear, and especially for the poor
+mother, who still had to toil on, though she was so chilled, and her
+hands so numbed, she could hardly draw her needle through her work;
+and for Harry, who trudged through the streets from daylight until the
+street lamps were lighted.
+
+The day before Christmas came. People were so busy cooking Christmas
+dainties that they did not stop to sift their cinders very carefully,
+and Sweetie and the boys had picked up quite a large bag full of
+half-burnt coal in the alleys, and were carrying it home as carefully
+as if it were a great treasure--as, indeed, it was to them. Being very
+tired, they sat down to rest on the curbstone in front of an elegant
+mansion. One of the long windows was open.
+
+"Let's get close up under the window," said Sweetie. "I guess it's too
+warm inside, and may be we shall get some of the heat. O! O! don't it
+smell good?" she cried, as the savory odors of the Christmas cooking
+stole out upon the air.
+
+"What is it, Sweetie?" whispered Willie.
+
+"Coffee," said Sweetie, "and turkeys, and jelly, perhaps."
+
+"I wish I had some," sighed Freddy, "I'm so cold and hungry!"
+
+"Poor little man! he must come and sit in Sweetie's lap; that will
+make him warmer," said his sister, wrapping her shawl around him.
+
+"Yes; that's nice," said the little fellow, hugging her tight.
+
+Mr. Rogers, the owner of this fine house, had lost his wife and two
+dear children within the year. He lived here alone, with his servants,
+and was very desolate. When the children stopped under his window, he
+was lying on a velvet sofa near it, and, lifting himself up, he peeped
+out from behind the curtains just as Fred crept into his sister's
+arms; and he heard all they said.
+
+"When your ship comes in, Sweetie, will it have turkeys and jellies in
+it?" said Willie, leaning against her.
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Sweetie. "There will be turkeys almost as big as
+Jennie, and a great deal fatter."
+
+"But it's so long coming, Sweetie; you tell us every time it _will_
+come, and it never _comes_ at all."
+
+"O, no, Freddy. I don't ever say it _will_ come, but it's nice to
+think what we would do if it should come--isn't it?"
+
+"We'd buy a great white house, like this--wouldn't we, Sweetie?"
+
+"No, Willie. I'd rather buy that nice little store over by the church,
+that's been shut up so long, and has FOR SALE on the door. I'd furnish
+it all nice, and fill the shelves with beautiful goods, and trimmings
+for ladies' dresses, and lovely toys. It shows so far that everybody
+would be sure to buy their Christmas things there. It's just the
+dearest little place, with two cosy rooms back of the shop, and three
+overhead; and I'd put flour and sugar, and tea and coffee, and all
+sorts of goodies, in the kitchen cupboard, and new clothes for all of
+us in the closets up stairs. Then I'd kindle a fire, and light the
+lamps, and lock the door, and go back to the dreary old garret once
+more--poor mother would be sitting there, sad and sober, as she
+always is now, and I would say to her, 'Come, mother, before you light
+the candle, Jennie and I want you to go with us, and look at the
+lovely Christmas gifts in the shop windows.' Then she'd say,
+sorrowfully, 'I don't want to see them, dear; I can't buy any of them
+for you, and I don't want to look at them.' But I'd tease her till I
+made her go; and I'd leave Harry, who would know all about it
+beforehand, to lock up the dismal old room, and bring all the rest of
+you over to the new house. You'd get there long before we did, and the
+light would be streaming out from the little shop windows--O, so
+bright! 'Mother,' I'd say, 'let's go in here, and buy the cotton you
+wanted;' and when I got her in, I'd shut the door quick, and dance up
+and down, and say, 'Dear mother. Sweetie's ship's come in, and brought
+you this new home, and everything comfortable; and Sweetie will tend
+the shop, and you needn't sew any more day and night, for it's going to
+be--' 'A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for us--every one!'
+Harry and all of you would shout, and our dear mother would cry for
+joy."
+
+"Will it come to pass soon, Sweetie?" asked both the boys at once.
+
+"Not very, I'm afraid," answered Sweetie, in a subdued tone; but, when
+she saw their look of disappointment, she brightened up in a moment,
+and added, "It'll be all the better, when it does come, for waiting so
+long--but look here! To-night is Christmas Eve, and we've got coal
+enough here to make a splendid fire. We won't light it till dark, and
+then it will last us all the evening. And I've got a great secret to
+tell you: Harry made a whole dollar yesterday, and mother is going to
+give us each three big slices of fried mush, and bread besides, for
+supper; and, after supper, I'll tell you the prettiest story you ever
+heard, and we'll sing every song we know, and I guess we'll have a
+merry Christmas if nobody else does."
+
+[Illustration: HOW SWEETIE'S SHIP CAME IN.]
+
+"I wish it was Christmas all the time," said Freddy, faintly.
+
+"Christ was born that day," said Sweetie, softly, "and that makes it
+best of all."
+
+"Yes," said Willie; "the dear Lord who came from Heaven and, for our
+sakes, became poor, and had not where to lay his head, not even a
+garret as good as ours--"
+
+"I know," said Freddy; "he was born in a manger, and a beautiful star
+shined right over it. I can sing a hymn about it."
+
+Then they picked up their bag, and started for home, gay as larks over
+the prospect of the treat they were to have that night--fried mush and
+a fire! that was all, you know.
+
+Mr. Rogers, concealed by the heavy silk curtains, had heard every word
+they said, and his eyes were full of tears. He rang for his servant.
+
+"Harris," said he, when the man came in, "follow those children, find
+out where they live, and what their neighbors say of the family."
+
+When he was left alone again, he began to think,--
+
+"Rich as I am, I have never yet done any great good to anybody. Who
+knows but God may have sent those children under my window to teach me
+that, instead of my own lost darlings, he means me to care for these
+and other suffering little ones who live in the lanes and alleys of
+this great city!"
+
+Harris soon came back, and told his master what he had learned about
+the circumstances of the family; and he added,--
+
+"Everybody calls the oldest girl Sweetie, and they do say she's as
+good as gold."
+
+Mr. Rogers went out, and, before night, had bought the little corner
+store, for which Sweetie had longed. Then, calling his servants
+together, he related what he had overheard the children say, and told
+them how anxious he was to grant Sweetie's wish, and let her take her
+mother to her new home on Christmas Day.
+
+"But I cannot do it," said Mr. Rogers, "unless you are willing to help
+me work on Christmas Eve, for there is a great deal to be done."
+
+No one could refuse to aid in so good a cause; and besides, Mr. Rogers
+was always so considerate of his servants that they were glad to
+oblige him. They all went to work with a will, and soon the little
+house and store were put in perfect order.
+
+There were ribbons, laces, buttons, needles, pins, tapes, and, indeed,
+all sorts of useful things in the store. In the cellar were coal and
+wood, two whole hams, a pair of chickens, and a turkey. The kitchen
+pantry was stocked with sugar and flour. There was one barrel of
+potatoes, and another of the reddest apples. Up stairs the closets and
+bureaus were bursting with nice things to wear, not quite made into
+garments, but ready to be made, as soon as Sweetie and her mother got
+time.
+
+So rapidly and so completely was everything arranged, that it seemed
+as if one of those good fairies, of whom Sweetie had so often told the
+children, had been at work.
+
+"The money this has cost me," thought Mr. Rogers, "will make a family
+of six happy, and do them good all the rest of their lives. I am glad
+the thought has come to my heart to celebrate Christ's birthday in so
+pleasant a way."
+
+Late in the afternoon he picked his way through the dull, dirty alley
+to the old gray house where Sweetie lived. As he went up the worn and
+dusty stairway, he heard the children singing their Christmas songs.
+
+"Poor little things!" said he; and the tears stood in his eyes.
+"Happy even in this miserable place, while I know so many surfeited
+with luxuries, and yet pining and discontented!"
+
+Harry jumped to open the door as he knocked; and Mr. Rogers, entering,
+apologized to the children's mother for his intrusion by saying he had
+come to ask a favor.
+
+"It is but little we can do for any one, sir," replied Mrs. Lawson;
+"but anything in our power will be cheerfully done."
+
+"Even if I propose to carry off this little girl of yours for a
+while?" he asked; but, seeing the troubled look in the other
+children's faces, he hastened to explain.
+
+"The truth is," said he, "having no little folks of my own, I thought
+I'd try and make other people's happy to-day; so I set out to get up a
+Christmas tree; but I find I don't know how to go to work exactly, and
+I want Sweetie to help me."
+
+He spoke so sadly when he said he had no children of his own, that
+Sweetie could not refuse to go.
+
+"O, yes, sir," said she; "I'll go; that is, if I may come back this
+evening--for I couldn't disappoint Freddy and all of them, you know!"
+
+"They shan't be disappointed, I promise you," said Mr. Rogers, as he
+took her down stairs.
+
+"Why, I never was in a carriage in all my life," said Sweetie, as he
+lifted her into his beautiful clarence, and sat down beside her.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder if you should ride in a carriage pretty often
+now," said Mr. Rogers, "for your ship's coming in."
+
+Sweetie couldn't tell whether she was in a dream or not. Half crying,
+half laughing, her face flushed with surprise, she asked,--
+
+"How did you know?"
+
+"Know what?" said her friend, enjoying her bewilderment.
+
+"Why," she answered, "about the way I keep up the children's spirits,
+and make them forget they are hungry and cold, while I tell them about
+my ship coming in?"
+
+"A little bird told me," said he, and then was quiet.
+
+Sweetie did not like to ask any more; so she sat quite still, leaning
+back in one corner of the carriage, among the soft, crimson cushions,
+and watched the people in the street, thinking how happy she was, and
+how strange it was that little Katie Lawson should be riding with a
+grand gentleman in a splendid carriage!
+
+Suddenly, with a whirl and a turn, they stopped before a house. Mr.
+Rogers lifted her out, and led her up the broad steps; and she found
+he was taking her into the beautiful white house, under the windows of
+which she had sat with Willie and Fred the day before.
+
+"Now," said Mr. Rogers, rolling a comfortable arm-chair for Sweetie in
+front of a glowing fire, "while you are getting warm, and eating your
+dinner, I am going to tell you about my Christmas tree, and how your
+ship came in."
+
+A little table was brought in, and set between them, filled with so
+many delicacies, that Sweetie's head grew dizzy at the sight. She
+thought of her little hungry brothers and sister, and would rather not
+have eaten, but Mr. Rogers made her.
+
+"My little girl," said he, finally, "never forget this: God always
+rewards a faithful heart. If he seems to be a long time without caring
+for his children, he never forgets or forsakes them."
+
+Then he told her that he had overheard her conversation with her
+brothers under his window, and that God had suddenly put it into his
+heart to take care of some of the poor and fatherless in that great
+city. "And I am going to begin with Sweetie," said he, very tenderly;
+"and this is the way her ship shall come in. She shall have a new home
+to give to her mother for a Christmas present, and the boys shall sing
+their Christmas hymns to-night in the bright little parlor of the
+corner store, instead of the dingy old garret; and here are the deeds
+made out in Katie Lawson's own name, and nobody can take it away from
+her. But come, little woman," he added,--for Sweetie was sobbing for
+joy, and could not thank him,--"go and wash your face, for the horses
+are tired of standing in the cold, and we must go and fetch the boys,
+or I shall never get my Christmas tree set up."
+
+An old lady, with a face beaming with kindness,--it was Mr. Rogers's
+housekeeper,--then took Sweetie, and not only washed her tear-stained
+cheeks, but curled her soft brown hair, and put on her the loveliest
+blue dress, with boots to match. All the time she was dressing her,
+Sweetie, who could not believe her senses, kept murmuring,--
+
+"It's only a dream; it's too good to be true; the boys won't believe
+it, I know; it's just like a fairy story, and, of course, it's only
+pretending."
+
+"No, indeed," said the old lady; "it's really true, my dear, and I
+hope you'll be so grateful and kind to Mr. Rogers that he won't be so
+lonely as he has been without his own dear little children."
+
+Sweetie could hardly realize her own good fortune; and, when she went
+down into the parlor, she burst into tears again, saying,--
+
+"O, sir, I can't believe it. I am so happy!"
+
+"So am I, Sweetie," said Mr. Rogers; and really it was hard to tell
+which was the happier--it is always so much more blessed to give than
+to receive. Together they rode to the new home, and laughed and cried
+together as they went all over it. After they had been up stairs, and
+down stairs, and in my lady's chamber, as Mr. Rogers said, he put her
+into the carriage again.
+
+"James," said he to the coachman, "you are under this young lady's
+orders to-night, and must drive carefully."
+
+Then, kissing Sweetie, he put the key of her new home into her hand,
+and, telling her he should want her help to-morrow about his Christmas
+tree, he bade her good night.
+
+James drove Sweetie home, for the last time, to the dilapidated old
+house. She ran up stairs, Freddy said afterwards, "just as Harry
+always did when he'd had a good day." "Mother and children," said she,
+"Mr. Rogers, the kind gentleman who was here, has sent me back in his
+carriage to take you all to see something beautiful he has been
+showing me. Harry, you be the gentleman of the house, and hand mother
+and Jennie to the carriage, and I'll come right along." She stopped
+long enough--this good child, who, even in her own good fortune, did
+not forget the misfortunes of others--to run into the next room, where
+an old woman lived, who was a cripple, and whose daughter supported
+her by sewing.
+
+"Mrs. Jones," said she, hurriedly, "a kind gentleman has given us a
+new home, and we are going to it to-night, never to come back here to
+live any more. Our old room, with the rent paid for a year, and all
+there is in it, I want you to take as a Christmas present from
+Sweetie; and I wish you a Happy, happy New Year, and please give this
+to Milly;" and, slipping a five-dollar bill, which Mr. Rogers had
+given her, into the old woman's hand, she ran out, and jumped into the
+carriage. The street lamps blinked at them, like so many stars, as
+they rolled along, and the boys and Jennie screamed with delight; but
+Sweetie sat quite still.
+
+James knew where to stop. Sweetie got out first, and ran and unlocked
+the door of the little corner store. When they were all inside, and
+before any one had time to ask a question, Sweetie threw her arms
+about her mother's neck.
+
+"Mother," she cried, "Sweetie's ship's come in; but it never would
+have come if it had not been for Mr. Rogers; and it's brought you this
+pretty house and shop for your own, and, please God, we'll all have--"
+
+"A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" shouted Willie, ending her
+sentence just as she had ended the story the day before.
+
+"And all the better," said Fred, who remembered too, "because Christ
+was born that day."
+
+Mrs. Lawson, overwhelmed with joy, fainted. She soon recovered,
+however, though Sweetie insisted on her lying on the soft lounge
+before the fire, while she set the table. How pretty it looked, with
+its six purple and white plates, and cups and everything to match! How
+they did eat! How happy they were!
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Lawson, when the dishes were washed, and they all sat
+round the fire, "my little Sweetie, whose patience, and courage, and
+cheerfulness have kept up the hearts of the rest of us, and proved the
+ship that has brought us this cargo of comforts, you must tell us your
+Christmas story before we go to bed."
+
+So Sweetie told them all Mr. Rogers had said and done for her. They
+were so excited they sat up very late, and happiness made them sleep
+so soundly, that they did not wake till the sun was shining brightly
+into the little shop. People began to come in very early, to make
+little purchases. One lady bought a whole dollar's worth of toys,
+which made them feel as if they were full of business already.
+
+Later in the forenoon, Mr. Rogers sent for Harry and Sweetie to come
+and help dress his Christmas tree; and Christmas night his parlor was
+filled with poor children, for each of whom some useful gift hung on
+the tree. Milly was there by Sweetie's invitation, and Mr. Rogers sent
+her home in his carriage, with the easiest chair that money could buy
+for her old lame mother. The tears filled his eyes as Milly thanked
+him again and again for all his kindness; and, as he shut the door
+after the last one, he said,--
+
+"Hereafter I will make it always a Merry Christmas for God's needy
+ones."
+
+I am sure he did, for he had Sweetie always near him. He used to call
+her his "Christmas Sweeting;" and then she would laugh, and say he was
+her "Golden Sweeting."
+
+What is better than gold he gave the family: he found patrons for Mrs.
+Lawson, and customers for the shop, and placed Harry in a mercantile
+house, where he soon rose to be head clerk. The other children he put
+at school. Sweetie he never would let go very far out of his sight. He
+had her thoroughly and usefully educated, and no less than her mother,
+and brothers, and sister, did he bless the day when "Sweetie's ship
+came in"--
+
+    A ship which brought for every day
+      A welcome hope, an added joy,
+    A something sweet to do or say,
+      And hosts of pleasures unalloyed,
+
+    Its cargo, made of pleasant cares,
+      Of daily duties to be done,
+    Of smiles and laughter, songs and prayers,
+      The glad, bright life of Happy Ones.
+
+                                             MARGARET FIELD.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: NOTHING TO DO.]
+
+NOTHING TO DO.
+
+
+    I have sailed my boat and spun my top,
+      And handled my last new ball;
+    I trundled my hoop till I had to stop,
+      And I swung till got a fall;
+    I tumbled my books all out of the shelves,
+      And hunted the pictures through;
+    I've flung them where they may sort themselves,
+      And now--I have nothing to do.
+
+    The tower of Babel I built of blocks
+      Came down with a crash to the floor;
+    My train of cars ran over the rocks--
+      I'll warrant they'll run no more;
+    I have raced with Grip till I'm out of breath;
+      My slate is broken in two,
+    So I can't draw monkeys. I'm tired to death
+      Because I have nothing to do.
+
+    I can see where the boys have gone to fish;
+      They bothered me, too, to go,
+    But for fun like that I hadn't a wish,
+      For I think it's mighty "slow"
+    To sit all day at the end of a rod
+      For the sake of a minnow or two,
+    Or to land, at the farthest, an eel on the sod:
+      I'd rather have nothing to do.
+
+    Maria has gone to the woods for flowers,
+      And Lucy and Rose are away
+    After berries. I'm sure they've been out for hours;
+      I wonder what makes them stay?
+    Ned wanted to saddle Brunette for me,
+      But riding is nothing new;
+    "I was thinking you'd relish a canter," said he,
+      "Because you have nothing to do."
+
+    I wish I was poor Jim Foster's son,
+      For he seems so happy and gay,
+    When his wood is chopped and his work all done,
+      With his little half hour of play;
+    He neither has books nor top nor ball,
+      Yet he's singing the whole day through;
+    But then he is never tired at all
+      Because he has nothing to do.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: TWO GENTLEMEN IN FURS.]
+
+TWO "GENTLEMEN IN FUR CLOAKS."
+
+
+This is the name given to the bears in Kamschatka by the Laplanders,
+who think they will be offended if they are called by their real name;
+and we may give the same name to the bears in the picture. They are
+Polar bears, who live in the seas round the North Pole, and fine white
+fur coats they have of their own. They are white on purpose, so that
+they may not be seen easily among all the snow and ice in which they
+live. The head of the Polar bear is very long and flat, the mouth and
+ears are small in comparison with other bears, the neck is long and
+thick, and the sole of the foot very large. Perhaps you will wonder
+how the bear manages to walk on the ice, as nobody is very likely to
+give him skates or snow-boots. To be sure, he has strong, thick claws,
+but they would not be of much use--they would only make him slip on
+the hard ice--but the sole of the foot is covered nearly all over with
+thick, woolly hair, so the bear walks as safely as old ladies do when
+they wrap list round their boots.
+
+The Polar bear likes to eat fish, though he will eat roots and berries
+when he can get no better, and he is a very good swimmer; he can dive,
+too, and make long leaps in the water. If he wants a boat, he has only
+to get on a loose piece of ice, and then he can float about at his
+ease.
+
+This is a full-grown bear, of course. Young bears cannot do all these
+things; they have to stay with their mothers on shore, where they eat
+seals and seaweed; the seaweed is their vegetable, I suppose. When the
+young bears travel and get tired, they get on their mother's back, and
+ride there quite safely, whether in the water or on land.
+
+Bears are very fond of their young, and will do anything to defend
+them. There is a story told of a poor mother-bear and her two cubs
+which is almost too sad to tell, but it will make us think kindly of
+the bear, so I will tell it to you.
+
+Years ago a ship which had gone to the North Pole to make discoveries
+got fixed tight in the ice; one morning, while the ship was still
+unable to get loose, a man at the lookout gave warning that three
+bears were coming across the ice toward the ship. The crew had killed
+a walrus a few days before, and no doubt the bears had smelled it. The
+flesh of the walrus was roasting in a fire on the ice, and two of the
+bears ran eagerly to it, dragged out the bits that were not burnt, and
+began to eat them; they were the cubs, but were almost as large as
+their mother.
+
+The sailors threw some more of the flesh they had on board on to the
+ice. These the old bear fetched; and putting them before her cubs, she
+divided them, giving them each a large piece, and only keeping a small
+bit for herself. When she came to fetch the last piece the sailors
+shot at the cubs, killing them; they also wounded the mother, but not
+mortally; the poor mother never thought of herself, only of her cubs.
+They were not quite dead, only dying, and she crawled to where they
+lay, with the lump of meat she had fetched, and put it down before
+them, as she had done the first time. When she found they did not eat,
+she took hold first of one, then of the other, and tried to lift them
+up, moaning pitifully all the time, as if she thought it would be of
+no use. Then she went a little way off and looked back. But the cubs
+were dead now, and could not move, so she went back to them and began
+to lick their wounds. Once more she crawled away from them, and then
+again came back, and went round and round them, pawing them and
+moaning. At last she seems to have found out that they were dead; and
+turning to the ship, she raised her head and uttered a loud growl of
+anger and despair. The cruel sailors fired at her in reply, and she
+fell between her poor dead cubs, and died licking their wounds.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE FAITHFUL BOY.]
+
+CHARLIE'S ESCAPE.
+
+
+I have some boy-cousins living in the country of whom I think a great
+deal. They write me letters quite often. I can hardly tell whose
+letters give me the most pleasure, the "big boys'," who write me about
+their school, their colts and calves, their good times on the
+holidays, or the little printed letters I get from the "small boys,"
+telling me how many chickens they have and that they love me. I am
+sure I love them _all_, and hope they will grow to be good, true men.
+
+Charlie is one of the "big boys." Not _very_ big, either--just
+thirteen years old, and rather small and slight for his years. A few
+weeks ago a neighbor of his father's was going away, and got Charlie
+to do "the chores" for him during his absence--feed the young cattle,
+milk the cow and keep things in order about the barn. Charlie is an
+obliging boy, so he performed his task faithfully. If I had time,
+boys, I would just like to stop here and give you a little lecture on
+faithfulness, with Charlie for a model, for he _is_ a "faithful boy."
+But I want to tell my story. For two or three days Charlie went each
+morning to his neighbor's barn, and after milking the cow turned all
+the creatures to pasture, and every night drove them home again. One
+morning, as he stood by the bars waiting for them all to pass out, a
+frisky year-old calf--"a yearling" the farmers call them--instead of
+going orderly over the bars, as a well-disposed calf should, just gave
+a side jump and shook her horns at Charlie. "Over with you!" called
+Charlie, and waved his hand at her. Miss Yearling either fancied this
+an insult or an invitation to single combat, for she again lowered her
+head and ran at Charlie, who had no stick, and so thought best to run
+from the enemy. He started for the stable door, but in his hurry and
+fright he could not open it, and while fumbling at the latch the
+creature made another attack. Charlie dodged her again, and one of her
+horns pierced the door nearly an inch. Again she ran at him, and with
+her nose "bunted" him off his feet. Charlie was getting afraid now,
+and called out to the folks in the house, "Oh, come and help me!" and
+right then he bethought him of something he had read in his father's
+"Agriculturist" about a boy in similar danger, who saved himself by
+grasping the cow's horns that had attacked him. So just as the
+yearling was about to try again if she could push him over, he took
+fast hold of each horn. But his situation was getting _very
+unpleasant_, for he was penned up in a corner, with the barn behind
+him, a high fence on one side and the now angry heifer in front. He
+had regained his feet, but was pushed and staggered about, for he was
+fast losing his strength. No wonder his voice had a quiver in it as he
+again shouted as loud as he could, "Oh, do come quick!" The lady in
+the house was busy getting breakfast, and heard no sound. A
+lady-visitor in one of the chambers heard the first call, but thought
+it only boys at play. By and by the distressed shout again smote her
+ears, and this time she heard the words, "Help me!" She ran down
+stairs to the housekeeper, who opened the outside door and listened.
+Charlie's voice was weak and faint now, and the fear came to the lady
+that he had fallen into the barn cellar. She ran quickly to the great
+door of the barn. "Where are you, Charlie?" "Come to the stable door,"
+answered back a faint, trembling voice. She quickly ran through the
+barn to that door, but she could not open it at first, for the heifer
+had pushed herself around till she stood broadside against the door.
+But the lady pushed hard and got the door open a little way, and
+seizing the big stable broom hit the naughty animal two or three heavy
+whacks that made her move around; and as soon as she opened the door
+wide, Charlie let go her horns, and she (the heifer), not liking the
+big broom-handle, turned and ran off as fast as her legs could go. The
+lady helped Charlie up and into the house, for he could hardly stand.
+He was bruised and lame, and the breath had almost left him. But after
+resting a while and taking some good warm drink, he tried to walk
+home; and though the lady helped him, he found it hard work, for he
+was so sore and bruised. Charlie's mother was frightened enough to see
+her boy come home leaning on their neighbor's arm and looking so pale.
+She helped him undress and lie down, and then she did just what your
+mother, little reader-boy, would do if you had such an escape as
+Charlie's. She put her arms around her boy and said, "Let us thank the
+good Lord that you were not killed, my boy." And do you think Charlie
+will ever forget his escape? I don't. And I hope he will always thank
+"the good Lord" not only for the escape, but for his every blessing.
+
+
+
+
+I AM COMING!
+
+
+    I am coming! I am coming! sings the robin on the wing;
+    Soon the gates of spring will open; where you loiter I will sing;
+    Turn your thoughts to merriest music, send it ringing down the vale,
+    Where the yellow-bird is waiting on the old brown meadow-rail.
+
+    I am coming! I am coming! sings the summer from afar;
+    And her voice is like the shining of some silver-mantled star;
+    In it breathes the breath of flowers, in it hides the dawn of day,
+    In it wake the happy showers of the merry, merry May!
+
+
+
+
+DAISY'S TEMPTATION.
+
+
+"I don't think grandma would ever know it. I could just slip them into
+my pocket and put them on after I get there as e-a-sy! I'll do it;"
+and Daisy Dorsey lifted her grandma's gold beads from a box on her
+lap. She clasped them about her chubby neck and stood before the
+mirror, talking softly to herself. "How nice it will be!" she said,
+drawing up her little figure till only the tip of her nose was visible
+in the glass. "And Jimmy Martin will let me fly his kite instead of
+Hetty Lee. Hetty Lee, indeed! I don't believe she ever had any
+grandmother--not such a grandmother as mine, anyway."
+
+Then the proud little Daisy fell to thinking of the verse her mother
+had read to her that morning, about the dear Father in heaven who sees
+us always, and the blessed angels who are so holy and so pure.
+
+"And I promised mamma I would be so good and try so hard to do right
+always. No, no; I can't do it. Lie there, little pretty gold beads.
+Daisy loves you, but she wants to be good too. So good-bye, dear
+little, bright gold beads," laying them softly back in the drawer and
+turning away with her eyes like violets in the rain.
+
+Now, it so happened that good Grandma Ellis had heard every word Daisy
+had said, had seen her take the beads from their box in the drawer,
+knew just how her darling was tempted and how she had conquered pride
+and evil desire in her little heart, for she was in her bath-room,
+adjoining her chamber; and the door being ajar, she could hear and see
+all that Daisy said and did.
+
+How glad she was when she heard her say, "I can't do it. Good-bye,
+pretty gold beads!" and she felt so sorry, too, for the great tears in
+the sweet blue eyes.
+
+Daisy wore the coral beads to the picnic, and no child had a merrier
+day than she, for she had struggled with temptation, had overcome
+through the loving Father's aid, and so was happy, as we all are when
+we do right.
+
+That evening, when the harvest-moon lifted its bright face to the
+bosom of the east, Grandma Ellis sat in her old-fashioned high-backed
+chair thinking.
+
+Such a pretty picture she made, too, with her light shawl draped
+gracefully over her shoulders, her kerchief and cap so snowy, and her
+sweet face so full of God's love and his divinest peace!
+
+In her hands she held the gold beads, and there was something very
+like tears in her gray eyes, for the necklace had a history that only
+grandma knew--she and one other, whose face that night was far away
+where they need no light of the moon, nor of the sun, for God is the
+light of the place.
+
+"Come here, Daisy," she said, presently. "Come to grandma."
+
+The little creature flew like a bird, for she loved the sound of that
+dear old voice; and besides, Daisy was a happy child that night, and
+in her heart the singing-birds of content and joy kept up a merry
+music of their own.
+
+[Illustration: DAISY'S TEMPTATION.]
+
+Grandma Ellis threw the little necklace over Daisy's head as she came
+toward her, and lifting her to her knee and kissing her glad eyes
+said, speaking low and softly,
+
+"That is for my Daisy to keep always, for grandma's sake. It is not
+just the ornament for your little dear neck in these days, but keep it
+always, because grandma loved it and gave it to her darling that would
+not deceive her, even for the sake of flying Jimmy Martin's kite at
+the picnic."
+
+Then Daisy was sure grandma knew all about her sad temptation, and how
+she had coveted the bright gold beads for just one little day. Now
+they were to be hers for ever, and half for shame, half for very joy,
+Daisy hid her curly head in grandma's bosom and sobbed aloud.
+
+"Hush, darling!" grandma said; "we are all tempted to do wrong
+sometimes, and the dear Father in heaven suffers this to be that we
+may grow stronger through resistance. Now, if you had yielded to the
+voice of pride and desire this morning, do you think you could have
+been happy to-day, even with the necklace and flying Jimmy's kite?"
+
+"No, no! Oh, grandma, forgive me!" sobbed the little voice from
+grandma's bosom.
+
+"Yes, dear, as I am sure God does, who saw how you were sorely tried
+and surely conqueror. Kiss me good-night now; and when you have said
+your 'Now I lay me,' add, 'Dear Father, help grandma's Daisy to be
+good and happy always.'"
+
+An hour later, with the gold beads still about her neck, Daisy in her
+little bed was dreaming of the beautiful fields and flowers that are
+for ever fadeless in the land we name eternal; and the blessed angels,
+guarding her slumber and seeing the smile upon her happy lips, were
+glad because of Daisy's temptation, for they knew that the dear child
+would be stronger and purer and better because she had overcome.
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO A CHILD'S QUESTION.
+
+
+    Do you ask what the birds say? The sparrow, the dove,
+    The linnet and thrush say "I love and I love!"
+    In the winter they're silent, the wind is so strong;
+    What it says I don't know, but it sings a loud song.
+    But green leaves and blossoms and sunny warm weather,
+    And singing and loving, all come back together.
+    But the lark is so brimful of gladness and love,
+    The green fields below him, the blue sky above,
+    That he sings and he sings, and for ever sings he,
+    "I love my love, and my love loves me."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: NELLY'S GARDEN.]
+
+WHAT NELLY GAVE AWAY.
+
+
+Nelly Ray was a bright, brave-hearted little girl, whom no one could
+help loving.
+
+Singing like a lark in the morning, wearing sweet smiles on her face
+all day, cheerful even when the shadows fell, it would have been
+strange indeed if her humble home had not seemed like a bit of
+paradise, and the ground under her feet had not blossomed like the
+rose.
+
+It was a pleasant day in the early spring, when the grass was just
+lifting itself above the moist earth, when the soft south wind was
+blowing among the tender little leaves of the lilac bushes, when the
+birds were busy building their nests, when the merry little brook was
+beginning its song and the great round world looked glad and bright,
+that Nelly began to make her garden.
+
+Her father had dug the ground and made it ready for her, and so she
+took her little red basket full of seeds of different kinds, each kind
+tied up by itself and labelled, and down in the little beds she
+dropped candy-tuft, and phlox, and lady-slippers.
+
+How happy she was at her work! Her cheeks were the color of ripe
+peaches, her eyes were as sweet as twin violets, and her little mouth
+was like a fresh rosebud, but better and brighter far than the cheeks
+and lips was the light of kindness that shone in her eyes.
+
+Her sister Jennie, who sat sewing by the window, watched her with
+loving interest.
+
+"Mother," she said, at length, looking up from her work, "do you know
+what a generous little girl our Nelly would be if she was only a rich
+man's child?"
+
+"Is she not generous now, Jennie?" asked her mother.
+
+"Oh yes, surely she is. But I was thinking how much good she would do,
+and how much she would give away, if only we were not poor."
+
+She saw that her mother was smiling softly to herself.
+
+"She gives away more now, of course, than some rich children do. Just
+think how faithfully she works in that little garden, so as to have
+flowers to give away! I do not believe there is a house anywhere near
+us into which sickness or poverty comes where her simple flowers will
+not go."
+
+"Did you ever think, dear Jennie, of the other garden which Nelly
+weeds and waters every day?"
+
+"No, mother. What garden do you mean?"
+
+"The garden of her heart, my dear child. You know that the rain which
+the clouds take from the lakes and rivers comes back to refresh and
+beautify our fields and gardens; and so it is with our little Nelly's
+good deeds and kind, loving words. She gives away more than a handful
+of violets, for with them goes a bright smile, which is like sunshine
+to the sick heart. She gives more than a bunch of roses, for with them
+always goes a kind word. And doing these little things, she gets a
+large reward. Her own heart grows richer."
+
+
+
+
+A STRANGE COMBAT.
+
+
+We are told that the old Romans greatly delighted in witnessing the
+combats of wild beasts, as well as gladiators, and that they used to
+ransack their whole broad empire for new and unheard-of
+animals--anything and everything that had fierceness and fight in it.
+Those vast amphitheatres, like the Coliseum, were built to gratify
+these rather sanguinary tastes in that direction.
+
+But I doubt whether even the old Romans, with all their large
+experience, ever beheld so strange and grotesque a "set-to" (I'm
+pretty sure none of our American boys ever did) as the writer once
+stumbled upon, on the shores of one of our Northern Maine lakes--Lake
+Pennesseewassee, if you can pronounce that; it trips up editors
+sometimes.
+
+I had been spending the day in the neighboring forest, hunting for a
+black squirrel I had seen there the evening before, having with me a
+great, red-shirted lumberman, named Ben--Ben Murch. And not finding
+our squirrel, we were making our way, towards evening, down through
+the thick alders which skirted the lake, to the shore, in the hope of
+getting a shot at an otter, or a mink, when all at once a great sound,
+a sort of _quock, quock_, accompanied by a great splashing of the
+water, came to our ears.
+
+"Hush!" ejaculated Ben, clapping his hand to his ear (as his custom
+was), to catch the sound. "Hear that? Some sort of a fracas."
+
+And cautiously pushing through the dense copse, a very singular and
+comical spectacle met our eyes. For out some two or three rods from
+the muddy, grassy shore stood a tall, a very tall bird,--somewhere
+from four to five feet, I judged,--with long, thin, black legs, and
+an awkward body, slovenly clad in dull gray-blue plumage. The neck
+was as long as the legs, and the head small, and nearly bare, with a
+long, yellowish bill. Standing knee deep in the muddied water, it was,
+on the whole, about the most ungainly-looking fowl you can well
+imagine; while on a half-buried tree trunk, running out towards it
+into the water, crouched a wiry, black creature, of about average dog
+size, wriggling a long, restless tail, and apparently in the very act
+of springing at the long-legged biped in the water. Just now they were
+eying each other very intently; but from the splashed and bedraggled
+appearance of both, it was evident there had been recent hostilities,
+which, judging from the attitude of the combatants, were about to be
+renewed.
+
+"Show!" exclaimed Ben, peering over my shoulder from behind. "An old
+_hairn_--ain't it? Regular old _pokey_. Thought I'd heered that
+_quock_ before. And that creatur'? Let's see. Odd-looking chap. Wish
+he'd turn his head this way. Fisher--ain't it? Looks like one. Should
+judge that's a fisher-cat. What in the world got them at loggerheads,
+I wonder?"
+
+By "hairn" Ben meant _heron_, the great blue heron of American
+waters--_Ardea Herodias_ of the naturalists. And fisher, or
+fisher-cat, is the common name among hunters for Pennant's marten, or
+the _Mustela canadensis_, a very fierce carnivorous animal, of the
+weasel family, growing from three to four feet in length, called also
+"the black cat."
+
+The fisher had doubtless been the assailant, though both had now that
+intent, tired-down air which marks a long fray. He had probably crept
+up from behind, while old long-shanks was quietly frogging along the
+shore.
+
+But he had found his intended victim a game one. The heron had a
+character to sustain; and although he might easily have flown away, or
+even waded farther out, yet he seemed to scorn to do either.
+
+Not an inch would it budge, but stood with its long, javelin-like beak
+poised, ready to strike into the fisher's eye, uttering, from moment
+to moment, that menacing, guttural _quock_, which had first attracted
+our attention.
+
+This sound, mingling with the eager snarling and fretting of the cat,
+made the most dismal and incongruous duet I had ever listened to. For
+some moments they stood thus threatening and defying each other; but
+at length, lashing itself up to the proper pitch of fury, the fisher
+jumped at his antagonist with distended jaws, to seize hold of the
+long, slender throat. One bite at the heron's slim neck would settle
+the whole affair. But this attempt was very adroitly balked by the
+plucky old wader's taking a long step aside, when the fisher fell into
+the water with a great splash, and while struggling back to the log,
+received a series of strokes, or, rather, stabs, from the long,
+pointed beak, dealt down with wonderful swiftness, and force, too; for
+we distinctly heard them _prod_ into the cat's tough hide, as he
+scrambled upon the log, and ran spitting up the bank. This defeat,
+however, was but temporary, as any one acquainted with the singular
+persistence and perseverance of the whole weasel family will readily
+guess. The fisher had soon worked his way down the log again, the
+heron retiring to his former position in the water.
+
+Another succession of quocks and growlings, and another spring, with
+even less success, on the side of the cat. For this time the heron's
+bill wounded one of his eyes; and as he again retreated up the log, we
+could see the bloody tears trickling down over his shaggy jowl.
+
+Thus far the battle seemed favorable to the heron; but the fisher
+again rallied, and, now thoroughly maddened, rushed down the log, and
+leaped blindly upon his foe. Again and again his attacks were parried.
+The snarling growls now rose to shrieks, and the croaking quocks to
+loud, dissonant cries.
+
+"Faugh!" muttered Ben. "Smell his breath--fisher's breath--clean here.
+Always let that out somehow when they're mad."
+
+Even at our distance, that strong, fetid odor, sometimes perceptible
+when a cat spits, could plainly be discerned.
+
+"Old _hairn_ seems to be having the best of it," continued Ben. "I bet
+on him. How cool he keeps! Fights like a machine. See that bill come
+down now! Look at the marks it makes, too!" For the blood, oozing out
+through the thick fur of the cat in more than a dozen spots, was
+attesting the prowess of the heron's powerful beak.
+
+But at length, with a sudden bound upward, the fisher fell with his
+whole weight upon the back of his lathy antagonist. Old long-legs was
+upset, and down they both went in the water, where a prodigious
+scuffle ensued. Now one of the heron's big feet would be thrust up
+nearly a yard; then the cat would come to the top, sneezing and
+strangling; and anon the heron's long neck would loop up in sight,
+bending and doubling about in frantic attempts to peck at its foe, its
+cries now resembling those of a hen when seized in the night, save
+that they were louder and harsher. Over and over they floundered and
+rolled. The mud and water flew about. Long legs, shaggy paws, wet,
+wriggling tail, and squawking beak, fur and feathers--all turning and
+squirming in inextricable confusion. It was hard telling which was
+having the best of the _mêlée_, when, on a sudden, the struggle
+stopped, as if by magic.
+
+[Illustration: {The marten about to attack the heron}]
+
+"One or t'other has given in," muttered Ben.
+
+Looking more closely, we saw that the fisher had succeeded in getting
+the heron's neck into his mouth. One bite had been sufficient. The
+fray was over. And after holding on a while, the victor, up to his
+back in water, began moving towards the shore, dragging along with
+him, by the neck, the body of the heron, whose great feet came
+trailing after at an astonishing distance behind. To see him, wet as a
+drowned rat, tugging up the muddy bank with his ill-omened and
+unsightly prey, was indeed a singular spectacle. Whatever had brought
+on this queer contest, the fisher had won--fairly, too, for aught I
+could see; and I hadn't it in my heart to intercept his retreat. But
+Ben, to whom a "black cat" was particularly obnoxious, from its
+nefarious habit of robbing traps, had no such scruples, and, bringing
+up his rifle with the careless quickness of an old woodsman, fired
+before I could interpose a word. The fisher dropped, and after
+writhing and snapping a few moments, stretched out--dead.
+
+Leaving Ben to take off its skin,--for the fur is worth a trifle,--I
+was strolling along the shore, when upon coming under a drooping
+cedar, some six or seven rods from the scene of the fight, another
+large heron sprang out of a clump of brambles, and stalked off with a
+croak of distrust. It at once occurred to me that there might be a
+nest here; and opening the brambles, lo, there it was, a broad,
+clumsy structure of coarse sticks, some two or three feet from the
+ground, and lined with moss and water grasses. In it, or, rather, on
+it, were two chicks, heron chicks, uncouth little things, with long,
+skinny legs and necks, and sparsely clad with tufts of gray down. And
+happening to glance under the nest, I perceived an egg, lodged down
+among the bramble-stalks. It had probably rolled out of the nest. It
+struck me, however, as being a very small egg from so large a bird;
+and having a rule in my pocket, I found it to be but two and a half
+inches in length by one and a half in width. It was of a dull,
+bluish-white color, without spots, though rather rough and uneven. I
+took it home as a curiosity.
+
+On the edge of the nest I saw several small perch, a frog, and a
+meadow-mouse, all recently brought, though the place had a suspicious
+odor of carrion.
+
+All this while the old heron had stood at a little distance away,
+uttering now and then an ominous croak. I could easily have shot it
+from where I stood, but thought the family had suffered enough for one
+day.
+
+The presence of the nest accounted for the obstinacy with which the
+old male heron had contested the ground with the fisher.
+
+Both old birds are said to sit by turns upon the eggs. But the nests
+are not always placed so near the ground as this one. Last summer,
+while fishing from the "Pappoose's Pond," I discovered one in the very
+top of a lofty Norway pine--a huge bunch of sticks and long grass,
+upon the edge of which one of the old herons was standing on one foot,
+perfectly motionless, with its neck drawn down, and seemingly asleep.
+
+The artist who could have properly sketched that nest and bird would
+have made his fortune then and there.
+
+                                             C. A. STEPHENS.
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE HOME-BODY.
+
+
+    Little Home-body is mother's wee pet,
+    Fairest and sweetest of housekeepers yet;
+    Up when the roses in golden light peep,
+    Helping her mother to sew and to sweep.
+    Tidy and prim in her apron and gown,
+    Brightest of eyes, of the bonniest brown;
+    Tiniest fingers, and needle so fleet,
+    Pattern of womanhood, down at my feet!
+
+    Little Home-body is grave and demure,
+    Weeps when you speak of the wretched and poor,
+    Though she can laugh in the merriest way
+    While you are telling a tale that is gay.
+    Lily that blooms in some lone, leafy nook;
+    Sly little hide-away, moss-sided brook;
+    Fairies are fine, where the silver dews fall;
+    Home fairies--these are the best of them all!
+
+                            GEORGE COOPER.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: NEDDY AND HIS LAMB.]
+
+NEDDY'S HALF HOLIDAY.
+
+
+"We've had a good time, Tony, old fellow, haven't we?" said Neddy
+Harris, who was beginning to feel tired with his half day's ramble in
+the fields. As he said this he sat down on some boards in the barn.
+
+Tony replied to his young master by rubbing his nose against his face,
+and by a soft "baa," which was as near as he could come to saying, "A
+first-rate time, Master Neddy."
+
+"A grand good time," added the boy, putting his arms around the lamb's
+neck and laying his face on its soft wool.
+
+"And now," he continued, "as father says we should always do, I'll
+just go back and think over what I've done this holiday afternoon; and
+if I forgot myself in anything and went wrong, it will be best for me
+to know it, so that I can do better next time.
+
+"I'm sorry about that poor squirrel," said Neddy; "he never did me any
+harm. What a beautiful little creature he was, with his bright black
+eyes and shiny skin!"
+
+And the boy's face grew sad, as well it might, for he had pelted this
+squirrel with stones from tree to tree, and at last knocked him to the
+ground.
+
+"But it was so cruel in me! Now, if I live a hundred years, I'll never
+harm another squirrel. God made these frisky little fellows, and
+they've just as much right to live as I have."
+
+Neddy felt better about the squirrel after this good resolution, which
+he meant to keep.
+
+"That was curious about the spider," he went on, trying to push all
+thoughts of the dead squirrel from his mind. Let me tell you about
+this spider. In the corner of a fence Neddy saw a large circular
+spider's web, shaped like a funnel, down in the centre of which was a
+hole. As he stood looking at the delicate thing, finer than any woven
+silk, a fly struck against it and got his feet tangled, so that he
+could not escape. Instantly a great black spider ran out of the hole
+at the bottom of the web, and seizing the poor fly dragged him out of
+sight and made his dinner off of him.
+
+Neddy dropped a piece of dry bark about the size of his thumb nail
+into the web, and it slipped down and covered the hole through which
+the spider had to come for his prey. Instantly the piece of bark was
+pushed up by the spider, who came out of his den and ran around on the
+slender cords of his web in a troubled kind of way. Then he tried to
+get back into his hidden chamber, but the piece of bark covered the
+entrance like a shut door. And now Mr. Spider was in a terrible
+flurry. He ran wildly up one side of his web and down another; then he
+tugged at the piece of bark, trying to drag it out, but its rough
+edges took hold of the fine silken threads and tore them.
+
+"You'll catch no more flies in that web, old chap," said Neddy as he
+stood watching the spider.
+
+But Neddy was mistaken. Spider did not belong to the give-up class. If
+the thing could not be done in one way, it might in another. He did
+not reason about things like human beings, but then he had instinct,
+as it is called, and that teaches animals how to get their food, how
+to build their houses or make their nests, and how to meet the dangers
+and difficulties that overtake them in life. After sitting still for a
+little while, spider went to work again, and this time in a surprising
+way. He cut a circle close around the piece of bark as neatly as you
+could have done with a pair of sharp scissors, and lo! it dropped to
+the ground, leaving a hole in the web about the size of a ten-cent
+piece.
+
+"Rather hard on the web, Mr. Landpirate," said Neddy, laughing. "Flies
+can go through there as well as chips."
+
+When he called the spider a land-pirate, Neddy was wrong. He was no
+more a pirate--that is, one who robs and murders--than is the
+woodpecker or swallow, for they feed on worms and insects. The spider
+was just as blameless in his work of catching and eating flies as was
+Neddy's white bantam when she went off into the fields after
+grasshoppers.
+
+But Neddy's laugh at the spider was soon cut short. The most difficult
+part of his work was done when he got rid of the piece of bark. As
+soon as that was out of his way he began moving backward and forward
+over the hole he had cut in the web, just as if he were a weaver's
+shuttle, and in about ten minutes it was all covered with gauzy
+lacework finer than ever was worn by a queen.
+
+"I'll give it up, old fellow," exclaimed Neddy, taking a long breath
+as he saw the work completed. "This just beats me out." Spider crept
+down into his den again to wait for another fly, and Neddy, leading
+Tony, went on his way pleased and wondering.
+
+
+
+
+THE SPARROW.
+
+
+    Thou humblest bird that wings the air, the Master cares for thee;
+    And if he cares for one so small, will he not care for me?
+
+    His eye looks on thee from above, he notices thy fall;
+    And if he cares for such as thee, does he not care for all?
+
+    He feeds thee in the sweet spring-time, when skies are bright and
+            blue;
+    He feeds thee in the autumn-time, and in the winter too.
+
+    He leads thee through the pathless air, he guides thee in thy
+            flight;
+    He sees thee in the brightest day, and in the darkest night.
+
+    Oh, if his loving care attends a bird so mean and small,
+    Will he not listen to my voice when unto him I call?
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Mrs. Pike talks to Sarah and Jane}]
+
+MRS. PIKE'S PRISONERS.
+
+A TRUE STORY.
+
+
+Early on a cloudy April afternoon, many years ago, several little
+girls were playing in a village door-yard, not far from the fence
+which separated it from a neighbor's. They were building a play-house
+of boards, and were so busily occupied, that none of them had noticed
+a lady standing at a little four-paned window in the house the other
+side of the fence, who had been intently regarding them for some time.
+The window was so constructed as to swing back like a door, and being
+now open, the lady's face was framed against the dark background of
+the room, producing the effect of a picture. 'Twas a strange face,
+sallow and curiously wrinkled, with a nose like the beak of a hawk,
+and large black eyes, which seemed to be endowed with the power of
+perpetual motion. These roved from one to another of the busy
+builders, till suddenly one of them seemed to be aware that some one
+was looking at her, and turned towards the little window.
+
+"Ah, I know you, Wealthy Robbins! Come here a minute, my little dear,"
+spoke the lady, in a shrill, quavering voice. And she beckoned to her
+with a hooked finger like a claw. But Wealthy shrank back, murmuring,
+"I don't want to," almost under her breath, and nudging with her elbow
+the nearest girl; "Hannah, Mrs. Pike wants something. See!"
+
+"Is that you, Hannah Green? Come over here, and I'll give you a piece
+of my Passover candy." And the lady waved in the air a long candle-rod
+entwined with a strip of scarlet flannel, which made it look like a
+mammoth stick of peppermint candy.
+
+This attracted the attention of all the girls, and going close to the
+fence, they peered through, while she besought them, with enticing
+promises and imploring eyes, to come around under the window, for she
+had something to tell them.
+
+"Don't let's go," whispered Mary Green, the oldest of the group.
+"Mother told me never to go near her window when she's standing there,
+for she's a crazy woman. That stick isn't candy no more than I am."
+
+"Come, Sarah; I always knew you were a kind little girl," said Mrs.
+Pike, in a coaxing tone, to the youngest and smallest of the group;
+"_do_ come here just a minute."
+
+At last, Sarah Holmes and her sister Jane went around, and stood under
+the little window. Jane said it could do no harm just to go and see
+what Mrs. Pike wanted, and if _she_ was shut up in jail, she guessed
+she'd want a good many things.
+
+"Now, you dear little lambs, you see I'm all alone in the house; and
+they've gone away, and forgotten to give me my dinner; and I'm _very_
+hungry. All I want is a little unleavened bread, for this is Passover
+Day, you know. Well, you just climb in through the dining-room window,
+little Sarah,--Jane can help you,--and unlock my door, so I can go to
+the buttery and get some bread. Then I'll bring you out a nice saucer
+mince pie, and come back here, and you can lock me in. They'll never
+know; and I shall starve if you don't take pity on me."
+
+After some whispering together, the little girls did as they were
+bidden, notwithstanding the warnings of their mates the other side of
+the fence. When they had disappeared from view, Mary Green turned
+away, and began to hammer, as though she was driving a nail into Mrs.
+Pike's head, or Jane Holmes's, or somebody's, ejaculating, "I guess
+they'll rue this day."
+
+Which prophetic words came very near being verified at the moment
+they were spoken. For no sooner had Jane unlocked the door of Mrs.
+Pike's room, than out sprang that lady, and clutched one of the little
+girls with either hand, almost shrieking, "Ah, I know you! you belong
+to that wicked and rebellious tribe of Korah. Why didn't you come over
+to the help of the mighty immediately? Now, you shall see how _you_
+like dwelling in the Cave of Machpelah for a day and a night, and a
+month and a year, until He shall come whose right it is to reign."
+
+And she thrust the trembling, awe-struck children into the room that
+had been her prison, and turned the key upon them. Then away she
+strode out of the house and up the street, a noticeable figure, truly,
+in her short yellow nankeen dress, with pantalets of the same, and
+neat white Quaker cap, with long white ribbons crossed under her chin,
+and carrying an immense umbrella over her head. It was strange that
+none of the nearest neighbors should see her pass. The front door was
+on the opposite side of the house from where the little girls were
+playing; so they did not observe her exit; and thus it happened that
+the crazy lady, who had been confined in the house for weeks, escaped
+without any check upon her triumphant progress. Busy women, seeing her
+from their windows, thought Mrs. Pike must be better again, to be out,
+and did wish her friends wouldn't let her walk the streets looking
+like a Dutch woman. Boys paused in their games almost respectfully, as
+she passed by; for notwithstanding her strange appearance and rapid
+movements, there was an air of mysterious command about the woman
+which checked any rudeness.
+
+"There goes Madam Pike," exclaimed one ragged-kneed boy, when she had
+passed out of hearing. "Got on her ascension-robe--hasn't she? Wonder
+if that umberil will help her any? I say, boys, do you suppose all the
+saints that walk the streets of the new Jerusalem look like her?"
+
+While Mrs. Pike walked rapidly on, with a keen appreciation of the
+fresh air and occasional gleams of sunshine, the little prisoners
+drooped like two April violets plucked and thrown upon the ground.
+They were so frightened and awe-struck, that the idea of calling for
+help from the open window did not occur to them; and they crouched
+upon the floor, melancholy and mute. After a while, some odd-looking
+garments, hanging in a row on one side of the room, attracted their
+attention; but they did not dare to go near them at first. Mrs. Pike
+was what was called a Second Adventist, and had read the Bible and
+Apocrypha with a fiery zeal, and an earnest determination to find
+therein proof of what she believed, and had attended Second Advent
+meetings, and exhorted wherever she could get a hearing, until her
+poor brain was crazed. But lately her husband and friends had kept her
+in doors as much as possible; and she spent most of the time knitting
+ascension-robes for the saints of the twelve tribes of the house of
+Judah. These were long garments, coming nearly to the feet, each of a
+single color, royal purple and blue being her favorites. She said that
+she must improve every moment, lest the great and dreadful day of the
+Lord should come, and she should not be ready, i. e., would not have a
+robe prepared for each of the saints to ascend in. When her son, a boy
+of twelve, died, she had him buried by the front doorstep, so, when
+the procession of saints should pass out at the door, Erastus could
+join them immediately, and not have to come from the burying-ground, a
+mile away.
+
+It was after sunset when Mr. Pike passed along the village street, on
+his way home, and was informed by a good woman, standing at her gate,
+that his wife had gone by about one o'clock, and that, not long after,
+Jane and Sarah Holmes were missed. Some little girls they had been
+playing with had seen them get into Mr. Pike's house through the
+dining-room window, and that was the last that had been seen or heard
+of them. Mrs. Holmes was going on dreadfully; for she thought that, as
+likely as not, Madam Pike had thrown them down in the well, or hid
+them where they would never be found, and then run away. The
+bewildered man hurried home to harness his horse, and go in search of
+his wife; for, with a trust in her better nature, worthy of a woman,
+he believed that she would tell him where the children were, if she
+knew. Fortunately, he found her in a tavern about a mile from home,
+preaching, as the children would say. As usual, she was exhorting her
+hearers to prepare for the great and terrible day of the Lord, etc.,
+etc.; but when her husband appeared in the doorway, the thread of her
+discourse was suddenly broken, and she turned and accosted him with,
+"Ah, Mr. Pike, have you seen my prisoners in the Cave of Machpelah?
+They belong to that wicked and rebellious tribe of Korah, you know."
+
+"Well, Mary, let's go home, and see how they are getting along," said
+he, in a confident tone; for he instantly divined who her prisoners
+were, and that the Cave of Machpelah could not be far away.
+
+Mrs. Pike was quite willing to go with him, and worried all the way
+home; for she said prisoners were always in mischief, and there were
+the robes hanging in the cave, which she had forgotten to put out of
+their reach. So when they arrived, her first act was to unlock the
+door of the children's prison. And her next was to pounce upon them
+with even more vigor than when she emerged from it in the afternoon.
+For there they lay asleep on the carpet, Jane in a purple robe, and
+Sarah in a green, their hands and feet invisible by reason of the
+great length of their garments.
+
+"Don't hurt them, Mary," said Mr. Pike. For she was hustling off the
+precious robes before the little girls were fairly awake; and they
+might have fared hardly, had not the kind man been present to see that
+justice was done; to wit, that they were compensated for their
+imprisonment by pockets full of cakes and fruit, and sent home to
+their mother without delay. That happy woman did not send them
+supperless to bed, nor say a word about punishing them, either then or
+afterwards. Perhaps she guessed that their punishment had already been
+sufficiently severe.
+
+"O, mother," said Jane, "at first we didn't dare to stir or speak, for
+fear the crazy lady was listening; and she seemed angry enough to kill
+us. I felt as if my hair was turning gray, and Sarah looked as white
+as the wall. Well, after a great many hours, we began to look about
+the room, and we saw those queer gowns she knits, hanging in a row;
+and we got up and looked at them. By and by we got so tired doing
+nothing, that we took them down and tried them on, and played we were
+the saints. We tried to fly, but the old things were so heavy and
+long, that we couldn't even jump. And after a while we were so tired
+that we lay down and went to sleep, and never woke till Mrs. Pike came
+home. O, but 'twas the lonesomest, longest, dreariest afternoon we
+ever, ever knew--wasn't it, Sarah?"
+
+This was the story, with variations, which the Holmes girls had to
+tell to their mates the next day, and the next, and so on, until it
+ceased to be a novelty.
+
+But Mrs. Pike's prisoners were heroines, in the estimation of the
+village girls and boys, for more than one year, and doubtless still
+remember and tell to their children the story of their afternoon in
+the Cave of Machpelah.
+
+                                                    M. R. W.
+
+
+
+
+WAR AND PEACE.
+
+
+WAR.
+
+    The warrior waves his standard high,
+      His falchion flashes in the fray;
+    He madly shouts his battle-cry,
+      And glories in a well-fought day.
+    But Famine's at the city gate,
+      And Rapine prowls without the walls;
+    The city round lies desolate,
+      While Havoc's blighting footstep falls.
+    By ruined hearths, by homes defiled,
+      In scenes that nature's visage mar,
+    We feel the storm of passions wild,
+      And pluck the bitter fruit of war.
+
+
+PEACE.
+
+    The cobweb hangs on Sword and belt,
+      The charger draws the gliding plow;
+    The cannons in the furnace melt,
+      And change to gentle purpose now;
+    The threshers swing their ponderous flails,
+      The craftsmen toil with cheerful might;
+    The ocean swarms with merchant sails,
+      And busy mills look gay by night;
+    The happy land becomes renowned,
+      As knowledge, arts, and wealth increase,
+    And thus, with plenty smiling round,
+      We cull the blessed fruits of peace.
+
+[Illustration: WAR.]
+
+
+
+
+CHERRY-TIME.
+
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      We children used to say--
+    "The merriest throughout the year,
+      For all is bright and gay."
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      The air is fresh and sweet,
+    And fair flowers in the garden bloom,
+      And daisies 'neath our feet.
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      For hanging on the tree,
+    All round and glistening in the sun,
+      The pretty fruit we see.
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      Up in the tree so high
+    We children climbed, and, laughing, said,
+      "Almost into the sky."
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      The robins thought so too,
+    And helped themselves to "cherries ripe"
+      While wet with morning dew.
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      The sunshine and the showers
+    Of God's rich mercy fall on us
+      In happy childhood's hours.
+
+[Illustration: CHERRY-TIME.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The boys in the pond, fishing with rods}]
+
+THE DAVY BOYS' FISHING-POND.
+
+
+"Boys," said Mr. Davy, "how would you like to have a fishing-pond?"
+
+The five boys looked at him eagerly, to see if he were in earnest.
+
+"O, splendid, papa!" say they in chorus; "but how _can_ we have a
+fishing-pond?"
+
+"You know that hollow down in the pasture," continued Mr. Davy, "and
+what a blemish it is upon the farm. I have wondered if we could not
+make it useful in some way, and at the same time improve the looks of
+things. I think we might build an embankment upon the open side, make
+the slope steeper all round, bring the water into it from the creek,
+and so have a fishing-pond. We should have to make a race-way from the
+creek to the pond, and cut a channel through the meadow, in which the
+water could flow back to the creek again below the fall. I think it
+could be done," said Mr. Davy, after a pause, "only there would be a
+great deal of work necessary, and we could hardly afford to hire it
+done."
+
+"O, father, _we_ can do the digging," shouted five voices in chorus;
+"we can do it with our spades and wheelbarrows. School doesn't begin
+for a month yet, and we can get it all done in that time."
+
+"Hurrah for a fish-pond!" cried Percy, and in imagination he fairly
+felt the bites of the three-pound trout he was to catch before summer
+was over.
+
+Mr. Davy is a practical farmer. By that I mean that he cultivates the
+land with his own hands. He, with his men, and those of the boys who
+are old enough, are in the fields every morning in summer by five
+o'clock, ploughing, planting, sowing, or milking the cows, and, later
+in the season, haying, harvesting, or threshing. Tommy, the eldest of
+his sons, is thirteen years old; Clarence, the youngest, is five.
+
+Mr. Davy had been thinking of the fishing-pond for some time, and had
+matured the plan in his mind before speaking of it to the boys. The
+morning after the conversation of which I have told you, I saw the
+five boys standing in thoughtful silence upon the bank above the
+hollow in the pasture. I do not believe the engineer who is planning
+the bridge across the British Channel, to connect England and France,
+feels anymore responsibility than did the Davy boys that morning.
+
+"May we begin to-day, father?" said they, eagerly, at breakfast-time.
+
+"Yes; and Patrick can help you," was the reply.
+
+The horses were harnessed to the plough, and driven to the hollow.
+Patrick was instructed how to proceed. He put the reins round his
+neck, and took firm hold of the handles. "Go on wid ye, now!" he cried
+to the horses. A furrow was soon turned, and the fish-pond fairly
+begun.
+
+"Your work," said Mr. Davy to the boys, "will be to wheel away the
+earth which Patrick ploughs out. The first thing is to lay a plank
+for your wheelbarrows to run upon."
+
+Tommy and George soon brought the planks from the tool-house. Blocks
+were laid the proper distance apart to sustain them, and, after two or
+three hours' work, a line of plank, which looked to the boys as grand
+as the new Pacific Railway, stretched across the hollow. The little
+laborers went in to dinner flushed with excitement and hard work, but
+as happy, I dare say, as if they had been to Barnum's Museum, and seen
+the wax figures and wild animals.
+
+Patrick had, during the forenoon, ploughed a good many furrows, and
+now the boys were busy enough carrying away the earth. Each had a
+wheelbarrow of his own--Clarence's a toy, which, with a tiny spade,
+his father had brought from the city with a view to the work now in
+progress. It required a steady hand to keep the wheelbarrows upon the
+plank. They _would_ run off once in a while, and then all hands
+halted, and lifted them upon the track again. The earth was to be
+deposited--"dumped," the boys said--upon the site of the new
+embankment. As the first loads were overturned, Mr. Davy made his
+appearance.
+
+"This fish-pond must have an outlet, you know," said he, "at the point
+where the bottom is lowest. I will measure it off for you, and drive
+three stakes on either side. Here we will have a gate; for our pond
+will need emptying and cleaning occasionally. Fish will not live in
+impure water."
+
+The boys were delighted. All this excavating, laying out of
+earthworks, and planning of gate-way, seemed like real engineering.
+They were reënforced, after a while, by Patrick and the horses; and
+then how suddenly they became tired, his shovelfuls were so large in
+comparison with theirs--his wagon carried away so much more at a load!
+
+Pretty early that evening little Clarence crept into his mother's
+lap, and told her a marvellous story of the amount of earth he had
+wheeled away; but his tired little eyes acted as though some of it had
+blown between their lids; and soon mamma tucked him away for twelve
+hours' sleep.
+
+The hollow in the pasture, I forgot to say, was half an acre in
+extent, and appeared as though Nature had scooped it out on purpose to
+make a place for the Davy boys' fishing-pond. The creek, too, running
+nearly alongside, was there to supply it with water.
+
+"What shall we ever do with that hill?" said Percy, pointing to a rise
+of ground on one side the hollow, as he and his brothers were
+surveying their work; "we never can cart all that away, nor dig up
+those trees, either."
+
+"Let's leave it for an island," said Frank--"a _real_ island--land
+with water all round it" (he had just begun studying geography); "and
+the trees will make a splendid grove, where we can have picnics."
+
+"The island will afford a harbor for the boat, too," said Mr. Davy,
+who had just joined the children. "I suppose you will want a boat on
+your pond--will you not?"
+
+The boys could scarcely believe their ears. A boat of their own, on
+their own pond! They had never dreamed of anything half so nice.
+
+"Time to be at work!" said Mr. Davy.
+
+All the forenoon, as I watched them from my window, I saw the
+embankment growing slowly, but steadily, while the sloping sides of
+the hollow became steeper and steeper. At night a visible step had
+been taken towards a fishing-pond.
+
+I cannot tell you about every one of the days during which the Davy
+boys worked so industriously. At last, however, the excavation was
+completed, the embankment raised to the desired height. The frame for
+the gate-way stood firm between its crowding sides. Gates were in
+progress at the carpenter's, made of solid plank, a door sliding up
+and down over an open space near the bottom. This was easily worked by
+means of a handle at the top.
+
+"And now," said Mr. Davy, "to get the water into the pond. Patrick and
+Michael must build a dam a little way up the creek and the race-way
+from a point just above. We shall need a gate similar to the one at
+the outlet."
+
+The boys were glad to give way to Patrick and Michael, when it came to
+building dams and race-ways. In the mean time they assisted the mason
+who was lining the embankment on either side the gate with stone, to
+protect it against the action of the water. The stone-boat, a little,
+flat vehicle which slides over the ground without wheels, was brought
+out, for piles of stone were to be drawn from a distant part of the
+farm.
+
+"But I shall want one of you to carry the hod for me," said the mason.
+
+It was arranged that they should take turns at this; so one would stay
+and fill with mortar the queer little box which hod-carriers use, and
+bear it on his shoulders to the mason, who was fast laying the curved
+wall.
+
+"Why do you have the wall laid in this rounding shape, papa?" asked
+George. "Why not have it straight?"
+
+"Because the curve makes it stronger to resist the force of the water.
+You notice that the mason chooses stones which are larger at one end
+than at the other. He lays them so that the larger ends form the outer
+side of the curve--the smaller form the inner or shorter side, as you
+see by looking at this wall. The stones, thus wedged against each
+other, could not be as easily forced out of place as if they were
+square in shape, and laid in a straight line. Imagine the water
+pressing upon the inner side of the curve. How readily the wall would
+give way, and the water come pouring through! Have you never observed,
+children," continued Mr. Davy, "that in bridges, culverts, or any
+structure which is to sustain a heavy weight, the foundations are
+always laid in the form of an arch?"
+
+"Yes, papa," answered George; "but I never knew why it was. I see now
+that it is to make them strong."
+
+The boys had quite enough of hod-carrying and stone-quarrying before
+the wall was done. In fact, Patrick was pressed into the service
+repeatedly. The hod became too uneasy a burden for the boys'
+shoulders, even though it was padded with sheep-skin.
+
+A channel to convey the water from the pond was now the only thing
+wanting. This was speedily begun, and the little workmen found
+themselves down in a trench behind a low rampart of earth.
+
+"Let's play we are soldiers," said George. "We'll have Patrick and
+Michael for captain and lieutenant (only they must work, if they _are_
+officers), and papa for general and engineer."
+
+Each little soldier did his best. The officers worked faithfully. The
+engineer came round often, and the dark thread across the bright,
+green meadow spun out rapidly.
+
+"Let's elect Frank quartermaster," said Tommy; "then he'll go to
+headquarters, and make requisition for rations. _I_ think it's time
+for dinner."
+
+"Tell mother to send a big basketful, Frank. Soldiers get awful
+hungry," said Percy.
+
+"Tell mother we want to make coffee in the field, too," said George.
+"Real soldiers do."
+
+I fear that Patrick and Michael did most of the work after this, for
+the department of the commissary seemed to require the attention of
+all the boys.
+
+Mamma was willing to issue rations in the field. "But," said she,
+"soldiers often have only hard tack and coffee. I suppose you will
+want nothing more."
+
+This was a view of the case for which the boys were not prepared. They
+did not wish to seem unsoldierly, but they were very hungry.
+
+"You know, mother," said Percy, "soldiers had bacon sometimes with
+their hard tack."
+
+"And we are only _playing_ soldiers. We ain't _real_ soldiers," said
+matter-of-fact Clarence.
+
+His brothers were quite ashamed that he should give this as a reason
+for wanting a good dinner, yet when they saw the pies and cakes going
+into the basket, they made no remarks.
+
+While the quartermaster was at the house, Tommy and George had built a
+fire, to boil the coffee. Two crotched stakes were driven firmly in
+the ground. A stout rod lay across them, and on this hung the kettle.
+A lively fire was burning underneath, the water boiling. In a few
+moments the coffee was made.
+
+After washing carefully in the creek,--for everything must be done as
+soldiers do,--all sat down in a circle on the ground. The coffee was
+served in tin cups; but shall I confess that our soldiers were so
+unsoldierlike as to drink it with cream and sugar?
+
+Patrick and Michael partook; but as they were absent directly
+afterwards, under pretence of smoking a noon pipe, I fancy they ate
+still further rations in the farm-house kitchen. The boys, however,
+said it was the best dinner they ever ate in their lives.
+
+They were now ready for a visit from the general. "We will have these
+breastworks," said he, "smoothed down in regular shape, and sow
+grass-seed upon them, so that in a few weeks there will be a green
+slope in place of these unsightly clods."
+
+I assure you that as I look from my window while writing this story,
+those slopes appear very pretty, with the merry, sparkling stream
+flowing between.
+
+But I must hasten; for you will be anxious to know that the pond,
+gates, outlet, and all were done at last. Then came the day upon which
+the water was to be let in. A great day it was for the whole
+neighborhood. All the boys for a mile round were there to see.
+
+When everything was ready, Mr. Davy, who was up at the dam, hoisted
+the gate; the water came rushing through; in a few moments it had
+reached the end of its course, and poured over into the pond.
+
+Such a shout as rose from the throats of the forty or fifty boys! It
+must have surprised those placid meadows and the great solemn rocks
+around. And you would have thought the sleepy old hills had actually
+been startled into life, such sounding echoes they sent back in
+answer.
+
+The water spread itself thinly at first over the bottom of the pond.
+Slowly it rose; the little hollows were filled up, the slight
+elevations hidden from sight. Gradually it closed round the tiny green
+island which stood out above its surface like an emerald set in
+shining silver. By night the pond was full. The water began running
+over the top of the gate, making the prettiest little waterfall, and
+over it a light spray rose softly towards the evening sky.
+
+Bright and early the next morning there was commotion at the Davys'.
+The boys were going to Maxwell's Creek, ten miles away, fishing. Mrs.
+Davy was stirring round, preparing their lunch. George and Percy
+hurried to the stable.
+
+"Come, Brown Billy," said Percy to the favorite pony; "time to get up
+and have your breakfast. We are all going fishing to-day;" and he laid
+his hand smartly upon the pony's back.
+
+Brown Billy raised his head, opened his eyes in astonishment to see
+the boys so early in his stall; but hearing their merry voices, he
+seemed to understand the situation at once, and to be in full sympathy
+with them. An extra allowance of oats was put in the manger, and while
+the boys were eating their breakfast in the house, Brown Billy
+leisurely munched his in the stable. Then, after a draught from the
+pump, he was put into the traces. Two casks and a large basket were
+lifted in, the luncheon deposited, and soon they were on their way.
+The sun was just peeping above the horizon, spreading a crimson glory
+over every hill, and tree, and shrub; but this was so familiar a sight
+to the Davy boys, that it caused no remark, though they were not
+insensible to its beauty.
+
+The scene of their day's sport was a beautiful glen among the hills,
+through which the stream, a genuine, untaught child of the woods,
+jumped and tumbled at its own wild will, now leaping from precipices
+in the loveliest cataracts, then fretting noisily over its stony bed,
+and, a little farther on, flowing as smoothly as if it never thought
+of foaming or fretting in all its course.
+
+Tommy tied Brown Billy to a tree, giving him a long tether, that he
+might pick at the fresh grass.
+
+Trout are the most delicate of fishes, and require careful treatment.
+Indeed, they are quite the aristocracy of the finny tribe. Mr. Davy
+had given Patrick directions not to allow them to be caught with a
+hook, as it could not be taken from their mouths without causing much
+pain, and perhaps death.
+
+Patrick chose a place in the stream where the channel was narrow, but
+deep, and waded in.
+
+"Now, boys," said he, "yes all go above a little way, wade out into
+the sthrame, and bate the wather with yer fish-poles. This will drive
+thim down, and I'll see what I can do wid the basket."
+
+The boys pulled off shoes and stockings, and rolled their trousers
+above the knees. Clarence sat on the bank, paddling with his bare feet
+in the stream. Stepping out into the creek, they hopped from one mossy
+stone to another, the water pleasantly laving their feet. Standing in
+a row across the stream, they began beating rather gently, at the same
+time walking slowly forward, hoping to drive the fish before them.
+Presently Patrick brought up the basket, the water streaming from it
+as it did from Simple Simon's sieve, and in the bottom, wriggling and
+squirming, lay four fine trout. Tommy seized the basket, and in an
+instant the fish were within the cask, in their native element again,
+though in rather close quarters. The boys hung over the barrel, gazing
+at the pretty creatures with intense delight. The sun shone down into
+the water, making the bright spots on their sides look like gold.
+
+"Never mind, little trout," said Franky; "you are not going to be
+hurt--only moved to our fish-pond."
+
+Do you not think they enjoyed that day far more because there was no
+cruelty in their sport?
+
+Their amusement was varied by a delicious lunch, and an occasional
+ramble through the woods. Towards evening they drove home, elated with
+their success. The cask contained nearly as many fish as could swim.
+The second cask was filled with fresh water, to replace that in the
+first when it should no longer be fit for the use of the fish. These
+delicate little trout are so sensitive to any impurity, that they
+could not have remained in the same water during the drive home
+without suffering. Indeed, they might have died before reaching the
+pond.
+
+My young readers may not know that fish breathe an element of the
+water which is a part of air also. In fact, the same element which
+sustains us sustains them also, viz., oxygen. Only one ninth part of
+water, however, is oxygen, while of air it is one fifth. I dare say
+you have all seen goldfishes, shut up in crystal prisons, swimming
+their endless round in a quart or two of water. Perhaps you have
+observed them lifting their heads above the surface, mouths wide open,
+gasping for breath. The oxygen is exhausted from the water, and unless
+it be speedily changed their mistress will lose her beautiful pets.
+
+The trout were put into the pond--a small beginning, to be sure; but
+it _was_ a beginning. How lonely they must have been at first! What a
+boundless ocean it must have seemed to them!
+
+We will hope they found some cosy harbor in the grassy-lined sides of
+the island, where they could meet together and talk over their strange
+experience of moving. Plenty of company came soon, however; for all
+the boys in the neighborhood were interested in stocking the pond.
+
+A boat was in progress in Mr. Davy's tool-house. The boys watched
+every inch of its growth, from the shaping of the skeleton frame to
+the last dash of the paint-brush. When it was done, the seats put
+across from side to side, the coatings of white paint laid on, and
+elevated upon four stakes to dry its glistening sides, the boys
+thought nothing was ever half so beautiful; but when they saw it upon
+the pond, gently rocking from side to side, the oars hanging in the
+locks, and lazily swaying to the motion of the water, it seemed to
+them more beautiful still.
+
+This is not all a fancy sketch, dear boys and girls. Perhaps some of
+the farmer children who read it may persuade their papas to make a
+fishing-pond of some unsightly "hollow in the pasture" upon their own
+farms.
+
+                                                    L. M. D.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE SAVOYARD AND HIS DOG.]
+
+STORIES ABOUT DOGS.
+
+
+A Newfoundland dog belonging to a gentleman in Edinburgh was in the
+habit of receiving a penny each day from his master, which he always
+took to a baker's shop and bought a loaf of bread for himself. One day
+a bad penny was given him by a gentleman by way of frolic. Dandie ran
+off with it to the baker's, as usual, but was refused a loaf. The poor
+dog waited a moment, as if considering what to do; he then returned to
+the house of the gentleman who had given him the bad coin; and when
+the servant opened the door, he laid it at her feet and walked away
+with an air of contempt.
+
+Some dogs are fond of music, while others seem not to be affected by
+it in the slightest degree. These two anecdotes are related by the
+author of a recent volume. He is speaking of a friend: "As soon as the
+lamp is lighted and placed on the sitting-room table, a large dog of
+the water-spaniel breed usually jumps up and curls himself around the
+lamp. He never upsets it, but remains perfectly still. Now, my friend
+is very musical, but during the time the piano is being played the dog
+remains perfectly unmoved, until a particular piece is played. He will
+not take the slightest notice of loud or soft pieces, neither
+sentimental nor comic, but instantly the old tune entitled 'Drops of
+Brandy' is played, he invariably raises his head and begins to howl
+most piteously, relapsing into his usual state of lethargy as soon as
+this tune is stopped. My friend cannot account for this action of the
+dog in any way, nor can we learn from any source the reason of its
+dislike.
+
+"Again, the wife of a hotel-keeper, lately deceased, possessed a pet
+lap-dog which delighted in listening to its mistress playing on the
+piano; if the usual hour for her daily practice passed by, the dog
+would grow impatient, snap and bark, and be perfectly uneasy until the
+lady consented to gratify its wishes by sitting down to the instrument
+and playing a few tunes. During this operation the dog would sit
+motionless on a chair by her side; and when the music was ended, he
+would jump down, quite satisfied for that day."
+
+
+
+
+A CHILD'S PRAYER.
+
+
+    Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me;
+      Bless thy little lamb to-night;
+    Through the darkness be thou near me,
+      Keep me safe till morning light.
+
+    Through the day thy hand hath led me,
+      And I thank thee for thy care;
+    Thou hast warmed and fed and clothed me,
+      Listen to my evening prayer.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A man jumps from one steam locomotive to another}]
+
+JOHN STOCKS AND "THE BISON."
+
+
+One winter afternoon, as Archy Douglas sat studying his lessons, Mrs.
+Falkoner, the housekeeper, came to invite him to have tea in her room.
+While they were at the table, they heard the kitchen bell ring, at
+which Mrs. Falkoner seemed surprised, for she said the weather would
+incline few people to leave their own firesides.
+
+It turned out, however, to be a visitor for Mrs. Falkoner herself, for
+in a few minutes one of the servants came to say a person who called
+himself John Stocks wanted to see her, and John presented himself in
+the doorway without further delay.
+
+An active man, with the look, at first sight, of the mate of a ship,
+he stood gently stamping the snow off his boots on the door mat,
+laughing in a low tone, as if he was very much pleased to see the
+worthy Mrs. Falkoner, and was enjoying her stare of astonishment to
+the full.
+
+"Dear bless me, John, is it really you?" said Mrs. Falkoner, almost
+running to meet him. "Whatever wind has blown you here?"
+
+"No wind at all, Mary; nought but the snow," he said, laughing: but
+correcting himself, he added, "Ah, well, there was a wind, after all,
+for we're fairly drifted up a few miles t'other side of the Junction;
+and so I got leave to run over and see you: not often I get the
+chance--is it, now?"
+
+All this time he had been taking off his outer coat; and when he was
+fairly in the room, Archy found he was a young man, certainly not more
+than thirty. He had crisp black hair, a bold, manly face, very red
+with exposure to the weather, and at the same time expressive of great
+determination of character. But one peculiarity about his face was,
+that though so young, his forehead was not only scarred and lined, but
+round his eyes and about his mouth it was puckered and wrinkled to a
+most extraordinary degree. Archy felt a great curiosity about him,
+but was not long left in doubt, for Mrs. Falkoner took care to make
+her visitor known to the young gentleman as her youngest half brother
+and an engine-driver on the main line.
+
+A remarkably quiet man did John Stocks seem in regard to general
+conversation; he said very little about the weather, and less about
+things going on in the great world, and anything he did say on these
+topics had almost to be coaxed out of him. However, he evidently took
+great delight in giving all the family news, even to the most minute
+particular.
+
+"Of course you've heard," he said, warming one hand at the fire, "that
+Bob's come home from America. Then that old Thompson has given up the
+shop."
+
+"Yes; so I heard," said Mrs. Falkoner, pouring out another cup of tea,
+not appearing to take very great interest in them. "No accidents on
+your line lately, I hope."
+
+"Not much," was the answer, and he again went back to the family news.
+"Jenny's got a baby," he said, suddenly, with great glee, as if this
+piece of news was far before any other.
+
+This intelligence at least was news to Mrs. Falkoner, and she listened
+to all he had to say about it with great interest.
+
+But when Mrs. Falkoner was called away for a few minutes, it became
+necessary for Archy to entertain the visitor till her return.
+
+Of course Archy had many questions to put about the railway and the
+engines, and dangers and catastrophes. John was excessively civil, and
+on this subject was full of intelligence; but when he was asked if his
+own engine had broken down in the snow, he became quite horrified, if
+not indignant.
+
+"What, master, broke down?" he said. "Not a bit o't. I'd back the old
+Bison against a drift twice as heavy. But, d'ye see, when you comes
+and finds an engine and seven wagons o' minerals, and another engine,
+and wagons besides that all ahead o' ye, and stuck fast, why, I says,
+ye must give in. There ain't no use expecting yer engine to drive
+_through_ 'em, so must lie by till all's cleared, which won't be for
+five hours at least."
+
+"How is it that the line's blocked up now?" asked Archy. "There has
+been no more snow all day."
+
+"Ay, that's true, master," said the engine-driver. "But d'ye see, a
+mile from the Junction there's a bit of heavy cutting, with a steep
+sloping bank on either side. Now, this afternoon there was a slip;
+most all the snow drifted there, and part of the bank itself fell in,
+and so there is a block-up. As I said afore, the mineral train, she
+comes up first, and she sticks fast, and then we has to follow, as a
+matter in course. But had my old Bison been afront, he'd have done
+differently, I make no doubt."
+
+"Is your engine a much stronger one?" said Archy, greatly amused to
+hear how funny it was to call a train she, while he called the engine
+he, and by an animal's name, too.
+
+"It's not that he's stronger, sir, but he's got more go in him, has
+the Bison. He's an extraordinary plucky engine. I've seen him do
+wonderful things when Mat Whitelaw was driver, and me stoker to 'em.
+I'll just tell you one on 'em, and then ye can judge what sort o'
+stuff the Bison's made o'. It was one day in summer, some two years
+ago; we had just taken in water at the junction, and were about to run
+back to couple on the coaches, when an engine passed us tearing along
+at a tremendous speed on the other line o' rail, but, mark me, without
+a driver or stoker, or aught else on it. I thought my mate was mad,
+when he got up steam, and off in the same direction; but in a moment
+I saw what he was up to. The Bison was going in the chase. 'See to the
+brake, John,' was all Mat said, when off we were after the runaway at
+full speed. It seemed to me nought but a wild-goose chase; for, d'ye
+see, master, we were on another line o' rails altogether. But Mat knew
+what he was about, and it was my place to do his bidding. I was always
+proud o' the old Bison before that morning, but I never knew till then
+what a good engine was, and what was depending on it.
+
+"You would have thought he fairly snorted to his work, going at the
+rate o' forty miles an hour we were, and at last we got abreast o' the
+runaway engine, and could have passed him, but that would have been
+useless. There wasn't another driver on the whole line would have
+thought of the thing so quickly as Mat did, nor could have regulated
+the speed so nicely to a moment. The two different engines were
+running just opposite each other on the two different lines, the
+runaway being a good deal worn out now, and going much slower than at
+first, when Mat he says to me, hoarsely, 'Jump across. It'll be safer
+if I stick here to hold the regulator; but I'll go, if you'd rather
+stay.' I had such confidence in Mat Whitelaw, that I could trust my
+life with him before any mortal man; and the instant he gave the word,
+I jumped, and did it safe. We each put on our brakes, and took breath,
+and desperately hot we both were, I can assure you."
+
+"Were you not terribly afraid?" said Archy, who had been almost
+breathless during the recital.
+
+"I can't say that we were," said John, coolly; "but I'll tell you I
+was frightened enough the next moment, when Mat looked at his watch,
+and sees that the down express was due in a few minutes on his line. I
+believe that Mat thought more o' the passengers that might be
+smashed, and the risk for the Bison, than o' his own safety. He said
+it would never do to reverse the engines now; but if we kept on, he
+thought there might yet be time to run into the siding at the nearest
+station. So on we went once more at increased speed, straight on
+ahead, though it was like running into the very face of the danger.
+The telegraph had been hard at work, and the station people had been
+laying their heads together, and they were at the points. So, when
+they heard the whistle, and saw Mat putting on the brake, they at once
+opened the points,--not a moment too soon, I can tell you,--and in he
+ran into the siding. Now, what Mat did, sir, was what I call about
+equal to most generals in war, and as great a benefit to society."
+
+"He must be a brave fellow," said Archy; "and I hope you were both
+rewarded for it."
+
+"The company behaved very handsome," was the answer. "Mat got on to
+the Great Western line at once; but the worst of it is, he and I are
+parted, and the old Bison; he felt his loss as much, if not more than
+me."
+
+Mrs. Falkoner, who had come in during the latter part of the story,
+now said,--
+
+"But tell the young gentleman what you did your own self, and what the
+company thought of your conduct."
+
+"Tuts, Mary," he answered; "I did nought extraordinary; there ain't a
+man in the service but could have done the same, had they known old
+Bison as well as I did."
+
+"I should like to hear it, John," said Archy, who was standing ready
+to leave the brother and sister alone.
+
+"Well, 'cept it be to tell you how I got to be driver of the Bison
+myself, it's not worth the listening to. When Mat left, Bill Jones got
+to be my mate--the worst driver on the line; at least he couldn't
+manage the Bison. He did not understand that engine one bit, and was
+constantly getting into trouble, till I was driven almost wild. Bill
+would say, 'Bison, indeed! he ought to be called Donkey; it would suit
+his kicking ways better.' It was quite true he kicked, but he never
+did it with Mat on him, and went along the rails as smooth as oil.
+Well, at one part o' the line, there is a gradual long incline, and
+one day we were just putting on more steam to run up, when we sees at
+the top two or three coaches coming tearing down straight upon us. We
+knew there was a heavy excursion train on ahead, and we had been going
+rather slow on that account, and this was some of the coaches that had
+got uncoupled from the rest. Well, Bill, my mate, no sooner saw it
+coming, than says he, 'Jump for your life!' and out he went. But I
+knew what a quick engine the Bison was, and, moreover, I saw our guard
+had noticed the danger, too, and would work with me; so I reversed
+the engine, and ran back, until the coaches came up to us, but did no
+further damage save giving us a bit of a shake as they struck on the
+old Bison; and so we drove them afore us right up to the station. Bill
+was killed, as might have been expected, for he had no faith in the
+Bison whatever; and so the company, they came to see I understood that
+engine, and they made me driver o' him from that time."
+
+Archy now bade the worthy engine-driver good night, saying that he
+should always take a greater interest in engines than ever before, and
+that he should have liked very much to have seen such a famous one as
+the Bison.
+
+John Stocks evidently took this speech as a personal compliment, and,
+in consequence, bade Archy a friendly good by, saying, as he did so,
+"that people nowadays talked of nothing but ships and extraordinary
+guns, and what not, but to his mind a good engine was before them
+all."
+
+                                        MRS. GEORGE CUPPLES.
+
+
+
+
+THE CHILDREN'S SONG.
+
+
+    Merrily sang the children, as their mother softly played;
+    With eager, outstretched faces a pretty group they made;
+    Their clear and bird-like voices ran loudly through the air,
+    Till "Baby" heard the music, and crept from stair to stair,
+    That she might join the singers, and in their gladness share.
+
+    Dear, merry little warblers! I love to hear you, too;
+    Your fresh, unworldly feelings, your hearts so fond and true,
+    Give to your songs a sweetness that no other strains possess;
+    They soothe the harassed spirit when troubles thickly press,
+    And evoke the warm petition, "O GOD, OUR CHILDREN BLESS!"
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS.]
+
+PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS.
+
+
+    How earnest Kate and Constance and Brother Willy look,
+    Counting up varied treasures, ship, bat and doll and book!
+
+    The three are very busy, and very happy too,
+    Trying to mend up old things to look almost like new.
+
+    The book was rather shabby, but Kate with paste and thread
+    Has made it firm and tidy, and rubbed it clean with bread.
+
+    And now, ere she resigns it, she lingers, glancing o'er
+    The pretty picture pages and well-known lines once more.
+
+    Constance has dressed the dolly--you see how nice it looks--
+    And all its things are fastened with little strings or hooks.
+
+    The ship with clean new rigging--Will's work--they eye with pride,
+    And they have quite a drawerful of other things beside--
+
+    Boxes of beads and sweeties, and many a top and ball,
+    Saved for the coming Christmas; and who's to have them all?
+
+    Not their own merry playmates, bright girl and happy lad,
+    Who'll meet for winter pastime like them well fed and clad.
+
+    No; children in close alleys, or the large workhouse near,
+    Our little friends--obeying Christ's words--will please and cheer.
+
+    And their own Christmas pleasures will seem more glad and sweet
+    For knowing such poor neighbors enjoy for once a treat.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A man stands over Que, who is asleep on his mailbag}]
+
+QUE.
+
+
+He was a wee bit of a boy to carry the United States mail on his
+back, seven miles, every day. He was only eleven years old, and as
+long, to an inch, as the mail bag, which was just three feet and
+eleven inches long. When he went along the road, you would sometimes
+see him, and sometimes the bag; that was as you happened to be on this
+or the other side of him. Many persons' hard hearts have been made to
+open a crevice, at sight of the little fellow, to let a little jet of
+pity spirt out for him. But "The Point" ran out three miles and a half
+to the south of the county road and the stage coach, and the nearest
+coach post-office; and because it was only a small point, and sparsely
+settled, it couldn't afford a horse for the short distance; and
+because it was a short distance, no man, or boy, who was able to do a
+full day's work, would break into it to walk the seven miles; and
+because it was seven miles, no one who was not well could walk so far
+every day, and the year round. So it happened that the job was up for
+bids one spring, and the person who would carry the mail from Gingoo
+to the Point for the smallest amount of money, was to have it for a
+year.
+
+One woman offered to carry it for eighty dollars; another for seventy;
+one big boy offered for sixty-five; he'd make the girls at home do the
+work, he said,--they hadn't anything else to do,--and he would give
+them each a new ribbon to pay for it: and between you and me, I am
+very glad that that boy didn't get the job.
+
+Without saying a word to his family about it, Que made up his mind
+that he would carry the mail himself. When the others sent in their
+bids he sent in his, for fifty dollars. _So_ it happened that Que was
+mail-carrier. He was so little and bow-legged, that there were not
+many things that he could do; for instance, he couldn't run. His head
+and feet were very large, and his arms and intermediate body very
+small; therefore he could dream and wonder what he should do when he
+grew up, and walk (with care) as much as he pleased, but was not a
+favorite among the boys in playing games.
+
+Of course he was not baptized into the name Que, but was called, by
+his parents and the christening minister, John Quincy Adams Pond, Jr.;
+named for his father, you see. They began to call him Que before he
+was out of his babyhood; for they had one boy named John Lee, but as
+they always called him Lee, they entirely forgot that fact till after
+the ceremony of Que's christening. And they really weren't much to
+blame, for they had nine other boys, and poor memories; and though
+both are misfortunes, they can't be helped. To avoid mixing their two
+Johns, they called one Lee and the other Que.
+
+Que looked upon seven miles a day as no walk at all, and upon fifty
+dollars a year as a fortune, and upon "United States mail-carrier" as
+a title little below "Hon." or "Esq." He had hoped, all his life, that
+he should, some fine day, have a right to one or the other of these
+titles. Probably the fact that his name already ended with a "Jr."
+excited his ambition in that particular direction. Money and dignity
+seemed to Que the two things most to be desired in life, unless I
+might add a small family.
+
+Now, we will leave Que's antecedents behind, and go on to his life
+while he carried the mail; and a very queer little life it was, as you
+will say when you get to the end of it, though I don't know when that
+will be, for Que isn't there himself yet. The mail contract was from
+July 1, 1860, to July 1, 1861, and if your mathematics are in good
+running order, you will see that that was just a year.
+
+July 1, 1860, was as fine a day in Gingoo as any day in the year; and
+Que was in as high spirits as on any day in the course of his life.
+Unfortunately the mail coach reached Gingoo exactly at forty minutes
+past eleven, unless the driver got drunk or fell asleep, which
+happened about two hundred and forty days in the year. But whether
+sober, drunk, or asleep, the four coach horses always stood before
+Gingoo office door by twelve o'clock at latest.
+
+It makes no difference to you or to me when the coach stood there; but
+it made a great deal of difference to Que, for twelve o'clock on the
+finest day in the year, and that day the first of July, is apt to be
+rather warm; and in the year 1860 it was _very_ warm. Nevertheless, at
+quarter past twelve, Que started with the bag. I, happening to be at
+the right side of him, saw only the bag start with Que.
+
+Perhaps you don't see why Que should have started right in the heat of
+the day; but if you had been Que, and could have heard all the
+Pointers clamoring for their mail, you would have started just when
+Que did. The mail-bag was made of very dark leather, and drew the sun
+tremendously. Now, as Que had on a pair of light linen pants and a
+little gray lined coat, of course he ought to have walked between the
+bag and the sun; but not being a scientific boy, he didn't think of
+that, and slung the bag over his sunny shoulder, and from that height
+it trailed to the ground.
+
+Que walked on as fast as he could, trying not to think too much of the
+heat and the weight; but the peculiar odor that the sun brought from
+the leather bag was blown up his nose, and down his throat, and into
+his ears, by a strong south wind that blew, and before Que had time to
+think whether he had better or better not, he was lying fast asleep by
+the side of the road, on the grass; rather he was lying on the
+mail-bag, and that was lying on the grass. Why didn't he fall on the
+other side? For two reasons; first, he was attracted mail-bag way by
+the sleepy odor before spoken of; and secondly, the weight was all
+that way, and as he began to sleep before he began to drop, of course
+the bag was his natural bed when he did drop.
+
+The Point road was lonesome, and it must have been quite an hour
+before any one came that way. Then a man and two horses, and a cart
+loaded high with laths, were seen coming over the hill; that is, they
+would have been seen, if Que hadn't been asleep just then.
+
+"Hollo! what's all this?" said the driver when he got opposite the bag
+and Que.
+
+"All this" neither stirred nor spoke.
+
+"Whoa! whoa, there!" called the driver to his horses.
+
+Now, if Que had been taking only a light, after-dinner nap, he would
+have been wide awake as soon as the cart stopped; for the hill was a
+long one, and the rumbling had been as long, and merely from lack of
+that lullaby, a well-conditioned boy should have wakened at once. But
+Que didn't.
+
+"I declare," said the driver, "if it ain't that bran new mail-boy!"
+Thereupon he went up and looked at him; but not being of a magnetic
+temperament, he didn't wake Que that way.
+
+"Bless the chick, if he isn't dead asleep," continued the driver,
+talking to himself. This driver had a habit of talking to himself, for
+he said, "then he was always sure of having somebody worth talking
+to."
+
+"Now, won't those Pointers growl for their mail, when it is a couple
+of hours late? The first day, too! Que'll catch it." Then he gave Que
+a little roll, so that he rolled from the bag over into the grass.
+
+"Well, I always _was_ a good-natured fellow. Guess I'll take his bag
+along for him, and save him the scolding."
+
+So the driver threw the bag on top of the load of laths, and left the
+bag-boy to sleep it out.
+
+When Que had slept half an hour longer, he started up, staring wide
+awake.
+
+"I've been asleep," said Que; and so he had.
+
+"My bag's been and gone," continued Que; and so it had.
+
+But he was a bright boy, and all the brighter, perhaps, for having
+just been asleep; so he looked round, which is a very good thing to do
+when you get into trouble, and the very thing that half the people in
+the world never think to do.
+
+"There are tracks in the grass; and there is a cart-track in the dust,
+and it had two horses, and these foot-tracks went back to it. Why, the
+lath man must have taken it;" and so he had.
+
+Que started towards the Point as fast as he could go, and
+consequently, when he got there, which was just fifty minutes after
+the bag got there, he had no breath left to ask any questions about
+it. Still he panted on to the post-office.
+
+"Who are you?" asked the postmaster.
+
+"I'm--a--bag," gasped Que.
+
+"Bag of wind!" said the postmaster, emphatically.
+
+"A--mail--bag!" said Que.
+
+"Humph! So you're the new mail boy--are you? Send your bag down by
+express, and came yourself by accommodation--didn't you?"
+
+"The lath man's got it; where is he?" Que had recovered his breath a
+little by this time.
+
+"I don't know anything about the lath man," growled the postmaster.
+
+But when Que began to cry, which he did at once, the postmaster
+couldn't stand that, for he had no children of his own, and his
+feelings, consequently, weren't hardened; so he dragged the bag from
+a corner, and threw it on Que's back.
+
+"There, take your bag, and go home, and don't be two hours late the
+first day, next time." He didn't stop to think that there cannot be
+two first days to the same thing. Que didn't stop to think of it,
+either, but started homewards as fast as his bow-legs would let him. I
+think he approximated more nearly to running, that day, than he ever
+had done in his life before.
+
+Que's nine brothers treated him with great respect, when he got home.
+The family had been to tea, but each one had saved some part of his
+supper for Que; so, though he had an indigestible mixture, there was
+plenty of it,--while it lasted.
+
+"Did you have a good time, Que?"
+
+"Was it fun?"
+
+"Did you get anything for it?"
+
+"Did you get tired?"
+
+"Going to keep it up?"
+
+"Can't I go next time?"
+
+"Do you like it?"
+
+"Did you see any boys?"
+
+"Anybody give you a lift?"
+
+How all together the questions did come! But the confusion of them
+saved Que from the trouble of answering the nine boys, and as soon as
+there was a lull, his father said,--
+
+"You were gone some time, sir; I hope you didn't stop to play on the
+road?"
+
+"O, no, sir," said Que. "I haven't played at all;" which was very
+true, you know.
+
+"Did there seem to be many letters?" asked his mother; and be it
+understood, that she asked quite as much because Que looked as if the
+bag had been heavy, as from feminine curiosity.
+
+"Didn't notice, ma'am; the bag wasn't very heavy;" and it wasn't,
+except on his conscience, and he knew his mother didn't mean that, at
+all.
+
+For several weeks after that everything went on smoothly enough. Que
+had a pretty good time, and found it some fun, and felt that he was
+getting something for it, and didn't get very tired, and kept it up,
+and never took any of his brothers with him, and liked the business,
+and saw a good many boys, and got a large number of "lifts" from
+hay-carts and wagons, and particularly from the lath man. So, in
+course of time, all the brothers' questions were satisfactorily
+answered.
+
+It is a way that the world has, to let you trip once, and then run on
+smooth ground some time, before it puts another snag in your way; and
+it made no exception in Que's favor. His drab clothes kept clean a
+long time, in spite of the leather bag, and washed well when they were
+not clean. The Gingoo postmaster took a fancy to him, and the Point
+post master refrained from tormenting him. The mails were not
+unbearably heavy nor the month of July remarkably hot after the first.
+Que had a good appetite for his supper, and plenty of supper to show
+it on, and slept long and heavily every night and a part of every
+morning, and thought that the world was a pretty good kind of place,
+after all. But that was only because he hadn't come to the second snag
+yet.
+
+One day, in the first end of August, a wind sprang up. It wasn't a
+very uncommonly high wind, only no one was expecting it, because the
+days had been muggy, and that made every one say, "Why, what a high
+wind there is to-day!"
+
+You and I can't tell why the wind should have gone on rising through
+the forenoon; but we can guess, which will answer our purpose just as
+well; for you know it is but little more than that that your father
+and his friends, and father's father and his friends, do, when they
+meet together and "express opinions."
+
+_I_ guess that the wind rose higher through the forenoon because, as
+soon as it began to play about in the morning, it caught the whisper
+of people's surprise, and thought it would take the hint, and blow
+them up a little.
+
+"What a dickens of a wind!" said Que, when he stood, or tried to
+stand, on top of the hill with his bag.
+
+Que had learned all the easy ways of carrying that bag long ago; of
+strapping it in a little roll over his shoulders when it wasn't very
+full; of carrying it on his head when it had enough inside to balance
+just right, and of strapping it round his body when it had nothing in
+it. But, as the days had been all stormless alike, he had been obliged
+to adapt himself only to the conditions of the bag, and not at all to
+the state of the weather.
+
+As the masculine mind is capable of taking in only one idea at a time,
+as soon as Que put his mind to the state of the weather, it drew
+itself away from the manner of carrying the bag.
+
+"Wish I had something between me and the wind," sighed he.
+
+Just then the wind blew off his hat, to teach him the polite order of
+mentioning two persons, of whom himself was one.
+
+Que followed after it as fast as he could, and let the bag drop beside
+him, and by chance it hung from his neck to the windward side.
+
+The wind blew very strong.
+
+"I do declare," said he, "I shouldn't wonder a bit if the wind blew me
+away."
+
+Que was a truthful boy; but he did wonder very much when he found, two
+seconds afterwards, that the wind _was_ blowing him away. But he
+didn't wonder at all, when he lay, a minute later, against a huge
+apple tree; partly because people generally get through wondering when
+they are at the end of anything, but mostly because the blow stunned
+Que, so that he didn't know anything for an hour.
+
+When he gradually came to himself, he didn't know where he was. Then a
+little wind shook a green apple down on his nose, and he concluded
+that he was under an apple tree; which was quite correct.
+
+Then he looked about to see whether he was in the United States or
+not; he saw the five juniper trees that had been standing in a row,
+half a mile from his father's house, ever since he could remember, and
+concluded that he must be; wherein he was again quite correct.
+
+Then he wondered if any one would come for him, for he felt so stiff
+and sore that he thought he never could go home alone.
+
+"They'll come for me, _I_ know; for if I've had a gale they must have
+had one; and if they have had one they'll know that I've had one. Of
+course they'll come."
+
+Que felt round for his mail-bag, and got his head on it, and waited.
+While he was lying there it occurred to him that the people down in
+the village wouldn't have been walking about with bags broader than
+themselves to windward of them, and mightn't have felt the breeze as
+he did; so his last reasoning wasn't correct at all.
+
+"I'll bet they didn't feel it a bit!" thought Que; and by this time he
+was so fully in possession of his original faculties, that his
+reasoning was quite correct again. No one else had felt the gale.
+
+Que put his head on the bag and thought that his end had come, and so
+cried himself to sleep.
+
+His family had not felt the gale very heavily; but when tea-time came,
+and Que didn't, they felt that; and when darkness came, and Que
+didn't, they felt that; and when a report came, with a growl, from
+the Point that they wanted their mail, Que's father started out with a
+lantern to find it.
+
+Que, having finished his nap, felt better, and tried to get up; but
+his ankle didn't want to move; and when he tried again it actually
+wouldn't move; so he lay down again to wait and watch. When he saw the
+lantern go by, he called, and his father came.
+
+"What are you doing here, sir?"
+
+"Nothing," said Que.
+
+"Get up, then."
+
+"I can't," said Que.
+
+"You've been asleep, sir."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Que.
+
+"What have you done with the mail-bag?"
+
+"It is the mail-bag that's done with me," said Que.
+
+Then his father took him by the collar, and stood him up, and saw at
+once what was the matter. Que had sprained his ankle.
+
+It seemed to Que, during the next four weeks, as if that ankle never
+would heal; but it did at last, and John Lee, who had carried the mail
+in the mean time, was loath to give the job to Que again. He felt for
+Que through his pain, but charged him one twelfth of fifty dollars for
+doing his work a month, and would like to do it a while longer.
+
+There isn't much more to tell of Que as a mail-boy. The end of the
+year found him the possessor of forty-five dollars and five shillings.
+
+The next year the Point afforded a horse, and Que took the mail on the
+horse's back; the year following they had a horse and wagon, and Que
+drove that; when they have a railway I have no doubt Que will be a
+conductor; and when the mail is blown through a tunnel, Que, of
+course, will blow it.
+
+Even the second snag, you see, needn't lay you a dead weight on the
+earth.
+
+                                             MARY B. HARRIS.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT THE CLOCK SAYS.
+
+
+    The clock's loud tick
+    Says, "Time flies quick."
+    "Listen," says the chime;
+    "Make the most of time,
+    For remember, young and old,
+    Minutes are like grains of gold;
+    Spend them wisely, spend them well,
+    For their worth can no man tell."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE SNOW-FALL.]
+
+THE SNOW-FALL.
+
+
+    Old Winter comes forth in his robe of white,
+    He sends the sweet flowers far out of sight,
+    He robs the trees of their green leaves quite,
+        And freezes the pond and the river;
+    He has spoiled the butterfly's pretty nest,
+    And ordered the birds not to build their nest,
+    And banished the frog to a four months' rest,
+        And makes all the children shiver.
+
+    Yet he does some good with his icy tread,
+    For he keeps the corn-seeds warm in their bed,
+    He dries up the damp which the rain had spread,
+        And renders the air more healthy;
+    He taught the boys to slide, and he flung
+    Rich Christmas gifts o'er the old and young,
+    And when cries for food from the poor were wrung,
+        He opened the purse of the wealthy.
+
+    We like the Spring with its fine fresh air;
+    We like the Summer with flowers so fair;
+    We like the fruits we in Autumn share,
+        And we like, too, old Winter's greeting:
+    His touch is cold, but his heart is warm;
+    So, though he brings to us snow and storm,
+    We look with a smile on his well-known form,
+        And ours is a gladsome meeting.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+STITCHING AND TEACHING.
+
+
+Will had had the croup. Then the measles took possession of him, and
+lastly, the whooping-cough, finding him well swept and garnished,
+entered in, and shook and throttled him in a manner quite deplorable.
+
+His convalescence, however, was relieved of its monotony by a headlong
+fall from a step ladder in the library, whereby he sprained his wrist,
+to say nothing of the mischief that he made, in his descent, amid the
+ink, books, and papers.
+
+Treading on a pin in the sewing-room was another diversion in his
+favor, giving him, for a while, a daily looking forward to bandages
+and poultices, and an opportunity to weigh the advantages of obedience
+in case he should ever again wish, and be forbidden, to jump out of
+bed and run barefoot amid the dressmaker's shreds in search of his
+top.
+
+Now, all this is no uncommon experience for a small boy. I simply
+mention it by way of apology for introducing Will in an unamiable
+mood. One regrets to have one's friends make an unfavorable first
+impression.
+
+This was Will's first morning at school since his recovery. He found
+that the boys had gone on in their Latin, had gone on in their French,
+leaving him far behind; they had got into decimals, and he way back
+pages; they had a new writing-master, and wrote with their faces
+turned a new way, to the great disgust of Will. They had had a botany
+excursion to Blue Hills, which he had lost. He was down at the foot of
+the class, and at the end of the morning he had made up his desperate
+mind to remain there forever. It was no use for a fellow to try to put
+through such a pile of back lessons.
+
+He came stamping up stairs, kicked at the nursery door, slung in his
+bag of books, and stood on the threshold, pouting and glaring angrily
+at his sister Emily.
+
+Emily sat in the window opposite, the sunlight sifting through the
+flickering ivy leaves on to her golden hair and fair sweet face. She
+was singing over her sewing as Will made his noisy entrance. She
+looked up at the scowling boy in the doorway, her pale cheeks flushing
+with surprise and then with pity.
+
+"What's the matter?" she asked, gently.
+
+"Matter?" roared Will; "I guess you'd ask, if you knew how old 'Crit'
+had been cramming the fellows, and me nowhere. I'll--run away to sea,
+or somewheres. I'm not going to _stand_ it."
+
+Will bounced his hand down so hard on a tea-poy, two little terra
+cotta shepherdesses bounded up from it, knocked their heads together,
+and fell clattering to the floor.
+
+"O, Will," cried Emily, rising up with a scared face, and dropping her
+pretty work-basket, "don't talk so. You are tired now, and everything
+troubles you, because you have been sick so long. By and by, when you
+are a little stronger, you will feel differently. Don't think about
+the back lessons. Just try to be glad you are well enough to go to
+school again, and be with the boys."
+
+"O, don't preach!" persisted Will, gruffly.
+
+With the cloud still hanging over his handsome face, he shook himself
+away from the caressing hand which was laid upon his shoulder, as if
+to hold him back from running away to the great, pitiless sea.
+
+"Asy! asy, now!"
+
+This was Kathleen, the nurse, calling out in cautioning tones to Will,
+who had jerked against the tray she was carrying causing the two
+saucers of strawberries to click together sharply, and the buttered
+rolls to slip over the edge of the plate.
+
+"You're tired with the school, poor craythur, an' no wonder at that
+same. Larnin's murtherin', bad luck to it! I tried it mysel oncet, a
+moonth or so, avenin's. It's myself was watchin' for ye, Master Will,
+and when ye came round the corner I had this bit sup arl ready for ye.
+'The crame--quick--Bridget!' says I, and then I ran away up the two
+flights with it; and barrin' the joggle you give it, it's in foine,
+tip-top orther an' priservation arl tegither, bless your little sowl!"
+
+Kathleen set out the crisp little rolls and the great crimson berries
+in the most tempting way she could devise, and went off, bobbing her
+head with satisfaction to see the children place themselves at table,
+and partake of her well-timed lunch.
+
+Will, as an atonement for the ungentle way in which he had come in
+upon his sister after school, offered her the nicest plate of berries,
+and insisted that she should take the crispiest roll. He suddenly
+remembered that Emily, too, had had whooping-cough and measles at the
+same time, and quite as badly as himself. But, then, she had not
+sprained her wrist or lamed her foot; so it was no wonder her temper
+had not suffered. Besides, it was expected of girls not to make a
+fuss.
+
+In view of these last circumstances, he suppressed the apology he was
+about to make for his late unpleasant remarks.
+
+"It never will do to give up too much to girls," he reasoned, draining
+the last drop of cream from the pitcher.
+
+"Your grandmamma is coming over from Brookline this afternoon in the
+carriage, to take the two of you home with her to spind the night."
+
+This was Kathleen back again at the nursery door, and wiping her face
+with her apron as she unburdened herself of this forgotten bit of
+news.
+
+"You won't run away to sea now," besought Emily, with imploring eyes.
+
+"Maybe I mightn't," shouted Will, tossing up his cap in glee at this
+unexpected prospect of fun.
+
+It was now only the middle of the long summer day. Such a tiresome
+journey as the sun had to go before it rolled quite away in the west!
+Will longed to give it a push, and to hurry up the clock to strike
+five, the hour when they should be on their way to beautiful
+Brookline.
+
+Impatient little Will! Emily kindly helped him to get through with the
+lagging time. At her suggestion, he played ball a while on the lawn,
+while from time to time she nodded encouragingly to him through the
+open window. By and by the ball bounded up into a spout, cuddling down
+among some soft old maple leaves, where Will could not see it.
+Thereupon Will came into the house in a great pet, storming about till
+he was persuaded to sit on the floor and paste pictures in his
+scrap-book.
+
+This quiet occupation did not amuse him long. His fingers, his chin,
+his cheeks, his curls even soon became stiff with mucilage. Mucilage
+on his trouser knees, mucilage on his jacket elbows--in fact, mucilage
+everywhere on and around him.
+
+Emily, after having, with great painstaking, washed her brother and
+all the surrounding furniture, proposed that he should study a Latin
+lesson. The book soon went down with a bang. "Because," as Will
+sulkily explained to his sighing sister, "it made his head buzz."
+
+Emily gently suggested a French lesson as a corrective of this
+unpleasant "buzz." The remedy soon proved to be a failure. The French
+book came down more noisily than the Latin book.
+
+Emily laid aside her drawing in despair. It was such a relief to hear
+Kathleen's heavy step in the entry, and to remember it was time now
+for Will to be dressed for dinner!
+
+Poor Kathleen had a thankless task before her. Master Will required a
+great deal of preparation. His curls were gummed and tangled; his
+fingers were inky, and suspiciously pitchy.
+
+"You've been climbin' unknownst up that pine tree again, an' you a
+told not to?" questioned Kathleen, examining the fingers keenly.
+
+"Hush up, and go ahead!" was Will's rude answer.
+
+"How _can_ you speak so?" reproved Emily, turning round upon Will,
+while she tied back her hair with a band of blue ribbon.
+
+"Fie, fie, sir!" cried displeased Kathleen, "going ahead" with great
+energy, her mouth pursed up in disapproval of Master Will's manners,
+while she washed, and combed, and curled, and took off and put on his
+apparel.
+
+"Where's your stockings, Master Will,--the blue stripes?"
+
+"Dunno."
+
+Will sat in a low chair, his stubby bare feet stuck out before him,
+and his two hands actively employed as fly-catchers. Suddenly he
+remembered having amused himself the day before in oiling his sled
+runners, using the striped stockings for wipers; but he did not
+trouble Kathleen just then with the tidings. The blue-striped
+stockings were not found. Then came a difficulty with his new boots.
+
+"Aow! they pinch!"
+
+"Where, sir?"
+
+Master Will, not being able to say exactly where, was left to get used
+to the new boots as well as he could.
+
+"Now see, here's your new suit; an' be careful with it, mind--careful
+as iver was. It's me afternoon out; and if ye go tearin' the cloos on
+ye, ye'll jist mind thim yersel, or else go in tatthers wid yer
+grandmamma."
+
+This speech had no more wholesome effect on Will than to cause him to
+stick out his tongue at Emily, while Kathleen, standing behind him,
+arranged his buttons and his drapery generally.
+
+"Now, if you could only be as good as you're purty," exclaimed
+Kathleen, wheeling Will suddenly round before his tongue was quite in
+place again, "you'd do well enough."
+
+With a few finishing touches to Emily's sash ribbon, Kathleen went off
+to make her own gorgeous toilet for her afternoon out.
+
+The dinner was next to be gotten through with. But that was not an
+unpleasant hour to Will. After dinner the children were permitted by
+their mother to amuse themselves under the shadow of the great elm
+behind the house. She knew that with Emily this permission simply
+meant liberty to sit quietly beneath the overhanging branches, gazing
+dreamily over the soft summer landscape, or listening to the sweet
+sounds that stirred the air around and above her. But with Will it
+might be more broadly interpreted into leave for frequent raids over
+fences and through bars for butterflies and beetles, or any luckless
+rover that strayed along. So she explained to her son in this wise:--
+
+"Will, dear, remember that your grandmamma is coming for you, and you
+must not soil or tear your clothes by running about. Play quietly in
+the shade. The time will not be long now."
+
+"Yes, mum."
+
+Such implicit obedience as this "Yes, mum" implied! In fact, there was
+the promise in it of every one of the cardinal virtues.
+
+The two children then went away through the long hall, whose doors
+stood wide open in the warm summer afternoon, and Will, dragging along
+the slower-footed Emily, hurried on to the elm tree.
+
+"Don't pull so, Will; I shall drop my basket, and my spool and
+thimble will roll away."
+
+"What do you want to bother with work for this beautiful afternoon?"
+inquired Will, slackening his pace.
+
+"I promised mamma I would try and finish it this week," said Emily,
+"and I like to keep my word."
+
+"I thought the machine sewed."
+
+"So it does; but mamma says I must learn just the same as if there
+were no machines."
+
+"Well, I'm glad I'm not a girl, to sit pricking my fingers, and
+jabbing needles in and out all day."
+
+Patience was not one of Will's virtues.
+
+How lovely it was out under the elm! The sweet-scented grass was warm
+with the afternoon sun, and musical with the chirp and hum of its
+insect homes. The bees fluttered in and out over mamma's rose garden,
+and all the air was filled with the delicate fragrance of the roses.
+
+Emily, seated on the great gnarled elm roots, drank in all the sweet
+scents and sounds, her forgotten work-basket lying overturned in the
+grass before her. Will spread himself out at full length on the
+ground, and kept his eyes open for chippers and spiders, and all the
+busy little things that crept, or leaped, or flitted around him. Now
+and then the afternoon hush was broken by the faintly tinkling bells
+of a horse-car turning some distant corner, the rumbling of a heavy
+team going over the dusty turnpike, or the voices of the belfry clocks
+calling the hour to each other from the steeples of the neighboring
+city.
+
+Master Will, however, soon became tired of this quiet. He scrambled
+up, and wandering away into the rose garden, lifted caressingly to his
+cheek the beautiful pink blossoms which leaned towards him from amid
+the green leaves. He was looking for a choice little bud to fasten in
+Emily's hair; and when he found it, he came whistling out into the
+clear grassy spaces again, a little bird in a bough overhead tilting,
+and twittering, and eying him askance.
+
+Will rushed up to Emily, and hung the bud in her ear; he rearranged it
+in the blue ribbon of her hair, so that it nodded sleepily over her
+nose; he dropped it, as if it were a tiny pink egg, in the soft golden
+moss of curls which he upturned on his sister's head. Then he threw it
+away, and stamped on it; for Emily had drawn a book from her pocket,
+and deep in some fairy under-world story, was unmindful of his roses
+and his pains.
+
+He ran recklessly away into the rose garden; he caught a bumblebee; he
+pursued a daddy long-leg with the watering-pot, going deeper and
+deeper all the time among the briery branches. The crashing of the
+stems caused Emily to come up from fairy-land a moment.
+
+"Have a care, Will, dear. The roses have thorns. You may tear your
+nice jacket."
+
+Crash, crash! rip, rip! The rose trees are dragging at Will with their
+prickly fingers. With great effort he burst away from them, and rushed
+out, with no worse mischance than a rent in his trousers.
+
+"Aw! aw! aw!"
+
+All the little knolls seemed to take up Will's sorrowful cry, and
+repeat it.
+
+"You must not tear or soil your clothes."
+
+Every cricket in the grass seemed to be screaming these words of his
+mother, and here was her luckless son with two green spots on his
+stockings, and a grievous rent in his new pantaloons.
+
+It was Kathleen's afternoon out; she had warned him, and there was no
+help in that direction. He looked mournfully over his shoulder at the
+damages with a vague idea that he had perhaps some undeveloped
+capacity for mending.
+
+[Illustration: "YOU'LL SEE HOW NICELY I'LL SEW IT."]
+
+"Couldn't you pin it up nicely?" he inquired, in most insinuating
+tones, of Emily, whose eye just then met his.
+
+Emily burst into a merry laugh.
+
+Will was mute with indignation, and tingling to his finger's ends,
+with this untimely mirth. His flashing eyes asked if this were a time
+for jesting.
+
+"Come here, Willy, boy, and you'll see how nicely I'll sew it, not pin
+it. Never fret about it, dear; I will explain to mamma that you were
+really not so much in fault. It was only rather a mistake to get in so
+far among the bushes. If you had been chasing the cat, or turning
+somersets, she might, perhaps, be vexed; but poh! she will excuse
+this."
+
+Will, unseen by Emily, wiped away with his thumb one big tear after
+another out of the corner of his eye.
+
+"She is a good sister, anyhow, and I am a mean fellow ever to get mad
+with her, and say rude things to her," he said to himself, as Emily
+darned, and chatted, and bade him be of good cheer.
+
+"My stockings, too, sister. There's a great green grass stain on both
+of them, and grandmamma expects us to be _so_ nice."
+
+Will coughed to choke down a sob.
+
+"Perhaps you may have time to change them, Will. I will help you. But
+we must get the pantaloons all nicely done first."
+
+So this kind sister stitched, and taught unconsciously as she
+stitched, lessons of love and patience, lessons of cheerful
+helpfulness and sweet unselfishness, which Will never forgot.
+
+More than once, in after life, when, in heedless pursuit of life's
+roses, he had been wounded by its thorns, he remembered that sweet
+face of consolation, those dear hands held out to aid him, and all the
+sunshine and the song of that sweet summer afternoon, and fresh peace
+and hope came to him with the remembrance.
+
+"It's all finished now, the very last stitch; and now for the
+stockings. Let me see the spots."
+
+Will put his two heels firmly together, turned out his toes, pulled up
+his puffy pantaloons, and stooped his head and strained his eyes to
+look for them.
+
+They were but little ones, after all, and a brisk rubbing with the
+handkerchief, and a judicious pulling down of the trouser bindings,
+almost concealed them. They were just in time with their repairs; for
+grandmamma's yellow-wheeled carriage was coming up the avenue.
+
+                                                    E. G. C.
+
+
+
+
+OUR DAILY BREAD.
+
+
+    A little girl knelt down to pray
+      One morn. The mother said,
+    "My love, why do we ever say,
+      Give us our daily bread?
+    Why not ask for a week or more?"
+      The baby bent her head
+    In thoughtful mood towards the floor:
+      "We want it fresh," she said.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: LITTLE WILLIE.]
+
+WILLIE'S PRAYER.
+
+
+    One sweet morning little Willie,
+      Springing from his trundle-bed,
+    Bounded to the vine-wreathed window
+      And put out his sunny head.
+
+    It was in the joyous spring-time,
+      When the sky was soft and fair,
+    And the blue-bird and the robin
+      Warbled sweetly everywhere.
+
+    In the field the lambs were playing,
+      Where the babbling brook ran clear;
+    To and fro, in leafy tree-tops,
+      Squirrels frisked without a fear.
+
+    In his ear his baby-brother
+      Baby-wonders tried to speak,
+    And the kiss of a fond mother
+      Rested on his dimpled cheek.
+
+    Zephyrs from the fragrant lilacs
+      Fanned his little rosy face,
+    And the heart's-ease, gemmed with dewdrops,
+      Smiled at him with gentle grace.
+
+    Gliding back with fairy footsteps,
+      Willie, dropping on his knees,
+    Softly prayed, "Dear God, I love you!
+      Make it always happy, please!"
+
+
+
+
+SQUIRRELS.
+
+
+How pretty little squirrels look perched in the branches of a tree! I
+like to watch them as they nimbly run up the trunk or spring from
+bough to bough. One or two are generally to be seen in a clump of
+great old beeches near a house in the country where I usually spend
+some happy weeks in summer; and I will tell you a story of a little
+squirrel whose acquaintance I made there last summer.
+
+I happened to be up very early one morning, long before breakfast was
+ready or any of the family were down, and I went out into the garden
+to enjoy the fresh, sweet smell of the early day. The cows were
+grazing in the field beyond, and now and then lowing a friendly
+"good-morning" to each other. Some ducks were waddling in procession
+down to the pond, quacking out their wise remarks as they went. The
+little birds were singing lustily their welcome to the new-born day.
+Even the old watch-dog came yawning, stretching, blinking and wagging
+his tail in kindly dog-fashion to bid me "good-day" in the summer
+sunshine.
+
+As I stood under the great beech trees, taking in with greedy eye and
+ear the sights and sounds of country-life so refreshing to a Londoner,
+I heard something fall from one of the trees, then a scuffle, and
+immediately afterward a white Persian cat belonging to the house
+bounded toward me in hot pursuit of a dear little squirrel. I was just
+in time to save the poor little animal by stepping between it and the
+cat. The squirrel passed under the edge of my dress and made off again
+up another tree; so pussy lost her prey.
+
+Soon afterward, when we were at breakfast, the butler told us that one
+of the little boys of the village, who had lost a pet squirrel, had
+asked if he might look for it in the garden of the house. It had first
+escaped into some trees in the park, and he had traced it from them
+into the garden. It at once occurred to me that this must be the
+little creature I had saved from the cat. I remembered how it made
+straight toward me, as if asking me for protection from its enemy,
+which only a tame squirrel would do; and I proposed, when breakfast
+was over, that we should go out and help in the search.
+
+Little Jack Tompkins stood under the beech trees, looking with
+tear-stained face up into the branches. Suddenly I saw his face
+brighten, and he called out, "I see un, ma'am; I see un! If so be no
+one warn't by, I be sure he'd come to I."
+
+I need not say we retreated to a distance; then Jack called up the
+tree in a loud whisper, "Billee, Billee!" and in a minute down came
+the little creature on to his shoulder. I can tell you Jack was a
+happier child than he had been when he came into the garden. And when
+I told him what a narrow escape "Billee" had had from the cat, he
+said, "It would be hard if a cat eat he, for our old puss brought he
+up with her own kits." Then he told us how the squirrel, when a tiny
+thing, had dropped out of its nest and been found by him lying almost
+dead at the foot of a tree, and how he had carried it home and tried
+whether pussy would adopt it as one of her own kittens. The cat was
+kind; the squirrel throve under her motherly care, and became Jack's
+pet and companion.
+
+Now, children, in this instance it was all very well to keep a tame
+squirrel. "Billee" seemed happy leading the life he was accustomed to;
+he had been fed and cared for by human beings from his infancy, and
+might be as incapable of finding food and managing for himself in a
+wild state as a poor canary would be if let loose from its cage. But
+generally it is cruel to imprison little wild birds and animals who
+have known the enjoyment of liberty.
+
+[Illustration: THE SQUIRREL.]
+
+
+
+
+PUPPET.
+
+
+Puppet had two occupations. She had also a guitar and a half-bushel
+basket. These things were her capital--her stock in trade.
+
+The guitar belonged to one of her occupations, the half-bushel basket
+to the other.
+
+In consideration of her first employment, she might have been called a
+street guitarist. In consideration of her second, she might have been
+called a beggar--a broken-bits beggar.
+
+Puppet would have been considered, among lawyers, "shrewd;" or, at a
+mothers' meeting, "cunning;" or, among business men, "sharp." That is
+to say, she knew a thing or two. She knew that being able to sing no
+songs was a disadvantage to her first occupation, as a large hole,
+half way up her basket, was an advantage to her second.
+
+It seems odd that a hole in one's begging basket should be an
+advantage.
+
+But because of the hole, she had always behind her a crowd of dogs,
+that seemed to have been just dropped from the basket, the last one
+never having fairly got his nose out; and because of the dogs she was
+known as "Puppet" all over the city.
+
+To be known by a characteristic name is of great advantage to a
+beggar.
+
+If Biddy, looking from the basement door, says to cook, "Och, an'
+there comes up the street our little Puppet, with her dogs all behind
+her, carrying her basket," cook is much more likely to see the broken
+bits "botherin' roun' on the schalves o' the cubbid," than she would
+be if Biddy should say, "Shure, an' thir cams to us a dirty beggar, it
+is."
+
+But it is with Puppet's first occupation, and not her second, that we
+have to do. If you had not read more descriptions of faces within the
+last year than you can possibly remember in all the years of your life
+put together, I would tell you what sort of face Puppet's was; that it
+was a bright face, with blue eyes, just the color of the blue ribbon
+that went first round the guitar's neck, and then round Puppet's; that
+Puppet's teeth were as white as the mother-of-pearl pegs that held her
+guitar strings at the bottom; that her cheeks were as white as the
+ivory keys; that her hair was long, and yellow--just the shade of the
+guitar's yellow face.
+
+But that would be very much like a dozen other faces that you have
+seen; so I will only say that it was a smiling little face.
+
+It smiled as it bent over the guitar, while the little fingers picked
+their ways in and out among the strings; and it smiled yet more
+sweetly as she looked up to catch the coppers thrown from the fourth
+and fifth story, and sky-parlor windows.
+
+Puppet once lived with a man who said that he was her uncle; and she
+believed him so thoroughly, that she let him box her ears whenever he
+felt like it, till he died. Since then Puppet had lived almost
+friendless and alone.
+
+One hot July day Puppet was wandering through the streets of the great
+city, with her little guitar under her little arm. The city did not
+seem so great to Puppet as it does to some of the rest of us, because
+she was born and brought up there.
+
+"O, dear," sighed Puppet, "_what_ a mean place you are!"
+
+No one had given her a copper since the cool of the morning. People
+seemed to have a fancy for spending their coppers on soda-water and
+ice-cream.
+
+"What shall I do?" moaned Puppet. Whatever should she do? Puppet must
+have coppers, or she could not live.
+
+She sat in a cool, shaded court, close to the busy street; but she
+couldn't get away from the heat, and the noise, and the people
+sighing, like herself, "O dear, O dear!"
+
+"I'll try once more," said Puppet, tuning her guitar.
+
+She played "Home, Sweet Home," with variations. But all the people who
+heard her were suffering, because their homes in the city were rather
+hot than sweet. "Home, Sweet Home" could win no pennies from "city
+folks" in July.
+
+Then Puppet whistled to her guitar accompaniment a little "Bird
+Waltz," and whirled on the pavement in time, till I doubt if she
+herself knew whether the guitar had gone mad, and were waltzing about
+her, or she were waltzing about the guitar.
+
+A boy came dancing into the court, singing,--
+
+    "O, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad!
+    O, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad!"
+
+But he danced out again, without leaving a penny behind him; so it
+would have been just as well if he had never come in. Still, he amused
+himself for a few minutes, which not many people were able to do in
+that hot July midday.
+
+Puppet went from the little court, and wandered on and on. At last she
+left the city far away behind her.
+
+And out and away from the city there were green fields.
+
+Puppet had heard of green fields, but she had never seen any face to
+face before. As she looked at them, she had a dim remembrance that she
+had heard that they were covered with long, waving grass. But all
+these fields were close shaven, like the beautiful mouse-colored
+horses in the city.
+
+It was pleasant, but not very exciting to a city girl. The city girl
+presently grew tired of it.
+
+"There seem to be houses farther along," she said; "I'll go and play
+there."
+
+Puppet slung the little guitar about her little neck, and started off
+again.
+
+Presently she came to a cottage with a little green yard in front of
+it, and in the middle of the little green yard was a great green tree.
+
+Puppet sat down on the grass, leaned against the tree, and felt very
+hungry.
+
+A lady was sitting by an open window, sewing. She was sitting so that
+Puppet could see only a bit of her left cheek, and her dark hair, just
+beginning to turn gray, and her right hand as she brought the needle
+up from her work. From what she did see, Puppet thought that she would
+give her something to eat, if she could but get her attention. Surely,
+she must be often hungry herself, or why should she have so many gray
+hairs?
+
+Puppet, leaning against the tree, ran her fingers over the guitar
+frets in light harmonies; but the lady did not look.
+
+Her thoughts must be far away, in a quiet and happy place, that
+Puppet's harmonies should seem a part of that place.
+
+The guitar broke into a low, mournful minor. Still the lady gave no
+heed to Puppet.
+
+Puppet was feeling very hungry. She would play the Fandango. That
+_must_ rouse any one. She began at the most rattling part.
+
+The gray-haired lady looked round quickly. "Bless me, bless me! what's
+this?" Seeing a little girl out by the tree, she put her sewing on the
+table, and came to the door and into the yard.
+
+"Dear me! a little girl with yellow hair, and I just to have been
+dreaming of a little girl with yellow hair!"
+
+"Is anything the matter with my hair, mum?" Puppet stopped playing,
+and ran her hands through the yellow mass of uncombed locks.
+
+"Ah, no, little girl! there is nothing the matter with your hair.
+Only--" The lady was thinking how soft, and fine, and curly was the
+yellow hair of which she had been dreaming.
+
+"What do you want?" asked the lady.
+
+"I'm very hungry," said Puppet, "because of the walk, and--and--and
+all," concluded Puppet, remembering that the lady could not
+understand.
+
+"Come in, then."
+
+Puppet went in. Up in one corner of the sitting-room were a little
+tip-cart and a doll. Puppet ate her bread and meat, looking hard at
+the tip-cart.
+
+"Where is it, mum?"
+
+"Where is what, child?"
+
+"The child, mum." Puppet pointed to the tip-cart.
+
+"Gone, my dear," said the lady, softly.
+
+"Dead?" Puppet remembered that that was what they said about her uncle
+when he went away. It was the only going away that she had ever known.
+
+"Yes, I suppose so," said the lady, with a little shiver.
+
+"That's bad, mum."
+
+"No, not bad," said the lady, sorrowfully. "It is just right that it
+should be so."
+
+"But it must be lonesome like, unless there were kicks and things."
+Puppet was still thinking of her uncle.
+
+The lady wondered what the child could mean, and not knowing, said,--
+
+"What's your name? How could I have forgotten to ask your name?"
+
+"Puppet."
+
+"That's a funny name. And where do you live?"
+
+"Two or three miles away from here."
+
+"Have you walked here to-day?"
+
+"Yes, mum."
+
+"What should make the child walk so far, I wonder?"
+
+"Money, mum, and things to eat."
+
+"Have you eaten enough?"
+
+"Yes. I must go home now, or I shall be late."
+
+"Are you sure you know the way?" asked the lady, a little anxiously.
+"You're such a little thing!"
+
+"O, yes, mum! Go as I came."
+
+"Well, good by."
+
+"Good by, mum."
+
+But was Puppet _sure_ that she knew the way?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next morning, a man walking on a road that ran by the edge of a
+meadow, was going to his work.
+
+Hark! What did he hear? Was it a cry! was it a child's cry? And what
+was that? It sounded like a fiddle. He stopped to look around.
+
+"I declare, we've had a high tide in the night!" said he, and trudged
+on.
+
+But what was that? _That_ was certainly a child's cry.
+
+The man looked sharply about.
+
+"It can't be she," he said. "Folks from heaven wouldn't cry, even if
+they were let to come--at least, if they were little children."
+
+And so he still looked sharply about. And looking, what did he see?
+
+He saw great haystacks of meadow hay out in the meadow, with the
+tide-water all about them. Then his eyes were fixed on one particular
+haystack. On its top, with her yellow hair and smiling face in sight,
+was--it could not be, though--but it was--a little girl, and dangling
+by the side of the stack was a guitar with a yellow face. The man
+waded through the water that lay between the dry land and the stack.
+
+"Crawl down to my shoulders;" and he stood by the side of the stack
+till she was on his shoulders, with her arms about his neck.
+
+[Illustration: {Puppet, with her guitar, sitting on top of a haystack}]
+
+"How came you there?"
+
+"I went everywhere to try to get home, and it was dark, all but the
+moon; and I saw the stack, and a board went from the ground to the top
+of it."
+
+"Sure enough, the prop."
+
+"And I was so tired!"
+
+"Poor child!"
+
+"And I never saw the water come before, and it was only wet enough to
+wet my feet when I got up."
+
+"Well, well! We'll go home and get something to eat."
+
+The man walked into his kitchen with the little girl and the guitar on
+his shoulders.
+
+"Why, John, are you back? Dear me, if there isn't that same
+child--Puppet!"
+
+John went off to his work again. Puppet ate her breakfast, and told
+her story, and then said,--
+
+"Please, mum, may I play with the cart?"
+
+And because of her yellow hair, she might play with the cart.
+
+"But aren't you sick, and oughtn't you to take some medicine, and go
+to bed?" asked the lady, whose hair had grown gray over sickness and
+medicine.
+
+Puppet meditated. She felt very well. She thought that she had rather
+play with the tip-cart than to take medicine. So she played all day,
+and went to bed at night.
+
+At night John come home from his work, and, as usual, heard of all
+that had happened through the day.
+
+"I wish we could keep the little thing, John, dear. She has yellow
+hair, just like--"
+
+"Yes," said John, "I saw."
+
+"And she'd be _such_ a comfort!"
+
+"If she didn't die by and by," said John.
+
+"But, John, dear, just think of a little thing like her spending the
+night in the middle of a meadow, with the water all about her."
+
+John thought. And he thought that if she could stand that without
+being sick, she could stand their love without dying.
+
+So Puppet and the guitar live with John and the gray-haired lady.
+
+MARY B. HARRIS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "MIKE ROLLED OVER AND OVER TO THE FOOT OF THE STEPS."
+    See p. 169.]
+
+MERRY CHRISTMAS.
+
+
+All the hill-side was green with maples, and birches, and pines. The
+meadows at its foot were green, too, with the tufted salt grass, and
+glittering with the silver threads of tide braided among its winding
+creeks. Beyond was the city, misty and gray, stretching its wan arms
+to the phantom ships flitting along the horizon.
+
+From the green hill-side you could hear the city's muffled hum and
+roar, and sometimes the far-off clanging of the bells from its hundred
+belfries. But the maples and birches seemed to hear and see nothing
+beyond the sunshine over their heads and the winds which went
+frolicking by. Life was one long dance with them, through the budding
+spring and the leafy summer, and on through the grand gala days of
+autumn, till the frost came down on the hills, and whispered,--
+
+"Your dancing days are all over."
+
+But the pines were quite different. They, the stately ones, stood
+quite aloof, the older and taller ones looking stiffly over the heads
+of the rollicking maples, and making solemn reverences to the great
+gray clouds that swept inland from the ocean. The straight little
+saplings at their feet copied the manners of their elders, and folding
+their fingers primly, and rustling their stiff little green petticoats
+decorously, sat up so silent and proper.
+
+So unlike the small birches and maples that chattered incessantly,
+wagging their giddy heads, and playing tag with the butterflies in the
+sunshine all the day long!
+
+"How tiresome those stupid old pines are! No expression, no animation.
+So lofty and so exclusive, and forever grumbling to each other in
+their hoarse old Scandinavian, which it gives one the croup even to
+listen to! Of what possible use _can_ they be?"
+
+This was what the maple said to the birch one day when the Summer and
+her patience with her sombre neighbor were on the wane--one day when
+there was a gleam of golden pumpkins in the tawny corn stubble beyond
+the wood, and the purpling grapes hung ripening over the old stone
+wall that lay between, and the maple had brightened its summer dress
+with a gay little leaf set here and there in its shining folds.
+
+The birch agreed with the maple about the pines, and the maple went
+glibly on.
+
+"I've ordered my autumn dresses--a different one for each day in the
+week. Just think of those horrid pines never altering the fashion of
+their stiff old plaiting."
+
+"We shall not be obliged to remain in this dull place much longer,"
+said the tall pines loftily to each other, looking quite over the
+heads of the maple and the birch. "We shall soon be crossing the
+ocean, and then our lives will have just begun. We simply vegetate
+here."
+
+"Ho, ho!" laughed the maple and the birch behind their fluttering
+green fans, pretending to be greatly amused at what the west wind was
+saying to them.
+
+Now, though the trees spoke a different language, yet each understood
+perfectly well what the other said; so their rudeness was quite
+inexcusable.
+
+When the summer was ended, the maple began to put on her gorgeous
+autumn dresses; but the pines looked much at the sky, and paid little
+heed to the maple. The other trees on the hill-side, quite faded with
+their summer gayeties, looked on languidly in the still autumn days at
+the maple's brilliant toilets.
+
+Soon the cold rains swept in from the sea, blurring the wood vistas;
+and when they were gone, the frost came in the midnight, with its
+unwelcome message, and later the snow lay white above all the faded
+and fallen crimson and gold of the maple and the tarnished silver of
+the birch.
+
+All the trees, brown and bare now, moaned in the wintry wind--all but
+the tall pines, and they were crossing the ocean; their lives had
+begun. The little saplings remained behind, but with their heads
+perked stiffly up above the snow; they had the air of expecting
+somebody.
+
+They were not disappointed. One sunny morning, a boy and a girl came
+singing through the wood paths, each in a pair of high-topped boots,
+and each in a faded and closely-buttoned coat, the girl with a blue
+hood pulled over her rosy face, and the boy with a fur cap closely
+tied about his ears by a red comforter. The two drew a hand-sled, and
+peered about under the tall trunks as they went stamping through the
+deep snow. How they shouted as they spied the little pine trees
+perking up their heads! How they tossed aside the snow, and worked
+away with their jackknives, hacking at the little pine trees till they
+had cut them all down, all ready to be piled up on their hand-sled.
+
+"Where are you going?" asked the giddy little birch of the pines,
+peeping out from a small window in her snow-house. Her nose was
+purple, and her fingers stiff with cold; but down under the earth her
+feet were warm, and that was pleasant, at any rate.
+
+"It is of no consequence where," said the pines, in their grimmest
+Scandinavian.
+
+The birch simply said, "O!" and drew in her little purple nose, hoping
+heartily they were all going to be burned, as that would be a good end
+and riddance of them.
+
+But the little pines were not going to be burned; they were going away
+to the city that lay misty and still beyond the frozen meadows.
+Stretched out stiffly on the hand-sled, they were jostled along out
+through the wood, over the frozen turnpike, and across the mill-dam to
+Boston.
+
+They alighted at the Boylston Market, and were ranged in a row against
+the dark brick wall.
+
+"How much happens in a very short time!" they said to each other; "all
+those gaudy, chattering trees left without a leaf to cover them, our
+own friends all gone on their travels, and we here in the city,
+wrapped in our warm winter furs."
+
+It was the Christmas week. The shop windows were gay with toys and
+gorgeous Christmas offerings; the shop doors were opening and shutting
+on the crowd that came and went through them. A bustling throng of
+people passed incessantly up and down the narrow sidewalks, and
+carriages of all descriptions blocked the crossings, or drove
+recklessly over the frozen pavement.
+
+The old woman in the quilted black hood and shaggy cape, who had
+charge of the little pine trees, drove a brisk trade that day in her
+wreaths and holly; but though many people stopped to admire the little
+pines, and even to ask their price, no purchaser had yet appeared for
+them.
+
+The old dame was rubbing her mittened hands briskly together, and
+mumbling in a displeased way at the pine trees, when a carriage drew
+suddenly up at the curbstone, and out sprang a little girl.
+
+"See, papa, how lovely! So green, and fresh, and thick!" she said,
+pointing to the row of pines.
+
+A bargain was concluded in a trice. The money was dropped into the
+eager, outstretched mitten of the old woman, and a little Christmas
+tree dragged over the sidewalk, and set up in the buggy.
+
+"We must have some of these lower branches cut off; they are in the
+way," said papa.
+
+"Hev a knife, sir?" shouted a ragged little fellow, whipping a rusty
+old knife out of his pocket.
+
+"Please, sir, lemme cut it for you. Say, where?" he cried, laying hold
+of the pine, as the gentleman in the buggy pointed to him where to
+cut.
+
+The lower branches being trimmed to the gentleman's satisfaction, the
+Christmas tree, leaning comfortably against the crimson afghan, was
+soon on its way to Meadow Home, while its lower branches and some
+jingling small coin remained in the hands of the gaping urchin on the
+curbstone.
+
+"This here's luck--fust-rate luck," remarked the small boy, stamping
+his feet, and staring stupidly after the retreating buggy wheels.
+
+"Out of the way there!" growled a man in a farmer's frock, lifting a
+pile of frozen turkeys from a wagon.
+
+The boy ducked aside, his ragged little trousers fluttering in the
+wind. Then he sat down on the market steps to count his coin.
+
+"Hi! twenty-five cents. There's a mutton stew and onions for you and
+your folks a Christmas, Mike Slattery, and all this jolly green stuff
+thrown in free gratis. That chap was a gen'leman, and no mistake.
+Won't Winnie hop when she sees me a-h'isting of these here over our
+stairs, and she a-blowin' at me for a week to bring her some sich, and
+me niver seein' nary a chance at 'em 'cept stealin's, which is wot
+this here feller ain't up to no ways whatsomever. No, _sir_. Hi!"
+
+Mike waved his Christmas boughs aloft in great glee.
+
+An old gentleman with gold-headed cane and spectacles was going up the
+steps of the market, followed by a beautiful black-and-white setter.
+The playful dog sprang at the green branches. Mike held on to them
+stoutly. The dog suddenly let go of them, and bounded away, while Mike
+rolled over and over to the foot of the steps, clutching tightly the
+pine boughs.
+
+"You'll ketch it," he muttered, setting his teeth hard together behind
+his white lips, and trying in vain to scramble up.
+
+"Yer hurt, bub?" asked a wrinkled old apple woman, turning round on
+her three-legged stool, and thrusting her nose inquiringly out of the
+folds of the old brown shawl, which was wrapped around her head.
+
+"You bet I be!" whimpered Mike, pointing forlornly with his one
+unoccupied finger to his bruised ankle.
+
+"Been playin' pitch-pennies, yer mis'ble young 'un!" grinned a tall
+boy, strolling by with his hands in his pockets, and his ferret eyes
+on the sharp lookout for mischief.
+
+In a twinkling he swooped up Mike's small coin, which had rattled to
+the pavement, and vanished with them in a struggling tangle of horse
+cars and omnibuses before Mike finished his desperate yell of, "Gim me
+'um."
+
+By this time a crowd had gathered about the prostrate Mike, who,
+faint with pain, was at last lifted into the chaise of a kind-hearted
+doctor, who was passing, and carried to his house in Bone Court.
+
+There we will leave Mike for a while, and look after the little pine
+tree on its way to Meadow Home.
+
+Such a group of round, rosy faces as were on the watch for it in the
+great bay window of Meadow Home, peering out in the red sunset,
+straining their eyes in the dim twilight, and peering still more
+persistently as the stars came out through the gathering darkness!
+
+The fire danced in the grate, and the shadows danced on the wall, and
+the four little heads danced more and more impatiently in the window
+pane, as the cold winter night settled down on the world outside of
+Meadow Home.
+
+"They're run away with and threw out. What will you bet, Mab?" shouted
+Will, turning away from the window in disgust, and indulging in a
+double somerset.
+
+"_Thrown_, Will," corrected Mabel, just now more indignant with his
+grammar than his slang.
+
+Mabel began to clear with her sleeve an unblurred peep through the
+pane, and then pressed her nose hard against the glass.
+
+"It's _my_ opinion," she said, with great pompousness, "that the
+Christmas trees are all sold. I told Ely not to put off buying till
+to-day. Don't you remember, Alice? And so papa is just coming home
+without them."
+
+Alice poh-pohed. Alice was sitting up stiffly at a table by the fire,
+stuffing a pin-cushion, assisted, or, more properly, impeded, by her
+small brother Chrissy, who had offered his services, and would not
+listen to Alice's nay. Chrissy was not handsome in any light, but by
+the flickering firelight he looked like a little ogre. He sat
+hunched up in his chair, his knees drawn up to his nose, the sharp end
+of his tongue curling out of the corner of his mouth, and his small
+eyes actually crossed in the earnestness of his work, which consisted
+in snatching chances at the stuffing with a table-spoon and a cup of
+bran.
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE SLATTERYS.]
+
+"I hear them," exclaimed Mabel, springing down from the window, her
+nose a spectacle.
+
+Now away down stairs flew all the four, who had been wriggling for an
+hour in the bay window.
+
+"Shut the door, Chrissy," nodded the dignified Alice to Chrissy, whose
+eyes had marvellously uncrossed, and whose tongue had disappeared at
+Mabel's announcement. Chrissy drew down his knees, and obeyed. "Spoon
+up the bran you spilled, Chrissy," directed Alice, calmly stitching at
+her pin-cushion.
+
+The reluctant Chrissy's obedience was less of a success this time. The
+noise of a great commotion in the hall below reached the quiet
+chamber. Chrissy, with his face twisted inquiringly first over one
+shoulder and then over the other, spooned at random.
+
+The sounds came nearer. Through the hurrying of eager feet and the
+clamor of glad voices was a tap-tapping on the wainscot and a thumping
+on the oaken stairs.
+
+"May be it's St. Nicholas?" questioned Chrissy, spooning very
+unsteadily, his eyes and his ears wide open.
+
+"No; it isn't time for him. He's doing up his pack now, and they are
+harnessing his reindeer."
+
+"Who? Where?"
+
+The door burst open, and in tumbled four children and the little pine
+tree. Chrissy darted forward, shrieking with delight, and fell
+headlong among the family group.
+
+"What a pretty pine!" said Alice, calmly locking up the pin-cushion
+in her work-box.
+
+Now Ely, still in her fur cap and sack, rushed in excitedly among her
+struggling brothers and sisters, and rescued the pine tree.
+
+"Sitting up so piminy there, Alice Eliot, your two hands folded, and
+the beautiful Christmas tree just going to destruction, with those
+four wretched little thunderbolts pitching into it!"
+
+Ely was purple with wrath.
+
+The four little Eliots were on their feet again in a trice, giggling
+and nudging each other behind the excited Ely.
+
+"It's a truly lovely pine," remarked Alice, composedly, shaking some
+bran from her skirt.
+
+"You might have said so, if you had gone round looking for them in the
+freezing cold, as I did, and then couldn't find one fit to be seen,
+except--"
+
+"Alice, didn't I tell her so?" interrupted Mabel, pulling Chrissy's
+fat fingers away from Ely's pocket just as they were about to grasp
+the protruding heels of a little dancing jack.
+
+Alice now lighted the gas, Ely set the pretty pine tree carefully
+against the wall, and the four little Eliots danced hand in hand
+frantically about it.
+
+Then Alice, and Mabel, and Ely went up close to the fender, and
+whispered together about the presents Ely had brought home to put in
+the children's stockings, and Mabel helped Ely empty her great
+stuffed-out pocket; and the fire laughed through the bars of the grate
+to see the parcels that came forth.
+
+By and by Mabel and Ely took the pine tree carefully down stairs into
+a beautiful room, and Alice came close behind them with a great
+covered basket. The four little Eliots followed noisily, striving to
+peep under the basket covers; but Ely thrust them all out again into
+the hall, and locked the door upon them.
+
+Now began the Christmas adorning of the little pine tree. Such
+beautiful things as were hung upon it, and folded about it, and
+festooned around it!
+
+"How charming to be a pine!" murmured the little tree, with its head
+among the frescoed cherubs on the ceiling.
+
+"Where are you, Mabel Eliot? Light up the burners now," commanded Ely
+from the top of a step-ladder.
+
+Ely crept out from under the green baize around the foot of the pine
+tree, two pins in her mouth, a crimson smoking-cap on her dishevelled
+head, and a pair of large-flowered toilet slippers drawn over her
+hands.
+
+"I crawled in behind there to see if there mightn't be a place
+somewhere for these," explained Ely, hastening for the torch, and
+proceeding to light up.
+
+The pine tree now saw itself reflected in the great mirror opposite,
+and echoed the "splendid" of the three girls, who clapped their hands
+at the gorgeous effect. Then the lights were put out. The silver key
+was turned in the door again, and the girls went away, leaving the
+pine tree in darkness indeed.
+
+The four small Eliots, after pinning up their stockings by the
+chimney, seated themselves in their night-gowns on the hearth-rug, and
+talked over St. Nicholas before they got into bed. Each agreed to wake
+the others if he "should just but catch Santa Claus coming down the
+chimney."
+
+Chrissy, squinting up his eyes till nothing but two little lines of
+black lashes were visible, was sure "he should catch him; O, yes, he
+should."
+
+So they all climbed sleepily into bed, pinning their faith on Chrissy.
+
+The night darkened and deepened, the stars moving on in a grand
+procession. Somewhere about midnight St. Nicholas was off on his ride,
+galloping over the roof-tops, and knocking at every chimney-top that
+had a knocker, just getting through at day dawn with the deal he had
+to do. The "eight tiny reindeer" had barely trotted him out of sight,
+when thousands of little children in thousands of homes began hopping
+out of bed to look in their stockings.
+
+The Christmas morning was breaking in joy and gladness, as if the dear
+Christ Child of eighteen hundred years ago were newly born that day.
+Little children, and old men, and maidens waked to give good gifts and
+greetings to each other, remembering whom the good Father in heaven
+had given to them on that first glad Christmas morn.
+
+In an attic in Bone Court, Mike Slattery, wildly staring about him,
+bolted up in bed, waked by big Winnie, and little Pat, and Jimmy
+roaring "Merry Christmas" in his ears.
+
+"Oop, Mike, an' tak' a look at Winnie's Christmas fixin's foreninst
+yer two eyes," piped Jimmy, flapping the little breeches he was too
+excited to put on at the little pine branches stuck up thickly in the
+window.
+
+"Isn't yer fut that better ye might hobble up to see what the good
+gintleman--him as brought ye home--left behind for yees and us
+arl--the Christmas things, ye'll mind?" inquired Winnie, combing her
+tangled auburn locks, and stooping compassionately over Mike.
+
+"There's the big burhd for yees," cackled little Pat, staggering up to
+the bedside with a goose hugged to his bosom.
+
+"Hooray!" cried Mike, swinging his pillow; "that thafe of a chap
+didn't do us out of our Christmas dinner, thin. Here's a go beyant
+mutton and onions."
+
+"Blissid be thim as saysonably remimbers the poor," sniffed Mrs.
+Slattery, who was down on her hands and knees washing up the broken
+bit of hearth under the stove.
+
+"That's so," chimed in the little Slatterys; and then they all fell
+again to admiring the goose.
+
+The sun had climbed a long way up the sky, and was just looking in
+through the pine branches in the Slatterys' window, when a little
+golden head, surmounted by a blue velvet hat, looked in through the
+Slatterys' door.
+
+"Merry Christmas. May I come in?"
+
+Pat looked at Jim, and Jim looked at Mike, and all three,
+open-mouthed, looked at the little golden head in the doorway.
+
+"I just came in to bring you some pretty story books of mine, and a
+cap of brother Jack's, and a nice new pair of shoes for Mike. How do
+you do, Mike, this morning? Papa--he's the doctor who brought you
+home, Mike--is coming soon to see you."
+
+She had emptied her little leathern bag, laid down her gifts on a
+chair, and vanished before Winnie got up the stairs from the
+wood-house, or Mrs. Slattery, in the closet, had finished skewering up
+the goose, or a single little Slattery had found a word to say.
+
+I cannot stay to tell you about the Slatterys' Christmas dinner, and
+Mike perched up at the table, with brother Jack's cap on his head, and
+the new pair of shoes on the floor by his side. I have just time to
+stop a minute at Meadow Home, where a little golden head, with a
+little blue velvet hat tilted atop, flits in before me at the great
+hall door. As I went quickly through the holly and under the wreaths,
+a little voice, in wheedling tones, called from the gallery above,--
+
+"Stay to dine to dinner?"
+
+At the same time a small dancing jack, dangling from somewhere
+overhead, caught by his hands and feet in my chignon, as if striving
+to pull me up. Ah, naughty Chrissy!
+
+Chrissy clapped his hands in delight, and then dropping the string of
+the little jack, ran away swiftly to hide.
+
+"Do stay to dine, aunt Clara," begged Mabel, and Alice, and Ely, all
+three springing forward at once to disengage the jumping jack from my
+hair.
+
+"Ah, do, Miss Clara; I've something to tell you about a little boy I
+saw this morning," pleaded little golden-head, peering through an
+evergreen arch. "Do stay and see the Christmas tree lighted after
+dinner," besought all four, gathering closely around me.
+
+But aunt Clara was engaged to dine at the square old house over the
+way, with the dear old lady who could not see the pine wreaths that
+made her old-fashioned parlor so sweet with their resinous, balmy
+fragrance.
+
+"They remind me of the times when my girls and boys were all about me
+so gay and happy, and the old house resounded with their 'Merry
+Christmas.' 'Tis many a year now, dear Clara, since there was a merry
+Christmas here; but happy Christmases there have been, thank God, not
+a few. A happy Christmas, dear, to you, and thanks for brightening the
+day for me," said the old lady, with a gentle sigh, as I placed her at
+the quiet table.
+
+A merry, merry Christmas to all the little "Merrys" who read this
+story. Do not forget that there are homes where live forlorn little
+Mikes and Jimmys, whom you can make glad in this glad time; and do not
+forget that there are sorrowing homes which the mere sight and sound
+of your bright young faces and voices will brighten and cheer.
+
+                                                    E. G. C.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: ANNIE.]
+
+ANNIE.
+
+
+    I've a sweet little pet; she is up with the lark,
+    And at eve she's asleep when the valleys are dark,
+    And she chatters and dances the blessed day long,
+    Now laughing in gladness, now singing a song.
+    She never is silent; the whole summer day
+    She is off on the green with the blossoms at play;
+    Now seeking a buttercup, plucking a rose,
+    Or laughing aloud at the thistle she blows.
+
+    She never is still; now at some merry elf
+    You'll smile as you watch her, in spite of yourself;
+    You may chide her in vain, for those eyes, full of fun,
+    Are smiling in mirth at the mischief she's done;
+    And whatever you do, that same thing, without doubt,
+    Must the mischievous Annie be busied about;
+    She's as brown as a nut, but a beauty to me,
+    And there's nothing her keen little eyes cannot see.
+
+    She dances and sings, and has many sweet airs;
+    And to infant accomplishments adding her prayers,
+    I have told everything that the darling can do,
+    For 'twas only last summer her years numbered two.
+    She's the picture of health, and a southern-born thing
+    Just as ready to weep as she's ready to sing,
+    And I fain would be foe to lip that hath smiled
+    At this wee bit of song of the _dear little_ child.
+
+
+
+
+IF; OR, BESSIE GREEN'S HOLIDAY.
+
+
+It seems absurd to say so, and at first sight almost impossible, that
+that one little word of only two letters could have so much power, and
+yet there is no doubt that the constant use of "_if_" spoilt Bessie
+Green's holiday and took away from it all the enjoyment and pleasure
+which she imagined a long summer day spent in the country would give.
+How she had thought about it and looked forward to it for weeks
+beforehand! Her parents were poor, hardworking people who rarely left
+home, and so the very idea of a treat like this was delightful, and
+she scarcely slept the night before, so afraid was she of not being
+ready in time. I cannot tell you how often she got up in the course of
+the night, either to see what o'clock it was or to look out of the
+window and wonder whether it was going to be a fine or a wet day, but
+it seemed to her as if morning would never come. However, long before
+six she was up and dressed, and with one last good-bye to her mother
+through the kitchen door was off to the station. And very soon the
+train went speeding away from the smoky streets of the city toward the
+green fields and shady lanes of the country.
+
+Now, if Bessie Green had been as wise as her companions, she would
+have done as they did--looked out of the window and admired all she
+saw passing by, and so have begun the enjoyment of the day; for to
+eyes unaccustomed to such scenes even the cows and sheep grazing in
+the meadows or the horses galloping off across the fields frightened
+by the train were all new and amusing sights. But our foolish little
+friend, instead of doing this, began to look first at her own dress
+and then at her neighbors', and thereby she grew discontented: "_If_ I
+only had a felt hat with a red feather in it, like Mary Jones',
+instead of this straw one with a plain bit of blue ribbon round it,
+how I should like it! and _if_ mother would buy me a smart muslin
+frock, such as Emma Smith wears, how much better it would be than the
+cotton frocks she always gets for me!" And she pouted and frowned and
+looked so miserable that her schoolfellows would have wondered what
+was the matter if they had noticed her, but they were so busy thinking
+of other things that they never saw there was anything amiss. Happy
+children! They had resolved to enjoy themselves, and they did so from
+morning till night, while unhappy little Bessie let discontent creep
+in, and so her holiday--that day she had looked forward to so
+much--was, as I said before, spoilt.
+
+Ah! I fear there are many people in this world, both young and old,
+who do as Bessie did: instead of being contented with the state of
+life in which God has placed them, and doing their best to make
+themselves and others happy, they let this little word "_if_" creep in
+on every occasion, and in too many cases spoil not _one day only_, but
+their _whole lives_.
+
+[Illustration: GOOD-BYE.]
+
+But to return to our story. The train went speeding along, miles and
+miles away from London, with its millions of people and houses and
+hot, dusty streets and courts, where almost the only green leaves were
+the cabbages on the costermongers' trucks, out into the pure, fresh,
+breezy country, where houses were as scarce as trees in the city, and
+the cornfields stretched away and away, till bounded in the far
+distance by sloping heathery hills. And what a shout of pleasure arose
+from the two hundred throats of our little travellers when at length
+they stopped at a roadside station and exchanged the train for a shady
+lane leading to a park, the kind owner of which had placed it at their
+disposal for the day! Now ought not Bessie to have begun at last to
+enjoy herself? No; foolish Bessie had seen a carriage at the station,
+and envied the ladies who got into it: "_If_ I had a carriage and
+horses, how much pleasanter it would be driving up this lane, instead
+of walking as I am obliged to do now!" And so she went along at such a
+slow, sulky pace that she was far behind when the lodge gates were
+reached, and was almost shut out when the children and teachers were
+admitted into the park. And as they had shouted for joy at sight of
+the shady lanes, how much more did they shout when they saw the
+beautiful spot in which for a whole long day they were to amuse
+themselves! There were meadows covered with hay--not such hay as is
+seen in stables, brown and hard and stiff, but soft, green and
+grassy-looking, smelling sweetly, and just the thing to roll about in
+and cover one another up with; then there was a nice level
+cricket-ground, and all ready for the boys to begin a game; there were
+shady trees under which to sit and listen to the birds' songs, and
+woody dells and valleys full of ferns and wild flowers; ponds on which
+swans swam about and came on swiftly and silently through the water in
+hopes of food, and little streams trickling along with a murmuring
+noise between the rushes and yellow flags which grew on their banks.
+Certainly this was a delightful spot to be in; and when in the midst
+of the beautiful park they saw the house and gardens--a house so large
+that it seemed a palace in the eyes of the children, while the gardens
+were filled with flowers of every color--they shouted again, all
+except Bessie, who of course began again to envy: "Oh, what a splendid
+house! _If_ I could only live there, I am sure I should never be
+unhappy again; _if_ I could stay here and not go back to London;
+_if_--"
+
+But at this point her grumbling came to a sudden stop, for at a given
+signal all the children, who had been racing over the grass, formed
+into line and marched straight up to the house to make their bows and
+curtseys to the kind lady and gentleman who lived there, and who had
+come out into the porch with her own little girls and boys to welcome
+the visitors. Of course Bessie found something fresh to be
+discontented at: "_If_ I were one of that lady's little girls, I
+should be dressed as nicely as she is, and then, _if_ I liked to play
+about here all day long, I could do so."
+
+And in this way she went on all the day. After going to the house and
+listening to a few words from the owner, and in return singing one of
+their prettiest songs, the children were sent off to play, and in a
+few minutes they were scattered in all directions, amusing themselves
+in different ways; and though Bessie joined in many games, yet that
+one word "_if_" was in her mind the whole time, and she did not play
+as merrily as usual. Dinner came, and the children, called together by
+a bugle, sat down in a tent; but though the fare provided was better
+than Bessie was accustomed to, even on a Sunday, yet this spirit of
+discontent had so possessed her that it was only because she was very
+hungry that she ate what was given her, all the time wondering what
+the people who lived at the great house were eating for their dinner,
+and thinking over and over again, "_If_ I had the chickens and other
+good things which they are sure to have, I should like it much better
+than this mutton and cherry pie."
+
+Oh, Bessie, Bessie! when you are older and know more of the world, you
+will discover that living in a grand house and having good things to
+eat do not make people happier; they in their turn may be as
+discontented as you are, and be always wishing they had something else
+which does not belong to them, and that word "_if_" may be as
+frequently in _their_ mouths as in _yours_.
+
+But now the dinner is over, and the merry troop have dispersed
+again--the boys eager to return to their game of cricket, and the
+girls to haymaking and swinging under the trees or other modes of
+spending the hours of this pleasant day; and judging by the laughter
+and shouts of joy, all are as happy as it is possible to be--indeed,
+it is a surprise to many when the bugle calls them once more together
+for tea, and they find that even a summer's day must come to an end at
+last, and that within two hours they will all be starting once more on
+their homeward journey. Very quickly did most of the children drink up
+the fragrant tea and the delicious milk, for they wanted to have a
+last look at the places where they had spent the day and picked wild
+flowers or made hay. Bessie was among the foremost of these; for now
+that she was going away so soon from it, she grew yet more
+discontented, and that little word "_if_" was used more than ever as
+she went about, not, as the others did, just to say good-bye to the
+fields and woods, but to look at them again and wish they were hers.
+
+I need not stop to tell you of the evening journey, for it was like
+the morning one, excepting that now the hopes of a pleasant day had
+been fulfilled, and the children talked of what they had done, instead
+of what they intended to do. Bessie Green wondered, as she heard them
+talking, how it was that they all seemed so much happier than she did,
+and how it was that the longed-for holiday had not been altogether a
+day of enjoyment. When she arrived at home, she had very little to say
+about what she had done or seen; but as she has since then been more
+contented, we must suppose that her wondering has had some effect, and
+that she is beginning to see what made the day so different to her and
+to her companions; in which case we may hope that the next time she
+goes into the country she will not spoil her holiday by the too
+frequent use of the word "_if_."
+
+
+
+
+THE FORCED RABBIT.
+
+A FUNNY FACT TOLD IN VERSE.
+
+
+    You have heard of forced potatoes, have you not, dear little folks?
+    Of melons forced, and cucumbers, and grapes in purple cloaks?
+    But I have seen, and handled, too--and oh, the sight was funny!--
+    A rabbit forced, a tiny one, a snow-white little Bunny.
+
+    Two little girls of ten and twelve--I love them very much--
+    Once thought a tenant they would like for their new rabbit-hutch,
+    So off to town they drove one day, and there a rabbit bought,
+    And home the furry tenant in their pony-carriage brought.
+
+    They petted, nursed and fondled it, and showed it every care,
+    And said before it went to bed its sheets of straw they'd air;
+    They also begged it very hard itself at home to make,
+    And hoped, although its bed was strange, it would not lie awake.
+
+    How happy was this Bunny white I really cannot tell,
+    But certainly it happy looked, and was extremely well;
+    Its eyes were bright, its nose was cool, its tongue a lovely pink.
+    And for its pulse--well, that was strong and regular, I think.
+
+    When summer came, the little girls were taken to the sea,
+    And left their rabbit with the groom--a youth of twenty-three.
+    They bathed and dug upon the shore, and played with Cousin Jack;
+    They heard the band upon the sand, and rode on donkey-back.
+
+    Then home they came, and went at once to see their Bunny dear,
+    To stroke his ribs, and pat his head, and feel each wiry ear;
+    But oh! alas! they found him not--the rabbit was not there!
+    His hutch, like Mrs. Hubbard's shelf, was very, very bare.
+
+    Now, where is he? They called the groom, the youth of twenty-three,
+    And said, "Oh, George, where's Bunny gone? Oh where, oh where is
+            he?"
+    "He's in the hot-house," George replied; "the gardener put him
+            there,
+    For he was growing thinner, miss, and losing all his hair."
+
+    They trotted to the garden then, and there the Bunny found,
+    And 'neath a vine beheld their pet reposing on the ground.
+    "Why, what is that?" they both exclaimed; "can that a rabbit be?
+    I never in my life before so strange a thing did see!"
+
+[Illustration: THE RABBIT.]
+
+    They were surprised, and certainly the sight was strange to view,
+    For Bunny looked so very huge, and such a bundle too!
+    Such fat he had, and lots of hair, they longed a bit to pull;
+    He was exactly like a ball of living cotton-wool.
+
+    No tailor ever did produce a coat so superfine,
+    'Twas white as snow, and very thick on stomach, chest and spine--
+    As thick as heads of stupid boys with countenances glum;
+    And oh! the hair was very long--as long as any sum!
+
+    A host of friends and neighbors came the funny sight to see,
+    To one and all a rabbit forced was quite a novelty;
+    And everybody petted him, and loved him very much,
+    And brought him goody-goodies for the larder in his hutch.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    One day--and now my pen and ink the deepest mourning wear--
+    They let him out upon the lawn for exercise and air;
+    They turned their backs, two dogs rushed up, and one, with swelling
+            chest,
+    Seized Bunny by his woolly throat, and--you must guess the rest.
+
+
+
+
+UP AND DOING.
+
+
+    Boys, be up and doing,
+      For the day's begun;
+    Soon will come the noontide,
+      Then the set of sun;
+    At your tasks toil bravely
+      Till your work is done.
+
+    Let your hands be busy
+      In some useful way;
+    Don't neglect your study,
+      Don't forget your play;
+    There is time enough for each
+      Every blessed day.
+
+
+
+
+A DARING FEAT.
+
+
+Remarkable for its spire, the loftiest of St. Petersburg, is the
+church of St. Peter and St. Paul. An anecdote connected with this
+church, and not known, I believe, out of Russia, is worth telling. The
+spire, which rises
+
+    "Lofty, and light, and small,"
+
+and is probably represented in an engraving as fading away almost into
+a point in the sky, is, in reality, terminated by a globe of
+considerable dimensions, on which an angel stands, supporting a large
+cross. This angel was out of repair; and some suspicions were
+entertained that he designed visiting, uninvoked, the surface of the
+earth. The affair caused some uneasiness, and the government at length
+became greatly perplexed. To raise a scaffolding to such a height
+would cost a large sum of money; and in meditating fruitlessly on this
+circumstance, without knowing how to act, some time was suffered to
+elapse.
+
+Among the crowd of gazers below, who daily turned their eyes and their
+thoughts towards the angel, was a mujik called Telouchkine. This man
+was a roofer of houses (a slater, as he would be called in countries
+where slates were used); and his speculations by degrees assumed a
+more practical character than the idle wonders and conjectures of the
+rest of the crowd. The spire was entirely covered with sheets of
+gilded copper, and presented to the eye a surface as smooth as if it
+had been one mass of burnished gold. But Telouchkine knew that the
+sheets of copper were not even uniformly closed upon each other, and,
+above all, that there were large nails used to fasten them, which
+projected from the side of the spire.
+
+Having thought on these circumstances till his mind was made up,
+Telouchkine went to the government and offered to repair the angel
+without scaffolding, and without assistance, on condition of being
+reasonably paid for the time expended in the labor. The offer was
+accepted.
+
+The day fixed for the adventure arrives. Telouchkine, provided with
+nothing more than a coil of ropes, ascends the spire in the interior
+to the last window. Here he looks down at the concourse of the people
+below, and up at the glittering "needle," as it is called, tapering
+far above his head. But his heart does not fail him; and stepping
+gravely out upon the window, he sets about his task.
+
+He cuts a portion of the cord in the form of two large stirrups, with
+a loop at each end. The upper loops he fastens upon two of the
+projecting nails above his head, and places his foot in the others.
+Then digging the fingers of one hand into the interstices of the
+sheets of copper, he raises one of the stirrups with the other hand,
+so as to make it catch a nail higher up. The same operation he
+performs on behalf of the other leg, and so on alternately. And thus
+he climbs, nail by nail, step by step, and stirrup by stirrup, till
+his starting-point is undistinguished from the golden surface, and the
+spire dwindles in his embrace till he can clasp it all round.
+
+So far, so well. But he now reaches the ball--a globe of between nine
+and ten feet in circumference. The angel, the object of this visit, is
+above this ball, and concealed from his view by its smooth, round, and
+glittering expanse. Only fancy the wretch at this moment, turning up
+his grave eyes, and graver beard, to an obstacle that seems to defy
+the daring and intrepidity of man!
+
+[Illustration: THE SEA.]
+
+But Telouchkine is not dismayed. He is prepared for the difficulty;
+and the means he used to surmount it exhibits the same remarkable
+simplicity as the rest of the feat.
+
+Suspending himself in his stirrups, he girds the "needle" with a cord,
+the ends of which he fastens around his waist; and so supported, he
+leans gradually back, till the soles of his feet are planted against
+the spire. In this position, he throws, by a strong effort, a coil of
+cord over the ball; and so coolly and accurately is the aim taken,
+that at the first trial it falls in the required direction, and he
+sees the end hang down on the opposite side.
+
+To draw himself into his original position, to fasten the cord firmly
+around the globe, and with the assistance of this auxiliary to climb
+to the summit, is now an easy part of his task; and in a few minutes
+more Telouchkine stands by the side of the angel, and listens to the
+shout that bursts like sudden thunder from the concourse below, yet
+comes to his ear only like a faint and hollow murmur.
+
+The cord, which he had an opportunity of fastening properly, enabled
+him to descend with comparative facility; and the next day he carried
+up with him a ladder of ropes, by means of which he found it easy to
+effect the necessary repairs.
+
+
+
+
+THE WORLD.
+
+
+    Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful world,
+    With the wonderful water around you curled,
+    And the wonderful grass on your breast--
+    World, you are beautifully dressed.
+
+    The wonderful air is over me,
+    And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree;
+    It walks on the water, and whirls the mills,
+    And talks to itself on the tops of the hills.
+
+    You friendly Earth, how far do you go,
+    With the wheat-fields that nod, and the rivers that flow,
+    With cities, and gardens, and cliffs, and isles,
+    And people upon you for thousands of miles?
+
+    Ah, you are so great, and I am so small,
+    I tremble to think of you, World, at all!
+    And yet, when I said my prayers to-day,
+    A whisper inside me seemed to say,
+    "You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot;
+    You can love and think, and the Earth cannot!"
+
+                      _Lilliput Lectures._
+
+
+
+
+C--A--T.
+
+FOR THE VERY LITTLE ONES.
+
+
+    Be quiet, good Tabby!
+      See how still you can be,
+    For I'm going to teach you
+      To spell C--A--T.
+
+    I'll show you the way
+      Mother reads it to me:
+    She looks very sober,
+      And says C--A--T.
+
+    Fred says you can't learn,
+      But we'll show him that we
+    Can learn, if we please,
+      To spell C--A--T.
+
+    To what little May said
+      Tabby did not agree,
+    And I doubt if she learned
+      To spell C--A--T.
+
+[Illustration: C--A--T.]
+
+
+
+
+THE GIRAFFE.
+
+
+The creature which forms the subject of this paper is the giraffe, or
+camelopard (_Camelopardalis Giraffa_) noted for its wonderful and
+beautiful form and its remarkable habits.
+
+At the first sight of a giraffe, the spectator is struck by its
+enormously long neck, and will naturally ask himself how it is
+supported, and how its mobility is preserved. Every one who has the
+least acquaintance with anatomy is aware that a strong and very
+elastic ligament passes down the back of the neck, and acts as a strap
+by which the head is preserved from falling forward. In the giraffe
+this ligament (popularly called the paxwax) is of great length and
+thickness, and is divided into longitudinal halves, and proceeds, not
+only down the entire neck, but along the back, nearly to the tail. So
+powerful a band requires correspondingly large attachments; and
+accordingly we find that the vertebræ of the shoulders send out
+enormously long perpendicular processes, which give to the shoulder
+that height which is so eminent a characteristic of the animal. To
+these processes the ligament of the neck is fastened by accessory
+bands, which add both to its strength and elasticity.
+
+The natives of Southern Africa make great use of this ligament, which
+is carefully removed and dried. When the native wishes to make a
+kaross, or any other article of apparel, he soaks a piece of the
+ligament in water, and then beats it with a stone. This treatment
+causes it to split into filaments, which can be worked to almost any
+degree of fineness, and with these the native sews his leathern dress.
+I have now before me a piece of this Kaffir thread, as it is called.
+In its dry state, it is shrivelled and contracted, and no one who was
+not acquainted with it could guess the purpose to which it was
+originally devoted.
+
+Although the neck of the giraffe is so enormously long, it only
+consists of seven vertebræ, as is indeed the rule throughout the
+mammalia. It seems very remarkable that in the neck of the elephant
+and of the giraffe there should be precisely the same number of
+vertebræ. Such, however, is the case, and the difference in length is
+caused by the great length of those bones in the giraffe, and their
+shortness and flatness in the elephant.
+
+The giraffe is a swift animal, and even upon level ground will put a
+horse to its utmost mettle; but on rough and rocky ground, especially
+if the chase be directed up hill, the horse has no chance against the
+giraffe, which can hop over the stones with the agility of the goat,
+and even leap ravines which no horse will dare to face. So energetic
+is the animal when chased, and so violently is the tail switched from
+side to side, that the long, stiff hairs hiss sharply as they pass
+through the air.
+
+Sometimes, but very rarely, the giraffe will miss its footing and fall
+to the ground; but it recovers itself immediately, and is on its feet
+before much advantage can be taken of the mishap. When it lies down
+intentionally, it is obliged to pack up its legs in a manner which
+seems extremely awkward, although the animal can lie or rise with
+perfect ease; and, like the camel, it possesses callosities upon the
+knees and breast, on which it rests while reposing.
+
+The height of the giraffe is rather variable, but on an average is
+from twelve to eighteen feet.
+
+[Illustration: THE GIRAFFE.]
+
+
+
+
+THE LION ON THE THRESHOLD.
+
+
+At Rietriverspoort, South Africa, writes Lichtenstein, we came to the
+dwelling of a farmer named Van Wyk. Whilst we were resting our tired
+oxen, and enjoying the cool shade of the porch, Van Wyk told us the
+following story:--
+
+"It was something more than two years ago that here, in this spot
+where we are standing, I had to make a daring shot. My wife was
+sitting in the house near the door, the children were playing about,
+and I was busy doing something to my wagon on the other side of the
+house, when suddenly what should we see, on the doorstep, but the
+shadow of a great lion darkening the bright daylight. My wife, quite
+stunned with terror, and knowing also how dangerous it often is to try
+and run away in such cases, remained in her place, while the children
+took refuge upon her lap. Their cries made me aware of something
+having happened; and my astonishment and consternation may be imagined
+when I discovered what guest was blocking up my entrance to my own
+house.
+
+"The lion had not as yet seen me: but how was I, unarmed as I was, to
+defend my family? Involuntarily I moved along the side of the house
+towards the window, which was open; and, most happily for me, I saw,
+standing in a corner of the room near the window, a loaded gun. I was
+able to reach it with my hand, though the window, as you see, is too
+small for any one to get through. Still more providential was it that
+the room door happened to be open, so that I could see the whole
+terrible scene through the window. The lion had got into the house,
+and was looking steadfastly at my wife and children. He made a
+movement, and seemed about to spring upon them, when, feeling that
+there was no longer any time to waste in deliberating what was to be
+done, I uttered a few encouraging words to my wife, and with God's
+help, shot right across the room into the passage, where I struck the
+lion in the head, so that he could not move again. The ball had passed
+close to the hair of my little boy."
+
+[Illustration: THE LION.]
+
+The same writer, Lichtenstein, says that the lion, like a cat, takes
+its prey by springing upon it, and never attacks a man or animal which
+does not attempt to run away from him without first placing himself at
+a distance of ten or twelve paces off, and measuring his spring. This
+habit of the lion has been turned to account by hunters, who make it
+their practice never to fire at a lion until he has so placed himself:
+long practice enabling them to know exactly where and when to hit it
+with effect while the animal is preparing for his spring. If any one
+is so unfortunate as to meet a lion unarmed, the only hope of escape
+is presence of mind. To run away is certain destruction; if a man has
+the coolness to remain standing where he is, the lion will not attack
+him. He will not attempt the spring if the man stands motionless as a
+statue, and looks quietly into his eyes. The erect figure of the human
+species of itself alarms the lion, and when, in addition to this, he
+sees his antagonist calm and unmoved, the feeling of awe is increased.
+A sudden gesture, indicative of alarm, will of course disturb this
+impression; but if the man continues to show self-possession, the lion
+will at last be as afraid of the man as the man of the lion. After a
+time he slowly raises himself, looks carefully round, retreats a few
+steps, lies down again, makes a further retreat, and ends by taking
+a rapid flight, as if his desire were to get as far out of the
+presence of the human species as he possibly can. Indeed, we are told
+by the settlers at the Cape, that it is not likely that the experiment
+has been very often made. Formerly, when there were more lions to be
+seen there than at present, and when, at the same time, the settlers
+were inexperienced in lion-hunting, large numbers of hunters used to
+go in chase of the lion, whom they would endeavor to entice into the
+plain, and round whom they used to form a circle. They shot at him
+first from one side and then from another, and if the poor animal
+tried to break through the left side of the human wall, they would
+attack him from the right. At present, however, experienced
+lion-hunters generally prefer going alone after their dangerous prey,
+and sometimes pursue him to his den. Such species of sport is always
+dangerous, however, and is often attended with fatal results. We have
+heard from a reliable source that in many sports among the mountains
+near the Elephant River, lions are to be seen in such large numbers,
+that on one occasion our informant saw as many as three and twenty
+together. Most of them were young, and only eight quite full grown. He
+had just loosened his oxen on an open place, and took the rather
+cowardly than humane course of escaping to the tents of some
+Hottentots, and leaving his oxen to the mercy of the lions, without
+firing a shot.
+
+
+
+
+THE SNOW-MAN.
+
+
+    Look! how the clouds are flying south!
+      The wind pipes loud and shrill!
+    And high above the white drifts stands
+      The snow-man on the hill.
+
+    Blow, wild wind from the icy north!
+      Here's one who will not fear
+    To feel thy coldest touch, or shrink
+      Thy loudest blast to hear!
+
+    Proud triumph of the school-boy's skill!
+      Far rather would I be
+    A winter giant, ruling o'er
+      A frosty realm, like thee,
+
+    And stand amidst the drifted snow,
+      Like thee, a thing apart,
+    Than be a man who walks with men,
+      But has a frozen heart!
+
+                           MARIAN DOUGLAS.
+
+[Illustration: THE SNOW-MAN.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A pair of barn swallows bring food to their nestling}]
+
+BARN SWALLOWS.
+
+
+When I was a youngster,--and that, let me tell you, young friends,
+was some time ago,--they used to say that swallows lived in the mud
+all winter, as the eels do. The books made no such stupid blunder;
+only the ignorant people, such as never seem to use their eyes or
+their reason. It was one of the popular errors of the time. Silly as
+the notion seems, it has been held by a great many respectable
+persons.
+
+Possibly the error may have arisen from the fact that the moment the
+swallows appear in any locality, in the spring of the year, they
+immediately search out some muddy place, where they can get materials
+for their nests. First they carry a mouthful of mud, then some threads
+of dry hay or straw, then more mud, and so on. These frequent visits
+to a marshy locality might readily lead an unobserving person to
+imagine that the birds came from the muddy recesses in the banks. But,
+of course, they are on a very different errand.
+
+Having commenced their nests, the swallows rest during the warmest
+part of the day, so that the sun may dry their work, and make it hard
+and strong. Then more mud is plastered on--more threads of straw; and
+so the industrious birds continue until the body of the nest is
+completed. A nice, soft lining of fine grass or hair finishes the
+whole, and makes a summer home for both birds and their young.
+
+Unlike most other birds, swallows often repair old nests, if the
+frosts and storms of winter have injured them, as they generally do;
+and sometimes the birds come back to the same locality for several
+years. They select some unexposed corner, under the eaves of a barn or
+house, if possible pretty high from the ground, and in a very few days
+the entire dwelling, lining and all, will be completed.
+
+If unmolested, barn swallows will form quite a colony in the space of
+a few years. But, if their nests are injured or torn down, or their
+young ones are stolen away or disturbed, the birds forsake the
+locality forever. Where a number of families live together, their
+chattering, when, as the evening comes on, they are catching gnats and
+flies for supper, or feeding their young ones, is very pleasant and
+diverting. And there is music in their language, too--music which a
+thoughtful person is ever glad to hear.
+
+Last summer, when business was dull, I went on a vacation, away up
+into the Granite State. While passing through the town of Unity (my
+little niece insists upon calling it _Utiny_--but she will speak
+plainer one of these years), my attention was called to a small
+village church on the wayside. Around the entire building, under the
+eaves, were brackets, some three inches in width, and perhaps as far
+apart. In the spaces thus formed were hundreds upon hundreds of
+swallows' nests. Hardly a single space was left unoccupied, while many
+contained two, and sometimes three nests. Not content with the eaves,
+the colony had commenced upon the belfry, and far up towards the spire
+every possible nook and corner seemed to be spoken for.
+
+I stopped to contemplate the very interesting spectacle. A villager
+informed me that the colony came regularly every year, and, as near as
+could be judged, the same birds; that for ten years the birds had been
+petted by the inhabitants, and protected by all, old and young. He
+said that the swallows had all disappeared in a body, about a week
+previous to my visit, adding, "You don't know what a lovely spectacle
+it is to witness the evolutions of these birds on a summer evening,
+when they are teaching their young ones to fly. They swarm around the
+building like bees, and their music is most delightful to hear."
+
+I could readily imagine the beauty of the scene, from the great number
+of nests, though I mean to see the colony at their devotions this
+year. "Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for
+herself, where she may lay her young, _even thine altars_, O Lord of
+hosts, my King and my God."
+
+It would be interesting to know where these birds go as winter
+approaches. It is very easy, and perhaps very true, to say that they
+"go south." But to what part of the south? Do they keep in a body
+there, as here? Do they have nests, and rear their young, there, as
+with us? There is a fine field for inquiry, which it is hoped some of
+our boys will go into by and by. For the present, if any of them are
+passing through Unity, let them remember the church which has its
+largest congregation on the outside.
+
+                                                  W. WANDER.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+GRATITUDE OF A COW.
+
+
+A gentleman passing through a field observed a cow showing many
+symptoms of uneasiness, stamping with her feet and looking earnestly
+at him. At first he feared to approach her, but afterward went toward
+her, which seemed to please her much. She then guided him to a ditch
+where her calf was lying helpless; and he was just in time to save it
+from death, to the no small delight of the cow. Some days after, when
+passing through the same field, the cow came up to him as if to thank
+him for his kindness. As among the various animals with which the
+earth abounds none is more necessary to the existence of man than the
+cow, so likewise none appears to be more extensively propagated; in
+every part of the world it is found, large or small, according to the
+quantity and quality of its food. There is no part of Europe where it
+grows to so large a size as in England, whose pastures are admirably
+suited to its nature. The quantity of milk and butter varies according
+to the difference of its pasture; some cows in favorable situations
+yield twenty quarts of milk in a day.
+
+To form a just idea of the value of this animal, we ought to consider
+that there is scarcely any part of it without its utility to man. The
+skin is manufactured into leather; the hair, mixed with lime, is used
+in plastering walls and building houses; the bones serve as a
+substitute for ivory; when calcined, they are used by the refiners of
+silver to separate the baser metals; and when ground and spread over
+the fields, they form a fertilizing manure. Combs, knife-handles and
+many useful articles are made from the horns, which, when softened in
+boiling water, become pliable, so as to be formed into lanterns--an
+invention usually ascribed to King Alfred. We are furnished with
+candles from the tallow, and the feet afford an oil adapted to a
+variety of purposes. Glue is made from the cartilages, gristles and
+parings of the hide boiled in water; calves' skins are manufactured
+into vellum; saddlers and others use a fine thread prepared from the
+sinews, which is much stronger than any other equally fine. The blood,
+gall, etc., are used in many important manufactures.
+
+[Illustration: THE COW AND HER CALF.]
+
+
+
+
+MINUTES.
+
+
+    We are but minutes--little things!
+    Each one furnished with sixty wings,
+    With which we fly on our unseen track,
+    And not a minute ever comes back.
+
+    We are but minutes; use, use us well,
+    For how we are used we must one day tell.
+    Who uses minutes has hours to use;
+    Who loses minutes whole years must lose.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Uncle Godfrey wades through snow, two horses and a
+    dingo nearby}]
+
+GOING FOR THE LETTERS.
+
+AN AUSTRALIAN STORY.
+
+
+It was a bitter cold day in the end of the month of January. The
+morning had been a very unpleasant one--neither frost nor snow, a sort
+of compound of rain and sleet; but now the snow was falling fast, and
+the clear crystals were fast hiding every shrub and plant that had a
+place in the beautiful flower garden, in front of the drawing-room
+windows of Arundel Manor, while inside a roaring fire, that made the
+handsomely-furnished apartment look even more than usually snug and
+comfortable, was surrounded by a family party consisting of Mrs. St.
+Clair, the three children, and uncle Godfrey.
+
+It was the "children's hour," and his niece was trying to coax a tale
+out of "dear uncle," who did not seem much in the humor to comply with
+her request, when mamma looked up and said, "My dear, do not trouble
+your uncle so. I am sure, Godfrey, that Lydia must torment you; and if
+she does, we must send her to the nursery."
+
+Poor Lydia's face fell at once. "I am sure I did not mean to tease
+uncle."
+
+"Never mind, my pet; I know I promised to tell you a story to-night,
+and was just thinking what it was to be, when my fit of musing sent
+memory back many a long day, and revealed a scene distant many a
+thousand miles. Now that I am fairly awake, I will show you the
+picture of my waking dream. So up you jump;" and Lydia, catching hold
+of his hand, was quickly seated on her uncle's knee, her usual place
+at story time, and throwing her arms round his neck, exclaimed,--
+
+"O, you dear old pet!"
+
+"I heard," began uncle Godfrey, "some boys, who shall be nameless,
+grumbling this morning at being kept inside, for fear of catching cold
+on such a raw day, and my thoughts instantly turned to a day similar
+to this, and how I then prayed to be under the shelter of some
+friendly roof; and I also thought how thankful every one ought to be
+who is able to sit at a warm fire, when it freezes hard, or when the
+snow is covering the earth by inches every hour.
+
+"I dare say you think it fine fun to run over to the lodge and bring
+the letters from the post-boy; at least I did when as young as you
+are; but going for letters is not always the pleasantest thing
+imaginable, as I once nearly found out to my cost.
+
+"If you are all so anxious to hear the contents of letters from your
+uncle Wilfred, you may fancy how eagerly he and I used to watch for
+the arrivals of the mails at Sydney, and be sure that one or both of
+us were certain to be at the office in Kiandra on the day it reached
+there, and with what delight we read and re-read the letter which
+never failed to make its appearance monthly to one or other of us.
+
+"Our winter fall of snow generally began about the 12th of May, and
+from that date till the month of October it was a matter of no small
+difficulty to get our letters at the place where we lived, a long nine
+miles from Kiandra of a very mountainous track.
+
+"186- was an extraordinary season. May passed, no snow--June the same,
+only heavy, I may say, nearly constant showers of rain. 'A glorious
+year,' the diggers called it. 'Never such a season for work since the
+diggings broke out. Two months' work at a time when there is never any
+water. O, what a wash-up there will be in November!'
+
+"Such was the substance of the conversation when any two of the
+residents met, varied, perhaps, by remarks as to whether old
+So-and-so, who had been twenty years in the district, would be right
+in saying there was to be nine feet of snow, or whether So-and-so was
+a better judge in saying we were to have none at all?
+
+"I was then living by myself, Wilfred being away in Sydney, and was
+looking out for him every day, and hoping he might be back before the
+winter fairly set in, when it was scarcely possible to travel. As I
+said before, June had passed, and we were getting well into July, when
+I heard that our English mail would be in Kiandra on the following
+Wednesday. It was now Friday.
+
+"We had got a fine week for work, raining gently all the time, which
+is what we diggers like, and no frost, which dries up the water, and
+makes us all idle, when on Sunday the weather completely changed, and
+very suddenly, too, as, indeed, it always did there. The wind, which
+had been from north or east, without any warning chopped right round
+to the south-west, and we had a strong frost. Next day was cloudy, but
+at night frost was harder than ever, and everything with liquid in it,
+even to the tea-pot in a room where there was a fire nearly all night,
+was full of solid ice.
+
+"The thermometer was down to 18° below zero in the same place; and in
+bed, in the next room, with four pairs of new blankets, I thought I
+should have been fairly frozen. We were hard at work all that day,
+which was a drizzly, snowy one, everything betokening a fall of snow;
+so, when Wednesday dawned, though not so deep as I expected, I was
+not surprised to find more than a foot of it all over.
+
+"Down the country the floods had been dreadful; nearly all the bridges
+had been washed away, and the roads turned into bogs, so that our
+mails came in very irregularly, sometimes ten days behind time. You
+may therefore imagine I was in a great worry to hear from Wilfred, my
+last letter being a month old, as well as anxious for _home_ news. So
+I donned my oil-skin over my blanket-coat, put on my thigh gum-boots,
+tied my comforter round my neck and up over my ears, and pulling my
+south-wester on, prepared to face the weather.
+
+"I found the walk into town, though very heavy, not so bad as I
+expected, and arrived safely, without any mishaps, but rather tired
+and uncomfortably moist, it being a sort of drizzle all the way; but a
+letter from Wilfred, saying he would not leave for some time, and so
+would not be caught in this storm, and the perusal of a kind one from
+'the old country' soon made me forget my discomfort, and I spent a
+pleasant evening at a friend's.
+
+"At bed-time it was a beautiful starry night; but I did not altogether
+fancy it. There was a kind of half soft feel through the frost, that
+sounded to me like a change, and the thought of the morrow's walk was
+not a pleasant one; but there was no use forestalling what might never
+be. So to bed and to sleep; but ere my eyes were well closed, the wind
+began to whistle round the corner of the house, and--hallo--what's
+that! Big drops of rain, and lumps of earth and gravel, were pelting
+the panes of glass.
+
+"A few minutes there was a lull--a dead silence--when flash!
+crash!--the room was in a blaze of light, and at the same instant the
+thunder made the very bed shake again, and also made my heart rise to
+my mouth. Listening earnestly for some time, and no further
+disturbances occurring, I began, after thanking a kind Providence for
+his protection, to think over the matter, and came to the conclusion
+that at last we were in for a downright fall, this being the third
+time that, to my knowledge, such had been preceded by a single clap of
+thunder.
+
+"Next day the snow came down in earnest; and as it was drifting in
+every direction, I took the advice of my friends, and quietly stopped
+where I was. Large, feathery flakes fell unceasingly all the
+afternoon, and by night there was fully two feet in the town; but as
+it looked a little better on Friday afternoon, and my dog, cat, and
+fowls could get nothing to eat until my return, I determined to make a
+start, though against the opinions of most of the town's people.
+
+"When I left Kiandra there was a dense fog, which shortly changed,
+first to a light, and then to a heavy snow; and by the time I dragged
+myself the mile to the top of the mountain, it was coming down, and no
+mistake!
+
+"It was impossible to see one yard in any direction, and my legs were
+already beginning to _talk_; but it was too late to think of turning.
+I had had only to fight through one extra deep drift as yet, and knew
+the road hitherto well; but now I had to turn off from where the track
+lay hid, and had not gone far when my difficulties fairly began, and I
+was quickly ploughing my way through some five or six feet of snow.
+
+"Half an hour's hard work found me clear of that, and for a couple of
+miles everything went swimmingly. The snow was here firm enough to
+bear my weight, although now and again, bump! down I went through the
+crust, nearly jerking my joints out. The nearer home the deeper got
+the snow, and, of course, so much the more tired I felt. The main
+creek to be crossed was hidden entirely; and as its exact whereabouts
+was not very easily guessed at, you may depend it was not a pleasant
+sensation to plump down and find myself up to the neck. Luckily, the
+water was no depth, and as my boots were tight and long, a hard
+scramble pulled me out of my first trouble.
+
+"A short rest, and I was again on my way; but it took me a good many
+hours to get the next three or four miles, even though I met no more
+serious difficulty than some very heavy drifts. I was getting very
+tired, and hungry, too, and you may fancy it was no joke wading the
+snow, never less than two feet, lucky if not going past the knees at
+every step; but at last I was in a mess, and how to get out of it I
+knew not. The look of the country, when a lull gave me the chance of
+seeing, showed I was off my road; and when I felt I was lost, my
+thoughts were anything but satisfactory.
+
+"I knew not which way to turn, so sat down to think it over, and was
+looking around as well as the drifting snow would permit, when coming
+along my tracks was a large yellow dog. My heart gave a bound of
+delight, and jumping up, I let a 'cooey,'[A] to tell its master that
+some one was in the same predicament, as I doubted not he was.
+
+"Slowly a minute or two passed, but no reply to my communication.
+Alas! all was silence, and I then saw, by its pointed ears and bushy
+tail, that it was a dingo, or native dog, which was running my
+footsteps. It was no use sitting where I was. So on I started in the
+direction I fancied, every minute feeling more and more fagged, and
+when at last darkness set in, was almost inclined to give up.
+
+"My yellow friend followed me for some time at a respectful distance;
+and though the dingo is a sneaking coward, still, had sleep
+overpowered me, he might have been tempted to try how I tasted, as he
+must have been hungry to come so close to me as he did. So, although I
+never had any fear of such an event actually occurring, I was not at
+all sorry when he trotted off, his tail, as usual, between his legs,
+to join some of his companions, whose unearthly howls he heard at no
+great distance; there must have been five or six.
+
+"I felt really glad they came no nearer, as a mob of them are very
+daring; and I have known them, when well starved for a week or two,
+kill calves, and even colts, when the mothers were weak and could not
+fight for them. But it was not very long before I found that they were
+not after me, as I nearly stumbled against a mare and colt belonging
+to myself, that were standing under a tree, and whinnied as I spoke.
+We had sent all our horses away two months ago but this one, as she
+could not be found, and we thought she was dead. The poor thing could
+not have tasted food for days; but what could I do but pity the pair,
+and feel that their end was to be food for the _warregals_ (native
+dogs).
+
+"As I had now been walking seven or eight hours, and hard at it all
+the time, I could see nothing for it but to yield to necessity, as
+sleep was fast overpowering me, when I distinctly heard the bark of a
+dog, which I felt confident was my old watch, 'Jack.' My spirits rose
+at once, and again I was alive, and pushed in the direction of the
+welcome sound.
+
+"At the same time I caught a glimpse of a cluster of trees, whose
+peculiar shape I had often remarked, which told me where I was; and
+this fact was also quickly proved by my plunging into an old
+prospecting hole--the only one in the neighborhood. It was about six
+feet deep, and full of snow and water. I thought I was lost, as the
+frozen slush went down my back, and that I, who had been picked out of
+the Canton River, in a dark night, when the tide ran six knots an
+hour, was fated to be drowned in a filthy pot-hole.
+
+"But, luckily, such was not my lot on the present occasion, as, after
+many a failure, I managed to pull myself out, my boots full of water,
+and my whole body nearly numb from the cold. Luckily, the house was
+only half a mile off.
+
+"I reached it in safety, and just in time, as my feet were all but
+frost-bitten, when I should have been fortunate to lose only a few of
+my toes, as I knew a man here who had _both_ legs cut off in
+consequence of a severe frost-bite.
+
+"As it was, I was a sorry figure; my clothes were like a board, my
+socks were in a similar state, while icicles hung in festoons from my
+hair and beard. But, when at last I managed to open the door, and get
+a light, one or two rough towels, and some ten minutes' hard rubbing,
+soon put a glow of heat over my whole body; and by the time I turned
+into bed, after a cup of scalding hot coffee (I was too hungry to
+eat), my misfortunes were forgotten, and all I felt was thankfulness
+for having reached my house, which seems to me, even now, to have been
+a very doubtful matter, had 'Jack' not barked when he did.
+
+"See how many things turned out all for my good--the mare and the colt
+in the snow, the dingo running after her through hunger, and my dog
+barking at it, showed me where my house was, when I was fairly lost,
+and thus saved my life, and enabled me to spin you this yarn, which I
+must now finish by saying that since that time I am always glad to
+have a warm house to shelter me in such weather as this, and cannot
+help thinking that if any boys had ever been placed in my predicament,
+they would only be too thankful to remain inside on such a day as
+this, without requiring their mother to order them to do so."
+
+"But what about the poor mare? Did she die? and did the wild dogs eat
+the colt?"
+
+"O, I almost forgot to tell you that, to my astonishment, in two or
+three days, when the snow hardened a bit, the pair found their way
+home, and I, after a deal of trouble, got them to the banks of the
+Tumut River, which, although only a couple of miles away, was so many
+hundred feet lower, that they could paw away the snow, and so got
+grass enough to live till spring when they soon got fat. The little
+colt I named 'Snowdrop,' and when she was old enough, broke her in;
+and many a good gallop we had over the place where she and her mother
+neighed to me on that dark and dismal night."
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[A] A peculiar shout, heard at a great distance, which is common among
+the Australian settlers.
+
+
+
+
+SPRING HAS COME.
+
+
+    Spring has come back to us, beautiful spring!
+    Blue-birds and swallows are out on the wing;
+    Over the meadows a carpet of green
+    Softer and richer than velvet is seen.
+
+    Up come the blossoms so bright and so gay,
+    Giving sweet odors to welcome the May.
+    Sunshine and music are flooding the air,
+    Beauty and brightness are everywhere.
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT "BITTERS."
+
+[Illustration: {Bitters being chased by a rooster}]
+
+
+Charley and Jimmie D. were playing near the barn one day, when along
+came the forlornest looking cur you ever did see. The children
+commenced calling him, and laughed loudly as the animal came towards
+them, he was _such_ an ill-looking thing.
+
+"Good fellow! nice fellow!" said Charley, patting him. "Jim, you run
+in, and get him something to eat--won't you? and don't tell mother
+yet; you know she dislikes dogs so. We'll tie him up to-night, and
+tell her to-morrow, if no one comes for him."
+
+Such another looking dog I think I never saw--scrawny and poor, as
+though he had never been more than half fed; a slit in one ear, tail
+not much to speak of, and color a dirty black and white.
+
+Jimmie soon came back from a successful forage, and gave him a good
+supper. At least doggie seemed to think so, for he gobbled it up in
+about a minute, and then wagged the stump of his tail for more.
+
+"No, sir," said Charley, "no more to-night."
+
+Then they shut him up in a little room in a corner of the barn, and
+ran to find their father, and tell him, well knowing he would not
+care, if their mother was willing.
+
+They found their father, who went with them to see him, and laughed
+long and loud as they led out the ugly beast.
+
+Then all went in to supper; the great secret almost revealing itself
+in their tell-tale looks and occasional whisperings, neither of which
+attracted their mother's attention.
+
+Supper over, they made a final visit to their pet, and then left him
+for the night.
+
+"What shall we name him?" said Jimmie, when they were alone in their
+room at night.
+
+"O, we must have a funny name, he's such a sorry looking feller!
+Wouldn't you call him 'Bitters'?" said Charley.
+
+"Bitters!" said Jim, with a laugh.
+
+"Yes, that's bad enough."
+
+So Bitters he was named; and next morning they won their mother's
+reluctant consent to keep the dog, provided he was kept at the barn,
+or away from the house, at all events.
+
+Then they fed and played with him till school time, and shut him up
+till noon.
+
+Bitters seemed to take to his new admirers, and appeared quite
+satisfied with his quarters, and was getting to look a little more
+like a respectable dog, when one morning, as he was running round a
+corner of the barn, he came suddenly upon the old rooster, who
+bristled up and showed fight. Bitters turned, and ran for dear life,
+as hard as he could go, and never has been seen or heard from, from
+that day to this, much to the boys' regret.
+
+                                                    F. E. S.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: DOG STEPHEN.]
+
+FRED AND DOG STEPHEN.
+
+
+"Now, just one good cuddle," said little six-year-old Freddie, "and
+then I'll be ready for school;" and he curled himself up like a young
+Turk in his mother's lap, and nestled there in a very enjoyable way.
+
+She was sitting by the dining-room window; it was open, and a pitcher
+of wild phlox and pink-and-white wake-robins stood in it. While they
+sat there they saw Uncle Rube, who lives over on the hillside, coming
+along the crooked path with a basket on his arm. His head was down,
+and he was thinking so intently that he did not hear the steps behind
+him of his young dog, Stephen.
+
+Now, Rube means to make the best dog in the world of Stephen--the
+playful little puppy!--and he never permits him to follow him anywhere
+unless by special invitation. About once a week he will say to him,
+"Stevie, would you like to go to your grandfather's with me? Come on,
+then;" and here they will come, the puppy so glad that his gait is
+more awkward than ever, his fat body, twisted out of all shape,
+wriggling along, while his tail will flap about in every direction and
+his ears look like wilted cabbage-leaves.
+
+"He doesn't know Stevie is behind him, does he, ma? and now let's
+watch and see what they will both do when they find out." So they
+snugged down by the window and tittered and watched and anticipated
+rare fun.
+
+Uncle Rube was whispering to himself and nodding his head and making
+gesticulations with his open hand, while Stephen trotted with his
+little soft, careful feet behind him, smelling of the ground, and
+thinking green grass with the dew sparkling on it was just made
+purposely for dogs to admire.
+
+Just as Rube came to the big gate and stopped to unlatch it he heard a
+little whiffy breathing behind him, and then he looked and saw
+Stephen. He was very much surprised; but as he never scolded the dog,
+he simply said, in a very earnest way, "Steve, I am astonished! You go
+right back home immediately. You're a great boy, indeed, to sneak
+along without ever being invited! I didn't want you, sir, or I'd have
+told you so. Now go right back again."
+
+Oh, it was _so_ funny! Stephen just threw his head back and whirled on
+his heels, and ran with all his might down the crooked path.
+
+Then the school-bell rang, and Fred's mother kissed him
+"good-morning," and he started off with his books, and as he turned
+round the corner his white teeth showed prettily as, half laughing, he
+said to himself in wonderment, "_Dear little Stevie dog! he just ran
+back 'zactly as if he wanted to._"
+
+
+
+
+NOW THE SUN IS SINKING.
+
+
+    Now the sun is sinking
+      In the golden west;
+    Birds and bees and children
+      All have gone to rest;
+    And the merry streamlet,
+      As it runs along,
+    With a voice of sweetness
+      Sings its evening song.
+
+    Cowslip, daisy, violet,
+      In their little beds,
+    All among the grasses,
+      Hide their heavy heads;
+    There they'll all, sweet darlings!
+      Lie in happy dreams
+    Till the rosy morning
+      Wakes them with its beams.
+
+
+
+
+A RIGMAROLE ABOUT A TEA-PARTY.
+
+
+    Mrs. Dyer
+    Stirred the fire,
+    Agnes Stout
+    Poked it out,
+    Tommy Voles
+    Fetched the coals,
+    Alice Good
+    Laid the wood,
+    Bertie Patch
+    Struck the match,
+    Charlotte Hays
+    Made it blaze,
+    Mrs. Groom
+    Kept the broom,
+    Katy Moore
+    Swept the floor,
+    Fanny Froth
+    Laid the cloth,
+    Arthur Grey
+    Brought the tray,
+    Betty Bates
+    Washed the plates,
+    Nanny Galt
+    Smoothed the salt,
+    Dicky Street
+    Fetched the meat,
+    Sally Strife
+    Rubbed the knife,
+    Minnie York
+    Found the fork,
+    Sophie Silk
+    Brought the milk,
+    Mrs. Bream
+    Sent some cream,
+    Susan Head
+    Cut the bread,
+    Harry Host
+    Made the toast,
+    Mrs. Dee
+    Poured out tea,
+    And they all were as happy as happy could be.
+
+
+
+
+THE FAIRY BIRD.
+
+
+"I'm so glad to-morrow is Christmas, because I'm going to have lots
+of presents."
+
+"So am I glad, though I don't expect any presents but a pair of
+mittens."
+
+"And so am I; but I shan't have any presents at all."
+
+As the three little girls trudged home from school they said these
+things, and as Tilly spoke, both the others looked at her with pity
+and some surprise; for she spoke cheerfully, and they wondered how she
+could be happy when she was so poor she could have no presents on
+Christmas.
+
+"Don't you wish you could find a purse full of money right here in the
+path?" said Kate, the child who was going to have "lots of presents."
+
+"O, don't I, if I could keep it honestly!" And Tilly's eyes shone at
+the very thought.
+
+"What would you buy?" asked Bessy, rubbing her cold hands, and longing
+for her mittens.
+
+"I'd buy a pair of large, warm blankets, a load of wood, a shawl for
+mother, and a pair of shoes for me; and if there was enough left, I'd
+give Bessy a new hat, and then she needn't wear Ben's old felt one,"
+answered Tilly.
+
+The girls laughed at that; but Bessy pulled the funny hat over her
+ears, and said she was much obliged, but she'd rather have candy.
+
+"Let's look, and may be we _can_ find a purse. People are always going
+about with money at Christmas time, and some one may lose it here,"
+said Kate.
+
+So, as they went along the snowy road, they looked about them, half in
+earnest, half in fun. Suddenly Tilly sprang forward, exclaiming,--
+
+"I see it! I've found it!"
+
+The others followed, but all stopped disappointed, for it wasn't a
+purse; it was only a little bird. It lay upon the snow, with its wings
+spread and feebly fluttering, as if too weak to fly. Its little feet
+were benumbed with cold; its once bright eyes were dull with pain, and
+instead of a blithe song, it could only utter a faint chirp now and
+then, as if crying for help.
+
+"Nothing but a stupid old robin. How provoking!" cried Kate, sitting
+down to rest.
+
+"I shan't touch it; I found one once, and took care of it, and the
+ungrateful thing flew away the minute it was well," said Bessy,
+creeping under Kate's shawl, and putting her hands under her chin to
+warm them.
+
+"Poor little birdie! How pitiful he looks, and how glad he must be to
+see some one coming to help him! I'll take him up gently, and carry
+him home to mother. Don't be frightened, dear; I'm your friend." And
+Tilly knelt down in the snow, stretching her hand to the bird with the
+tenderest pity in her face.
+
+Kate and Bessy laughed.
+
+"Don't stop for that thing; it's getting late and cold. Let's go on,
+and look for the purse," they said, moving away.
+
+"You wouldn't leave it to die!" cried Tilly. "I'd rather have the bird
+than the money; so I shan't look any more. The purse wouldn't be mine,
+and I should only be tempted to keep it; but this poor thing will
+thank and love me, and I'm _so_ glad I came in time!" Gently lifting
+the bird, Tilly felt its tiny cold claws cling to her hand, and saw
+its dim eyes brighten as it nestled down with a grateful chirp.
+
+[Illustration: THE FAIRY BIRD.]
+
+"Now I've got a Christmas present, after all," she said, smiling, as
+they walked on. "I always wanted a bird, and this one will be such a
+pretty pet for me!"
+
+"He'll fly away the first chance he gets, and die, anyhow; so you'd
+better not waste your time over him," said Bessy.
+
+"He can't pay you for taking care of him, and my mother says it isn't
+worth while to help folks that can't help us," added Kate.
+
+"My mother says, 'Do as you'd be done by;' and I'm sure I'd like any
+one to help me, if I was dying of cold and hunger. 'Love your neighbor
+as yourself,' is another of her sayings. This bird is my little
+neighbor, and I'll love him and care for him, as I often wish our rich
+neighbor would love and care for us," answered Tilly, breathing her
+warm breath over the benumbed bird, who looked up at her with
+confiding eyes, quick to feel and know a friend.
+
+"What a funny girl you are!" said Kate, "caring for that silly bird,
+and talking about loving your neighbor in that sober way. Mr. King
+don't care a bit for you, and never will, though he knows how poor you
+are; so I don't think your plan amounts to much."
+
+"I believe it, though, and shall do my part, any way. Good night. I
+hope you'll have a merry Christmas, and lots of pretty things,"
+answered Tilly, as they parted.
+
+Her eyes were full, and she felt _so_ poor as she went on alone
+towards the little old house where she lived! It would have been so
+pleasant to know that she was going to have some of the pretty things
+all children love to find in their full stockings on Christmas
+morning! and pleasanter still to have been able to give her mother
+something nice. So many comforts were needed, and there was no hope of
+getting them; for they could barely get food and fire.
+
+"Never mind, birdie; we'll make the best of what we have, and be merry
+in spite of everything. _You_ shall have a happy Christmas, any way;
+and I know God won't forget us, if every one else does."
+
+She stopped a minute to wipe her eyes, and lean her cheek against the
+bird's soft breast, finding great comfort in the little creature,
+though it could only love her--nothing more.
+
+"See, mother, what a nice present I've found!" she cried, going in
+with a cheery face, that was like sunshine in the dark room.
+
+"I'm glad of that, deary; for I haven't been able to get my little
+girl anything but a rosy apple. Poor bird! Give it some of your warm
+bread and milk."
+
+"Why, mother, what a big bowlful! I'm afraid you gave me all the
+milk," said Tilly, smiling over the nice steaming supper that stood
+ready for her.
+
+"I've had plenty, dear. Sit down and dry your wet feet, and put the
+bird in my basket on this warm flannel."
+
+Tilly peeped into the closet, and saw nothing there but dry bread.
+
+"Mother's given me all the milk, and is going without her tea, 'cause
+she knows I'm hungry. Now I'll surprise her, and she shall have a good
+supper too. She is going to split wood, and I'll fix it while she's
+gone."
+
+So Tilly put down the old teapot, carefully poured out a part of the
+milk, and from her pocket produced a great plummy bunn, that one of
+the school children had given her, and she had saved for her mother. A
+slice of the dry bread was nicely toasted, and the bit of butter set
+by for her to put on it. When her mother came in, there was the table
+drawn up in a warm place, a hot cup of tea ready, and Tilly and birdie
+waiting for her.
+
+Such a poor little supper, and yet such a happy one! for love,
+charity, and contentment were guests there, and that Christmas eve was
+a blither one than that up at the great house, where lights shone,
+fires blazed, a great tree glittered, and music sounded, as the
+children danced and played.
+
+"We must go to bed early; for we've only wood enough to last over
+to-morrow. I shall be paid for my work the day after, and then we can
+get some," said Tilly's mother, as they sat by the fire.
+
+"If my bird was only a fairy bird, and would give us three wishes, how
+nice it would be! Poor dear, he can't give me anything; but it's no
+matter," answered Tilly, looking at the robin, who lay in the basket,
+with his head under his wing, a mere little feathery bunch.
+
+"He can give you one thing, Tilly--the pleasure of doing good. That is
+one of the sweetest things in life; and the poor can enjoy it as well
+as the rich."
+
+As her mother spoke, with her tired hand softly stroking her little
+daughter's hair, Tilly suddenly started, and pointed to the window,
+saying, in a frightened whisper,--
+
+"I saw a face--a man's face--looking in. It's gone now; but I truly
+saw it."
+
+"Some traveller attracted by the light, perhaps; I'll go and see." And
+Tilly's mother went to the door.
+
+No one was there. The wind blew cold, the stars shone, the snow lay
+white on field and wood, and the Christmas moon was glittering in the
+sky.
+
+"What sort of a face was it?" asked Tilly's mother, coming back.
+
+"A pleasant sort of face, I think; but I was so startled, I don't
+quite know what it was like. I wish we had a curtain there," said
+Tilly.
+
+"I like to have our light shine out in the evening; for the road is
+dark and lonely just here, and the twinkle of our lamp is pleasant to
+people's eyes as they go by. We can do so little for our neighbors, I
+am glad to cheer the way for them. Now put these poor old shoes to
+dry, and go to bed, deary; I'll come soon."
+
+Tilly went, taking her bird with her to sleep in his basket near by,
+lest he should be lonely in the night.
+
+Soon the little house was dark and still, and no one saw the Christmas
+spirits at their work that night.
+
+When Tilly opened the door the next morning, she gave a loud cry,
+clapped her hands, and then stood still, quite speechless with wonder
+and delight. There, before the door, lay a great pile of wood, all
+ready to burn, a big bundle and a basket, with a lovely nosegay of
+winter roses, holly, and evergreen tied to the handle.
+
+"O, mother, did the fairies do it?" cried Tilly, pale with her
+happiness, as she seized the basket while her mother took in the
+bundle.
+
+"Yes, dear; the best and dearest fairy in the world, called 'Charity.'
+She walks abroad at Christmas time, does beautiful deeds like this,
+and does not stay to be thanked," answered her mother, with full eyes,
+as she undid the parcel.
+
+There they were, the warm, thick blankets, the comfortable shawl, the
+new shoes, and, best of all, a pretty winter hat for Bessy. The basket
+was full of good things to eat, and on the flowers lay a paper,
+saying,--
+
+"For the little girl who loves her neighbor as herself."
+
+"Mother, I really think my bird is a fairy bird, and all these
+splendid things come out from him," said Tilly, laughing and crying
+with joy.
+
+It really did seem so; for, as she spoke, the robin flew to the table,
+hopped to the nosegay, and perching among the roses, began to chirp
+with all his little might. The sun streamed in on flowers, bird, and
+happy child, and no one saw a shadow glide away from the window. No
+one ever knew that Mr. King had seen and heard the little girls the
+night before, or dreamed that the rich neighbor had learned a lesson
+from the poor neighbor.
+
+And Tilly's bird _was_ a fairy bird; for by her love and tenderness
+to the helpless thing, she brought good gifts to herself, happiness to
+the unknown giver of them, and a faithful little friend, who did not
+fly away, but staid with her till the snow was gone, making summer for
+her in the winter time.
+
+                                           LOUISA M. ALCOTT.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "AS THE NIGHT ADVANCED, THE OLD NEGRO FELT THE COLD
+    PIERCE HIS STIFFENED LIMBS." P. 216.]
+
+SAVED BY A FIDDLE.
+
+
+Among the most rapacious and dangerous animals of North America, is
+the wolf, commonly called the coyote (pronounced ky-_o_-te) in some of
+the Southern and Western States. The wolves--far more numerous in the
+United States than in Europe--are, perhaps, more horrible in aspect
+than those of the old world. Along desert paths, on the prairies or in
+the woods, the wolf, the ghoul of the animal race, presents itself to
+the traveller, with its slavering jaws and flashing eyes, uttering a
+growl, which is the usual sign of cowardice blended with impudence.
+"The coyote," says a recent writer, "is a living, breathing allegory
+of Want. He is always poor, out of luck, and friendless."
+
+It is very difficult to catch coyotes in a trap, but they are
+frequently hunted down with horses and dogs. Their coat is of a dull
+reddish color, mixed with gray and white hairs. Such is their ordinary
+condition, but like other animals they display varieties. Their bushy
+tail, black at the tip, is nearly as long as one third of their body.
+They resemble the dogs which one sees in the Indian wigwams, and which
+are certainly descended from this species. They are found in the
+regions between the Mississippi and the Pacific, and in Southern
+Mexico. They travel in packs like jackals, and pursue deer, buffaloes,
+and other animals which they hope to master. They do not venture to
+attack buffaloes in herds, but they follow the latter in large packs,
+watching till a laggard--a young calf or an old bull, for
+instance--may fall out; then they dart upon it and tear it to pieces.
+They accompany parties of sportsmen or travellers, prowl round
+deserted camps, and devour the fragments they find there. At times
+they will enter a camp during the night, and seize lumps of meat on
+which the emigrants calculated for their morning meal. These robberies
+sometimes exasperate the victims, and, growing less saving of their
+powder and shot, they pursue them till they have rubbed out the
+mess-number of several.
+
+This breed of wolves is the most numerous of all the carnivora in
+North America, and it is for this reason that the coyotes often suffer
+from hunger. Then, but only then, they eat corn, roots, and
+vegetables--in short, anything that will save them from death by
+starvation.
+
+The coyote is ignorant of any feeling of sympathy, and for this reason
+inspires none. Here is an anecdote, however, which proves that this
+quadruped thief of the wood is capable of feeling a certain degree of
+sensibility of the nerves, at any rate, if not of the heart. This
+story was told me under canvas, while we were hunting with the Pawnee
+Indians.
+
+During the first period of the colonization of Kentucky, the coyotes
+were so numerous in the prairie to the south of that state, that the
+inhabitants did not dare to leave their houses unless armed to the
+teeth. The women and children were strictly confined in-doors. The
+coyotes by which the country was infested belonged to the herd whose
+coat is dark gray, a very numerous species in the northern district,
+in the heart of the dense forests and unexplored mountains of the
+Green River.
+
+The village of Henderson, situated at the left bank of the Ohio, near
+its confluence with Green River, was the spot most frequented by these
+depredators.
+
+The pigs, calves, and sheep of the planters paid a heavy tax to these
+voracious animals. Several times in the depth of winter, when the snow
+covered the ground, and the flocks were kept in the stalls, the
+starving coyotes attacked human beings; and more than one belated
+farmer, returning home at night, found himself surrounded by a raging
+pack, from whose teeth he had great difficulty in defending himself.
+
+Among the many startling adventures I have heard narrated, not one
+made a greater impression on me than that of which Richard, the old
+negro fiddler, was the hero, and which I will tell you.
+
+Richard was what is called a "good old good-for-nothing darky." The
+whole district allowed that he had no other merit beyond that of
+sawing the fiddle; and this merit, which is not one in our own eyes,
+was highly valued, however, by all the colored people, and even by the
+whites who lived for a distance of forty miles round. One thing is
+certain--that no festival could be held without Fiddler Dick being
+invited to it.
+
+Marriages, christenings, parties prolonged till dawn, which are called
+"break-downs" in the United States, could not take place without the
+aid of his fiddle; and though the negro minstrel was old, and a good
+deal of his black wool was absent from the place where the wool ought
+to grow, still Richard was no less welcome wherever he presented
+himself, with his instrument wrapped up in a ragged old handkerchief
+under his arm, and a knotted stick in his hand.
+
+Old Richard was the property of one of the Hendersons, a member of the
+family that gave its name to this Kentucky county and village. His
+master had a liking for him, owing to his obedient and original
+character, and the slave, instead of tilling the soil, was at liberty
+to do whatever he thought proper. No one raised any objection to this
+tolerance, for Richard, whom his master was used to call a necessary
+evil, had before all the talent of keeping the negroes of the
+plantation in good humor by means of his fiddle.
+
+Richard, who understood all the importance of his exalted functions,
+knew nothing but his duty, and was remarkably punctual whenever those
+who honored him with their confidence let him know that his services
+were required. In this respect the merest trifle irritated him, and
+any vexation or disturbance rendered him ferocious.
+
+Despite the proverbial timidity attributed to geniuses, old Dick
+displayed a touch of the hyena whenever, at any of the negro festivals
+presided over by him, anything or anybody offended etiquette or the
+proprieties. As for Dick, he never forgot himself in the slightest
+degree, and whenever he was called upon to undertake the duties he
+performed so well, he had never once kept the company waiting. And yet
+one day--poor Dick! The following narrative will show that it was not
+by his own fault that he arrived too late at his appointment.
+
+A wedding of colored people was about to come off on a plantation
+about six miles from the one where the fiddler lived. In order that
+the feast might be perfect, old Dick had been invited, and he was
+unanimously appointed master of the ceremonies. It was during the
+winter; the cold was excessive, and the snow, which had fallen
+incessantly for three days, covered the ground to a depth of several
+feet.
+
+While all Mr. Henderson's negroes, with their master's previous
+permission, hastened to the spot where pleasure called them, the ebony
+Apollo was arranging his toilet with peculiar delight. A white shirt,
+a collar as immoderately long in front as it was high in the neck,--so
+that Dick's head resembled a block of coal in a sheet of white
+paper,--a blue coat with gilt buttons, and long tails that reached to
+his heels,--a present from his master,--a red silk cravat fringed at
+the ends, a green waistcoat ornamented with an orange patch at the
+spot where the watch-pocket formerly was, boots which had seen their
+best days, and a wide-awake hat,--such was the elegant and excessively
+fashionable attire of Dick, the old black fiddler, who, when dressed
+in these rags, believed himself as handsome as Adonis.
+
+After taking a parting glance at the piece of looking-glass held by
+three nails on the wall of his bedroom, and favoring himself with a
+smile that expressed a personal satisfaction, Richard took his fiddle
+under his arm and set out.
+
+The moon was shining over his head, the stars sparkled--to use the
+fiddler's picturesque expression--like "gilt nails driven into the
+ceiling of the firmament by an audacious upholsterer." No sound could
+be heard, save the crackling of the snow beneath Richard's feet, as he
+put them down with the heaviness of old age. The road he had to follow
+was very narrow; its complicated windings passed through a dense
+forest which the axe had not yet assailed, and whose depths were still
+as entirely unknown as at the period when the Redskins were the sole
+owners of the territory. This track could only be followed by a
+pedestrian; no cart road existed for several miles round.
+
+The profound solitude of this road must infallibly produce its
+effect--that of fear or apprehension--on a being belonging to the
+human race; but at this moment the old man was so deeply plunged in
+thought that nothing could make him forget the anxiety he felt at not
+arriving in time at the place where he was expected. He doubled his
+pace as he thought of the furious glances that would be bestowed on
+him by those whose joys his absence retarded, and he regretted the
+time he had spent in giving an extra polish to his coat buttons and in
+pulling up the two splendid points of his shirt collar.
+
+While thinking of the reproaches that menaced him, old Dick looked up,
+and the moon shining above his head proved to him that he was even
+more behindhand than he had supposed. His legs then began moving like
+the wheels of a locomotive, so as to keep him constantly ahead of
+certain black shadows which seemed to be following his every footstep
+on the forest path.
+
+They were coyotes, horrible coyotes, that cast these shadows, and from
+time to time gave a snarl of covetousness or impatience; but old Dick
+paid no attention to them. Ere long, however, he was obliged to devote
+his entire attention to what was going on behind him. He had walked
+half the distance, and already saw through the forest arcades the
+clearing which he must cross to reach the spot where he was expected.
+The angry barks of the wolves had increased during the last quarter of
+an hour, and the sound of their paws making the snow crackle inspired
+the old man with an indescribable terror. The number of animals
+seemed momentarily to be augmented; it resembled an ant-heap seen
+through the magnifying-glass of a gigantic microscope.
+
+Wolves, in all parts of the world, look twice before attacking a man;
+they study the ground, and wait for the propitious moment. This was
+what was now happening, very fortunately for old Dick, who was more
+and more perceiving the greatness of the danger, and doubled his speed
+in proportion as his pursuers grew more daring, brushed past his legs
+with gnashing teeth, and joyously strove to get ahead of each other.
+Dick was thoroughly acquainted with the habits of his enemies, and
+hence carefully avoided running; that would have been giving the
+signal of attack, for coyotes only rush on persons who are frightened.
+
+The only chance of salvation left him was to prolong this dangerous
+walk to the skirt of the forest. There he hoped the coyotes, as they
+do not dare venture into an open plain, would leave him and allow him
+to continue his walk at peace. He also remembered that in the centre
+of the clearing there was a deserted cabin, and the thought of
+reaching this refuge restored him a portion of his courage.
+
+The daring of the coyotes increased with each moment, and the hapless
+negro could not look around without seeing bright eyes moving in all
+directions, like the phosphorescent fireflies in summer. One after the
+other the quadrupeds tried their teeth on old Dick's thin legs, and as
+he had dropped his stick he had recourse to his fiddle to keep his
+foes aloof. At the first blow he dealt the springs produced a sound
+which had the immediate effect of putting to flight the coyotes, which
+were surprised by this unusual music.
+
+Dick, an observer naturally and by necessity, then began strumming his
+fiddle with his fingers; and the carnivorous animals at once
+manifested fresh marks of surprise, as if a charge of shot had
+tickled their ribs. This fortunate diversion, repeated several times,
+brought Dick to the skirt of the forest, and taking advantage of a
+favorable moment, he darted on, still striking the strings, and going
+in the direction of the hut.
+
+The coyotes halted for a moment, with their tails between their legs,
+looking at their prey flying before them; but ere long their ravenous
+instinct gained the upper hand, and with a unanimous bark they all
+rushed in pursuit of the unfortunate negro. Had the wolves caught up
+to old Dick in this moment of fury, he might have appealed in vain to
+his fiddle. By running he had destroyed the charm, and the coyotes
+would not have stopped to listen to him even had he played like
+Orpheus in the olden times, or Ole Bull in ours.
+
+Fortunately, the old man reached the cabin at the moment when the
+coyotes were at his heels. With a hand rendered doubly vigorous by the
+imminence of the danger, he shut the door of the protecting cabin, and
+secured it with a beam he found within reach. Then he hoisted himself,
+not without sundry lacerations of his garments, on the ruined roof,
+the beams of which alone remained, supported on blocks of wood at the
+four corners of the walls.
+
+Old Dick found himself comparatively out of danger; but the coyotes
+displayed a fury which threatened to become terrible. Several of them
+had entered the cabin, and conjointly with those outside they leaped
+at the legs of the minstrel, whom rapid movements and repeated kicks
+scarce protected from numerous bites.
+
+Old Dick, in spite of his agony, had not forgotten his fiddle, which
+had saved his life in the forest. Seizing his bow with a firm hand, he
+drew from the instrument a shrill note, which overpowered the
+deafening barks of the coyotes, and silenced them as if by
+enchantment. This silence henceforth continued, only interrupted by
+the hysterical sounds which the fiddle produced under the
+fear-stiffened fingers of the old negro performer.
+
+This inharmonious music could not satisfy the starving animals for
+long, and from the efforts which they soon made to reach their prey,
+old Dick comprehended that noise was not sufficient to enchant the
+wolves. They dashed forward more furiously than ever to escalade the
+wall. He considered himself lost, especially when he noticed, scarce
+half a yard from his trembling legs, the enormous head of a coyote,
+whose large, open eyes seemed to flash fire and gleam.
+
+"The Lord ha' mussy on all!" he cried; "I am an eaten man!"
+
+And without knowing what he was about, he let his trembling fingers
+stray over the fiddle, and began playing the famous air of "Yankee
+Doodle." It was the chant of the swan singing its requiem in the hour
+of death.
+
+But suddenly--O, miracle of harmony!--a calm set in round the negro
+minstrel. Orpheus was no fable: the animals obeyed this new
+enchantment; and when Dick, on recovering from his terror, was unable
+to understand what was going on around him, he saw himself surrounded
+by an audience a hundred fold more attentive to the charms of music
+than any which had hitherto admired his execution. This was so true
+that so soon as his bow ceased moving, the coyotes dashed forward to
+renew the battle.
+
+Dick now knew what his means of preservation were. He must play the
+fiddle till some help arrived. Ere long, yielding to the fascination
+of the art, the musician completely forgot the danger he incurred.
+Indulging all the fancies of his imagination, he gave his four-footed
+audience a concert in which he surpassed himself. Never had he played
+with more taste, soul, and expression. Hence he forgot, in the
+intoxication of his triumph, the wedding and the brilliant company,
+the whiskey-punch and supper smoking hot on the board, that awaited
+him no great distance off.
+
+But alas! every medal has its reverse in this world, and all days of
+pleasure have their to-morrow of woe. As the night advanced, the old
+negro felt the cold pierce his stiffened limbs. In vain did he try to
+rest; if the bow left the fiddle strings, the coyotes rushed against
+the walls of the cabin; if, on the contrary, he continued to wander
+along the paths of harmony, these _dilettanti_ of a novel sort
+squatted down on their hams, with their tails stretched out on the
+snow, ears pricked up, tongues hanging from their half-opened jaws,
+and they followed, with a regular movement of the head and body, all
+the notes produced by old Dick's fiddle.
+
+While this fantastic scene, illumined by the moonbeams, was taking
+place in the clearing, the negroes, who were awaiting their comrade to
+begin the fun, were growing sadly impatient, and did not know what to
+think of the delay of their musician, who was usually most punctual.
+At last six of them, tired of waiting, left the house to make a voyage
+of discovery; and on reaching the cabin, on the top of which Dick was
+perched, they noticed some thirty coyotes in the position I have
+described. The old player was still continuing his involuntary
+concert, with his eyes fixed on his deadly foes.
+
+At the moment when the six negroes raised a simultaneous shout, the
+whole band of coyotes thought it high time to bolt. In a twinkling
+they disappeared, and the fiddler, frozen and numbed, fell fainting
+into the arms of his rescuers. His woolly hair, which, in spite of his
+great age, was perfectly black at the time when he performed his
+toilet, had turned white in the space of two hours.
+
+                                      SIR LASCELLES WRAXALL.
+
+
+
+
+THE BIRD'S NEST.
+
+
+    Deep in a leafy dell we found,
+      When early Summer wove her crown,
+    A bird's nest on the mossy ground,
+      From blooming bough blown down.
+
+    Five pretty eggs, quite warm and white,
+      Were waiting for the brooding wing,
+    That from each shell there might take flight
+      A bird, to trill and sing.
+
+    The mother sat and grieved apart;
+      Her song had no rejoicing note.
+    The sorrow of her wounded heart
+      Seemed sobbing in her throat.
+
+    She thought of all the summer days,
+      With their sweet sunshine, yet to come;
+    Of fledgelings echoing God's praise,
+      While only hers were dumb.
+
+[Illustration: THE BIRD'S NEST.]
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNG ARTIST.
+
+
+"Well done, little one! A very pretty tune, and very nicely sung!"
+
+The speaker was a stranger who had just come in sight of the pretty
+cottage where Robbie and Maria Barnes lived with their widowed mother,
+and outside of which the little singer sat nursing the baby, while
+Robbie chopped wood at a little distance.
+
+The widow, hearing a stranger's voice, came to the door, and seeing
+that he appeared to have been walking far invited him to come in and
+take a rest. This he very gladly did; and while she dusted a chair for
+him, Mary brought a mug of fresh milk, and they were soon on very
+friendly terms with him.
+
+He said that he was an artist, and that he had come to that part of
+the country for a time to take sketches of the scenery around; that he
+was at present staying at the village inn, but that he would be very
+glad if they could arrange to let him live with them for a few weeks.
+This was agreed upon, and on the next day Mr. Page--for that was the
+stranger's name--took up his abode in the widow Paul's cottage.
+
+Very pleased Robbie and Maria were with him; and when he came home
+from his rambles and sat under the shade of the large tree by the side
+of the house finishing the sketches he had taken, they would stand
+looking on with wondering interest. Robbie especially, who had never
+seen any other pictures than those in his spelling-book, was rapt in
+amazement as he saw hills, rivers, flowers, trees and animals start up
+into seeming life under the artist's hand. Mr. Page, seeing how
+interested the boy was in what he saw, invited him to accompany him in
+his rambles. Robbie did so, and many valuable things he learned in
+these pleasant wanderings.
+
+When the time came for Mr. Page to leave these simple cottagers, he
+was as sorry to go as they were to part with him; and he promised that
+if he lived and prospered, he would endeavor to do something for his
+favorite, Robbie.
+
+This visit of the artist to their humble abode became the
+turning-point in Robbie's life. An idea had taken possession of the
+boy's mind. Why should he not learn to be an artist like Mr. Page? He
+had watched very carefully the manner in which that gentleman
+proceeded when taking sketches of the objects around him; he had begun
+himself to look upon those objects with very different eyes from what
+he had been accustomed to, and felt sure that with patience and
+perseverance he could master the art of drawing and painting himself.
+
+His first attempt was a rough sketch of grandma on his slate. It was
+done with a few strokes of the pencil, but there was really some
+likeness to the dear old lady in it, and mother felt sure her boy
+would some day be an artist.
+
+[Illustration: THE YOUNG ARTIST.]
+
+Several weeks passed away, and at length he thought he might attempt
+the portrait of his little dog, "Pink," and, if he could succeed to
+his satisfaction, he determined that he would carry it home and
+surprise his mother with it. After much patient labor he finished his
+task, and showed the sketch first of all to his friend Thomas, who
+being much pleased with it, they hastened at once to Robbie's home
+with it. Watching their opportunity, they stood the picture unobserved
+against the wall, and waited to see the effect it would produce.
+Little Maria was the first to notice it. "Oh, mother," she cried,
+"here's a picture of Pinky! Do come and look at it! Isn't it real?"
+
+The widow turned from her work to look.
+
+"Why, so it is," she exclaimed. "Who painted it, Robbie? Where did you
+get it from?"
+
+"Robbie did it himself," cried Thomas, unable to keep the secret any
+longer.
+
+"Robbie did it?" echoed the widow, with a look of bewilderment. "_You_
+painted it, Robbie?"
+
+"Yes, mother," laughed Robbie, enjoying her perplexity; "I did it all
+myself. I have been learning unknown to you. If I can learn to paint
+as well as Mr. Page, mother, eh! Sha'n't I be able to help you then,
+mother?"
+
+She smiled and kissed him. His cleverness was pleasing to her, but his
+loving ambition to be of service to her was still more grateful to her
+mother's heart.
+
+The famous Benjamin West said his mother's kiss made him a painter.
+Robbie Barnes might have said the same thing, for from that moment he
+was more than ever determined to persevere. A few weeks after this,
+Robbie and Thomas were out in the woods together. It was a holiday
+with them both, and Robbie had determined to spend the time in
+sketching a certain landscape he had in view. They had brought their
+dinner with them; and while Robbie was drawing, Thomas laid out the
+provisions. Having got it all ready, he went off to the brook to fetch
+a mug of water, and as he returned called to Robbie to come to dinner.
+But what was his annoyance, as he came near, to see the mischievous
+dog munching the last piece of cheese? In sudden passion he caught up
+a stick and gave chase to Pink, who scampered off with the cheese in
+his mouth. Robbie was so amused at the comical scene that he thought
+he would attempt a painting of it, and this idea set Thomas laughing
+as heartily as himself. It was weeks before he had finished the
+sketch; but when it was completed, it made a striking picture for a
+boy of his age.
+
+Years passed, and Robbie worked faithfully at his painting, and made
+such progress that Mr. Moring urged him to go with him on a visit to
+the neighboring city, where he could see some gentlemen who might be
+able to assist him in his desire of becoming a painter. Robbie was
+unwilling to leave his mother, but she was resolved he should not lose
+the opportunity for her; and shortly afterward Robbie, with Thomas and
+Mr. Moring, was on his way to the great city, which he had never seen
+before. Arrived there, Mr. Moring took him to an exhibition of
+pictures, and there introduced him again to his old friend Mr. Page.
+The artist, to whom Mr. Moring had already showed the painting of the
+dog running off with the dinner, was exceedingly surprised that a boy
+so entirely self-taught should have made such progress, and was
+pleased indeed to see him again. His judgment of the merits of
+Robbie's work was such that Mr. Moring undertook to have the boy
+instructed by one of the best teachers of drawing, and so put him in a
+fair way of attaining that upon which his heart was set--the becoming
+a painter like Mr. Page. Robbie's mother, though sad to part with him,
+gratefully consented to his leaving his home for a time for this
+purpose; and though Robbie was much troubled to think what his mother
+would do without the little help he had been able to render her, he
+was persuaded that the best way to serve her was to improve himself.
+He had not been long away before a message came to his mother telling
+her that he could earn enough by the sale of his little drawings to
+pay one of the village-lads to fetch wood and water, and to do other
+little things for her; that he was improving very fast, and that he
+had good reason to hope that he should one day be able to earn enough
+to keep them all in comfort.
+
+Little Maria was busy braiding straw when this message came.
+
+"I shall not want Robbie to work for me, mother," she said. "I shall
+soon be able to earn my own living, and I will help to support our
+dear mother when she grows old."
+
+"God bless you, my child!" said the happy mother. "With such dutiful
+children as you and your dear brother, no mother need fear to grow
+old."
+
+
+
+
+    You're starting to-day on life's journey,
+      Along on the highway of life;
+    You'll meet with a thousand temptations;
+      Each city with evil is rife.
+    This world is a stage of excitement;
+      There's danger wherever you go;
+    But if you are tempted in weakness,
+      Have courage, my boy, to say NO!
+
+
+
+
+THE RUSTIC MIRROR.
+
+
+    Sadie's boudoir is a meadow,
+      Carpeted with blue-eyed grass;
+    Slender birches, rounded maples,
+      Frame her inlaid looking-glass.
+
+    Curtains woven up in cloud-land
+      Trail their fringes over all,
+    Shifting shadows gray and purple,
+      Which aerial elves let fall.
+
+    Hither Sadie, morn and evening,
+      Comes for water from the spring,
+    Pausing ere she fills her pitcher
+      Where the greenest mosses cling,--
+
+    Pausing where, as in a mirror,
+      She a wistful face beholds;
+    Magic mirror, for within it
+      Many a vision fair unfolds.
+
+    When the April clouds are driven
+      Over depths of azure skies,
+    Windows open into heaven,
+      And she sees her mother's eyes.
+
+    When she binds upon her forehead
+      Wreath of daisies twined with wheat,
+    She is queen, and wears a jewelled
+      Crown, with slippers on her feet.
+
+    When the glories of October,
+      Crimson maple, golden birch,
+    Make her mirror finer, richer,
+      Than stained windows of a church,--
+
+    She of golden-rod and aster
+      Weaves a garland for her hair,
+    Leans above the magic mirror,
+      Murmuring, "Mother called me fair."
+
+    But 'tis best when clouds are flying
+      O'er the clear blue April skies,
+    And through dreamy depths she gazes
+      Into heaven and mother's eyes.
+
+                                  M. R. W.
+
+[Illustration: THE RUSTIC MIRROR.]
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.
+
+
+    Come back, come back together,
+      All ye fancies of the past,
+    Ye days of April weather,
+      Ye shadows that are cast
+        By the haunted hours before!
+    Come back, come back, my childhood;
+      Thou art summoned by a spell
+    From the green leaves of the wildwood,
+      From beside the charmed well,
+      For Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+        The flower of fairy lore.
+
+    The fields were covered over
+      With colors as she went;
+    Daisy, buttercup and clover
+      Below her footsteps bent;
+        Summer shed its shining store;
+    She was happy as she pressed them;
+      Beneath her little feet;
+    She plucked them and caressed them;
+      They were so very sweet;
+      They had never seemed so sweet before
+    To Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+      The flower of fairy lore.
+
+    How the heart of childhood dances
+      Upon a sunny day!
+    It has its own romances,
+      And a wide, wide world have they--
+        A world where Phantasie is king,
+    Made all of eager dreaming;
+      When once grown up and tall--
+    Now is the time for scheming--
+      Then we shall do them all!
+        Do such pleasant fancies spring
+      For Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+        The flower of fairy lore?
+
+[Illustration: LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.]
+
+    She seems like an ideal love,
+      The poetry of childhood shown,
+    And yet loved with a real love,
+      As if she were our own--
+        A younger sister for the heart;
+    Like the woodland pheasant,
+      Her hair is brown and bright;
+    And her smile is pleasant,
+      With its rosy light.
+      Never can the memory part
+    With Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+        The flower of fairy lore.
+
+    Did the painter, dreaming
+      In a morning hour,
+    Catch the fairy seeming
+      Of this fairy flower?
+        Winning it with eager eyes
+    From the old enchanted stories,
+      Lingering with a long delight
+    On the unforgotten glories
+      Of the infant sight?
+        Giving us a sweet surprise
+      In Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+        The flower of fairy lore?
+
+    Too long in the meadow staying,
+      Where the cowslip bends,
+    With the buttercups delaying
+      As with early friends,
+        Did the little maiden stay.
+    Sorrowful the tale for us;
+      We, too, loiter 'mid life's flowers,
+    A little while so glorious,
+      So soon lost in darker hours,
+        All love lingering on their way,
+    Like Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+      The flower of fairy lore.
+
+                 LÆTITIA ELIZABETH LANDON.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Maggie runs to rescue the child from the bull}]
+
+HOW MAGGIE PAID THE RENT.
+
+
+Presence of mind is one of the rarest, as it is one of the most
+enviable of endowments. It is the power of instantaneously forming a
+judgment, and acting upon it, and includes not only moral courage, but
+self-possession. No matter how brave a man may be in the face of
+expected peril,--if he lacks presence of mind, he is helpless in a
+sudden emergency. But, as this quality is an ingredient of the highest
+courage, the bravest men invariably possess it. The presence of mind
+of one man has often saved thousands of lives in sudden peril, on sea
+or land. This is naturally enough regarded as a distinctively
+masculine virtue; but it is one that both sexes may profitably
+cultivate, as is shown by the following story. Girls as well as boys
+should be taught self-reliance--to depend on themselves, to think
+quickly and act promptly. Perhaps no emergency will arise in their
+lives in which the importance of such mental training shall be
+illustrated; but it is well to be prepared "for any fate," and the
+discipline which produces this virtue gives strength and symmetry to
+the whole intellectual organism.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Is supper nearly ready, Maggie? It is time for Jack to return from
+his work."
+
+The speaker was an elderly woman in a widow's garb, and the person she
+addressed was her granddaughter, a pleasant-looking girl, who might
+perhaps have been fourteen years of age.
+
+"Yes, grandmother, it is just ready, such as it is," replied Maggie;
+"but I could wish poor Jack had a better meal after his hard work
+than what we are able to give him."
+
+"Ay, ay, child, I wish it as much as you can; but what is to be done?
+Wishing will never make us rich folk, and we may be thankful if worse
+troubles than a poor supper do not come upon us soon."
+
+So spoke the grandmother, and taking the spectacles from her nose, she
+wiped their dim glasses with her apron.
+
+"Why, grandmother, what do you mean?" cried Maggie, looking up in
+alarm. "What worse troubles can be coming, think you?" And eagerly and
+anxiously she fixed her bright blue eyes upon her grandmother's face.
+
+"Well," replied the old woman, "the truth is just this, Maggie: I hear
+that the new landlord is going to make some changes among his tenants;
+the cottages are all to be repaired, and the folks who can pay higher
+rents will stay, while those who cannot must find lodging elsewhere.
+And how can we ever pay a higher rent, Maggie? Even now, every penny
+of poor Jack's earnings is spent at the end of the week, and yet we
+live as cheaply as ever we can."
+
+For a moment or two the girl's face was as perturbed and downcast as
+that of her grandmother's, and she bent over her knitting in silence;
+but by an evident effort she quickly assumed a more cheerful aspect.
+And advancing to the old lady's side, and placing a gentle hand on her
+shoulder, she said,--
+
+"Don't fret, dear grandmother; God has cared for us so far, and he
+will never suffer us to want, if we put our trust in him. That's what
+father used to say, and what he said up to the very day of his death."
+
+So saying, Maggie stooped and kissed the withered cheek of that
+father's mother, thereby enforcing, as it were, her encouraging words.
+
+"God bless you, my child!" sobbed the old woman, returning the kiss.
+"You remind me of what I am too apt to forget. Yes, Maggie, your
+father's God is our God, and he will never forsake his people. I will
+wipe away these tears, and put faith in him for the future." And the
+grandmother dried her eyes, and rising from her low seat, said
+cheerfully, "Maggie, dear, go to the gate, and watch for your brother
+Jack. When you see him coming across the field, let me know, and I
+will dish up the supper, so as to have it ready."
+
+Maggie put down her work, and passing through the low doorway of the
+cottage, stood presently at the little gate that separated the tiny
+garden from the meadow of a neighboring farmer, who turned his cattle
+out there to graze.
+
+Opening the gate, Maggie leaned against it, while with one hand she
+shaded her eyes from the yet dazzling beams of the sinking sun, which
+bathed with its parting radiance the western horizon, and crimsoned
+the landscape around.
+
+A moment or two she thus stood, but Jack did not appear; and wondering
+why he should be so late, Maggie was about to retrace her steps in
+order to fetch her knitting, when, from that corner of the field which
+by a stile communicated with the landlord's grounds, she saw a little
+child emerge, dressed in a bright red frock and jacket, and running
+heedlessly along, nearer and nearer to the cattle, which hitherto had
+been grazing quietly in the centre of the field.
+
+Now, however, as the little one approached, directing her steps so as
+to pass them closely, they raised their heads, and a huge bull, the
+king and guardian of the herd, attracted doubtless and enraged by the
+color of the scarlet dress, bounded away from his companions, and with
+his savage head bent, and his tail raised, gave chase to the child,
+who, frightened at the bellowing of the angry beast, quickened her
+pace, and fled screaming towards the cottage gate, at which Maggie was
+standing. But the utmost speed of which the little one was capable was
+nothing to the long gallop of the bull, and in the first moment that
+Maggie witnessed the child's danger, her quick presence of mind and
+tender heart resolved to do what many strong men, less self-forgetful,
+would not have dared to attempt.
+
+Tearing from her head a colored kerchief, which she had thrown over it
+before she came out, she sprang through the gateway into the meadow,
+and bounding lightly over the turf, in another minute she had placed
+herself between the fierce animal and the child. On in his headlong
+fury came the gigantic brute, and was about to pass Maggie, seeing
+only the scarlet frock just beyond, when the intrepid girl, springing
+forward, dashed the kerchief across his eyes, and before he had time
+to recover himself and recommence his pursuit, she had turned,
+snatched up the little one, and was running towards the cottage gate.
+Close behind the fugitives followed the bull, now recovered from his
+momentary astonishment; but Maggie's feet were winged, for she felt
+that through God's help she should save the child.
+
+A few more rapid steps, and the gate was reached and barred, while
+Maggie tottered into the house, still carrying the child, and in the
+reaction of the fearful excitement, fell fainting on the floor.
+
+Maggie's fainting fit, however, did not last long; and she was fully
+restored, and had told her grandmother the whole story, before Jack
+arrived, half an hour later.
+
+He, too, had something to recount. On his way home from the landlord's
+grounds, where he had been working, he was overtaken by a young woman,
+who seemed in a great state of alarm. She told Jack that she was the
+nursery maid, and that while that afternoon she was sitting at work
+beneath one of the trees, with the children playing around her, one of
+them--little Gertrude, a child about six years old--must have slipped
+away from her brother and sisters unobserved; and when tea time came,
+and the nurse rose to bring the children home, she was nowhere to be
+found. The nurse had taken the other three little ones home, and had
+now come in search of Gertrude, fearful lest she should fall into
+danger of any kind.
+
+Jack would not stop to eat his supper, after telling his own story and
+hearing Maggie's, but announced his intention of at once carrying the
+little truant lady back to her home.
+
+So the kind-hearted youth took Gertrude in his arms, and soon conveyed
+her safely to the landlord's house, where she astonished every one by
+the childish recital of her own danger and Maggie's courage.
+
+The next morning Gertrude's mother came down to the cottage to thank
+Maggie for the preservation of her darling's life, and to bring a
+message from her husband.
+
+This message consisted of his grateful acknowledgments, and of the
+promise that Jack should be promoted to the office of assistant
+gardener as soon as that post was vacant (which would be in the course
+of a few weeks). But, best of all, the promise included also this,
+namely, that the widow and her grandchildren should hold the cottage
+rent free for the remainder of their lives.
+
+Thus was averted, by means wholly unforeseen, the trial of poverty and
+want so dreaded by the old widow in her thoughts of the future; and
+never again was she heard to repine, or even to express a fear for
+herself or for those whom she loved.
+
+
+
+
+DECLAMATION--FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH;
+
+OR, THE SENTRY OF HERCULANEUM.[B]
+
+
+    "Dark's the night, dun's the sky with smoke;
+      Never more my guard they'll change;
+    Three hours ago I could crack my joke,
+      And now e'en the thought seems strange.
+
+    "Hark! the thunder bellows loud,
+      And the night's come down apace,
+    And the lava flame, through its sulphurous cloud,
+      Is ruddy on my face.
+
+    "With a crash did yon temple fall;
+      But ever, through all the din,
+    Shrill rose a death-wail o'er all,
+      The vestals' screams within.
+
+    "Men are running, away, away,
+      With tight zones up yonder street;
+    But a soldier of Rome must stay
+      At his post, as seems him meet.
+
+    "I remember my levying morn--
+      I remember my sacred vow;
+    And I'd hold it matter of scorn
+      In death's teeth to break it now.
+
+    "Jove! lava is all around--
+      It nears me with scorching breath;
+    It hisses along the ground
+      To my feet, and the hiss means--death.
+
+    "I've fought as a soldier should
+      'Neath many an alien sky,
+    And at home at my post I've stood
+      Amidst cowards, and now, to die.
+
+    "Great Mars, give me heart of grace
+      _Triarii_,[C] over the bowl
+    Say, 'He died with a smile on his face,
+      And glory in his soul'!"
+
+                         W. B. B. STEVENS.
+
+[Illustration: THE FAITHFUL SENTRY.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[B] Overwhelmed, together with Pompeii, by a lava eruption, A. D. 79.
+
+[C] The Roman _Triarii_ were old soldiers, of approved valor, who
+formed the third line in a legion--hence their name.
+
+
+
+
+VACATION.
+
+
+    O, master, no more of your lessons!
+      For a season we bid them good by,
+    And turn to the manifold teachings
+      Of ocean, and forest, and sky.
+    We must plunge into billow and breaker;
+      The fields we must ransack anew;
+    And again must the sombre woods echo
+      The glee of our merry-voiced crew.
+
+    From teacher's and preacher's dictation--
+      From all the dreaded lore of the books--
+    Escaped from the thraldom of study,
+      We turn to the babble of brooks;
+    We hark to the field-minstrels' music,
+      The lowing of herds on the lea,
+    The surge of the winds in the forest,
+      The roar of the storm-angered sea.
+
+    To the tree-tops we'll climb with the squirrels;
+      We will race with the brooks in the glens;
+    The rabbits we'll chase to their burrows;
+      The foxes we'll hunt to their dens;
+    The woodchucks, askulk in their caverns,
+      We'll visit again and again;
+    And we'll peep into every bird's nest
+      The copses and meadows contain.
+
+    For us are the blackberries ripening
+      By many a moss-covered wall;
+    There are bluehats enough in the thickets
+      To furnish a treat for us all;
+    In the swamps there are ground-nuts in plenty;
+      The sea-sands their titbits afford;
+    And, O, most delectable banquet,
+      We will feast at the honey-bee's board!
+
+    O, comrades, the graybeards assure us
+      That life is a burden of cares;
+    That the highways and byways of manhood
+      Are fretted with pitfalls and snares.
+    Well, school-days have _their_ tribulations;
+      Their troubles, as well as their joys.
+    Then give us vacation forever,
+      If we must forever be boys!
+
+                            BEVERLY MOORE.
+
+[Illustration: "ESCAPED FROM THE THRALDOM OF STUDY,
+                 WE TURN TO THE BABBLE OF BROOKS."]
+
+
+
+
+UNCLE JOHN'S SCHOOL-DAYS.
+
+
+This picture reminds me, children, of some funny stories that I have
+heard your uncle John tell, when he and I were boy and girl together,
+of his exploits as a schoolboy. According to his account, not only he,
+but most of his schoolfellows, used to lead merry lives enough at
+school. They had what they called the "Academy Band," and grand music
+it made, with a hat-box for a drum, cricket-bat for violoncello, and
+paper flute and trumpets. You would not recognize Uncle John, whom you
+know only as a man six feet high, in that little lad on the left side
+of the picture with a battledore for a fiddle. They had a great deal
+of what he called excellent fun, though I am afraid it sometimes
+bordered upon mischief or naughtiness. I used to consider that he and
+his schoolfellows were regular heroes as I listened to his stories
+when he came home for the holidays; and even now I must confess I
+cannot help laughing when I think of some of his naughty pranks.
+
+Uncle John first went to a large school when he was eleven years old,
+and I remember now the tremendous hamper of good things he took with
+him. The boys who slept in his bedroom were so pleased with the
+contents of his hamper that they determined to make a great feast. To
+add to their enjoyment, they imagined themselves to be settlers in the
+backwoods of America or Australia. They built a log hut with bolsters,
+and had a sort of picnic. One of them mounted on the top of the log
+hut to look out with his telescope for any approaching savages, while
+the others enjoyed their suppers in and about the hut. When their fun
+was at its height, the door softly opened, and in walked Dr. Birchall,
+spectacles on nose and cane in hand. What followed may be imagined.
+
+You know that Uncle John is an engineer now, and even as a little boy
+he had a great turn for mechanical inventions. Well, he pondered over
+some means by which such a sudden interruption to the enjoyment of
+his schoolfellows might be prevented in future; and I will tell you
+what he did.
+
+It happened that the large room in which he slept formed the upper
+floor of a wing of the house which had been added to it when it became
+a school; and there was no access to this room from the principal
+staircase of the house. You had to pass through the room below and go
+up a little separate staircase to reach to the floor above. The lower
+room was also a bedroom for the boys, and Uncle John's little scheme
+was this:
+
+He made a hole with a gimlet in the frame of one of the windows of his
+bedroom, passed a piece of string through the hole, and carried it
+outside the wall of the house down to a similar hole in a window-frame
+of the room below. To the end of the string in the upper room was
+fastened a small rattle, while the other end of the string--that in
+the room below--was taken into the bed of a boy who slept near the
+window.
+
+This admirable little invention once in order, there was more rioting
+in the upper room than ever; and the master, disturbed by the noise,
+soon went, cane in hand, to stop it. The instant he set foot in the
+lower room the boy there who held the string in bed gave it a little
+pull: the rattle sounded--ting! ting!--in the room above, and in an
+instant every boy was in bed and snoring. Perhaps they had been
+playing at leap-frog the moment before, but as Dr. Birchall entered
+the room--and he crept up the staircase very quietly, that he might
+catch them unawares--he found some twenty boys lying in bed, seemingly
+sound asleep, though snoring unnaturally loud.
+
+The doctor was so disconcerted by this unexpected state of things that
+he retired at once, fancying perhaps that his ears had deceived him
+when he thought he had heard a noise in the room. The same thing
+happened two or three times; the doctor was puzzled, and the
+invention appeared a complete success; but at last all was
+discovered.
+
+[Illustration: THE ACADEMY BAND.]
+
+The boys one evening began imprudently to play at "tossing in the
+blanket" before they were undressed. The rattle sounded, and they had
+just time to hide away the blanket. But the doctor coming in, and
+finding they were only then beginning to undress, knew they must have
+been at some mischief, and began questioning one after another.
+Unluckily, while he was in the room the rattle sounded again by
+accident; perhaps the boy in the room below had pulled the string by
+moving in bed. The doctor looked about, found the rattle hanging just
+below the window, saw the string, opened the window and traced its
+course outside, went down into the room below, and understood the
+whole arrangement. Then he put the rattle in his pocket and went away
+without saying a word. The boys declared he had such difficulty in
+keeping himself from laughing that he was afraid to speak lest he
+should burst out.
+
+However, next day every boy in that room had a slight punishment, and
+so the matter ended.
+
+Now I will tell you another of Uncle John's pranks at school. There
+was a large tree in the playground, the upper branches of which spread
+out very near to the windows of the bedroom I have been describing.
+One evening Uncle John got hold of a large hand-bell which was used
+for ringing the boys up in the morning; and climbing up the tree, he
+fastened it by a piece of string to a branch near the top. Then
+another boy threw him the end of a long string from a window of the
+bedroom into the tree, and he fastened it to the bell in such a way
+that when it was pulled in the bedroom it made the bell ring in the
+tree. Having accomplished this arrangement, he came down from the tree
+and went to bed.
+
+At ten o'clock at night the household was disturbed by the loud
+ringing of this bell. The master, in his dressing-gown, came out into
+the playground, and soon discovered where the sound came from, but of
+course supposed that some boy had climbed up into the tree, and was
+ringing the bell there. It was the middle of summer, and a beautiful
+moonlight night, so the boys could see from the windows all that took
+place. Dr. Birchall stood at the foot of the tree, looking up, and
+exclaimed, angrily,
+
+"Come down, you naughty boy! Come down, I say, directly! Oh, I'll give
+you such a flogging! Stop that horrible noise, I tell you, and come
+down!"
+
+The bell still went on ringing. At last the string--being pulled too
+hard, I suppose, in the excitement of the fun--broke, and the bell
+tumbled down from the top of the tree, falling very near the old
+schoolmaster. This was worse than all.
+
+"What!" he exclaimed; "you throw the bell at me? Why, if it had hit me
+on the head, it might have killed me. Oh, you wicked boy! I'll expel
+you, sir. I'll find out who you are if I stop here till morning."
+
+At last, however, his patience was exhausted, and he went away, but
+left an old butler to watch the tree all night. The boys from the
+windows could see this man settle himself comfortably on a seat which
+was at the foot of the tree. He lighted his pipe, and prepared to
+carry out his master's orders and watch till daylight. By three
+o'clock in the morning the dawn broke; then the man began to look up
+occasionally into the tree. Now and then he walked a little distance
+away, first in one direction, and then in another, to look into parts
+of the tree that he could not see from underneath. He kept this up
+till the sun had risen and it was broad daylight; then at last he
+became convinced that it was impossible there could be a boy in the
+tree. He walked slowly into the house, still smoking his pipe, with a
+puzzled expression on his face.
+
+And I suspect he was not the only person who felt puzzled. The next
+day the boys were going home for the holidays, so that no further
+inquiry could be made. I wonder if Dr. Birchall ever found out how it
+had been managed?
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE ENGLISH MASTIFF.]
+
+FAITHFUL FRIENDS.
+
+
+The dog has sometimes been called the "friend of man." This is
+because, of all animals, it is the one whose attachment to mankind is
+purely personal. It is found in almost every part of the world,
+sharing every variation of climate and outward lot with the human
+race. There are only a few groups of islands in the Southern Pacific
+Ocean where this valuable creature is wanting. Without its aid, how
+could men have procured sustenance among tribes to whom the art of
+tilling the land was not known? or how could they have resisted the
+attacks of the beasts of prey that roamed in the forests around them?
+
+Anecdotes of dogs, when they are well attested, are always welcome;
+and I will therefore relate a few.
+
+There were some time ago two families, one living in London, the other
+at Guildford, seventeen miles distant. These families were very
+friendly with each other, and for several years it was the custom of
+the one residing in London to pass the Christmas with the one at
+Guildford. It was the visitors' uniform practice to arrive to dinner
+the day before Christmas day; and they were accompanied by a large
+spaniel, which was a great favorite with both families.
+
+These visits were thus regularly paid for seven years. At the end of
+that time an unfortunate misunderstanding between the friends caused
+the usual Christmas invitation from the country to be omitted. About
+an hour before dinner, on the day before Christmas day, the Guildford
+gentleman, who was standing at his window, exclaimed to his wife,--
+
+"Well, my dear, the ----s have thought better of it. I declare they
+are coming as usual, though we did not invite them; here comes Cæsar
+to announce them."
+
+Sure enough, the dog came trotting up to the door, and was admitted,
+as he had often been before, to the parlor. The lady of the house gave
+orders to prepare beds; dinner waited an hour; but no guests arrived.
+
+Cæsar, after staying the exact number of days to which he had been
+accustomed, one morning set off for home, and reached it in safety.
+The correspondence which this visit of the favorite spaniel
+occasioned, had the happy effect of renewing the intercourse of the
+estranged friends. As long as Cæsar lived, he paid the annual visit,
+in company with his master and mistress, to Guildford.
+
+"A Frenchman named Chabert, who, from his wonderful performances with
+fire, was known as the 'Fire King,' was the owner of a very beautiful
+Siberian dog, which, when yoked to a light carriage, used to draw him
+twenty miles a day. Chabert sold him for nearly two hundred pounds;
+for the creature was as docile as he was beautiful. Between the sale
+and the delivery, the dog happened to get his leg broken. Chabert, to
+whom the money was of great importance, was almost in despair,
+expecting that the lamed animal would be returned, and the price
+demanded back. He took the dog by night to a veterinary surgeon, and
+formally introduced them to each other.
+
+"'Doctor, my dog; my dog, your doctor.'
+
+"He next talked to the dog, pointed to his own leg, limped around the
+room, and then requested the surgeon to apply bandages to his leg;
+after which he walked about the room sound and well. Chabert then
+patted the dog on the head, who was looking by turns at him and the
+surgeon; desired the surgeon to pat him, and to offer him his hand to
+lick; and lastly, holding up his finger to the dog, and gently shaking
+his head, quitted the room and the house. The dog immediately laid
+himself down, submitted to have the fracture set, and to have a
+bandage put on the limb, without a motion beyond once or twice licking
+the operator's hand. He was afterwards submissive, and lay all but
+motionless day after day, until, at the end of a month, the limb was
+sound and whole once more. So perfect was the cure, that the purchaser
+never knew the dog had sustained any injury."
+
+I will finish my paper with a story of a dog that saved the life of a
+French soldier who was wounded in one of the terrible battles that
+have been lately fought in France:--
+
+"The man had been struck by a ball in the chest, near the village of
+Ham, and lay on the ground for six hours after the fighting was over.
+He had not lost consciousness; but the blood was flowing freely, and
+he was gradually getting weaker and weaker. There were none but the
+dead near him; and his only living companion was an English terrier,
+which ran restlessly about him, with his master's _kepi_, or military
+cap, in his mouth.
+
+"At last the dog set off at a trot; and the wounded soldier made sure
+that now his last friend had deserted him. The night grew dark, the
+cold was intense, and he had not even the strength to touch his
+wounds, which every instant grew more and more painful.
+
+[Illustration: {The terrier, carrying a kepi, tries to get help for
+    his master}]
+
+"At length his limbs grew cold, and, feeling a sickly faintness steal
+upon him, he gave up all hope of life, and recommended himself to
+the mercy of God. Suddenly he heard a bark, which he knew belonged to
+only one little dog in the world, then felt something lick his face,
+and saw the glare of lanterns. The dog had wandered for miles till he
+arrived at a road-side _cabaret_, or country wine-shop. The people had
+heard the cannonading all day, and seeing the _kepi_ in the dog's
+mouth, and noticing his restless movements, decided to follow him. He
+took them straight to the spot--too straight for a little cart they
+had brought with them to cross fields and hedges--but just in time.
+When the friendly help arrived, the man fainted; but he was saved.
+There were honest tears in the man's eyes when he was telling me,"
+says the narrator; "and I fully believed him. The dog, too, had been
+slightly touched in the leg by a ball in the same battle, and has
+since been lame. He got him, when a puppy, from an English sailor at
+Dunkirk, and called him 'Beel;' very probably the French for Bill."
+
+This little terrier showed something more than instinct--some share,
+at least, of common sense. At all events, he deserves to be
+immortalized; so here you have his portrait, with the cap in his
+mouth, begging the people whom he has found in the way-side inn to
+come to the help of his wounded master.
+
+                                                          X.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE ERL-KING.]
+
+[Illustration: {Flowers}]
+
+THE ERL KING.
+
+
+    Who rideth so late through the night-wind wild?
+    It is the father with his child;
+    He has the little one well in his arm,
+    He holds him safe, and he folds him warm.
+
+    "My son, why hidest thy face so shy?"
+    "Seest thou not, father, the Erl King nigh?
+    The Erlen King, with train and crown?"
+    "It is a wreath of mist, my son."
+
+    "Come, lovely boy, come go with me;
+    Such merry plays I will play with thee!
+    Many a bright flower grows on the strand,
+    And my mother has many a gay garment at hand."
+
+    "My father, my father, and dost thou not hear
+    What the Erl King whispers in my ear?"
+    "Be quiet, my darling, be quiet, my child;
+    Through withered leaves the wind howls wild."
+
+    "Come, lovely boy, wilt thou go with me?
+    My daughters fair shall wait on thee,
+    My daughters their nightly revels keep,
+    They'll sing, and they'll dance, and they'll rock thee to sleep."
+
+    "My father, my father, and seest thou not
+    The Erl King's daughters in yon dim spot?"
+    "My son, my son, I see, and I know
+    'Tis the old gray willow that shimmers so."
+
+    "I love thee; thy beauty has ravished my sense;
+    And willing or not, I will carry thee hence."
+    "O, father, the Erl King now puts forth his arm--
+    O, father, the Erl King has done me harm."
+
+    The father shudders, he hurries on;
+    And faster he holds his moaning son;
+    He reaches his home with fear and dread,
+    And lo! in his arms the child was dead.
+
+              _From the German of Goethe._
+
+
+
+
+THE SILLY YOUNG RABBIT.
+
+TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN.
+
+
+        There was a young rabbit
+        Who had a bad habit--
+    Sometimes he would do what his mother forbid.
+        And one frosty day,
+        His mother did say,
+    "My child you must stay in the burrow close hid;
+        For I hear the dread sounds
+        Of huntsmen and hounds,
+    Who are searching around for rabbits like you;
+        Should they see but your head,
+        They would soon shoot you dead,
+    And the dogs would be off with you quicker than boo!"
+
+        But, poor foolish being!
+        When no one was seeing,
+    Looking out from his burrow to take a short play,
+        He hopped o'er the ground
+        With many a bound,
+    And looked around proudly, as if he would say,
+        Do I fear a man?
+        Now catch me who can!
+    So this young rabbit ran to a fine apple tree,
+        Where, gnawing the bark,
+        He thought not to hark
+    The coming of hunters, so careless was he.
+        Now, as rabbits are good
+        When roasted or stewed,
+    A man came along hunting rabbits for dinner;
+        He saw little bun,
+        Then raised his big gun,
+    And there he lay dead, the foolish young sinner.
+
+[Illustration: THE SILLY RABBIT.]
+
+
+
+
+NINO.
+
+
+The rain was just beginning to fall in a thin, chilling drizzle, and
+the cold air nipped sharply any unwary toe that showed itself, as Nino
+played a little air full of thoughts of birds and flowers. His thin
+jacket was no protection, and his dark eyes looked as if a shower
+might drop from them; but the clouds had been over his life too long,
+and there were no tears left to fall. He was not so old that this must
+be the case; but he stood alone in the wide street, and no one spoke
+to or noticed him. One friend he had--his guitar; and now he put that
+under his jacket, lest the rain should hurt it.
+
+"_Ah, carissima!_" he murmured, as he hugged it under his arm; "you
+are never hungry or tired, and you shall not be wet. One of us shall
+be happy."
+
+The guitar gave a little whisper as his jacket rubbed against it, and
+Nino smiled and nodded in answer. Now the rain was falling rapidly,
+and he stepped under an awning, to wait until it held up. There was a
+lady standing there, her skirts held high, and her cloak drawn
+closely, and Nino stood one side; for why should he be near any one?
+He well knew no one wanted him. He watched the water run by in the
+gutter, and looked into the barrel of apples at his side--large, rosy
+apples, that would be so good; and he glanced up to see if any one saw
+him. Why not take one? He could hide it, and eat it afterwards. The
+grocer had so many; he had none, and it was days since he had eaten
+anything but dry bread. He knew it was not right to take what belonged
+to another; but he heard so little of right, and hunger and want
+pressed him every day.
+
+As he stood thinking, not quite resolved to take one, there was a
+patter of little feet, a merry laugh, and a bright vision stood by
+his side.
+
+Was she a fairy? She looked as he always felt his guitar would look if
+it could take a human form--slender, active, fair. A shower of golden
+hair, not pale, but bright, like the summer sun; eyes as deep and blue
+as the distant sky; a face of which one would dream. Nino held his
+breath, and as the blue velvet coat brushed his ragged arm, drew a
+sigh, and stepped back.
+
+"Did I frighten you, little boy?" asked the child. "It was raining so
+hard, and nursey had to run."
+
+"Come, stand in here, where it does not drip," cried the nurse,
+drawing her away.
+
+Nino peeped under his coat, to be sure his guitar had not been
+transformed, and then stepped aside under the eaves. It seemed as if
+he ought to be wet when such a lovely being was obliged to endure the
+discomfort of standing there. As she chattered, he drew near again,
+and wondered whether angels did not look like that. She was certainly
+more beautiful than those in churches. He had forgotten that he was
+cold, and was feeling very happy, when the intentness of his gaze
+attracted the child's attention. She was whispering to her nurse, when
+a harsh voice cried out,--
+
+"Boy, go away from there! I can't watch those apples all the time."
+
+Nino had thoughtlessly laid his hand on the barrel, and when the
+grocer spoke, moved hastily away.
+
+"Here, little boy," cried the silvery tones of the child; "don't go; I
+want to give you an apple." Then she said to the grocer, "A big one,
+please."
+
+"Yes, miss; I did not notice you were there; but those boys are so
+bad!"
+
+Nino's face flushed, and his eyes glittered; but when the child
+handed him the apple, he smiled, touched his hat, and said,--
+
+"Thankee, little lady."
+
+As he walked away, he did not notice the falling drops, but laid his
+cheek against the apple, and smoothed its plump rosiness before he
+tasted its rich juiciness.
+
+Nino had no associates among the rough boys in the streets; he had a
+pride that kept him above their coarse ways. As he played and sang the
+songs he learned in Italy, dim memories of a better life came to him,
+and his music seemed a holy spirit. He would have died but for that,
+his life was so cold, hard, and bare.
+
+He had been brought over by a sea captain, who dealt in boys; and as
+he was very ill on the voyage, the captain let an old woman take him
+for a small sum. She thought his thin, sad face would move the
+passers, and in pity they would give him money. For this reason she
+sent him out day after day, in storm or shine, ill clad and weary,
+giving him but little food. But nature helped him. In spite of this
+treatment, he became stronger, and after a time ran away from her.
+Then he joined himself to a party of boy musicians, and by their help
+got his guitar. But they were unkind to him; for he was yet weak and
+timid, and the leader, a large boy, sometimes beat him if he refused
+to play. One night Nino ran away from them, his precious guitar under
+his arm; and since then he had played and sung through the streets,
+sometimes begging, sometimes in despair, with thoughts of stealing.
+
+His chief delight and comfort was to lie in the sun on a fair day. He
+was always hungry, almost always cold, and when the wind did not blow,
+and the sun was hot, he liked to bask on a step, and dream of good
+dinners, pretty clothes, and a soft bed. The sun was the only thing he
+could find in the cold northern climate which was like his old home.
+In this way he would be nearly happy; but when storms came, he was
+chilled within and without. The world then was gray; he could not even
+play on his guitar, which in sunny days brought him pleasant pictures
+of green fields, dancing water, and leafy vines, loaded with purple
+grapes.
+
+His guitar was his only companion, and he treated it as if it was
+alive; he talked to it, cared for and loved it with a tenderness which
+was of no value to the instrument, but was of service to the
+friendless boy, in giving him an unselfish motive.
+
+The autumn was fast advancing when he met the golden-haired child; and
+as the days became colder, he cherished the thought of her, and it
+made him warm when the sky was cloudy, as if she was a ray of
+sunlight. He had generally slept on steps or any spot where the police
+would leave him unmolested; but now the nights were so chill, that he
+tried hard with a few cents to pay for a lodging.
+
+With this purpose in his mind, he stopped before a house in a private
+street one evening just after dark. The gas was already lighted; but
+the curtains were not drawn, and Nino could see the table bountifully
+spread, and a servant moving about, adding various articles to it. A
+dancing figure passed and repassed the window, now peeping out, and
+again running back. Nino's voice trembled as he saw this light and
+warmth; and as he sang of "love and knightly deeds," he thought of
+himself out in the cold, with nothing to love but his guitar, and he
+felt very sad.
+
+In a moment the door opened, and out sprang the child he had thought
+of so long. The light seemed to follow her, and she cried,--
+
+"Here are some pennies." Nino removed his ragged hat, and held it out,
+and she said, "O, you're the same little boy! Wait a minute, and I'll
+get you a cake."
+
+[Illustration: NINO.]
+
+Nino stood with his hat off until she returned and gave him a cake.
+
+"You play such pretty tunes! and I know you now; for I've seen you
+twice," she said, folding her hands, and looking at him.
+
+Nino murmured,--
+
+"Thankee, pretty lady," and looked at her as if she was a being from
+another world.
+
+"What is your name?" she asked.
+
+"Nino."
+
+"Come, darling; don't stand out there," called her mother from the
+house.
+
+"My name's Viola. Good by," she cried, as she ran in.
+
+Nino sang one more song, and then kissing his hand to the little form
+at the window, went on his way happy. The money brought him a night's
+lodging and permission to leave his guitar. In the morning--for the
+following day was Sunday, and if he carried it with him, the police
+might arrest him for trying to play--he made a light breakfast on a
+roll, and went to the street where Viola lived, to see if he could
+meet her. As the bells were ringing, she came down the steps with her
+parents, and Nino followed at a respectful distance, until they went
+into church. Nino attempted to go in also; but the sombre sexton at
+the door frightened him with a severe look, and he wandered on. After
+a time he came to a mission church, where, by a sign, all were invited
+to enter. Taking a back seat, and trying to understand the preacher,
+he fell asleep. When he awoke, the preacher was gone; but the room was
+full of ragged children, and for the first time Nino found himself in
+a Sunday school.
+
+The teacher nearest to him was a sweet-faced lady, who spoke gently to
+the boys of being kind to others, and patient with those who had not
+the chance to learn that they had; she told them stories, to show them
+how kindness would return to them, and how happy it made them to have
+others gentle with them. Nino listened, and thought of Viola; and when
+all sang some hymns while a lady played the piano, a new life stirred
+in him.
+
+When the services were over, the teacher gave him a paper, and asked
+him to come again. He sat on the steps after all were gone, looking at
+the pictures, and when he returned to his lodging went around by
+Viola's house, and was rewarded by seeing her sitting in the window
+with a book. When he reached the wretched place where he had spent the
+night, and looked for his guitar, he could not find it. Asking the
+woman about it, she said she was cleaning up, and it was somewhere on
+the floor. Nino's heart began to swell, and when he found it in one
+corner, snapped and broken, his grief and anger burst forth in a
+volley of Italian. He hugged it, and sobbed over it, called the woman
+a beast, and pointed to the ruin of his favorite in angry despair.
+
+In the midst of this tumult of feeling the paper he had received
+dropped out of his bosom, and striking his feet, recalled the
+teacher's words and Viola sitting quietly by the window. Nino stopped,
+and for a moment was silent, then saying, "You didn't mean to," picked
+up the paper, folded his jacket over the guitar, and left the house.
+His anger had vanished; but his grief remained. He spent the evening
+in tears and wretchedness, alternately gazing at his guitar, stroking
+it, and then giving way to passionate crying. At last he slept, curled
+up in one corner, and in the morning awoke with a cough which hurt his
+side.
+
+Now he had only his singing to depend on; he had not been taught any
+useful employment, and did not know how to work. He wandered about in
+the most disconsolate manner, his cough getting worse, and his grief
+for his guitar, which he always carried with him, still tormenting
+him. Sometimes, when people saw the poor boy crouching in a corner,
+hugging a broken guitar, and crying bitterly, they would give him a
+few cents. He would not beg; something held him back, and the thought
+of Viola would not let him steal.
+
+On the Saturday after he had been to Sunday school, as he was sitting
+on a step, sadly thinking, he saw Viola and her nurse crossing the
+street towards him. At that moment a carriage with wildly running
+horses turned the corner. Men on the sidewalk shouted and waved their
+arms. Viola, confused by their cries, turned back, and the horses,
+startled, dashed in the same direction. Nino threw aside his guitar,
+and sprang forward, drew Viola out of danger, but fell himself, and
+the carriage passed over his foot, crushing it, while in falling he
+hit his head against the pavement, and lay insensible. Some of the men
+ran after the horses, some helped the nurse carry Viola home,--for she
+was crying and trembling with fright,--and a policeman took Nino away.
+
+When Viola was restored, she began to ask for Nino.
+
+"It was Nino, mamma, and I want to see him," was her constant cry.
+
+Her father and mother were also anxious to reward the brave boy who
+had saved their only child, and made many inquiries to find him. The
+policeman had taken him to the station-house, and there no one
+remembered anything about him.
+
+"There are so many of those children brought in, madam, you have no
+idea. We don't pretend to keep track of them all," was the only
+information they could get.
+
+At last they were obliged to give up their search; but Viola was much
+dissatisfied.
+
+About a week after the accident Viola's mother was invited by a lady
+friend to visit one of the city hospitals. She took Viola with her,
+and as they walked by the white beds, the child held her mother's hand
+tightly, and felt quite subdued at the pale, sick faces about her. But
+suddenly she bounded away, and climbing on a little bed, cried,--
+
+"O, I've found him! here he is--my dear Nino."
+
+Nino--for it was he--shrank back into his pillows, and covering his
+face with his hands, cried aloud. From the station-house he had been
+taken to the hospital, where his foot had to be amputated, and he had
+lain for several days, with a bandaged head, in great pain. His guitar
+was lost, and he had been so lonely, though the nurses were kind, that
+at the sight of Viola his fortitude gave way.
+
+"Don't cry, and don't be frightened," said Viola, kissing him, and
+taking her handkerchief to wipe his tears. "I love you, dear Nino, and
+now I've found you."
+
+"Is this your Nino, Viola?" asked her mother, while the nurses and
+other patients looked on with surprise.
+
+"Yes, mamma; is he not pretty?" and she tried to remove his hands.
+
+When he was a little more composed, Viola's mother thanked and praised
+him for saving her daughter's life, and persuaded him to tell her what
+he knew about himself. And the nurses told how patient he had been,
+and she gave him some fruit, and promised to come again. When Viola
+bade him good by, she put her arms about his neck and kissed him, and
+they left him quite happy.
+
+A few days after they came again, and Viola cried when she saw him.
+
+"You are going to come and live with us, and be my brother."
+
+"If you would like to," said her mother; and Nino's eyes sparkled with
+joy at the thought.
+
+Then he was carefully laid in the carriage, and taken to his beautiful
+new home. More than he had ever dreamed, or fancied, came to
+him--books, pictures, toys, kind care, love, and a fine new guitar,
+with the promise of learning to play it better. An artificial foot was
+to help him walk, and the wonders and delights of his home ever
+multiplied.
+
+Best of all was his sister Viola. He almost worshipped her; and it was
+a long time before he could bring himself to treat her with any
+familiarity. When she caressed him, which was often,--for she loved
+him dearly, and he was a lovable boy,--he always kissed her hands. One
+day she shook her head at this, and said,--
+
+"Nino, that is not the way; kiss me good;" and she turned her face,
+with its rosy mouth, towards him.
+
+With reverence, as if he was saluting a queen, Nino leaned towards
+her, and then with a sudden impulse, caught her in his arms, and
+kissed her heartily. That was the seal of their affection, and from
+that time Nino assumed all a brother's pride, care, and tenderness.
+After he had recovered, they were constantly together, and their
+mother was never so content as when Nino had the charge of Viola. He
+never spared himself to serve her, and she was ever an impulse to
+goodness and truth, shining before him like a star, as she had from
+the first time he saw her. And she clung to him with the same love she
+had first felt, proud of her brother, who developed a noble character;
+and they all learned to thank the accident which had brought them so
+happily together.
+
+                                                SARA CONANT.
+
+
+
+
+COMMON THINGS.
+
+
+    The sunshine is a glorious thing,
+      That comes alike to all,
+    Lighting the peasant's lowly cot,
+      The noble's painted hall.
+
+    The moonlight is a gentle thing;
+      It through the window gleams
+    Upon the snowy pillow where
+      The happy infant dreams;
+
+    It shines upon the fisher's boat
+      Out on the lovely sea,
+    Or where the little lambkins lie
+      Beneath the old oak tree.
+
+    The dewdrops on the summer morn
+      Sparkle upon the grass;
+    The village children brush them off,
+      That through the meadows pass.
+
+    There are no gems in monarchs' crowns
+      More beautiful than they;
+    And yet we scarcely notice them,
+      But tread them off in play.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: SALLY SUNBEAM.]
+
+SALLY SUNBEAM.
+
+
+This is not her real name. Her real name is Sally Brown. Why, then,
+have I called her Sally Sunbeam? Why, because everybody else calls her
+so.
+
+The reason is this: she is such a pleasant, happy, kind,
+sweet-tempered child that wherever she comes she comes like a sunbeam,
+gladdening and brightening all around her. It was her uncle Tom who
+first gave her her new name. He was spending a few days with the
+family for the first time for some years, for he lived a long way off
+and had not seen Sally since she was a baby. Sally became very fond of
+him at once, and so did he of Sally. As soon as he came down of a
+morning, there was Sally with her merry, laughing eyes to greet him.
+Whatever he wanted done, there was Sally with her ready willingness to
+do it for him. Wherever he went, there was Sally with her merry chat
+and her pleased and happy face to keep him company.
+
+And when the evening came, and Sally, with an affectionate kiss, had
+bidden him good-night and gone away to bed, he felt as though a cloud
+had cast its shadow over the house. So one morning, when Uncle Tom was
+going out for a walk and wanted Sally to go with him, he said, "Where
+is my little sunbeam? Sally Sunbeam, where are you? Oh, here you are!"
+laughing as she came skipping in from the garden.
+
+"But my name is not Sally Sunbeam, uncle," she said. "My name is Sally
+Brown."
+
+Her mamma smiled. "It is only your uncle's fun," she said.
+
+"Well, it is only my fun," said Uncle Tom. "But it's a very proper
+name for her, for all that. She is more like a sunbeam than anything
+else. So come along, Sally Sunbeam. Let us go and have a nice walk."
+
+And from that time Uncle Tom never called her by any other name. And
+other people came to call her by it too, and everybody felt that it
+was as true and fitting a name for her as ever a child could have.
+
+Here she is in our picture, hanging up her doll's clothes, that she
+has just washed. How bright and happy she looks! Uncle Tom may well
+call her Sally Sunbeam. But it is not only her cheerfulness and
+playfulness that makes her worthy of her name. This, of itself, would
+not be sufficient to make her loved as she is loved. Oh no! It is the
+kindness of her heart, the gentleness of her disposition, the delight
+she takes in trying to make everybody happy. This is what makes
+everybody love her.
+
+Only the other day a group of several children passed the garden gate
+on their way from school. There was one poor little thing amongst them
+whose dress was so shabby and whose shoes were so bad as to make it
+evident that her parents must be very, very poor.
+
+Sad to say, her schoolfellows were jeering her and teasing her about
+her appearance. One of these especially was taunting her very cruelly,
+and the poor child was crying. Sally ran out to her, and putting her
+arm lovingly round her said,
+
+"What is the matter, dear? What do you cry for?"
+
+"Because they keep on laughing at me so," sobbed the child.
+
+"Well, who can help laughing at her?" cried the girl who had been
+teasing her the most. "Look at her shoes! Do you call those shoes?"
+
+And at this the children all burst out laughing afresh.
+
+"You ought to be ashamed of yourselves," said Sally, "to laugh at the
+poor child and make her cry. It is very cruel of you. Suppose _you_
+could not get good shoes, how would _you_ like to be laughed at?"
+
+And there was something so serious and pitying in her tone that the
+children _were_ ashamed of themselves, and went off without saying
+another word.
+
+"Never mind what they say," said Sally to the child. "Come into my
+garden till they have gone right away. There! sit down on that seat
+for a minute," she said, leading her to one. "I will be back again
+directly."
+
+And she ran to her mamma, and in a great hurry told her all about it,
+and when the story was finished said, "I've got a boxful of money,
+mamma, that I have saved to buy toys with. May I buy the little girl a
+pair of new boots with it?"
+
+"I must go and speak to her first," said her mamma.
+
+So Sally's mamma came to the child and asked her a few questions, and
+found that the little thing had no father, and that her mother was
+ill, and that she had several brothers and sisters, and the good lady
+judged from all this how poor they must be.
+
+Having satisfied herself that the child's mother was not likely to be
+offended by the gift of a pair of boots to her little one, she said,
+"My little daughter here would like to buy you a new pair of boots.
+Would you like to have a pair?"
+
+"Buy _me_ a new pair of boots!" said the child, with a look of
+astonishment. "Oh, but they'll cost a lot of money. Mother has been
+going to buy me some for ever so long, only she hasn't been able to
+get money enough."
+
+"But I've got ever so much money that I was going to buy toys with,"
+said Sally, "only I would rather buy you a pair of boots if you would
+let me. And then those naughty girls won't be able to tease you about
+your shoes any more, you know. So come along, and we'll buy them at
+once. May we, mamma?"
+
+"Yes, if you like." And away they all went together to the
+bootmaker's, and the money that Sally had thought to buy herself all
+sorts of toys with was expended upon a nice warm pair of boots for the
+stranger-child.
+
+Don't you think that Sally must have seemed like a sunbeam to that
+poor little one?
+
+But this is only one of the instances of her kindness and sympathy and
+goodness of heart. She has learned of Him who all his life "went about
+doing good," and every day tries to follow his blessed example. She
+has her faults, of course, like the rest of us, and these she has to
+fight against. But it is her virtues, not her faults, that she is
+known by--her brightness, her good temper, her sweetness of
+disposition, her kindness, her unselfishness; and this is how it is
+that everybody agrees to call her Sally Sunbeam instead of Sally
+Brown.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A monkey is in the window behind Aunt Thankful}]
+
+AUNT THANKFUL.
+
+
+She was our school teacher, a little bit of a woman, hardly larger
+than a good-sized doll. She had moved into our village years before I
+was born; for so I heard the folks say, I don't know how many times.
+Nobody seemed to know where she came from. She had no relatives--at
+least, none called to see her or to visit her. Once or twice, as I
+grew older, I heard dark hints whispered about Aunt Thankful, about
+her having left her early home to get away from unpleasant memories,
+but no whisper against her character. She was a good woman, a
+Christian woman--only the people called her _odd_.
+
+But everybody loved her. In sickness or health, in trouble or joy, in
+prosperity or adversity, everybody was sure they could depend upon
+assistance and sympathy, if needed, from Aunt Thankful. She was always
+ready to extend her helping hand, always ready to do a generous act.
+She was ever true to herself as well as to her neighbors. Perhaps that
+was the reason why the world called her _odd_. If so, how earnestly I
+wish there were a great many more odd folks!
+
+Aunt Thankful lived many years in the village before she began to keep
+school. I remember how funny she used to look as she came down the
+street towards the school-house. She was so small that I should not
+have been astonished to see her driving a hoop to school.
+
+Then she wore her spectacles in such a funny way! What use they were
+to her, I never could discover. If she looked at the scholars in the
+school-house, she looked _over_ the glasses; if she was reading or
+writing, she looked _under_ them. I have often heard boys, who were
+considered truthful, declare that on no occasion was she ever known to
+look _through_ them.
+
+But what made Aunt Thankful so popular with the children was her kind
+manner and her kinder words. Somehow or other she used to like the
+poor and the friendless children the best. That was quite a puzzle to
+me at first. We usually pay most attention to such as are well off,
+and prosperous, and dressed nicely. But not so was it with Aunt
+Thankful. She took sides always with the weak and the down-trodden. I
+have seen her mend many an apron, many a torn dress worn by a poor
+scholar, during school hours. She did it, too, in such a kind way,
+that it made one forget that they were poor. That was because she was
+ODD, you know.
+
+As I grew up, I began to understand more of this good lady's character
+than I ever dreamed when I went to school. I saw things in a different
+light, as it were. And for her many good acts, from the fact that she
+was about my first school teacher, I do not think I shall ever forget
+her.
+
+There is another reason why I shall never forget Aunt Thankful.
+Perhaps I had better tell you about it. She kept our village school
+one summer; I think it must have been the second or third year I went
+to school. Anyhow, I was in one of the lower classes.
+
+The school-house was a little box of a thing, hardly bigger than a
+decent-sized shed. There was only one room in the building. The
+teacher sat upon a small platform on one side, while the seats for the
+scholars were raised, one above the other, on the opposite side. Over
+the teacher's desk was a little square window, looking out upon the
+horse shed in the rear.
+
+It was a hot summer forenoon, and the windows were all open; the
+morning lessons had been completed. Aunt Thankful sat writing at her
+desk, now and then casting her eyes round the school-room, to see
+that everything was in order. But there was mischief brewing. The
+children were waiting impatiently for noon recess, and more than one
+of them were having a quiet whisper or giggle all by themselves.
+
+All at once some of the children saw the mischievous face of a monkey
+peeping in at the little back window behind the teacher's desk. Of
+course those who saw such an unusual sight laughed outright, greatly
+to the astonishment of Aunt Thankful.
+
+Rap! rap! rap! went her ruler upon the desk, as a signal for quiet. At
+the noise the monkey dodged out of sight in a moment, and soon the
+children were restored to order. Aunt Thankful went on writing.
+
+To explain so unusual a sight, I ought to say that a strolling organ
+man, with a monkey, had been in the village that day. He had stopped
+in the shed behind the school-house to eat his dinner. Accidentally,
+he had fallen asleep; and his monkey, being of an inquisitive turn,
+had got loose, and was exploring on his own account. He carried a part
+of his chain upon his neck all the while, and somehow or other he had
+climbed up to the little square window, as related.
+
+Aunt Thankful went on writing. But soon the monkey appeared again over
+her head, turning his funny little face to one side and the other,
+showing his teeth, grinning, and going through other performances.
+This time the laughing was louder than before, because more children
+saw the show. I must record here that a funnier sight I never have
+witnessed.
+
+The teacher looked up once more, and rapped on her desk quite
+indignantly. "James Collins," she said, with severe authority, "come
+here, this moment. If you cannot sit in your seat without laughing,
+come and stand by me. You, too, Walter, and Solomon. And you, Martha
+Hapgood. I am astonished at your conduct."
+
+The recusant children ranged themselves before the teacher, who seemed
+to think she had now quenched the rebellion. I noticed that they
+managed to stand so they could have a good view of the window, as if
+they expected, or even hoped for, another occasion for laughing.
+
+And they didn't wait long, either. In a minute or two the monkey
+appeared for the third time; and on this occasion he came wholly into
+sight, chain and all, and began to dance up and down in his peculiar
+way, bowing and nodding to the spectators. By this time all the
+children had found out--by the usual school telegraph, I suppose--what
+was going on, and joined in a loud and universal laugh.
+
+"Sakes alive!" exclaimed Aunt Thankful, jumping up and seizing her
+ruler; "what's got into the children?" Whether the monkey thought the
+flourish which the teacher's ruler took was a signal for a fight or
+not, I never knew; but certain it is he began to scream and shake his
+chain. The children laughed louder than ever. Aunt Thankful turned
+round, saw what the trouble was, and raised her hands. The monkey
+construed this as an act of war, and with a single jump landed on the
+desk. Here for a few moments he made the papers fly pretty nimbly. He
+upset the inkstand, scattered the sandbox and pens, screaming all the
+while like mad. After he had experimented long enough, he gave
+another jump out of the window; and that was the last we saw of him.
+
+Aunt Thankful looked as white as a sheet. She was taken by surprise,
+and seemed really frightened.
+
+"Marcy on us," she said, as soon as she could find words, "what a
+dreadful creature! You may go to your seats, children; I guess you can
+be excused for laughing."
+
+The poor lady proceeded to pick up her papers, and set matters to
+rights. It was quite a task. The ink had run over all her papers and
+into her desk. For years after, that ink spot was pointed out by the
+children to the new comers, and the story of the monkey had to be
+related.
+
+Before noon the organ grinder had wakened from his after-dinner sleep,
+and finding out that his monkey had been into mischief, concluded that
+it was best to be off. He was not seen in the village any more.
+
+Aunt Thankful kept school afterwards for several years, and then age
+compelled her to give up her office. About that time, and just when
+she wanted it most, one of the inhabitants of our village left her
+three thousand dollars in his will, as a "mark of his esteem." Surely
+never was charity more properly bestowed, or more gratefully received.
+I don't think there was a person in the world who envied her the gift,
+or thought it undeserved.
+
+                                                       M. H.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The children at the bottom of the basement steps}]
+
+HOW A GOOD DINNER WAS LOST.
+
+
+Ting a ling ling! a ling ling! ling ling! ling! So went the dinner
+bells--first mamma's, then Mrs. Green's, Mrs. Brown's, Mrs. White's,
+and all the other neighbors' with colored names. It was everybody's
+dinner hour; and by the way, is it not funny how everybody gets hungry
+together?
+
+Dinner was to be eaten at the healthy, good old-fashioned hour of
+noon, between the two sessions of school. The children were just fresh
+from slates, with long, crooked rows of hard figures, and heavy
+atlases, with unpronounceable towns and rivers that would not be found
+out. There were chickens and dough-balls for dinner. The smell of them
+made the children ravenous; and they very nearly tripped up Maria and
+her platter in their haste to reach the table.
+
+Mamma looked around to see if they were all there, and counted on her
+fingers,--
+
+"Baby, Jelly, Tiny--Tiny, where's Bunch?"
+
+"Why, I thought she was in the kitchen," said Tiny, looking wistfully
+at the tempting drumsticks. "Papa, won't you please help us little
+folks first--just to-day? 'cause we're so awful hungry."
+
+[Illustration: {A bunch of poppy heads}]
+
+"Tiny, I do believe that Bunch has gone down to the Midgetts'. You
+must go and find her before you eat your dinner; and hurry, now."
+
+"O, dear! can't she hear the dinner bell just as well as I can?" and
+off flew Tiny, with the streamers of her jockey standing straight out
+behind her, and her new buttoned shoes spattering water from every
+mud-puddle in her way.
+
+We were not invited; so we can't stay to dinner; but perhaps we will
+have time to learn something about the little ones while Tiny is
+hunting her tardy sister Bunch.
+
+Her name was not really Bunch; that is, she was not christened so. At
+school she answered "Present" at roll-call to the prettier name of
+Florence; but uncle Tim--he's such a jolly fellow!--said, when he
+first held her in her delicately-embroidered blankets, that she was
+such a bouncer, so red and so dumpy, that she would never be anything
+but a bunch; and so dubbed, she carries the name to this day. But did
+not she disappoint him, though! for, in some unaccountable way, she
+daily stretched long, and flattened out, and became thin and bony. Her
+collar-bone grew to be a perfect shelf, and her stockings got a very
+awkward fashion of wrinkling about her ankles.
+
+Soon after, when Tiny's little red face began to screw and squint at
+uncle Tim, she was such a mite that he was sure to be right this time
+if he nicknamed her Tiny; and she was so little, that an ordinary
+pillow made her a bed of a comfortable size; and all the old cronies
+in the village whispered that the new baby would either die off pretty
+quick, or live to be a second Mrs. Tom Thumb. But Tiny lived, and
+spited them, and waxed fat and bunchy, while Bunch astonished them all
+by waning lean and tiny.
+
+Jelly's name came no one knew how. Some mischievous sprite probably
+whispered it to her; for she persisted that it was her name; and so
+she was indulged in it.
+
+Near their home was a vacant lot--vacant, excepting for a one-story
+shanty, with a cellar, piles of broken crockery, old shoes, dislocated
+hoop skirts, and bushes of rank stramoniums, with their big, poisonous
+blossoms. Cows strayed in the lot, munching the ugly snarls of grass,
+and the neighbors' pigs and fowls made a daily promenade through the
+wilderness of refuse.
+
+Although it seemed a very unattractive place for a neat little girl to
+visit, now especially, since a pipe of the great sewer had overflowed,
+and had deluged parts of the ground. But to that miserable shanty
+mamma believed her little Bunch to have strayed; and there Tiny found
+her, seated on a log of wood in the corner of the largest room, with
+her apron thrown over her face and the Midgett girls--there were two
+of them--first staring at her, and then winking at each other.
+
+"Bunch," said Tiny, "Bunch, mamma says to hurry right straight home;
+and guess what there is for dinner. Chicken pot-pie, and it's my turn
+to have the wish-bone! Why, Bunch, what's the matter with you? What a
+baby! You're always forever a-crying about something or other. Come on
+now. I'm going right home; and you'll get an awful punishing for
+coming here!"
+
+The eyes of the Midgett girls glared at her and the insult.
+
+"O, dear! O, dear!" sobbed Bunch, just peeping from one corner of her
+apron at the outer door.
+
+"O, dear, what?" snapped Tiny, in such a hurry for a drumstick.
+
+"Tiny, did you see anything on the front stoop when you came in?"
+asked Bunch, her eye still peeping at the outer door.
+
+"Any what?"
+
+"O, any--any cats--any wildcats?"
+
+"Wildcats--what are they?"
+
+"O!" said the Midgetts, shouting together; "wildcats! dreffle ones!
+my! yes! green eyes! awful cats, that spit fire out o' their mouths,
+and claws that'll scratch yer to death;" imitating the clawing with
+their long dirty fingers quite in the face of poor Bunch, who
+immediately retired to the seclusion of her apron, and continued her
+frightened sobs.
+
+"O, where? where?" asked Tiny, excitedly, opening wide her big blue
+eyes, and glancing uneasily in every corner.
+
+"Why, jist out o' there, hid under the stoop; an' when yer go out,
+they'll pounce onto yer."
+
+"O," said Tiny, bravely, "'tain't so! I don't believe it. There wasn't
+any there when I came in."
+
+"That's because they was asleep, then," said Ann Matilda. She had red,
+fiery red hair, was freckled, and had tusks for teeth. "They've just
+got woke up now; and they're hungry, too."
+
+"So am I," said Tiny. "Come, Bunch, let's hurry past, and they can't
+touch us; besides, you know no wild animals live about here nowadays."
+
+"O, but these ones are what comes up out of the sewer," instructed
+the Midgetts.
+
+Tiny's courage began quickly to ooze away, and every bit of it
+deserted her when she and Bunch just put their noses outside of the
+door, and heard a most ferocious ya-o-o-ing from--well, they could not
+tell where.
+
+Of the Midgett tribe, there was no one at home but the two girls.
+There was no Mr. Midgett, but there was a Mrs. Midgett, who was out
+washing. The children had seen her plunging her hard, red arms into
+the soap suds, over their mother's wash-tub. She probably had a hard
+time managing a living. They were very poor. Sometimes the girls got
+employment as nurse girls or as extra help in the neighbors' kitchens;
+but no one cared particularly to employ them, they were so vulgar,
+indolent, and slovenly. So they subsisted on the odd bits of broken
+victuals which they begged from door to door in baskets. Some people
+said they always gathered so much, that they must keep a
+boarding-house to get rid of the stuff; but I always regarded this as
+a fine bit of sarcasm. The Midgett mansion was a forbidden haunt of
+the children; but on this day Bunch had gone, for the last time, on
+special business of her own.
+
+On Christmas last, Santa Claus had visited their home, and left for
+each a pretty doll of the regulation pattern, with blue eyes, and
+golden crimpy hair, dressed in billowy tarleton, and the height of
+fashion, the beauty of which dolls quite bewildered the unaccustomed
+eyes of the Midgetts when the children took their young ladyships for
+an airing. And so one day the Midgetts borrowed them for a minute,
+while the children neglected their responsibilities, leaving them on a
+door stone, while they crowded for a closer peep at the mysterious
+dancers in a hand-organ. From that day to this the whereabouts of the
+dollships has remained a solemn secret from the knowledge of all but
+the Midgetts. And it was to them Bunch had gone for a clew to her
+treasure.
+
+"O," said Keziah Jane, "while we was a-standin' a-waitin' for yous two
+to git away from the music, and give us a chance to peek in at the
+dancin', the black feller what lives down the sewer come, and snatches
+'em away; and we chases him like fury, and he run; and we never seed
+those ere dolls agin--nor him nor the dolls."
+
+"Sh! sh!" cautioned Ann Matilda. "Who's that a-knockin' at the door?
+Run quick in the bed-room, and hide under the bed. Maybe it's that ere
+black feller, or those wildcats."
+
+Scramble under the dirty bed went the two little girls while the door
+was opened. Only Jelly; no black man, nor wildcats, either. Jelly, and
+unharmed; Jelly sent from mamma to escort her naughty sisters home,
+but who was readily frightened into remaining with them; and so there
+were three little entertainers for the Midgett ogresses that
+afternoon.
+
+In the course of a half hour came another rapping at the door. What a
+reception the Midgetts were having! Keziah Jane pushed the children
+under the bed, while Ann Matilda opened the door. This time it was the
+grown-up sister Rosa.
+
+O, how the children's hearts throbbed when they heard Rosa's pleasant
+voice! but they dared to speak never a word; for Keziah Jane crawled
+down on the floor close beside the bed, and looked hard at them with
+her wicked black eyes, and said,--
+
+"Wildcats!"
+
+"Are my little sisters here?" asked Rosa.
+
+O, how they wished she was just near enough so they might pull her
+dress!
+
+"O, no, mem!" said red-headed Ann Matilda, with the door opened on a
+most inhospitable crack. "O, no, indeed! they haven't been here in a
+month. I seed 'em a-goin' to school with their books jest as the town
+clock struck'd two."
+
+"How strange!" thought Rosa. "They wouldn't have gone back to school
+without their dinners."
+
+And when she reached home, she told uncle Tim that she half believed
+they were there, though what could entice them to the horrible hut she
+could not imagine.
+
+"O my! how cramped up my neck is!" said Bunch.
+
+"O, O, how hungry I am!" cried Tiny, remembering the drumsticks.
+
+"I don't like it here, and I want to go home," sobbed Jelly.
+
+"Well, get up, then, and le's hev dinner," said the Midgetts.
+
+Dinner! There were old baked potatoes, and a mess of turnips, and a
+bite of fried beefsteak, all mixed in a heap in a rusty tin pan on the
+table; and Tiny whispered to Bunch that there was "a piece of the very
+codfish balls which were on mamma's breakfast table." Her appetite had
+deserted her, Bunch had cried hers away, and Jelly had left hers at
+her own bountiful table. But the Midgetts ate, and enjoyed.
+
+"Now," said they, "if you'll be real good, and mind, we'll give you a
+gay old treat. Want to go a-swimmin'? We dunno as we mind a-givin' yer
+a little pleasure, pervidin' yer'll mind, and not go near the closet
+where the black snake lives."
+
+"O," shouted the children, "we don't want to go near any snakes!"
+
+"Besides, we can't swim," said Tiny.
+
+"Well, we'll show yer how," said Keziah Jane; "besides, yer all look
+jest's if a good bath wouldn't hurt yer--don't they, Ann Matilda?"
+
+Ann Matilda laughed, and said yes, looked down at her own bare feet,
+and bade the children to "be a-takin' off their shoes and stockin's."
+
+"Now, then, foller me," said Keziah Jane, opening the door which led
+to the cellar stairs.
+
+The children looked down into the black hole, and shrank back with
+fear. The stairs ended in a pool of black, muddy water, in much the
+same way that they do in a _bona fide_ swimming-bath. You will
+remember that a pipe of the sewer had burst, and the dirty water had
+overflowed the Midgetts' cellar. To wade about in this had been the
+recreation of the Midgetts for days.
+
+"Come on now," said they; "lift up your dresses, and come along."
+
+The cellar was growing every minute lighter the longer they were in
+it; and soon the children lost their fear, and began to paddle about
+with their naked feet, taking excellent care to steer clear of the
+closet containing the black snake.
+
+"It's getting awful, awful dark," said Jelly.
+
+"That's so," said Bunch, wondering, and looking up to see why the
+small window gave so little light. Something outside moved just then.
+The window was opened, and there were two faces looking down at
+them--two faces full of astonishment. They belonged to Rosy and uncle
+Tim.
+
+"Children, get right out of that filth, and go up stairs," ordered
+Rosy.
+
+Up stairs they went, one hanging behind the other, and entered the
+room from the cellar just as Rosy came in at the front door. Can you
+imagine how they must have looked, drenched and spoiled with the
+impure water from the dainty ruffles at their throats to the very
+nails of their toes? Like drowned rats! Rosy only said, with a
+withering glance at the Midgetts,--
+
+"Never come to our house again for cold pieces."
+
+Then bidding the children gather up their stockings and shoes, she
+marched them off barefooted between herself and uncle Tim. Tiny's new
+buttoned shoes had found a watery grave; for, as the bathers came up
+stairs, one of the Midgett feet pitched them gracefully into the
+cellar.
+
+"Tiny," said Bunch, as they walked mournfully home, amid the
+astonished gaze of the returning school children. "I don't believe
+there was a wildcat there any of the time."
+
+"No, nor a black man in the sewer," said Tiny.
+
+"Nor a black snake in the closet," said Jelly.
+
+But there were a hot bath and clean clothing at home for them, and
+warm beds. Whether there was anything more severe than a good lecture,
+I will leave you to guess; for mamma said they were old enough to know
+better than to believe in any such ridiculous nonsense, all excepting
+little Jelly.
+
+I should be ashamed to finish the conclusion of the affair; for what
+do you think, children? It all actually happened, once upon a time, to
+myself and two of my sisters.
+
+                                            FANNIE BENEDICT.
+
+
+
+
+    Mirth is a medicine of life:
+    It cures its ills, it calms its strife;
+    It softly smooths the brow of care,
+    And writes a thousand graces there.
+
+
+
+
+LAME SUSIE.
+
+
+"Children," said Miss Ware to her little band of scholars, "Susie Dana
+is coming to school next Monday. She is lame, and I want you to be
+kind and thoughtful toward her. She does not show her lameness until
+she commences to walk, and then you can see that one of the fat little
+legs is longer than the other, which makes her limp. So do not watch
+her as she walks. Be sure not to run against her in your plays, and
+don't shut her out from them because she cannot run and jump as you
+do, but choose, some of the time, plays in which she can take part.
+Remember, I make this rule: When you leave the room at recess or after
+school, wait, every one of you, in your places till she has passed
+out; then she will not be jostled or hurt in any way. Her lameness is
+a hard trial for a little girl. She would like to run and dance as
+well as any of you, and I do hope you will feel for her, and at least
+not make her burden heavier. How many, now, will promise to try to
+make her happy?"
+
+Every hand was instantly raised, and the children's clear, honest eyes
+met their teacher's with a look which was a promise.
+
+You have read stories, no doubt, of lame, blind or deformed children,
+and poor ones in patched clothes, who met treatment from others harder
+to endure than their poverty, privation or pain. Sometimes their
+schoolmates have been foolish and cruel enough to shun them, cast them
+out from their plays and pleasures, brush roughly against them, talk
+about, and even ridicule, them. But I hope it is not often so. In this
+case it was by far the reverse.
+
+These children remembered their pledge, and they made Susie so happy
+that she almost forgot her lameness. She was a cheerful, pleasant,
+good little girl, and her schoolmates, who had begun by pitying her
+and trying to help her, soon loved to be with her.
+
+"May I sit with Susie, Miss Ware?" became a frequent request.
+
+"Susie dear, here's a cake I've brought you," one would say at recess.
+
+"Take half my apple, Susie."
+
+[Illustration: NOTHING SHALL HURT YOU.]
+
+One day, as Susie was on her way to school she met a large drove of
+oxen. Poor little girl! she was very much frightened, and the big blue
+eyes were fast filling with tears when Harry Barton, one of the
+school-boys, stepped up before her and said, "Don't cry, Susie. I will
+take care of you. Nothing shall hurt you while I am here." And right
+bravely he stood before her until the last one had passed, and then
+took Susie to school, kindly helping her over the rough places.
+
+So the seasons wore on, and Susie, who, though she ardently desired to
+learn, had dreaded going among other children, was always happy with
+them. She loved her teacher and schoolmates, and made such progress as
+she could not have done had these things been different.
+
+The summer vacation was over. The glorious days of early autumn, with
+sunshine glinting through the crimson foliage, dropping nuts and
+golden harvests, passed swiftly away, and cold weather came.
+
+The school-room was pleasant still with its cheery fire and bright
+faces. One day, when all were busy as usual, a cry rang out,
+
+"Fire! Fire! The school-house is on fire!"
+
+Books and pens dropped from trembling hands, little faces paled, and
+eager, appealing eyes turned instantly to the teacher.
+
+"Run, children!" she said, hurriedly.
+
+Only one moved--lame Susie. She limped along as fast as she could, and
+all the rest, frightened as they were, remained in their places till
+she was safe outside the walls. Then with a rush they cleared the room
+almost in an instant. Even in that time of peril and dread they
+remembered their duty and kindness toward her, and gave her the
+richest proof in their power of their thoughtful love. Not mere
+obedience to a rule could have prompted this unselfish act, and as
+such a proof she must have felt it.
+
+It is a beautiful illustration, as it is a _true_ one, of God's love
+for all living and for all times.
+
+"As ye would they should do to you, do ye to them."
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Pepper the dog is told a secret}]
+
+THE SECRET.
+
+
+    Pepper Baker, don't you tell!
+      If you ever do, I'll-- Well,
+    I'll do something you'll remember
+      Till the last day of December.
+
+    Pepper, look me in the eye!
+      You must be as shy, as shy--
+    Play, you don't know where I'm going,
+      Don't know anything worth knowing!
+
+    When the bell for breakfast rings,
+      I will bring you cakes and things;
+    Don't go down till Ben calls, "Pupper,
+      Pupper; come and 'ave your supper!"
+
+    What I've told you no one knows,
+      Only you, and I, and Rose
+    (Maybe she has told her kitty),
+      No one else in Boston city.
+
+    Pepper, look at me, and say
+      With your eyes,--look straight this way,--
+    With your teeth, and mane so shaggy,
+      With your ears and tail so waggy,--
+
+    "I will never, never tell.
+      They may tie a ding-dong-bell
+    To my little tail so waggy,
+      Singe my ears and coat so shaggy.
+
+    "They may drown me in the well,
+      All because I will not tell."
+    That will do, you grim old Quaker!
+      I can trust you Pepper Baker.
+
+                       MARY R. WHITTLESEY.
+
+
+
+
+SILVER AND GOLD.
+
+
+    Silver or golden, which is the best--
+      Which with God's love is most richly blest?
+    Which is the fairer I cannot tell,
+      Grandfather dear or my baby Bel.
+
+    The soft twilight hour, when shadows fall,
+      To little Bel seems the best of all;
+    Then grandfather lays aside his book;
+      He cannot resist the pleading look.
+
+    There's room for two in the great arm-chair;
+      His arms enfold her with loving care;
+    Upturned is a smiling, rosy face;
+      Two dimpled arms have found their place.
+
+    Sweet eyes of hazel, so clear and bright,
+      Look up with a happy, loving light;
+    The curls are golden that softly stray,
+      While breezes amid their sunshine play.
+
+    Little she dreams of sorrow and care;
+      Life is unknown, and to her seems fair.
+    As years roll by the face may grow old;
+      But the loving heart will never grow cold.
+
+[Illustration: SILVER AND GOLD.]
+
+    When the hand of Time on her head is laid,
+      The lustre of gold must surely fade;
+    But lovely is even a silver frost,
+      If truth and goodness have not been lost.
+
+    Pride and passion have left no trace
+      On the old man's placid, saintly face;
+    The journey so long is almost done--
+      The strife is over, the victory won.
+
+    The voice that speaks is gentle and deep;
+      Surely it means God's grace to keep.
+    Eyes like the heavens so darkly blue;
+      Surely God's love is shining through.
+
+    Forehead so noble, calm, and fair;
+      Surely God's peace is resting there.
+    The snowy locks are a silver crown;
+      Softly the blessing of God came down.
+
+    Silver or golden, which is the best--
+      Which with God's love is most richly blest?
+    Which is the fairer I cannot tell,
+      Grandfather dear or my baby Bel.
+
+                               ELLIS GRAY.
+
+
+
+
+TWO MORNINGS.
+
+
+    Step softly; the baby sleeps;
+      Drop the curtains, and close the door;
+    Baby sleeps, while mother weeps--
+      Sleeps, never to waken more.
+
+    Not a breath disturbs his repose;
+      The blossom he wears has forgotten to blow.
+    Once his two cheeks were red as a rose;
+      Now they are lilies, you know.
+
+    Morning will come, with its sweet surprise,
+      Waken the flowers, and scatter the dew;
+    But never again shall the baby's eyes
+      Watch the sunbeams break through.
+
+    Yet in heaven his morning is growing
+      To fairer dawning than ours has known--
+    A fountain of light forever flowing
+      Forth from the great white throne.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Tim gazes at the goods in the confectioner's window}]
+
+TIM, THE MATCH BOY.
+
+
+Tim had been standing for a long while gazing in at the confectioner's
+window. The evening was drawing in, and ever since morning a thick,
+unbroken cloud had covered the narrow strips of sky lying along the
+line of roofs on each side of the streets, while every now and then
+there came down driving showers of rain, wetting him to the skin.
+
+Not that it took much rain to wet Tim to the skin. The three pieces of
+clothing which formed his dress were all in tatters. His shirt, which
+looked as if it never could have been whole and white, had more than
+half the sleeves torn away, and fell open in front for want of a
+collar, to say nothing of a button and button-hole. The old jacket he
+wore over it had never had any sleeves at all, but consisted of a
+front of calf-skin, with all the hair worn away, and a back made with
+the idea that it would be hidden from sight by a coat, of coarse
+yellow linen, now fallen into lamentable holes. His trousers were
+fringed by long wear, and did not reach to his ankles, which were blue
+with cold, and bare, like his feet, that had been splashing along the
+muddy streets all day, until they were pretty nearly the same color as
+the pavement. His head was covered only by his thick, matted hair,
+which protected him, far better than his ragged clothes, from the rain
+and wind, and made him sometimes dimly envious of the dogs that were
+so far better off, in point of covering, than himself. His hands were
+tucked, for warmth, in the holes where his pockets should have been;
+but they had been worn out long ago, and now he had not even
+accommodation for any little bit of string, or morsel of coal, he
+might come across in the street.
+
+It was by no means Tim's habit to stand and stare in at the windows of
+cake shops. Now and then he glanced at them, and thought how very rich
+and happy those people must be who lived upon such dainty food. But he
+was, generally, too busy in earning his own food--by selling
+matches--to leave him much time for lingering about such tempting
+places. As for buying his dinner, when he had one, he looked out for
+the dried-fish stalls, where he could get a slice of brown fish ready
+cooked, and carry it off to some doorstep, where he could dine upon it
+heartily and contentedly, provided no policeman interfered with his
+enjoyment.
+
+But to-day the weather had been altogether too bad for any person to
+come out of doors, except those who were bent on business; and they
+hurried along the muddy streets, too anxious to get on quickly to pay
+any heed to Tim, trotting alongside of them with some damp boxes of
+matches to sell. The rainy day was hard upon him. His last meal had
+been his supper the night before--a crust his father had given him,
+about half as big as it should have been to satisfy him. When he awoke
+in the morning, he had already a good appetite, and ever since, all
+the long day through, from hour to hour, his hunger had been growing
+keener, until now it made him almost sick and faint to stand and stare
+at the good things displayed in such abundance inside the shop window.
+
+Tim had no idea of going in to beg. It was far too grand a place for
+that; and the customers going in and out were mostly smart young
+maid-servants, who were far too fine for him to speak to.
+
+There were bread shops nearer home, where he might have gone, being
+himself an occasional customer, and asked if they could not find such
+a thing as an old crust to give him; but this shop was a very
+different place from those. There was scarcely a thing he knew the
+name of. At the back of the shop there were some loaves; but even
+those looked different from what he, and folks like him, bought. His
+hungry, eager eyes gazed at them, and his teeth and mouth moved now
+and then, unknown to himself, as if he was eating something
+ravenously; but he did not venture to go in.
+
+At last Tim gave a great start. A customer, whom he knew very well,
+was standing at the counter, eating one of the dainty bunns. It could
+be no one else but his own teacher, who taught him and seven and eight
+other ragged lads like himself, in a night school not far from his
+home. His hunger had made him forgetful of it; but this was one of the
+evenings when the school was open, and he had promised faithfully to
+be there to-night. At any rate, it would be a shelter from the rain,
+which was beginning to fall steadily and heavily, now the sun was set;
+and it was of no use thinking of going home, where he and his father
+had only a corner of a room, and were not welcome to that if they
+turned in too soon of an evening. His teacher had finished the bunn,
+and was having another wrapped up in a neat paper bag, which he put
+carefully into his pocket, and then stepped out into the street, and
+walked along under the shelter of a good umbrella, quite unaware that
+one of his scholars was pattering along noiselessly behind him with
+bare feet.
+
+All Tim's thoughts were fixed upon the bunn in his teacher's pocket.
+He wondered what it would taste like, and whether it would be as
+delicious as that one he had once eaten, when all the ragged school
+had a treat in Epping Grove--going down in vans, and having real
+country milk, and slices of cake to eat, finishing up with a bunn,
+which seemed to him as if it must be like the manna he had heard of at
+school, that used to come down from heaven every morning before the
+sun was up. He had never forgotten that lesson; and scarcely a morning
+came that he did not wish he had lived in those times.
+
+The teacher turned down a dark, narrow street, where the rain had
+gathered in little pools on the worn pavement, through which Tim
+splashed carelessly. They soon reached the school door; and Tim
+watched him take off his great-coat, and hang it up on the nails set
+apart for the teachers' coats.
+
+Their desk was at a little distance; and he took his place at it among
+the other boys, but his head ached, and his eyes felt dim, and there
+was a hungry gnawing within him, which made it impossible to give his
+mind to learning his lessons, as he usually did. He felt so stupefied,
+that the easiest words--words he knew as well as he knew the way to
+the Mansion House, where he sold his matches--swam before his eyes,
+and he called them all wrongly. The other lads laughed and jeered at
+him, and his teacher was displeased; but Tim could do no better. He
+could think of nothing but the dainty bunn in the teacher's pocket.
+
+At last the Scripture lesson came; and it was one that came home to
+Tim's state. The teacher read aloud first, before hearing them read
+the lesson, these verses: "And Jesus, when he came out, saw much
+people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were
+as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many
+things. And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto
+him," etc. Read Mark vi. 34-44.
+
+Tim listened with a swelling heart, and with a feeling of choking in
+his throat. He could see it all plainly in his mind. It was like their
+treat in Epping Grove, where the classes had sat down in ranks upon
+the green grass; and O, how green and soft the grass was! and the
+teachers had come round, like the disciples, giving to each one of
+them a can of milk and great pieces of cake; and they had sung a hymn
+all together before they began to eat and drink. Tim fancied he could
+see our Saviour as once he had seen him in a beautiful picture, with
+his hands outstretched, as if ready to give the children surrounding
+him anything they wanted, or to fold them every one in his loving
+arms. He thought he saw Jesus, with his loving, gentle face, standing
+in the midst of the great crowd of people, and asking the disciples if
+they were sure they had all had enough. Then they would sing, thought
+Tim, and go home as happy as he had been after that treat in Epping
+Grove. All at once his hunger became more than he could bear.
+
+"O, I wish He was here!" he cried, bursting into tears, and laying his
+rough head on the desk before him. "I only wish He was here."
+
+The other lads looked astonished; for Tim was not given to crying; and
+the teacher stopped in his reading, and touched him to call his
+attention.
+
+"Who do you wish was here, Tim?" he asked.
+
+"Him," sobbed the hungry boy; "the Lord Jesus. He'd know how bad I
+feel. I'd look him in the face, and say, 'Master, what are I to do? I
+can't learn nothink when I've got nothink but a griping inside of me.'
+And he'd think how hungry I was, having nothink to eat all day. He'd
+be very sorry--he would, I know."
+
+Tim did not lift up his head; for his tears and sobs were coming too
+fast, and he was afraid the other lads would laugh at him. But they
+looked serious enough as the meaning of his words broke upon them.
+They were sure he was not cheating them. If Tim said he had had
+nothing to eat all day, it must be true; for he never grumbled, and he
+always spoke the truth. One boy drew a carrot out of his pocket, and
+another pulled out a good piece of bread, wrapped in a bit of
+newspaper, while a third ran off to fetch a cup of water, having
+nothing else he could give to Tim. The teacher walked away to where
+his coat was hanging, and came back with the bunn which he had bought
+in the shop.
+
+"Tim," he said, laying his hand kindly on the lad's bowed-down head,
+"I am very sorry for you; but none of us knew you were starving, my
+boy, or I should not have scolded you, and the lads would not have
+laughed at you. Look up, and see what a supper we have found for you."
+
+It looked like a feast to Tim. One of the boys lent him a pocket
+knife to cut the bread and carrot into slices, with which he took off
+the keen edge of his hunger; and then he ate the dainty bunn, which
+seemed to him more delicious than anything he had ever tasted before.
+The rest of the class looked on with delight at his evident enjoyment,
+until the last crumb had disappeared.
+
+"I could learn anything now," said Tim, with a bright face; "but I
+couldn't understand nothink before. Then you began telling about the
+poor folks being famished with hunger, and how Jesus gave them bread
+and fishes, just as if he'd been hungry himself some time, and knew
+all about it. It is bad, it is. And it seemed such a pity he weren't
+here in the city, and I couldn't go to him. But, I dessay, he knows
+how you've all treated me, and I thank you all kindly; and I'll do the
+same by you some day, when you've had the same bad luck as me."
+
+"Yes," said the teacher, "Jesus knew how hungry you were; and he knew
+how to send you the food you wanted. Tim, and you other lads, I want
+you to learn this verse, and think of it often when you are grown-up
+men: 'Whosoever shall give to one of these little ones a cup of cold
+water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, He shall
+in no wise lose his reward.'"
+
+
+
+
+ENVY PUNISHED.
+
+
+A Burmese potter, it is said, became envious of the prosperity of a
+washerman, and to ruin him, induced the king to order him to wash one
+of his black elephants white, that he might be "lord of the white
+elephant," which in the East is a great distinction.
+
+The washerman replied that, by the rules of his art, he must have a
+vessel large enough to wash him in.
+
+The king ordered the potter to make him such a vessel. When made, it
+was crushed by the first step of the elephant in it. Many times was
+this repeated; and the potter was ruined by the very scheme he had
+intended should crush his enemy.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: WINGS.]
+
+WINGS.
+
+
+"If I only had wings like you!" said Addie Lewis, speaking to her pet
+bird as she opened the cage door.
+
+"Chirp, chirp!" answered the bird, flying out and resting on Addie's
+finger.
+
+"Ah, birdie, if I only had your wings!"
+
+"Wings!" spoke out Addie's mother. "You have wings," she said, in a
+quiet way.
+
+Addie looked at her shoulders, and then at her mother's. "I don't see
+them," she said, with a little amused laugh.
+
+"We are using them all the while," said Mrs. Lewis. "Did you never
+hear of the wings of thought?"
+
+"Oh! That's what you mean? Our thoughts are our wings?"
+
+"Yes; and our minds can fly with these wings higher and farther than
+any bird can go. If I read to you about a volcano in Italy, off you go
+on the wings of thought and look down into the fiery crater. If I tell
+you of the frozen North, you are there in an instant, gazing upon icy
+seas and the wonders of a desolate region. The wings of an eagle are
+not half so swift and strong as the wings of your thought. The very
+king of birds would perish in regions where they can take you in
+safety."
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Squanko sitting on a wide window ledge}]
+
+SQUANKO.
+
+
+"What a name for a dog, auntie!"
+
+"_Name!_ Why, Frank, when you hear the whole, like the Queen of Sheba,
+you'll say the half has not been told you."
+
+"Why, didn't you find Squanko quite enough for one dog?"
+
+"His full name," said my aunt, loftily, "is Squanko Guy Edgerly
+Patterson."
+
+She rolled out these resonant titles with due gravity, and Squanko,
+turning his bright eyes from one to the other, solemnly wagged his
+tail, as if to signify approval.
+
+I was a New Hampshire boy, and this was my first visit to the city. My
+experience with dogs previously had been that of a country boy bred up
+among sportsmen. I had known several highly-trained hounds, and famous
+bird dogs, though my ideal of canine perfection was that marvel of
+sagacity, the shepherd dog. Still, my first love among dogs had been a
+noble old hound, who, though sightless from age, would follow a rabbit
+better than any young dog was capable of doing. The scent of powder
+brought back his lost youth. Let him hear the loading of a gun,--or
+the mere rattle of a shot-pouch was enough,--he would break out into
+the wildest gambols, dashing hither and yon, in an ecstasy of delight.
+
+Running headlong against rock or tree, as he was liable to do, only
+tempered his zeal for a moment; the next, he was tearing along more
+madly than ever. Dear old Trim! I had shed a boy's hot tears over his
+grave on the hill-side, and I was not ashamed of it either.
+
+I felt a tenderness for Squanko. The yellow spots which marked his
+white fur reminded me of Trim's. Remembering the accomplishments of my
+lost favorite, I ventured another question.
+
+"What is he good for, aunt Patterson? Can he hunt?"
+
+"Good for!" ejaculated my aunt--"_good for!_ I couldn't keep house
+without him." A certain fine disdain curled her lip; she had utterly
+ignored my second question. Completely quenched, I was fain to accept
+Squanko at once, hunter or no hunter.
+
+And we were, on the whole, pretty good friends, in spite of the
+battles we fought, nearly every evening, for the possession of the
+lounge. It made small difference to Squanko if I was beforehand with
+him. Though quite a large dog, he would creep up behind me, slowly
+insinuating himself between me and the back of the lounge. Then,
+watching his opportunity, he would brace his feet suddenly, and more
+than once the execution of this manoeuvre sent me rolling,
+ignominiously, upon the floor.
+
+The intruder ousted, his majesty would settle himself for a nap, not
+heeding in the least the shouts of laughter which his triumph never
+failed to evoke.
+
+On all occasions (excepting only nights, when he slept tranquilly on a
+rug in my aunt's room) he felt it his duty to keep watch and ward over
+the premises. His favorite perch, in sunny mornings, was in the window
+of my aunt's chamber. If by any chance the white curtain had not been
+looped up, as usual, leaving the window sill exposed, Squanko went
+down for help, and by whining, pulling his mistress's dress and
+similar arts, persuaded her to go up and remove the obnoxious
+curtain. Carefully seating himself upon the sill, which was all too
+narrow for his portly figure, he would fall to work, by barking
+furiously at every person--man, woman, or child--who presumed to pass
+up or down the street. Most fortunately for him, the window he
+occupied overlooked the lawn at the side of the house, instead of the
+pavement in front; for on several occasions his fury became so
+ungovernable, that he barked himself sheer off his foundation.
+
+Catching a glimpse of his whirling figure, my aunt rushed out, armed
+with a bottle of liniment; and while she bathed his imperilled legs,
+she strove also to soothe his outraged feelings. For the time all
+vanity seemed to have been dashed out of him; but comforted by
+sympathy and caresses, he again mounted his perch, and barked with
+undiminished ardor.
+
+At table, my aunt always occupied what is termed an office chair.
+Being quite small in person, a portion of the great leather cushion,
+at the back, was left vacant. Squanko rarely failed to possess himself
+of this vantage-ground, and squatting thereon, peered wisely over his
+mistress's shoulder, as if studying the problem of what portion of the
+goodly meal before him might safely be counted on as a remainder.
+
+Yet Squanko had his grievances. One was, not being allowed the freedom
+of the garden. If he went out, my aunt's careful hand hastened to link
+the long chain, attached to his house, to his collar. She had a
+chronic fear of his running away.
+
+Squanko utterly disdained to occupy the bed of straw which graced his
+dwelling, but climbing to a board which surmounted the ridge of the
+roof, would lie upon that narrow ledge, ready to pounce upon any one
+who ventured near.
+
+Missing him one morning, both here and on the window-sill, one of the
+wee Johnnys of the neighborhood, who stood in wholesome awe of
+Squanko, put his curly head in at the doorway.
+
+"Where's Squanko, Mrs. Patterson?"
+
+"Gone to walk."
+
+"_Gone to walk_," chuckled Johnny, bursting with merriment. "That's
+funny--_a dog gone to walk_!"
+
+Squanko's _walk_ was rarely omitted; generally it was performed under
+my aunt's tutelage, when she went a little way with her husband, whose
+business took him to the city every morning. If, for any reason, Mrs.
+Patterson let her husband go to the cars alone, she sent Squanko off
+by himself, with strict orders to return speedily, which direction he
+had never failed to obey.
+
+Besides his chain, Squanko had one other trial to endure--a thorough
+ablution once a week. Bathing was his aversion; still, he had been
+obliged to submit to it from his puppyhood, and Mrs. Patterson was
+inexorable. A dog who was not faultlessly clean could have no place in
+the arrangements of her household. In and about her dwelling all was
+spotlessly neat. Everything susceptible of polish shone, from the
+window-panes, and the great cooking-stove, to Squanko's white coat. In
+vain were his protests, his indignant snorts and sneezes, his
+incipient growls; into the tub of warm water he had to go, while the
+scrubbing-brush performed its office upon his fat sides. Having been
+duly washed and wiped, he always indulged in a vicious shake or two,
+producing a sort of mist in his immediate vicinity. After being
+wrapped in his own blanket shawl, he was placed on the lounge, to
+repose while drying. His luxurious nap completed, he would emerge
+from his retirement, his short white hair shining like satin,--as
+clean a playfellow as one might desire. His temper,--not usually of
+the best,--after one of these baths, would remain sunny for hours.
+
+But Squanko--like many another spoiled darling,--was not content with
+the home where he was so petted and indulged.
+
+As his master opened the door to go into the garden, one evening,
+Squanko rushed past him, and made for the street. In vain our hurried
+search, up and down, in the dark spring night. In vain his mistress's
+frantic calls. If Squanko was hidden in some nook hard by, and heard
+her entreaties, his heart must have been harder than a stone. That
+hasty exit was the last we ever saw of him. Night after night my
+uncle, coming home from the city, inquired for Squanko, only to
+receive the sad reply,--
+
+"No, Roy! We never--never shall see Squanko again."
+
+Soon a fat, brindled puppy was installed in the vacant place. Day by
+day he grew, both in bulk and in the affections of the family. My aunt
+named him "Trouble." All the devotion which had been Squanko's was
+straightway lavished on him.
+
+When, in process of time, the tidings were borne to my aunt's ears,
+that Squanko, forgetful of former friends, was leading a jolly
+existence in a neighboring town, she only replied, with a toss of her
+head, "Let the ungrateful imp stay there. Trouble is worth a dozen of
+him!"
+
+                                               F. CHESEBORO.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+"THE SWEET ONE FOR POLLY."
+
+
+Polly had expected to be very happy in getting ready for the party;
+but when the time came she was disappointed, for somehow that naughty
+thing called envy took possession of her, and spoiled her pleasure.
+
+Before she left home she thought her new white muslin dress, with its
+fresh blue ribbons, the most elegant and proper costume she could
+have; but now, when she saw Fanny's pink silk, with a white tarlatan
+tunic, and innumerable puffings, bows, and streamers, her own simple
+little toilet lost all its charms in her eyes, and looked very babyish
+and old-fashioned.
+
+Even Maud was much better dressed than herself, and looked very
+splendid in her cherry-colored and white suit, with a sash so big she
+could hardly carry it, and little white boots with red buttons.
+
+They both had necklaces and bracelets, ear-rings and brooches; but
+Polly had no ornament except the plain locket on a bit of blue velvet.
+Her sash was only a wide ribbon, tied in a simple bow, and nothing but
+a blue snood in the pretty brown curls. Her only comfort was the
+knowledge that the modest tucker drawn up round the plump shoulders
+was real lace, and that her bronze boots cost nine dollars.
+
+Poor Polly, with all her efforts to be contented, and not to mind
+looking unlike other people, found it hard work to keep her face
+bright and her voice happy that night. No one dreamed what was going
+on under the muslin frock, till grandma's wise old eyes spied out the
+little shadow on Polly's spirits, and guessed the cause of it. When
+dressed, the three girls went up to show themselves to the elders who
+were in grandma's room, where Tom was being helped into an agonizingly
+stiff collar.
+
+Maud pranced like a small peacock, and Fan made a splendid courtesy,
+as every one turned to survey them; but Polly stood still, and her
+eyes went from face to face with an anxious, wistful air, which seemed
+to say, "I know I'm not right; but I hope I don't look very bad."
+
+Grandma read the look in a minute; and when Fanny said, with a
+satisfied smile, "How do we look?" she answered, drawing Polly toward
+her so kindly, "Very like the fashion-plates you got the patterns of
+your dresses from. But this little costume suits me best."
+
+"Do you really think I look nice?" and Polly's face brightened, for
+she valued the old lady's opinion very much.
+
+"Yes, my dear; you look just as I like to see a child of your age
+look. What particularly pleases me is, that you have kept your promise
+to your mother, and haven't let any one persuade you to wear borrowed
+finery. Young things like you don't need any ornaments but those you
+wear to-night,--youth, health, intelligence, and modesty."
+
+As she spoke, grandma gave a tender kiss that made Polly glow like a
+rose, and for a minute she forgot that there were such things in the
+world as pink silks and coral ear-rings.
+
+[Illustration: "THE SWEET ONE FOR POLLY."]
+
+She only said, "Thank you, ma'am," and heartily returned the kiss;
+but the words did her good, and her plain dress looked charming all of
+a sudden.
+
+"Polly's so pretty, it don't matter what she wears," observed Tom,
+surveying her over his collar with an air of calm approval.
+
+"She hasn't got any bwetelles to her dwess, and I have," said Maud,
+settling her ruffled bands over her shoulders, which looked like
+cherry-colored wings on a stout little cherub.
+
+"I did wish she'd just wear my blue set, ribbon is so very plain; but,
+as Tom says, it don't much matter;" and Fanny gave an effective touch
+to the blue bow above Polly's left temple.
+
+"She might wear flowers; they always suit young girls," said Mrs.
+Shaw, privately thinking that her own daughters looked much the best
+yet, and conscious that blooming Polly had the most attractive face.
+
+"Bless me! I forgot my posies in admiring the belles! Hand them out,
+Tom;" and Mr. Shaw nodded toward an interesting-looking box that stood
+on the table.
+
+Seizing them wrong side up, Tom produced three little bouquets, all
+different in color, size, and construction.
+
+"Why, papa, how very kind of you!" cried Fanny, who had not dared to
+receive even a geranium leaf since the late scrape.
+
+"Your father used to be a very gallant young gentleman once upon a
+time," said Mrs. Shaw, with a simper and sigh.
+
+"Ah, Tom, it's a good sign when you find time to think of giving
+pleasure to your little girls."
+
+And grandma patted her son's bald head as if he wasn't more than
+eighteen.
+
+Thomas, Jr., had given a somewhat scornful sniff at first; but when
+grandma praised his father, the young man thought better of the
+matter, and regarded the flowers with more respect as he asked, "Which
+is for which?"
+
+"Guess," said Mr. Shaw, pleased that his unusual demonstration had
+produced such an effect.
+
+The largest was a regular hot-house bouquet of tea-rosebuds, scentless
+heath, and smilax; the second was just a handful of sweet-peas and
+mignonette, with a few cheerful pansies and one fragrant little rose
+in the middle; the third, a small posy of scarlet verbenas, white
+feverfew, and green leaves.
+
+"Not hard to guess. The smart one for Fan, the sweet one for Polly,
+and the gay one for Pug. Now, then, catch hold, girls;" and Tom
+proceeded to deliver the nosegays with as much grace as could be
+expected from a youth in a new suit of clothes and very tight boots.
+
+"That finishes you off just right, and is a very pretty attention of
+papa. Now run down, for the bell has rung; and remember not to dance
+too often, Fan; be as quiet as you can, Tom; and, Maud, don't eat too
+much supper. Grandma will attend to things, for my poor nerves won't
+allow me to come down."
+
+With that Mrs. Shaw dismissed them, and the four descended to receive
+the first visitors.
+
+                                           LOUISA M. ALCOTT.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+THE ACCIDENT.
+
+
+Tom named his velocipede Black Auster, in memory of the horse in "The
+Battle of Lake Regillus," and came to grief as soon as he began to
+ride his new steed.
+
+"Come out and see me go it," whispered Tom to Polly, after three days'
+practice in the street, for he had already learned to ride in the
+rink.
+
+Polly and Maud willingly went, and watched his struggles with deep
+interest, till he got an upset, which nearly put an end to his
+velocipeding forever.
+
+"Hi, there! Auster's coming!" shouted Tom, as he came rattling down
+the long, steep street outside the park.
+
+They stepped aside, and he whizzed by, arms and legs going like mad,
+and the general appearance of a runaway engine. It would have been a
+triumphant descent, if a big dog had not bounced suddenly through one
+of the openings, and sent the whole concern helter-skelter into the
+gutter. Polly laughed as she ran to view the ruin, for Tom lay flat on
+his back with the velocipede atop of him, while the big dog barked
+wildly, and his master scolded him for his awkwardness. But when she
+saw Tom's face, Polly was frightened, for the color had all gone out
+of it, his eyes looked strange and dizzy, and drops of blood began to
+trickle from a great cut on his forehead. The man saw it, too, and had
+him up in a minute; but Tom couldn't stand, and stared about him in a
+dazed sort of way, as he sat on the curbstone, while Polly held her
+handkerchief to his forehead, and pathetically begged to know if he
+was killed.
+
+"Don't scare mother--I'm all right. Got upset, didn't I?" he asked,
+presently, eying the prostrate velocipede with more anxiety about its
+damages than his own.
+
+"I knew you'd hurt yourself with that horrid thing. Just let it be,
+and come home, for your head bleeds dreadfully, and everybody is
+looking at us," whispered Polly, trying to tie the little handkerchief
+over the ugly cut.
+
+"Come on, then Jove! how queer my head feels! Give us a boost, please.
+Stop howling, Maud, and come home. You bring the machine, and I'll pay
+you, Pat." As he spoke, Tom slowly picked himself up, and steadying
+himself by Polly's shoulder, issued his commands, and the procession
+fell into line. First, the big dog, barking at intervals; then the
+good-natured Irishman, trundling "that divil of a whirligig," as he
+disrespectfully called the idolized velocipede; then the wounded hero,
+supported by the faithful Polly; and Maud brought up the rear in
+tears, bearing Tom's cap.
+
+                                           LOUISA M. ALCOTT.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+[Illustration: "It would have been a triumphant descent, if a big dog
+    had not bounced suddenly through one of the openings."]
+
+
+
+
+[Decoration]
+
+POLLY ARRIVES.
+
+
+The train was just in when Tom reached the station, panting like a
+race-horse and as red as a lobster with the wind and the run.
+
+"Suppose she'll wear a top-knot and a thingumbob, like every one else;
+and how ever shall I know her? Too bad of Fan to make me come alone!"
+thought Tom, as he stood watching the crowd stream through the depot,
+and feeling rather daunted at the array of young ladies who passed. As
+none of them seemed looking for any one, he did not accost them, but
+eyed each new batch with the air of a martyr. "That's her," he said to
+himself, as he presently caught sight of a girl, in gorgeous array,
+standing with her hands folded, and a very small hat perched on top of
+a very large "chig-non," as Tom pronounced it. "I suppose I've got to
+speak to her, so, here goes;" and, nerving himself to the task, Tom
+slowly approached the damsel, who looked as if the wind had blown her
+clothes into rags, such a flapping of sashes, scallops, ruffles,
+curls, and feathers was there.
+
+"I say, if you please, is your name _Polly Milton_?" meekly asked Tom,
+pausing before the breezy stranger.
+
+"No, it isn't," answered the young lady, with a cool stare that
+utterly quenched him.
+
+"Where in thunder is she?" growled Tom, walking off in high dudgeon.
+The quick tap of feet behind him made him turn in time to see a
+fresh-faced little girl running down the long station, and looking as
+if she rather liked it. As she smiled, and waved her bag at him, he
+stopped and waited for her, saying to himself, "Hullo! I wonder if
+that's Polly?"
+
+Up came the little girl, with her hand out, and a half-shy, half-merry
+look in her blue eyes, as she said, inquiringly, "This is Tom, isn't
+it?"
+
+"Yes. How did you know?" and Tom got over the ordeal of hand-shaking
+without thinking of it, he was so surprised.
+
+"Oh, Fan told me you'd got curly hair and a funny nose, and kept
+whistling, and wore a gray cap pulled over your eyes; so I knew you
+directly." And Polly nodded at him in the most friendly manner, having
+politely refrained from calling the hair "red," the nose "a pug," and
+the cap "old."
+
+"Where are your trunks?" asked Tom, as he was reminded of his duty by
+her handing him the bag, which he had not offered to take.
+
+"Father told me not to wait for any one, else I'd lose my chance of a
+hack; so I gave my check to a man, and there he is with my trunk;" and
+Polly walked off after her one modest piece of baggage, followed by
+Tom, who felt a trifle depressed by his own remissness in polite
+attentions.
+
+                                           LOUISA M. ALCOTT.
+
+[Illustration: "THIS IS TOM, ISN'T IT?"]
+
+
+
+
+KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.
+
+
+Last month a gentleman related an incident in his early life, showing
+how kindness to the brute creation makes them entirely subservient to
+our will. Similar experience is familiar to every one of us. This
+volume would not begin to contain the proofs which come under notice
+every day of our lives. Your dog or your cat understands your
+disposition as well as your brother or your sister. Give them a kick
+as you pass by, pull their ears or tail whenever you get an
+opportunity, and they will shun you as they would the plague. On the
+other hand, speak a kind word to them, give them a morsel of food, or
+fondle them kindly, and they will soon treat you as a friend.
+
+I have a cat who waits for my coming home every night as regularly as
+the sun. And if, perchance, I do not come at my usual time in the
+train, she shows her disappointment by mewing. She will roll over as
+obediently as you ever saw a dog, at the word of command. After
+supper, when I put on my slippers and take the evening paper, puss
+takes possession of my lap, and then she seems contented and happy.
+
+Kindness did all this--nothing else. Any cat can be taught to "roll
+over" in a week's time. Any cat will be your friend, and love you, if
+you will treat her well.
+
+It is precisely thus with wild animals. They know who their friends
+are as well as you know yours. They don't need to be told. There is no
+end of stories about the elephant, the horse, the dog; about their
+docility, and the affection they have for those who treat them kindly.
+Even the lion, when brought under the dominion of man, becomes
+strongly attached to those who treat him with kindness. An instance of
+this is related of one that was kept in the menagerie of the Tower of
+London. He had been brought from India, and on the passage was given
+in charge to one of the sailors. Long before the ship arrived at
+London, the lion and Jack had become excellent friends. When Nero--as
+the lion was called--was shut up in his cage in the Tower, he became
+sulky and savage to such an extent that it was dangerous even for his
+keeper, who was not over kind to him, to approach him.
+
+After Nero had been a prisoner for some weeks, a party of sailors,
+Jack being among the number, paid a visit to the menagerie. The keeper
+warned them not to go near the lion, who every now and then turned
+round to growl defiance to the spectators.
+
+"What! old shipmate!" cried Jack, "don't you know me? What cheer, old
+Nero, my lad?"
+
+Instantly the lion left off growling, sprang up to the bars of his
+cage, and put his nose between them. Jack patted it on the head, and
+it rubbed his hand with its whiskers like a cat, showing evident signs
+of pleasure.
+
+"Ah," said Jack, turning to the keeper and spectators who stood
+looking on with astonishment, "Nero and I were shipmates, and you see
+he isn't like some folks; he don't forget an old friend."
+
+[Illustration: {Jack and the lion are reunited}]
+
+But here's a story of another sort. Some weeks ago a caravan was
+exhibiting in Illinois. Among the animals was an elephant, to whom a
+mischievous boy had given an apple with tobacco concealed inside. As
+soon as the animal discovered the trick, the boy began to laugh at
+the joke which he had played on the creature. The elephant, however,
+looked angry, and the keeper, having heard of the affair, told the boy
+to keep out of his reach, unless he wanted to be hurt.
+
+But, although the lad did not come so near that the elephant could get
+hold of him, he hung round in the vicinity. Presently a pail of water
+was brought for the elephant to drink. The insulted creature filled
+his trunk as full as he could, and seeing a good opportunity, blew the
+whole of it upon the boy who had given him tobacco, wetting him from
+head to foot. Verdict of the spectators, and of the readers of this
+book, "Served him right."
+
+                                               ROBERT HANDY.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Children playing around a haystack}]
+
+ALL AMONG THE HAY.
+
+
+    All among the buttercups,
+      All among the hay!
+    Oh that spring would come again,
+      With its merry May!
+
+    Hasten summer's pleasant days,
+      Summer's pleasant hours;
+    Send us back the butterflies
+      And the pretty flowers.
+
+    Yes, bright days will come again,
+      Winter soon will go,
+    And the smiling sun shall melt
+      All this dreary snow.
+
+    Then beside the flowing stream
+      Merrily we'll play,
+    All among the buttercups,
+      All among the hay.
+
+
+
+
+THE MOUSE AND CANARY.
+
+
+A lady, having gone rather early into an apartment in which she had a
+fine canary, whose cage hung on the knob of the window-shutter, was
+much surprised to find the bird sitting asleep in the bottom of the
+cage, side by side with a live mouse, also asleep. On raising the
+window-blind, the mouse squeezed itself through between the wires of
+the cage and fled. The box of seeds, crumbs, etc., intended for the
+canary was found to be cleaned out, doubtless devoured by the strange
+companion. On the following evening, while the lady and her husband
+were sitting quietly by the fireside, they were still further
+astonished at seeing a mouse (no doubt the same one) climbing nimbly
+up the shutter and entering the cage between the wires. Thinking it
+might do harm to the bird, they tried to catch the mouse, but it made
+its escape as before. The cage was then suspended from a nail, so that
+the mouse could not gain access. Strange to say, however, on the
+following morning the canary was found asleep on the floor of the room
+(the cage door having been left open), and a piece of potato beside
+him. Most likely the mouse had spent the whole of the night there.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+THE TWO FRIENDS.
+
+A STORY FOR BOYS.
+
+
+Many years ago two youths, whom we will call only by their Christian
+names,--Walter and Sidney,--were at the same boarding-school, at
+Mount's Bay, in Cornwall. They were each the sons of captains in the
+merchant service; but though they were equals in station, there was a
+great difference in their circumstances, for Walter inherited
+considerable property. Sidney's father had not been a prosperous man,
+and it was as much as he could do to give his boy a good education.
+
+Among the whole school there were no two lads so closely knit in
+friendship as Walter and Sidney; they were within a week of the same
+age (thirteen) at the time our narrative begins. It is always a
+pleasant sight, and also a good example, when two intelligent,
+kind-hearted boys become friends. They show to others what a
+disinterested and noble thing true friendship is. Thus, in their
+lessons and their sports, these boys were helpful to each other. They
+shared together every indulgence that the kindness of friends procured
+them, and if any added study were imposed, Sidney, who learned easily,
+would, after he had swiftly mastered his own lesson, take upon himself
+both the office of teacher and companion, and never rest until Walter
+was as well up in the task as he himself was. Most certainly the
+punishment of one was ever the punishment of both, for, if they were
+sharers in each other's joys, they were not the less so in their
+troubles. Perhaps the vigilance which each exercised over the other
+was the reason why they were comparatively seldom in any very serious
+disgrace, and their characters stood high in the school, both with
+masters and pupils.
+
+But while in the little world within the walls of the school all went
+equally well with the youthful friends, in the great world outside,
+heavy troubles came to Sidney's father. The vessel he commanded was
+lost near the mouth of the River Mersey, and though the crew were
+saved, yet it was judged that some mismanagement caused the disaster,
+and Sidney's father lost his certificate, and no owners would again
+trust him to command a vessel. The poor man took this so much to heart
+that he fell into a bad state of health, and declined so rapidly, that
+the week after Sidney received from Liverpool the first intimation of
+his father's illness, tidings came that he was dead.
+
+It was in the autumnal quarter, about eight weeks before Christmas,
+that the sad letter was received which told Sidney he was now an
+orphan. The only aunt the poor boy had, his father's sister, wrote the
+account, and she was obliged to add the painful fact that, with the
+loss of his father, Sidney would lose the means of further education,
+and must look forward to some humble means of earning his daily bread,
+with as little delay as possible.
+
+[Illustration: "Why, Sid,--what's this? Dear old fellow, what's the
+    matter?"]
+
+In his first great grief at hearing of his father's death, all else
+seemed trivial. Change of circumstances, hard work, any trouble, would
+have been as nothing if his father had been spared to him. But after
+the first shock of his sorrow, Sidney admitted that he must leave
+school; that it would not be honest, either to his aunt or his
+schoolmaster, to remain. Strangely enough, the very week in which
+this trouble came to Sidney, his friend Walter was at home for a few
+days, joining in the celebration of his father's fiftieth birthday. He
+had wanted Sidney to have a holiday also; but the latter, being
+already aware of his father's reverses and illness, though having no
+fear of any greater grief impending over him, had declined his
+friend's kind invitation. So it happened that, while a happy jubilee
+was being celebrated in Walter's home, Sidney was suddenly made a poor
+orphan.
+
+Never, during the three years that they had been school-fellows, had
+the countenances of the two boys showed such a contrast of expression
+as when they met in the playground a few minutes after Walter had
+alighted at the gate, on his return from the pleasant sojourn at his
+home. He was flushed with health and happiness, and ran up, with a
+boyish shout of mirth, to greet his friend. Poor Sidney, pale and
+choking with the effort to restrain his tears, could only grasp the
+proffered hand in silence, and turn away his head, unable to look
+up,--almost unable to bear the pent-up grief that throbbed at his
+heart, and tightened his chest with a sense of suffocation.
+
+"Why, Sid, what's this? Dear old fellow, what's the matter?" was
+Walter's astonished inquiry, when a boy near whispered in his ear the
+brief words,--
+
+"His father's dead!"
+
+That explained all; and Walter, twining his arm round his friend, led
+him away to a quiet spot, where they could weep together. The greater
+grief so completely absorbed Sidney on his first meeting with Walter,
+that it was not until the next day that any mention was made between
+them of how this bereavement would affect the future. Young and
+prosperous as Walter was, he knew well enough how sad it would be for
+his friend to lose the advantages of education just at the time when
+his studies would be needed to fit him for some pursuit in life.
+
+Meanwhile, as Sidney's aunt had not been able to send the money for
+the poor lad to go so long a journey as from West Cornwall to
+Liverpool, to attend his father's funeral, there was no immediate
+hurry at the school in preparing for the youth's departure. Walter,
+therefore, had time to carry out a plan which his affection suggested.
+He wrote an urgent letter to his father, filled with praises of
+Sidney, and accounts of all the help which his cleverness and conduct
+had afforded to him (Walter), and earnestly pleading that he might
+have the gratification of paying for a year or more schooling for his
+orphan friend, adding, as a concluding argument,--
+
+"You know, papa, that I have forty pounds that aunt Margaret put in
+the savings bank for me, to do as I like with; and how could I spend
+it better, or so well, as in helping a good clever fellow like Sidney?
+It would be a real treat to me--the best I could have; and you
+promised to increase my pocket-money: you needn't; I can screw myself
+down famously, if you'll only give it to help Sid, who's always been
+helping me, I can tell you."
+
+Walter was too earnest, it seemed, to pick and choose his words. He
+meant to have corrected and rewritten his letter, but there was no
+time; so he sent it, faults and all. And his father, in reading it,
+felt the heart-throb that beat in his boy's generous words; and though
+a man not at all demonstrative, he was observed to be taken as if with
+a sudden cold in his head, to judge by the vigorous use of his pocket
+handkerchief; but all he said was conveyed in a single nautical
+phrase,--"The youngster is on the right tack."
+
+The day after, the principal of the Mount's Bay School received an
+intimation that Sidney was to continue his studies there as long as
+he proved diligent; but the name of his patron was not to be told him.
+So, to the lad's great satisfaction, he was informed that a friend who
+had known his father would, for the present, help him. Walter knew the
+truth, but though he felt the intense joy that a good action always
+yields to the doer even more than to the receiver, he was careful to
+obey his father, and keep the secret.
+
+If Sidney was studious before, he redoubled his diligence now, and in
+the year made such great progress, that a Dutch gentleman, who visited
+the school, offered him a situation in his office at Rotterdam; and as
+Sidney knew that a residence abroad would be a great improvement to
+him, and also was eager to enter upon some mode of earning his own
+living, he wished earnestly to take the offer. At no time during their
+now four years of mutual school-life and friendship would Walter have
+heard with patience of Sidney leaving. But a parting now came.
+
+Walter's father had become an invalid, and was ordered to a warmer
+climate. The family removed to Florence, in Italy, and, of course,
+Walter went with them; his greatest grief being that Sidney could not
+accompany them.
+
+With the keenest pangs of youthful sorrow, the two friends parted,
+promising to write often, looking forward to meet at no distant
+future, for the world did not seem too wide for them, accustomed as
+they were, by association, to maritime people and travellers.
+
+It was three months after Walter had left, when Sidney took leave of
+his kind master, and the school which had been a home to him, and
+went, in cold spring weather, to the Venice of the north--Rotterdam.
+When he left he made one request, which his tutor thought it not wrong
+to grant. He desired to know the name of the benefactor who had so
+munificently helped him; and though he was not very much surprised
+when he heard the source from whence the aid had come, and was indeed
+glad that his gratitude was due where his friendship had so long been
+given, yet it naturally moved him very deeply when he found how Walter
+had been the means of effecting this. He also remembered vividly some
+acts of self-denial that added to the delicacy of his friend's
+silence, and made the action truly noble.
+
+"I can never repay you, dear Walter, nor your kind father; I shall
+ever be your grateful debtor," he wrote; "but I will try to employ the
+talents you have cultivated, so as not, at all events, to disgrace
+your friendship."
+
+Though railways made the continent open to travellers, and the desire
+to see his friend Walter never languished, yet years went by and it
+was not realized. Some tidings there were of reverse of fortune
+through a lawsuit, and of journeyings to different places. The last
+that Sidney heard of his friend was in a letter from Madeira, where
+his father was lingering on in too weak a state to bear removal.
+
+The desultory, unsettled life that the family had led seemed to have
+prevented Walter from making much progress as a sculptor,--a
+profession he had thought of while in Italy,--and his letters were
+somewhat vague and unsatisfactory as to his future plans.
+
+Then came a long interval with no tidings, and afterwards a returned
+letter with the one word DEAD, written under the name of Walter's
+father on the superscription.
+
+So, like a pleasant morning that ends in clouds and gloom, the
+friendship seemed to end which had so gladdened the youth of Sidney,
+and even blended with all the fondest memories of his boyhood. Many
+were the prayers he breathed, that one who had been as a brother might
+not be entirely lost to him.
+
+As years went on great changes occurred in the firm that Sidney
+served. He had risen in the confidence of his employers. They had a
+business in Australia, under the care of a partner, who was also a
+relative. He died, and as there was a sudden increase of business
+facilities at Melbourne, Sidney was sent out, and a share in the
+concern was given him. His surname did not appear. He was announced,
+as many a junior partner is, by the little word "Co." appended to the
+principal name of the firm.
+
+Sidney had been in the colony some three years, and was now a stalwart
+young man of twenty-seven, when one day, riding on horseback towards a
+suburb of the rapidly growing city of Melbourne, called Brighton, he
+noticed a gang of young men working on the road. He knew that many
+respectable emigrants had come over during the first excitement of the
+gold discoveries. Clerks used only to the pen, students, unsuccessful
+professional men, all in the first delirium fever-fit of the gold
+fever, had come in the expectation that hands unused to hard toil
+could use the pickaxe of the gold-digger, or wash the rubble for the
+precious ore. Ah, it was a wild, a fatal delusion! Many a gentleman
+and scholar pined to death with hardships and disappointments, while
+some, after weeks of sickness, rose to earn their bread by the
+humblest manual labor. Working on the roads, for which government pay
+was given, was often the resource of those who had been worsted in
+every other effort. Unable to help among such numbers of claimants on
+sympathy, Sidney had contented himself with joining in the
+subscriptions raised for the relief of the sick and destitute: but
+now, as he passed along, he felt a desire to speak to the workers in
+this gang. As his eye scanned them he saw only a group of thin,
+toil-worn, weather-beaten men, with rough beards half hiding their
+wasted features. Nothing was more acceptable, as a recreation to the
+emigrants, than books, and Sidney had commenced a lending library of
+books and publications; so, after a cheerful salutation, he now reined
+up his horse, and began to tell them of his plan, and to add, "I have
+opened a room, friends, two nights a week,--it is but a rough shed,
+but I hope to make it better soon,--as a meeting-place, where a
+comfortable, pleasant, and profitable evening may be spent."
+
+"Then," said a man with a strong Irish brogue, "your honor's the great
+Dutch merchant."
+
+"Yes, at the Dutch merchant's store; but I am English; my name is
+Sidney--"
+
+There was a wild panting sort of cry, and a man in the group fell to
+the ground.
+
+"He's in a fit." "He oughtn't to have come." "Poor fellow!" "Fetch
+water!" "Give him air!" These were the cries that were uttered.
+Meanwhile, throwing his horse's bridle over a post, Sidney dismounted,
+and helped to lift in his strong arms the tall but wasted form of a
+man from the ground. He was borne to a bank at the side of the road.
+Sidney put aside the matted hair that fell over his brow, and taking
+the pannikin, which some one had filled with water, he put it to his
+lips, wholly unconscious that he had ever seen that face before, until
+the eyes slowly opened, and the old expression, the soul-gaze, shone
+in them, and the hoarse and altered voice, yet with tones that woke
+old echoes, said, "Sidney! Dear friend! Don't--don't you know
+me--Walter?"
+
+Walter! Yes it was he. The once blooming, prosperous, happy boy was
+this wasted, worn skeleton of a man. O, the tide of feeling that
+rushed through Sidney's every vein, as he recognized his early
+friend--his benefactor! To raise him up, put him on his own horse,
+lead him gently to his own home, and, once there, to send for the best
+medical skill, and tend him through the illness that supervened, with
+a tenderness feminine in its thoughtful gentleness, was Sidney's
+privilege.
+
+In the intervals of his illness Walter related that his father had
+died at Madeira; that, hoping to obtain a settlement of some claims,
+he had visited America; that, waiting to have better news of himself
+to communicate, he put off writing from time to time; that he had gone
+with a company of adventurous young men to California, and there,
+instead of finding gold, spent all his means. Hoping to retrieve his
+position, he had come to Australia, and there his lot, though hard,
+was only that of hundreds, in the first trying time of mad excitement
+and wild adventure. "And I must get to work again. I'm not going to be
+here idle much longer," he said, at the conclusion of a conversation
+on the past.
+
+"As to work, I've plenty for you to do."
+
+"I can't continue to be a burden on you, Sid. I've no claim."
+
+"You've every claim. As to burdens, you remind me how long I was a
+burden on you and your father. Once for all, I say, the help you gave
+me fitted me to get my living, and, by God's blessing, to make my way
+in life. Share with me in my business."
+
+Walter was beginning to interrupt; but Sidney, raising his hand,
+deprecatingly, said,--
+
+"You have still the advantage over me, that you gave me help when I
+had done nothing to deserve it of you. I only make a small
+repayment--a mere instalment of a great debt. Dear Walter, my good
+fellow, let there be no contest between us. Are we not friends? Does
+that not mean helpers?"
+
+And so it was. The tie, never broken, was knit again yet more closely.
+Brothers in friendship, they ultimately became so in relationship; for
+as soon as Walter had a home, he invited a sister to share it with
+him, and she, in a few months after her arrival, became the wife of
+Sidney. And so the bond of brotherhood prospered, for many years.
+
+
+
+
+PUSS.
+
+
+Is it not a little more than surprising that the common domestic cat,
+an animal which we are better acquainted with than the dog, should be
+permitted to grow up with so little instruction? I think so. Almost
+every dog has some tricks; many dogs have a great number. Yet how
+rarely do you see a cat of which anything more is expected than that
+she shall purr when she is petted, play with your ball of yarn, or
+growl when you give her a nice dinner.
+
+[Illustration: MUFFY RINGING THE BELL.]
+
+You teach your dog to bark at the word of command, to roll over, to
+stand upon his hind feet, and hold up his paws, to jump through a
+small hoop, to sing, and a thousand other pretty tricks; but why do
+you neglect your cat? You can teach her all these things,--except to
+bark,--and quite as easily. Any cat, not more than a year old, can be
+taught, in less than fifteen days, to "roll over;" and she learns
+other capers quite as freely. Bear in mind that to do this you have to
+appeal to the creature's love of food. That is her nature. She cares
+nothing for you; it is the dinner she is after. So, when you desire
+to teach puss to turn over, take her when she is hungry. Put your hand
+upon her back, and turn her over; and then give her a small bit of
+meat. Gradually she will require less and less force. She will
+understand what you want, and know what must be done in order to be
+served. Never disappoint her, but let the food immediately follow
+obedience. Other tricks may be taught in the same way. If you wish to
+teach her to go through a hoop, you will be obliged at first to take
+her up bodily, and put her through. But this will not be for a great
+while. She will soon understand what you desire.
+
+I once had a cat which would open any door in the house. She learned
+herself! The latch-doors came pretty easy, but the knobs bothered her
+a good deal. She persevered, however, and became an expert at either.
+
+I have a cat now--a Maltese--which is a marvel of intelligence. There
+seems to be no end to her interesting feats. She is terribly rough at
+play; if you impose upon her, you must look out for her claws. She
+watches for my coming from the city quite regularly; and as soon as I
+sit down to read, she plants herself in my lap. She had some kittens a
+few weeks ago. One evening, soon after, as I sat in the rocking-chair,
+with my newspaper, puss came into the room with one of her kittens in
+her mouth. She placed it carefully in my lap, and immediately went for
+the other one.
+
+A neighbor of mine has a cat which rings a bell when she is hungry.
+The bell is a small one, and hangs about a yard high, so that Miss
+Puss has to exert herself to reach it.
+
+Another cat I heard of recently seems to have discovered a way to get
+into the warm kitchen whenever she is accidentally shut out in the
+cold.
+
+At the side wall of the house there is a small aperture, of about two
+feet square, opening into the kitchen, and intended for the use and
+convenience of butchers, bakers, or grocers, who would otherwise have
+to go round to the back entrance; inside of this aperture is suspended
+a bell, which Miss Muffy must, no doubt, have often seen used by
+butchers, bakers, and grocers, to call the attention of cook. She has,
+therefore, adopted the same plan; and when tired of her prowlings
+about the garden, or hunting for birds in the adjoining wood, she
+springs up to the little door, and, with her paw or head, keeps ring,
+ring, ringing at the bell until the door is opened, and she gets
+admission.
+
+Muffy is not only a very intelligent little cat, but I can tell you
+she is also a very good-natured one, too. She submits to being dressed
+in the doll's clothes, and will sometimes lie quite still in the
+cradle for hours together, and when told to stand upon her hind legs
+and give a kiss, does so with a gracefulness hitherto unknown in the
+annals of cats.
+
+These funny marks of intelligence in dumb creatures are quite
+interesting. As you grow older, you will spend many an hour in trying
+to discover where the dividing line between INSTINCT and REASON is. It
+is SOMEWHERE. If you hatch some chickens by heat, miles away from any
+other fowls, the hens will cackle, and the cocks will crow, all the
+same, although no one has taught them. Why is it?
+
+If you could hatch a robin's egg in the same way, far removed from
+other birds, the bird would, when grown, build its nest precisely as
+other robins do, and of the same material, although it never saw a
+pattern in the world. INSTINCT, or, if you prefer, NATURE, teaches all
+this. But it is not REASON, as you will know as you grow older.
+
+Just exactly so it is the instinct of a dog or a cat to obey you
+whenever you require it. Take notice that you can never teach a dumb
+creature by observation. One cat will never learn to turn over by
+observing that another one gets its food thereby.
+
+But I will not try to mix you up in this discussion now. You will
+reach it soon enough if you live. And when you reach it, you will find
+a very difficult, as well as a very interesting question to solve.
+
+                                               ROBERT HANDY.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The children watch the toy village burning}]
+
+HOLIDAY LUCK.
+
+
+"Mother, mother!" with a prolonged _er_.
+
+"Mary, where's mother?" and the children raced through the house,
+looking into every room on the way.
+
+"Here, Willie; what do you want?"
+
+"O, mother, we are to have a holiday. Miss Mortimer has gone home."
+
+"Isn't it fun!" cried Ada, swinging on her mother's arm.
+
+"That depends upon how you spend it," Mrs. Constant replied.
+
+"Why, a holiday means to have fun, and do just what you please,"
+asserted Willie.
+
+"And not get any lessons," said Dolly, snipping the tape with her
+mother's scissors.
+
+Mrs. Constant took them from her, and smiled on the excited three.
+
+"I hope you will have a pleasant day, and try to be good."
+
+"Not too good, mother," expostulated Willie.
+
+"No, only don't get into mischief."
+
+"What shall we do first?" asked Ada.
+
+"I don't know," replied Dolly. "Isn't it fun to have one whole day
+which is not Christmas or Thanksgiving?"
+
+For a short time the children remained in Mrs. Constant's room,
+upsetting her baskets, tangling her silk, and plying her with
+numberless questions.
+
+"I think you had better take a run in the garden," she finally said.
+"You are so restless and full of holiday, I think the fresh air would
+relieve you."
+
+"What a dear mother!" they cried; and having tumultuously kissed her,
+they repaired to the garden.
+
+They lived in a country town, and had a large plot of ground at the
+back of the house, through the farther end of which flowed a brook.
+Each one had his garden bed, and at one side was a summer-house, where
+they kept their garden tools and many of their playthings, also a pet
+rabbit, named Blackhawk. It was too late in the fall for flowers, only
+a few sturdy asters and hardy verbenas being in blossom, and they
+played tag, hide-and-seek, and chased each other with handfuls of dead
+leaves. While they were thus occupied, their mother called them, and
+told them that aunt Clara had sent for her to come and spend the day;
+she had sprained her ankle, and wanted some one to sit with her.
+
+"Won't you be home to dinner?" they asked in despairing chorus.
+
+"No; but Mary will take care of you, and you can enjoy yourselves; but
+don't do foolish things, or your holiday will be spoiled. Now, you
+must all be mother to each other, that I may find you well and happy
+when I come home."
+
+For a while after she had gone, they amused themselves being mother to
+one another; but Willie made such a failure that they gave it up.
+
+"Let us play with the dolls a little while," suggested Dolly.
+
+The proposition met with favor, and they went to the summer-house. Ada
+had a large family of paper dolls, and Dolly of wooden ones. They
+played tea party, and dinner, and visiting; but Willie could not
+forget that they had a holiday, and he longed to do something unusual.
+
+"You have too many girls, Ada," he cried. "Let us play China, and burn
+some up."
+
+A funeral pyre was soon constructed with splinters of wood, Dolly ran
+to the kitchen for matches, and Willie turned his jacket inside out,
+tied Ada's sack about his neck by the sleeves, put the watering-pot on
+his head, and was ready to personate the priest. Ada selected four
+victims, who were securely bound with thirty cotton, and laid on the
+pile.
+
+"Let us have Blackhawk for the idol," cried Ada.
+
+Blackhawk was brought forth, a string of colored beads put about his
+neck, and he was bolstered up in the arm-chair of the Princess
+Widdlesbee, Dolly's largest doll. But when the match was struck and
+applied with a great flourish, he sprang from his throne, and fled to
+the farthest corner.
+
+"The god is displeased; the sacrifice must cease," cried Ada, who
+began to feel remorse as her dolls crisped and turned to ashes.
+
+"No," shouted Willie, "I am the priest; I know he means burn all;" and
+seizing a brand, he applied it to Dolly's village, which stood near
+by. For a moment it was fun to see the flames bursting from the roofs
+of houses, and lapping about the fences; but Dolly soon gave a cry of
+dismay.
+
+"Susanna and Posy are in the church; I don't want them burned."
+
+"To the rescue!" shouted the heathen priest, snatching the pot from
+his head, and running to fill it with water.
+
+But Dolly could not wait, and had already burned a hole in her apron,
+and singed her hair, trying to save her favorites. Blackhawk cowered
+in the corner, stamping his hind feet, while Ada was pulling apart the
+pyre on which her dolls had perished.
+
+"O, Willie, the floor is burned. Hurry, hurry!" cried Dolly.
+
+Willie ran, deluged the burning village, and Dolly seized Susanna and
+Posy, free from damage, with the exception of Posy's legs, which were
+so long, they lay outside the church door, and were burned off. When
+they cleared away the ruins, there was a round, black spot on the
+floor, where the village had stood, and the children's hands and
+clothes were wet and grimy.
+
+"Do you think mother will care?" asked Dolly, after they had looked
+solemnly at one another.
+
+"I don't believe she will as long as we did not burn any more,"
+replied Willie, stepping back on the rest of the matches.
+
+They were explosive, and lighted with a snap that made him jump. When
+he saw what he had done, he turned the watering-pot over them, and put
+his foot on it.
+
+"Now they are safe," he cried. "Let us bury the pieces of the
+village."
+
+"No," said Ada. "After I get a carrot for Blackhawk, let us make a
+raft of some of them, and put the rest on, and let them float away on
+the brook."
+
+This was speedily done, and when the little craft had passed the
+boundaries of their garden, Willie proposed they should build a dam,
+and some time he would put up a mill. They were hardly fairly at work
+when Mary called them to dinner.
+
+Willie took the head of the table, and was rather offended that Mary
+did not let him cut the meat.
+
+"At any rate, I'll help the pie," he declared.
+
+Mary prudently cut the pieces before she put it on, and while they
+were eating it, Willie very grandly said,--
+
+"You may go now, Mary."
+
+His mother usually dismissed her at dessert, and Willie wished to have
+all the privileges of the place he occupied. Mary retired with a
+smile, and when the first pieces of pie were disposed of, Willie
+offered the girls a second. It was mince pie, very nice and tempting;
+and though Ada knew a second piece was not generally allowed, she
+thought a holiday might make a difference. Dolly was busy feeding
+Prig,--a brisk Scotch terrier, with large, bright eyes, stiff, rough
+hair, and a tail about two inches long,--and refused.
+
+After dinner they returned to their dam, Ada and Dolly bringing the
+material, and Willie building. But Dolly became dissatisfied, and
+insisted on being allowed to work in the water, while Ada deserted
+altogether, and played with Blackhawk, whom they had let out.
+
+"Dolly," cried Willie, "won't you go to my room and get my hammer? and
+be quick, for I've got to hold this while you are gone."
+
+The dam was nearly finished, and both were much excited with the
+success of their work; for the water had collected in quite a pool
+above, and would soon flow over in a fine fall. Dolly ran, leaving the
+doors open behind her. Back she came, and Willie was carefully
+adjusting the last beam, when Ada shouted,--
+
+"Here's Prig, and Blackhawk's out."
+
+All three started, calling Prig, and running after her and Blackhawk
+in wild confusion. Prig misunderstood their anxiety, and supposing
+they were setting her on the rabbit, joined in the hunt. Poor
+Blackhawk tried to escape, but Prig caught him, gave one shake, and
+the pretty rabbit lay dead.
+
+"O, you wicked dog!" cried Ada, while Willie and Dolly stood quite
+overcome by the misfortune.
+
+Prig saw in a moment she had made a mistake, and when Willie rushed at
+her with uplifted hammer, hid behind the summer-house. With loud grief
+and many tears, the children raised their dead pet, and laid it on a
+bench in the out-house. Its blue eyes were half open, its soft
+black-and-white fur wet and rumpled, and they cried and blamed Prig as
+they tenderly arranged it on the bench. Ada fairly howled, and Bridget
+and Mary ran out to see what was the matter.
+
+"Ay," said Bridget, "and it was Dolly herself left the door open,
+though I told her to shut it."
+
+"I didn't know Prig was there," sobbed Dolly.
+
+"It's all Prig's fault," said Willie, "and I'll kill her."
+
+"No, no," pleaded Dolly, with whom Prig was an especial favorite.
+
+A consultation was held over the bench, and it was finally decided
+that the case should be referred to Mrs. Constant on her return,
+though Willie still vowed vengeance. Prig had crept back, and crouched
+in the doorway; but when the children saw her, they drove her away,
+throwing stones and calling her the worst names they could invent. She
+skulked outside very unhappy, until Willie shut her up in the
+summer-house, while the children spent the rest of the long afternoon
+over their dead rabbit. Dolly tied the Princess Widdlesbee's best blue
+sash about his neck, Willie emptied his toolbox to lay him in, and Ada
+spread her best doll's bed-quilt over him. Then they sat and cried
+together until Dolly started up, and said,--
+
+"There's mother."
+
+The first thing Mrs. Constant heard when she entered the house was the
+cry of,--
+
+"Mother, mother!"
+
+Not with the joyous ring it had in the morning, but with an appeal in
+it which told her some trouble had come which mother could best heal.
+All told the story separately and together, laying Blackhawk on her
+knees, and crying on her shoulder.
+
+"And I'm going to hang Prig for a wicked, bad dog," said Willie, to
+conclude. "She is a murderer!" and he fiercely wiped his tears.
+
+"My dear little boy, I don't think poor Prig was to blame at all."
+
+"O, mother!" cried a mournful chorus.
+
+"No; Dolly left the door open, you all excited her, and I begin to
+think you were having too much of what Willie calls a holiday."
+
+"But it wasn't her holiday, and she's killed Blackhawk. O-o-o!" and
+they all cried again.
+
+Mrs. Constant soothed them, and sympathized.
+
+"Don't cry any more. You will be sick. I would not kill Prig, for then
+she would be gone too, and to-morrow you would be sorry. And besides,
+she was only trying to do as you wanted her to, and following out her
+doggish instinct."
+
+But half convinced, the children went to the summer-house and called
+Prig; but she would not come. Then they drove her out, and as she
+stood trembling before them, reproached her, and raising their arms,
+shouted,--
+
+"Go!"
+
+Prig hesitated a moment, looked from one to another, then with her
+tail between her legs, her hair on end, she uttered an unearthly howl,
+and fled at full speed, crowded under the gate, and disappeared.
+
+The children went to bed early, as Mrs. Constant thought the
+excitement was bad for them, and in the night she was called to the
+little girl's room. Dolly was feverish, and ill with a sore throat,
+and Ada in great pain. They were sick all night, and in the morning
+Mrs. Constant heard about the second piece of pie and Dolly's dam
+building. Her sleeves had been wet all the afternoon, and the grief,
+added to the pie and wet, had made them both ill.
+
+They were not able to go out that day, and Willie buried Blackhawk
+alone, while they watched him sadly from the window. They took their
+last farewell of their pet at the kitchen door, and would have given
+all their yesterday's sport to have helped Willie with the funeral. He
+had meant that Prig should have attended as chief mourner, but she was
+nowhere to be found. No one had seen her since her flight, and for
+days they could find no trace of her. This added to their discomfort;
+for they all loved her, and Ada and Dolly were confined to the house
+for some time, and wanted her to play with them.
+
+About a week after, on a rainy night, Bridget found her at the kitchen
+door, and with great difficulty persuaded her to come in. She was very
+thin and unhappy, and hid from the children, when they, already sorry
+for their harshness, were kind to her, and tried to play with her. It
+was a long time before she was the lively Prig she used to be, and was
+always a little lame in her left fore foot. Something had hurt her in
+those days of absence; and though after a while the children forgot
+their holiday and the consequences, I am afraid poor Prig never did.
+
+                                                SARA CONANT.
+
+
+
+
+LET HIM LIVE.
+
+
+    When one sees a harmless snake,
+    Lying torpid, scarce awake,
+          On a chilly morning,
+    Is it well his life to take
+          Without leave or warning?
+
+    Pretty brown and yellow snake,
+    Whom the sun doth gently wake
+          In the lap of nature,
+    Here is room for weed and brake--
+          Room for every creature.
+
+    Teach us, Nature, how to love,
+    Not the flower and bird alone,
+          Gracious man and woman--
+    Not the beautiful alone,
+          Whether brute or human.
+
+    Teach us, that we may not wound
+    Even a striped snake on the ground,
+          Sunshine all around him!
+    We will go without a sound--
+          Leave him as we found him.
+
+                       MARY R. WHITTLESEY.
+
+
+
+
+MONKEYS.
+
+
+Before the advent of man, and with him civilization, monkeys were
+spread over a much larger portion of the earth than at present. They
+lived in the south of Europe, in England, and in France. Except a few
+of the Paviane, those of the present time are found only in warm
+climates, and are very sensitive to cold.
+
+Monkeys belong to the liveliest and most active of the mammalia. As
+everything eatable is acceptable to them, there is always something to
+catch, to dig, to gather--insects, fruits, roots, nuts, succulent
+herbs, buds, leaves, eggs, &c.
+
+Many stories are told about the orang-outang, or pongo, an inhabitant
+of the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. It is the largest of the apes,
+being, in some cases, seven feet high.
+
+Vosmarin, a Hollander, kept a tamed pongo for a long time. He says,
+"My pongo had rather a sad and downcast look, but was gentle and
+affectionate, and very fond of society, preferring those persons who
+busied themselves about it. Once it seized a bottle of Malaga,
+uncorked it, brought the wine to a secure place, recorked the bottle,
+and set it back again. This monkey was very fond of roasted and boiled
+meats, and sucked eggs with great delight; however it preferred fruits
+to all other food. After drinking, it was in the habit of wiping its
+mouth with the back of the hand, as men sometimes do, and it generally
+used a toothpick. It made great preparations before going to sleep,
+shaking the hay for its bed, and making a bundle for a pillow; it
+covered itself with any cloth or garment it could find.
+
+"Seeing me unlock a door, it observed very attentively, then put a
+piece of wood in the keyhole, and tried to turn it round. Having been
+scratched by a cat with which it was playing, it could never be
+induced to touch pussy again. It untied knots easily, and regularly
+practised upon the shoes of those who came near. It could lift very
+heavy burdens, and made as good use of its hind as of its fore legs;
+for example, if it could not reach a thing with the fore hands, it lay
+on its back, and drew the object with the hind ones. It never cried
+except when left alone. At first the crying resembled the howling of a
+dog, then it became rougher, and at last resembled the noise of a
+wood-saw. It died of consumption."
+
+Jeffries tells of an orang-outang which was very neat; it frequently
+washed the floor with a cloth, after carrying away all remnants of
+food. It also washed its face and hands like a man. This animal was
+very affectionate towards all who spoke kindly, and often kissed its
+owner and waiter.
+
+[Illustration: THE MONKEY.]
+
+The chimpanzee is more like man, in shape, than any other animal. It
+is from four to five feet high; is found in the west part of Africa.
+Its strength is astonishing; one chimpanzee can break off branches of
+trees which two men cannot bend. It is kind and amiable, and very
+teachable. Captain Grantpret speaks of a chimpanzee, which he had on
+board ship, as follows: "It worked with the sailors, casting anchor,
+reefing sails, &c., and doing its full share of work faithfully. The
+ship's baker depended upon it to heat the oven, which it did with
+wonderful care and exactness, never letting the coals fall, and ever
+getting the right heat. It made a peculiar motion to show that the
+oven was ready, and the baker, fully confiding in its judgment, was
+not disappointed. The sailors were very fond of it, and treated it as
+a companion; but the pilot, a cruel, heartless man, abused the animal,
+despite its pitiful looks and gestures, as it placed its hand upon its
+heart, and then stretched it towards him, to tell the pain it felt.
+However, it did not resent his continued ill-treatment, but refused
+to take any nourishment; five days after it died of hunger and a
+broken heart. The sailors bemoaned its loss as that of a companion."
+
+We read of another chimpanzee, which sat at table, ate with knife,
+fork, and spoon, drank from a wine-glass, used a napkin, put sugar
+into a cup, poured out tea, stirred it with a spoon, and sipped from
+the cup until cool enough to drink.
+
+A sick monkey is truly a pitiable object; it sits quiet and sad, and
+its look, as it seems to beg for help, in its distress, is almost
+human. The nearer it approaches its end, the gentler and milder it
+becomes; losing in its animal, it seems to gain in its spiritual
+nature. It perceives a benefactor in its attending physician, and
+thankfully acknowledges his kindness. If it has been relieved by
+bleeding, it invariably stretches out its arm at the doctor's
+approach, as if desiring to be bled again.
+
+                                                    L. B. U.
+
+
+
+
+MY MOTHER'S STORIES.
+
+
+I recall a little verse my mother taught me one summer twilight,
+which, she remarked, she had taught the older children when they were
+little like me. It was this:--
+
+"HAVE COMMUNION WITH FEW, BE INTIMATE WITH ONE, DEAL JUSTLY BY ALL,
+AND SPEAK EVIL OF NONE."
+
+And then she added cheerfully, "It took some time to get your brother
+to repeat it correctly; he would say _untimate_ for intimate, and
+_justless_ instead of justly. But he learned it correctly at last,
+and, I may add, has never forgotten it." So with amusement were
+mother's good instructions blended; after the pleasant story about my
+brother's childhood it was impossible to forget the text.
+
+But, alas, I have never taught it to my children; so many papers,
+books, and magazines made expressly for children of this generation,
+hasten the lighting of the evening lamp, and the twilight lessons of
+home become fewer. But in them all, I never read a more comprehensive
+paragraph, and one that would do to put in practice in every
+particular so thoroughly, and I hope if it gets into print, not only
+my children, but those of other households, will commit it to memory,
+imbibe its spirit, and put it in practice through life.
+
+                                                       E. E.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: SAILING THE BOATS.]
+
+SAILING THE BOATS.
+
+
+    Ho! the jolly sailors,
+      Lounging into port!
+    Heave ahead, my hearties--
+      That's your lively sort!
+    Splendid sky above us,
+      Merrily goes the gale.
+    Stand by to launch away
+      Rag and paper sail!
+
+    Archie owns a schooner,
+      Jack a man-o'-war,
+    Joe a clipper A 1
+      Named the Morning Star;
+    Charlie sails a match-box,
+      Dignified a yawl;
+    Breakers on the lee shore--
+      Look out for a squall!
+
+    Now we're bound for China--
+      That's across the pond;
+    When we go a-cruising
+      Many a mile beyond.
+    Man-o'-war is watching
+      A rakish-looking craft--
+    Kerchunk! goes a bullfrog
+      From his rushy raft.
+
+    There's a fleet of lilies
+      We go scudding round,--
+    Bumblebees for sailors,--
+      And they're fast aground.
+    Here's a drowning fly
+      In her satin dress.
+    All hands, about ship!
+      Signals of distress.
+
+    Argosies of childhood,
+      Laden down with joys,
+    Gunwale-deep with treasures!
+      Happy sailor boys,
+    May your merry ventures
+      All their harbors win,
+    And upon life's stormy sea
+      Every ship come in.
+
+                            GEORGE COOPER.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The wasp trying to get to Harry's pudding}]
+
+IT TAKES TWO TO MAKE A QUARREL.
+
+A STORY FOR OUR YOUNGEST READERS.
+
+
+How Harry Marshall had reckoned upon that piece of currant-pudding!
+The farmer's wife, whose name was Jolly (and a very fit name for her
+it was), had promised him a plateful for dinner, because he had taken
+such good care of her pet brood of chickens while she had been away
+from Elm Tree Farm on a visit.
+
+Harry was a farmer's lad, ten years old, tall and stout for his age,
+and able to do a great many more things than some city boys of
+fourteen. He could ride and drive, keep the stable in order, and even
+handle a plough. Nor was he a dunce; for, thanks to an evening school,
+which some of his Sunday teachers had opened in the village, he had
+learned to read and write very fairly. He had a comfortable place at
+farmer Jolly's; but there was plenty of work to do, and the food was
+plain, though he always had enough; so he did not get pudding every
+day. No wonder, then, that he should go to bed and dream about that
+particular currant-pudding of which I am writing. You must not suppose
+that this was made with such "currants" as are put into a _Christmas_
+pudding; they are only small _grapes_. No; it was a real
+currant-pudding, full of nice red fruit and juice, enough to make your
+mouth water.
+
+The long morning's work was at last over, and Harry, nothing loath,
+hastened in and took his place at the side table in the kitchen, where
+he usually sat. His plate of meat and potatoes was soon cleared, for
+the boy's appetite had been sharpened by several hours in the fields.
+
+"And now, Harry," said Martha, the servant, "here's your pudding, and
+a nice piece it is; but you mustn't be long about it, for John and
+Peter will want you back in the field; they have been gone this half
+hour." So saying, Martha placed the longed-for treat before Harry, and
+went out to attend to some work in the farm-yard.
+
+Just at that moment a wasp, who had grown tired of buzzing about the
+peaches in the garden, and trying in vain to get at them (for Peter
+had covered them with network), peeped in at the window with one of
+his many eyes, and, spying Master Harry's pudding, thought, I suppose,
+that he should like a share. So, without waiting to be invited, he
+flew in with a loud hum, and made straight for the table, just as
+Harry had stuck his fork into the first piece of crust.
+
+Now, our farmer's boy, though he liked pudding, did not like wasps,
+which he fancied were always ready to sting; and being himself rather
+hasty in temper, he at once declared war against the little intruder.
+First he hit at it with his knife, but without success; and then with
+his fork, but only with this result--that the pudding, instead of
+going into Harry's mouth, flew under the grate among the ashes, while
+the wasp seemed to be humming a song of defiance.
+
+Harry grew red in the face, and vowed vengeance against "the nasty
+thing;" but "the nasty thing" would not come and be killed. Seizing a
+large wooden pudding spoon, which lay close at hand, Harry jumped on
+one of the wooden chairs and aimed a desperate blow at the poor
+insect. But Yellow-band was too sharp for him, and Harry, losing his
+balance, fell down with a thump on the sanded floor, while his weapon,
+spinning across the kitchen, came in contact with one of Mrs. Jolly's
+basins, and brought it down with a crash. In rushed Martha in a
+fright, and, worse still, farmer Jolly's round, good-natured face
+appeared close behind.
+
+"Bless the boy," cried Martha, "what have you been up to now?"
+
+"Why--why," said Harry, rubbing his shoulder and looking ruefully at
+the broken china, "it was all that horrid wasp."
+
+"And why couldn't you leave the wasp alone?" retorted Martha, angrily,
+as she picked up some of the pieces.
+
+"Ay, boy," said farmer Jolly, "why couldn't you leave the wasp alone,
+eh? Why couldn't you leave it alone?" he repeated, catching Harry by
+the arm with a grip that made him wince.
+
+"Please, sir--please, sir," stammered the boy, "I thought the
+nasty--the wasp I mean--was going to sting me."
+
+"Stuff and nonsense," replied the farmer; "if you don't interfere with
+the wasps, the wasps won't interfere with you. How often have I told
+you that _it takes two to make a quarrel_? Now you have wasted your
+time, spoiled your dinner, and done mischief; so you had better be off
+to your work, and Martha will put the pudding away till to-morrow."
+
+Harry hastened out, looking very foolish, and feeling very much
+disappointed. "I wish I'd left the wasp alone," he said to himself;
+"then I shouldn't have lost the pudding. The farmer says, 'It takes
+two to make a quarrel,' and I suppose it does. At that rate we needn't
+quarrel at all, unless we like. I'll think about that, so I will." And
+so he did; and when he felt inclined to quarrel, not only with wasps,
+but with boys, he checked himself by calling to mind farmer Jolly's
+words.
+
+And I am of opinion that, if the boys and girls who read this story
+would remember it too, they would escape many unpleasant and
+disagreeable things, and be more likely to have a really happy year.
+For a far wiser Teacher than farmer Jolly once said, "Blessed (or
+happy) are the peacemakers."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Suvaroff makes a speech to some of his soldiers}]
+
+A GOOD WORD NOT LOST.
+
+
+Field-marshal Alexander Suvaroff, the commander-in-chief of the
+Russian army during the reigns of Catharine II. and Paul I., was
+especially fond of mixing with the common soldiers, and sharing in
+their sports and conversations, being always highly delighted when his
+men failed to discover him; and this happened pretty often, for,
+thanks to his small stature and ugly face, as well as the extreme
+plainness of his dress, the great marshal looked as little like a
+general as any man could do. In this way he got to understand
+thoroughly the character of his soldiers, and had a greater power over
+them than any Russian general before or after him. His marvellous
+power of enduring fatigue, his insensibility to heat, cold, or hunger,
+and his untiring energy on the field of battle (in all which points he
+surpassed the hardiest of his grenadiers), made him the idol of the
+rough soldiers whom he commanded; and a word of reproof from Father
+Alexander Vasilievitch, as his men affectionately called him, was more
+dreaded than the fire of a battery.
+
+Before one of his Italian campaigns, Suvaroff gathered together a
+number of his best men, and made them one of the short pithy speeches
+for which he was famous, and some of which are remembered among the
+peasantry to this day:--
+
+"My children, we are going to fight the French. Remember, whatever you
+meet, _you must go forward_. If the enemy resist, kill them; but if
+they yield, spare them; and always remember that a Russian soldier is
+not a robber, but a Christian. Now, go and tell your comrades what I
+have said!"
+
+A few days later a great battle took place, in which the day went
+against the French, who began to retreat about sunset; and a soldier
+named Ivan Mitrophanoff, who had distinguished himself by his bravery
+throughout the whole day, captured, with the help of a comrade who was
+with him, a French officer and two of his men. Mitrophanoff bound up
+the officer's wounded arm, and seeing that the prisoners appeared
+faint from want of food, shared with them the coarse rye loaf which
+was to have served him for supper. He had scarcely done so, when up
+came three or four Russian grenadiers, hot with fighting, and raising
+furious cries.
+
+"What," cried they, "three of these French dogs living yet!" and they
+ran upon the prisoners with levelled bayonets.
+
+"Hold, my lads!" cried Mitrophanoff. "I've given them their lives, and
+no one must touch them now!"
+
+But the soldiers would not listen to him, and were rushing forward,
+when a stern voice from behind shouted, "Halt!" and a little,
+pugnosed, dirty-faced man, dressed only in a coarse linen shirt and a
+pair of tattered gray trousers, stepped into the circle. But, ragged
+and dirty as he was, the fierce soldiers could not have looked more
+frightened had he been a giant in full armor.
+
+"The general!" muttered they, slinking off.
+
+"Ay, the general!" roared Suvaroff, "who will have some of you shot
+presently, if you can't learn to obey orders better! And you," he
+added, turning to Mitrophanoff, "who taught you to be so good?"
+
+"Your highness' own self taught me," answered the grenadier. "I
+haven't forgotten what you told us last week--that a Russian soldier
+is not a robber, but a Christian!"
+
+"Right!" exclaimed Suvaroff, with a brightening face. "A good word is
+never lost, you see. Give me your hand, my lad; you shall be a
+sergeant to-morrow, and a right good one you'll make!"
+
+And the next day he made good his word.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+PONTO.
+
+
+Our dog Ponto is a knowing old fellow. It is as good as a show to
+watch him sometimes. He has one quality that most of us might seek
+after with advantage--that is, a will to overcome difficulties that
+scarcely anything can hinder. If Ponto takes it into his head to do
+anything, he is pretty sure to succeed. What helps his dogship is the
+faculty of imitation. He is like a monkey in this, only a great deal
+more sensible than any monkey I ever heard tell of. You never catch
+him venturing upon unknown danger, or making himself ridiculous,
+because his human friends and companions choose to step aside from the
+ways of safety and respectability.
+
+One day, a few years ago, Ponto was missing. He had been about as
+usual during the morning, but all at once disappeared. A neighbor told
+us that he had seen him fighting with the butcher's dog about noon,
+and that he was getting the worst of it. I went over to the butcher's
+during the afternoon, and the butcher's boy confirmed the neighbor's
+story. Ponto had come over there for a fight, as the boy said, and
+"got more than he bargained for."
+
+"He'll not try it again very soon, I'm thinking," added the boy, with
+a malicious pleasure.
+
+"Do you know where he is now?" I asked.
+
+"Home, I suppose. He went off that way, limping," answered the boy.
+
+"Was he much hurt?"
+
+"Considerable, I guess."
+
+I went back home, but no one had seen Ponto. I was beginning to feel
+anxious about the dog, when he was found in one of the third-story
+rooms, snugly covered up in bed, with his head on the pillow. On
+turning down the clothes a sight met our eyes. The sheets were all
+stained with blood, and the poor dog, hurt and exhausted, looked as
+helpless and pitiful as any human being.
+
+[Illustration: PONTO.]
+
+I will not tell you of all the wounds he had received. There were a
+great many of them, and some quite severe. "A good lesson for him," we
+all said. And it proved so, for he was a little more careful after
+that how he got into a fight.
+
+A few months before, I had been thrown from a wagon and badly hurt--so
+much so that I was confined to bed for a week. Ponto was with me at
+the time of the accident, and on my arrival at home followed me into
+the house and up to the chamber where I was taken. He watched every
+movement as I was laid in bed, and then sat down with his eyes on my
+pale face, regarding me with such looks of pity and interest that I
+was touched and surprised.
+
+When Ponto's turn came, he remembered the comfortable way in which I
+had been cared for, and profited by what he had seen. But his
+mistress, while she pitied the poor animal, did not fancy having her
+spare bedroom turned into a dog-hospital; and so we removed him to an
+out-house and made him as comfortable there as possible.
+
+One cold winter evening Ponto was absent from his accustomed place in
+the hall, where he slept on a mat. The wind was high and there was a
+confusion of sounds outside.
+
+"Hark!" said one.
+
+We all listened.
+
+"I thought I heard a knock at the hall door."
+
+"Only the wind," was replied.
+
+"Yes; there it is again."
+
+We all heard two distinct knocks, given quickly one after the other.
+
+I arose, and going into the hall went to the front door and opened it.
+As I did so Ponto bounded in past me, gave two or three short, glad
+barks, and then paid his boisterous respects to the family in the
+sitting-room. I waited a moment, and then stepped out to see who had
+lifted the knocker, but found no one. Ponto had done it himself, as we
+had proof enough afterward; for ever since that time he has used the
+knocker as regularly as any two-legged member of the family.
+
+I could tell you stories for a whole evening about Ponto, but these
+two must answer for the present.
+
+
+
+
+BRUIN AT A MAPLE-SUGAR PARTY.
+
+
+One evening near the first of April, three years ago this spring, I
+was making my way the best I could down from the west branch of the
+Penobscot River towards the plantation of Nikertou. (Up in Maine they
+call an unincorporated town a plantation. Down south the word has a
+different meaning.) How and why I came to be in that wild section, at
+the hour of twilight, may need a word in explanation.
+
+A month previously I had been sent up to the "Head of Chesuncook" from
+Bangor, by the lumbering firm of which my uncle was a member, to pay
+off one of their "gangs," which made the "head" of that lake a sort of
+depot and place of rendezvous.
+
+Both going up and coming back as far as the foot of Lake Pemadumcook,
+I had had with me, as guide and armed protector, an old hunter named
+Hughy Clives. But on getting down to the foot of this lake, and within
+six or eight miles of Nikertou, old Hughy had been seized with a
+sudden desire to leave me and to go to Millinocket Lake in quest of
+otters; and so giving me my "course" for Nikertou, he had bidden me
+"good luck," and again started northward.
+
+It was a warm, spring-like afternoon, though the snow in that region
+still lay to the depth of three or four feet; but on my snow-shoes I
+didn't mind the depth; the main thing was to keep out of the brush and
+the dense hemlock and cedar thickets.
+
+It was about two o'clock when I left the river; and I had expected to
+get down to the little "settlement" by sunset. But the sun went below
+the distant spruce-clad ridges, and dusk fell, with as yet no signs of
+a "clearing." Had I lost my way? My little pocket-compass said I was
+all right--if Hughy had given me a correct course; and I had all
+confidence in the old man too. Still, as the twilight deepened around
+me, with the unbroken forest stretching drearily ahead, I began to
+feel rather uneasy; especially as (since parting with Hughy and his
+rifle) I had no weapon save a jack-knife and a little pocket-pistol I
+had brought along with me from Bangor--not very effective arms in case
+a catamount should take it into his head to drop down upon me from a
+tree-top, or a big black bear to step out from behind one of those low
+hemlocks, or even a cross old "lucivee" to rush out from some of those
+thick cedar clumps. For thoughts of these things had begun to pop into
+my mind. I was but seventeen then, and hadn't quite outgrown my fear
+of the dark. And thus plodding timorously onward, thinking on many
+things injurious to a boy's courage, I had begun to think I should
+have to make a night of it there, somewhere, when the red gleam of a
+fire, from the crest of the ridge before me, suddenly burst out on the
+darkness, banishing all my fears. For a fire, whether in a hunter's
+camp or a farm-house window, is good evidence of man's presence, with
+food and shelter--the two great wants of the belated.
+
+[Illustration: {The bear invades the sugar party camp}]
+
+Hurrying on, I made my way up the slope. The fire seemed to be in the
+open air, among trees--a woodman's camp probably; and, knowing that
+these men are sometimes a little _ticklish_ about having strangers
+come too suddenly into their night camps, I halted, while yet at some
+distance, for a good look ahead.
+
+There seemed to be several large kettles, slung with chains from a
+"lug-pole" supported by strong crotched stakes at each end--a
+circumstance which struck me as a little odd at a hunting-fire. No one
+was in sight, though a sort of half shelter of hemlock might contain
+the campers. Whatever they were, it would be well to hail them. So,
+calling in my breath, I gave a loud "hullo."
+
+Two dusky figures rose from the shelter, and looked out towards me
+into the darkness.
+
+"Hullo!" I repeated; and in response heard a clear boyish voice
+exclaiming,--
+
+"Who's there?"
+
+"Belated tramper."
+
+"Well, walk up, Mr. Tramper, where we can see what you are."
+
+I moved up to be seen, and on my part saw a couple of youngsters, of
+about my own age, who were tending what turned out to be a
+sugar-camp.
+
+"Where from?" demanded the taller of the two.
+
+"Head of Chesuncook. Going to Bangor. Can I stay here to-night?"
+
+"Of course you can. Had any supper?"
+
+"Not a mouthful."
+
+"Something left--wasn't there, Zeke?" said he, turning to his comrade,
+who was now pouring cold sap into the "heater."
+
+"Enough for one, I guess," said Zeke; and, taking a bucket and a
+wooden bowl from under the hemlock, he produced a slab of johnny-cake
+from the former, and, pouring out something like a quart of maple
+sirup into the latter, bade me "go ahead."
+
+I did so without further invitation, and never made a better supper,
+the programme being to dip the bread into the sirup, mouthful by
+mouthful.
+
+The boys were now preparing their night's wood.
+
+There had been, they said, "an excellent run of sap" during the last
+few days. The kettles were kept boiling day and night, steadily. It
+was truly a wild scene. Clouds of steam gushed up from the surging
+kettles; and the fires gleamed brighter as the darkness deepened,
+while all about us seemed a wall of blackness. But my long tramp had
+thoroughly tired me down, and my recollections of the remainder of the
+evening are a little drowsy, though I learned in the course of it that
+the names of the two youthful sugar-makers, upon whose camp I had
+stumbled, were Zeke Murch and Sam Bubar; and I also helped to take off
+a large kettle of hot sirup, which we set in a snow-drift, two or
+three rods from the fire, to cool. This done, I was soon asleep,
+rolled up in an old coverlet, and knew very little till, hearing
+voices, I opened my eyes to the fact that the sun was staring me in
+the face from over the eastward ridge, as if surprised at my sloth.
+
+Hastily unrolling myself, I saw Sam and Zeke out at the kettle we had
+set in the snow, pointing and excitedly discussing something.
+
+"Old scamp!" exclaimed Zeke. "What work he's made here!"
+
+"All this sugar gone--spoiled!" cried Sam.
+
+"What is it?" said I, going out to them. "What's the matter?"
+
+"Why," said Sam, turning and laughing in spite of his vexation,
+"something has _guzzled_ up 'most the whole of this 'honey' we set out
+here last night. Only see there!"
+
+The kettle, which must have held several pailfuls, was nearly empty;
+and what was left hadn't a very inviting look certainly.
+
+"What in the world ate all that?" cried I.
+
+"Well--a bear, we expect," said Zeke. "There's been one hanging round
+here for several nights. We heard him _hoot out_, down in the swamp,
+ever so many times, after you had gone to sleep last night. Didn't
+think he'd come up so near the fire, though. But we both got to sleep
+a little while after midnight. I suppose he must have _lushed_ up the
+sirup then."
+
+"Tremendous fellow, too," said Sam. "Look at those tracks!"
+
+Tracks indeed! There in the snow about the kettle were his broad, deep
+footmarks, long as a man's boot, and much wider, pressed down, too,
+into the snow, as only great weight could have pressed.
+
+"Gracious!" exclaimed I, "you wouldn't have caught me going to sleep
+here if I had known there was such a monster as that round!"
+
+"Rather lucky, I think," said Zeke, "that he didn't take it into his
+head to _top off_ his sirup with some of us."
+
+"And I'm mad, too," continued Zeke. "We were depending on this kittle
+of sirup for our party to-night."
+
+"Your party?"
+
+"Yes; we've invited a lot of the boys--and girls, too--to come up here
+this evening, to make 'sheep-skins.' You'll stay--won't you? We were
+going to ask you."
+
+"Don't know," said I, still thinking of the bear.
+
+"O, I don't think he'll meddle with us," said Sam, guessing at my
+hesitation. "I'm going down to get some _fixins_, and shall bring up a
+gun. If he calls again, he may get a dose of buckshot."
+
+No one is apt to be a great coward after the sun is up. Thus
+reassured, I concluded to stop to the party, for which the boys were
+intending to make a great preparation.
+
+"Let's do the thing up in style now," said Sam.
+
+We went at it. First we cut low, shrubby evergreens, hemlocks mostly,
+and with these made a sort of enclosure, some four rods in diameter,
+around the kettles, by planting them in the snow. Then clipping off an
+immense quantity of smaller boughs, we strewed the snow inside the
+enclosure with these. We thus had a sort of green room (without any
+roof), in the centre of which steamed the boiling kettles; and at the
+entrance, or doorway, we made a grand arch of cedar. For seats we
+rolled in "four-foot" cuts from the trunk of a large poplar they had
+lately felled, first splitting off a slab from the side of each to
+form a seat, which we cushioned with cedar.
+
+Meanwhile another kettle of sirup was boiling down to supply the place
+of that the bear had drank; and filling some fifteen or twenty
+sap-buckets with clean snow, crowded down hard to make the
+"sheep-skins" on, we were ready for our company.
+
+It was nearly night before all this had been completed. Sam had been
+down to the "settlement" and brought up a quantity of bread to go with
+our honey; and I was glad to see that he hadn't forgotten the gun;
+for, as night began to close in again, I couldn't help remembering the
+great tracks out there in the snow-drift. As it grew dark and the fire
+began to shine on the green boughs, our scenery looked even better
+than by daylight; and for beacons to our incoming guests, we fixed
+torches of pitch-wood upon stakes thrust into the snow around our
+camp, and at several points out in the woods, like lamp-posts in a
+town.
+
+"Quite a show," said Sam, surveying the preparation. "How changed and
+odd it makes it look all about!"
+
+Ere long voices began to be heard coming up through the woods,--merry
+shouts and hails,--to which the boys responded, bidding them hurry,
+and promising a big "sheep-skin" to the one who first got up there.
+
+A chorus of merry cries and laughter followed this announcement; and
+in a few moments a racing, panting crowd of a dozen boys and girls
+came up in sight, and poured under the arch--sturdy lads, and lasses
+in red frocks and checked aprons. And here be it said that a girl--a
+certain rosy Nell Ridley--won the sheep-skin by being the first under
+the archway. But the others were not far behind, and in another moment
+our green arena was swarming with the young folks.
+
+Though a stranger, I soon found myself acquainted and on the best of
+terms with everybody. Sheep-skins were now being run by the dozen, the
+process being to pour hot sirup upon the cold, hard-pressed snow in
+the buckets, where it instantly cooled, becoming tough and of the
+color of sheep-skin. And if one has a "sweet tooth," nothing among all
+the "sugars" can compare with a maple sheep-skin.
+
+We all had _sweet teeth_ there, and were in the midst of a furious
+romp around the kettles in chase of Nell, whom some one had accused of
+appropriating "the great one," when somebody suddenly cried,--
+
+"Hark!"
+
+There was an instant hush; when clear on the evening air there came a
+wild cry--a long, quavering "Hoo-oo-oo."
+
+"Bear! A bear!" exclaimed several of the boys, to whom bruin's nightly
+cries were but familiar sounds. But save that a few of the girls
+looked a little startled, no one seemed to be much alarmed. I saw Zeke
+looking to the priming of the old gun, though; and for a while we were
+pretty whist, listening; but the cry, which had seemed at a
+considerable distance, was not repeated. Indeed, in the merriment
+which soon succeeded, the most of us had entirely forgotten it, I
+think. At least we were all in the midst of another scrimmage over the
+"last biscuit," when a loud snort, like that of a startled horse, a
+sort of "woof! woof!" accompanied by a great rustling in our evergreen
+hedge, startled us; and turning, we saw--I shall never forget the
+sight--an enormous black creature coming through our _fence_, with all
+the independence of a sole proprietor! Of course, as Zeke afterwards
+expressed it, "if _he_ was _coming in_, we wanted to _go out_."
+
+The girls were not of the fainting sort; but they did scream some, and
+we all sprang away like cats through the opposite side of the hedge.
+The gun had been left standing near the place where the bear had
+broken in, and was not to be got at, of course. But, catching out my
+pistol, as we scrambled through the hemlock, I discharged it at the
+old fellow, hitting him, I guess; for he growled and came straight
+after me. 'Twas no time to be loitering. Down the slope we all ran
+together, slumping and sprawling full length in the soft snow! Up and
+on again, knocking out spiles and kicking over sap-buckets, bumping
+and grazing ourselves against the rough bark of the maples; for it was
+pitch dark in the woods. But on we went for dear life, expecting every
+moment to feel the bear's teeth or claws from behind. At first I had a
+sort of impression that we boys should have to wait and put ourselves
+between the girls and the bear; but I soon found I had all I could do
+to keep up with them. Such girls to run I never saw before! And we
+never stopped till, at a distance of a mile below, the forest opened
+out into a cleared field.
+
+There we began to discover that the bear was not after us, and
+gradually came to a halt. After getting breath, however, we kept
+on--at a little slower pace, though--down to the "corners," where,
+after seeing the girls to their respective dwellings, guns were
+procured, and, rallying out Mr. Bubar and Mr. Murch, senior, with
+several other men, we all started back to hunt up the bear. Going
+quietly up through the woods, we cautiously approached to a point
+where the gap we had made in rushing out of our enclosure enabled us
+to see what was going on inside; and there by the firelight we beheld
+the bear sitting cosily before the coals, and gazing wistfully into
+the boiling kettles. He had probably found them too hot for his use.
+
+Raising their guns, the men all fired together--a murderous volley of
+bullets and buckshot. Rearing upon his haunches with a sullen growl,
+old bruin glared around a moment, then fell over backwards, and, with
+a few dying kicks and groans, was dead. And this was the end of Bruin
+and the maple-sugar party.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT.]
+
+THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT.
+
+
+There is not the least difficulty in distinguishing the Asiatic from
+the African elephant. The ears of the former are comparatively small,
+only reaching a little below the eyes, while the ears of the African
+species are of enormous dimensions, actually crossing on the back of
+the neck, drooping far below the chin, and extending beyond the
+shoulder-blade. Generally, the ears are laid so flatly against the
+neck, that they seem almost to form part of the skin of the head and
+shoulders; but when the creature is suddenly roused, the ears are
+thrown forward, and stand out so boldly, that they look more like
+wings than ears. Towards the lower part the ears form themselves into
+slight folds, which are not without some degree of elegance.
+
+The end of the trunk also differs from that of the Asiatic species. In
+that animal a kind of finger projects from the upper part of the
+extremity; but in the African species the end of the trunk is split so
+far, that the two lobes act as opposable fingers, and serve to grasp
+any object which the animal desires to hold. This structure can easily
+be seen by offering the animal a piece of biscuit. The forehead, too,
+affords another means of distinction, being convex in the African, and
+flat or slightly concave in the Asiatic.
+
+Another very decided difference lies in the teeth. These enormous
+engines of mastication are made up of a number of flat plates laid
+side by side, and composed of enamel and bone. In the Asiatic species
+these plates are nearly oval in form, and may be imitated by taking a
+piece of cardboard, rolling it into a tube, and then pressing it until
+it is nearly flat. But in the African species these plates are of a
+diamond shape, and may be rudely imitated by taking the same
+cardboard tube, and squeezing it nearly flat at each end, leaving the
+centre to project. In consequence of these distinctions, several
+systematic zoölogists have thought that the African elephant ought to
+be placed in a separate genus, and have therefore called it _Loxodonta
+Africana_, the former of these words signifying "oblique-toothed." I
+think, however, that there are no real grounds for such a change, and
+that the genus Elephas is amply sufficient for both species.
+
+The enormous ears of the African elephant are not without their use to
+the hunter, who finds in them an invaluable aid in repairing damages
+to his wagons and guns. Even if a gun-stock be smashed,--an accident
+which is of no very unfrequent occurrence in South African hunting,--a
+large piece of elephant's ear, put on while fresh and wet, and allowed
+to dry in the sun, sets matters right again, and binds the fragments
+together as if they were enclosed in iron. Sometimes the ear seems to
+be a protection to the animal; for it is so tough and strong, despite
+its pliability, that the hunter will occasionally find several bullets
+lodged in the ear, which have not been able to penetrate through a
+substance at once tough and flexible.
+
+This species is of a thirsty nature, so that wherever elephant paths
+are seen, the hunter knows that he is not very far from water of some
+kind. And as elephants have a fashion of travelling in Indian file, it
+is easy enough to trace their footsteps, and so to find the water. The
+animals go to drink in the evening, as do many other wild beasts, and
+the quantity which they consume is enormous. They go close to the
+water's edge, insert the end of the trunk into the liquid, draw it up
+until the two nostril-tubes are full, turn the end of the trunk into
+the mouth, and then discharge the contents into the stomach. When
+satiated, they amuse themselves for a while by blowing water all over
+their bodies, and then retrace their steps to the forest glades whence
+they came.
+
+The enormous quantity of water which they carry home within them has a
+rather curious effect. At tolerably regular intervals a loud, rumbling
+sound is heard, much resembling the "glug-glug" produced by pouring
+wine out of a bottle, and lasting a few seconds. Were it not for this
+phenomenon, the hunters would meet with far less success than at
+present is the case. When hiding from a foe, the elephant can remain
+motionless, so that not a cracking stick nor a rustling leaf betrays
+its presence. But it cannot prevent this periodical rumbling; and
+accordingly, when a hunter is in the bush after elephants, he sits
+down every few minutes, and waits, in order to catch the sound which
+tells him that elephants are near. Even in the semi-domesticated
+specimens at the London Zoölogical Gardens, this sound is easily to be
+heard.
+
+The African elephant is more hunted than the Asiatic species, and
+affords better sport and greater profit to the hunter. It seems to be
+a fiercer, more active, and probably a more cunning animal, and, owing
+to the character of the country through which it ranges, it seems to
+be of a more nomad disposition. The chase of the African elephant
+appears to exercise a kind of fascination over its votaries, like the
+chase of the chamois among the Swiss mountaineers; and when a hunter
+has fairly settled down to the business, he cannot tear himself away
+from it without exercising great self-denial. Perhaps few sports are
+encompassed with greater difficulties and dangers, or involve greater
+hardships; and yet the wild, free, roving life has such charms, that
+even a highly-educated European can scarcely make up his mind to
+return to civilization.
+
+In the first place, elephant hunting is not, as are many sports, an
+expensive amusement. On the contrary, a hunter who possesses a
+sufficiency of skill, courage, and endurance will be able not only to
+cover his expenses, but to pay himself handsomely for his trouble.
+There is certainly a very large expenditure at the outset; for a
+hunter will need two wagons, with a whole drove of oxen, several good
+and seasoned horses, a small arsenal of guns, with ammunition to
+match, provisions for a lengthened period, and plenty of beads and
+other articles which can be bartered for ivory. Moreover, a number of
+native servants must be kept, and the amount of meat which they
+consume daily is almost appalling.
+
+Then there are always great losses to be counted upon. The cattle get
+among the dread Tzetse flies, and die off in a few hours; the horses
+catch the "paardsikte" (a kind of murrain), or tumble into pitfalls;
+wagons break down, servants run away with guns, native chiefs detain
+the wagons for weeks, together with a host of minor drawbacks. Still,
+if a man is worthy of the name of hunter, and boldly faces these
+difficulties, he will pay himself well, provided that his health holds
+out--there are so many valuable articles to be brought from Southern
+Africa, such as the horns and furs of animals, the skins of birds,
+ostrich feathers, and ivory.
+
+The teeth of the elephant, too, are valuable, and are made into
+various articles of use and ornament. A set of knife-handles made of
+elephant's tooth is sometimes to be seen, and I have now before me an
+excellent specimen of a knife-handle, which shows the alternate rows
+of enamel and bone in a very striking manner, and is certainly a much
+handsomer article than a handle made of simple ivory.
+
+[Illustration: THE ELEPHANT.]
+
+The elephant is, indeed, one of the most eccentric of animals. There
+is no possibility of calculating upon it, and nothing but experience
+can serve a hunter when measuring his own intellect against the
+elephant's cunning. The scent or sight of a human being at the
+distance of a mile will send a herd of powerful male elephants on
+their travels, the huge creatures preferring to travel for many miles
+rather than meet a man. Yet, when assailed, there is scarcely any
+animal which is more to be dreaded. It forgets fear, and, filled with
+blind rage, it will chase an armed man in spite of his rifle, and will
+continue to charge him until it dies.
+
+It will engage in deadly battle with its own species, or with the
+mail-clad rhinoceros, and yet will run away at the barking of a little
+dog. There was a curious instance some years ago, when an elephant
+that was travelling in America went mad, escaped from its keeper
+during the night, and traversed the country for miles, doing great
+damage. It broke carts to pieces, killed the horses, and was trying to
+force its way into a barn where another horse had taken refuge, when
+it was checked by a bull-dog, which flew at the huge animal, bit its
+legs, and worried it so thoroughly, that the elephant, mad as it was,
+fairly ran away. Indeed, nothing seems to cast this gigantic animal
+into such a state of perplexity as the noisy attacks of a little,
+cross-tempered, insolent, yapping terrier. The elephant cannot
+understand it, and gets into such a state of nervous irritation, that
+it never thinks of running away or annihilating its diminutive foe,
+but remains near the same spot, making short and ineffectual charges,
+until the hunter comes up and deliberately chooses his own position
+for attack.
+
+The flesh of the elephant is anything but palatable, and when cut into
+strips and dried in the sun, has been aptly compared to leather
+straps. A well-known hunter said that the character of elephant's
+flesh might easily be imagined by taking the toughest beefsteak ever
+cooked, multiplying the toughness by four, and subtracting all the
+gravy. The natives, however, are possessed of marvellously strong jaws
+and sharp teeth, and to them meat is meat, whether tough or tender.
+There are, however, several parts of the elephant which are always
+good; and these are the heart, the feet, and the trunk. The heart and
+trunk are simply roasted, with the addition of some of the fat from
+the interior of the body; but the feet require a more elaborate mode
+of cookery.
+
+While some of the men are cutting off the feet, others are employed in
+digging a circular hole in the ground some ten feet deep and three
+wide, the earth being heaped round the edge. An enormous heap of dry
+wood and leaves is then piled over the hole, set on fire, and allowed
+to burn itself out. As soon as the last sticks have fallen into the
+hole, the men begin to rake out the glowing embers with long poles.
+This is a laborious and difficult task, the heat being so great, that
+each man can only work for a few consecutive seconds, and then gives
+way to a cooler comrade. However, there are plenty of laborers, and
+the hole is soon cleared. The elephant's foot is then rolled into the
+hole, and covered over with the earth that was heaped round the edge.
+Another pile of wood is then raised, and when it has completely burned
+out, the foot is supposed to be properly baked. Thus prepared, the
+foot is thought to be almost the greatest luxury which South Africa
+can afford, the whole interior being dissolved into a soft, gelatinous
+substance of a most delicate flavor. There is never any lack of fuel;
+for the elephants break down so many branches for food, and in their
+passage through the bush, that abundance of dry boughs can always be
+picked up within a limited area.
+
+
+
+
+THE SONG OF THE BIRD.
+
+
+I.
+
+In those unhappy days when revolution prevailed in France, there were
+a number of noble families who were reduced to extreme poverty. One of
+these was the family of Duke Erlan, who was a noble and
+highly-respected man, while his wife was kind and charitable to such
+an extent that all the poor people in the surrounding country loved
+her with great affection.
+
+They had two children--Carl and Lillie. When a certain revolutionary
+outbreak had occurred, the duke removed from the city where he lived
+to his chateau, in a retired part of the country, where he was
+surrounded by rocks, vineyards, and fields of grain, far removed from
+the bustle and turmoil of city life.
+
+The good man regarded himself as very fortunate in being permitted to
+live here in quiet with his family, and become the teacher of his
+children.
+
+Notwithstanding the great danger prevailing in the country, this was
+indeed a happy family.
+
+The duke was a good musician, and he made it an object to teach his
+children to play on the piano; and though they were quite young, both
+of them knew a number of very beautiful tunes.
+
+On one stormy evening, near the end of winter, all four of them sat
+together near their splendid piano. The duke had composed a little
+song for his two children. It was such a pleasant, lively melody, that
+they had learned it very easily, and each of them could play it. Their
+mother, however, did not know it, and the children now thought it a
+great thing for them to have the privilege of teaching it to her.
+
+"Carl," said the duke, "you play, and we will sing."
+
+And they sang this song:--
+
+          "Take courage, bird;
+          Our Father says,
+          In winter's storms
+          And summer's rays
+          You have no barns,
+          You sow no wheat,
+    But God will give you bread to eat."
+
+While they were singing, they heard some one knock at the door. They
+heard the bell ring, and when the door was opened, five soldiers, clad
+in uniform, demanded Duke Erlan to deliver himself up. They walked
+straight up to him, and told him that he must go immediately to
+prison. His wife cast herself at their feet, and begged them to let
+him live in peace.
+
+"We cannot help it," said they. "We have our orders, and must obey
+them."
+
+Not five minutes elapsed before that good man was taken from the midst
+of his happy family, and hurried to prison. The duchess and her son
+and daughter were overwhelmed with sorrow. They could not sleep that
+night, and the next morning, as they looked out of the window and saw
+how the storm had prevailed in the vineyards and on the fields, they
+felt that the storm in their own hearts had been far more destructive.
+
+The unhappy duchess now determined to use every means to rescue her
+beloved husband. She went to the judges and assured them of her
+husband's innocence; but they did not seem to have any more feeling
+than so many marble statues. She received, in reply to her entreaties,
+this answer:--
+
+"In a few days your husband will be beheaded."
+
+She returned to the castle after three days, and found that it was
+occupied by soldiers. The furniture had all been taken away, and the
+treasures were missing. She was not permitted even to enter the
+castle, and was informed that her children, for whom she was weeping
+in great sorrow, were gone--nobody could tell where.
+
+It was late at night, and she did not know where she would sleep.
+Going out into the castle-yard, she was met by Richard, an old and
+faithful servant, who said,--
+
+"Good mistress, you are in danger every moment of being arrested.
+There is no safety for you unless you flee as quickly as possible. I
+cannot conceal you, for that would be dangerous for all. I cannot save
+your husband, and if you stay here it will be certain death. Your
+children are at my house. Come with me. My brother, the old fisherman,
+who keeps the ferry at the Rhine, is already informed of the matter. I
+will go with you this very night, and he will take you and your
+children safely over the river. Run--let us run for life."
+
+The duchess came to the house of good Richard, where she found her
+children. But Lillie was quite sick, and lay upon Richard's cot,
+suffering from a high fever. She did not even know her mother. How
+could that good lady leave her sick child? She did not wish to do it,
+but the peasant told her that she could be of no assistance, and that
+he would see that she was well provided for.
+
+"Run," said he, "for your life is in danger."
+
+It was a sad moment when Lillie's mother was compelled to leave her
+child lying upon that sick bed; but the good woman, before giving her
+a parting kiss, knelt at her side, and said,--
+
+"O Lord, I commit this dear child to thee for safe keeping. I believe
+thou wilt one day restore her to me."
+
+The duchess was silent for a few moments; then, calmly arising, she
+kissed her child, took Carl by the hand, and hastened through the
+door towards the distant river.
+
+She finally came to the old ferryman's house, and he gave them a great
+deal of welcome, having provided some warm soup and bread to
+strengthen them. They were taken over the river, and the two brothers,
+Solomon and Richard, returned in the boat.
+
+It was a desolate condition in which the duchess and her child were
+placed, and we must follow her in her wanderings. The farther she went
+from the river, the safer it would be for her and Carl. She followed
+the direction which Richard had given her, until she reached
+Switzerland. But her delay there came near costing her her life, for
+she learned that a detective officer was in search of them. With all
+the haste possible, she got across the Swiss boundary into the Tyrol,
+which was Austrian territory. There she was safe. They passed over
+high mountains, and through deep valleys, seeking a place where they
+could settle. At last they came to a certain valley, which, in quiet
+beauty, surpassed anything that they had seen.
+
+"This reminds me more of home," she said, "than any country through
+which we have passed. I have got several hundred louis which good
+Richard saved when our house was plundered, and we can afford to rent
+a little cottage."
+
+The old Tyrolese peasant told her that there was no house for sale in
+all the valley. "But," said he, "you can board in my cottage if you
+choose."
+
+The price was agreed upon, and the duchess and her son became inmates
+of the family. The little room which was to be their home was very
+plainly furnished; but simple as it was, the first thing that she did
+on entering it was to kneel there with her child, and thank God for a
+shelter. She arranged her affairs as well as she could for a
+permanent residence with the Tyrolese peasant, and she began to look
+upon it as home.
+
+One day she told the peasant that she wished to send her little boy
+Carl to school, if there was a good schoolmaster in the neighborhood.
+
+"The pastor in a neighboring village," said the peasant, "will be here
+to-day to catechise my child. He teaches school, and I think you can
+make an arrangement with him."
+
+That day the gray-haired old pastor came, and an arrangement was made
+with him for Carl to go to school to him. Books were provided for him,
+and he went to school with the greatest pleasure. He was a rapid
+student, and repeated his lessons every evening to his mother.
+
+In the Tyrol a great many canary birds are trained, and are sold to
+dealers all through the country. The old Tyrolese peasant with whom
+the duchess and Carl were boarding had a young and beautiful bird,
+which sang very sweetly. Carl asked his mother to buy this bird,
+saying,--
+
+"Mother, this bird is very much like the one that our dear, sweet
+Lillie used to have. Buy it for me, so that it may learn how to sing."
+
+The duchess bought the bird, and soon became very much attached to it.
+Carl took the greatest pleasure in its training, and in due time,
+little Tim--for that was his name--would come to him and peck at his
+fingers, and rub his little head on Carl's hand.
+
+Carl was a natural musician, just as his father was, and would
+sometimes play on a flute which the old Tyrolese peasant had. Little
+Tim would imitate his tunes, and sometimes the concert was well worth
+hearing.
+
+The old pastor provided the duchess with news. One day he gave her a
+French newspaper, and in the first column which she read there was a
+long list of the names of noblemen who had been beheaded. Among them
+she read the name of her husband, Henry Erlan. The newspaper fell from
+her hands, and she swooned away. A severe illness came on, and it was
+a long time doubtful whether she would recover. The old Tyrolese
+despaired of her life, and said,--
+
+"The coming autumn may find her no more with us; but who knows what
+the good Lord will bring out of all this sorrow?"
+
+
+II.
+
+The old servant Richard, having rescued his good mistress from arrest,
+and probably from death, now formed the resolution to save his master
+too. He had not much time to plan, for he learned that the duke was to
+be beheaded the following week. It so happened that the son of his
+brother Solomon, the ferryman, belonged to the National Guard, and was
+stationed at the prison to guard it. If he could only secure him to
+engage in the enterprise, he felt that he could succeed. It was a
+difficult thing to get a word to say to any member of the National
+Guard. But old Richard had done many kind things for his nephew, and
+he succeeded in getting a note to him through the post office,
+appointing a time, when he was off duty, to meet him. Richard opened
+the whole enterprise freely to his nephew, and told him all the great
+injustice that had been done a noble family, and the sufferings
+through which the different members had passed.
+
+The duke was informed that he was to be beheaded next day, and his
+door was marked by the prison-keeper as the room of a man who was to
+be executed the following morning. The good man knelt in prayer after
+the intelligence had been conveyed to him, and said,--
+
+"To whom shall I go for help and courage, this last night of my life,
+but to thee, O Lord? Thou knowest best what will happen to me. If it
+be in accordance with thy will, permit me to see my wife and children
+again. If thou seest that it is not best for thy glory that I should
+live, then I will obey willingly. Thy will, not mine, be done."
+
+[Illustration: "FATHER, FATHER! THAT IS THE VERY TUNE WHICH WE WERE
+    SINGING TOGETHER THE NIGHT THAT YOU WERE ARRESTED." See page 327.]
+
+That was a noble prayer. Scarcely had the last word fallen from his
+lips, when he heard somebody gently lifting the latch of his door, and
+inserting the key.
+
+"Save yourself," whispered the person who entered, who was none other
+than old Solomon's son, to whom Richard had confided his enterprise.
+It was two o'clock in the morning, the very best time to accomplish
+his purpose.
+
+"Put on these clothes," said he, as he unfolded a soldier's uniform;
+"take this hat, and here is a gun. As quickly as you possibly can,
+transform yourself into a soldier."
+
+They escaped in safety from the prison, accompanied by the faithful
+Richard, and went as rapidly as they could towards the Rhine. They
+reached old Solomon's ferry house. The young man knocked gently at the
+window, and asked his father to come out as soon as possible and take
+the duke over the river.
+
+"Are you not going to take your little girl with you?" said the old
+ferryman.
+
+"What little girl?" asked the duke.
+
+"Your little daughter, whom my brother has brought here this very day;
+and she is as sweet a child as I ever saw in my life. She lies asleep
+now in the corner of the room."
+
+This was news which the nobleman did not expect to hear, and he was
+almost overcome with joy. But he had no time to spend in greeting,
+except to give his dear Lillie a kiss. Soon they were over the Rhine;
+but before reaching the bank on the opposite side, they were fired at
+by soldiers who had come in search of them. A bullet passed through
+the top of the duke's high soldier hat, but he was not harmed, and
+escaped in safety.
+
+The great task for him to accomplish now was to find his wife and boy,
+though he had but little hope of ever finding them. Old Richard had
+enough money to buy the duke a horse; so the father mounted the horse,
+and took his little daughter on the saddle with him. They travelled
+over the mountains and through the vales, asking, whenever they met
+any person, to tell them if they knew of any strangers in that section
+of the country. But nobody gave any information.
+
+Old Richard was yet with them, for he had still enough money left to
+buy a mule, and he rode beside his good master and Lillie until the
+17th of July arrived, and that was Lillie's birthday. The duke
+determined that they three should stop and celebrate it by taking a
+little rest and a good meal in a cottage by the wayside. Having
+finished their dinner, they went out of doors and looked about the
+beautiful yard, which was all blooming with flowers. A bird cage was
+hanging by the side of the door, and the bird was singing the tune to
+these words:--
+
+          "Take courage, bird;
+          Our Father says,
+          In winter's storms
+          And summer's rays
+          You have no barns,
+          You sow no wheat,
+    But God will give you bread to eat."
+
+Lillie was astounded at again hearing that sweet melody, and she
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Father, father! that is the very tune which we were singing together
+the night that you were arrested."
+
+The little bird went over it two or three times, and the father
+said,--
+
+"You are right, my dear child. That is the melody--not a note is
+wanting. This is truly wonderful. I do believe that this bird has been
+taught to sing that song by Carl and your good mother. O, Richard, can
+you not find out how this bird came here?"
+
+Richard said in reply,--
+
+"I will do all I can, but I am afraid that it will be very difficult."
+
+He made inquiries of the man who owned the bird, and who had furnished
+them with the dinner, as to where the bird came from. The Tyrolese
+replied,--
+
+"I don't know where it came from, except that a young man who passed
+along the road, and who lives about three miles from here, sold it to
+me for a trifling sum one day. I was pleased with its appearance,
+because it was a beautiful bird, and the price was very low."
+
+Then Richard said,--
+
+"Can you not see that young man, and find out where he got it from?"
+
+"I will do so if you wish," he answered.
+
+Richard then told him to report as soon as possible what he had
+learned.
+
+That afternoon, about five o'clock, the young man was brought to
+Richard and the duke, and inquiries were made as to where he got the
+bird. He said that he did not know where it came from exactly, except
+that it was found one day after it had escaped from somebody's cage.
+He did not know who owned it, or else he would have taken it to its
+owner.
+
+"Where was it you found it?" said the duke.
+
+"About ten miles from here, when I was going to see my mother, who
+lives a great many miles away."
+
+"Do you know whether any strangers are in that neighborhood?" asked
+the duke.
+
+"I heard my mother say that there were a lady and a little boy living
+some three miles the other side of her house, and that she was a very
+good woman."
+
+"Did you ever see the boy yourself?" inquired the duke.
+
+"Yes, I saw the boy going to school."
+
+The duke, on making further inquiries as to his appearance, came to
+the conclusion that the boy whom he had seen was probably none other
+than Carl. He accordingly made his arrangements to go to the place of
+which the young man had spoken.
+
+That night he reached the house where this good lady and her son were
+boarding. True enough, the duke and little Lillie were in the presence
+of the duchess and Carl. It was a happy meeting, far beyond my power
+to describe. Their gratitude to their heavenly Father for preserving
+them to each other knew no bounds. It was an hour of such happiness as
+is seldom permitted any one to enjoy.
+
+They sat up late that night and recounted their experiences to each
+other, and then the duke revealed the secret of his coming to that
+house; that it was a canary bird which had been the instrument of his
+finding her and Carl. They spent a few days in great happiness there,
+and made a bargain with the man who owned the canary bird which had
+escaped from Carl's cage to get it back again.
+
+Two years passed on, and peace and quiet were again restored to
+France. The duke and his family were permitted to return to his
+castle, and the government made him ample reparation for all the
+losses that he had incurred. They took with them their little canary
+bird, which had lost none of its sweet notes by the lapse of time.
+
+One day a magnificent new piano arrived from Paris, and after tea the
+duke said,--
+
+"Now we will try the piano in our own quiet home. What shall we sing?"
+asked he.
+
+The duchess, and Carl, and Lillie all answered with one voice,--
+
+"We must sing our bird song."
+
+          "Take courage, bird;
+          Our Father says,
+          In winter's storms
+          And summer's rays
+          You have no barns,
+          You sow no wheat,
+    But God will give you bread to eat."
+
+
+
+
+THE SHEEP AND THE GOAT.
+
+
+    Not all the streets that London builds
+      Can hide the sky and sun,
+    Shut out the winds from o'er the fields,
+    Or quench the scent the hay swath yields
+      All night, when work is done.
+
+    And here and there an open spot
+      Lies bare to light and dark,
+    Where grass receives the wanderer hot,
+    Where trees are growing, houses not;
+      One is the Regent's Park.
+
+[Illustration: THE GOATS.]
+
+    Soft creatures, with ungentle guides,
+      God's sheep from hill and plain,
+    Are gathered here in living tides,
+    Lie wearily on woolly sides,
+      Or crop the grass amain.
+
+    And from the lane, and court, and den,
+      In ragged skirts and coats,
+    Come hither tiny sons of men,
+    Wild things, untaught of book or pen,
+      The little human goats.
+
+    One hot and cloudless summer day,
+      An overdriven sheep
+    Had come a long and dusty way;
+    Throbbing with thirst the creature lay,
+      A panting, woollen heap.
+
+    But help is nearer than we know
+      For ills of every name;
+    Ragged enough to scare the crow,
+    But with a heart to pity woe,
+      A quick-eyed urchin came.
+
+    Little he knew of field or fold,
+      Yet knew enough; his cap
+    Was just the cap for water cold--
+    He knew what it could do of old;
+      Its rents were few, good hap!
+
+    Shaping the brim and crown he went,
+      Till crown from brim was deep.
+    The water ran from brim and rent;
+    Before he came the half was spent--
+      The half, it saved the sheep.
+
+    O, little goat, born, bred in ill,
+      Unwashed, ill-fed, unshorn!
+    Thou meet'st the sheep from breezy hill,
+    Apostle of thy Saviour's will,
+      In London wastes forlorn.
+
+    Let others say the thing they please,
+      My faith, though very dim,
+    Thinks He will say who always sees,
+    In doing it to one of these
+      Thou didst it unto him.
+
+
+
+
+FROM BAD TO WORSE.
+
+
+    Come, children, leave your playing,
+      And gather round my knee,
+    And I'll tell you a little story:
+      Away across the sea,
+    In a meadow where the mosses
+      And the grass were frozen brown,
+    Three little maids sat milking
+      One day as the sun went down--
+    Not cows, but goats of the mountain;
+      And before their pails were full,
+    The winds, they pierced like needles
+      Through their gowns of heavy wool.
+    And as one hand, then the other,
+      They tried to warm in their laps,
+    The bitter weather froze their breath
+      Like fur about their caps.
+    And so, as they sat at their milking,
+      They grew as still as mice,
+    Save when the stiff shoes on their feet
+      Rattled like shoes of ice.
+
+    At last out spoke the youngest
+      As she blew on her finger-nails:
+    I have planned a plan, sweet sisters:
+      Let us take our milking-pails,
+    And go to the side of the mountain
+      As fast as we can go,
+    And heap them up to the very top
+      From the whitest drifts of snow;
+    And let us build in the meadow
+      Where we will milk our goats at night
+    A house to keep us from the cold,
+      With walls all silver white.
+
+    We will set the door away from the wind.
+      The floor we will heap with moss,
+    And gather little strips of ice
+      And shingle the roof across.
+
+    Then all the foolish maidens,
+      They emptied their pails on the ground,
+    And bounded up the mountain-side
+      As fast as they could bound,
+    And came again to the meadow
+      With pails heaped high with snow,
+    And so, through half the night, the moon
+      Beheld them come and go.
+
+    But when with the daybreak roses
+      The silver walls shone red,
+    The three little foolish maidens
+      Were lying cold and dead.
+    The needles of the frost had sewed
+      Into shrouds their woollen coats,
+    And with cheeks as white as the ice they lay
+      Among their mountain goats.
+
+                               ALICE CARY.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: GRACIE AND HER FATHER.]
+
+MY STORY.
+
+
+Many years ago, when the sky was as clear, the flowers as fragrant,
+and the birds as musical as now, I stood by a little mahogany table,
+with pencil and paper in hand, vainly trying to add a short column of
+figures. My small tin box, with the word _Bank_ in large letters upon
+it, had just been opened, and the carefully hoarded treasure of six
+months was spread out before me. Scrip had not come into use then; and
+there were one tiny gold piece, two silver dollars, and many quarters,
+dimes, half-dimes, and pennies. For a full half hour I had been
+counting my fingers and trying to reckon up how much it all amounted
+to; but the problem was too hard for me. At last I took pencil and
+paper, and sought to work it out by figures.
+
+"What are you doing, Gracie?" pleasantly inquired my father, entering
+the room with an open letter in his hand.
+
+"O, papa! is that you?" I cried, eagerly turning towards him. "Just
+look--see how much money I've got! John has just opened my bank. It is
+six months to-day since I began to save, and I've more than I
+expected."
+
+"Yes, you are quite rich."
+
+"So much that I can't even count it. I've done harder sums in addition
+at school; but somehow, now, every time I add, I get a different
+answer. I can't make it come out twice alike."
+
+"Where did you get that gold piece?"
+
+"Why, don't you know? _You_ gave it to me for letting Dr. Strong pull
+out my big back tooth."
+
+Father laughed.
+
+"Did I?" said he; "I had forgotten it. But where did you get those two
+silver dollars?" he inquired.
+
+"O, grandmother gave me this one. It's _chicken_ money. She gave it to
+me for feeding the chickens every morning all the while I staid there;
+and the other is _hat_ money. Aunt Ellen told me if I'd wear my hat
+always when I went out in the sun, and so keep from getting
+sun-burned, that she would give me another dollar; and she did."
+
+"Where did the remainder come from?"
+
+"Mostly from you, papa. You are always giving me money. These two
+bright, new quarters you gave me when you looked over my writing-book,
+and saw it hadn't a blot. How much is there in all?" I earnestly
+asked.
+
+Father glanced at the little pile, and smilingly said,--
+
+"Seven dollars and ten cents. That's a good deal of money for a little
+girl only nine years old to spend."
+
+"And may I spend it just as I please?"
+
+"Certainly, my dear; just as you please. It's a great thing for little
+people to learn to spend money wisely."
+
+Saying this, he seated himself by the window, and drawing me towards
+him, placed me upon one knee.
+
+"Gracie, dear, I have just received a letter from grandmother. She
+proposes that I come to Vermont and bring you; that I remain as long
+as business will admit, and leave you to pass the summer just as you
+did last year. How would that suit?" fixing his kind dark eyes full
+upon my upturned face to read my changing thoughts.
+
+"O, I should like it very much!" I quickly exclaimed, clapping my
+hands with delight. Then I reflected a moment, and a shadow fell over
+my prospective happiness.
+
+"On the whole, papa," I said, earnestly, "I think I had better go, and
+not stay any longer than you can stay. I am all the little girl _you_
+have, and you are all the parent _I_ have, and we should be very
+lonely without each other."
+
+I felt his warm, loving kiss upon my cheek as he folded me to his
+heart, and a tear fell on my forehead. For two years I had been
+motherless; but a double portion of pity and tenderness had been
+lavished upon me by my indulgent father. He was a New York merchant of
+ample means. Our home was elegant and tasteful.
+
+The home of my father's only surviving parent, my doting grandmother,
+whom we were designing to visit, was a plain, unpretending farm-house,
+snuggly nestled up among the hills of Vermont. There were tall poplar
+trees and a flower-garden in front, a little orchard and a whole row
+of nice looking out-buildings in the rear. There was no place on earth
+so full of joy for me. The swallows' nests on the barn; the turkeys,
+geese, and chickens; the colt, lambs, and little pigs; in short,
+everything had an ever-increasing attraction, far exceeding any
+pleasures to be found within the limits of the crowded city.
+
+The prospect of another visit to Woodville filled my heart with
+intense delight.
+
+A week passed, and on one of the sunniest and freshest of June
+mornings we started for Vermont. I was exceedingly fond of travelling
+in the cars, and it seemed as if a thousand sunbeams had suddenly
+fallen upon my young life. The train left New York, and we found
+ourselves rapidly whirling past hills, forests, towns, and villages.
+Sometimes we were flying through dark, deep cuts, then crossing
+streams and rich green fields and meadows.
+
+We expected to reach grandmother's that evening. I had written to
+inform her of our coming. One hour after another passed. The day was
+declining, and the sun was slowly sinking in the west.
+
+"How much longer have we to go?" was the question I had asked for the
+fiftieth time at least.
+
+"About another hour's ride, Gracie," smilingly answered my father. "I
+think we shall reach Woodville about eight."
+
+The cars continued to hurry on till we were within a few rods of the
+station.
+
+The bell was ringing its usual warning, and the bell from a train from
+behind was beginning to be heard. We had commenced to switch off, to
+allow the express train to pass. But by some carelessness or
+miscalculation our train was a minute too late. Father and I were
+comfortably occupying one of the front seats of the rear car; and I
+was in a state of impatient excitement to reach our destination. But
+there came, in an instant, a stunning, frightful crash; and I was
+thrown violently forward. What followed for the next ten minutes I do
+not know.
+
+I think I must have been in a semi-unconscious state, for I have a dim
+recollection of strange sounds, confusion, anxiety, and terror. Strong
+hands seemed to pull me out from under a heavy weight, and gently lay
+me down. I felt dizzy and faint. I opened my eyes, and light came
+gradually to my darkened vision. A gentleman stood over me with his
+fingers upon my wrist. A kind, sunny-faced old lady was wetting my
+head.
+
+"Are you much hurt?" she tenderly inquired, gazing upon me in
+undisguised anxiety.
+
+"What's the matter? Where am I?" I cried, springing up and gazing
+wildly around.
+
+In a moment my eye caught sight of the broken rear car. There were
+several wounded and bleeding people about me. I saw the front cars
+emptied of passengers, who were actively employed in caring for the
+injured. I comprehended in an instant that there had been an accident.
+
+"My father! my father!" I cried.
+
+"You shall see him soon," soothingly answered the gentleman by my
+side. "Drink this;" and he held to my mouth a glass of something
+pleasant and pungent. I drank its entire contents. I think it helped
+to quite restore me. I ran wildly about in search of my missing
+parent. There was a little group of men and women a short distance
+off. I hurried towards it, and recognized Peter, my grandmother's man,
+who had come to meet us at the station.
+
+"Where is my father?" I said in a voice hardly audible from terror,
+seizing Peter's arm.
+
+Before he could reply, I saw father, white and motionless, upon the
+ground.
+
+"He is dead!" I shrieked, springing towards him, and convulsively
+throwing my arms about him.
+
+"He is stunned, _not_ dead, my child," said the physician, kindly
+drawing me away, to minister to him. "We hope he will soon be better."
+
+In spite of his soothing words and tones, I read the truth in his
+face; that he feared life was almost extinct.
+
+"O, what can I do? Save him! save him! You must _not_ let him die! you
+must _not_!"
+
+"My poor child, I will do all I can," replied the physician, touched
+by my distress.
+
+But no efforts to restore my father to consciousness availed anything.
+There was a deep, ugly cut on one side of his head. No other external
+injury could be found; yet he had not spoken or moved since he was
+taken out from the broken car.
+
+The accident had occurred but a few rods from the station; and as
+grandmother's house was scarcely a mile distant, Peter strongly urged
+that he should be taken there at once. Accordingly a wagon was
+procured. The seats were taken out, and a mattress placed upon the
+bottom, and father was carefully laid upon it; and Peter drove rapidly
+home, while I followed with the doctor in his buggy. A man had been
+sent in advance of us to inform grandmother of our coming. She met us
+at the door with a pallid face, but was so outwardly calm, that I took
+courage from beholding her.
+
+Father was laid upon a nice, white bed, in a little room on the ground
+floor; and again every means for restoring him was resorted to. Still
+he remained unconscious.
+
+The hours went on. The old family clock had just struck two, and we
+were watching and working in an agony of suspense.
+
+I had not left my father's bedside, till the low, indistinct
+conversation between the doctor and grandmother, in the next room,
+fell upon my ear.
+
+"There is life yet," said he. "I thought once he had ceased to
+breathe."
+
+"And you are quite sure he does?" she inquired.
+
+"Yes. I held a small mirror over his face; and the mist that gathered
+upon it proves there is still faint breathing."
+
+I shuddered and ran out to them.
+
+"You think he will die!" I cried, seizing grandmother's hand with
+desperate energy.
+
+"I cannot tell, dear Gracie. His life, like yours and mine, is in the
+hands of God. We cannot foresee his purposes. We can only submit to
+his will."
+
+Saying this, she returned with the doctor to the sick room, and I was
+left alone.
+
+The prospect of being deprived of my only surviving parent almost
+paralyzed me. I looked out of the open window. It was a calm, clear
+summer night. The moon shone out in all its glory and brilliancy, and
+the stars twinkled as cheerily as though there was no sorrow,
+suffering, or death in the world.
+
+I sprang towards the door and closed it, and then threw myself upon my
+knees, and poured out my great anguish into the pitying ear of the
+heavenly Father.
+
+"O, good, kind Father in heaven, do hear and quickly answer me. Do
+save my own dear papa from death. Mother, Bessie, and little Fred have
+all gone to live with thee; and he is all I have left. Do, I entreat
+thee, help him to get well; I will be more kind, and generous, and
+obedient than I have ever been before, and will try to please thee as
+long as I live."
+
+I arose comforted and strengthened. Returning to my father's room, I
+saw the doctor with his fingers upon his wrist again.
+
+"A faint pulse," he said, turning towards grandmother.
+
+Another hour passed. The breath was perceptible now, and the doctor
+looked more hopefully.
+
+Morning came, and the glad sunlight streamed in through the windows.
+Father remained in a deep stupor, but manifested more signs of life
+than at any time since the accident. He had moved slightly several
+times, and as the hours went on his breathing became more natural and
+regular.
+
+Suddenly he opened his eyes and gazed feebly around.
+
+"Father, dear father, are you better?" I cried in a choking voice.
+
+He smiled faintly, then closed his eyes again, and sank into a sweet,
+refreshing slumber.
+
+Another day came, bringing joy immeasurable to all of us. Father was
+conscious and rallying fast, and before night the doctor assured us
+all danger was past. The weeks went on.
+
+June went out and July came in. We had been nearly a month in
+Woodville; and how different my visit had resulted from the season of
+perfect happiness I had so ardently anticipated!
+
+Father was gradually regaining his former health; and although the
+wound on his head was but partially healed, he was pronounced doing
+admirably by the attentive physician.
+
+He was now able to go out, and we took many long rides together,
+keenly enjoying the beautiful scenery and the pure air. As strength
+increased, the necessity of returning to his business pressed upon my
+father, and the first week in September was appointed for our
+departure.
+
+On the last Sunday of our sojourn in Woodville, grandmother and I went
+in the morning to church. There had just been a fearfully destructive
+fire in one of the neighboring towns, and a large number of people
+were homeless. The minister announced that at the close of the
+afternoon service, a collection would be taken up for the sufferers,
+and he strongly urged a generous contribution from his parishioners.
+
+I had hitherto paid little heed, when in church, to what the minister
+said; but since the dreadful accident and father's almost miraculous
+recovery, I had been far more thoughtful and attentive than formerly.
+My heart went out in deep sympathy and pity for the poor men, women,
+and children who were made houseless in a single night, and I ardently
+longed to do the little in my power to relieve them.
+
+So, during the intermission between the services, I took out the money
+I had brought with me, and which father had told me I was free to
+spend as I pleased. I tied it up in my handkerchief. There was too
+much for my pocket-book to conveniently hold, for it was all of the
+carefully hoarded treasure of my bank. It was my design to put it into
+the contribution-box.
+
+Grandmother did not go to church in the afternoon; but father decided
+to go, and I accompanied him. After the services were over, two men
+arose and began to pass round the boxes to collect money for the
+people whose homes had been burned. As I beheld one of them coming
+slowly up the aisle, stopping at every pew, I was in a flutter of
+excitement. It was a novel thing for me to put money into the
+contribution-box, and my heart beat violently.
+
+I drew out my handkerchief from my pocket, and hurriedly began to
+untie the knot. But my usually nimble fingers were provokingly slow to
+act now; and I pulled and pulled away, but to no purpose. The knot
+obstinately refused to yield. The man with the box had nearly reached
+our pew, and I began to fear I should lose the chance to give.
+
+"Don't let him slip by me," I whispered so loudly to father as to
+cause at least a dozen persons in the adjacent seats to stare
+wonderingly at me. "I've something to put in."
+
+Another prodigious effort, and the knot yielded.
+
+The man passed the box first to father, and he put in a bill. He
+glanced at me, evidently thinking a child would hardly have money to
+give, and was about to go on; but I looked beseechingly towards him,
+and he stopped and extended the box to me. In an instant the entire
+contents of my handkerchief were emptied into it--as much money as my
+two chubby hands could hold.
+
+Father looked down upon me, and a half-amused smile flitted over his
+face, as he beheld my unexpected act.
+
+After we had returned home, father sat down by the window in an easy
+chair, and calling me to him, placed me upon his knee.
+
+"Gracie, dear," said he, smilingly, "tell me how it happened you put
+so much money into the contribution-box. It must have taken nearly all
+you had."
+
+"It _was_ all I had, papa. It was the money I saved in my bank, and
+you told me I could spend it just as I pleased."
+
+"O, yes, dear; I am glad to have you; only it was a good deal for a
+little girl."
+
+"I gave it because I wanted to please God," I replied with earnest
+solemnity. "That dreadful night, when we all thought you would die,
+dear papa, I promised God I would be a better girl than I have ever
+been before. I would be more kind, generous, and obedient, and would
+try and please him all my life, if he would only let _you_ get well;
+and I gave my money to-day because I am so glad and grateful to him."
+
+"Precious child," said he tenderly and with much emotion, drawing me
+close to him, "and I am glad, and grateful too, for the rich gift of
+my dear little daughter."
+
+                                           SARAH P. BRIGHAM.
+
+
+
+
+THE WAY TO WALK.
+
+
+    As I tramped over a stony path,
+      One cloudy morning early,
+    I learned the only way to step,
+      To keep from being surly.
+
+    Don't hurry, and stride, and come down hard
+      Upon the rolling pebbles,
+    But lightly step; and that's the way
+      To charm all kinds of rebels.
+
+    Don't hurry, and stride, and come down hard,
+      Even on troublesome people;
+    But carry your feet, and tread on air,
+      As though you lived on a steeple.
+
+    There are rolling stones in every path,
+      And rocks with jagged edges,
+    Which, if we gently touch, may turn
+      To flowers and bending sedges.
+
+                                  M. R. W.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE CAMEL.]
+
+[Decoration]
+
+CAMELS.
+
+
+The Bactrian camel may be at once known by the two humps upon its
+back, which give the animal a most singular appearance.
+
+This species is a native of Central Asia, China, and Thibet, and is
+generally as useful in those countries as is the dromedary in Arabia,
+being employed for the saddle, for draught, and burden. It is,
+however, chiefly employed for the second of those purposes, and is of
+the greatest service to its owners.
+
+The vehicle to which this camel is generally harnessed is a rude cart
+of wood, ingeniously put together, without a particle of iron, and,
+after the fashion of such structures, shrieking, creaking, and
+groaning as the wheels turn on their roughly-made and ungreased axle.
+The drivers, however, care nothing for the hideous and incessant
+noise, and probably are so accustomed to it, that they would not feel
+at home with a cart whose wheels moved silently. The mode of
+harnessing is precisely that which so simple a vehicle requires. From
+the front of the cart projects a pole, and to this pole are hitched a
+pair of camels by a yoke that passes over their shoulders. In fact,
+the entire harness is nothing more than a wooden yoke and a leathern
+strap.
+
+In spite, however, of the rude machine to which they are attached, and
+the great loss of power by the friction of the badly-fitted wheels,
+the animals can draw very heavy weights for considerable distances. A
+burden of three thousand pounds' weight is an ordinary load for a pair
+of camels, and a peculiarly strong yoke of these animals will draw
+nearly four thousand pounds' weight. This camel is commonly yoked in
+pairs.
+
+For the plough the camel is never employed, not because it is not
+sufficiently strong for the task, but because it does not pull with
+the steadiness needed to drag the ploughshare regularly through the
+ground.
+
+Sometimes, however, the Bactrian camel is employed as a beast of
+burden, the bales being slung at each side, and the water-skins
+suspended below the belly. When the animal is employed for this
+purpose, a kind of pack-saddle is used, somewhat similar in shape to
+that which has already been described in the history of the one-humped
+camel, but necessarily modified in its structure. The owner of the
+camel takes great care not to overload his animal, as he is afraid of
+injuring the humps, and thereby detracting from the value of the
+camel.
+
+[Illustration: CAMEL OF A TARTAR EMIGRANT.]
+
+In Persia the camel is employed for a very singular purpose. There
+was, and may be now, a corps of the army which is called the camel
+artillery. It consisted of a number of camels, each fitted with a
+peculiar saddle, which not only accommodated the rider, but carried
+a swivel-gun of about one pound calibre. These weapons had a greater
+range than the ordinary Persian matchlocks, and, owing to the rapidity
+with which they could be transferred from spot to spot, formed a
+valuable branch of the artillery.
+
+When the enemy saw that a detachment of the camel artillery was about
+to attack them, their usual device was to reach such a position as to
+force the camels to traverse wet and muddy ground, in which they were
+sure to slip about, to lose all command over their limbs, and
+sometimes to lame themselves completely by the hind legs slipping
+apart.
+
+Camels were especially serviceable for this purpose, because they are
+wonderfully sure-footed when the ground is dry, almost rivalling the
+mule in the certainty of the tread. The Arabian camel is notable for
+his sure tread, but the Bactrian species is still more remarkable in
+this respect. Owing, in all probability, to the elongated toe, which
+projects beyond the foot, and forms a kind of claw, the Bactrian camel
+can climb mountain passes with perfect security, and in consequence of
+this ability is sometimes called the mountain camel.
+
+It is as serviceable in winter as in summer. The soft, cushion-like
+feet, which slide about so helplessly in mud, take a firm hold of ice,
+and enable their owner to traverse a frozen surface with easy
+security. In snow, too, the Bactrian camel is equally at home; and the
+Calmucks would rather ride a camel than a horse in the winter, because
+the longer legs of the former animal enable it to wade through the
+deep snow, in which a horse could only plunge about without finding a
+foothold. No greater proof of the extreme utility of this animal can
+be adduced than the fact that a body of two thousand camels were
+employed in conducting a military train over the "snow-clad summits
+of the Indian Caucasus" in winter time, and that throughout the space
+of seven months only one camel died, having been accidentally killed.
+
+Although the camel has so strong an objection to mud, it has none to
+water, and will wade across a river without hesitation. It can even
+swim well when the water is too deep to be forded; but it does not
+appear to have much power of directing its course, or of propelling
+itself through the water with much force. Indeed, it may rather be
+said to float than to swim.
+
+In point of speed it cannot approach the Arabian dromedary, although
+it is little inferior to the ordinary camel of burden. About two and a
+half miles per hour is the average pace at which a pair of Bactrian
+camels will draw a load, varying in weight from three to four thousand
+pounds; and if they travel over a well-made road, they can do their
+thirty miles a day for many successive days. In countries, therefore,
+which are adapted to its habits, the camel is far superior to any
+other beast of burden, whether for draught or carriage.
+
+One great advantage of the camel is, that its feet are so tough, that
+they can pass over rough and stony places without suffering, and that
+therefore the animal does not require the aid of shoes. In an ordinary
+march, the constant attention to the shoeing of horses and cattle
+entails great labor, much watchfulness, and often causes considerable
+delay, so that the peculiar formation of the camel's foot, which
+neither requires nor admits of an iron shoe, is of exceeding value in
+a forced march. In some places a leathern shoe is fixed to the camel's
+foot, but is really of little use.
+
+[Illustration: THE CAMEL.]
+
+The very worst time for the Bactrian camel is the beginning and end of
+winter, when frost and thaw occur alternately. At such times of the
+year the snow falls thickly, is partially melted in the daytime, and
+at night freezes on the surface into a thin cake of ice. Through this
+crust the feet of the camel break, and the animal cuts its legs
+cruelly with the sharp edges of the broken ice.
+
+For the cold weather itself this species of camel cares little,
+passing its whole time in the open air, and feeding on the grass when
+it is caked with the ice formed from the dew. Indeed, it bears a
+severe winter better than either horse, ox, or sheep, and has been
+observed to feed with apparent comfort when the thermometer had sunk
+many degrees below zero. In some places--such as the country about
+Lake Baikal--the camel is partially sheltered from the cold by a thick
+woollen cloth, which is sewn over its body; but even in such cases its
+owners do not trouble themselves to furnish it with food, leaving it
+to forage for itself among shrubs and trees of higher ground, or among
+the reeds and rushes that grow on marshy land and the banks of rivers.
+
+Almost the only disease among the Bactrian camels is an affection of
+the tongue, which is covered with blisters, so that the poor animal
+cannot eat, and dies from starvation.
+
+The fleece of the Bactrian camel ought to weigh about ten pounds, and
+is used for making a coarse and strong cloth. In the summer time the
+hair becomes loose, and is easily plucked off by hand, just as sheep
+used to be "rowed" before shears were employed in removing the wool.
+The camel in the Zoölogical Gardens may be seen in the summer time in
+a very ragged state, its fleece hanging in bunches in some parts of
+the body, while others are quite bare. The price of the wool is about
+six cents a pound.
+
+The skin is used for making straps, ropes, and thongs, and is seldom
+tanned. It is thought to be inferior to that of the ox, and is in
+consequence sold at a comparatively cheap rate, an entire hide only
+fetching about two dollars. The milk is used for food, but is produced
+in very small quantities, the average yield being only half a gallon.
+The flesh is eaten, and when the animal is fat is tolerably tender,
+and is thought to resemble beef. If, however, it be in poor condition,
+the meat is so tough and ill-flavored, that none but hungry men, armed
+with good teeth, can eat it. The price of a good Bactrian camel is
+about fifty dollars.
+
+The weight of a full-grown animal is about one third more than that of
+the average ox--that is to say, about twelve hundred pounds. The
+average height is seven or eight feet, and the animal generally lives
+about thirty-five or forty years.
+
+Dissimilar in external appearance as are the Bactrian and Arabian
+camels, their skeletons are so alike, that none but a skilful
+anatomist can decide upon the species to which a skeleton has
+belonged. The legs of the Bactrian species are rather shorter in
+proportion than those of the Arabian animal, and in them lies the
+chief distinction of the two species. Indeed, many naturalists deny
+that there is any real difference of species, and assert that the two
+animals are simply two varieties of the same species.
+
+The specimen in the Zoölogical Gardens is called "Jenny" by the
+keeper, and has rather a curious history, being associated with one of
+the great events of the present century. During the late Russian war
+her mother was taken from the enemy in the Crimea, and was
+unfortunately killed. The deserted little one ran about among the
+soldiers, and was adopted by the corps of Royal Engineers, who towards
+the end of 1856 presented her to the Zoölogical Society. Both the
+camels are fed upon the same diet, and eat about the same quantity.
+
+                                                 J. G. WOOD.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Two girls looking thoughtful; one of them is sitting
+    on a clothes trunk}]
+
+WHAT SO SWEET?
+
+
+    What so sweet as summer,
+      When the sky is blue,
+    And the sunbeams' arrows
+      Pierce the green earth through?
+
+    What so sweet as birds are,
+      Putting into trills
+    The perfume of the wild-rose,
+      The murmur of the rills?
+
+    What so sweet as flowers,
+      Clovers white and red,
+    Where the brown bee-chemist
+      Finds its daily bread?
+
+    What so sweet as sun-showers,
+      When the big cloud passes,
+    And the fairy rainbow
+      Seems to touch the grasses?
+
+    What so sweet as winds are,
+      Blowing from the woods,
+    Hinting in their music
+      Of dreamy solitudes?
+
+    Rain, and song, and flower,
+      When the summer's shine
+    Makes the green earth's beauty
+      Seem a thing divine.
+
+                         MARY N. PRESCOTT.
+
+
+
+
+COUNTING BABY'S TOES.
+
+
+    Dear little bare feet,
+      Dimpled and white,
+    In your long night-gown
+      Wrapped for the night,
+    Come let me count all
+      Your queer little toes,
+    Pink as the heart
+      Of a shell or a rose.
+
+    One is a lady
+      That sits in the sun;
+    Two is a baby,
+      And three is a nun;
+    Four is a lily
+      With innocent breast,
+    And five is a birdie
+      Asleep on her nest.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE WELL.]
+
+THORNS.
+
+
+"Deepdale is a delightful place to visit." So thought little Nellie
+Harris when she went there to see Cousin Rose. All day long they
+wandered over the farm with Uncle John, first to feed the chickens,
+then to the well so dark and deep Nellie shuddered when she looked
+far, far down into it, and held tight to Rose for fear of falling.
+Uncle John turned the windlass to let Rose and Nellie see the bucket
+rise all dripping from its watery bed.
+
+One morning after Nellie's return to the city, Rose was walking alone
+in the garden.
+
+The flowers were charming, for the dew was not yet off their delicate
+petals; and they were so fragrant that little Rose's nose was put
+close up to a great many, to find which it was that smelled so very
+sweetly. First she was sure it was a great cabbage-rose that nodded at
+her from its stalk, but soon after she was surer that it was a little
+bed of pansies, or "Johnny-jump-ups," which turned all their bright
+little faces to the sun, like a family of newly-washed and
+clean-aproned children just starting for school. Soon, however, she
+was surest that it was a patch of mignonette under the pear tree,
+which, though it looked so plain and humble with its little bits of
+blossoms, was pouring out the richest perfume.
+
+"Oh, it is you, is it?" said little Rose. "Mamma read to us yesterday
+that perfume was the soul of flowers. I guess you have got the biggest
+soul of them all, if you are so little."
+
+Pretty soon Rose began to think of something more substantial than
+bird-songs, sunbeams and flowers. There were very nice raspberries,
+red and ripe, over beyond the currant-bushes, and her mamma allowed
+her to pick them in that part of the garden, for she knew how
+delightful it is for little folks to eat their fruit just where they
+pick it from the bushes.
+
+Little Rose went around into the lower walk, where she could see the
+raspberries. A good many had ripened over-night, and hung on the long,
+waving stems, waiting to be picked.
+
+There was a short way to them, right across between two great
+branching currant-bushes. She saw it was guarded by long briar-stalks
+with sharp thorns all along their sides, but it was so much nearer
+than to go around the long row of currants. "Mamma says we must not be
+afraid of trials and discouragements in our way," Rose said. She was
+very fond of quoting things she heard said or read, and applying them
+to her own experience.
+
+"I guess I can get through. Little girls must be brave!" And she
+pushed boldly into the middle of the space between the bushes. But
+there she caught fast, and could not go a step farther. One great,
+strong branch of thorns was stretched across her foot, the sharp
+points sticking fast in her stocking, and hurting her flesh cruelly if
+she tried to move it. Another one caught hold of her little
+garden-shawl and pulled it away back off her shoulders. She pulled and
+twitched with all her might, but could not get it loose. On the other
+side her little bare elbow was torn and bleeding from a scratch, while
+her dress was held as fast as if a hundred invisible hands were
+pulling at it. There she was. She could not get on nor back. There was
+nothing to be done but to call for her mother. This she did so loudly
+that everybody in the house came rushing to see what was the matter.
+Dolly and Hannah, leaving their dish-washing in the kitchen, got there
+first, and setting to work soon had Rose out, but with scratched
+hands, arms and feet and two great rents in her dress.
+
+"How in the world did you come in there among the briars?" asked
+mamma, after they were in the house again and Rose became comforted a
+little.
+
+"It was the nearest way to the raspberries," she answered.
+
+"The nearest? Yes; but not the best. It would have been far better to
+go around by the path."
+
+"I heard you tell Cousin Lucy the other day that folks must never mind
+if there were thorns in their way," said little Rose, almost sobbing
+again, for she had thought that at least her mother would praise her
+courage and philosophy.
+
+Her mother smiled, but presently looked grave.
+
+"My darling," she said, "it is true we must not mind thorns if they
+are in the path of duty. But when they grow in any other path, we have
+a right--indeed, we ought--to avoid them if we can."
+
+"But wasn't I in the path of duty when I tried to get the raspberries,
+mamma? You said that I might pick all that grew down there."
+
+"You were not doing wrong in trying to get them."
+
+"Isn't that the same as duty?"
+
+"Not exactly. Would it have been wrong for you to do without them? Or
+would you have been to blame for going by the path?"
+
+"Oh no," said Rose; "it would not have been wrong, for nobody said I
+must get them, or that I must go through the currant-bushes."
+
+"Then you see it was not duty."
+
+"Please tell me exactly what is meant by duty, mamma."
+
+"Duty is not only something which we may do, it is something which we
+ought to do, and which it would be wrong to neglect. It is not simply
+permission, but obligation. Is that plain?"
+
+"Yes, mamma. I understand now. I was permitted to pick the berries,
+but I was not obliged to do it or else do wrong. But if you had sent
+me to pick them for you, it would have been duty."
+
+"And do you think that in that case it would be right to go through
+the thorns?"
+
+"No, mamma; I see now. It is right to take the plainest, easiest way
+when we can."
+
+"Yes, my dear. We must not be afraid of thorns if our path leads over
+them. But if we leave the true path and foolishly try to push
+ourselves through unnecessary obstacles, it is not bravery or
+fortitude, but vanity and silly rashness."
+
+
+
+
+UNDER THE PEAR TREES.
+
+
+    Under the pear trees one August day,
+    In the long-ago and the far-away,
+    Four little children rested from play,
+
+    Cheering the hours with childish chat,
+    Now laughing at this or shouting at that,
+    Till a golden pear fell straight in Fred's hat.
+
+    "I'm lucky," he cried as he hastened to eat
+    The mellow pear so juicy and sweet;
+    "If I tried for a week, that couldn't be beat."
+
+    Then Tom and Jenny and Mary spread
+    Their hats and aprons wide, and said,
+    "We can catch pears as well as Fred."
+
+    Then long and patient they sat, and still,
+    Hoping a breeze from over the hill
+    Their laps with the golden fruit would fill.
+
+    Till, weary of waiting, Tom said with a sneer,
+    "I could gather a _bushel_ of pears, 'tis clear,
+    While idly we _wait_ for a _windfall_ here."
+
+    Then up the tree he sprang, and the power
+    Of his sturdy arm soon sent a shower
+    Of yellow fruit as a golden dower.
+
+    It was long ago, that August day
+    When four little children rested from play
+    Under the pear trees far away.
+
+    And the children, older and wiser now,
+    With furrows of care on either brow,
+    Have not forgotten the lesson, I trow--
+
+    The lesson they learned on that August day,
+    That for having our wishes the surest _way_
+    Is to _work_, and in _earnest_, without _delay_.
+
+
+
+
+THE CAVE OF BENTON'S RIDGE.
+
+
+The cave was a large opening in a ledge of rocks, about half a mile
+from the village of M----, and had for years been a favorite resort
+for the boys on the holidays.
+
+'Twas at the close of school, on a bright June day, when, with a rush
+and a shout, out came a bevy of boys from the school-house, and over
+the wall with a bound were half a dozen before the rest had emerged
+from the open door. The first ones took their way across the fields to
+the cave, and had thrown themselves down on the rock at the entrance,
+and were busily talking, when the last comers arrived.
+
+"We've planned to have a time Saturday; if Miss Walters will take the
+botany class for a walk, we'll come here and have supper, and go home
+by moonlight," said Fred Manning. "How does that strike you?"
+
+"Count me in," said Phil Earle. "I second the motion," said Arthur
+Ames. "Where shall we go to walk?" said another; "this is nearly far
+enough for some of the girls."
+
+"Pooh! no! we can get some nice pitcher-plants, if we go to Eaton's
+meadows; we haven't been there for ever so long," said Phil.
+
+All agreed it would be fun, and Phil was deputized to ask Miss
+Walters, and with her complete the arrangements.
+
+"It's Thursday now; and I'll ask father if we can't have some of the
+hay they are making down in the lower field, to put inside the cave;
+for we must fix up a little," said Arthur. Willie Eaton said his
+mother would make them a jug of coffee; and as he lived near, he would
+run round that way at noon, and put it in the spring, so as to have
+it nice and cool. For one of the attractions of this place was a
+lovely spring, that bubbled and sparkled among the ferns, just under
+the rock where the cave was.
+
+Fred and Phil began to lay the stones for the fireplace; for though it
+was not cold on these bright June nights, still a fire was one of the
+grand features of the occasion.
+
+They all worked, some brushing out the cave with bushes, some getting
+old wood in piles to burn, rolling stones for seats, etc., until it
+was time for them to go home, when, with merry shouts, off they ran
+down the rock, and over the fields, home.
+
+Next morning Phil called for Miss Walters, and on the way told her of
+the plans for Saturday, into which she entered heartily, and wanted
+the boys to stay a few moments after the morning session, to perfect
+the arrangements.
+
+At recess she called the girls of the botany class to her, and said,--
+
+"Girls, can you go on Saturday to walk? The boys have invited us to
+take supper at the cave."
+
+"O, yes!" "O, yes!" "Yes, indeed!" "Splendid!" answered half a dozen
+voices.
+
+"We will meet here at two o'clock; and you must dress for the meadows.
+I believe the boys are mostly web-footed, by the way they take to such
+places; however, we do find the best specimens there. Another
+thing--the boys are to furnish eggs and coffee, they say; and each of
+you can bring what is most convenient."
+
+Off went the girls, eager to plan and discuss the welcome project.
+
+Saturday came--a bright, cloudless day. All were at the school-house
+at two, or before, and set forth, looking like strollers, as they
+were.
+
+They did not make many collections on the high land; but when they
+entered the meadows, they soon found a variety of pretty grasses.
+
+"Fudge!" said Ella Barton; "I'm not going to get any of that old
+hay--would you, Miss Walters?"
+
+"No, certainly not, if I did not want the trouble of carrying it; but
+I think them very lovely to put with branches of bayberry, as they
+form such a pretty contrast of color with the delicate pearl-gray
+berries and brown branches; and if you add a few bunches of bright red
+arum berries, you have a pretty, fadeless winter bouquet."
+
+"Where can we get the bayberries?" said Fred, coming up.
+
+"In most places near the salt water. In the town where my home is,
+there are acres and acres of it; and may be at Thanksgiving time I can
+send you some to distribute, or, better still, you might make up a
+party, and come down. I'll promise you a fine tramp, plenty of
+berries, and perhaps my mother will let you taste of her Thanksgiving
+pies."
+
+Off went Fred's hat high in the air. "Hurrah for the pie! I'll
+certainly go, if you'd like to have me."
+
+Miss Walters laughed, and said nothing would give her greater pleasure
+than to welcome the whole party.
+
+"O, Miss Walters, what's this lovely flower?" "Come here, come here!"
+"O, how lovely! here's plenty more!" "And here, and here," were the
+exclamations of several of the advancing stragglers.
+
+All who were with Miss Walters hastened forward; and there, in a wet,
+treacherous-looking place, grew patches of a most delicate
+lilac-colored or light purple flower.
+
+"O, that's Arethusa," said the teacher; "it is very beautiful."
+Rubber boots only can get at them; and two or three boys soon returned
+with hands full, which they distributed. Miss Walters said they could
+not stop to analyze any that day, but some of each kind must be put in
+the botany box, for the class to work with at some future time. As
+they walked along, Miss Walters told them that the flower was named
+after Arethusa of Grecian story, who was changed by Diana into a
+fountain, to escape from the god of the river where she was one day
+surprised by him while bathing.
+
+They had not gone far when Phil and two of the girls came running up
+with hands full of the Sarracenia, or pitcher-plant.
+
+"What fine specimens!" said Miss Walters.
+
+"O, I know where they grow!" said Phil. "I always go for them every
+year, just over that old fence, in a boggy place. I like them better
+than almost any of the plants, they are so curious. But where's a
+basket?"
+
+"Here, Amy!" called Bessie White; "can't you let me put my small lunch
+in your big basket with yours, and let Phil have mine for a specimen
+basket?"
+
+This arrangement being satisfactorily made, they moved along, one of
+the girls telling the new comers of the Arethusa and its name. And it
+was decided that all Miss Walters might tell them concerning the
+flowers should be written down, for the benefit of all, as they were
+often separated, searching for specimens.
+
+In the next meadow they came upon beds of Menyanthes--an ugly name,
+and its common one of buck-bean is not much better. They could find
+but few perfect specimens of the pretty white velvety flowers, with
+their yellow and brown anthers, as it was rather late for them.
+
+They found Pogonias and buds of Calopogon,--pretty pinkish
+flowers,--both of which Miss Walters told them were closely related,
+and, indeed, belonged to the same family as the Arethusa. This was the
+Orchid family, which contained a large number of beautiful but strange
+plants, about a dozen of which were common in New England.
+
+On the edge of an overgrown ditch near by they found very nice
+specimens of Andromeda.
+
+"See," said Miss Walters, "how white and lovely these bells are, in
+spite of the cold wet places where it is compelled to grow. It is
+named after Andromeda, famed in Grecian myths, a victim to her
+mother's pride of beauty. Her mother had dared to compare herself to
+the sea nymphs, for which they, enraged, sent a huge monster to ravage
+the coast. To appease the nymphs, her father thought he must sacrifice
+his daughter; so he chained her to the water's edge; but as the
+monster approached, Perseus, assisted by the gods, killed him,
+delivered Andromeda, and afterwards married her."
+
+The party now turned from the meadows on to higher ground. Houstonias
+and violets, with here and there Potentilla, covered the ground, the
+last so called because it was supposed to be powerful in medicine,
+_potens_, from which it is derived, meaning powerful.
+
+The Saxifrage on the rocks, derived from Latin words, indicating its
+manner of growth.
+
+Anemones, or wind flowers, were not entirely gone; so named because it
+was formerly thought the flowers only opened when the wind blew.
+
+Specimens multiplied. Each little group found something new.
+
+Trilliums, remarkable for having leaves, sepals, petals, and
+seed-vessels in threes; Smilacina, with its clean, green leaves, and
+white flowers, grew plentifully about them; Streptopus, meaning
+twisted foot, called so because its foot, or pedicel, is twisted.
+
+About five o'clock they began their homeward walk, which took them
+round through some grand old pine woods. At last they came to their
+resting-place. All were more or less tired; and glad were they when
+they saw the black mouth of the cave open invitingly before them. Some
+threw themselves on the rock outside, some went in and rested on the
+fragrant hay that Arthur had piled on the floor.
+
+After resting a while in the cool shade, Phil said, "I have a bright
+thought that rhymes with 'light.'"
+
+"Is it the opposite of 'loose'?"
+
+"It is not 'tight.'"
+
+"Is it what you are sometimes?"
+
+"It is not 'bright.'"
+
+"O, I meant a 'fright'!"
+
+"Thank you; it is not 'fright.'"
+
+"Is it what we are all wishing for?"
+
+"It is a 'bite.'"
+
+This was greeted with a shout, and committee number one,
+self-appointed, started for the baskets. Others arranged the table
+with boards and rocks put outside the cave door. The eatables were
+soon temptingly arranged. The jug of coffee and bottle of milk, with
+rubber mugs, were placed under Arthur's care; and he soon had as much
+as he could do to pour the refreshing draughts.
+
+The girls had little to do, the boys doing the honors in fine style.
+Very merry they grew over the good things; and so intent were they
+trying to sell the last at auction, that they never noticed a large
+cloud that had overspread the sky, until a few drops of rain fell upon
+the table.
+
+"Here's a pretty go!" said Fred. "Run, Miss Walters; and, girls, get
+into the cave, and we'll clear the tables."
+
+[Illustration: {The friends' picnic is spoiled by the rain}]
+
+Busy hands quickly disposed of all the articles to be kept dry, and
+the boys were glad to get into the friendly shelter. Down came the
+rain, heavily rolled the thunder, and for a little while the lightning
+was vivid. Soon the rain began to find its way into the cave.
+
+"This will not do. Where's the table, Fred? We must have up a storm
+door," said Phil.
+
+"All ready to slide right up," said Fred. "Arthur, will you get the
+chandelier ready? for it will be rather dark when the door is up."
+
+Arthur crept on his hands and knees to a little crevice in the inner
+part of the cave, and drew out a tin box, with four holes in the
+cover. The girls gathered around, and were much amused to see him take
+out his four candles. These he stuck into the holes of the box; and
+lighting them, he placed them on a shelf prepared expressly for the
+occasion.
+
+Never were boys and girls more happy. They were enjoying excitement
+without danger or discomfort. They sang, played games; and when the
+rain had nearly ceased, some of the boys ran out and lighted the fire.
+They had kept the wood dry. Then turning the table on its side, they
+put out the candles, and had the full benefit of the fire-light. For a
+while conundrums were the order of the day; then they drew lots to
+determine who should tell the first story. It fell to Millie Gray,
+who, with timid modesty, demurred; but the penalty threatened for
+default was so great, that though she had never told a story in her
+life, she thought she had better begin now. Attentively they listened,
+waiting for her to begin. Presently she commenced.
+
+"There was, once upon a time, a beautiful little girl, with blue eyes
+and golden hair."
+
+"O," interrupted Fred, "can't we have this one with black eyes and
+red hair, or brown eyes; I'm tired of blue eyes and yellow hair."
+
+"No, no, no," said Arthur; "I like blue eyes. Go on, Millie." With a
+blush--for her own were blue, and she knew what Arthur meant--she
+continued.
+
+"Well, I like to oblige all parties," replied Millie. "Suppose we say
+her eyes were black and blue; but if any one else interrupts, I'll
+have them committed for contempt of court, and they shall be bound
+over to keep the peace."
+
+"Which piece?" Fred was beginning to say, when Arthur jumped up and
+placed his hand over Fred's mouth, saying, "Consider yourself bound
+over, sir."
+
+"Well, this little girl lived in a deep forest, in a little bit of a
+house, with no one for company but her grandmother and a little yellow
+dog.
+
+"The grandmother was just as cross as she could be, and poor
+little--let's see, what shall I call her?"
+
+"Odahbeetoqua," suggested Fred. "I suppose she was descended from the
+Indians."
+
+"Yes," said Millie, very seriously, "that was her name; but nobody
+called her by it all at one time; they said Daisy, for short.
+
+"Well, one day little Daisy felt so sad and lonely, and her
+grandmother had been so cross, that she said to the little yellow
+dog,--
+
+"'Tip, let's run away. I'm tired of staying here. Granny is so cross,
+I cannot stand it another minute.'
+
+"'Yes, indeed. I'll go with you, Daisy,' said Tip, wagging his tail;
+'for this morning, when I was licking up a bit of butter off the
+floor, she kicked me, and hit me over the head with a broom, and threw
+a stick of wood after me as I indignantly left the premises, and
+wounded my feelings very much.'
+
+"'But then, Tip, suppose we should get lost in the woods, and die of
+starvation, and bears should eat us up.'
+
+"'Trust to me, Daisy,' Tip replied. 'I will lead you safely out of the
+wood, and see that nothing hurts you.'
+
+"Just then a woman came to the door, and said, 'I have heard your
+conversation. Come with me, and you shall both live in a nice house,
+where you can play all day, and have fine clothes, and plenty to eat.'
+
+"'Ah, wouldn't that be pleasant!' said Daisy; and she was just
+preparing to go with the woman, when she stopped suddenly, and said,
+'But who will get wood for granny's fire? and who will pick berries
+for her? She'd die if we should leave her alone. No, I can't leave
+her. She's very cross; but then, she is sick all the time, nearly, and
+I won't go.'
+
+"'O, yes, do!' said the woman. 'I have a lovely white pony, as gentle
+as a kitten, that you shall have to ride, and beautiful dresses. You'd
+better come.'
+
+"'Thank you,' said Daisy; 'I'd like to go with you. You may take Tip.
+Perhaps he'd like to go, but I won't leave grandmother; she'd die if I
+did.'
+
+"No sooner had Daisy finished speaking, than the woman turned into a
+beautiful fairy, the shanty turned into a palace, granny turned into a
+queen, Daisy into a lovely princess, with black and blue--I mean
+heavenly--eyes, and Tip turned into a beautiful prince, all dressed in
+embroidered green velvet; and down on his knees he fell at the
+princess's feet, vowing love and fidelity untold.
+
+"The fairy spread her wings over the young couple, saying, 'Behold the
+reward of unselfishness!' and vanished, leaving them in all their
+bliss."
+
+Millie's story was greeted with shouts of applause and flattering
+comments.
+
+The boys were about renewing the fire, when Miss Walters announced
+that it was seven o'clock.
+
+"O, don't go yet!" shouted Phil from the wood-pile. "We've wood
+enough for an hour yet. Seven o'clock's awful early."
+
+"Don't go, don't go!" came from a chorus of voices; and Miss Walters,
+who only cared for their comfort, said she would stay if that was the
+general wish, or would go with any of the girls that were in haste to
+get home. No one made any movement to go, and she was quietly led back
+to her throne on the hay, at the entrance of the cave.
+
+A song was proposed, and Miss W. led them in the sweet words of "In
+the Beauty of the Lilies," the boys coming out strong with the chorus.
+Then two girls sang a duet very sweetly. Another hour glided swiftly
+away, when Miss Walters said, "Phil, your fire burns low; push the
+blazing ends for a final blaze, so we may get all our things; for we
+must go now."
+
+Everything arranged, they bade good by to the hospitable cave, then
+marched down the hill, the boys whistling "When Johnny comes marching
+Home."
+
+On they trudged, dropping various members of their little party as
+they turned off to go to their homes. All agreed they had had a
+delightful day.
+
+                                                    F. E. S.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The lynx, bear and eagle go after the hunters' buffalo
+    carcass}]
+
+THE HAUNTS OF WILD BEASTS.
+
+
+In crossing the forests which lie about that singular system of ponds
+and lakes that occupy the northern interior of the State of Maine, the
+tourist and hunter will often come upon well-beaten paths, running
+through the woods, trodden hard, as if by the passage of myriads of
+feet; and this in a region rarely, or never, entered by man. They are
+the paths of wild beasts--bears, lynxes, wildcats, the moose, and the
+carribou,--along which they pass from lake to lake, in pursuit of
+their food, or upon hostile forays. When two lakes adjoin each other,
+with no more than a mile or half a mile of forest between them, there
+will nearly always be found, across the narrowest part of the isthmus,
+a path of this sort, more or less worn, according as the locality
+abounds with game, or the lakes with fish.
+
+[Illustration: THE GRIZZLY BEAR.]
+
+One of the widest and most used of these that I have ever seen, led
+from the bank of Moose River up to the low shores of Holeb Pond, in
+one of the not yet numbered townships near the Canada line--so near
+that the high, dingy summit of the "Hog's Back" was plainly visible to
+the north-westward. Starting out from between two large boulders on
+the stream, which at this point is broken by rips, it runs crooking
+and turning amid clumps of hazel and alder, till lost to view in a
+wide flat, covered with "high bush" cranberries, but lost to sight
+only, however; for its tortuous course still continues beneath the
+thick shrubs, until at a distance of two hundred rods it emerges on
+the pond.
+
+Happening to cross it a year ago last autumn, in company with Rod
+Nichols (my comrade on these tramps), the idea suggested itself that a
+good thing might perhaps be done by setting our traps along the path.
+For where there were so many passing feet, some of them might without
+doubt be entrapped.
+
+Rod thought it was the "beat" of some bears, or "lucivees," while I
+inclined to the opinion that otters or "fishers" had made it.
+
+So we brought up our traps,--half a dozen small ones, which we used
+for sable and otter--from the dug-out (canoe) down on the stream, and
+during the following afternoon set them at different points in the
+path, between the border of the cranberry flat and the river. Then
+drawing our canoe up out of the water, we encamped on the stream about
+a mile below the path, and waited for the game.
+
+Our stock of deer meat had got out. We had to content ourselves, both
+for supper and breakfast, the following morning, with a couple of
+hares--lean as usual. Who ever saw a fat hare?
+
+Old hunters are always telling the young sportsman about the
+marvellous properties of shaving-soap made from hare's tallow and
+cedar ashes. The flesh has about as much taste and nutrition in it
+as--so much paper pulp, for want of a better comparison to express its
+utter lack of flavor. But during the forenoon we managed to shoot four
+partridges. These we first parboiled in our camp kettle, then broiled
+on coals. They made us a comfortable dinner; and towards sunset we
+again paddled up the stream, to visit the traps.
+
+Coming near where the path strikes out from the river, we drew up the
+dug-out, and followed in to the place where we had set the first trap.
+It was gone; but the grass about the spot was beaten down, and the
+bushes broken. And on looking around, we discovered a trail leading
+off through the weeds. Following this for ten or a dozen rods, we came
+to a large, rough stone; and near it lay the trap, shattered and bent,
+with the springs broken, and the jaws gaping and powerless. The stone,
+too, looked newly scratched, as if from heavy blows. The trap had
+evidently been beaten upon.
+
+"Some large animal," said I.
+
+"Bear, probably," said Rod. "They will frequently smash up a small
+trap to get it off their feet."
+
+Whatever it was, the creature had freed himself and gone. Rod picked
+up the broken trap, and we went back, and on to the next.
+
+This one was just as we had placed it--not sprung. So we kept on to
+the third, which was sprung, but empty, with little clots of hair
+clinging to the teeth. The hair looked like that of a sable; but he,
+too, had escaped.
+
+The fourth was sprung and drawn out of the path. We crept cautiously
+up, and lo! we had a contemptible little musquash (muskrat)--skin not
+worth a shilling. He was busy as a bee gnawing at his leg. In a few
+minutes more he would have been at liberty--minus a foot. If left any
+length of time after being caught, they will frequently gnaw off the
+leg in the trap. For this reason, those who make a business of
+trapping them set their traps under water, well weighted. They will
+then drown in a few moments, and may thus be secured.
+
+The last two traps were not sprung.
+
+"A big thing this!" muttered Rod. "Had our labor for our pains. Too
+bad."
+
+We were near the edge of the cranberry flat; and just as Rod was
+bemoaning our poor luck, a slight crackling out in the thick cranberry
+bushes came to our ears.
+
+"Hark!" whispered Rod; "something out there. The bear, perhaps."
+
+Standing on tiptoe, we peeped quietly over the tops of the bushes, now
+laden with the green cranberries. Off some seventeen or eighteen rods,
+something was slowly moving. We could see it plainly--something which,
+at first sight, looked like the roots of an old dry pine stump, a
+great mass of stubs and prongs.
+
+"A moose!" exclaimed Rod, in an eager whisper. "A moose browsing the
+cranberries! Quick with your rifle! Together now!"
+
+We both fired. The huge animal, fully nine feet in height beneath his
+antlers, bounded into the air at the reports, with a wild, hoarse cry,
+which I can compare to nothing I have ever heard for hideousness. In a
+frightful way it resembled the neigh of a horse, or, rather, the loud
+squeal of that animal when bitten or otherwise hurt--bounded up, then
+fell, floundering and wallowing amid the cranberries, uttering
+hideous moans.
+
+As quickly as we could for the thick and tangled bushes, we made our
+way out towards the spot. The fearful struggles stilled as we drew
+near. Our aim, at so short a distance, had been thoroughly fatal. A
+great opening in the bushes had been smashed down, in the midst of
+which lay the moose, with its large nostrils dilated, gasping and
+quivering. But its great ox eyes were set, and rapidly glazing. The
+bushes were all besprinkled and drenched with blood. One bullet had
+struck and broken the skull into the brain; that was Rod's. Mine had
+gone into the breast, striking the lungs,--probably, from the profuse
+bleeding.
+
+"A pretty good shot!" exclaimed Rod, looking upon the slaughter from a
+purely business stand-point. "Moosehide is always worth something. So
+are those antlers. A noble set--aren't they? All of four feet broad
+across the top. Pretty heavy to lug; we can put them in the canoe,
+though."
+
+"Then there's the meat," said I.
+
+"That's so," cried Rod, smacking his lips. "No more rabbit's broth for
+us at present. O, won't we have some grand moose steaks! Do you hear
+that, old boy? How does that strike your fancy? Come, let's skin him,
+and cut him up. I long to behold some of that surloin broiling! Rabbit
+meat, indeed!" and Rod whipped out his hunting-knife, and fell upon
+the carcass with the zeal of a hungry bald eagle.
+
+In a few minutes we had stripped off the skin. Rod then wrenched off
+the antlers, cut out the muffle (the end of the nose), and also about
+a hundred weight of what he considered the choicest of the meat. The
+rest of it--nine or ten hundred pounds--we could only leave where it
+had fallen. It would be of no use to us, so far from the settled
+lands.
+
+[Illustration: THE TIGER.]
+
+To carry our spoils down to our canoe, we had to make two trips; for
+the antlers alone were as much as one could take along at once. We had
+gone back after them and the hide.
+
+"Too bad," remarked Rod, "to leave all this flesh here to rot above
+ground."
+
+"I doubt if it be left to rot above ground," said I. "There are too
+many hungry mouths about for that."
+
+"Right there," said Rod; "and that makes me think we might use it to
+lure them, and to bait our traps with. Drag it out to the path, and
+set the traps round it."
+
+The idea seemed a good one. So we cut the remains of the carcass in
+two. Whole it was too heavy to be moved. Then, fastening some stout
+withes into them, we dragged the pieces, one after the other, out to
+the path, and left it at the place where the path entered the
+cranberry bushes. This done, we set the traps about it,--the remaining
+five,--and then went back to the canoe with the antlers and skin.
+
+"Made a very fair thing of it, after all," remarked Rod, as we floated
+with the current down to our camp. "Tell you what, old fellow, these
+steaks are not to be sneezed at. More than ordinary pot luck just at
+this time."
+
+It is needless to say that we fully satisfied our taste for venison
+that night, or that our breakfast next morning was merely a repetition
+of supper. Such things are to be expected in the wilderness. Suffice
+it to add, that we neither overate nor overslept, but were up betimes,
+and off to examine our traps considerably before sunrise. We did not
+go up in the canoe on the river, but walked along the bank through the
+woods.
+
+"We may surprise a bear or a lynx at the carcass," said Rod.
+
+So, as we drew near the place where we had left it in the path the
+evening before, we made our way amid the brush with as little noise
+as possible. A small hollow, overrun with hackmatack, led up towards
+the spot. We crept along the bed of it, in order to approach
+unobserved. Pausing a moment to listen, the clank of a chain came
+faintly to our ears, then a growling, worrying noise, heard when two
+creatures, jealous of each other's rights, eat from the same piece.
+
+"Game!" whispered Rod.
+
+Climbing quietly up the steep side, we peeped out from amid the green
+boughs. We had got up within nine or ten rods; but intervening bushes
+partially hid the carcass. Something was moving about it,
+however--something black. The trap chains were rattling. Then a big
+black head was raised, to growl; and as if in reply came a sharp snarl
+from some animal out of sight. The black creature darted forward; and
+a great uproar arose, growling, grappling, and spitting, at which
+there flew up a whole flock of crows, cawing and hawing; and the noise
+increasing, there sprang into the air, at a single flap, a great
+yellow bird, uttering a savage scream.
+
+"An eagle!" whispered Rod; "and that black creature's a bear, I guess.
+Can't see him just plainly. Growls like one, though. Fighting with
+some other animal--isn't he? Some sort of a cat, by the spitting."
+
+"Shall we fire on them?" said I.
+
+"No; let 'em have it out," said Rod. "One of them will be pretty sure
+to get chewed up, and the other won't leave the carcass. Besides, the
+cat's in the trap, I reckon, by the rattling." For the jingling of the
+chain could still be heard over the howling they were making. But ere
+the fight had lasted many seconds, a suppressed screech, followed by a
+crunching sound, told ill for one or the other of the combatants. "The
+cat's got his death hug," muttered Rod.
+
+Presently the bear--a great, clumsy-looking fellow--came out into
+view, strutted along, scrubbing his feet on the grass, like a dog, and
+went back to the carcass. The eagle and the crows had come back to it.
+They flew before him.
+
+"Keep your eye on the eagle," whispered Rod. "I would like to get him.
+It isn't a 'white head.' Never saw one like it."
+
+The great bird circled slowly several times, then stooped, almost
+touching the bear's shaggy back with its hooked talons. At that the
+bear raised his ugly muzzle, all reeking from his feast, and growled
+menacingly. This was repeated several times, the bear warning him off
+at each stoop, and sometimes striking with his big paw. Finding the
+bear not inclined to divide with him, the eagle, with one mighty flap
+of his wings, rose up to the top of a tall hemlock standing near, and
+perched upon it. We could see the branches bend and sway beneath his
+weight.
+
+"I'll have him now," muttered Rod, poking the muzzle of his rifle out
+through the boughs. "You take the bear. Ready! now!"
+
+We blazed away. With a wild shriek the eagle came tumbling down
+through the hemlock. Rod ran out towards him, and I made up to the
+bear. Old Bruin was merely wounded--an ugly flesh wound; and not
+knowing whence it came, he had flown at the dead lynx,--for such it
+turned out to be,--and was giving him another hugging. Seeing me, he
+started up, to rectify his mistake, probably; but I had put in another
+charge, and instantly gave him a quietus. Just then Rod came up,
+dragging the eagle.
+
+"Never saw one like it," exclaimed he. "I mean to take it down to
+Greenville."
+
+After skinning the bear and the lynx, we gathered up the traps, and
+went down to our camp. Together with the spoils of the moose, we had
+now a full canoe load, and stowing them in, went down the river that
+afternoon. Two days after, we arrived at Greenville, at the foot of
+Moosehead Lake. There we fell in with a party of tourists--from
+Boston, I believe. They pronounced Rod's "big bird" to be a golden
+eagle.
+
+                                             C. A. STEPHENS.
+
+
+
+
+WORSHIP OF NATURE.
+
+
+    The green earth sends her incense up
+      From many a mountain shrine;
+    From folded leaf and dewy cup,
+      She pours her sacred wine.
+
+    The mists above the morning rills
+      Rise white as wings of prayer;
+    The altar curtains of the hills
+      Are sunset's purple air.
+
+
+
+
+A HUNTING ADVENTURE.
+
+
+Tired of the heat and confusion of the city, my friend Clarke and I
+left New York one fine morning for a hunting excursion on the
+prairies.
+
+At Galena, on the Mississippi, we went aboard a steamer which conveyed
+us to St. Paul. Here we fitted out for the trip, and finally, at Sauk
+Rapids set our foot for the first time on the prairie.
+
+From the Mississippi, at Sauk Rapids, we struck about north-west
+across the prairie for Fort Garry, a Hudson Bay Company's fort, at the
+junction of the Assiniboine and Red River, where we replenished some
+of our stores; and thence we travelled through the Sioux, or Da-ko-tah
+country, until we reached Turtle Mountain.
+
+Our party consisted of Clarke and myself, two French Canadians, whom
+we had engaged at St. Paul, and a half-breed, whom we had met on the
+frontier before reaching Fort Garry.
+
+One evening, before camping at the base of Turtle Mountain, Clarke and
+I gave chase to some buffalo, and I killed one, which I proceeded to
+cut up at once by removing the tongue and undercut of the fillet. The
+meat I tied to the thongs of my saddle, placed there especially for
+that purpose, and I rejoined the camp before nightfall. Clarke came
+back shortly afterwards, having killed his buffalo in three or four
+shots, and after a long chase. This had delayed him so much, that he
+lacked time to cut up his animal; so he marked the spot as well as he
+could by its bearings with Turtle Mountain, and he rode homewards to
+the camp, intending to go on the following morning, and get the meat
+for home consumption.
+
+We cooked and ate our dinners, and rolling ourselves up in our buffalo
+robes, we slept most soundly. The following morning, Clarke went out
+and fetched his pony, which was picketed near the camp, saddled it,
+took his rifle and hunting-knife, and then off he started to look for
+the dead buffalo of the previous evening, cut it up, and bring home
+some of the meat.
+
+I remained in camp; and as my wardrobe was rather dilapidated from
+constant hunting, and the limited number of clothes I had with me, I
+proceeded to mend my trousers, which were worn through just where it
+might naturally be expected they would first give way. This I could
+only do by shortening the legs of the garment. However, the end
+justified the means in this case.
+
+These repairs, with other necessary work about our rifles and guns,
+occupied the morning very pleasantly; and about midday I went up the
+hill behind our camp, where a small bluff, or headland, projected from
+it over the vast grassy plain. I took my telescope with me, as every
+traveller in those wild regions should always do, when spying out
+either the fatness of the land or the possible surrounding dangers.
+Far and wide my eye fell over the gentle undulations of the prairie,
+but no deer or buffalo could I see.
+
+No; instead of quietly feeding game, I discovered my friend Clarke,
+some three or four miles from camp, galloping at the top of his
+horse's speed towards us, and five Indians in hot pursuit of him.
+
+Knowing his danger, I of course ran down the bluff as hard as I could
+to the camp, and holloaed to the men to make haste and come to the
+rescue. I then ran for my pony, which was picketed at a short distance
+from our tent; but he was difficult to catch, or had drawn his peg out
+of the ground. At any rate, I could not get hold of him; so I gave
+him up, and seizing my rifle, darted off as hard as I could to meet my
+friend.
+
+[Illustration: {Clarke being pursued by the Indians}]
+
+The men also turned out with their guns; and soon afterwards Clarke
+rode up, both he and his pony looking much distressed. Clarke was as
+white as a sheet, and his pony was completely blown. The Indians
+sheered off on seeing us ready with our rifles. So no shot was fired;
+for they never came within range.
+
+I then asked Clarke what had happened; and I give you his story of the
+affair.
+
+On leaving camp in the morning, he had gone in search of the dead
+buffalo of the previous night. He soon found the carcass; and wishing
+to bring home the meat, he got off his pony, tied the animal to the
+horns of the buffalo,--as you are always taught to do in the Indian
+country,--and straightway began to cut off the pieces of meat which he
+wished to bring back to camp. Whilst so employed, he thought he saw
+another herd of buffalo not far away; so he finished cutting off the
+meat, and rode towards the new herd, on murderous thoughts intent.
+
+He stalked the herd for some distance, until he thought himself
+tolerably near, when he looked round the corner of a hillock, and then
+to his horror found he had been carefully approaching five Indians,
+who were congregated round a dead buffalo, their horses close by, and
+the men occupied in cutting up the beast.
+
+Before he could turn to flee out of sight the Indians discovered him.
+They were Sioux, and at war with the whites. Instantly they jumped on
+their horses and gave chase, fired, no doubt, with the noble zeal to
+hang a white scalp in a Sioux lodge. Off went Clarke as hard as his
+little pony could carry him, the Indians shouting behind, and
+brandishing their guns in the air as they became excited by the chase,
+whilst he was thinking of the probability that existed of his scalp
+returning to camp, or dangling at the saddle-bow of one of these
+bloodthirsty savages.
+
+Clarke supposes that he was five or six miles from camp when the chase
+began; and he recollected well throwing the cover away from his rifle,
+in preparation for a fight should his pony fall, or the Indians catch
+him through the superior speed of their animals.
+
+Imagine the horrible feelings of a young fellow galloping away from
+five wild redskins, who not only desire to kill him then and there,
+but have, further, the sportsman-like anxiety to strip his scalp, and
+hang the dearly-beloved trophy in some filthy lodge, where it will
+gradually dry up, and remain the most valued heirloom in the family of
+the "Big Snake," or the "Screeching Eagle," or some other no less
+happily-named Sioux.
+
+Their horrible shrieks ring in his ears, whilst he anxiously measures
+with his eyes the distance betwixt himself and his bloodthirsty
+pursuers; he endeavors to estimate his chances of escape, and longs
+for the protection of the camp, as Wellington longed for night or
+Blucher, knowing that if he falls he will be shot, or tomahawked and
+scalped, in the course of a couple of minutes.
+
+No wonder, then, that poor Clarke did look as if he had seen a ghost,
+or encountered something even much worse; nor do I believe that during
+his subsequent army service he was ever much nearer a horrible death
+than during the few minutes which that pursuit lasted.
+
+To conclude the account of this adventure, we covered his return to
+camp with our rifles, as I mentioned in the earlier part of this
+story; and you may conceive that we kept a very strict watch in the
+camp during the night, fearing lest the Sioux should either stampede
+us with an increased number of their friends after nightfall, or try
+to carry off our horses, and leave us deserted in the midst of the
+prairie. However, the night passed off quietly; and often since then
+have Clarke and I talked over this memorable adventure.
+
+
+
+
+    One step and then another,
+      And the longest walk is ended;
+    One stitch and then another,
+      And the largest rent is mended.
+    One brick upon another,
+      And the highest wall is made;
+    One flake upon another,
+      And the deepest snow is laid.
+
+
+
+
+NEARLY LOST.
+
+
+"I know what I shall do!" exclaimed Walter Harrison to about a dozen
+other boys, his schoolfellows, who were standing round him. "I shall
+just tell 'old Barnacles' that my father and mother wish me to have a
+holiday this afternoon, and he can't say 'no' to that. It's the
+simplest and best way. If you all agree to it, we shall get a holiday
+all around. Who'll go in for my plan?"
+
+"I will! and I! and I!" responded nearly all the boys.
+
+The facts of the case were simply these: There were taking place in a
+park close by a series of athletic sports, and this afternoon the
+admission was free to any one who chose to go. Of course all the boys
+in Mr. Jackson's school were mad to see the sports; but by the time
+the school was out the best fun would be over, and the majority of the
+boys guessed pretty shrewdly what would be the result of asking their
+parents to let them stay away. The grand idea was to induce the master
+to give a general holiday, but the question was how that desirable end
+was to be brought about. It had been suggested to stay away bodily,
+without so much as saying, "With your leave or by your leave;" but as
+such a course carried a certainty of punishment in its train, it was
+universally rejected. Another idea, which had received some favor, had
+been to trip up the poor half-blind schoolmaster, quite by accident,
+and by rendering him incapable obtain the desired holiday, but there
+had been a majority found to protest against such cruelty; and now
+Walter Harrison had suggested his plan. But although most of them were
+inclined to adopt it, there were two who resolutely refused to do so.
+
+"Why won't you join us?" asked Walter of these two.
+
+"I sha'n't, because I'm not going to tell a pack of lies for the sake
+of a holiday," answered Willie Ford, the younger of the two.
+
+"How good we are!" replied Walter, tauntingly; and then throwing his
+cap up into the air, he sang out:
+
+    "'There was a curly-headed boy
+      Who never told a lie;
+    He knew a trick worth two of that:
+      That was the reason why.'
+
+"Sly fox!" he said, patting Willie on the back. "He does the 'good'
+dodge to perfection, and finds it answers too; don't you, Ford?"
+
+Walter's sallies were received with roars of laughter by the boys.
+Willie took no notice of them, although it was a difficult matter to
+restrain his anger.
+
+"What a milksop the fellow is!" cried out one of the boys.
+
+"A stupid little muff!" cried another.
+
+"Am I?" cried Willie, his temper now fully roused; "I'll show you
+about that. Although I'm not going to tell lies, I'll fight any one of
+you. Come now, Harrison, let's have it out together."
+
+Harrison burst out laughing: "Fancy me fighting with a little
+cock-sparrow like you! I should like to see myself!"
+
+Willie was about to burst out again, but a friendly hand was laid on
+his arm, and his friend Philip said, gently, "Come away, Will; no
+fighting about such a trifle as that, lad."
+
+"What a peppery little chap!" called out Walter as Willie turned away
+with his friend. "Pepper and sop! Ugh! what a nasty mess!"
+
+The boys followed out their plan, and got their holiday, all except
+Willie and Philip and several little fellows who had taken no interest
+in the matter.
+
+School over, the two boys rushed off in the hope that they might be in
+time to see something. They were too late, however, for the
+performances were just coming to an end when they arrived, so they
+started for a stroll through the beautiful park, which was not often
+open to the public.
+
+"Why, there are our fellows!" said Philip as they suddenly came in
+sight of a group of boys on the edge of the magnificent lake.
+
+"What are they up to? They're very busy about something!" exclaimed
+Willie.
+
+"Let's go and see," Philip said, in reply.
+
+As they came nearer they could tell that the boys were gesticulating
+and shouting to something in the water.
+
+"It can't be one of them gone in and lost his depth," said Willie,
+anxiously.
+
+No such thing, as they found when they got close--only a dog that the
+boys were amusing themselves by seeing how long they could keep under
+water. The creature was making frantic efforts to gain a
+landing-place, but as he approached the shore they drove him back with
+sticks and stones.
+
+"We're teaching him to swim," cried one as Philip and Willie came up.
+"A miserable little mongrel! he can't swim a bit!"
+
+"Why, don't you see," cried Willie, eagerly, "that he's as weak as a
+rat? He can scarcely support himself in the water. I should think he's
+been starved."
+
+At this moment the dog, being turned back once more, disappeared,
+quite close to the shore. With a loud cry of pain and anger, Willie
+darted through the boys, and wading into the shallow water succeeded
+in enticing the drowning dog toward him. He came out, holding the
+dripping creature safely in his arms.
+
+"We must carry it home," he said to Philip, after they had vainly
+endeavored to set it upon its feet; and accordingly, they started off
+at a good pace, the poor half-drowned animal safely sheltered in
+Willie's arms.
+
+Well might his mother be alarmed to see him come home to tea in such a
+plight; but when she heard his explanation, she was quite ready to
+sympathize with him, and told him he had done bravely and well to
+rescue the poor animal. As he seemed none the worse for his wetting,
+he was allowed to come down stairs again as soon as he had put on dry
+things. Very tenderly the little half-starved dog was fed with warmed
+milk. He had fallen into good hands. Willie's father and mother were
+kind Christian people, who had taught their children to be gentle and
+considerate to the meanest of God's creatures.
+
+"Why, Willie, he's a fine fellow, and only quite a puppy; he will be a
+splendid dog when he is fully grown," his father said, when the animal
+had recovered sufficiently to be examined.
+
+And so it proved. Bruno, as Willie named him, turned out a splendid
+creature. His devotion to the whole family, but especially to Willie,
+was quite touching to see. He would obey the slightest gesture of his
+young master in every matter except one. As a child once burned dreads
+the fire, so Bruno, once nearly drowned, could never be induced to
+enter the water.
+
+While Bruno was developing into a handsome dog, Willie, you may be
+sure, was not standing still. He had grown into a fine strong lad, and
+got beyond poor old Dr. Jackson's school.
+
+To the last day of his stay there he and Walter Harrison never managed
+to get on very good terms, and a suspected unfairness in the matter of
+obtaining a prize made them part with still greater coldness.
+
+A year or two after he had left school Willie's parents went with
+their family to spend the summer months near the sea. Before they had
+been in their new quarters many weeks, much to Willie's vexation and
+disappointment, he found that Walter and his parents were also staying
+in the same town, and quite close to him.
+
+The two lads frequently met, but they could get on no better now than
+they had done in the old days. Walter still looked upon Willie as a
+contemptible little milksop, and Willie was inclined to consider
+Walter's exploits more the result of foolhardiness than bravery.
+
+One day they met on the beach. Walter had come down with a friend to
+take a boat.
+
+"Rather rough for rowing," Willie called out as he passed, "but I
+suppose you're a good oar."
+
+"What's that to you?" responded Walter, insolently; "I suppose you're
+afraid of a little sea."
+
+"I don't see the pleasure of going out when there's any risk," Willie
+replied, good-humoredly.
+
+"How precious careful you are over yourself!" replied Walter.
+
+The boat pushed off, and away started the two friends. Willie, not
+caring to watch them after the haughty, rude manner in which his
+remark had been received, turned away; but before he had gone far his
+attention was attracted by a succession of shouts and ejaculations.
+
+The tiny boat had come to grief before they had got much more than
+fifty yards from the shore. In the unskilful hands of the two lads the
+little bark was a mere plaything in the angry sea. Carried on with a
+swiftness they were unable to check, they rushed headlong on to one of
+the hidden rocks with which the coast abounded. The boat turned over
+and disappeared, leaving its occupants struggling in the water.
+
+There were but few bystanders, and of these no one did more than talk
+and gesticulate and ask wildly what was to be done.
+
+The same impulse that had prompted Willie to rescue a drowning dog
+now caused him to risk his life in order to save that of the boy who
+had always shown so unfriendly a disposition toward him.
+
+Pulling off his coat, he threw it and his hat down on the shore; and
+giving Bruno an injunction to guard them, he plunged bravely into the
+tempestuous waves. He could swim well, and succeeded with great
+difficulty in reaching the spot where Walter had but a moment ago
+disappeared, and then began the terrible struggle for life.
+
+Bruno sat by his master's clothes and gazed out over the sea with eyes
+which looked almost human in their intelligent anxiety. Presently he
+grew restless, and in another moment the faithful creature dashed into
+the waves, and made resolutely for the spot where his master was
+laboriously engaged in trying to convey one of the drowning lads to
+shore.
+
+By the powerful aid of the noble dog Walter and Willie were saved; and
+a boat having now put off, Walter's friend was picked up after a
+while. What a cheer rent the air when the dog and the two lads gained
+the shore I cannot attempt to describe. Willie was never called a
+milksop any more, and Bruno was more loved and prized than ever.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHARLEY.
+
+
+I made the acquaintance of my little friend Charley under very unusual
+and startling circumstances. I saw a lad about fifteen years of age
+clinging desperately for very life to the topmast of a sunken ship. I
+will tell you how it happened.
+
+I must go back nearly twenty years. Indeed, I ought to explain that
+Charley was a little friend of mine a long time ago; now he's a
+grown-up man. Well, twenty years ago I was not very old myself, but my
+sister, who is some years older than I am, was already married, and
+her husband was very fond of yachting. They lived during a great part
+of the year in the Isle of Wight, and there I often used to go to stay
+with them.
+
+The "Swallow"--that was the name of my brother-in-law's yacht--was a
+beautiful boat, and many happy hours have I passed on board her as she
+skimmed merrily over the sparkling water. I delighted to sit on deck,
+watching the fishing-boats as they rode bravely from wave to wave, or
+sometimes wondering at some large ship as it passed by, on which men
+live for weeks and months without ever touching land. We used to sail
+long distances, and occasionally be out for several days and nights
+together. My brother-in-law's skipper could tell me what country
+almost every vessel that we saw was bound for. Some were sailing to
+climates where the heat is so great that our most sultry summer in
+England is comparatively cold; others were off northward, perhaps
+whale-fishing, where they would see huge icebergs and hear the
+growling of the polar bears.
+
+We were taking our last cruise of the season. It was already near the
+end of October, and the weather was becoming stormy. Passing out of
+the Solent into the Channel, we found the sea much rougher than we
+expected, and as night came on it blew a regular gale. The wind and
+sea roared, the rain poured down in torrents, and the night seemed to
+me to be the darkest I had ever known. But on board the "Swallow" we
+had no fear. We trusted to the seamanship of our skipper and the
+goodness of our vessel, and went to bed with minds as free from fear
+as if the sea were smooth and the sky clear.
+
+I awoke just as dawn was breaking, dressed quickly, and throwing a
+water-proof cloak over me popped my head up the companion-ladder to
+see how things looked. The old skipper was on deck; he had not turned
+in during the night. I wished him good-morning, and he remarked, in
+return, that the wind was going down, he thought. Looking at the sea,
+I observed two or three large fragments of wood floating near, and
+they attracted his notice at the same moment.
+
+"Has there been a wreck, captain?" I asked, with a feeling of awe.
+
+"That's about what it is, miss," answered the old seaman.
+
+"Do you think the people are drowned?" I inquired, anxiously.
+
+"Well," replied Captain Bounce, casting, as I thought, rather a
+contemptuous glance at me, "people don't in general live under water,
+miss."
+
+[Illustration: CHARLEY'S WELCOME HOME.]
+
+"Perhaps they may have had boats," I said, meekly. "Do you think
+boats could have reached the shore in such a storm?"
+
+"Well," answered the old captain, "they might have had boats, and they
+mightn't; and the boats, supposing they had 'em, might have lived
+through the storm, and at the same time they mightn't."
+
+This was not giving me much information, and I thought to myself that
+my friend the skipper did not seem so much inclined for a chat as
+usual. I turned to look at the sea in search of more pieces of wreck,
+when I discovered in the distance a dark speck rising out of the
+water. I pointed it out to the skipper at once, who took his glass out
+of his pocket, and after looking through it for a moment exclaimed,
+
+"There's something floating there, and a man clinging to it, as I'm
+alive!"
+
+As he spoke my brother-in-law came on deck, and also took a look
+through the telescope. Then he, the captain and every sailor on board
+became eager and excited. You would have thought it some dear friend
+of each whose life was to be saved. The yacht was headed in the
+direction of the object, the boat was quickly lowered, the captain
+himself, with four sailors, jumping into it, and in another minute
+they caught in their arms a poor little exhausted and fainting boy as
+he dropped from the mast of a large sunken ship. We could now
+distinguish the tops of all the three masts appearing above the waves,
+for the sea was not deep, and the ship had settled down in an upright
+position.
+
+Poor Charley Standish was soon in the cabin of the yacht, and after
+swallowing some champagne he revived sufficiently to tell us his
+story. The sunken ship was the "Melbourne," bound for Australia, and
+this was Charley's first voyage as a midshipman on board. During the
+darkness of the night she had been run into by a large homeward-bound
+merchantman of the same class. She sank within an hour of the
+collision. In the scramble for the boats Charley thought he had but
+little chance for finding a place; and as the ship filled and kept
+sinking deeper in the water, an instinct of self-preservation led him
+to climb into the rigging. Then up he went, higher and higher, even to
+the topmast; and at last, when the vessel went down all at once, he
+found himself, to his inexpressible relief, still above the surface.
+
+What most astonished us all was that a boy so young should have been
+able to hold on for more than an hour to a slippery mast, exposed to
+the fury of the wind, and within reach, even, of the lashing waves. We
+sailed home at once to the Isle of Wight, and wrote to the boy's
+mother, a widow living in London, to tell her of his safety. The boy
+himself stayed with us two or three days, until we bought him new
+clothes, and then went to his mother. Great was her joy when she once
+more clasped him to her loving heart. My brother-in-law took a great
+fancy to him. He has watched his career, and seen him at intervals
+ever since. Charley Standish is now a chief mate on board a great
+merchantman of the same class as the "Melbourne."
+
+
+
+
+THE PARSEES.
+
+
+The Parsees are supposed to be descendants of the ancient Persians,
+who, after the defeat of their King Yezdezerd, the last of the dynasty
+of Sassan, by the followers of Mohammed, fled to the mountains of
+Khorasan. On the death of Yezdezerd, they quitted their native land,
+and putting to sea, were permitted to settle at Sanjan, a place near
+the sea-coast, between Bombay and Surat, about twenty-four miles south
+of Damaun.
+
+The Parsees are now chiefly settled in Bombay, numbering about one
+hundred and fifteen thousand souls, or one fifth of the population.
+
+The most enterprising, in a commercial point of view, of the various
+races of Bombay, are the Parsees, some of whom are even more wealthy
+than the most successful of the European merchants. They bear the very
+highest character for honesty and industry, and are intelligent and
+benevolent. The late Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy was a faultless model of
+a merchant prince, in integrity, enterprise, and munificence. He
+founded a hospital that bears his name, and made himself conspicuous
+for his active benevolence up to the day of his death.
+
+Great numbers of the poorer Parsees are clerks in the government
+offices--a species of service for which they are peculiarly fitted, on
+account of their attention to business, industry, and general
+intelligence. Their inclinations are essentially pacific; and such a
+phenomenon as a Parsee soldier is almost unknown.
+
+The Parsees are alive to the advantage of affording a good education
+to their children; and among the largest seminaries in the city of
+Bombay are those belonging to this community. A Parsee school is an
+interesting sight. The children are decidedly pretty; and as they sit
+in rows, with glittering, many-colored dresses, and caps and jewels,
+they look like a gay parterre of flowers.
+
+On account of their peculiar religious belief, the Parsees are known
+also as "Fire Worshippers;" but however great their awe for fire and
+light, they consider them only as emblems of a higher power. The
+Parsees pay reverence to two kinds of fire--the Adaran, lawful for the
+people to behold; and the Behram, which must be seen by none but the
+chief Dustoor, or priest, and must be screened from the rays of the
+sun. When required for a new temple, a portion of the sacred fire is
+procured in a golden censer from Mount Elbourg, near Yezd, where
+resides the chief pontiff, and where the holy flame is perpetually
+maintained. The Behram fire is said to have had its origin from the
+natural bituminous fires on the shores of the Caspian, and to have
+never been extinguished. It is supposed to be fed with sandal and
+other precious and aromatic woods, and is kept burning on a silver
+grating.
+
+The Parsees are the only Eastern nation who abstain from smoking. They
+do not eat food cooked by a person of another religion, and object to
+beef and pork.
+
+When a Parsee dies, a dog must be present, as it is supposed to drive
+away evil spirits, who are on the alert to seize upon the dying man's
+soul. This precaution is called the _sagdad_, or dog-gaze. One of the
+chief reasons for the great veneration in which dogs are held by
+Parsees arises from the tradition that in their emigration from Persia
+to India their ancestors were, during a dark night, nearly driven upon
+the shores of Guzerat, and that they were aroused and first warned
+of their impending danger by the barking of the dogs on board their
+ships.
+
+[Illustration: PARSEE CHILDREN, BOMBAY.]
+
+When a Parsee dies, the body is dressed in clean, but old clothes, and
+conveyed to its last resting-place on an iron bier; meat and drink are
+placed at hand for three days, as during that time the soul is
+supposed to hover around in the hope of being reunited to its late
+earthly tenement.
+
+[Illustration: A PARSEE.]
+
+The Parsee sepulchres are of so peculiar a character as to merit
+particular notice. Should any of my readers ever go to Bombay, he will
+find two of these _dakhmas_, or Temples of Silence, in a secluded part
+of Malabar Hill, though admittance is denied within the walls
+enclosing the melancholy structures to aught but Parsees. The interior
+is fitted up with stages or stories of stone pavement, slanting down
+to a circular opening, like a well, covered with a grating, into which
+the bones are swept, after the fowls of the air, the dew, and the sun
+have deprived them of every particle of flesh.
+
+The Parsees assign as their reason for not burying their dead, that,
+having received many benefits from the earth during their lifetime,
+they consider it defiled by placing dead bodies in it. Similarly, they
+do not adopt the Hindoo custom of burning their dead, as another
+element, fire, would be rendered impure.
+
+The chief distinctive feature of the Parsee dress is the hat, to which
+the community cling with a pertinacity that would be extraordinary,
+were it not common. Even the Parsee representative of "Young Bombay,"
+dressed from top to toe in European costume, including a pair of shiny
+boots, cannot be induced to discard the abominable _topee_, or hat,
+distinctive of his race; though, perhaps, after all, we who live in
+glass houses should not throw stones; for what can be more hideous
+than the chimney-pot hat of our boasted civilization? The Parsee
+head-dress, which contests the palm of ugliness with its English
+rival, is constructed on a strong but light framework, covered with
+highly-glazed, dark-colored chintz. The priests, who dress like the
+laity, wear a hat of much the same shape as the former, but white,
+instead of a dark color.
+
+On occasions of ceremony, the ordinary tight-fitting narrow garment is
+exchanged for one with very full skirts, like a petticoat; and a shawl
+is usually worn round the waist, which is at other times omitted. The
+costume of the women is a combination of that of the Hindoos and
+Mussulmans, consisting of the short body and _sarree_ of the former,
+with the full trousers of the latter. Both sexes endue themselves, at
+seven years of age, with the sacred shirt, which is worn over the
+trousers; the _sadra_, as it is called, is made of a thin, transparent
+muslin, and is meant to represent the coat-of-mail the men wore when
+they arrived in India, and with which they believe they can resist the
+spiritual assaults of Ahriman, the evil principle. The hair of the
+women is concealed by linen skull-caps, fitting tight to the head.
+
+It is a singular and interesting sight to watch the Parsees assembled
+on the sea-shore, and, as the sun sinks below the horizon, to mark
+them prostrating themselves, and offering up their orisons to the
+great giver of light and heat, which they regard as representing the
+Deity. Their prayers are uttered, it is said, in an unknown tongue;
+and after the fiery face of the orb of day has disappeared in his
+ocean bed, and the wondrous pillars of light shooting aslant the sky,
+proclaim that the "day is done," and the night is at hand, they raise
+themselves from their knees, and turn silently away from the beach,
+which is left once more to twilight and the murmur, or, if in angry
+mood, the roar, of the sea as it breaks on the shore.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The unknown man rescues the girl from the burning
+    building}]
+
+THE CRIPPLED BOY.
+
+FROM THE FRENCH.
+
+
+"Don't cry any more, Genevieve; you must get married again," said a
+man in the working dress of a slater, just returning from his day's
+work, to a poor woman who was sitting at the foot of a camp bed,
+weeping, and rocking her baby at the same time. "Your husband is
+dead; he fell from a ladder, and it killed him. It is a great
+misfortune for you and your family; but crying won't help you."
+
+Saying these words in a rough voice, to hide the emotion caused by the
+poor woman's despair, the workman brushed away a tear with his coat
+sleeve.
+
+"My poor George!" said the woman.
+
+"If your son was only good for anything," added the workman, rudely,
+throwing a glance of disdain upon a poor, pale, weak, and crippled
+boy, who was seated on the floor in a corner of the room; "if that
+child would ever grow into a man, I would take him with me, and teach
+him how to clamber over roofs, and to keep his balance upon the beams,
+and drop from the end of a rope. But no, he grows worse and worse
+every day; and now he can hardly bear his own weight. He is almost
+twelve years old, that son of yours; and if they said he was four, it
+would be a compliment."
+
+"Is it the fault of Jacques that he came crooked into the world, my
+brother?"
+
+"No, certainly not. I don't blame him, poor child, I don't blame him;
+but he will always be a useless mouth in the world. Luckily, he will
+not live long," he whispered in the ear of his sister. Then he rose,
+and went out, calling, "Good by till to-morrow," in a tone of voice
+which betrayed the anxiety he felt at the situation of his sister and
+her children.
+
+"_Luckily_ I shall not live long," was repeated by a sweet, sad voice,
+in an accent which only belongs to those who have suffered deeply.
+
+"What are you saying, Jacques?" inquired Genevieve.
+
+"That I am good for nothing. My uncle was right."
+
+"Take courage, my son. When you are older, you will grow stronger."
+
+"Yes, if--" said the boy.
+
+But he left the sentence unfinished, and his mother was too much
+absorbed in her grief to ask him what he meant. It was late, and in a
+few minutes the poor family retired. It was hardly light when Jacques
+went down into the court-yard to see the grooms curry the horses, wash
+the carriages, and get ready for the day.
+
+It was summer, and very soon a pretty little girl came down into the
+court. Jacques uttered a loud cry when he saw her.
+
+"Without crutches, Mademoiselle Emilie!"
+
+"So you see, Jacques," replied the young girl, with a sweet smile. "I
+shall not use them any more. To be sure, I am a little weak here," she
+added, showing her left arm and foot, which were smaller than the
+right; "and besides," she said, "I am a little crooked."
+
+"And mademoiselle believes that she is entirely cured?"
+
+"Certainly, Jacques. Only think, I was worse than you are! Stop,
+Jacques! I do really believe that _you_ would be cured if you would go
+with me, and take lessons in gymnastics at the house of Colonel
+Amoros."
+
+"I am too poor to do that, mademoiselle. Somebody told my mother that
+these academies of gymnas--gym--I don't know what--are very expensive;
+and besides that, what good would they do me? for my uncle says I
+shall not live long."
+
+"Perhaps your uncle does not know any better than our doctor. But
+really, Jacques, have you not seen sometimes old people crooked and
+deformed? They have lived long, perhaps, those same old people."
+
+"But it is not at all likely that they were obliged to earn their
+living, mademoiselle."
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE CRIPPLE BOY.]
+
+"Poor Jacques!" exclaimed Emilie, in a tone of compassion. "You listen
+to me. When I am married, and have lots of money, I promise you that
+it will give me pleasure to make any sacrifice to pay for your being
+cured."
+
+"Ah, I shall be too old then, or dead--who knows?"
+
+"What can be done?" she exclaimed, tapping the toe of her boot on the
+ground with an air of vexation.
+
+Then seeing an elderly lady come into the court, she ran to meet her,
+exclaiming,--
+
+"My dear friend, allow Jacques to go with us to the Amoros gymnasium.
+You gave me one ticket. Say, will you give me two?"
+
+"It is impossible, mademoiselle. I cannot give away your tickets
+without leave from your father."
+
+"Leave from my father, who is not here!" cried Emilie. "He is in
+Martinique. Before we could get an answer--O, dear! O, dear!"
+
+"Do not distress yourself so, my child," said the governess. "I have
+heard that they receive free pupils in the gymnasium conducted by M.
+Amoros. For many years they have taken those unfortunate children who
+are unable to pay the price of subscription. It is very generous and
+kind in Colonel Amoros, for it must be very expensive to support an
+establishment of this kind in the city."
+
+"It is very good in the colonel; but then I want to pay for Jacques,
+because if every one went without paying, the school would soon come
+to an end."
+
+"But what money have you to pay with?"
+
+"Ah, you shall see, my kind friend.--Jacques," she added, turning to
+the poor boy, whose pale and suffering face expressed all the interest
+he took in this conversation,--"Jacques, you must come with me to the
+gymnasium."
+
+"Never, for I cannot walk so far as that, mademoiselle," said Jacques,
+sadly.
+
+"But you must ride in my carriage."
+
+"Just think of that, mademoiselle! No, I am too poorly clothed," said
+the poor son of the slater, glancing at his worn-out vest and at his
+green trousers patched with gray.
+
+"Haven't you any Sunday clothes?"
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle, but they are very little better."
+
+"They must be cleaner, certainly. Go and put them on. Hurry!"
+
+Jacques obeyed. A few moments later, he came down, looking a little
+better dressed; but it was owing to the careful hands of a good
+workwoman, and not to the quality of the cloth which made his
+garments.
+
+Emilie was obliged to use all her authority before the servants would
+allow the little peasant to enter the coach. At last she placed him on
+the seat before her, and he was much more astonished than delighted at
+finding himself run away with by a pair of frisky young horses.
+
+In a street named Jean-Goujon you can see a large white building, of a
+very elegant style of architecture. On the front of it was printed, in
+large letters, the words GYMNASE CIVIL ORTHOSOMATIQUE, and other
+inscriptions to explain the object of the edifice.
+
+In 1815 Colonel Amoros made the first effort to introduce gymnastics
+into France. Messrs. Jomard and Julien not only seconded him fully,
+but insisted on the importance of these exercises, not alone for
+physical development, but for moral and intellectual strength.
+
+Colonel Amoros was of Spanish origin, and became distinguished in the
+Spanish army. He formed two companies of Zouaves, and achieved the
+most daring exploits with them in Europe and Africa. Then he became
+private secretary to King Charles IV. He formed a large gymnasium in
+Madrid, which was destroyed in the war of 1808. But in devoting, his
+life to the physical training of children in Paris, Colonel Amoros
+performed the greatest service to humanity. Though societies decorated
+him with medals, and France gave him funds for his military gymnasium,
+he will find in grateful hearts his best reward.
+
+But let us return to little Emilie, when the coach stopped at the
+gymnasium.
+
+The exercises had not begun. The professors, who were all young and
+active men, wore the same dress--a white vest and trousers, with a
+tri-colored belt, and a little blue cap on the head. They only waited
+for a signal to begin, as they stood in groups in the centre of the
+court. Very soon a middle-aged gentleman appeared among them. Though
+he was no longer young, he was still strong and active, and seemed to
+have a powerful constitution. He wore a blue coat, and a decoration at
+his button-hole, which was given as a token of bravery. He wore a cap
+upon his head.
+
+He came forward to speak to Emilie, and his eye fell upon poor
+Jacques, who was overcome with emotion at seeing a school where
+children who had been lame from weakness found the use of their limbs
+on recovering their health.
+
+Before the colonel had time to ask who this boy was,--for he knew
+Jacques was not one of his scholars,--Emilie seized his hand, and with
+the coaxing voice that children know how to use so well when they want
+to ask a favor, she said,--
+
+"I can walk without crutches now, colonel."
+
+"I am rejoiced to hear it, my child. You ought to be able to do so."
+
+"And I have grown almost an inch in six months. O, I am so much
+obliged to you, colonel!"
+
+"You mean to my gymnasium, my dear child."
+
+"No, to you, colonel, to you. For really I was much worse than Jacques
+is, and to-day I am better than he is."
+
+"Who is Jacques?"
+
+"This boy that you see here," said Emilie, taking the hand of Jacques,
+who was hiding behind her, and making him come forward before the
+colonel. "He is the son of a slater. His father is dead. He fell from
+a roof. Poor man! His mother is very miserable, for she has another
+child to take care of; so you see yourself, colonel, it is quite
+necessary that he should be able to stand alone."
+
+All the time that M. Amoros was examining Jacques, rolling up the
+sleeves of his jacket to see his arms, turning up his trousers to look
+at his legs, feeling his spine, and making him stretch out his limbs,
+Emilie continued, with a coaxing voice,--
+
+"If you are willing, Colonel Amoros, we can make an arrangement. O,
+you must not refuse me, I beg of you!"
+
+"What?" said the kind man, continuing his examination.
+
+"This boy is very poor--very, very poor. If he is not cured, he will
+never be able to get his living. He has a mother and sister to
+support; and see, colonel, I am very sure my poor Jacques will die
+soon."
+
+"Will you hold your tongue, you little simpleton?" said the colonel,
+suddenly turning round at the word "die."
+
+"He will die soon if you don't take pity on him, dear Colonel Amoros,"
+added the little girl, clasping her small hands eagerly before the
+colonel, who was too much engaged in examining poor Jacques, and
+considering the best way to cure him, to pay much attention to
+Emilie's words.
+
+"Please let Jacques take part in the exercises, and I will pay you out
+of my savings; or if you are willing to wait, I will pay it when I am
+married. And besides that, I will write to my father, and tell him to
+let me come and take lessons here after I am entirely cured."
+
+The colonel could not restrain his mirth at the idea of Emilie
+wishing to pay him for a kind action, which his generous heart
+prompted him to do without any persuasion.
+
+"It does not require so much eloquence to urge me to do a kindness, my
+little friend," he replied. "Do you think I don't enjoy my practice? I
+will receive your protégé with pleasure, if he will promise to obey my
+orders, and if he will resemble his protectress in the love of doing
+good."
+
+While speaking these words, the colonel called one of the teachers,
+and pointing to Jacques,--who did not know whether he was dreaming or
+not,--he said,--
+
+"Take this boy, give him a belt, and a knot of scarlet ribbon on the
+left shoulder; that is the side which needs strengthening."
+
+Then he explained which exercises he should take, and those he ought
+to avoid.
+
+He then gave a signal for the bell to ring, and the professors and
+children were soon busy in the centre of the gymnasium.
+
+It was a pretty sight, I can assure you. Such a wonderful combination
+of poles, ropes, posts, and ladders! You might wonder, at first, what
+they all meant. But soon every child came along in his turn, without
+effort, and with such perfect enjoyment, that it explained the
+mystery.
+
+Gymnastic exercises were practised with great care by the ancients.
+They formed part of the education of a gentleman. They give that
+physical beauty and grace which only spring from a fine muscular
+development. Among the Greeks and Romans, men frequented the gymnasium
+and the circus. Philosophers, judges, and soldiers took part in these
+exercises with the citizens, that they might become stronger and more
+athletic, more active and capable of bearing fatigue.
+
+M. Amoros not only gave health and strength to the pupils of his
+gymnasium, but he taught them to call only those deeds _great_ which
+were inspired by bravery, love of humanity, and pure benevolence.
+
+Two years had passed away; spring had arrived at the old chateau on
+the Loire, and M. Martel, the father of little Emilie, had returned
+from his voyage to Martinique. He was busy in making many necessary
+repairs in his family mansion, and many workmen came from Paris for
+that purpose. The night after their arrival, the chateau was
+discovered to be on fire. M. Martel awoke in haste; startled by the
+light of the flames, which suddenly illuminated his room, he ran to
+see where the fire sprang from, and called aloud for his daughter,
+whom he could not see anywhere. The spectacle that met his view quite
+overwhelmed him. The story that was on fire was the place where his
+daughter slept. It could be reached only from a neighboring roof, that
+was almost consumed. A single beam connected one building with the
+other. Notwithstanding his age and the gout, which paralyzed one of
+his limbs, the poor father wished to climb up and save his daughter,
+or to die with her. They held him back; he uttered fearful shrieks,
+when a young man, little more than a boy, was seen on the beam, which
+tottered with his weight. He walked along without fear. A profound
+silence succeeded to the cries of terror. The souls of the spectators
+seemed to look out of their eyes. M. Martel fell upon his knees.
+
+The intrepid youth reached the window, and scaled it. They saw him
+unroll a long rope, or rope-ladder, and fasten it securely to the iron
+balcony which ornamented the window; then he disappeared.
+
+Not a sound betrayed the anxiety of the spectators. The unknown man
+returned; he held a young person supported upon his back. He mounted
+the iron balcony, and suspended himself with his precious burden upon
+it, for she was well secured by a strong belt. This horrible suspense
+was more than M. Martel could bear. He covered his face with his
+hands. But soon the universal shouts of joy told him that his daughter
+was safe.
+
+After the first moments of delight, the young girl turned to her
+deliverer. An exclamation of surprise fell from their lips.
+
+"Jacques!"
+
+"Mademoiselle Emilie!"
+
+Then they gazed at each other in silence by the red light of the fire.
+
+They were no longer two pale, sad children, with haggard little faces,
+already prematurely old. They had been separated ever since Emilie had
+left the gymnasium, and, not living in the same place, they hardly
+recognized each other. Emilie was a tall and beautiful girl, enjoying
+all the delight of perfect health. Jacques almost had become a man.
+
+M. Martel had not heard without emotion about his daughter's generous
+act, and her efforts to have Jacques received as a pupil in the Amoros
+gymnasium.
+
+"Am I not well rewarded?" she exclaimed, extending her hand to the
+young man. "You would not have had any daughter without him, papa. The
+horror of my position, the impossibility of my finding a rope, a
+ladder, or any way of escape, frightened me so, that I lost my senses,
+and I should have been burned alive, if it had not been for Jacques."
+
+"Ah, mademoiselle," said the slater's son, with emotion, "it is not
+life alone that I owe to you; is it not more than life? It is health,
+the use of my limbs, and the happiness of being able to support my
+mother. Yes, mademoiselle," added Jacques, with fervor, "I am a
+workman, and thanks to the lessons of our excellent professor, Colonel
+Amoros, I am more skilful than any of my fellow-laborers. I can
+support my family, and my wages are higher, because I can work harder
+and work longer than the rest."
+
+"Brave boy!" exclaimed M. Martel, pressing Jacques in his arms, who
+was quite overcome at the meeting. "From this day forward you shall be
+my son. I will take charge of your education and your advancement, of
+your mother and your sister. Brave boy! My daughter has done much for
+you, but you deserve it; she understood your heart."
+
+M. Martel kept his word. And some days after, when Jacques and his
+uncle met in the small attic of the poor widow, and were rejoicing
+over the happy change in their fortunes, the poor mother clasped her
+boy's head to her heart, and bathed his curls with tears, and covered
+them with kisses, exclaiming,--
+
+"Now you see, brother, Jacques was not a useless creature. It is owing
+to him that our fortune is made."
+
+"Yes, thanks to Colonel Amoros," said the workman.
+
+"Thanks to Mademoiselle Emilie," said Jacques, heaving a sigh.
+
+                                               S. W. LANDER.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The girl kisses her father on the forehead}]
+
+A DINNER AND A KISS.
+
+
+    "I have brought your dinner, father,"
+      The blacksmith's daughter said,
+    As she took from her arm the kettle,
+      And lifted its shining lid.
+    "There is not any pie or pudding;
+      So I will give you this;"
+    And upon his toil-worn forehead
+      She left the childish kiss.
+
+    The blacksmith took off his apron,
+      And dined in happy mood,
+    Wondering much at the savor
+      Hid in his humble food,
+    While all about him were visions
+      Full of prophetic bliss;
+    But he never thought of the magic
+      In his little daughter's kiss.
+
+    While she, with her kettle swinging,
+      Merrily trudged away,
+    Stopping at sight of a squirrel,
+      Catching some wild bird's lay,
+    O, I thought, how many a shadow
+      Of life and fate we would miss,
+    If always our frugal dinners
+      Were seasoned with a kiss!
+
+
+
+
+MY MOTHER.
+
+"Honor thy father and thy mother."
+
+
+    Father and mother! sacred names and dear;
+    The sweetest music to the infant ear,
+    And dearer still to those, a joyous band,
+    Who sport in childhood's bright enchanted land.
+
+    And when, as years roll on, night follows day,
+    The young wax old and loved ones pass away,
+    Through mists of time yet holier and more dear,
+    "Father and mother" sound to memory's ear.
+
+    The days, the hours, the moments as they speed,
+    Each crowned by loving thought or word or deed,
+    Oh, heart's long-suffering, self-denying! sure
+    Earth holds no love more true, and none so pure.
+
+    Thou happy child whom a good God hath given
+    A parents' shelt'ring home, that earthly heaven,
+    Where ceaseless care, where tireless love and true,
+    Nurse thy young life as flowers are nursed by dew.
+
+    E'en as the flowers, for the dear debt they owe,
+    Bloom, and sweet odors in rich meed bestow,
+    Let the fair blossoms of thy love and duty
+    Cluster about thy home in fragrant beauty.
+
+    Never from eye or lip be seen or heard
+    The sullen glance or the rebellious word,
+    And never wilfully or heedless pain
+    The tender hearts that cannot wound again.
+
+    But fond caress, sweet smile and loving tone,
+    Obedience prompt and glad, be thine alone,
+    For filial love, like mercy, is twice blest;
+    While to the parent of earth's joys the best,
+    Richer than treasures of the land or sea,
+    It wins God's blessing, O my child, for thee!
+
+[Illustration: MY MOTHER.]
+
+
+
+
+REGINALD'S FIRST SCHOOL-DAYS.
+
+
+One frosty morning in January two delicate-looking children were
+sitting before a blazing fire in a long, low nursery with oak rafters
+running across the ceiling. Between them lay a great shaggy dog.
+
+"You will take good care of Rover whilst I am away?" said the boy,
+winding his fingers in Rover's shaggy hair and leaning his head
+against him.
+
+"Yes; he shall go for a walk with me every day, and in the twilight I
+will talk to him about you," answered Alice. "You might send messages
+to him in your letters," she added.
+
+"Would you understand them, old fellow?" asked Reginald, lifting up
+the dog's head and looking into his eyes.
+
+The dog wistfully returned his master's gaze and gave him his paw.
+
+"I believe he understands," said Reginald, throwing his arms round the
+dog's neck. "Oh, Rover, Rover, if I could only take you with me!"
+
+"It would not be so bad then," sighed Alice.
+
+"It won't be really bad when I get accustomed to it. Just at first it
+may be strange, but I shall be sure to like one, at any rate, out of
+the forty boys. It is going out into the world, and my father says it
+is well for a boy to learn his level early. On the whole, I am glad I
+am going; it is only the first bit of it that one is not sure about."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a large room, with desks and benches on either side, and an
+aisle, as Reginald called it, up the middle. It had four large windows
+looking out on the playground, and a fireplace at each end, round
+which some dozen or two of boys were clustered.
+
+Reginald advanced toward the fireplace at the lower end of the room,
+hoping that some one might speak to him and rid him of the strange,
+uncomfortable feeling that crept over him; but none of the boys spoke,
+though they regarded him critically, as if measuring the sort of being
+he was before committing themselves to any closer acquaintance.
+
+So he sat down on a bench halfway down the school-room, tried to look
+unconscious, and half wished himself at home again.
+
+"Have any of you fellows got a knife? I want to cut this piece of
+string," said a tall boy, addressing the group generally.
+
+In a moment Reginald had taken out his new knife and offered it to the
+speaker.
+
+"Ah!" said Thompson, the tall boy; "a capital knife. Much obliged;
+will borrow it for the present;" and after using it he quietly put it
+into his pocket.
+
+Some of the boys laughed. One of them, however, murmured, in an
+undertone, "What a great shame!"
+
+Reginald's color rose. He walked straight up to Thompson:
+
+"Will you please to give me my knife again?"
+
+Thompson looked surprised:
+
+"No; I shall please to do nothing of the kind. You offered it, and I
+accepted it. An offer's an offer."
+
+"I lent it to you to cut the string."
+
+"You did not say so."
+
+"I do not think it just of you to take my knife in that way," said
+Reginald, thoroughly aroused; "and if you do not return it at once, I
+shall speak to Dr. Field about it."
+
+"Oh!" said Thompson, coolly; "you're a sneak, are you?"
+
+[Illustration: INDUSTRIOUS REGINALD.]
+
+The boys, who had been gathering round Reginald, admiring his spirit
+in confronting the tall boy, now drew back, and the words "tell-tale!"
+"blab!" "sneak!" were distinctly heard. And Reginald found himself
+standing alone, deserted by those who had drawn near in sympathy with
+him, for Thompson was the tyrant of the school.
+
+Presently, when the boys had returned to their places by the fire, and
+Reginald was apparently forgotten, a merry-looking boy a year older
+than himself sat down by him.
+
+"No," said he; "you must not say anything to Dr. Field. You must let
+your knife go, and learn wisdom for the future."
+
+Reginald looked up.
+
+"It's mean and unfair," he said.
+
+"That may be, but the boys would say it was meaner still to complain.
+One has to put up with things of this sort at school, and make the
+best of them."
+
+"What's your name?" asked Reginald, suddenly, for there was something
+about the boy that he liked, and he thought this might be the one who
+was to be his friend.
+
+"Barton. And yours?"
+
+"Reginald Murray."
+
+"Murray's enough, without the other."
+
+"I should like you to be my friend."
+
+Barton glanced at the large dark eyes that were fixed upon him, and at
+the delicate and somewhat mournful face, and felt attracted also.
+
+"I think I shall like you," he returned; "but I must wait and see how
+you go on. I think you've the right spirit; but you must take my
+advice about the knife. Will you?"
+
+There was a struggle in Reginald's mind. It was very hard to give up
+the knife that Alice had saved up her pocket-money to buy for him.
+Still, Barton had been at school for some time, and knew better than
+he what ought to be done, so he answered, "I will."
+
+But Barton was not prepared for his manner of carrying out the
+decision. To his great surprise, Reginald marched straight up to
+Thompson. "I shall not," he said, "speak to Dr. Field about the knife.
+It's unfair and unjust of you to take it, and I sha'n't be friends
+with you as long as you keep it. But Barton says it would be telling
+tales if I made a complaint."
+
+Some of the younger boys stood quite aghast at Reginald's boldness;
+one or two even murmured, "Well done!"
+
+Thompson stared, half in astonishment, half in anger. "You're too
+fast, young sir; you'll have to be put down, I see," said he. But he
+did not give Reginald his knife again.
+
+School was indeed a new world to Reginald. He made friends and found
+enemies; he worked hard--indeed, often sat up by candle-light to
+prepare examples for the next day. He played well, and on the whole
+was tolerably popular. Thompson, however, still kept the knife, using
+it upon all occasions, which caused a thrill of indignation to go
+through Reginald's delicate frame.
+
+"If I can't get it one way, I will another," thought he; and he
+brooded over the knife until he magnified every word that Thompson
+said into a series of insults to himself, and Thompson, pleased with
+the power he possessed over the boy, exercised it on all occasions.
+
+So the spring went by, and the summer came, and the days slipped away,
+and the holidays were close at hand.
+
+"If I were strong enough, I would fight him for it," said Reginald to
+Barton, one day, when Thompson had been more than usually aggravating.
+
+The remark was repeated to Thompson, who was standing by the side of
+the river that ran at the foot of the playground.
+
+At that moment Reginald drew near.
+
+"So you would like to fight me if you were big enough?" said he, with
+a sneer.
+
+"I should!" answered Reginald, warmly.
+
+"Ah! it's a bad state of feeling. If the knife causes such wicked
+thoughts, the best way is to get rid of it. So here it goes, and there
+is an end of it!" And drawing the knife from his pocket, he flung it
+into the river. It fell short of where he intended, and Reginald saw
+his beloved knife through the clear river, lying within what he
+supposed to be an easy reach. Without a moment's thought he jumped in
+after it, regardless of the cry that rose, "The water's deeper than it
+looks!"
+
+His hand had, as if by instinct, grasped the knife, but as he tried to
+struggle back through the swiftly-running water he got confused, for,
+as the boys had called out to him, it was a great deal deeper than it
+looked, and just there the ground shelved suddenly, and Reginald,
+taking a false step, lost his footing.
+
+There was a general outcry, which brought Dr. Field and a visitor who
+had just arrived to the spot:
+
+"Murray's in the river!"
+
+And they pointed to the spot where the poor boy had sunk.
+
+With such a cry as the boys long remembered, the visitor had plunged
+into the water, and had caught the boy, who had risen for the last
+time, by the arm.
+
+And the next thing that the boys knew was that a white, dripping form
+was carried through the playground into the house.
+
+Then a whisper went round, "It was his father."
+
+Then a whispered question, "Is he dead?"
+
+And Thompson shuddered as he heard it.
+
+But Reginald did not die; he opened his eyes to find his father
+clasping his hand. At first he could remember nothing, then he looked
+round anxiously: "Is the knife safe? I went to pick up my knife."
+
+Then he closed his eyes and remained for a long time silent; and when
+he spoke again, it was in the wild ravings of delirium.
+
+The shock had been too much for the delicate boy. Fever came on, and
+it was weeks before he could be moved home. And then he was ordered to
+the South, and Italy was the chosen place in which Mr. and Mrs. Murray
+and their two children should sojourn until Reginald should have
+completely recovered his health.
+
+And this time Rover was to go with his young master.
+
+The day before Reginald left home a carriage drove up to the door, and
+Thompson stepped out of it.
+
+He and Reginald were alone for a quarter of an hour, and they parted
+friends.
+
+"I have my knife now, Thompson," said Reginald, "and so the quarrel is
+over."
+
+And Thompson returned to Dr. Field's a better and a wiser boy. He
+never bullied any one again.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Three kittens, two wrestling and one clasping a ball
+    in its front paws}]
+
+CLEOPATRA.
+
+
+    We've called our young puss Cleopatra;
+      'Twas grandpa who named her like that.
+    He says it means "fond of good living"--
+      A queer enough name for a cat!
+
+    She leads the most lovely existence,
+      And one which appears to enchant;
+    Asleep in the sun like a snow-flake
+      That tries to get melted and can't;
+
+    Or now and then languidly strolling
+      Through plots of the garden, to steal
+    On innocent grasshoppers, crunching
+      Her cruel and murderous meal!
+
+    Or lapping from out of her saucer--
+      The dainty and delicate elf!--
+    With appetite spoiled in the garden,
+      New milk that's as white as herself.
+
+    Dear, dear! could we only change places,
+      This do-nothing pussy and I,
+    You'd think it hard work, Cleopatra,
+      To live, as the moments went by.
+
+    Ah! how would you relish, I wonder,
+      To sit in a school-room for hours?
+    You'd find it less pleasant, I fancy,
+      Than murdering bugs in the flowers.
+
+                            EDGAR FAWCETT.
+
+
+
+
+DECLAMATION.
+
+SHAKSPEARE.
+
+
+    She sat in her eternal house,
+      The sovereign mother of mankind;
+    Before her was the peopled world,
+      The hollow night behind.
+
+    "Below my feet the thunders break,
+      Above my head the stars rejoice;
+    But man, although he babbles much,
+      Has never found a voice.
+
+    "Ten thousand years have come and gone,
+      And not an hour of any day
+    But he has dumbly looked to me
+      The things he could not say.
+
+    "It shall be so no more," she said;
+      And then, revolving in her mind,
+    She thought, "I will create a child
+      Shall speak for all his kind."
+
+    It was the spring-time of the year,
+      And, lo! where Avon's waters flow,
+    The child, her darling, came on earth
+      Three hundred years ago.
+
+    There was no portent in the sky,
+      No cry, like Pan's, along the seas,
+    Nor hovered round his baby mouth
+      The swarm of classic bees.
+
+    What other children were he was;
+      If more, 'twas not to mortal ken;
+    The being likest to mankind
+      Made him the man of men.
+
+    Before he came, his like was not,
+      Nor left he heirs to share his powers.
+    The mighty mother sent him here
+      To be her voice and ours;
+
+    To be her oracle to man;
+      To be what man may be to her;
+    Between the Maker and the made
+      The best interpreter.
+
+                      RICHARD H. STODDARD.
+
+
+
+
+SMILES AND TEARS.
+
+
+    Both sword and guns are strong, no doubt,
+      And so are tongue and pen,
+    And so are sheaves of good bank-notes,
+      To sway the souls of men;
+    But guns and swords, and gold and thought,
+      Though mighty in their sphere,
+    Are often poorer than a smile,
+      And weaker than a tear.
+
+
+
+
+NICOLO'S LITTLE FRIEND.
+
+
+"Nicolo, Nicolo, where are you? Where have you hidden yourself? Come
+here; I want you."
+
+It was a very bright-eyed little girl who spoke these words--under a
+bright sky, too--the sunny sky of Italy.
+
+But Nicolo, a boy some years older than herself, looked far from
+bright or happy; he was lying full length on the ground in the
+sunlight; but his face was overcast and melancholy.
+
+"Lazy fellow!" said little Gianetta, laughingly, as she came up to
+him; "I am out of breath calling to you. Come along; I want you.
+Mother has done with me, and we can make some music together."
+
+But Nicolo shook his head, though he smiled at his little friend.
+
+"What is it?" asked Gianetta. "Why can't you come? Is it the father
+again?"
+
+Nicolo sighed. He was a cheerful, happy-tempered boy by nature. And
+yet Gianetta often found him looking very sad.
+
+"Tiresome, bad man!" broke forth the little girl. "He has been
+scolding you again; but no. Stop; I will say no wicked things of him,
+for he is your father; and we must honor our parents, be they bad or
+good, Father Clement says. But tell me, Nicolo, what has he said or
+done?"
+
+"It is nothing," said Nicolo, rousing himself at length--"nothing, my
+little Gianetta; but it wearies me. It is the old tale; he likes not
+my music--thinks it an excuse for idleness. Listen, little one. I make
+my plans now. I cannot bear this life. I must do as he wishes--learn a
+trade or somewhat, and give up my violin."
+
+"That you never shall do," said Gianetta, earnestly. "You think me
+naughty, Nicolo; but I am not. I only see it plainer than you or your
+father. God has given you this talent,--this great one,--and you shall
+not hide it, you shall not bury it." The little girl's face was so
+eager, that Nicolo smiled at her.
+
+But she went on, more excitedly:--
+
+"Get up this moment, Nicolo, and come in with me. We will play
+somewhat together. Your father never scolds you when I am by. And you
+shall not give up your music."
+
+The boy, half in earnest, and half amused, let the child drag him into
+a little house near, put his violin into his arms, and then seat
+herself at the piano, while in the distance sat Nicolo's father,
+gloomily watching the pair.
+
+"Begin," said Gianetta, "and tell me when I play wrongly."
+
+But for such a mere child, Gianetta played with marvellous
+correctness. As for Nicolo, his countenance cleared with every sound
+that he drew from his beloved violin; he forgot his gloomy father; he
+thought no longer of his dull, sad home. He was wrapped in that
+wonderful content which the possession of some great talent gives.
+
+With the last chord the brightness faded, however, out of his face.
+
+"Take me home now," said the little girl.
+
+Home was only across the street; but Gianetta wanted another word in
+private with her friend.
+
+"Nicolo," she said, gravely, "never speak more of giving up the music;
+it is not to be. I am sorry for you, my poor boy; I know it is a hard
+life, but--"
+
+"But I will make a name for myself at last," said Nicolo, catching her
+enthusiasm; "and then, perhaps, my father will have faith in me. Till
+then I will be brave, little one; so good night."
+
+It _was_ a hard life for Nicolo--his mother dead, his father with no
+care for his son's one great passion--music. Many a time the boy's
+spirit failed, and he even grew to doubt his own powers under the cold
+glance and cruel taunts which daily met him.
+
+He was sitting one day, feeling even sadder than usual,--discontented
+even with the sounds he drew from his instrument,--when Gianetta's
+mother stood in the doorway.
+
+"The child is ill," she said, hurriedly--"very ill, and calls ever for
+you. Come."
+
+So Nicolo went, and, though tossed with fever, his little friend
+smiled on him. There was, however, a longing look in her eyes; but her
+parched lips could not form a word.
+
+"Is it the violin?" asked Nicolo, softly.
+
+She smiled again, and Nicolo fetched his treasure.
+
+"A sleeping song?" he questioned.
+
+The little face grew calm and soft at his question. Sweetly the music
+floated through the room, stilling the little sufferer, and comforting
+the watchers. When he had finished, Gianetta stretched out her arms.
+
+"Thank you, dear Nicolo," she said; "that was pleasant. Now I shall
+sleep; but _you_ must never sleep; you have much else to do; you must
+go out into the world, and be famous--go away far, far from here. Do
+you mind my words? Will you remember them?"
+
+And she lay back exhausted on her pillow, never more to ask for music
+in this world. Gianetta was listening even then to the angels' song.
+
+That night Nicolo sat beside the dead body of his little friend.
+Lights burned, flowers were scattered round her, and prayers were said
+without ceasing in all those long hours. It was the custom of the
+country; it did not disturb the dead, and it comforted the living.
+
+And when morning dawned, the friendless boy went back to his little
+room across the road, and there he poured out his heart in a farewell
+strain to his dear companion who had thus suddenly been snatched from
+him.
+
+There was no more now to be done but to fulfil her last command--to
+go out into the world, and to make himself famous.
+
+Did he do so?
+
+Ask those who love music, and hold dear all great names in its roll of
+fame, if they ever heard of Nicolo Paganini; for it is of his boyhood
+that I write.
+
+How far he owed his success in life to a little girl, each reader may
+judge for himself. She certainly inspired him with courage when he was
+very down-hearted; and through all his brilliant career, I think he at
+least must always have remembered her with gratitude.
+
+                                                    H. A. F.
+
+
+
+
+A CHILD'S PETITION.
+
+
+        O thou above,
+        From whose great love
+    The world all good receives,
+        Make me as bright
+        With thy blessed light
+    As a rose with all her leaves.
+
+        Wash me as clean
+        From every sin,
+    O pitiful, pitiful One;
+        And make me shine
+        With thy grace divine,
+    Like a lily with the sun.
+
+        Take pride away,
+        Dear Lord, I pray,
+    And make me pure and true,
+        That I may be fed
+        On thy living bread,
+    As the daisy is fed on the dew.
+
+        Help me still
+        To do thy will
+    Till life has passed away,
+        And in the dark
+        To sing like a lark
+    At the golden gate of the day.
+
+
+
+
+THE TRUANT.
+
+
+"What's the matter with Neddy Oram?" I said as a noise outside drew me
+to the window, and I saw old Mrs. Oram dragging her grandson along the
+street. She looked angry and determined.
+
+"He's played truant, I guess," answered my little girl as she came to
+my side. "He played truant last week, and Mr. Jonas made him stand on
+one foot ever so long a time. And when he got tired and put the other
+one down, he switched him on the leg. Oh dear! I don't want to go this
+morning. I wish Neddy wouldn't play truant, nor be bad in school! He's
+such a nice boy, and I can't bear to see him whipped. Mr. Jonas will
+cut him dreadfully, I know he will, for he said he'd take the skin off
+of him if ever he played truant again."
+
+Neddy was a nice boy, as my little girl said. He was bright and
+active, kind-hearted and generous. I never saw him do a mean or
+selfish thing. But he had a free, rather reckless spirit and a will
+that was stubbornness itself when aroused. Kindness softened, but
+anger hardened, him.
+
+Neddy's father and mother were both dead, and the boy lived with his
+grandmother, who was rather a hard woman, and believed more in the
+power of force than in the power of kindness.
+
+As soon as I understood the case I put on my bonnet hastily and ran
+after Mrs. Oram, hoping to come up with her before she reached the
+school-room. I was a few moments too late for this, but in time to
+have a word with Mr. Jonas, who stood at the door holding the
+struggling boy firmly by the arm.
+
+"I want you to promise me one thing," I said, laying my hand on the
+schoolmaster's. I spoke in as quiet a voice as I could assume, but
+very seriously. My words and manner threw Mr. Jonas off of his guard.
+His hold on the boy relaxed, and in the next instant Neddy was beyond
+his reach and running off as fast as his feet could carry him.
+
+"After him!" cried the schoolmaster, greatly excited. "After him, John
+Wilkins!"
+
+A large, coarse-looking boy started forward, and was about passing
+through the door, when I put my hand on him, and pressing him back
+said,
+
+"Wait a moment, John. Maybe, after I've said a word to Mr. Jonas,
+he'll not want you to go. Tell him to wait, Mr. Jonas; do, now,
+because I want you."
+
+I softened my voice to a persuasive tone, and so made my interference
+effectual. The schoolmaster told John Wilkins to go back to his seat.
+
+Mrs. Oram had started after her troublesome grandson on the instant of
+his escape, and so I was left alone with the excited teacher.
+
+"Now, don't be angry with me," said I, "nor tell me to go away and
+mind my own business. Two heads are sometimes better than one; and
+it's my opinion that if you and I put our heads together, we can save
+this poor boy from being ruined. There is a great deal of good in
+him, but as things go now I'm afraid it will be lost. With natures
+like his, 'love has readier will than fear.' His grandmother doesn't
+know how to manage him. Let us try to show her a better way."
+
+[Illustration: THE TRUANT.]
+
+By the time I had said this the thoughts of Mr. Jonas had become
+clearer and his anger against Neddy much abated. I saw this in his
+face.
+
+"Let the boy go now," I added. "After school come and see me, and
+we'll have a long talk over the matter. But promise me one thing."
+
+"What is that?" he asked.
+
+"If old Mrs. Oram brings Neddy back to-day, don't punish him."
+
+"Very well. It shall be as you say," answered the schoolmaster.
+
+That evening Mr. Jonas called to see me. He was a better man, on the
+whole, than he was a schoolmaster. Out of school he was kind and
+genial, but as a teacher he was not always as wise and as patient as
+he should be. Like Neddy's grandmother, he believed more in the power
+of force than he did in the power of kindness. His rod was always in
+sight, and too often in his hand. He ruled by fear, and not by love.
+
+"Did Neddy come back to school?" I asked.
+
+Mr. Jonas shook his head gravely.
+
+"Oh, mother," cried my little girl, rushing into the room just at this
+moment, "Neddy Oram's lost or run away!"
+
+She stopped on seeing Mr. Jonas; her face, that had been a little
+pale, flushed deeply, and her eyes had an angry flash. "And it's all
+your fault!" she added, with a sudden brave indignation in her tiny
+voice as she turned on the schoolmaster and looked at him steadily.
+
+"My fault!" said the schoolmaster, in a startled voice.
+
+"Yes, sir. It's all your fault. If you hadn't made him stand on one
+leg until he was almost tired to death, and switched him when he put
+the other down, and if you hadn't said you'd cut the skin off of him,
+he wouldn't have run away."
+
+And here little Carrie burst out crying, and buried her face, sobbing,
+in my lap.
+
+"Brave talk for my timid little girl, Mr. Jonas," I said, in an
+undertone, "but all true, I'm afraid."
+
+"What is true?" he asked, looking bewildered.
+
+"All that Carrie has said. This way you have of flogging children does
+more harm than good. A man of your clear mind and kindly nature might
+surely find some better way to govern your scholars."
+
+Mr. Jonas did not answer. There was a look of pained surprise on his
+face.
+
+"Run away, lost!" he exclaimed, after a few moments, rising to his
+feet. His manner had become suddenly agitated. "Poor boy! I must see
+about this;" and he went out hastily.
+
+When Neddy Oram, who was only ten years old, escaped from the
+schoolmaster, he went directly home and hid himself in the garret,
+behind some boxes and old furniture. He ran so much faster than his
+grandmother that she lost sight of him and did not see him go into the
+house. So no search was made for him in the garret. Like some poor
+hunted animal that had gained a place of safety, he crouched panting
+in his hiding-place, enjoying for a time a sweet sense of security.
+But Neddy could not long forget how small and weak and dependent he
+was. It was all very well to hide away from his grandmother, but how
+was he to get anything to eat?
+
+"Run away!" said a voice that spoke inside of him, but so loud and
+clear that he almost started. "Run away!" repeated the voice.
+"Grandmother Oram will find you out up here and take you back to
+school, and Mr. Jonas will switch you half to death."
+
+I wonder who it was that said this, or how a voice could speak inside
+of Neddy Oram? It was a bad spirit, I think, that wished to do him
+harm. We may often hear these bad spirits speaking in our thoughts and
+telling us to do naughty things. Good spirits speak in our thoughts as
+well as bad ones, and they tell us to do what is right, to be kind and
+generous and loving and true.
+
+I am sorry to say that Neddy, who was not only angry with his
+grandmother and the schoolmaster, but on account of his wrong-doings
+and disobedience afraid of them, listened to this voice, and as he
+listened the bad spirit made the voice seem so like his own thoughts
+that he knew not but that all came from himself.
+
+So under this wrong influence he planned an escape from the house,
+which was to be made as soon as his grandmother went out. For an hour
+or two he heard her moving around. At last all was still. Then he
+stole from his hiding-place and listened at the head of the stairs.
+Not the slightest sound broke the deep silence. Grandmother had gone
+away. Then he took a loaf of bread, a large slice of cake and some
+apples, which he tied up in a handkerchief; and stealing out of the
+back door, he ran through the garden and out of a gate that opened
+into a lane. At the end of this lane was a piece of woods, and beyond
+this wood a deep hollow, along which it was easy to go without danger
+of being seen by any one.
+
+How strangely the little boy's heart beat as he hurried along, going
+he knew not whither! It was not long before he reached the hollow
+beyond the woods. After crossing this hollow, he entered another wood
+by a narrow path made by the cattle. The trees in this wood were very
+tall and close together, and the underbrush grew so thick that he
+could see before him only for a short distance.
+
+The silence and darkness of this heavy forest caused a lonely feeling
+to come over Neddy. All at once the thought of bears and wolves came
+into his mind, and with the thought fear crept into his heart. A
+weakness fell upon him, and he stood still with drops of cold sweat
+on his forehead. Then he turned and ran back, but in doing so missed
+the way and took a path that, instead of taking him out of the forest,
+led him farther into it. He ran and ran, panting for breath, until he
+was so tired that he had to sit down to rest.
+
+"What if I am lost?" he said to himself, a cold chill running over him
+at the thought. Lost! How wildly the poor little boy's heart began to
+beat! As he sat there, feeling too weak from weariness and fear to
+arise, he heard not far off the sound of feet cracking the dry sticks
+and rustling the leaves that lay upon the ground. He held his breath
+in terror, for he was sure it was a bear or wolf. Nearer and nearer
+the animal came, passing only a few rods from where he sat motionless.
+
+"Oh, oh!" exclaimed Neddy, in tones of relief, starting to his feet as
+he saw a young heifer which was astray in the woods.
+
+At sight of the boy the heifer, scared by his sudden appearance,
+started off at a run and was soon out of sight, leaving Neddy again
+alone. He tried to follow her, but was not able to get on her track.
+Oh how he did wish himself at home! How sorry he was that he had
+played truant on the day before!
+
+In trying to follow the heifer, Neddy left the narrow path along which
+he had been going, and now he was among the thick undergrowth of the
+forest, his hands and face scratched with briars. The trees stood so
+close together that no sunshine came down through their thick
+branches. All was dim and shadowy.
+
+Poor Neddy! A great fear and loneliness fell on him again; and sitting
+down on the limb of a fallen tree, he began to cry bitterly. But
+crying was of no use. It wouldn't get him out of the woods and safely
+home again. So he dried his tears and started on again, hoping to find
+the path he had left. But he tried in vain. All at once he noticed
+that the light was fading rapidly and the air growing cold. The sun
+had gone down, and night was falling. Neddy's heart began to beat
+wildly; he could feel the throbs all over him; there was a great
+pressure as if a hand were laid on his breast; he could scarcely
+breathe, so strong was the feeling of suffocation that oppressed him.
+He tried to run, but his foot caught in a vine, and he fell upon the
+ground, where he lay for a long time before he had strength enough to
+arise.
+
+In his weakness and exhaustion the poor boy found strength and
+courage. How! Think, my little reader. What would you have done if
+lost in the woods as Neddy was lost? Where would you have looked for
+help? You would have done, I am very sure, just as he did. And what
+did he do? Why, he put his little hands together, and lifting his
+tearful eyes upward prayed that God would take care of him, and not
+let any wild beasts eat him up.
+
+As soon as he had done this the dreadful fear from which he was
+suffering went out of his heart. Just a little way beyond the spot
+where Neddy had fallen was a small clear place in the forest, where
+grew a bed of soft green moss. A few rays of light came down through
+an opening in the trees and showed him this cosy nook. Once in it,
+there seemed to grow all about him a wall of darkness. So he sat down
+upon the moss with a strange feeling of peace and security in his
+heart.
+
+And now, for the first time, Neddy felt hungry. So he opened the
+bundle of bread and cake which he had brought with him, and ate with a
+keen relish. Then he began to feel tired and heavy. The soft moss on
+which he was resting was just the bed for a poor tired boy like him,
+and before he had time to think of his loneliness and danger he was
+fast asleep.
+
+But sleep sometimes gives us frightful dreams, and one of these came
+to Neddy. He still thought himself a poor lost boy in the woods trying
+to find his way out. He heard wolves howling, and saw bears and tigers
+and all kinds of wild beasts. At last a wolf with great red jaws came
+after him, and he started to run, but his terror was so great that he
+could scarcely move his feet. A fearful growl ran through the woods,
+and the dreadful beast came rushing down upon him. At this frightful
+moment he heard his name called; and turning, he saw Mr. Jonas, the
+schoolmaster, running toward him with an axe in his hand, with which
+he struck the wolf just as he was about seizing him. The wolf fell
+dead, and the schoolmaster, catching Neddy up in his arms, said,
+tenderly, "My poor, poor boy!" and hugged him tightly to his breast.
+
+Was all this a dream? No, not all, for Neddy awoke and found himself
+in the schoolmaster's arms, with two or three men around holding
+lanterns in their hands.
+
+"My poor, poor boy!" said the schoolmaster again, laying his hand
+tenderly on his recovered scholar; and this time Neddy heard the words
+in full wakefulness.
+
+He did not stir, but lay with his head close against Mr. Jonas, who,
+guided by the men with lanterns, walked hurriedly through the forest,
+and soon came to the road that led to the village.
+
+I was at Grandmother Oram's, waiting anxiously for news of the lost
+boy, when the schoolmaster came in with Neddy in his arms. I had been
+talking long and seriously with the frightened old lady about her way
+of treating Neddy, and she had promised me not to say a hard or angry
+word to him when he came home, if that ever should be. She was very
+much softened, and her real love for Neddy was having its full course.
+
+It was after ten o'clock when we heard the sound of coming feet. The
+poor old lady started up and stood pale and breathless. The door
+opened and Mr. Jonas came in, carrying Neddy in his arms. His face was
+softer in expression than I had ever seen it. He did not say a word
+until he came close up to Mrs. Oram, when, holding out the boy, he
+said, in a low voice that was broken and tender, "Be kind to the poor
+child, Mrs. Oram. I will see you about him in the morning," then
+merely adding, as he turned to leave, "We found him asleep in the
+woods," went out hastily.
+
+There was a new order of things in the village school after that. The
+rod fell from Mr. Jonas' hand, never to be lifted again, and he soon
+learned that in kindness was greater power than in fear. Neddy was in
+his place on the next day, and from that time onward was one of the
+most obedient and faithful scholars in school. Mr. Jonas' manner
+toward him was kind and gentle, and Neddy felt drawn toward him by a
+strange attraction that gave the schoolmaster the power over him of a
+wise and loving father. No thought of disobedience crossed the boy's
+mind. It was his delight to obey.
+
+All this happened many years ago, and now the boy Neddy has grown to
+be a strong, wise, good man, an honor to the position he holds, and
+one of the best of citizens. He had the opportunity of doing Mr. Jonas
+many kind acts; and when at last the old man grew too feeble to earn
+his living, Mr. Oram made his last days comfortable by placing him
+above the reach of want.
+
+[Illustration: THE END.]
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+Archaic spelling is preserved as printed. Variable spelling and
+inconsistent hyphenation is preserved as printed across different
+pieces, but has been made consistent within pieces if there was a
+prevalence of one form. Punctuation and printer errors (e.g. omitted
+or transposed letters) have been repaired.
+
+The following amendments have also been made:
+
+    Page 133--omitted word 'the' added--""Tell mother we want to
+    make coffee in the field, too" ..."
+
+    Page 341--mud amended to snow, based on the context--"... enable
+    it to wade through the deep snow, ..."
+
+In the story "How a Good Dinner was Lost" the older sister is named as
+both Rosa and Rosy.
+
+Illustrations have been moved where necessary so that they are not in
+the middle of a paragraph.
+
+Illustration captions in {braces} have been added by the transcriber
+for the convenience of the reader.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Happy Days for Boys and Girls, by Various
+
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Happy Days for Boys and Girls, by Various.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Happy Days for Boys and Girls, 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: Happy Days for Boys and Girls
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: December 20, 2009 [EBook #30720]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAPPY DAYS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sam W. and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 639px;">
+<img src="images/hd001.jpg" width="639" height="700"
+alt="Front cover - black, green and gold decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<h1 class="padtop padbase"><big>HAPPY DAYS</big><br />
+<br />
+<small>FOR</small><br />
+<br />
+BOYS AND GIRLS.</h1>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/hd002.jpg" width="300" height="298"
+alt="Three children playing" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center padtop">136 ILLUSTRATIONS</p>
+
+<p class="center padtop"><small>CONTRIBUTIONS BY</small></p>
+
+<p class="center padbase"><small>LOUISA M. ALCOTT, <span class="space">&nbsp;</span> ALICE AND PH&OElig;BE CAREY, <span class="space">&nbsp;</span> C. A. STEPHENS,<br />
+MARY N. PRESCOTT, <span class="space">&nbsp;</span> WILLIAM M. THAYER, <span class="space">&nbsp;</span> F. CHESEBORO,<br />
+J. G. WOOD, <span class="space">&nbsp;</span> S. W. LANDER, and others.</small></p>
+
+<p class="center"><small>PHILADELPHIA:</small><br />
+<span class="lrgfont">PORTER &amp; COATES,</span><br />
+<small>822 CHESTNUT STREET.</small></p>
+
+
+
+<p class="center padtop padbase">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;<br />
+Copyright, 1877,<br />
+<span class="smcap">By Horace B. Fuller and Porter &amp; Coates</span>.<br />
+&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="center padbase">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;<br />
+<small>PRESS OF<br />
+HENRY B. ASHMEAD.<br />
+PHILADELPHIA.</small><br />
+&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 455px;">
+<img src="images/hd003.jpg" width="455" height="600"
+alt="A boy and a girl fishing" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">YOUNG FISHERS.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>5]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/hd004.jpg" width="450" height="158"
+alt="A bird and nestlings" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<h3>PROSE.</h3>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="60%" summary="Table of contents, prose">
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><small>PAGE</small></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Accident, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Louisa M. Alcott</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Adventure in the Life of Salvator Rosa</td>
+    <td class="tdli">L. D. L.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_84lower">84</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">African Elephant, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">J. G. Wood</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_318">319</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Animal in Armor, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_74">75</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Aunt Thankful</td>
+    <td class="tdli">M. H.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Barn Swallows</td>
+    <td class="tdli">W. Wander</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Birds</td>
+    <td class="tdli">F. F. E.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">&ldquo;Bitters&rdquo;</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Books and Reading</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Bruin at a Maple-Sugar Party</td>
+    <td class="tdli">C. A. Stephens</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_313lower">313</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Camels</td>
+    <td class="tdli">J. G. Wood</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_338">339</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Cave at Benton&rsquo;s Ridge</td>
+    <td class="tdli">F. E. S.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_350">350</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Charley</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_368">368</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Charlie&rsquo;s Escape</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_108">109</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Charlie&rsquo;s Christmas</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Crippled Boy, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">S. W. Lander</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_374lower">374</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Daisy&rsquo;s Temptation</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Daring Feat</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Davy Boys&rsquo; Fishing-Pond</td>
+    <td class="tdli">L. M. D.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Envy Punished</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_271lower">271</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Every Cloud has a Silver Lining</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Faithful Friends</td>
+    <td class="tdli">X.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Fairy Bird, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Louisa M. Alcott</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Fred and Dog Stephen</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_204">205</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Giraffe, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">J. G. Wood</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_188">188</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Going for the Letters</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Good Word not Lost</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_308lower">308</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Gratitude of a Cow</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Haunts of Wild Beasts</td>
+    <td class="tdli">C. A. Stephens</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_355lower">355</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Help Yourselves</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Wm. M. Thayer</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Holiday Luck</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Sara Conant</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_296lower">296</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">How a Good Dinner was Lost</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Fannie Benedict</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_256">256</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">How Maggie paid the Rent</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl" colspan="3"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>6]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="figcenter ipadboth" colspan="3"><img src="images/hd005.jpg" width="450" height="111" alt="Children sledding" /></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">How Sweetie&rsquo;s &ldquo;Ship came In&rdquo;</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Margaret Field</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Hunting Adventure</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_362">362</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">If; or, Bessie Green&rsquo;s Holiday</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Iron Ring, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">A. L. O. E.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">It takes Two to Make a Quarrel</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_306">306</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">John Stocks and the Bison</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Author of &ldquo;Drifting to Sea&rdquo;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Kindness Rewarded</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_28lower">28</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Kindness to Animals</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Robert Handy</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Lace-making</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Lame Susie</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Lion the Fire-dog</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Benjamin Clarke</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Lion on the Threshold</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Marcellin</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Merry Christmas</td>
+    <td class="tdli">E. G. C.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_166lower">166</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Monkeys</td>
+    <td class="tdli">L. B. U.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_301">301</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Motherless Boy, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_49lower">49</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Mouse and Canary, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_287lower">287</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Mrs. Pike&rsquo;s Prisoners</td>
+    <td class="tdli">M. R. W.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">My Mother&rsquo;s Stories</td>
+    <td class="tdli">E. E.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_303lower">303</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">My Story</td>
+    <td class="tdli">S. P. Brigham</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_332lower">332</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Nearly Lost</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_365">365</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Neddy&rsquo;s Half Holiday</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_120">121</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Nicolo&rsquo;s Little Friend</td>
+    <td class="tdli">H. A. F.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_390lower">390</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Nino</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Sara Conant</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_244">244</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Orchard&rsquo;s Grandmother</td>
+    <td class="tdli">S. O. J.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Parsees, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_371">371</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Polly Arrives</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Louisa M. Alcott</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_282">282</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Ponto</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_310">310</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Puppet</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Mary B. Harris</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Puss</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Robert Handy</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_293lower">293</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Que</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Mary B. Harris</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Reason and Instinct</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Flaneur</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Reginald&rsquo;s First School-Days</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_384">384</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Rough</td>
+    <td class="tdli">M. R. O.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_17lower">17</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Sally Sunbeam</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_250">251</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Saved by a Fiddle</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Sir Lascelles Wraxall</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_211lower">211</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Song of the Bird</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_323">323</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Squanko</td>
+    <td class="tdli">F. Cheseboro</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_274">274</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Squirrels</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">St. Bernard Dog</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Stitching and Teaching</td>
+    <td class="tdli">E. G. C.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Stories about Dogs</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_136">137</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Strange Combat, A</td>
+    <td class="tdli">C. A. Stephens</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Sweet One for Polly</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Louisa M. Alcott</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl" colspan="3"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>7]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="figcenter ipadboth" colspan="3"><img src="images/hd006.jpg" width="450" height="94" alt="Two children having a picnic" /></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Thorns</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_346">347</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Tim the Match-Boy</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Truant, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_393">393</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Two Friends. A Story for Boys</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_288">288</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Two Gentlemen in Fur Cloaks</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_106">107</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Uncle John&rsquo;s School-Days</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_234">234</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">What Nelly gave Away</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_114">115</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">White Butterfly</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_63lower">63</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Wings</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_272">273</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Working is Better than Wishing</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Young Artist, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<h3>POETRY.</h3>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="60%" summary="Table of contents, poetry">
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">All among the Hay</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Annie</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_174">175</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Answer to a Child&rsquo;s Question</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113lower">113</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Bird&rsquo;s Nest, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Mary. N. Prescott</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_216lower">216</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">C&mdash;A&mdash;T</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Cherry-Time</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Child&rsquo;s Petition</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_392lower">392</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Child&rsquo;s Prayer</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_137lower">137</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Children</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Children&rsquo;s Song</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_141lower">141</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Cleopatra</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Edgar Fawcett</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_388">388</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Common Things</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_249lower">249</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Coral-Workers, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_37lower">37</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Counting Baby&rsquo;s Toes</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_345lower">345</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Dinner and a Kiss</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_381">381</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Dream of Summer, A</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Mary N. Prescott</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Erl King</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Mary N. Prescott</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_240">241</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Faithful unto Death; or, The Sentry of Herculaneum</td>
+    <td class="tdli">W. B. B. Stevens</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Flight of the Birds</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_56lower">56</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">For the Children</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Forced Rabbit, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_180">180</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">From Bad to Worse</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Alice Cary</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_331">331</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Frost, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_22lower">22</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Good-Humor</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_35lower">35</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Good Shepherd, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_52lower">52</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">I am Coming</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_110lower">110</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Kind to Everything</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_68lower">68</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Let him Live</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Mary R. Whittlesey</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_300lower">300</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Little Helpers</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_72">73</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Little Home-body</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Geo. Cooper</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_119lower">119</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl" colspan="3"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>8]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="figcenter ipadboth" colspan="3"><img src="images/hd007.jpg" width="450" height="89" alt="Two figures walk through a snowy landscape" /></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Little Red Riding-Hood</td>
+    <td class="tdli">L. E. Landon</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">My Little Hero</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">My Mother</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_382">382</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Minutes</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">My Picture</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Music Lesson, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_21">22</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Nothing to Do</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_104">105</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Now the Sun is Sinking</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Our Daily Bread</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_157lower">157</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Preparing for Christmas</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_142">143</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Rich and Poor</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Ellen M. H. Gates</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Rigmarole about a Tea-Party</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_206lower">206</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Robin Redbreast</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Rustic Mirror, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">M. R. W.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Sailing the Boats</td>
+    <td class="tdli">George Cooper</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_304">305</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Secret</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Mary R. Whittlesey</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Shakspeare</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Richard H. Stoddard</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_389">389</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Sheep and the Goat</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_328lower">328</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Silly Young Rabbit, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Silver and Gold</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Ellis Gray</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_265lower">265</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Smiles and Tears</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_390">390</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Snow-Fall</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_150">151</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Snow-Man, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Marian Douglas</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_192lower">192</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Song of the Rose</td>
+    <td class="tdli">T. E. D.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Sparrow, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_122lower">122</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Spring has Come</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_202lower">202</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Story of Johnny Dawdle</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Summer</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_78lower">78</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">That Calf</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Ph&oelig;be Cary</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">To the Cardinal Flower</td>
+    <td class="tdli">M. R. W.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_40lower">40</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Touch Not</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_61lower">61</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Two Mornings</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Mary N. Prescott</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_267lower">267</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Under the Pear Trees</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_349">349</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Up and Doing</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_182lower">182</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Vacation</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Beverly Moore</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">War and Peace</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_126lower">126</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Way to Walk</td>
+    <td class="tdli">M. R. W.</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_337lower">337</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">We should hear the Angels singing</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Kate Cameron</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_91lower">91</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">What so Sweet</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Mary N. Prescott</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_344">344</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">What the Clock says</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_149lower">149</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Why</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Willie&rsquo;s Prayer</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_158">159</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">World, The</td>
+    <td class="tdli">Lilliput Lectures</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_185lower">185</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="tdl">Worship of Nature</td>
+    <td class="tdli">&nbsp;</td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_361lower">361</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>9]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1 class="padtop">HAPPY DAYS.</h1>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/hd008.jpg" width="500" height="482"
+alt="Settlers run from the native inhabitants" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>THE ORCHARD&rsquo;S GRANDMOTHER.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span> MUST ask you to go back more than
+two hundred years, and watch two
+people in a quiet old English garden.</p>
+
+<p>One is an old lady reading. In her
+young days she was a famous beauty.
+That was very long ago, to be sure; but
+I think she is a beauty still&mdash;do not
+you?</p>
+
+<p>She has such a lovely face, and her eyes
+are so sweet and bright! and better than
+that, they are the kind which see pleasant
+things in everybody, and something to
+like and be interested in. I hope with all
+my heart yours are that kind, too.</p>
+
+<p>The other person is a little child. She
+was christened Mary Brenton, like her
+grandmother; but she was called Polly
+all her days, for short; and we will call
+her so.</p>
+
+<p>She is sitting on the grass with a little
+cat in her arms, which she is trying
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>10]</a></span>
+to put to sleep. But the kitten is not so
+accommodating as a doll would be, and
+just as Polly does not dare to move for
+fear of waking her, she makes up her
+mind that a run after a leaf and a play
+with any chance caterpillar which may be
+so unlucky as to cross her path, will be
+very preferable, and tries to get away.</p>
+
+<p>It is one of the most delightful days
+that ever was. September, and almost
+too warm, if it were not for the breeze
+that brings cooler air from the sea.
+Once in a while some fruit falls from the
+heavily-laden trees, and the first dead
+leaves rustle a little on the ground. The
+bees are busy, making the most of the
+bright day; for they know of the stormy
+weather coming. The sky is very blue,
+and the flowers very bright. Two swallows
+are playing hide-and-seek through
+the orchard, and chasing each other in
+great races, now so close to the ground
+that it seems as if their feet might catch
+in the green grass, and now away up in
+the air over the high walls out towards
+the hills; and just as one loses sight of
+them, and turns away, here they are
+again. And in the kitchen the girls are
+clattering the dishes and laughing; and
+do you hear some one singing a doleful
+tune in a cheery, happy voice?</p>
+
+<p>That is Dorothy, Polly&rsquo;s dear Dorothy,
+who waits upon grandmother, with whom
+she has been to France, and Holland, and
+Scotland, and who can tell almost as
+charming stories as grandmother herself.</p>
+
+<p>The house is large and old, with queer-shaped
+windows, all sizes and all heights
+from the ground, and a great many of them
+hidden by the ivy. That is the outside;
+and if you were to go in, you would find
+large, low rooms, filled with furniture that
+you would think queer and uncomfortable.
+And there are portraits in some of them,
+one of Polly, probably painted not very
+long before, in which she is attired after
+the fashion of those days, and looks nearly
+as old as she would now if she were living!</p>
+
+<p>Now let us go back to the garden. The
+kitten has escaped, and Polly is wishing
+for something to do.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where&rsquo;s Dolly?&rdquo; says grandmother.
+&ldquo;Find her, and then gather some apples
+and plums, and have a tea drinking.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The doll had been very ill all day; it
+was strange in grandmother to forget it.
+She had fallen asleep just before dinner,
+and been put carefully in her bed; it
+would never do to wake her so soon.
+And besides, a tea party was not amusing
+when there was no one to sit at the
+other end of the table. This referred to
+Tom, Polly&rsquo;s dearest cousin, who had
+just left her after a long visit; and she
+missed him sadly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And,&rdquo; says Polly, &ldquo;I do not think I
+should care for it if he were here, if I could
+have nothing but apples. I&rsquo;m tired of
+them. I have eaten one of every kind in
+the garden to-day, even the great yellow
+ones by the lower gate. I think they&rsquo;re
+disagreeable; but I left them till the very
+last, and then I was afraid they would feel
+sorry to be left out. I think I will eat
+another, though; and I will not have a
+party&mdash;it&rsquo;s a trouble. Which kind would
+you take, grandmother?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;One of the very smallest,&rdquo; says the
+old lady, laughing; &ldquo;but stop a moment.
+I have one I&rsquo;ll give you;&rdquo; and she took
+a beauty from her pocket, and threw it on
+the grass by Polly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the very prettiest apple I ever
+saw,&rdquo; says the child. &ldquo;Where did you
+get it? Not off our trees. &lsquo;Father gave
+it to you?&rsquo; and where did he find it?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother did not know.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 404px;">
+<img src="images/hd009.jpg" width="404" height="600"
+alt="Polly raking her garden" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">LITTLE POLLY.</p>
+
+<p>After admiring her apple a little more,
+Polly eats it in a most deliberate manner,
+enjoying every bite as if it were the first
+she had eaten that day, and when she has
+finished it, gives a contented little sigh,
+and sits looking at the fine brown seeds
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"><!-- Illustration - LITTLE POLLY --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>12]</a></span>
+which she holds in her hand. Presently
+she says, earnestly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Grandmother!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What now, Polly?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I wish I had that dear little apple&rsquo;s
+two brothers and two sisters, and I would
+put them in the doll&rsquo;s chest until to-morrow;
+I wouldn&rsquo;t eat them to-day, you
+know.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I will tell you what you can do,&rdquo; says
+grandmother. &ldquo;Are those seeds in your
+hand? Go find Dorothy, and ask her to
+give you the empty flower-pot from the
+high shelf at my window; and then you
+can fill it with dark earth from one of the
+flower-beds, and plant them; then by and
+by you will have a tree, and can have
+plenty of your apple&rsquo;s children.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That was a happy thought. And Polly
+puts the seeds carefully on a leaf, and
+runs to find Dorothy. Now she comes
+back with a queer little Dutch china
+flower-pot, and sits down on the grass
+again, and makes a hole in the soft brown
+earth with her finger, and drops the fine
+seeds in.</p>
+
+<p>For days she watered them, and carried
+them to sunny places; but at last she
+grew very impatient, and one morning,
+when she was all alone in the garden,
+very much provoked that they had not
+made their appearance, took a twig and
+explored; and the first poke brought to
+light the little seeds, as shiny and brown
+as when they left the apple. It was a
+great disappointment, and Polly caught
+them up, and threw them as far away as
+she could, and with tears in her eyes ran
+in to tell grandmother.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah,&rdquo; said the dear old lady, &ldquo;it was
+not time! Thou hast not learned thy
+lesson of waiting; and no wonder, when
+there are few so hard, and thou art still
+so young.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then she sent Polly back to the garden,
+and the pot was put in its place,
+again. And a week or two after, as
+grandmother was just going to make room in
+the earth for a new plant, she saw growing
+there a little green sprig, which was
+not a weed. She listened a moment, and
+heard the child&rsquo;s voice outside.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Polly, my dear, are you sure you
+scattered all the seeds of your pretty apple
+the day you were so provoked at their
+not having begun to grow for you?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The child reddened a little, and turned
+away.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, grandmother. I think
+so; I wished to then.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>How delighted she was when the old
+lady showed her the treasure, and how
+carefully it was watched and tended!
+For one little seed had been buried deeper
+than the rest, and now in the sunshine of
+grandmother&rsquo;s wide window it had come
+up. Every pleasant day it was placed
+somewhere in the sun, and at night it
+was always carried to Polly&rsquo;s own room.
+Her dolls and other old play-house friends,
+formerly much honored, and of great consequence,
+were quite neglected for &ldquo;the
+apple tree,&rdquo; as she always called the tiny
+thing with its few bits of leaves.</p>
+
+<p>And now we must leave the Brentons&rsquo;
+old stone house and the garden. All this
+happened in the days of King Charles I.,
+when there was a great war, and the
+country in a highly discordant state.
+Polly&rsquo;s father was on the king&rsquo;s side, and
+one day he did something which was considered
+particularly unpardonable by his
+enemies, and at night he came riding from
+Oxford in the greatest hurry he had ever
+been in; and riding after him were some
+of Cromwell&rsquo;s men. It was bright moonlight,
+and as he rode in the paved yard
+the great dogs in their kennels began to
+bark, and that waked Polly&rsquo;s mother, in
+a terrible fright at hearing her husband&rsquo;s
+voice, and sure something undesirable
+had happened.</p>
+
+<p>Squire Brenton hurried in to tell her,
+in as few words as possible, what he had
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>13]</a></span>
+done, and that he was followed, and had
+just time to say good by, and take another
+horse, and rush on to the sea, where
+he hoped to find a fishing-boat, by means
+of which he could escape.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And you,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;had better take
+Polly and one of the men, and ride to
+your cousin Matthew&rsquo;s; for in their rage
+at my escape, they may mean to burn my
+house. I little thought a month ago,&mdash;when
+he offered you &lsquo;a safe home,&rsquo; and I
+laughed in his face, and said, &lsquo;Give your
+good wife the same message; for she
+may not find your house so safe as mine
+by and by,&rsquo;&mdash;that you would need to accept
+so soon.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But I cannot go there now,&rdquo; said
+Mistress Brenton; &ldquo;for cousin Matthew
+is away with the Roundhead army, and
+his wife and sister have gone to the north.
+I&rsquo;ll go with you. Listen: I heard one of
+the maids say to-day that a ship sails to-morrow
+at daybreak from the bay by Dunner&rsquo;s
+with a company of Puritans for Holland,
+on their way to one of the American
+colonies. We will go for a time to our
+friends in Amsterdam, and be quite safe.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Anything was better than staying where
+he was; and Squire Brenton, bidding her
+hurry, went to the stables with his tired
+horse, and waking one of his men whom
+he could trust, told him why he was there,
+and to say, when the men came, that he
+was in Oxford yesterday, when they had a
+letter, and that Mistress Brenton had
+gone north to some friends. He gave
+him some messages for his brother, and
+then, sending him out to a field with the
+horse he had been riding, which would
+certainly have betrayed him, he went back
+to the yard, trying to keep the two fresh
+horses still, while he listened, fearing every
+moment to hear his pursuers coming
+down the road.</p>
+
+<p>Presently out came Mistress Brenton,
+carrying some bundles of clothing, and a
+few little things besides, and wrapped in
+a great riding cloak; and at her side
+walked Polly, very sleepy, and looking
+wonderingly in the faces of the others,
+and asking all manner of childish questions.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly she ran back to the house,
+just as her father was going to lift her on
+his horse; and when she came back,
+what do you think she had? Together
+in a little bag were her doll and kitten,
+and one arm held tightly her little apple
+tree, wrapped in some garment of her own
+which she had found lying near it.</p>
+
+<p>And then they rode away. The poor
+child, after begging them to go to her
+uncle&rsquo;s, so she might say good by to
+grandmother, fell asleep, holding fast her
+treasures all the while.</p>
+
+<p>There was a faint glimmer of light over
+the sea as they neared the shore, and they
+saw anchored at a little distance a small
+ship, and could see the men moving about
+her deck; for the wind had risen. Mr.
+Brenton found a man whom he knew, in
+whose charge he left the horses, and then
+a fisherman rowed them to the vessel.</p>
+
+<p>The captain was nowhere to be seen,
+and the sailors paid no attention to them
+as they came on deck in the chilly
+morning twilight; and they went immediately
+below, and hid themselves in a
+dark corner, thinking they might have to
+go ashore if discovered, and that it was
+best to keep out of sight until it was too
+late to turn back. In the darkness they
+fell asleep. This may seem very strange;
+but remembering the long ride, and the
+fright they had been in, and that now they
+felt safe, we can hardly wonder. At any
+rate, it was the middle of the afternoon
+before Colonel Brenton&mdash;I think I have
+never given him his title before&mdash;made
+his appearance on deck, to the great astonishment
+of the captain and all the
+other people, who knew him more or less.
+He told the captain what had happened,
+saying at the end he would pay him double
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>14]</a></span>
+the usual passage money to Holland,
+where he meant to stay for a while; and
+at this the rough man really turned pale.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Holland, <em>Holland</em>!&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;do
+you not see we&rsquo;re going down the Channel?
+We are bound direct for America.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The story says that Colonel Brenton
+was almost beside himself, and offered
+large sums of money to be taken back, or
+to France; but the captain would not
+consent, saying that they had made good
+progress, and it was late in the year. The
+ship would come back in the spring, and
+he must content himself.</p>
+
+<p>Those of the ship&rsquo;s company who knew
+our friends had great wonderings at their
+having turned Puritans, until they knew
+the true state of affairs. Must not it have
+been dreadful news to Mistress Brenton,
+and was it not really a dreary prospect&mdash;a
+dreary journey in that frail ship, and at
+the end a cold, forlorn country? and all
+the stories of the Indians&rsquo; cruelties to
+the settlers came to her mind. They
+could not, in all probability, return for
+many months. No one whom she cared
+particularly for would be there to welcome
+them. Polly did not take it very much to
+heart, though she cried a little because
+she was not to go to Holland, which she
+had heard so much of from her grandmother
+and Dorothy. It was a great
+many days before they gave up their hope
+of falling in with some vessel to which
+they might be transferred; and the first
+two weeks were sunshiny and pleasant,
+with a good wind. But soon it grew
+bleaker and colder, and they suffered
+greatly. All through the pleasant days,
+Polly had been having a very enjoyable
+time. There were several children on
+board, and they had games around the
+deck and in the cabin.</p>
+
+<p>It was delightful to have the kitten,
+who had a cord tied around her neck;
+and when she was not in Polly&rsquo;s arms, she
+was generally anchored for safety in the
+cabin. Every day she had part of her
+little mistress&rsquo;s dinner; and though she
+missed the garden, and the dead leaves
+that nestled about the walks, and made
+such nice playthings, and the sedate old
+family cat, her mother, and her mother&rsquo;s
+numerous poor relations who lived in the
+stables, she was by no means unhappy.
+And the doll&rsquo;s expression was as complacent
+as ever, though she had worn one
+gown an astonishing length of time. But if
+you could have seen the care the little tree
+received! It was carefully wrapped in
+the same little cloak Polly put round it
+the night they left home, and only on the
+warmest days it was taken on deck to
+have the sunshine; and every day it had
+part of Polly&rsquo;s small allowance of water;
+and when the kitten had had its share,
+there would often be very little left.</p>
+
+<p>The weary days went slowly by. The
+ship was slow at the best, and the winds
+were contrary. The provisions grew less
+and less, and the water was almost exhausted.
+Two people&mdash;a man, and a
+child Polly had grown very fond of&mdash;died,
+and were buried in the sea. The sky was
+cold and gray, and it snowed and rained,
+and every one looked sad and disheartened.
+It was terribly desolate. Polly
+could not often go on deck, for the frozen
+spray and rain made it very slippery and
+dangerous there; and her mother told
+story after story, and did her best to
+shorten the longest December days she
+had ever known. And soon there came
+a terrible bereavement. One night there
+was a great storm, and the dearly-beloved
+kitten, frightened to death by the things
+rolling about, and the pitching of the
+ship, broke the cord and rushed out in
+the darkness, and never was seen any
+more. I think a little cat has never been
+so mourned since the world began. That
+night, the Dutch flower-pot, with its leafless
+twig, went rolling about the cabin
+floor, and half the earth was scattered in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>15]</a></span>
+the folds of its wrappings, and carefully
+replaced next morning.</p>
+
+<p>But at last the voyage was ended; they
+saw land, and finally came close to it and
+went ashore, Polly with her dear doll and
+something else rolled up in a little gray
+cloak. The ship was to stay until spring;
+and there seemed no hope of getting back
+to England until then. It was hard to decide
+what to do; but at last Colonel Brenton
+heard of some men whom he had
+known, who had been made prisoners in
+some of the battles in the north of England
+and sent to the Massachusetts colony by
+Cromwell, who had feared to imprison
+them. They had been sent to the settlement
+in York.</p>
+
+<p>So the Brentons joined a party going
+there, or to places beyond. It was the
+last of January that they came to York,
+and were warmly welcomed at the great
+garrison, where they lived till spring.
+Polly found a very nice child to play with.
+There had been a good harvest, and the Indians
+were uncommonly peaceable. They
+had great log fires in the wide fireplace in
+the east room; and for a winter in those
+times, it was very comfortable. The flower-pot
+was deposited in a chink of the great
+chimney. Polly had insisted upon bringing
+it with her; and though &ldquo;the tree&rdquo;
+at that time was a slender little straight
+stick, she had firm faith that spring time
+would give it leaves again. And strange
+to say, she was not disappointed; for all
+the exposure had not destroyed it. The
+first of June came, and they were still
+living in the garrison-house, looking every
+day for a messenger to tell them the
+ship was ready to go back. Some people
+on their way to one of the eastern settlements,
+early in April, had told them there
+were no signs of her sailing; and since
+then they had heard nothing. How dismayed
+they were, early in June, to find
+the ship had sailed nearly two months
+before! It seemed as if everything was
+against them; and they could live no longer
+in the garrison. So the Brentons had
+a little log house near by, and &ldquo;the squire&rdquo;
+worked every day in the great field down
+towards the river. It must have been
+such a strange life for them! and I suppose
+their thoughts often went back to
+the dear English home. When Mistress
+Brenton looked from the small window in
+her log house out over half-cleared fields,
+and saw the garrison-house, and her husband
+working among the hills of corn
+with his gun close by, every now and then
+looking anxiously about him, she would
+remember the wide window, with its cushioned
+seat, in her own room at home, and
+the sunny garden, with the flowers and
+bees, and the maids and men singing and
+chattering in the distance, and the dear
+voice of grandmother singing the old
+church hymns. It was a great change;
+but days much more forlorn than these
+were yet to come.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians came around the settlement
+in large numbers, and no one dared
+to be out alone. At night the people
+waked in fear at the slightest noise; and
+in the daytime it was after the same fashion.
+News came of whole settlements
+having been murdered or made captives,
+and some of their own neighbors disappeared
+finally; and then the suspense
+was terrible. At last, one day Mrs. Brenton
+had gone up to the garrison to see
+one of the women, who was ill, and most
+of the men were in the field. Polly went
+with her mother; but the women were
+talking over something about the king
+and Parliament, which she found very uninteresting,
+and soon she unfastened the
+great outer door, and unwisely ran out
+with her doll in her arms, and went down
+to the field to see the men at work. But
+on her way, she bethought herself of a
+charming stump she had seen out at one
+side of the path, and went to visit it.
+None of the men happened to see her.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>16]</a></span>
+She talked to the doll, and made a throne
+for her of the soft moss growing around
+her, and had been playing there some
+time, when suddenly she heard shouts,
+and thought they must be killing a snake,
+and looked up to see all the men running
+up the hill to the garrison, with a great
+many Indians chasing them; and she
+heard a gun fired, and saw one of the
+men who had petted and been very kind
+to her, and told her stories, fall to the
+ground. Ah, how frightened she was!</p>
+
+<p>The doll was snatched from her throne,
+and the poor little girl ran towards the
+garrison, too, right towards the Indians.
+It was weary work running over the
+rough ground,&mdash;and the tall grass was
+not much better,&mdash;and then on, up the hill.
+By this time the men had succeeded in
+getting in; and the wicked-looking Indians,
+after a yell of disappointment,
+turned to go back to the one who lay dead
+on the hill-side, and to escape the bullets
+which would come in a moment from the
+loopholes. O, if she could only get by
+them!</p>
+
+<p>Up the hill she hurried as fast as the
+poor tired little feet could carry her, hugging
+the doll, almost breathless, with the
+great tears falling very fast, and still crying,
+&ldquo;Wait, father!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I am glad I know one kind thing the
+Indians of those days did. As they
+turned, they saw her coming, and some
+hurried forward a little to seize her; and
+it would have been so easy. But one
+spoke, and they all stopped, and laughed,
+and shouted, and the child got safely in.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Indians went to the Brentons&rsquo;
+house, and some others, and burned them;
+but luckily the apple tree was at the play-house,
+by a large rock, at a little distance,
+and the wind was not in that direction;
+and after they disappeared, it was brought
+up to the fort, safe and sound.</p>
+
+<p>It soon grew tall and strong, and in a
+little while was entirely too large for its
+pot; and finally Polly was forced to put it
+in the ground. It was hard to do it; for
+she had cared for it, and loved it so long,
+and this was giving it up, in a measure.
+And I think if she had understood that
+now it must be left behind, it would have
+been almost impossible to have persuaded
+her. Her father comforted her by telling
+her he could get quantities of the apples
+not very far from home, and she could
+plant more seeds as soon as she liked, or,
+far better than that, he would graft a tree.</p>
+
+<p>In September, news came that a ship
+was going to the east coast of England;
+and they were all heartily glad, in spite
+of the long, dangerous voyage; and leaving
+the York friends, who had been so
+kind, and whom they would probably
+never see any more, Polly gave the little
+tree to a Masterson child, her great friend,
+who promised to wrap it in straw for winter,
+and to be very kind to it and fond of
+it. And I think she must have been faithful
+to her charge. Mistress Brenton laid
+some of the leaves in the little book she
+had had in her pocket that night, almost
+a year ago, when they left home. So they
+went to Boston, and sailed for the old
+country.</p>
+
+<p>I know nothing more of them; but we
+will hope their voyage was a short and
+easy one, and that they reached home on
+a pleasant, sunny day, and grandmother
+was there, and Dorothy, and all the people,
+and Polly had stories to tell as wonderful
+as Dorothy&rsquo;s, and all true, and that
+they were all happy forever after.</p>
+
+<p>A while ago I stood on the hill with an
+old farmer, eating one of a pocketful of
+apples he had given me, and said how
+very nice it was, and that I had never
+seen any like it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There are none of my apples sell half
+so well,&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve forty young
+trees that have been bearing a few years;
+and over to the right you see some old
+ones. Mine were grafted from those
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>17]</a></span>
+and my father took his grafts from an old
+tree I&rsquo;d like to show you;&rdquo; and as we
+walked towards it, he said, &ldquo;It looks, and
+I guess it is, as old as any around here.
+My father always said it was brought from
+England in a flower-pot by some of the
+first settlers. Perhaps you have heard
+the story. It&rsquo;s very shaky. The high
+winds last fall were pretty hard on it. It
+will never bear again, I am afraid. I set
+a good deal by the old thing. The very
+first thing I can remember is my father&rsquo;s
+lifting me up to one of the lower limbs,
+and I was frightened and cried. I believe
+I think more of that tree than of anything
+on my farm. My wife always laughs
+at me about it. Well, it has lasted my
+time. I&rsquo;m old and shaky, too; and I
+suppose my sons won&rsquo;t miss this much,
+and will like the young orchard best.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And you and I like your orchard&rsquo;s
+grandmother,&rdquo; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">S. O. J.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_17lower" id="Page_17lower"></a>ROUGH.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">H</span>E was a donkey, and we called him
+Rough. He belonged to Gerald
+and me. We didn&rsquo;t keep him for his
+useful qualities, and we certainly didn&rsquo;t
+keep him for his moral qualities; and I
+don&rsquo;t know what we did keep him for,
+unless, for the best reason in the world,
+that we loved him.</p>
+
+<p>He was always getting us into scrapes,
+the most renowned of which was one
+Rough&rsquo;s enemies were fond of alluding to.</p>
+
+<p>We were bidden to a christening one
+fair spring morning; and we not only accepted
+the invitation, but promised to
+bring apple-blossoms, to fill the font and
+make the church look gay. We had an
+old apple orchard, that bore beautiful
+blossoms, but worthless fruit; and of
+these blossoms we had leave to pick as
+many as we chose.</p>
+
+<p>So we filled the donkey-cart with them,
+and set forth for the christening, which
+was to be at a little church about a mile
+or more distant from our farm. Rough&rsquo;s
+enemies will tell how we arrived when
+the christening was all over, and our apple
+blossoms faded.</p>
+
+<p>We were never so happy as when we
+had a whole leisure afternoon to go off
+with Rough in the donkey-cart, and our
+little sister Daisy by Gerald&rsquo;s side, on the
+board that served as seat, and I lying
+on my back on the bottom of the cart,
+with my heels dangling out of it. So I
+would lie for hours, whistling and looking
+up at the drifting clouds, or with my hat
+over my eyes to keep out the sun.</p>
+
+<p>One afternoon, early in March, when
+the roads were almost knee deep in mud,
+and the last of the melting snow made a
+running stream on either side of the road,
+we were slowly travelling along after the
+manner I have described. We were going
+to take a longing look at the skating
+pond, two miles from our farm. We were
+forbidden to try the dangerous ice, but
+meant only to look upon the scene of our
+winter&rsquo;s delight.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Some one&rsquo;s in the pond!&rdquo; cried
+Daisy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How do ye know?&rdquo; said I, not removing
+my hat from my face.</p>
+
+<p>You see Daisy was only six years old,
+and I hadn&rsquo;t much faith in her observation.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Cos I sees &rsquo;em with my own eyes.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I jumped up and looked. It was only
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>18]</a></span>
+a hat I saw. Gerald meanwhile said
+nothing, but had pulled up Rough (who
+not only stopped, but lay down in the
+mud), and looked. I watched him, to see
+what he thought, or proposed to do.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/hd010.jpg" width="450" height="376"
+alt="A child collecting flowers together" />
+</div>
+
+<p>People had a way of trusting to Gerald&rsquo;s
+judgment rather than their own, and were
+generally better off for it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It <em>is</em> some one in the pond,&rdquo; said
+Gerald; and then followed a short discussion
+as to whether we should leave Daisy
+alone to the mercies of Rough, which
+resulted in our leaving Rough, and taking
+Daisy along with us down to the pond.</p>
+
+<p>We could see a boy, apparently about
+Gerald&rsquo;s age, swimming and striving to
+keep up, and catching at the ice, which
+broke as he clung to it. He swam feebly,
+as if benumbed and wearied.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Keep a brave heart!&rdquo; roared Gerald;
+&ldquo;we&rsquo;ll save you!&rdquo; and then began to take
+off his boots and coat. The boy sank&mdash;under
+the ice, this time. We could see
+it bobbing up and down as he swam beneath
+it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Stay here till I call you,&rdquo; said Gerald
+to me, as he stepped from the shore on to
+the ice, and walked out towards where
+the swimmer was hidden by the ice. I
+stood breathless, with my eye on Gerald.</p>
+
+<p>The ice began to crack under him. He
+lay down on his stomach, and pulled himself
+forward with his hands. Up came
+the swimmer not far from him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Keep up! Gerald will save you!&rdquo;
+cried Daisy.</p>
+
+<p>The poor fellow cast one despairing
+look at Gerald, and sank again. Gerald
+had gone as far as was practicable on the
+ice. I could hear it cracking all over,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>19]</a></span>
+and see the white cracks darting suddenly
+over ice that had looked safe.</p>
+
+<p>Up came the boy again.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Keep up! keep up!&rdquo; cried Daisy, in
+an excited treble. &ldquo;Gerald will save
+you!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But the boy could hear nothing. He
+had his eyes closed, and seemed to have
+fainted. Gerald reached out, and clutched
+him by the arm. How the ice cracked all
+about him! My heart was in my mouth;
+I thought he was in. I began to take my
+coat off.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A scarf!&rdquo; said Gerald, speaking for
+the first time.</p>
+
+<p>I took off my own, and picked up Gerald&rsquo;s
+from the ground, and tied them firmly
+together. I saw that they were too short.
+Daisy offered hers. I took it, with an inward
+fear, if the child should catch cold;
+it seemed paltry to think of it at such a
+moment. I stepped out on the ice, and
+went a few steps, when Gerald cried,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Stop!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I obeyed like a soldier.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Throw it now!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I threw the long string of scarfs. Gerald
+dexterously caught it, and upholding
+the poor boy with one hand, with the other
+passed the string under his arms, and tied
+the ends of it to his own arm. Then he
+paused a moment before attempting the
+hazardous work of coming ashore, and
+looked at me speculatively. I knew what
+he meant. There was a shadow of trouble
+in his face that had nothing to do with his
+own danger. He was weighing the possibility
+of his falling in, and my doing the
+same in trying to save him, and Daisy
+alone on the shore. I gave a cheering
+&ldquo;Go ahead, old fellow!&rdquo; and he began to
+push himself back again, dragging his
+senseless burden after him by the scarf
+tied to his arm.</p>
+
+<p>Crack! crack! crack! went the ice all
+about him, and little tides of water flooded
+it. At last it seemed a little firmer. Gerald
+rose to his feet, and dragging the boy still
+in the water after him, began to walk
+slowly towards the shore, not seeming to
+notice how the sharp edges of the ice
+cut the face and forehead of the poor
+half-drowned boy.</p>
+
+<p>Again the ice began to crack and undulate.
+Gerald stood still for a moment,
+and the piece on which he stood broke
+away from the rest, and began to float
+out. He jumped to the next, which broke,
+and so to the next, and the next, till he
+neared the shore. Then he paused a
+moment, and looked at me.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Go ashore!&rdquo; he roared like a sea
+captain.</p>
+
+<p>Then I noticed that I stood on a detached
+piece of ice, but nearer land than
+Gerald. I found no difficulty in gaining
+the shore.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now stand firm and give a hand!&rdquo;
+said Gerald.</p>
+
+<p>I grasped his hand, and he jumped
+ashore, and together we lifted the boy
+out of the water. Daisy burst into tears,
+crying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, Gerald, Gerald, I thought you&rsquo;d
+be drowned!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Gerald very gently put her clinging
+arms away from him, saying, firmly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t cry, Daisy. We have our
+hands full with this poor fellow.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I got the skates off the &ldquo;poor fellow,&rdquo;
+and gave them to Daisy to hold. She,
+brave little woman, gulped down her
+tears, and only gave vent to her emotion,
+now and then, by a little suppressed sob.
+Gerald began beating the hands and
+breathing into the mouth and nostrils of
+the seeming lifeless form before us.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is he dead, Gery?&rdquo; said I.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No!&rdquo; said Gerald, fiercely. It was
+evident that he wouldn&rsquo;t believe he had
+gone through so much trouble to bring
+a dead man ashore. &ldquo;Look for his
+handkerchief, and see if there&rsquo;s a mark
+on it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>20]</a></span>
+I fished a wet rag out of the wet trousers
+pocket, and found in one corner of it
+the name &ldquo;Stevens.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a farmer of that name two miles
+farther on. I don&rsquo;t know any one else of
+that name. Must be his son. We&rsquo;ll take
+him home;&rdquo; and he began wrapping his
+coat about the poor boy; but I insisted
+on mine being used for the purpose, as
+Gerald was half wet, and his teeth were
+already chattering. &ldquo;We must get him
+off this wet ground as soon as possible,&rdquo;
+said Gerald; and together we lifted him,
+and slowly and laboriously bore him to
+the donkey-cart in the road.</p>
+
+<p>By this time Gerald had only strength
+enough to hold the reins, and we set out
+forthwith for the Stevens farm, I, with
+what help Daisy could give, trying to
+bring some show of life back to the stranger.
+Perhaps the jolting of the cart
+helped,&mdash;I don&rsquo;t know,&mdash;but by and by
+he began to revive, and at last we propped
+him up in one corner of the cart, with his
+head supported by Daisy&rsquo;s knee.</p>
+
+<p>I shall not soon forget how long the
+road seemed, and how I got out and
+walked in deep mud, and how, when poor
+Rough seemed straining every muscle to
+make the little cart move at all, Gerald
+insisted on getting out, too, and leading
+Rough; how the sun set as we were wading
+through a long road, where willow
+trees grew thick on either side, and Daisy
+said, &ldquo;See; all the little pussies are out!&rdquo;
+how, at last, we reached the Stevens farm,
+and restored the half-drowned boy to his
+parents. I remember, too, how they were
+so utterly absorbed, very naturally, in the
+welfare of their boy, as to forget all about
+us, and offer us no quicker means of return
+home than our donkey-cart.</p>
+
+<p>They came to call on us the next day,
+and to thank us, and specially Gerald,
+with tears of gratitude. And Gerald was
+a hero in the village from that day forth.</p>
+
+<p>I remember well how dark it grew as
+we waded slowly and silently home, and
+how poor little Rough did his very best,
+and never stopped once.</p>
+
+<p>I think he understood the importance
+of the occasion; but those who were not
+Rough&rsquo;s friends, believe it was a recollection,
+and expectation of supper, that made
+him acquit himself so honorably.</p>
+
+<p>As we neared our home, we saw a tall
+figure looming up in the dark, and soon,
+by the voice, we knew it was Michael,
+one of the farm hands, sent to seek us.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Bluder an nouns,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;it
+is you, Mister Gery! An&rsquo; yer muther,
+poor leddy, destroyed wid the fright. An&rsquo;
+kapin&rsquo; the chilt out to this hair. Hadn&rsquo;t
+ye moor sense?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We explained briefly; and Daisy begged
+to be carried, as the cart was all wet.</p>
+
+<p>With many Irish expressions of sympathy,
+Michael took the child in his arms;
+and so we arrived at home, and found
+father and mother half distracted with
+anxiety, and the farm hands sent in all
+directions to look for us. We were at
+once, all three of us, put to bed, and made
+to drink hot lemonade, and have hot
+stones at our feet, and not till then tell
+all our experiences, which were listened
+to eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>Daisy escaped unhurt, I with a slight
+cold, but Gerald and poor little Rough
+were the ones who suffered. Gerald had
+a severe attack of pneumonia, from which
+we had much ado to bring him back to
+health, and Rough was ill. They brought
+us the news from the stable on the next
+morning. We couldn&rsquo;t tell what was the
+matter; perhaps he had strained himself,
+perhaps had caught cold. We could not
+tell, nor could the veterinary surgeon we
+brought to see him. Poor Rough lay ill
+for weeks, and one bright spring morning
+he died.</p>
+
+<p>They told us early in the morning, before
+we were out of bed, how, an hour ago,
+Rough had died.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>21]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 418px;">
+<img src="images/hd011.jpg" width="418" height="600"
+alt="A boy covers his ears while a girl plays the piano" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE MUSIC LESSON.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>22]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE MUSIC LESSON.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">TOUCH the keys <em>lightly</em>,<br />
+<span class="i3">Nellie, my dear:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The noise makes Johnnie<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Impatient, I fear.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">He looks very cross,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I am sorry to see&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not looking at all<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As a brother should be.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Whatever you&rsquo;re doing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Bear this always in mind:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In all <em>little things</em><br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Be both <em>thoughtful</em> and <em>kind</em>.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_22lower" id="Page_22lower"></a>THE FROST.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">THE frost looked forth one still clear night,<br />
+<span class="i3">And whispered, &ldquo;Now I shall be out of sight;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So through the valley and over the height<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">In silence I&rsquo;ll take my way:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I will not go on like that blustering train,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The wind and the snow, the hail and the rain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who make so much bustle and noise in vain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">But I&rsquo;ll be as busy as they.&rdquo;<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then he flew to the mountain, and powdered its crest;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He lit on the trees, and their boughs he dressed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In diamond beads; and over the breast<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Of the quivering lake he spread<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A coat of mail, that it need not fear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The downward point of many a spear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That he hung on its margin, far and near,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Where a rock could rear its head.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">He went to the windows of those who slept,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And over each pane like a fairy crept:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wherever he breathed, wherever he stept,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">By the light of the moon were seen<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Most beautiful things: there were flowers and trees;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There were bevies of birds and swarms of bees;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There were cities with temples and towers, and these<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">All pictured in silver sheen!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But he did one thing that was hardly fair:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He peeped in the cupboard, and finding there<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That all had forgotten for him to prepare&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">&ldquo;Now, just to set them a-thinking,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I&rsquo;ll bite this basket of fruit,&rdquo; said he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;This costly pitcher I&rsquo;ll burst in three,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the glass of water they&rsquo;ve left for me<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Shall &lsquo;tchick!&rsquo; to tell them I&rsquo;m drinking.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>23]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 578px;">
+<img src="images/hd012.jpg" width="578" height="450"
+alt="A woman and two children with a calf" />
+</div>
+
+
+<h2>MY PICTURE.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">I HAVE a little picture;<br />
+<span class="i2">Perchance you have one too.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Mine is not set in frame of gold;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">&rsquo;Tis first a bit of blue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And then a background of dark hills&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A river just below,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Along whose broad, green meadow banks<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The wreathing elm trees grow.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Upon an overhanging ridge<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A little farm-house stands,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whose owner, like the man of old,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Has builded &ldquo;on the sands;&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And yet, defying storms and wind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">It stands there all alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And brightens up the landscape<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With a beauty of its own.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Fairy-like my picture changes<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As the seasons come and go.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now it glows &rsquo;neath summer&rsquo;s kisses;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Now it sleeps &rsquo;mid winter&rsquo;s snow.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I can see the breath of spring-time<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In the river&rsquo;s deeper blue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And autumn seems to crown it<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With her very brightest hue.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ah. I&rsquo;d not exchange my picture<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For the choicest gem of art;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet I must not claim it wholly;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">It is only mine in part;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For &rsquo;tis one of nature&rsquo;s sketches&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A waif from that Great Hand<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which hath filled our earth with models<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of the beautiful and grand.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>24]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>WHY?</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">WHY are the blossoms<br />
+<span class="i4">Such different hues?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the waves of the sea<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Such a number of blues?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So many soft greens<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Flit over the trees?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And little gray shadows<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Fly out on the breeze?<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Why are the insects<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So wondrously fair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Illumining grasses<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And painting the air?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You dear little shells,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">O, why do you shine?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And feathery sea-weed<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Grow fragile and fine?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Why are the meadows<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Such gardens of grace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With infinite beauty<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In definite space?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each separate grass<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A world of delight?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O, food for the cattle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Why are you so bright?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Why are our faces<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Such lovable things,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With lips made for kisses,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And laughter that sings?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With eyes full of love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That sparkle and gleam,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through beautiful colors,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That change like a dream?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Think for a moment&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Look up to the sky;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Question your heart; it<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Will answer the Why!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bright is the glitter<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of beauty unfurled&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Boundless the love that<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Has fashioned the world!<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>25]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>BIRDS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE wisdom of God is seen in every
+part of creation, and especially in
+the different kinds of birds. The beauty
+displayed in their graceful forms and varied
+colors strikes every beholder, while
+the adaptation of their organs for the
+purposes of flight, their peculiar habits
+and modes of living, are a constant
+source of admiration to the student of
+nature.</p>
+
+<p>Almost everything about the shape of
+a bird fits it for moving rapidly in the air,
+and all parts of its body are arranged so
+as to give it lightness along with strength.
+The soft and delicate plumage of birds
+protects them from cold or moisture;
+their wings, though so delicate, are furnished
+with muscles of such power as to
+strike the air with great force, whilst
+their tails act like the rudder of a ship,
+so that they can direct their course at
+pleasure with the utmost ease.</p>
+
+<p>The internal structure of a bird also is
+such as to help it to sustain itself in, and
+to fly quickly through, the air. Its lungs
+are pierced with large holes, which allow
+air to pass into cavities in the breast, and
+even into the interior of the bones. It is
+thus not only rendered buoyant, but is
+enabled to breathe even while in rapid
+motion. Two sparrows, it is said, require
+as much air to maintain their breathing
+properly as a guinea pig.</p>
+
+<p>In many other ways the skill and goodness
+of God are seen in the &ldquo;fowl of the
+air.&rdquo; Their necks and beaks are long,
+and very movable, so that they may readily
+pick up food and other objects from
+the ground. The muscles of their toes
+are so arranged that the simple weight of
+the body closes them, and they are able,
+in consequence, to sit on a perch a long
+time without fatigue. Even in a violent
+wind a bird easily retains its hold of the
+branch or twig on which it is sitting.
+Their bills are of almost all forms: in
+some kinds they are straight; in others
+curved, sometimes upwards and sometimes
+downwards; in others they are
+flat; in some they are in the form of a
+cone, wedge-shaped, or hooked. The
+bill enables a bird to take hold of its
+food, to strip or divide it. It is useful
+also in carrying materials for its nest, or
+food to its young; and in the birds of
+prey, such as the owl, the hawk, the falcon,
+eagle, etc., the beak is a formidable
+weapon of attack.</p>
+
+<p>The nostrils of birds are usually of an
+oval form, and are placed near the base
+of the beak. Their eyes are so constructed
+that they can see near and distant
+objects equally well, and their sight
+is very acute. The sparrow-hawk discerns
+the small birds which are its prey
+at an incredible distance. No tribe of
+birds possesses an outward ear, except
+those which seek their food by night;
+these have one in the form of a thin,
+leathery piece of flesh. The inside ear,
+however, is very large, and their hearing
+is very quick.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 426px;">
+<img src="images/hd013.jpg" width="426" height="600"
+alt="A white-crowned sparrow next to a nest containing two eggs" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">BIRD&rsquo;S NEST.</p>
+
+<p>Another admirable feature in the structure
+of birds consists in their feathers.
+These are well adapted for security,
+warmth, and freedom of motion. The
+larger feathers of the body are placed
+over each other like the slates on the
+roof of a house, so that water is permitted
+to run off, and cold is kept out. The
+down, which is placed under the feathers,
+is a further protection against the cold;
+and hence it is most abundant in those
+species that are found in northern climates.
+The feathery covering of birds
+forms their peculiar beauty: on this, in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"><!-- Illustration - BIRD'S NEST --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>27]</a></span>
+the warm climates, Nature bestows her
+most delicate and brightest colors.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 410px;">
+<img src="images/hd014.jpg" width="410" height="450"
+alt="An apteryx, or kiwi" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Another point which sets forth the resources
+of Infinite Wisdom is the structure
+and uses of the wings of birds. The
+size of the wings is not always in proportion
+to the bulk of their bodies, but is
+accommodated to their habits of living.
+Accordingly, birds of prey, swallows, and
+such birds as are intended to hover long
+in the air, have much longer wings, in
+proportion to their size, than hens, ducks,
+quails, etc. In some, such as the ostrich,
+the cassiowary, and the penguin, the largest
+quill-feathers of the wing are entirely
+wanting.</p>
+
+<p>Then, again, how varied is the flight
+of birds! The falcon soars above the
+clouds, and remains in the air for many
+hours without any sign of exertion. The
+swallow, the lark, and other species, sail
+long distances with little effort. Others,
+like the sparrow and the humming-bird,
+have a fluttering flight. Some, as the
+owl, fly without any noise; and some,
+like the partridge, with a loud whir.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i9">&ldquo;Around the head<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of wandering swain the white-winged plover wheels<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Her sounding flight, and then directly on<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In long excursion skims the level lawn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To tempt him from her nest.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>How graceful are the motions of the
+hawk, sweeping higher and higher in circles,
+as he surveys far and wide the expanse
+of fields and meadows below, in
+which he hopes to espy his prey. Our
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>28]</a></span>
+paper would be too long were we to say
+even a little about the roosting, the swimming,
+or running, the migration, the habits
+and instincts, the varied notes and
+pleasant songs, of the endless species of
+birds.</p>
+
+<p>All these subjects are well worthy
+of being carefully studied; for they all
+show the design of their Creator. The
+extraordinary creature represented in the
+engraving is the &ldquo;Apteryx,&rdquo; or &ldquo;wingless
+bird&rdquo; of New Zealand. It was not known
+to European naturalists till of late years,
+and for a long time the accounts which
+the natives of New Zealand gave of it
+were discredited. A specimen of it, preserved
+in brine, was, however, brought to
+this country, and a full description of the
+bird given.</p>
+
+<p>The kirvi-kirvi, as the New Zealanders
+call it, stands about two feet high. Its
+wings are so small that they can scarcely
+be called wings, and are not easy to find
+under the general plumage of the body.
+Its nostrils, strange to say, are at the tip
+of the beak. The toes are strong, and
+well adapted for digging, the hind one
+being a thick, horny spur. To add to the
+singularity of this creature, it has no tail
+whatever. The kirvi-kirvi conceals itself
+among the extensive beds of fern which
+abound in the middle island of New Zealand,
+and it makes a nest of fern for its
+eggs in deep holes, which it hollows out
+of the ground. It feeds on insects, and
+particularly worms, which it disturbs by
+stamping on the ground, and seizes the
+instant they make their appearance.
+Night is the season when it is most active;
+and the natives hunt it by torchlight.
+When pursued, it elevates its
+head, like an ostrich, and runs with great
+swiftness. It defends itself, when overtaken,
+with much spirit, inflicting dangerous
+blows with its strong spur-armed
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>In this instance, as in all others, God
+has wisely adapted the very shape and
+limbs of the creature to the habits by
+which it was intended to be distinguished.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">F. F. E.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_28lower" id="Page_28lower"></a>KINDNESS REWARDED.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>HEN Agrippa was in a private
+station, he was accused, by one
+of his servants, of having spoken injuriously
+of Tiberius, and was condemned
+by that emperor to be exposed in chains
+before the palace gate. The weather was
+very hot, and Agrippa became excessively
+thirsty. Seeing Thaumastus, a servant
+of Caligula, pass by him with a pitcher
+of water, he called to him, and entreated
+leave to drink. The servant presented the
+pitcher with much courtesy; and Agrippa,
+having allayed his thirst, said to him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Assure thyself, Thaumastus, that if
+I get out of this captivity, I will one
+day pay thee well for this draught of
+water.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Tiberius dying, his successor, Caligula,
+soon after not only set Agrippa at liberty,
+but made him king of Judea. In this
+high situation Agrippa was not unmindful
+of the glass of water given to him
+when a captive.</p>
+
+<p>He immediately sent for Thaumastus,
+and made him controller of his household.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>29]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/hd015.jpg" width="450" height="314"
+alt="People gathering hay" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>A DREAM OF SUMMER.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">WEST wind and sunshine<br />
+<span class="i4">Braided together,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What is the one sign<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But pleasant weather?<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Birds in the cherry-trees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Bees in the clover;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who half so gay as these<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All the world over?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Violets among the grass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Roses regretting<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How soon the summer &rsquo;ll pass,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Next year forgetting.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Buds sighing in their sleep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">&ldquo;Summer, pray grant us<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Youth, that its bloom will keep<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Fragrance to haunt us!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Rivulets that shine and sing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sunbeams abetting,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No more remembering<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Their frozen fretting.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sweet music in the wind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sun in the showers;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All these we&rsquo;re sure to find<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In summer hours.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Mary N. Prescott.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>30]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd016.jpg" width="600" height="400"
+alt="Children sitting under a tree with posies of flowers" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">SUMMER FLOWERS.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>31]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">P</span>LEASE, Mr. Mate has <em>that</em> cloud
+a silver lining?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The question was asked by little Kate
+Vale, the daughter of an emigrant, who,
+with her mother, was following her father,
+who had gone before to New York.
+Katie was a quiet, gentle little child, who
+gave trouble to no one. She had borne
+the suffering of seasickness at the beginning
+of the voyage so patiently, and now
+took the rough sea-fare so thankfully, that
+she had made a fast friend of Tom Bolton,
+the mate. Bolton had a warm, kindly
+heart, and one of the children whom
+he had left in England was just the age
+of Katie; this inclined him all the more
+to show her kindness. Katie often had a
+piece of Bolton&rsquo;s sea-biscuit; he told her
+tales which he called &ldquo;long yarns,&rdquo; and
+sometimes in rough weather he would
+wrap his thick jacket around her, to keep
+the chill from her thinly-clad form. Katie
+was not at all afraid of Bolton, or &ldquo;Mr.
+Mate,&rdquo; as she called him, and she took
+hold of his hard brown hand as she asked
+the question,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Has that cloud a silver lining?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Bolton glanced up at a very black, lowering
+cloud, which seemed to blot the sun
+quite out of that part of the sky.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why do you ask me, Kate?&rdquo; said the
+sailor.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Because mother often says that every
+cloud has a silver lining, and that one
+looks as if it had none.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Tom Bolton gave a short laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;None that we can see,&rdquo; he replied;
+&ldquo;for the cloud is right atween us and the
+sun. If we could look at the upper part,
+where the bright beams fall, we should
+see yon black cloud like a great mass of
+silvery mother-o&rsquo;-pearl, just like those
+that you yesterday called shining mountains
+of snow.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Katie turned round, and raising her
+eyes, watched for some minutes the
+gloomy cloud. It was slowly moving
+towards the west, and as it did so, the
+sun behind it began to edge all its dark
+outline with brightness.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;See, see!&rdquo; exclaimed Katie; &ldquo;it is
+turning out the edge of its silver lining.
+If I were up there in the sky, I suppose
+that all would look beautiful then. But I
+don&rsquo;t know why mother should take comfort
+from talking of the clouds and their
+linings.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The mother, Mrs. Vale, who was standing
+near, leaning against the bulwarks,
+heard the last words of her child, and
+made reply,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Because we have many clouds of sorrow
+here to darken our lives, and our
+hearts would often fail us but for the
+thought, &lsquo;There is a bright side to every
+trial sent to the humble believer.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And Mrs. Vale repeated the beautiful
+lines,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Yon clouds, a mass of sable shade<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To mortals gazing from below,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By angels from above surveyed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With universal brightness glow.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>Katie did not quite understand the
+verse, but she knew how patiently and
+meekly her mother had borne sudden
+poverty, the sale of her goods, and the
+bitter parting from her beloved husband.
+Bolton also had been struck by the pious
+courage of one who had had a large share
+of earthly trials.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Your</em> clouds at least seem to be edged
+with silver,&rdquo; he observed, with a smile;
+and as he spoke, the glorious beams of
+the sun burst from behind the black mass
+of cloud, making widening streams of
+light up the sky, which, as Katie remarked,
+looked like paths up to heaven.</p>
+
+<p>The vessel arrived at New York, after
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>32]</a></span>
+rather a rough voyage, and Mrs. Vale, to
+her great delight, found her husband
+ready at the port to receive her. He
+brought her good tidings also. A fortnight
+before her landing he had procured
+a good situation, and he was now able to
+take her and their child to a comfortable
+home. Past sorrows now seemed to be
+almost forgotten.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/hd017.jpg" width="450" height="334"
+alt="Katie and Bolton on the deck of the ship" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Bolton, who, during a trying voyage,
+had shown much kindness to Mrs. Vale
+as well as to Katie, was invited during his
+stay at New York to make their house
+his home. He had much business to do
+as long as he remained in the great city,
+so saw little of the Vales except in the
+evenings, when he shared their cheerful
+supper, and then knelt down with them
+at family prayers. The mate learned
+much of the peace and happiness which
+piety brings while he dwelt under the
+emigrant&rsquo;s roof.</p>
+
+<p>But ere long the day arrived when Bolton&rsquo;s
+vessel, the Albion, was to start for
+England. She was to weigh anchor at
+one o&rsquo;clock, and at midday the mate bade
+good by to his emigrant friends.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A pleasant journey to you, and a
+speedy return; we&rsquo;ll be glad to see you
+back here,&rdquo; said Henry Vale, as he shook
+the mate by the hand.</p>
+
+<p>Bolton&rsquo;s journey was to be much shorter,
+and his return much more speedy than
+he wished, or his friends expected. He
+was hastening down to the pier to join his
+vessel, when he saw hanging up in a shop
+window a curious basket, made of some
+of the various nuts of the country prettily
+strung together.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just the thing to take my Mary&rsquo;s
+fancy,&rdquo; said the mate to himself.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve a present for every one at home
+but for her; it won&rsquo;t take two minutes to
+buy that basket.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Great events often hang upon very
+small hooks. If Bolton had not turned
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>33]</a></span>
+back to buy the basket, he would not have
+been passing a house on which masons
+were working at the very moment when
+a ladder, carelessly placed against it, happened
+to fall with a crash. The ladder
+struck Bolton, and he fell on the pavement
+so much stunned by the shock, that
+he had to be carried in a senseless state
+into the shop of an apothecary.</p>
+
+<p>Happily no bones were broken, but it
+was nearly an hour before the mate recovered
+the use of his senses. He then
+opened his eyes, raised his head, and
+stared wildly around him, as if wondering
+to find himself in a strange place,
+and trying to think how he came to be
+there. Bolton pressed his aching forehead,
+seeking to recall to his memory
+what had happened, for he felt like one in
+a dream. Soon his glance fell on the
+clock in the apothecary&rsquo;s shop, and at the
+same instant the clock struck <em>one</em>! Bolton
+started to his feet, as if the chime of
+the little bell had been the roar of a cannon.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Albion sails at one!&rdquo; cried the
+mate; and without so much as stopping
+to look for his oilskin cap, with bandaged
+brow and bareheaded, Bolton rushed forth
+into the street, and, dizzy as he felt, staggered
+on towards the pier from which the
+vessel was to sail.</p>
+
+<p>It was not to be expected that the
+sailor&rsquo;s course should be a very straight
+one, or that with all his haste he should
+manage to make good speed. The streets
+of New York seemed to be more full of
+traffic than usual, and twice the mate
+narrowly escaped being knocked down
+again by some vehicle rapidly driven
+along the road. At last, breathless and
+faint, and scarcely able to keep his feet,
+poor Bolton arrived at the wharf to
+which his ship had been moored but an
+hour before. But the Albion was there
+no longer&mdash;the vessel had started without
+the mate&mdash;he could see her white
+sails in the distance; she was already
+on her way back to Old England, and she
+had left him behind!</p>
+
+<p>This was a greater shock to poor Bolton
+than the blow from the falling ladder
+had been. He stood for several minutes
+gazing after the ship with a look of despair,
+then slowly the sailor returned to
+the house of the Vales.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nothing more unlucky could possibly
+have happened,&rdquo; muttered the mate to
+himself. &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a pretty scrape that I
+shall get into with my employers; the
+mate of their vessel absent just at the
+time when he ought to have been at his
+post! Then I&rsquo;ve nothing with me&mdash;nothing,
+save the clothes that I stand in!
+All my luggage is now on the waves, and
+a precious long time it will be before I
+shall see it again. But I don&rsquo;t care so
+much for the luggage; what I can&rsquo;t bear
+to think of is my wife and my children
+looking out eagerly for the arrival of the
+good ship Albion, and then, when she
+reaches port, finding that no Tom Bolton
+is in her! I wish that that stupid
+basket had been at the bottom of the sea
+before ever I set eyes on it!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Pale, haggard, and looking&mdash;as he
+was&mdash;greatly troubled, Bolton entered
+the house of the Vales, which he so
+lately had quitted. The family were just
+finishing their dinner; and not a little
+astonished were they to see one whom
+they had believed to be on the wide sea.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here I am again, like a bad half-penny,&rdquo;
+said the sailor; and sitting down
+wearily on a chair which Katie placed for
+him directly, Bolton gave a short account
+of what he called the most unlucky mischance
+that had ever happened to him in
+the course of his life.</p>
+
+<p>The Vales felt much for his trouble,
+and begged him to remain with them
+until he could get a passage in some
+other vessel bound for England.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 388px;">
+<img src="images/hd018.jpg" width="388" height="600" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE MAN AT THE WHEEL.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And don&rsquo;t take your accident so much
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"><!-- Illustration - THE MAN AT THE WHEEL --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>35]</a></span>
+to heart,&rdquo; softly whispered little Katie;
+&ldquo;you know mother&rsquo;s favorite proverb&mdash;&lsquo;Every
+cloud has a silver lining.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Sometimes, even in this life, we can
+see the silver edge round the border,&rdquo;
+observed Mrs. Vale.</p>
+
+<p>Bolton had too brave a heart and too
+sensible a mind to give way long to fretting,
+though he did not see how so black
+a cloud as that which hung over his sky
+could possibly have anything to brighten
+its gloom. He tried to make the best of
+that which he could not prevent, and retired
+to rest that night with a tolerably
+cheerful face, though with a violent headache,
+and a heartache which troubled him
+more.</p>
+
+<p>Bolton slept very little that night, nor
+indeed did any one else in the house; for
+with the close of day there came on a violent
+storm which raged fiercely until the
+morning. Katie trembled in her little cot
+to hear how the gale roared and shrieked
+in the chimneys, and rattled the window-frames,
+and threatened to burst open the
+doors. The child raised her head from
+the pillow, and thanked the Lord that her
+sailor friend was not tossing then on the
+waves.</p>
+
+<p>But far more thankful was Katie when
+tidings reached New York of what the
+storm had done on that terrible night.
+Bolton was sitting at breakfast with his
+friends on the third day after the tempest,
+when Vale, who was reading the
+newspaper, turned to the part headed
+&ldquo;Shipping Intelligence.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Any news?&rdquo; inquired Tom Bolton,
+struck by the expression on the face of
+his friend.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of replying, Vale exclaimed,
+&ldquo;How little we can tell in this life what
+is really for our evil or our good! You
+called that accident which prevented your
+sailing in the Albion an &lsquo;unlucky mischance.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Of course I did. My wife and children
+are impatient to see me&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Had you sailed in that ship,&rdquo; interrupted
+Vale, &ldquo;they would never have
+seen you again. The Albion went down
+in that storm!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>What was the regret of Tom Bolton on
+hearing of the disaster, and what was his
+thankfulness for his own preservation, I
+leave the reader to guess. Often in after
+days did the little American basket remind
+him in his own home of what others
+might have called the chance that led him
+to turn back on his way to the ship, and
+so caused the accident which vexed him
+so much at the time.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_35lower" id="Page_35lower"></a>GOOD-HUMOR.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">I AM a first-rate fairy&mdash;<br />
+<span class="i2">&ldquo;Good-Humor&rdquo; is my name;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I use my wand where&rsquo;er I go,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And make the rough ways plain;<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And make the ugly faces shine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The shrillest voices sweet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The coarsest ore a golden mine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The poorest lives complete.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>36]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/hd019.jpg" width="400" height="398"
+alt="A boy sits reading in an armchair" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>BOOKS AND READING.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span> REALLY am in doubt whether or not
+the young folks ought to be congratulated
+in consequence of the great number
+of juvenile books which are being
+placed before them about this time. An
+excellent book is certainly excellent company;
+but there is a limit to all things;
+and so we may have too many books, taking
+it for granted that all are good ones.</p>
+
+<p>You all know, that, as a general rule,
+people in America read too much, and
+think too little. Reading is a benefit to
+us only when it leads to reflection. It is
+useless when it leaves no lasting impression
+on the mind; it is <em>worse</em> than useless
+if the lesson it conveys be not a really
+good one.</p>
+
+<p>Suppose you sit down to a well-furnished
+table at a hotel to eat your dinner.
+The waiter hands you a bill of fare, upon
+which is printed a long list of good and
+wholesome dishes, and then quietly waits
+until you order what you wish. You are
+not expected to eat of every one, however
+attractive they may be, but rather to
+select what you like best,&mdash;enough to
+make a modest meal,&mdash;and let that suffice.</p>
+
+<p>But the selection is not all. If you
+expect to gain health and strength by
+your dinner, you must eat it in a proper
+manner; that is, slowly. Otherwise nature&rsquo;s
+work will be imperfectly done, and
+your food become a source of bodily
+harm, instead of a benefit.</p>
+
+<p>Now, it is precisely so with the food of
+the mind, which comes to you through
+books. You are not expected to read
+everything which comes within your
+reach. You should rather select the
+best, and, having done so, read them
+slowly and carefully. You may read too
+much as well as eat too much; and while
+the one will injure your body, the other
+will as certainly harm your mind.</p>
+
+<p>One of the worst evils which too much
+reading leads to is a habit of <em>reading to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>37]</a></span>
+forget</em>. You know what a bad habit is,
+how it clings to us, when once contracted,
+and how hard it is to be shaken off.
+Some boys and girls read a book entirely
+through in a single evening, and the next
+day are eagerly at work on another, to be as
+quickly mastered. No mind, however
+strong, can stand such a strain. You see
+at once that it would be absolutely impossible
+for them to remember what they
+read. And so they read for a momentary
+enjoyment, and gradually fall into
+the habit I have spoken of&mdash;reading to
+forget. I need not tell you that such a
+habit is fatal to any very high position in
+life.</p>
+
+<p>How often we hear parents boast that
+their children are &ldquo;great readers,&rdquo; just
+as if their intelligence should, in their
+opinion, be measured by the number of
+books and papers which they had read!
+Need I say, that, on the contrary, they
+are objects of pity?</p>
+
+<p>But how much may we read with profit?
+That is a question not always easy to answer.
+Some can read a great deal more
+than others. Yet, if young people read
+slowly, and think a great deal about the
+subject, there is very little danger of their
+reading too much, provided they select
+only good books; because good books
+are very scarce&mdash;much more so in proportion
+to the number printed than they
+were twenty years ago; and there are
+very few young persons who have too
+great a supply of good works placed
+within their reach.</p>
+
+<p>I have mentioned one evil which results
+from too much reading, and will
+only briefly allude to another equally important.
+Children who attend school
+have no time to devote to worthless
+books. Their studies consume many
+hours. If, aside from the time which
+should be devoted to play, to their meals,
+and the various duties of home, they will
+read a useless book every day or two,
+their health is sure to suffer. The evil
+consequences may not be at once apparent,
+but in later years the penalty will
+certainly have to be paid. This reflection
+alone, if there were no other reason,
+should induce the young to discard all
+useless books, and read only such as shall
+have a tendency to make them wiser and
+better.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_37lower" id="Page_37lower"></a>THE CORAL-WORKERS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">THE little coral-workers,<br />
+<span class="i3">By their slow but constant motion,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Have built those pretty islands<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In the distant dark-blue ocean;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the noblest undertakings<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Man&rsquo;s wisdom hath conceived<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By oft-repeated efforts<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Have been patiently achieved.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>38]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/hd020.jpg" width="450" height="446"
+alt="Lion carries a baby's basket down some stairs" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>LION THE FIRE DOG.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">L</span>ION, who was a cross between a
+Great St. Bernard and a Newfoundland
+dog, came into the possession of the
+superintendent of the London fire brigade
+when he was but twelve months old. His
+first retreat was in the engine-house, where,
+on some old hose and sacking, he made
+himself as comfortable as he could, and
+coiled himself up, like the tubing on which
+he lay. Considering that he was thus
+placed in charge of the engine-house, he
+resented the first occasion on which a fire
+occurred at night. The fire bell rang,
+and the firemen crowded to the spot, prepared
+to draw forth the engine, when a
+decided opposition was made on the part
+of Lion, who showed a determination to
+fasten himself on the first fireman who
+dared to enter the house. In this way
+the faithful dog kept them all at bay until
+the arrival of his master, whom he instantly
+recognized and obeyed. As soon
+as the horses were harnessed, and the
+engine was in motion, Lion bounded along
+in company, and was present at his first
+fire. After that time, he attended no less
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>39]</a></span>
+than three hundred and thirty-two fires,
+and not only attended, but assisted at
+them, always useful, and sometimes doing
+work and saving life, which, but for him,
+would have been lost.</p>
+
+<p>His chief friends, the firemen, say it
+would take a long while to tell all his acts
+of daring and sagacity; but we must, in
+justice to his memory, record some of the
+most notable.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever the fire bell rang, Lion was
+immediately on the alert, barking loudly,
+as if to spread the dire alarm. Then, as
+soon as his master had taken his place on
+the engine, and before the horses were off,
+he led the way, clearing the road and
+warning every one of the approach of the
+engine, and spreading the news of the fire
+by his loud voice.</p>
+
+<p>On one occasion, when the horses were
+tearing along the streets as fire engine
+horses alone can, a little child was seen
+just in front of the engine. To stop the
+horses in time was impossible, though the
+driver did his best. The brave hearts of the
+firemen sank within them as they felt they
+must drive over the little body. Bystanders
+raised their arms and shrieked as they
+witnessed an impending catastrophe which
+they could do nothing to avert. No human
+help could avail, and it must needs
+be that the engine of mercy, on its way to
+save life, must sacrifice the life of an innocent,
+helpless child!</p>
+
+<p>But stay! Human eyes were not the
+only ones that took in that sad scene, and
+that saw the impending doom of the little
+one. Brave, sagacious, and fleet, Lion
+saw at a glance the danger that threatened
+the child, and springing forward, he
+knocked him down; then seizing him
+firmly in his jaws, he made for the pavement
+obliquely, and gently deposited his
+charge in the gutter just as the engine
+went tearing by.</p>
+
+<p>But this was only an incident by the
+way; Lion&rsquo;s real work began when the
+scene of the fire was reached. As soon
+as the door was opened, or dashing
+through the window if there was a delay
+in opening the door, the noble animal
+would run all over the burning house,
+barking, so as to arouse the inmates if
+they were unaware of the danger; and
+never would he leave the fire until he had
+either aroused them or had drawn the attention
+of the firemen to them.</p>
+
+<p>Once the firemen could not account for
+his conduct. Darting into the burning
+house,&mdash;the ceilings of which had given
+way,&mdash;and then out again to the firemen,
+he howled and yelled most loudly. It was
+believed that no one was in the house, but
+Lion&rsquo;s conduct made his master feel uneasy.</p>
+
+<p>Still nothing could be done by way
+of entering the house, as the fire was raging
+fiercely, and the house would soon
+fall in. Finding that his entreaties were
+not regarded, and suffering from burns
+and injuries, the noble animal discontinued
+his efforts, but ran uneasily round
+the engine, howling in a piteous manner;
+nor would he leave the spot after the fire
+was put out until search was made, when
+beneath the still smouldering embers, the
+firemen discovered the charred body of
+an old man, whom he had done his utmost
+to save.</p>
+
+<p>Lion&rsquo;s noble efforts, however, were often
+crowned with success; and many a
+one has to bless the wondrous qualities
+with which God had endowed him.</p>
+
+<p>At one fire, after the inmates had made
+their escape, a cry was raised that &ldquo;the
+baby had been left behind in the cradle
+up stairs,&rdquo; though no one seemed to be
+able to indicate the room. The fire had
+so far got hold of the dwelling, such dense
+volumes of flame and smoke were issuing
+from every opening, that it was impossible
+for any fireman to enter, and the crowd
+stood horror-stricken at the thought of
+the perishing babe.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>40]</a></span>
+The crisis was a terrible one; an effort
+was made, an entry was effected, and some
+of the men ventured some distance within
+the burning pile, only to retrace their
+steps.</p>
+
+<p>At this emergency, Lion dashed past
+the men, disappeared amid the flames,
+but returned in a minute into the street
+with the empty cradle in his powerful
+jaws. The consequence of this almost
+incredible feat&mdash;which was witnessed by
+many&mdash;may be better imagined than described.</p>
+
+<p>The fact that Lion did not re-enter
+the house&mdash;which, though badly burned,
+he would doubtless have done had he
+left the child behind&mdash;was sufficient
+to convince the dullest intellect that
+the child was secure; and it was very
+soon ascertained that the object of search
+was safe in a neighboring house.</p>
+
+<p>No wonder, then, that this noble animal
+endeared himself to all who knew him;
+and those who knew him best loved him
+the most. For fourteen years Lion continued
+his noble and useful career as public
+benefactor, as friend and companion
+to the firemen, and as mourner at their
+graves; for he attended the funerals of
+no less than eleven of them.</p>
+
+<p>Death came to him at length; for last
+year he died from injuries received in the
+discharge of his self-imposed duties.</p>
+
+<p>There are few of our readers who would
+not have liked to pat that brave old dog;
+there are fewer still who may not learn
+useful and valuable lessons from the
+speaking testimony of that dumb animal.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Benjamin Clarke.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_40lower" id="Page_40lower"></a>TO THE CARDINAL FLOWER.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">O, MY princely flower, shall I never win<br />
+<span class="i4">To your moated citadel within,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">To your guarded thought?<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The pansies are proud; but they show to me<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their purple velvets from over the sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">With gold inwrought.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And they gently smile wherever we meet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They seem to me like proud ladies sweet<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">From a foreign shore.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Wild primrose buds in my very hand<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their odorous evening stars expand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">And all their lore.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But your strange eyes gleam as they pass me by,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And seem to dream of a warmer sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Far over the sea.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet">M. R. W.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>41]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 497px;">
+<img src="images/hd021.jpg" width="497" height="400"
+alt="A woman, an elderly man and two children watch butterflies in a garden" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>THE SONG OF THE ROSE.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">I COME not when the earth is brown, and gray<br />
+<span class="i2">The skies; I am no flower of a day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No crocus I, to bloom and pass away;<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">No cowslip bright, or hyacinth that clings<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Close to the earth, from whence it springs;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor tulip, gay as song birds&rsquo; wings.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I am the royal rose, and all things fair<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Grow fairer for my sake; the earth, the air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Proclaim the coming of the flower most rare.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Green is the earth, and beautiful the sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And soft the breeze, that loves to linger nigh;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I am the rose, and who with me shall vie?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The earth is full of gladness, all in tune<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With songs of birds; and now I come, O June,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To crown thee, month of beauty, with my bloom.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet">T. E. D.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>42]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>RICH AND POOR.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">MY dear little girl, with the flowers in your hair,<br />
+<span class="i4">Stop singing a moment, and look over there;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While you are so safe in the sheltering fold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With treasures of silver, and treasures of gold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Just a few steps away, in a dark, narrow street,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With no pure, cooling drink, and no morsel to eat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A poor girl is dying, no older than you;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Her lips were as red, and her eyes were as blue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Her step was as light, and her song was as sweet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the heart in her bosom as merrily beat.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But now she is dying, so lonely and poor,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For famine and fever crept in at the door.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While you were so gay, in your beautiful dress,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With music and laughter, and friends to caress,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the dawn to the end of the weariful day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She was always at work, with no moment for play.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She saw you sometimes, but you seemed like a star<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That gleamed in the distance, so dim and afar.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And often she wondered if God up above<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Remembered the poor girl, in pity and love.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ah, yes, <em>He remembered</em>, &rsquo;mid harpings and hymns,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And loud alleluias, and waving of wings,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He heard in <em>His</em> heaven the sound of her tears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And called her away while the sun of her years<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was yet in the east; now, she never will need<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From you any more a compassionate deed.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nay, some time, perhaps, from her home in the skies,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She will look back to see you with tears in your eyes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For sooner or later we quiver with pain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And down on us all drops the sorrowful rain.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She never will need you; but many bereft,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hungry, and heart-sore, and homeless are left.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You can, if you will, from the place where you stand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Reach downward to help them; the touch of your hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The price of one jewel, the gift of a flower,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">May waken within them, with magical power,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A hope that was dying. O, don&rsquo;t be afraid<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The poor and the desolate spirit to aid.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The burdens are heavy that some one must bear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You dear little girl with the flowers in your hair.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Ellen M. H. Gates.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>43]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 444px;">
+<img src="images/hd022.jpg" width="444" height="600"
+alt="Two women and a group of children offer food to a girl" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">RICH AND POOR.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>44]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>LACE-MAKING.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">S</span>EE, mamma what is the woman doing? She looks as if she was holding
+a pin-cushion in her lap and was sticking pins in it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;So she is, my dear,&rdquo; Ellen&rsquo;s mother remarked. &ldquo;But that is not all she
+is doing. There is a cluster of bobbins hanging down one side of the cushion
+which are wound with threads, and these threads she weaves around the pins
+in such a manner as to make lace.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I never saw anybody make lace that way. I have seen Aunt Maria knit
+it with a crochet-hook.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This is a different kind of lace altogether from the crocheted lace. They
+do not make it in the United States. The woman whom you see in the picture
+lives in Belgium in Europe. In that country, and in some parts of France
+and Germany, many of the poorer people earn a living at lace-making. The
+pattern which in making the lace it is intended to follow is pricked with a pin
+on a strip of paper. This paper is fastened on the cushion, and then pins are
+stuck in through all the pin-holes, and then the thread from these bobbins is
+woven around the lace.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Can they work fast?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;An accomplished lace-maker will make her hands fly as fast as though she
+were playing the piano, always using the right bobbin, no matter how many
+of them there may be. In making the pattern of a piece of nice lace from
+two hundred to eight hundred bobbins are sometimes used. In such a case it
+takes more than one person&mdash;sometimes as many as seven&mdash;at a single
+cushion.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It must be hard to do.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I dare say it would be for you or me. Yet in those countries little children
+work at lace-making. Little children, old women and the least skilful
+of the men make the plainer and coarser laces, while experienced women
+make the nicer sorts.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What do they do with their lace when it is finished?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;All the lace-makers in a neighborhood bring in their laces once a week to
+the &lsquo;mistress&rsquo;&mdash;for women carry on the business of lace-making&mdash;then this
+&lsquo;mistress&rsquo; packs them up and takes them to the nearest market-town, where
+they are peddled about from one trading-house to another until they are all
+sold.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do they get much for them?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The poor lace-makers get hardly enough to keep them from starvation for
+their fine and delicate work; but the laces, after they have passed through the
+hands of one trader after another, and are at last offered to the public, bring
+enormous prices. A nice library might be bought for the price of a set of
+laces, or a beautiful house built at the cost of a single flounce.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I think I should rather have the house, mamma.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;So should I. But the people who buy these laces probably have houses
+already. There is over four million dollars&rsquo; worth of lace sold every year in
+Belgium alone.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Ellen thought she should never see a piece of nice lace without thinking of
+these wonderful lace-makers, who produce such delicate work and yet are paid
+so little for it; and while she was thus thinking over the matter, mamma went
+quietly on with her sewing.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>45]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 402px;">
+<img src="images/hd023.jpg" width="402" height="600"
+alt="A girl and a boy watch a woman working at bobbin lace" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">LACE-MAKERS.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>46]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>HELP YOURSELVES.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>ANY boys and girls make a failure
+in life because they do not learn to
+help themselves. They depend on father
+and mother even to hang up their hats
+and to find their playthings. When they
+become men and women, they will depend
+on husbands and wives to do the
+same thing. &ldquo;A nail to hang a hat on,&rdquo;
+said an old man of eighty years, &ldquo;is
+worth everything to a boy.&rdquo; He had
+been &ldquo;through the mill,&rdquo; as people say,
+so that he knew. His mother had a nail
+for him when he was a boy&mdash;&ldquo;a nail to
+hang his hat on,&rdquo; and nothing else. It
+was &ldquo;Henry&rsquo;s nail&rdquo; from January to
+January, year in and out, and no other
+member of the family was allowed to
+appropriate it for any purpose whatever.
+If the broom by chance was hung
+thereon, or an apron or coat, it was soon
+removed, because that nail was &ldquo;to hang
+Henry&rsquo;s hat on.&rdquo; And that nail did much
+for Henry; it helped make him what he
+was in manhood&mdash;a careful, systematic,
+orderly man, at home and abroad, on his
+farm and in his house. He never wanted
+another to do what he could do for himself.</p>
+
+<p>Young folks are apt to think that certain
+things, good in themselves, are not
+honorable. To be a blacksmith or a
+bootmaker, to work on a farm or drive a
+team, is beneath their dignity, as compared
+with being a merchant, or practising
+medicine or law. This is <small>PRIDE</small>, an
+enemy to success and happiness. No <em>necessary</em>
+labor is discreditable. It is never
+dishonorable to be <em>useful</em>. It is beneath
+no one&rsquo;s dignity to earn bread by the
+sweat of the brow. When boys who
+have such false notions of dignity become
+men, they are ashamed to help themselves
+as they ought, and for want of this quality
+they live and die unhonored. Trying to
+save their dignity, they lose it.</p>
+
+<p>Here is a fact we have from a very
+successful merchant. When he began
+business for himself, he carried his
+wares from shop to shop. At length
+his business increased to such an extent,
+that he hired a room at the
+Marlboro&rsquo; Hotel, in Boston, during the
+business season, and thither the merchants,
+having been duly notified, would
+repair to make purchases. Among all
+his customers, there was only one man
+who would carry to his store the goods
+which he had purchased. The buyers
+asked to have their goods carried, and
+often this manufacturer would carry
+them himself. But there was one merchant,
+and the largest buyer of the whole
+number, who was not ashamed to be seen
+carrying a case of goods through the
+streets. Sometimes he would purchase
+four cases, and he would say, &ldquo;Now, I
+will take two, and you take two, and we
+will carry them right over to the store.&rdquo;
+So the manufacturer and the merchant
+often went through the streets of Boston
+quite heavily loaded. This merchant, of
+all the number who went to the Marlboro&rsquo;
+Hotel for their purchases, succeeded in
+business. He became a wealthy man
+when all the others failed. The manufacturer,
+who was not ashamed to help
+himself, is now living&mdash;one of the wealthy
+men of Massachusetts, ready to aid, by
+his generous gifts, every good object that
+comes along, and honored by all who
+know him.</p>
+
+<p>You have often heard and read the
+maxim, &ldquo;God helps those who help themselves.&rdquo;
+Is it not true?</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">William M. Thayer.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>47]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE STORY OF JOHNNY DAWDLE.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">HERE, little folks, listen; I&rsquo;ll tell you a tale,<br />
+<span class="i3">Though to shock and surprise you I fear it won&rsquo;t fail;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Master John Dawdle my story must be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who, I&rsquo;m sorry to say, is related to me.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And yet, after all, he&rsquo;s a nice little fellow:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His eyes are dark brown and his hair is pale yellow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And though not very clever or tall, it is true<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He is better than many, if worse than a few.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But he dawdles at breakfast, he dawdles at tea&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He&rsquo;s the greatest small dawdle that ever could be;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And when in his bedroom, it is his delight<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To dawdle in dressing at morning and night.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And oh! if you saw him sit over a sum,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You&rsquo;d much wish to pinch him with finger and thumb;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And then, if you scold him, he looks up so meek;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dear me! one would think that he hardly could speak.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Each morning the same he comes tumbling down,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And often enough is received with a frown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And a terrible warning of something severe<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Unless on the morrow he sooner appear.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But where does he live? That I&rsquo;d rather not say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though, if truth must be told, I have met him to-day;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I meant just to pass him with merely a bow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But he stopped and conversed for a minute or so.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Well, where are you going?&rdquo; politely said I;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To which he replied, with a groan and a sigh,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been doing my Latin from breakfast till dinner,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And pretty hard work that is for a beginner.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;But now I suppose you are going to play<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And have pleasure and fun for the rest of the day?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Indeed, but I&rsquo;m not&mdash;there&rsquo;s that bothering sum;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And then there&rsquo;s a tiresome old copy to come.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>48]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 418px;">
+<img src="images/hd024.jpg" width="418" height="600"
+alt="Johnny rests his head on one hand and stares at a bird on the window ledge" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">JOHNNY DAWDLE.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>49]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Dear me!&rdquo; I replied, and I thought it quite sad<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There should be such hard work for one poor little lad;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But just at that moment a lady passed by,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And her words soon made clear that mistaken was I:<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Now, then, Mr. Dawdle, get out of my way!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I suppose you intended to stop here all day;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bell has done ringing, and yet, I declare,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Your hands are not washed, nor yet brushed is your hair.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Ho, ho!&rdquo; I exclaimed; &ldquo;Mr. Dawdle, indeed!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I took myself off with all possible speed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Quite distressed that I should for a moment be seen<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With one who so lazy and careless had been.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">So now, if you please, we will wish him good-bye;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And if you should meet him by chance, as did I,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Just bid him good-morning, and say that a friend<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">(Only don&rsquo;t mention names) hopes he soon may amend.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_49lower" id="Page_49lower"></a>THE MOTHERLESS BOY.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">O</span>NE day, about a year ago, the door of my sitting-room was thrown
+suddenly open, and the confident voice of Harvey thus introduced a
+stranger:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s Jim Peters, mother.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I looked up, not a little surprised at the sight of a ragged, barefoot child.</p>
+
+<p>Before I had time to say anything, Harvey went on:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He lives round in Blake&rsquo;s Court and hasn&rsquo;t any mother. I found him on
+a doorstep feeding birds.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>My eyes rested on the child&rsquo;s face while my boy said this. It was a very
+sad little face, thin and colorless, not bold and vicious, but timid and having
+a look of patient suffering. Harvey held him firmly by the hand with
+the air of one who bravely protects the weak.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No mother!&rdquo; said I, in tones of pity.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, ma&rsquo;am; he hasn&rsquo;t any mother. Have you, Jim?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; answered the child.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>50]</a></span>
+&ldquo;She&rsquo;s been dead ever so long; hasn&rsquo;t she, Jim?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, ever since last winter,&rdquo; he said as he fixed his eyes, into which I
+saw the tears coming, upon my face. My heart moved toward him, repulsive
+as he was because of his rags and dirt.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;One of God&rsquo;s little lambs straying on the cold and barren hills of life,&rdquo;
+said a voice in my heart. And then I felt a tender compassion for the strange,
+unlovely child.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where do you live?&rdquo; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Round in Blake&rsquo;s Court,&rdquo; he replied.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Who with?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Old Mrs. Flint; but she doesn&rsquo;t want me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why not?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, because I&rsquo;m nothing to her, she says, and she doesn&rsquo;t want the
+trouble of me.&rdquo; He tried to say this in a brave, don&rsquo;t-care sort of way, but
+his voice faltered and he dropped his eyes to the floor. How pitiful he
+looked!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Poor child!&rdquo; I could not help saying aloud.</p>
+
+<p>Light flashed over his pale face. It was something new to him, this interest
+and compassion.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;One of God&rsquo;s little lambs.&rdquo; I heard the voice in my heart saying this
+again. Nobody to love him&mdash;nobody to care for him. Poor little boy!
+The hand of my own child, my son who is so very dear to me, had led him
+in through our door and claimed for him the love and care so long a stranger
+to his heart. Could I send him out and shut the door upon him, when I
+knew that he had no mother and no home? If I heeded not the cry of this
+little one precious in God&rsquo;s sight, might I not be thought unworthy to be the
+guardian of another lamb of his fold whom I loved as my own life?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got heaps of clothes, mother&mdash;a great many more than I want. And
+my bed is wide. There&rsquo;s room enough in the house, and we&rsquo;ve plenty to
+eat,&rdquo; said Harvey, pleading for the child. I could not withstand all these
+appeals. Rising, I told the little stranger to follow me. When we came
+back to the sitting-room half an hour afterward, Jim Peters would hardly
+have been known by his old acquaintances, if any of them had been there.
+A bath and clean clothes had made a wonderful change in him.</p>
+
+<p>I watched the poor little boy, as he and Harvey played during the afternoon,
+with no little concern of mind. What was I to do with him? Clean and
+neatly dressed, there was a look of refinement about the child which had
+nearly all been hidden by rags and dirt. He played gently, and his voice
+had in it a sweetness of tone, as it fell every now and then upon my ears, that
+was really winning. Send him back to Mrs. Flint&rsquo;s in Blake&rsquo;s Court? The
+change I had wrought upon him made this impossible. No, he could not be
+sent back to Mrs. Flint&rsquo;s, who didn&rsquo;t want the trouble of him. What then?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>51]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 427px;">
+<img src="images/hd025.jpg" width="427" height="600"
+alt="A barefoot boy wearing ragged clothes" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE MOTHERLESS BOY.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>52]</a></span>
+Do the kind hearts of my little readers repeat the question, &ldquo;What then?&rdquo;
+Do they want very much to know what has become of little Jim Peters?</p>
+
+<p>It is just a year since my boy led him in from the street, and Jim is still in
+our house. No one came for him. No one inquired about him. No one
+cared for him. I must take that last sentence back. God cared for him, and
+by the hand of my tender-hearted son brought him into my comfortable home
+and said to me, &ldquo;Here is one of my lambs, astray, hungry and cold. He
+was born into the world that he might become an angel in heaven, but is in
+danger of being lost. I give him into your care. Let me find him when I
+call my sheep by their names.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As I finished writing the last sentence a voice close to my ear said
+&ldquo;Mother!&rdquo; I turned and received a loving kiss from the lips of Jim. He
+often does this. I think, in the midst of his happy plays, memory takes him
+back to the suffering past, and then his grateful heart runs over and he tries to
+reward me with a loving kiss. I did not tell him to call me &ldquo;Mother.&rdquo; At
+first he said it in a timid, hesitating way, and with such a pleading, half-scared
+look that I was touched and softened.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;She isn&rsquo;t your real mother,&rdquo; said Harvey, who happened to be near,
+&ldquo;but then she&rsquo;s good and loves you ever so much.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And I love her,&rdquo; answered Jim, with a great throb in his throat, hiding
+his face in my lap and clasping and kissing my hand. Since then he always
+calls me &ldquo;Mother;&rdquo; and the God and Father of us all has sent into my heart
+a mother&rsquo;s love for him, and I pray that he may be mine when I come to
+make up my jewels in heaven.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_52lower" id="Page_52lower"></a>THE GOOD SHEPHERD.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">JESUS says that we must love him.<br />
+<span class="i2">Helpless as the lambs are we;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But He very kindly tells us<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That our Shepherd He will be.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Heavenly Shepherd, please to watch us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Guard us both by night and day;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pity show to little children,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who like lambs too often stray.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">We are always prone to wander:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Please to keep us from each snare;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Teach our infant hearts to praise Thee<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For Thy kindness and Thy care.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>53]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE ST. BERNARD DOG.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">B</span>Y the pass of the Great St. Bernard
+travellers cross the Pennine Alps
+(Penn, a Celtic word, meaning <em>height</em>)
+along the mountain road which leads
+from Martigny, in Switzerland, to Aosta,
+in Piedmont. On the crest of the pass,
+eight thousand two hundred feet above
+the sea level, stands the Hospice, tenanted
+by about a dozen monks.</p>
+
+<p>This is supposed to be the highest
+spot in Europe inhabited by human
+beings. The climate is necessarily rigorous,
+the thermometer in winter being
+often twenty-nine degrees below zero,
+whilst sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit is
+about the highest range ever attained in
+summer. From the extreme difficulty of
+respiration, few of the monks ever survive
+the period of their vow, which is fifteen
+years, commencing at the age of eighteen.</p>
+
+<p>This hospice is said to have been first
+founded in the year 962, by Bernard, a
+Piedmontese nobleman. It will be remembered
+that it was over this pass
+Napoleon, in May, 1800, led an army of
+thirty thousand men into Italy, having
+with them heavy artillery and cavalry.</p>
+
+<p>For poor travellers and traders the
+hospice is really a place of refuge. During
+winter, crossing this pass is a very
+dangerous affair. The snow falls in small
+particles, and remains as dry as dust.
+Whirlwinds, called &ldquo;tourmentes,&rdquo; catch
+up this light snow, and carrying it with
+blinding violence against the traveller,
+burying every landmark, at once put an
+end to knowledge of position. Avalanches,
+too, are of frequent occurrence.</p>
+
+<p>After violent storms, or the fall of avalanches,
+or any other unusual severity of
+winter weather, the monks set out in
+search of travellers who may have been
+overwhelmed by the snow in their ascent
+of the pass. They are generally accompanied
+in their search by dogs of a peculiar
+breed, commonly known as the St.
+Bernard&rsquo;s Dog, on account of the celebrated
+monastery where these magnificent
+animals are taught to exercise their
+wondrous powers, which have gained for
+them and their teachers a world-wide
+fame. On their neck is a bell, to attract
+the attention of any belated wayfarer;
+and their deep and powerful bay quickly
+gives notice to the benevolent monks to
+hurry to the relief of any unfortunate
+traveller they may find.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the dogs carry, attached to
+their collars, a flask of spirits or other restorative.
+Their wonderfully acute sense
+of smell enables them to detect the bodies
+of persons buried deeply beneath the
+surface of the snow, and thus direct the
+searchers where to dig for them. The
+animal&rsquo;s instinct seems to teach it, too,
+where hidden chasms or clefts, filled with
+loose snow, are; for it carefully avoids
+them, and thus is an all-important guide
+to the monks themselves.</p>
+
+<p>We have stories without number as to
+what these dogs accomplish on their own
+account; how they dig out travellers, and
+bring them, sometimes unaided by man,
+to the hospice.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 410px;">
+<img src="images/hd026.jpg" width="410" height="600"
+alt="A St. Bernard digs out a man buried in snow" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE ST. BERNARD DOG.</p>
+
+<p>A few years ago one of these faithful
+animals might be seen wearing a medal,
+and regarded with much affection by all.
+This noble dog had well deserved the
+distinction; for one stormy day he had
+saved twenty-two individuals buried in
+their snowy envelope. Unfortunately, he
+met, at a subsequent period, the very
+fate from which he had rescued so many
+persons. At the worst season an Italian
+courier was crossing the pass, attended
+by two monks, each escorted by a dog
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"><!-- Illustration - THE ST. BERNARD DOG --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>55]</a></span>
+(one being the wearer of the medal),
+when suddenly a vast avalanche shot
+down upon them with lightning speed,
+and they were all lost.</p>
+
+<p>Another of these dogs, named &ldquo;Barry,&rdquo;
+had served the St. Bernard Convent during
+twelve years, and had saved the lives of
+fifteen persons during that time. Whenever
+the pass was obscured by fogs and
+wintry snow-storms, he would go forth in
+search of lost travellers. It was his practice
+to run barking till he lost his breath,
+and he would venture into the most dangerous
+places. If, as sometimes happened,
+he did not succeed in drawing out
+from the snow some traveller stiffened
+with cold or overcome with exhaustion,
+he would run back to the convent and
+fetch some of the monks.</p>
+
+<p>One day this brave dog found a little
+child in a half-frozen state. He began
+directly to lick him, and having succeeded
+first in restoring animation, and next
+in the complete resuscitation of the boy,
+he induced the child, by his caresses, to
+tie himself on his back. When this was
+effected, he transported the poor child,
+as if in triumph, to the hospice. When
+overtaken by old age, the glorious dog
+was pensioned off by way of reward, and
+after his death his body was stuffed and
+placed in the museum at Berne.</p>
+
+<p>It is said that dogs of this variety inherit
+the faculty of tracking footsteps in
+snow. A gentleman once obtained a pup
+which had been produced in London by
+a female of the St. Bernard breed. The
+young animal was brought to Scotland,
+where it was never observed to give any
+particular tokens of a power of tracking
+footsteps until winter. Then, when the
+ground was covered with snow, it showed
+the utmost inclination to follow footsteps;
+and such was its power of doing so, that
+though its master might attempt to confuse
+it by walking in the most irregular
+fashion, and by inducing other persons to
+cross his path in all directions, yet it always
+followed his course with great precision.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas Dick Lander, who for
+many years resided at Grange House,
+Edinburgh, had a fine dog of the St. Bernard
+breed presented to him. Its bark
+was so loud that it could be distinguished
+at the distance of a mile. Its bark once
+led to its recovery, when stolen by some
+carters. &ldquo;Bass,&rdquo; as the dog was named,
+had been missing for some time, when it
+was brought back to Grange House by a
+letter-carrier, who said that in going along
+a certain street, he heard a barking inside
+a yard, and at once recognized the voice
+of Bass. &ldquo;He knocked at the gate,&rdquo;
+writes Sir Thomas, &ldquo;and immediately
+said to the owner of the premises,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You have got Sir Thomas Lander&rsquo;s
+big dog.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The man denied it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;But I know you have,&rsquo; continued the
+letter-carrier. &lsquo;I am certain that I heard
+the bark of Sir Thomas&rsquo;s big dog; for
+there is no other dog in or about all Edinburgh
+that has such a bark.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The man then admitted that he had
+a large dog, which he had bought for a
+trifle from a couple of coal carters; and
+at last, with great reluctance, he gave up
+the dog to the letter-carrier, who brought
+him home here.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas, after describing many of
+Bass&rsquo;s characteristics, then proceeds:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He took a particular fancy for one of
+the postmen who delivers letters here,
+though he was not the man whom I have
+already had occasion to mention. It was
+the duty of this postman I now allude
+to, besides delivering letters, to carry a
+letter-bag from one receiving house to
+another, and this big bag he used to
+give Bass to carry. Bass always followed
+that man through all the villas in
+the neighborhood where he had deliveries
+to make, and he invariably parted with
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>56]</a></span>
+him opposite to the gate of the Convent
+of St. Margaret&rsquo;s, and returned home.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;When our gate was shut, to prevent
+his following the postman, the dog always
+leaped a high wall to get after him. One
+day, when the postman was ill, or detained
+by some accidental circumstance, he sent
+a man in his place. Bass went up to
+the man, curiously scanning his face,
+whilst the man retired from the dog, by
+no means liking his appearance, and very
+anxious to decline all acquaintance with
+him. But as the man left the place,
+Bass followed him, showing strong
+symptoms that he was determined to
+have the post-bag. The man did all he
+could to keep the possession of it. But
+at length Bass, seeing that he had no
+chance of getting possession of the bag
+by civil entreaty, raised himself on his
+hind legs, and putting a great fore paw
+on each of the man&rsquo;s shoulders, he laid
+him flat on his back in the road, and quietly
+picking up the bag, he proceeded
+peaceably on his wonted way. The man,
+much dismayed, arose and followed the
+dog, making, every now and then, an ineffectual
+attempt to coax him to give it up.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;At the first house he came to he told
+his fears and the dilemma he was in; but
+the people comforted him by telling him
+that the dog always carried the bag.
+Bass walked with the man to all the
+houses at which he delivered letters, and
+along the road till he came to the gate
+of St. Margaret&rsquo;s, where he dropped the
+bag; and making his bow to the man, he
+returned home.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_56lower" id="Page_56lower"></a>THE FLIGHT OF THE BIRDS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">O WISE little birds! how do you know<br />
+<span class="i4">The way to go<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Southward and northward, to and fro?<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Far up in the ether piped they:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">&ldquo;We but obey<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One who calleth us far away.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;He calleth and calleth year by year<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Now there, now here;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ever He maketh the way appear.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Dear little birds, He calleth me<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Who calleth ye:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Would that I might as trusting be!<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>57]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 478px;">
+<img src="images/hd027.jpg" width="478" height="600"
+alt="Two girls lean out of a window to feed birds" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">FEEDING THE BIRDS.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>58]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>FOR THE CHILDREN.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">COME stand by my knee, little children,<br />
+<span class="i3">Too weary for laughter or song;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sports of the daylight are over,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And evening is creeping along;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The snow-fields are white in the moonlight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The winds of the winter are chill,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But under the sheltering roof-tree<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The fire shineth ruddy and still.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">You sit by the fire, little children,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Your cheeks are ruddy and warm;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But out in the cold of the winter<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Is many a shivering form.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There are mothers that wander for shelter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And babes that are pining for bread;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh, thank the dear Lord, little children,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From whose tender hand you are fed.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Come look in my eyes, little children,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And tell me, through all the long day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Have you thought of the Father above us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who guarded from evil our way?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He heareth the cry of the sparrow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And careth for great and for small;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In life and in death, little children,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His love is the truest of all.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Now come to your rest, little children,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And over your innocent sleep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Unseen by your vision, the angels<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Their watch through the darkness shall keep;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then pray that the Shepherd who guideth<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The lambs that He loveth so well<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">May lead you, in life&rsquo;s rosy morning,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Beside the still waters to dwell.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>59]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 398px;">
+<img src="images/hd028.jpg" width="398" height="600"
+alt="Three young children go up to bed with their mother" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">BED-TIME.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>60]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 383px;">
+<img src="images/hd029.jpg" width="383" height="500"
+alt="A dog breaks a hole through ice to get a drink" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>REASON AND INSTINCT.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">A</span>RE dogs endowed with reason?
+As you grow up, you will spend
+many happy hours in the contemplation
+of this interesting question. It does
+sometimes seem as if there could be no
+possible doubt that dogs, as well as
+horses, elephants, and some other of the
+higher animals, are gifted with the dawn
+of reason, so extraordinary are some of
+their acts.</p>
+
+<p>It is but a few days since a dog in Vermont
+saved a house from burning, and
+possibly the inmates. The dog discovered
+the fire in the kitchen, flew to his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>61]</a></span>
+master&rsquo;s apartment, leaped upon his bed,
+and so aroused the people to a sense of
+their danger.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;As I was walking out one frosty
+morning with a large Newfoundland dog,&rdquo;
+says the Rev. J.&nbsp;C. Atkinson, &ldquo;I observed
+the animal&rsquo;s repeated disappointment on
+putting his head down to drink at sundry
+ice-covered pools. After one of these
+disappointments, I broke the ice with my
+foot for my thirsty companion. The next
+time Tiger was thirsty, he did not wait for
+me to &lsquo;break the ice,&rsquo; but with his foot,
+or, if too strong, by jumping upon it, he
+obtained water for himself.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Here seems to be the manifestation of
+a desire to <em>learn from observation</em>.</p>
+
+<p>After the battle of Fredericksburg, it
+fell to my duty to search a given district
+for any dead or wounded soldiers there
+might be left, and to bring relief. Near
+an old brick dwelling I discovered a soldier
+in gray who seemed to be dead.
+Lying by his side was a noble dog, with
+his head flat upon his master&rsquo;s neck. As
+I approached, the dog raised his eyes to
+me good-naturedly, and began wagging
+his tail; but he did not change his position.
+The fact that the animal did not
+growl, that he did not move, but, more
+than all, the intelligent, joyful expression
+of his face, convinced me that the man
+was only wounded, which proved to be
+the case. A bullet had pierced his throat,
+and faint from the loss of blood, he had
+fallen down where he lay. His dog had
+<em>actually stopped the bleeding from the
+wound by laying his head across it</em>.
+Whether this was casual or not, I cannot
+say. But the shaggy coat of the faithful
+creature was completely matted with his
+master&rsquo;s blood.</p>
+
+<p>Strange as these facts may appear, we
+should not confound <small>INSTINCT</small> with intelligence
+which comes from <small>REASON</small>. There
+is a wide difference between them. Before
+long I propose to discuss this matter
+to some extent, in an article which I have
+already begun.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_61lower" id="Page_61lower"></a>TOUCH NOT.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">TOUCH not the tempting cup, my boy,<br />
+<span class="i3">Though urged by friend or foe;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dare, when the tempter urges most,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Dare nobly say, No&mdash;no!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The joyous angel from on high<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shall tell your soul the reason why.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Touch not the tempting cup, my boy;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In righteousness be brave;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Take not the first, a single step,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Towards a drunkard&rsquo;s grave;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The widow&rsquo;s groan, the orphan&rsquo;s sigh,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shall tell your soul the reason why.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>62]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 409px;">
+<img src="images/hd030.jpg" width="409" height="500"
+alt="Two girls, their arms full of flowers and foliage" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>CHILDREN.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">WHAT could we without them,<br />
+<span class="i4">Those flowers of life?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How bear all the sorrows<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With which it is rife?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As long as they blossom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Whilst brightly they bloom,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>63]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Our own griefs are nothing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Forgotten our gloom.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">We joy in the sunshine&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">It sheds on them light;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We welcome the shower&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">It makes them more bright;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On our pathway of thorns<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They are thrown from above,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And they twine round about us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And bless us with love.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Bright, beautiful flowers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So fresh and so pure!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How could we without them<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Life&rsquo;s troubles endure?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So guileless and holy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Such soothers of strife,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What could we without them,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sweet flowers of life?<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_63lower" id="Page_63lower"></a>THE WHITE BUTTERFLY.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">A TALE FOR CHILDREN.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">V</span>ERY slowly and wearily over road and hedge flew a white butterfly one
+calm May evening; its wings had been torn and battered in its flight
+from eager pursuers, who little cared that their pleasure was another&rsquo;s pain.
+On, on, went the fugitive, until it came to a little garden so sweet and quiet
+that it rested from its flight and said, &ldquo;Here, at least, I shall find peace;
+these gentle flowers will give me shelter.&rdquo; Then, with eager swiftness, it
+flew to a stately peony. &ldquo;Oh, give me shelter, thou beautiful flower!&rdquo; it
+murmured as it rested for a second upon its crimson head&mdash;a second only,
+for, with a jerk and an exclamation of disgust, the peony cast the butterfly to
+the ground. With a low sigh it turned to the pansy near. Well, the pansy
+<em>wished</em> to be kind, but the butterfly was really very tattered and dirty; and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>64]</a></span>
+then velvet soils so easily that she must beg to be excused. The wall-flower,
+naturally frank and good-natured, had been so tormented all day by those
+troublesome bees that she solemnly vowed she would do nothing more for
+anybody.</p>
+
+<p>The tulips were asleep; and the other flowers, trying to emulate fair Lady
+Rose, held their heads so very high that they, of course, did not hear the low,
+soft cry, &ldquo;Oh, will no one give me shelter?&rdquo; At last there came an answer, &ldquo;I
+will, gladly,&rdquo; in a shy and trembling tone, as though fearing to be presumptuous,
+from a thick thorny bush which helped to protect the more dainty beauties
+from the rough blasts of a sometimes too boisterous wind; in consideration of
+which service the flowers considered the briar as a good, useful sort of thing,
+respectable enough in its common way, but not as an equal or associate, you
+understand. With gratitude the forlorn butterfly rested all night in the bosom
+of one of its simple white blossoms.</p>
+
+<p>When night had gone and the bright sun came gliding up from the east,
+calling on Nature to awake, the flowers raised their heads in all the pride of
+renewed beauty and saluted one another. Where was the forlorn butterfly?
+Ah! where? They saw it no more; but over the white blossom where it had
+rested there hovered a tiny fairy in shining, changing sheen, her wand sparkling
+with dewdrops. She looked down on the flowers with gentle, reproachful
+eye, while they bent low in wonder and admiration.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Who is it?&rdquo; they asked. &ldquo;How beautiful! how lovely!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The fairy heard them with a smile, and said, &ldquo;Fair flowers, I <em>was</em> a shabby
+butterfly; what I <em>am</em>, you see. I came to you poor and weary; and because I
+was poor and weary you shut me out from your hearts.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The pansy and the wall-flower bent their heads in sorrow, and Lady Rose
+blushed with shame.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If I had only known!&rdquo; muttered the peony; &ldquo;but who would have
+thought it?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Who indeed?&rdquo; laughed the fairy; &ldquo;but learn, proud peony, that he who
+thinks always of self loses much of life&rsquo;s sweetness&mdash;far more than he ever
+suspects; for goodness is as the dew of the heart, and yieldeth refreshment
+and happiness, even if it win no other recompense. But it is meet that it
+should be rewarded. Behold, all of you!&rdquo; and the fairy touched with her
+wand the white blossom on which she had rested, saying, &ldquo;For thy sweetness
+be thou loved for ever!&rdquo; At these words a thrill of happiness stirred the sap
+of the rough, neglected briar, and a soft, lovely blush suffused the petals of its
+flowers, and from its green leaves came forth an exquisite odor, perfuming
+the whole garden and eclipsing the other flowers in their pride.</p>
+
+<p>Then the fairy rose in the air, and hovering over her resting-place for a
+moment ere she vanished said, &ldquo;Such is the reward of goodness. Fare
+thee well, sweet briar!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>65]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 506px;">
+<img src="images/hd031.jpg" width="506" height="400"
+alt="Tom and Pearson on the deck of the ship in the snow" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>WORKING IS BETTER THAN WISHING.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">N</span>OW then, Tom, lad, what&rsquo;s up?
+in trouble again?&rdquo; asked a good-natured
+sailor of his messmate, one snowy
+day on the wide Atlantic.</p>
+
+<p>The boy was leaning moodily against
+the bulwarks of the vessel&mdash;a pleasant,
+ruddy young fellow of fourteen, but with
+a cloud on his face which looked very like
+discontent.</p>
+
+<p>Snow was falling heavily, but he did
+not heed it; he looked up, however, at
+the approach of his friend, and answered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m all right, Pearson; it isn&rsquo;t that. I
+was only wishing and wondering why I
+can&rsquo;t get what I want; it seems a shame,
+it does!&rdquo; and Tom paused abruptly, half
+choked by a sob.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What is it, Tom?&rdquo; asked Pearson;
+&ldquo;have the other lads been plaguing?
+Such a big, hearty fellow as you ought
+not to fret for that.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Tom, sharply; &ldquo;it&rsquo;s not
+that; but they&rsquo;ve found out that my little
+brother is in the workhouse at home,
+and they throw it at me. I&rsquo;d do anything
+to get him out, too, for he oughtn&rsquo;t to be
+there: we come of a better sort, Pearson,&rdquo;
+he said, proudly; &ldquo;but father and mother
+dying of that fever put us all wrong.
+Uncle got me to sea, and then, I suppose,
+he thought he&rsquo;d done enough; so there
+was only the workhouse left for Willy.
+He&rsquo;s the jolliest little chap, Pearson, you
+ever saw, and I&rsquo;d work day and night to
+get him out, if I could; but where&rsquo;s the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>66]</a></span>
+use? A poor boy like me can do nothing;
+so I just get in a rage, or don&rsquo;t care about
+anything, and fight the other lads; or I&rsquo;m
+had up for neglect of duty, or something.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And so you lose all chance of getting
+on, and being able in time to help your
+little brother,&rdquo; said Pearson, as if musing;
+&ldquo;but what&rsquo;s that you have in your
+hand, Tom&mdash;a picture?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s Willy,&rdquo; said the boy; &ldquo;yes, you
+may look, Pearson. Mother had it taken
+just before she fell ill; he&rsquo;s only four, but
+he&rsquo;s the prettiest little chap, with yellow
+hair all in curls. I dare say they&rsquo;ve cut
+them off, though,&rdquo; he added, bitterly.
+&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a bit of a sickly child on board,
+belonging to the tall lady in black, that
+reminds me a little of him, only he isn&rsquo;t
+near as pretty as Willy.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, he is a pretty little lad,&rdquo; said
+Pearson, returning the photograph; &ldquo;and
+now, Tom, mind my word: I am an old
+fellow compared to you, and I&rsquo;ll give you
+a bit of advice. The little lad is safe, at
+any rate, in the workhouse; he&rsquo;s got food
+and clothes, and you couldn&rsquo;t give him
+that; so be content, and try to do your
+own duty. If you get a good character,
+instead of being always had up for sulking
+or fighting, that&rsquo;s the best chance for
+you, and, after you, for Willy. As for the
+lads&rsquo; teasing, why, be a bit hard of hearing,
+and before many years, I warrant,
+you&rsquo;ll be having Willy aboard ship as boy,
+when you&rsquo;re an able-bodied seaman.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Tom laughed. &ldquo;Thank you, Pearson.
+Well, I&rsquo;ll try; but I do get wishing and
+bothering of nights.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, that wishing&rsquo;s a poor trick,&rdquo; said
+Pearson; &ldquo;give it up, Tom, and work
+instead.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>People don&rsquo;t often take advice, but this
+time it was followed. A great deal of
+rough weather came on; every one had
+as much as he could do, and Tom
+worked with the best of them, and to his
+great joy was noticed by the ship&rsquo;s officers
+as a willing lad.</p>
+
+<p>One bright morning brought all the
+passengers on deck,&mdash;the ship was bound
+for Rio,&mdash;and among them came the tall
+lady in black, with her little boy in her
+arms. Tom&rsquo;s duties took him near her,
+and he could not but steal a glance at the
+little face like Willy&rsquo;s; but, O, so pale
+and pinched now! The child had suffered
+dreadfully in the rough weather; it was
+doubtful whether he would see land again,
+he was so weakened. Tom felt sorry for
+the little fellow, but his work engrossed
+him, and he had nearly forgotten the
+white-faced child, when, to his great surprise,
+the captain called him. The lady in
+black was a relative of the captain, and it
+seemed that while Tom had been glancing
+at the sick child, the child had been watching
+him, and had taken a fancy to his clear
+round face, and active movements.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let me see what sort of a head-nurse
+you can make,&rdquo; said the captain to Tom;
+&ldquo;this little fellow will have you carry him,
+he says, and teach him to climb the rigging.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Tom smiled, but instantly checked himself,
+as hardly respectful to the captain.</p>
+
+<p>They dressed Carlo up in a suit of sailor
+clothes. To be sure they were rather large
+for him, but then it was such fun to be a
+real little sailor. Under Tom&rsquo;s care his
+face soon grew round and fat, and his
+merry laugh rang out on the air. And
+now he would live to see his father and
+his birthplace again, for he was born in
+South America, and had only left his
+Portuguese father for a few months, to
+accompany his English mother on a visit
+to her relatives.</p>
+
+<p>The day before they sighted land, Tom
+was sent for into the captain&rsquo;s cabin, and
+there a wonderful proposal was made to
+him&mdash;that he should give up sea life,
+and go to Bella Sierra as little Carlo&rsquo;s attendant.
+Carlo&rsquo;s parents were rich people;
+little Carlo had taken a great fancy
+to him, and he would have good wages.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 421px;">
+<img src="images/hd032.jpg" width="421" height="600"
+alt="Carlo dressed in his sailor suit" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE LITTLE SAILOR.</p>
+
+<p>It sounded very pleasant; but little
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"><!-- Illustration - THE LITTLE SAILOR --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>68]</a></span>
+Willy! he should never see him&mdash;it
+would not do. Tom hesitatingly explained
+this to Carlo&rsquo;s mother, drawing the little
+photograph out of his pocket the while.</p>
+
+<p>Then came the last and best proposition,&mdash;that
+Willy should come out on the
+<i>Flying Star&rsquo;s</i> next voyage, and live, too,
+at Bella Sierra. Mrs. Costello&mdash;the lady
+in black&mdash;promised to pay all expenses,
+and put him in charge of the stewardess.
+Carlo, her only child, had grown so fond
+of Tom, that she would do anything to
+keep him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Such an active, willing boy,&rdquo; she explained
+to the captain. &ldquo;I have often
+watched him at work, and admired the
+way in which he did it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, lad,&rdquo; said Pearson, when Tom
+came to tell him the news, &ldquo;wasn&rsquo;t I right
+when I told you that the best way you
+could work for Willy was by doing your
+own duty? If you had gone on in that
+half-and-half, discontented way, no rich
+lady would have cared to have you about
+her house&mdash;would she?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Tom looked thoughtful. &ldquo;Yes, you
+were right, Pearson; you&rsquo;ve done it all;
+and now I want you to do one thing
+more. Please look after Willy a bit when
+he comes out; he&rsquo;s such a daring little
+chap, he&rsquo;ll always be running away from
+the stewardess.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, you want me to be nurse now&mdash;do
+you?&rdquo; said Pearson; &ldquo;all right, lad,
+and as the song says, &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t forget me
+in the land you&rsquo;re going to.&rsquo; And you
+can still stick to my old motto, that
+&lsquo;Working is better than Wishing.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_68lower" id="Page_68lower"></a>KIND TO EVERYTHING.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">SOFTLY, softly, little sister,<br />
+<span class="i3">Touch those gayly-painted wings;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Butterflies and moths, remember,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Are such very tender things.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Softly, softly, little sister,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Twirl your limber hazel twig;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Little hands may harm a nestling<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thoughtlessly, as well as big.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Gently stroke the purring pussy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Kindly pat the friendly dog;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Let your unmolesting mercy<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Even spare the toad or frog.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Wide is God&rsquo;s great world around you:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Let the harmless creatures live;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Do not mar their brief enjoyment,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Take not what you cannot give.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Let your heart be warm and tender&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For the mute and helpless plead;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pitying leads to prompt relieving,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Kindly thought to kindly deed.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>69]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 418px;">
+<img src="images/hd033.jpg" width="418" height="600"
+alt="A little girl with an armful of flowers examines a butterfly perched on her hand" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">SOFTLY, SOFTLY, LITTLE SISTER.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>70]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/hd034.jpg" width="400" height="399"
+alt="The farmer and the calf" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>THAT CALF!</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">TO the yard, by the barn, came the farmer one morn,<br />
+<span class="i3">And, calling the cattle, he said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While they trembled with fright, &ldquo;Now, which of you, last night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Shut the barn door, while I was abed?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Each one of them all shook his head.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Now the little calf Spot, she was down in the lot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the way the rest talked was a shame;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For no one, night before, saw her shut up the door;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But they said that she did,&mdash;all the same,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For they always made her take the blame.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Said the horse (dapple gray), &ldquo;I was not up that way<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Last night, as I now recollect;&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the bull, passing by, tossed his horns very high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And said, &ldquo;Let who may here object,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I say &rsquo;tis that calf I suspect!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>71]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Then out spoke the cow, &ldquo;It is terrible, now,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To accuse honest folks of such tricks.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Said the cock in the tree, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure &rsquo;twasn&rsquo;t me;&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the sheep all cried, &ldquo;Bah!&rdquo; (There were six.)<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">&ldquo;Now that calf&rsquo;s got herself in a fix!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Why, of course, we all knew &rsquo;twas the wrong thing to do.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Said the chickens. &ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; said the cat;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I suppose,&rdquo; cried the mule, &ldquo;some folks think me a fool;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But I&rsquo;m not quite so simple as that;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The poor calf never knows what she&rsquo;s at!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Just that moment, the calf, who was always the laugh<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the jest of the yard, came in sight.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Did you shut my barn door?&rdquo; asked the farmer once more.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">&ldquo;I did, sir; I closed it last night,&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Said the calf; &ldquo;and I thought that was right.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then each one shook his head. &ldquo;She will catch it,&rdquo; they said;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">&ldquo;Serve her right for her meddlesome way!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Said the farmer, &ldquo;Come here, little bossy, my dear!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">You have done what I cannot repay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And your fortune is made from to-day.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;For a wonder, last night, I forgot the door, quite;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And if you had not shut it so neat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All my colts had slipped in, and gone right to the bin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And got what they ought not to eat&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They&rsquo;d have foundered themselves upon wheat.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then each hoof of them all began loudly to bawl;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The very mule smiled; the cock crew;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Little Spotty, my dear, you&rsquo;re a favorite here,&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They cried. &ldquo;We all said it was you,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">We were so glad to give you your due.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the calf answered, knowingly, &ldquo;Boo!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Ph&oelig;be Cary.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/hd035.jpg" width="200" height="124"
+alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>72]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 474px;">
+<img src="images/hd036.jpg" width="474" height="600"
+alt="A child helps mother carry firewood to the house" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">HELPING MOTHER.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>73]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>LITTLE HELPERS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">PLANTING the corn and potatoes,<br />
+<span class="i3">Helping to scatter the seeds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Feeding the hens and the chickens,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Freeing the garden from weeds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Driving the cows to the pasture,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Feeding the horse in the stall,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We little children are busy;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sure, there is work for us all.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Spreading the hay in the sunshine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Raking it up when it&rsquo;s dry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Picking the apples and peaches<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Down in the orchard hard by,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Picking the grapes in the vineyard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Gathering nuts in the fall,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We little children are busy;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yes, there is work for us all.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sweeping, and washing the dishes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Bringing the wood from the shed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ironing, sewing and knitting,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Helping to make up the beds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Taking good care of the baby,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Watching her lest she should fall,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We little children are busy;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Oh, there is work for us all.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Work makes us cheerful and happy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Makes us both active and strong;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Play we enjoy all the better<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When we have labored so long.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Gladly we help our kind parents,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Quickly we come to their call;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Children should love to be busy;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">There is much work for us all.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>74]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 419px;">
+<img src="images/hd037.jpg" width="419" height="600"
+alt="Three puppies look curiously at a tortoise" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE PUZZLED PUPPIES.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>75]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE ANIMAL IN ARMOR.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HIS picture of three curious little puppies looking at a tortoise reminds
+me of a story told of a countryman who saw some land-tortoises for the
+first time at a fair held in a market-place of his native village. Very much
+surprised at their queer look, he asked the man who was selling them how
+much they were.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Eighteenpence a pair,&rdquo; was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Eighteenpence!&rdquo; said the man; &ldquo;that is a great deal for a thing like a
+frog. What will you take for one <em>without the box</em>?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Little folks would not make such a stupid mistake as this; they would know
+that this strange-looking animal between its two shells was a tortoise. There
+are different sorts&mdash;some that live on land, and some in water. Those that
+live in the sea are called turtles, and their shells are not so hard as that of the
+land-tortoise. It is easy to see why this is: a turtle would not be able to
+swim with so thick a shell; it would be much as if a man in armor were to
+try. Their shells are not all in one, but joined together by a sort of gristle,
+which enables them to move with greater ease and not so stiffly.</p>
+
+<p>Directly any one hears the name of tortoise, he begins to think of tortoise-shell.
+This ought really to be called turtle-shell, as it is made from the shell
+of the hawk&rsquo;s-bill turtle. Tortoise-shell is made by soaking the plates of the
+shell in warm water until they are soft; then they are pressed into the shapes
+wanted in warm iron moulds, and taken out and polished.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the sea-turtles are very fierce; and although they have no teeth,
+their jaws are so strong that they can bite a walking-stick in half. Land-tortoises
+are quite harmless; they only attack the insects they feed upon.
+They go to sleep, like the dormouse, in the winter, but they do not make a
+burrow; they cover themselves with earth by scraping it up and throwing it
+over their bodies. In doing this they would find their heads and tails very
+much in the way if it were not that they are able to draw them in between
+their shells. No one, of course, knows how they find their way out again in
+the spring; but it is supposed that they scratch the earth away and throw it
+underneath them, at the same time pushing their way up.</p>
+
+<p>Tortoises live to a very great age. One was given to the Zoological
+Gardens in 1833 which had already lived seventy years in Port Louis, in the
+island of Mauritius. Its shell, from the head to the tail, measured four feet
+four inches and a half, and it weighed two hundred and eighty-five pounds.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/hd038.png" width="200" height="37"
+alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>76]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 560px;">
+<img src="images/hd039.jpg" width="560" height="400"
+alt="A Chinese man fishing with birds" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>THE IRON RING.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">C</span>HANG WANG was a Chinaman,
+and was reputed to be one of the
+shrewdest dealers in the Flowery Land.
+If making money fast be the test of cleverness,
+there was not a merchant in the
+province of Kwang Tung who had earned
+a better right to be called clever. Who
+owned so many fields of the tea-plant,
+who shipped so many bales of its leaves
+to the little island in the west, as did
+Chang Wang? It was whispered, indeed,
+that many of the bales contained
+green tea made by chopping up spoiled
+black tea leaves, and coloring them with
+copper&mdash;a process likely to turn them
+into a mild kind of poison; but if the
+unwholesome trash found purchasers,
+Chang Wang never troubled himself with
+the thought whether any one might suffer
+in health from drinking his tea. So long
+as the dealer made money, he was content;
+and plenty of money he made.</p>
+
+<p>But knowing how to make money is
+quite a different thing from knowing how
+to enjoy it. With all his ill-gotten gains,
+Chang Wang was a miserable man; for
+he had no heart to spend his silver pieces,
+even on his own comfort. The rich dealer
+lived in a hut which one of his own
+laborers might have despised; he dressed
+as a poor Tartar shepherd might have
+dressed when driving his flock. Chang
+Wang grudged himself even a hat to
+keep off the rays of the sun. Men laughed,
+and said that he would have cut off his
+own pigtail of plaited hair, if he could
+have sold it for the price of a dinner!</p>
+
+<p>Chang Wang was, in fact, a miser, and
+was rather proud than ashamed of the
+hateful vice of avarice.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>77]</a></span>
+Chang Wang had to make a journey to
+Macao, down the great River Yang-se-kiang,
+for purposes of trade. The question
+with the Chinaman now was, in what
+way he should travel.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Shall I hire a palanquin?&rdquo; thought
+Chang Wang, stroking his thin mustaches;
+&ldquo;no, a palanquin would cost too
+much money. Shall I take my passage
+in a trading vessel?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The rich trader shook his head, and
+the pigtail behind it&mdash;such a passage
+would have to be paid for.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I know what I&rsquo;ll do,&rdquo; said the miser
+to himself; &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll ask my uncle Fing Fang
+to take me in his fishing-boat down the
+great river. It is true that it will make
+my journey a long one; but then I shall
+make it for nothing. I&rsquo;ll go to the fisherman
+Fing Fang, and settle the matter at
+once.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The business was soon arranged, for
+Fing Fang would not refuse his rich
+nephew a seat in his boat. But he, like
+every one else, was disgusted at Chang
+Wang&rsquo;s meanness; and as soon as the
+dealer had left his hovel, thus spoke Fing
+Fang to his sons, Ko and Jung:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a fellow who has scraped up
+money enough to build a second Porcelain
+Tower, and he comes here to beg a
+free passage in a fishing-boat from an
+uncle whom he has never so much as
+asked to share a dish of his birds&rsquo;-nests
+soup!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Birds&rsquo;-nests soup, indeed!&rdquo; exclaimed
+Ko; &ldquo;why, Chang Wang never indulges
+in luxuries such as that. If dogs&rsquo; flesh
+were not so cheap, he&rsquo;d grudge himself
+the paw of a roasted puppy!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And what will Chang Wang make of
+all his money at last?&rdquo; said Fing Fang,
+more gravely; &ldquo;he cannot carry it away
+with him when he dies.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, he&rsquo;s gathering it up for some one
+who will know how to spend it!&rdquo; laughed
+Jung. &ldquo;Chang Wang is merely fishing
+for others; what he gathers, they will
+enjoy.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It was a bright, pleasant day when
+Chang Wang stepped into the boat of his
+uncle, to drop slowly down the great
+Yang-se-kiang. Many a civil word he
+said to Fing Fang and his sons, for civil
+words cost nothing. Chang Wang sat in
+the boat, twisting the ends of his long
+mustaches, and thinking how much
+money each row of plants in his tea-fields
+might bring him. Presently, having finished
+his calculations, the miser turned
+to watch his relations, who were pursuing
+their fishing occupation in the way peculiar
+to China. Instead of rods, lines, or
+nets, the Fing Fang family was provided
+with trained cormorants, which are a kind
+of bird with a long neck, large appetite,
+and a particular fancy for fish.</p>
+
+<p>It was curious to watch a bird diving
+down in the sunny water, and then suddenly
+come up again with a struggling
+fish in his bill. The fish was, however,
+always taken away from the cormorant,
+and thrown by one of the Fing Fangs
+into a well at the bottom of the boat.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Cousin Ko,&rdquo; said the miser, leaning
+forward to speak, &ldquo;how is it that your
+clever cormorants never devour the fish
+they catch?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Cousin Chang Wang,&rdquo; replied the
+young man, &ldquo;dost thou not see that each
+bird has an iron ring round his neck, so
+that he cannot swallow? He only fishes
+for others.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Methinks the cormorant has a hard
+life of it,&rdquo; observed the miser, smiling.
+&ldquo;He must wish his iron ring at the bottom
+of the Yang-se-kiang.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Fing Fang, who had just let loose two
+young cormorants from the boat, turned
+round, and from his narrow slits of Chinese
+eyes looked keenly upon his nephew.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Didst thou ever hear of a creature,&rdquo;
+said he, &ldquo;that puts an iron ring around
+his own neck?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>78]</a></span>
+&ldquo;There is no such creature in all the
+land that the Great Wall borders,&rdquo; replied
+Chang Wang.</p>
+
+<p>Fing Fang solemnly shook the pigtail
+which hung down his back. Like many
+of the Chinese, he had read a great deal,
+and was a kind of philosopher in his way.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nephew Chang Wang,&rdquo; he observed,
+&ldquo;<em>I</em> know of a creature (and he is not far
+off at this moment) who is always fishing
+for gain&mdash;constantly catching, but never
+enjoying. Avarice&mdash;the love of hoarding&mdash;is
+the iron ring round his neck;
+and so long as it stays there, he is much
+like one of our trained cormorants&mdash;he
+may be clever, active, successful, but he
+is only fishing for others.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I leave my readers to guess whether
+the sharp dealer understood his uncle&rsquo;s
+meaning, or whether Chang Wang resolved
+in future not only to catch, but to
+enjoy. Fing Fang&rsquo;s moral might be good
+enough for a heathen, but it does not go
+nearly far enough for a Christian. If a
+miser is like a cormorant with an iron
+ring round his neck, the man or the child
+who lives for his own pleasure only, what
+is he but a greedy cormorant with the iron
+ring? Who would wish to resemble a
+cormorant at all? The bird knows the
+enjoyment of <em>getting</em>; let us prize the
+richer enjoyment of <em>giving</em>. Let me
+close with an English proverb, which I
+prefer to the Chinaman&rsquo;s parable&mdash;&ldquo;Charity
+is the truest epicure, for she
+eats with many mouths.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="sig">A. L. O. E.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_78lower" id="Page_78lower"></a>SUMMER.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">I&rsquo;M coming along with a bounding pace<br />
+<span class="i2">To finish the work that Spring begun;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I&rsquo;ve left them all with a brighter face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The flowers in the vales through which I&rsquo;ve run.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I have hung festoons from laburnum trees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And clothed the lilac, the birch and broom;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I&rsquo;ve wakened the sound of humming-bees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And decked all nature in brighter bloom.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I&rsquo;ve roused the laugh of the playful child,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And tired it out in the sunny noon;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All nature at my approach hath smiled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And I&rsquo;ve made fond lovers seek the moon.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">For this is my life, my glorious reign,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And I&rsquo;ll queen it well in my leafy bower;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All shall be bright in my rich domain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I&rsquo;m queen of the leaf, the bud and the flower.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And I&rsquo;ll reign in triumph till autumn-time<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Shall conquer my green and verdant pride;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then I&rsquo;ll hie me to another clime<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till I&rsquo;m called again as a sunny bride.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>79]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHARLIE&rsquo;S CHRISTMAS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">O</span>H how cold and miserable everything
+is! Hardly a thought to be
+uppermost on Christmas eve in the mind
+of a little school-boy; and yet it was that
+which filled the mind of Charlie Earle
+on the Christmas eve of which I am
+going to tell you. Only a few hours
+before, he had been as happy as any boy
+could be. Everybody was going home,
+and everybody was in the highest spirits
+and full of the most delightful hopes of
+what the holidays would bring them; and
+now everybody except Charlie has gone
+home, and he is left alone in the dreary
+school-room, knowing that at any rate
+Christmas day, and maybe many other
+days, are to be spent away from home,
+and from all the pleasant doings which
+he had pictured to himself and others
+only the very day before.</p>
+
+<p>The coming of the post-bag had been
+scarcely noticed in the school-room that
+morning. So when old Bunce, the butler,
+looked in at the door and said, &ldquo;Master
+Earle is wanted in the doctor&rsquo;s room,&rdquo; the
+boys all wondered, and Charlie&rsquo;s neighbor
+whispered to him, &ldquo;Whatever can he
+want you for, Earle?&rdquo; The doctor&rsquo;s tale
+was soon told, and it was one which sent
+Charlie back to the school-room with a
+very different face to the one with which
+he had left it. A letter had come to
+Doctor West from Charlie&rsquo;s father, and
+in it a note from his mother to Charlie
+himself, written the night before, and
+saying that a summons had come that
+very morning calling them to Charlie&rsquo;s
+grandmother, who was very ill, and that
+they were starting for Scotland that night
+and would be almost at their journey&rsquo;s
+end when Charlie got the news. The
+note said that Laura, Charlie&rsquo;s sister,
+would go with them, but that they could
+not wait for Charlie himself, so they had
+written to Mrs. Lamb, Charlie&rsquo;s old nurse,
+who lived about ten miles from Dr.
+West&rsquo;s, and had asked her to take charge
+of him for a day or two, till more was
+known of his grandmother&rsquo;s state and
+some better plan could be made for him.
+It was sad enough for Charlie to hear of
+the illness of his kind old grandmother&mdash;sad
+enough to see the merry start of the
+other boys, while he had to stay behind;
+but to have to think of Christmas day
+spent away from father and mother, away
+from Laura and home, was excuse enough
+for a few bitter tears. But unpleasant
+things come to an end as well as pleasant
+ones, and Charlie&rsquo;s lonely waiting in the
+school-room came to its end, and he
+found himself that afternoon snugly
+packed into the Blackridge coach, and
+forgetting his own troubles in listening to
+the cheery chatter of the other passengers,
+and in looking at what was to be seen as
+the coach rolled briskly along the snow-covered
+road. It was quite dark when
+they reached Blackridge, and Charlie
+looked out at the people gathered round
+the door of the &ldquo;Packhorse Inn,&rdquo; and a
+sudden fear filled his mind lest there
+should be no one there to meet him; but
+he soon saw by the light at the inn door
+Nurse Lamb herself, with her kind face
+looking so beaming that it seemed a little
+bit like <em>really</em> going home.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here, father,&rdquo; said Nurse Lamb to
+her jolly-looking husband; &ldquo;here&rsquo;s Master
+Charlie, safe and sound! You bring the
+luggage in the barrow while I take him
+home quick, for I am sure he must be
+cold.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so nurse bustled Charlie off down
+a lane and across a meadow, till they
+came to a wicket-gate, beyond which
+stood the back of a low, deep-thatched
+cottage half buried in snow. On getting
+round to the front the door was opened
+by a little girl, and nurse called out,
+&ldquo;Here, Molly, here we are;&rdquo; adding,
+&ldquo;Molly is my step-daughter, Master
+Charlie&mdash;the one I used to tell you
+about before I was married, when we
+were down at Hastings.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 395px;">
+<img src="images/hd040.jpg" width="395" height="600"
+alt="A snow-covered barn and farmyard" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">WINTER.</p>
+
+<p>When they got into the house, there
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"><!-- Illustration - WINTER --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>81]</a></span>
+was the kitchen with its rows of bright
+pewter plates, its wide hearth and roaring
+fire, its hams hanging to the beams, all
+just as they had been described in the
+days when nurse&rsquo;s new home at Blackridge
+Farm was a subject of never-ending
+interest to the two children in Mrs. Earle&rsquo;s
+nursery.</p>
+
+<p>After he had had a capital tea, Charlie
+was allowed to go round with the farmer
+to see that the horses were all right for
+the night, Charlie carrying the lantern
+and feeling himself quite a man as he
+followed the farmer into the stable. There
+was much coming and going at the farm
+that evening, for was it not Christmas eve?
+and nurse was busy sending off gifts to
+neighbors who were not so thriving as
+herself, and busy, too, in making preparations
+for the morrow. Charlie meanwhile
+sat in the settle and made friends
+with Molly, who was about his own age
+and knew much more, though she was
+only a girl, about dogs and rabbits and
+tadpoles than London-bred Charlie. By
+and by they helped to stir the great plum-pudding,
+and dressed the kitchen and
+parlor with evergreens, till nurse called
+them to come and hear the chimes.</p>
+
+<p>And Charlie thought it very beautiful
+as he stood at the door and listened to
+the bells. And as they stood there the
+wind wafted to them also the voices of
+the choir as they went on their round
+through the village, singing their carols;
+and then Charlie went to bed with
+&ldquo;Hark, the herald angels sing!&rdquo; ringing
+in his ears.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning Charlie, as he ran down
+stairs, could hardly believe this was really
+Christmas day, all was so unlike any
+Christmas he had known before; but in
+the kitchen he found one thing like the
+Christmas mornings at home, for he
+found quite a little pile of parcels beside
+his plate, containing the pretty gifts prepared
+by father and mother and Laura,
+and sent by them to nurse, so that at any
+rate the little lad should not be robbed
+of this part of his Christmas pleasures.
+There was a note, too, from mother, saying
+that she and father and Laura were
+safe in Edinburgh, and that grandmother
+was better, and that she hoped
+to tell him in her next letter when they
+and he should meet at home in London.
+Such a bright beginning was enough to
+make all the rest of the day bright; and
+bright it was. Charlie found plenty to do
+till church-time, as Molly showed him all
+the nooks and corners about the farm.</p>
+
+<p>The old church, with its high pews and
+country congregation made Charlie feel
+that he must be dreaming. Surely it
+could not be Christmas, but must be
+the autumn? and he and Laura and
+everybody had come away from London
+for the holidays?</p>
+
+<p>No; it was no dream. It was really
+Christmas; for there, round the pillars,
+were the holly-wreaths with their red
+berries, and there, behind the chancel-screen,
+were the same Christmas texts
+as in their church in London. When
+service was over, Charlie and Molly
+hurried home to help Martha, the farm-girl,
+to have all in readiness for the
+Christmas dinner. But after dinner there
+was not much sitting still&mdash;at any rate for
+Charlie; for who could think of sitting still
+indoors, when outside there were a pond
+covered with ice and a farmyard full of
+horses and dogs?</p>
+
+<p>Nor was the evening after tea without
+its pleasure. When the snow began to
+fall, and the doors and windows were
+tightly closed, then a huge log was piled
+on the fire; and while Farmer and Mrs.
+Lamb sat and talked before it in the
+parlor, Charlie and Molly had a fine
+game of romps in the big kitchen with
+Martha; and when they were tired of
+that, they sat on the hearth and roasted
+chestnuts, while nurse read a Christmas
+tale to them.</p>
+
+<p>And here I must leave Charlie finishing
+his Christmas day, hoping that any
+who read this story of it may agree with
+Charlie in thinking, when he laid his
+head on the pillow that night, that, though
+it had been spent far from home, it had
+not been an unhappy day, after all.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>82]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 584px;">
+<img src="images/hd041.jpg" width="584" height="400"
+alt="Marcellin and the hunter" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>MARCELLIN.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>ARCELLIN, a young shepherd
+boy, who tended his father&rsquo;s flock
+upon the mountains, having penetrated a
+deep gorge to search for one of his sheep
+which was missing, discovered in the
+thickest of the forest a man lying upon
+the ground overcome with fatigue, and
+faint from want of food.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My poor lad,&rdquo; said the man, &ldquo;I am
+dying from hunger and thirst. Two days
+ago I came upon this mountain to hunt.
+I lost my way, and I have passed two
+nights in the woods.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Marcellin drew some bread and cheese
+from his knapsack, and gave to the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Eat,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and then follow me.
+I will conduct you to an old oak tree, in
+the trunk of which we shall find some
+water.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The food satisfied his hunger; then
+he followed Marcellin, and drank of the
+water, which he found excellent. Afterwards
+the boy conducted him down the
+mountain, and pointed out the way to the
+city.</p>
+
+<p>Then the hunter said to the shepherd
+boy, &ldquo;My good lad, you have saved my
+life. If I had remained in the mountain
+another night, I should have died. I will
+show you my gratitude. Come with me
+to the city. I am rich; and I will treat
+you as if you were my own son.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, sir,&rdquo; said Marcellin; &ldquo;I cannot
+go with you to the city. I have a father
+and a mother who are poor, but whom I
+love with all my heart. Were you a king,
+I would not leave my parents.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But,&rdquo; said the hunter, &ldquo;you live here
+in a miserable cabin with an ugly thatched
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>83]</a></span>
+roof; I live in a palace built of marble,
+and surrounded with statues. I will give
+you drink in glasses like crystal, and food
+upon plates of silver.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Very likely,&rdquo; responded Marcellin;
+&ldquo;but our house is not half as miserable
+as you suppose. If it is not surrounded
+with statues, it is among fruit trees and
+trellised vines. We drink water which
+we get from a neighboring fountain. It
+is very clear, though we do not drink from
+crystal cups. We gain by our labor a
+modest living, but good enough. And if
+we do not have silver ware in our house,
+we have plenty of flowers.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nonsense, my boy! Come with me,&rdquo;
+said the hunter; &ldquo;we have trees and flowers
+in the city more beautiful than yours.
+I have magnificent grounds, with broad
+alleys, with a flower garden filled with the
+most precious plants. In the middle of
+it there is a beautiful fountain, the like
+of which you never saw. The water is
+thrown upward in small streams, and falls
+back sparkling into the great white marble
+basin. You would be quite happy to
+live there.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But I am quite happy <em>here</em>,&rdquo; replied
+Marcellin. &ldquo;The shade of our forests
+is at least as delicious as that of your
+superb alleys. Our fields are running
+over with flowers. You can hardly step
+without finding them under your feet.
+There are flowers around our cottage&mdash;roses,
+violets, lilies, pansies. Do you
+suppose that our fountains are less beautiful
+than your little jets of water? You
+should see the merry brooks bounding
+down over the rocks, and running away
+through the flowery meadow.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know what you refuse,&rdquo;
+rejoined the hunter. &ldquo;If you go into the
+city, you will be put to school, where you
+can study all departments of art and science.
+There are theatres, where skilful
+musicians will enchant your ears by harmony.
+There are rich saloons, to which
+you will be admitted, to enjoy splendid
+f&ecirc;tes. And since you so much love the
+country, you shall pass your summer vacation
+with me in a superb chateau which
+I possess.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I am greatly obliged to you,&rdquo;
+replied the shepherd boy; &ldquo;but I think
+I had better stop with father and mother.
+I can learn everything useful in our village
+school. I am taught to fear God, to honor
+my parents, and to imitate their virtues.
+I don&rsquo;t wish to learn anything beyond that.
+Then your musicians, which you tell about,
+do they sing any better than the nightingale
+or the golden robin? Then we have
+our concerts and our f&ecirc;tes. We are right
+down happy when we are all together on
+Sunday evening under the trees. My
+sister sings, while I accompany her upon
+my flute. Our chants can be heard a
+long way off, and echo repeats them.
+And in the evening, when we stay in
+the house, grandfather is with us. We
+love him so much because he is so
+good. No, I will not leave my parents.
+I will not renounce their home, if it is
+humble. I cannot go to the city with
+you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The hunter saw that it was of no use
+to argue the point; so he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What shall I give you, then, to express
+my gratitude for your services?
+Take this purse, filled with gold.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What need have I of it? We are
+poor, but we want nothing. Besides, if I
+accept your money, I should <em>sell</em> the little
+service I have been able to render. That
+would be wrong; my mother would blame
+me for such conduct. She tells me that
+we ought always to assist those who are
+in trouble and want without expecting pay
+for it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Generous boy! What shall I give you
+as a mark of my gratitude? You must
+accept something, or I shall be greatly
+disappointed.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is it so?&rdquo; asked Marcellin, playfully.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>84]</a></span>
+&ldquo;Then give me the cup which is suspended
+at your side&mdash;that one on which
+is engraved a picture of some dogs pursuing
+a stag.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The hunter joyfully gave the cup to the
+happy shepherd boy, who, having once
+more indicated the way which would lead
+to the city, bade him good day, and went
+back to his flock.</p>
+
+<p>And the rich man returned to his splendid
+dwelling, having learned that it is the
+proper use of the means we have, rather
+than wishing for greater, which brings
+happiness and contentment.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_84lower" id="Page_84lower"></a>AN ADVENTURE IN THE LIFE OF SALVATOR ROSA.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dcapt1"><span class="dcap">T</span></span>HERE is in the museum
+at Florence a
+celebrated painting,
+which calls to mind a
+thrilling adventure of
+Salvator Rosa when
+quite young.</p>
+
+<p>The scene represents
+a solitude, very
+rugged and sublime&mdash;mountains
+upon
+every side, with their
+tops covered with
+snow, while through
+the dark clouds in
+the sky a few straggling
+sunbeams find their way to the valley.
+Upon the border of an immense
+cliff stands a group of men whose costume
+denotes them to be brigands of the
+Apennines. Upon the very edge of the
+precipice, erect and calm, is a young man,
+surrounded by the brigands, who are preparing
+to throw him into the depths below.
+The chief is a short distance away,
+and seemingly about to give the fatal signal.
+A few paces in advance stands a
+female, of strange beauty, waving her
+hand menacingly towards the chief as if
+commanding that the young man&rsquo;s life be
+spared. Her manner, resolute and imperious,
+the countenance of the chief, the
+grateful calmness of the prisoner, all seem
+to indicate that the woman&rsquo;s order will be
+obeyed, and that the victim will be saved
+from the frightful death with which he has
+been menaced.</p>
+
+<p>This picture, as will be readily guessed,
+is the work of <span class="smcap">Salvator Rosa</span>. Born
+at Arenella, near Naples, in 1615, of poor
+parents, he was so admirably endowed by
+nature that, even in his boyhood, he became
+a spirited painter, a good musician,
+and an excellent poet. But his tastes led
+him to give his attention to painting.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately, some severe satires
+which he published in Naples made him
+many enemies in that city, and he was
+obliged to fly to Rome, where he took a
+position at once as a painter. Leaving
+that city after a while, he went to Florence,
+and there found a generous encouragement
+and many friends, and there
+his talent was appreciated by the world
+of art.</p>
+
+<p>The environs of Florence afforded him
+superior advantages in developing his
+genius. The Apennines, with their dark
+gorges, their picturesque landscapes, and
+their snow-clad peaks, pleased his wild imagination.
+In their vast recesses he found
+his best inspirations and his most original
+subjects. Often he wandered for days
+over the abrupt mountains, infested with
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>85]</a></span>
+bandits, to find work for his ambitious
+pencil.</p>
+
+<p>One day he had advanced farther than
+usual into the profound and dangerous
+solitudes. He sat down near a torrent,
+and began to sketch a wild landscape before
+him. All of a sudden he saw, at the
+summit of a rock near at hand, a man
+leaning upon his carbine, and apparently
+watching him with great curiosity. A
+large hat, with stained and torn brim,
+covered his sun-burnt visage; a leather
+belt bound his dark sack to his body, and
+gave support to a pistol and hunting-knife,
+invariably carried by the brigands of the
+mountains. His black beard, thick and
+untidy, concealed a portion of his face;
+but there could be no doubt that his dark
+glance was fixed upon the stranger who
+came to invade his domain.</p>
+
+<p>For almost any other but our hero, the
+sudden apparition of that wild and menacing
+figure would have been good cause
+of terror. But Salvator was a painter,
+and a painter in love with his art; and he
+had in that strange costume, that forbidding
+look, something so much in harmony
+with the aspect of nature about him, that
+he at once made the man a subject of
+study.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I mustn&rsquo;t lose him,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;he&rsquo;s
+an inhabitant of the country. He comes
+just in the nick of time to complete my
+landscape; and his position is quite fine.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And, drawing tranquilly his pencil, he
+began to transfer the outlines of the brigand
+to his album, when the stranger,
+coming a few paces nearer to him, said,
+in a rough voice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Who are you, and what are you doing
+here?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, my good fellow, I come to take
+your portrait, if you&rsquo;ll hold still a bit,&rdquo; responded
+the painter.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, you jest with me! Have a care,&rdquo;
+said the other, coming still nearer.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied Salvator, seriously; &ldquo;I
+am a painter; and I wander over these
+mountains with no other purpose but to
+admire these beautiful landscapes, and to
+sketch the most picturesque objects.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;To sketch!&rdquo; cried the brigand, with
+evident anger, hardly knowing what the
+word meant. &ldquo;Do you not know that
+these mountains belong to us? Why do
+you come here to spy us out?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>At these words he gave a shrill whistle,
+and three other men, clothed like himself,
+came towards the spot from different directions.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Seize this man!&rdquo; he said to his companions;
+&ldquo;he comes to observe us.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>All resistance was useless. And so,
+after having tried in vain to prove his innocence,
+the young man was surrounded
+and seized.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;March!&rdquo; cried the man who had
+first met him. &ldquo;You must talk with our
+chief.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The leader of these brigands was a man
+about forty years of age, named Pietratesta.
+His great physical strength, his
+courage, and, more than all the rest, his
+energy, had made him a favorite among
+his companions, and given him authority
+over them. Famous among the mountains
+for his audacious crimes, condemned
+many times to an outlaw&rsquo;s death, pursued
+in vain by the officers of the law, habituated
+for years to a life of adventure, pillage,
+and murder, he treated his prisoners
+without pity or mercy. All who were unable
+to purchase their liberty by paying
+whatever ransom he fixed, were put to
+death. He looked upon civilized people
+not as men, but as prizes.</p>
+
+<p>As he saw the captive approach, he
+asked the usual question,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Who are you?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Salvator Rosa, a Neapolitan painter,
+now resident of Florence.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, a painter! A poor prize, generally.
+But you are famous, I hear; the
+prince is your friend. Your pictures sell
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>86]</a></span>
+for very large prices. You must pay us
+ten thousand ducats.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 518px;">
+<img src="images/hd042.jpg" width="518" height="400"
+alt="Sivora, the chief's wife, standing on the cliff edge" />
+</div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ten thousand ducats, indeed! Where
+do you suppose I can get so much?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, as for that, if you haven&rsquo;t got
+the money, your friends must get it for
+you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But my friends are not rich.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, excuse me!&rdquo; said the chief, smiling.
+&ldquo;When one has a prince for a protector,
+he is always rich.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is true that the prince is my patron;
+but he owes me nothing.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No matter if he don&rsquo;t. He would not
+be deprived of such an artist as you for a
+paltry ten thousand ducats.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He pays me for my pictures; but he
+will not pay my ransom.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He <em>must</em>,&rdquo; said the robber, emphatically;
+&ldquo;so no more words. Ask your
+friends, if you prefer, or whoever you
+will; but bring me ten thousand ducats,
+and that within a month; otherwise you
+must die.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As the chief uttered these words, he
+walked away, leaving Salvator in the middle
+of the ground which formed the camp.</p>
+
+<p>During the short conversation two children
+came from one of the tents, being
+attracted by the noise. Their little blond
+heads, curiously turned towards the captive,
+their faces, tanned by the sun, but
+animated by the crimson of health and
+youth, and their picturesque costume had
+attracted the attention of the painter.
+When the chief had gone away, he approached
+them, and smiled. The children
+drew away abashed; then, reassured by
+the air of goodness which the young man
+wore, they came nearer, and permitted
+him to embrace them.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Are you going to live with us?&rdquo; said
+the eldest, who was about eight years of
+age.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>87]</a></span>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, my little friend.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, I wish you would! It is so nice
+to stop in these mountains. There are
+plenty of beautiful flowers, and birds&rsquo;
+nests, too. I have three already; I will
+show them to you, and then we will go
+and find some more. But what is that
+you have got under your arm?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is my sketch-book.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A sketch-book? What is a sketch-book?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is what I carry my pictures in.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Pictures? O, do let me see them!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, indeed; here they are.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What pretty pictures! O, mother,
+come and see! Here are mountains, and
+men, and goats. Did you make them all?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Attracted by the call of the child, a lady
+came out of the principal tent. She was
+yet young, tall, and covered with a medley
+of garments from various costumes. Her
+face sparkled with energy, and might have
+been called beautiful. She threw a sad
+glance at Salvator, and approached him
+haughtily, as if to give an order. But
+seeing the two children busily looking
+over the sketch-book, and observing the
+familiar way with which both treated their
+new acquaintance, she appeared to change
+her manner somewhat, and began to look
+at the pictures herself, and to admire them.
+At the end of half an hour the mother and
+the children seemed like old friends of
+Salvator Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>The woman was the wife of the chief.
+A daughter of an honorable family, she
+married a young man at Pisa, her native
+city, who proved to be captain of this
+band of robbers. She could not well
+leave the company into which she had
+been betrayed; and so, with a noble self-denial,
+she became resigned to her hard
+lot. An unwilling witness of the many
+crimes of her husband and his companions,
+she suffered cruelly in her resignation.
+Yet her fidelity, her virtue,&mdash;things
+rarely known, but sometimes respected
+among these mountain brigands,&mdash;had
+given her a moral power over the men as
+well as over her husband. More than once
+she had used this means to temper their
+ferocity, and obtain pardon for their unfortunate
+prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>Just then one of the brigands came and
+brought to the prisoner the order from the
+chief that he should write to his friends
+to obtain money for his ransom. The
+man was going, under a disguise, to the
+city of Florence; and he offered to deliver
+any letters intrusted to his care. He indicated
+the place where the ten thousand
+ducats must be left, so that Salvator might
+inform his correspondent.</p>
+
+<p>Our hero had many devoted friends;
+but nearly all were artists like himself,
+and without fortune. Nevertheless, he
+decided to write to one of them. He gave
+orders that all the pictures in his studio
+should be sold. He hoped that the money
+which they would bring, together with
+what his friends could advance to him,
+would amount to the sum demanded by
+the chief.</p>
+
+<p>This done, Salvator easily persuaded
+himself that he should soon be set at liberty,
+and the artist recovered his unconcern,
+and almost his usual good spirits.
+The country around him was full of romantic
+studies for his pencil. He had,
+besides, found in the society of the children
+of Pietratesta two charming companions.
+He instructed them in the elements
+of his art; and his pupils, to both
+of whom the study was quite new, seemed
+never to grow tired of their task.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment of good humor, he drew
+caricatures of each member of the band,
+which created a great deal of amusement.
+Then he drew, with great care, the portraits
+of the two children. This attention
+profoundly touched the heart of the mother,
+and her tender sympathy, almost wasting
+among these unfeeling men, found a
+secret pleasure in rendering the captivity
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>88]</a></span>
+of the young painter less unhappy and
+less hard. She conversed with him familiarly,
+and it gave her great pleasure to
+see the care which he took to instruct her
+children.</p>
+
+<p>So Salvator Rosa, to whom the band
+gave quite a considerable degree of liberty,
+never dreamed of taking improper
+advantage of it. Thanks to his fancy and
+his recklessness as an artist, he almost
+forgot that he was the prisoner of a cruel
+master, and that his life was in peril.</p>
+
+<p>But the ransom, which he had sent for,
+came not. Whether the letters he had
+written failed to reach their destination,
+or whether his friends were deaf to his
+request for assistance, he received no
+answer. He wrote repeatedly, but always
+with the same result.</p>
+
+<p>And so the months slipped by, and the
+chief began to grow impatient at the long
+delay. His wife had more than once
+calmed his anger, and prevented any catastrophe.
+At length several weeks went
+by, in which the expeditions of the band
+were unfruitful. The provisions were
+running low, and Pietratesta saw in his
+captive one unprofitable mouth. Sivora,
+his wife, felt her influence to be growing
+weaker and weaker under the increasing
+destitution and continued delay.</p>
+
+<p>One day Pietratesta encountered his
+prisoner, and, addressing him in an irritated
+voice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well?&rdquo; he said, as if his question
+needed no other explanation.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nothing yet,&rdquo; responded Salvator
+Rosa, sadly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, this is too much!&rdquo; cried the
+brigand. &ldquo;I begin to think you are playing
+with me. But do you know the
+price Pietratesta makes those pay who
+cross him?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Alas! I am far from trying to deceive
+you. You know that I have done
+all in my power to obtain my ransom. I
+have written to various persons; your
+own men have taken my letters. You
+see that it is not my fault.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is always the fault of prisoners
+when their ransom is not paid.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Wait a little longer. I will write
+again to-day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Wait! wait! A whole year, month
+after month, has gone by, and you repeat
+the same old story. A year&mdash;an age for
+me&mdash;I have waited. Do you think I
+have been making unmeaning threats?
+Do you expect to abuse my patience
+with impunity? It has given out at last&mdash;the
+more so as,&rdquo; added he, now that
+he felt his anger increasing, &ldquo;I ought to
+have settled this affair a long while ago.
+This is your last day, observe me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>At a sign from their chief, four bandits
+seized the young man, and bound him.
+As Salvator was led away, he cast one
+sad look at the dwelling where he had
+passed many happy hours, and from
+which he was going to his death. For a
+moment he stopped to say farewell to the
+children, who were standing at the door
+crying and stretching out their little naked
+brown arms towards him.</p>
+
+<p>A few moments later, Sivora, who had
+been gathering flowers in the mountains,
+returned home. Observing that her husband,
+as well as Salvator, was absent,
+and her children in tears, she guessed the
+painful truth.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where is Salvator?&rdquo; she asked of
+the eldest.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;They have bound him, and carried
+him away,&rdquo; responded the child, still
+crying.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Which way?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Down yonder,&rdquo; was the reply of the
+child, pointing with its finger in the direction
+of a rocky cliff already too well known
+for its horrible scenes.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Alas, wretched man!&rdquo; exclaimed
+Sivora, almost frantically, as she comprehended
+the new crime her husband
+was about to commit. She sat down for
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>89]</a></span>
+a moment, covered her face with her
+hands&mdash;a prey to the most unspeakable
+anxiety. Then, rising suddenly, her eyes
+flashing with determination,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come!&rdquo; she said, resolutely; &ldquo;come,
+my children. Perhaps we may yet be in
+time.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And, taking the hands of her little
+ones, who followed her with difficulty,
+but yet eagerly, she darted away at a
+rapid pace in the direction taken by the
+brigands.</p>
+
+<p>While the men were hurrying Salvator
+along, the chief maintained a profound
+silence. His band followed him as dumb
+as slaves who go to execute the will of
+their master, which they know is law.
+They soon arrived at the summit of a
+cliff, which overhung a yawning abyss
+beneath. After having taken one look
+over the precipice, and examined the
+neighborhood rapidly, Pietratesta cried,
+&ldquo;Halt!&rdquo; and the whole body came to a
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There is just a quarter of an hour
+for you to live,&rdquo; he said, turning to his
+prisoner. &ldquo;You have time to die like a
+Christian. Make your prayer.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The young man hesitated for a moment,
+threw his agitated eyes around, then,
+kneeling on the rock, he prayed earnestly.
+The men stood unmoved, as if they had
+been statues cut from stone.</p>
+
+<p>Salvator rose, with a calm demeanor,
+and said, addressing the chief in a firm
+tone,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My life is in your hands, I know.
+You are going to kill me without any
+cause. I have prayed,&rdquo; he added, with a
+voice full of authority, &ldquo;for the salvation
+of my soul, and repentance for thine.
+God will judge us both. I am ready.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Immediately the brigands seized the
+young man, and hurried him towards the
+precipice. Already they waited but the
+signal of their chief, already Pietratesta
+had given the fatal command, when a cry
+was heard not many paces distant, which
+suspended the preparations.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Stop!&rdquo; exclaimed a harsh voice.</p>
+
+<p>The bandits, astonished at the interruption,
+turned to see whence it came. A woman
+ran towards them, her hair in disorder,
+her countenance pale and agitated,
+her dark eyes flashing with determination.
+She held by their hands two children,
+who, with weeping eyes, were hastening,
+with all the speed their young limbs
+could carry them, towards the precipice.</p>
+
+<p>It was Sivora.</p>
+
+<p>As she came forward the chief uttered
+an exclamation of disappointment and
+anger.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why do you come here?&rdquo; he asked,
+in an irritated voice.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You know well enough,&rdquo; responded
+Sivora, without any sign of intimidation.
+&ldquo;What are you about to do? What is
+the crime of this young man? What is
+the wrong he has committed? You know
+he is innocent, and that it is not his fault
+that the price of his ransom has not been
+paid. Why commit a useless crime?
+You have too many on your soul already,&rdquo;
+she added, in a low, sad voice.
+&ldquo;Since it is not too late, let the young
+man go. His ransom is not absolutely
+necessary. If it was, would his death
+bring it to you? Remember with what
+care and solicitude he has treated your
+children! with what patience he has instructed
+them in his art! See, they weep,
+as if their hearts would break, at the
+wrong you would do their friend! It is
+they&mdash;it is I&mdash;who ask clemency. You
+will not kill Salvator; you will pardon
+him for the love you bear your children.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As she said these words she pushed
+the two little blond heads into the arms
+of their father.</p>
+
+<p>The brigands, hesitating, touched, without
+knowing why, struck with an involuntary
+respect for the woman, remained
+immovable, with their eyes fixed upon
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>90]</a></span>
+their chief, as if waiting to ascertain his
+wishes. He stood, brooding, nervous, his
+eyes bent upon the ground, hardly daring
+to look upon Sivora, at once his suppliant
+and accuser, a prey to violent emotions.
+The authority of that respected
+voice, and the irritation at being deprived
+of his revenge,&mdash;the invincible love he
+had for the woman, and the shame of giving
+way before his men,&mdash;all these warring
+considerations, the effects of which
+were plainly to be seen on his swarthy
+face, spoke of the severe contest going
+on within.</p>
+
+<p>At length his evil genius got the control.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What do I care for his solicitude and
+his tenderness?&rdquo; he said, in a coarse
+voice. &ldquo;He would forget all as soon as
+he should get out of our hands; and he
+would, no doubt, send the police after us
+if we should let him go. I know what
+the promises of captives are worth. Besides,
+<em>I</em> command here, I alone, and I
+will be obeyed. Take away these children;
+and you, comrades, despatch your
+your prisoner.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah! is it so?&rdquo; exclaimed Sivora, in
+a piercing voice, throwing herself before
+the bandits, who were pushing their victim
+towards the chasm. &ldquo;Then I will
+beg no more; I <em>command</em> now. Listen
+to me well, for these are my last words.
+You know with what devotion, with what
+resignation, I have supported this bitter
+life which you brought me to among
+these mountains. The isolation, the sorrow,
+the shame, I have endured for thee.
+I have never complained. I hoped, after
+such sacrifices, you would at length listen
+to my words, and renounce your bad
+life. But since you do not care for my
+devotion, since I am nothing to you, listen
+well to my words, Pietratesta. If
+you dare to commit this odious crime,
+look for a mother for your children, for,
+with your victim, you will slay your wife!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So saying, she advanced close to the
+brink of the cliff, over which she could
+spring at the signal from her husband.</p>
+
+<p>Salvator, motionless and rooted to the
+spot, in silence, full of anxiety, observed
+this strange scene. The robbers, hardened
+by crime, for the first time hesitated
+at the command of their chief, and
+fixed their eyes upon the beautiful woman
+to whom despair added a new charm.
+They quailed before her authority, and
+stood as motionless as statues.</p>
+
+<p>Pietratesta, overwhelmed by the recollections
+which the woman&rsquo;s words awakened,
+alarmed at her threats and her
+resolution, hung his head, like a guilty
+wretch before a just judge, while Sivora,
+with wild countenance, piercing voice,
+and imperial manner, her long black hair
+loosely falling upon her shoulders, with
+her arms extended towards the abyss,
+almost resembled an ancient goddess,
+who suddenly appears at the moment of
+crime, arrests the homicidal arm, and subjects
+the criminal to punishment. There
+was in her figure an imposing grandeur,
+before which the rude men, for an instant
+recalled to themselves, felt humiliated and
+condemned.</p>
+
+<p>Astounded by that firmness and devotion,
+ashamed of his violence towards the
+woman who was living a life of outrage,
+the chief, after some moments of moody
+silence, said, in an altered voice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You wish it! He is free!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Salvator threw himself upon his knees
+before his preserver, covered her hand
+with kisses and tears, and pressed, with
+transport, the two children in his arms.
+Completely wild with happiness and gratitude,
+he abandoned himself to the buoyancy
+of his generous nature, when Sivora
+said to him, in a whisper,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Go! go quickly! The tiger is only
+sleeping!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>They put a bandage over the eyes of
+the young man, so that he might not see
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>91]</a></span>
+the path by which he descended from the
+mountains, and two of the brigands then
+conducted him to the highway which led
+to the city.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had he entered Florence, yet
+sad from the recollection of the scene in
+which he came near being a victim, when
+the young painter hastily sketched the
+principal details; and, some time after,
+the picture of which we have spoken was
+composed, and hangs this day in the museum
+at Naples, admired and pointed out
+to all visitors.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">L. D. L.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_91lower" id="Page_91lower"></a>WE SHOULD HEAR THE ANGELS SINGING.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">IF we only sought to brighten<br />
+<span class="i2">Every pathway dark with care,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If we only tried to lighten<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All the burdens others bear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We should hear the angels singing<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All around us, night and day;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We should feel that they were winging<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">At our side their upward way!<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">If we only strove to cherish<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Every pure and holy thought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till within our hearts should perish<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All that is with evil fraught,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We should hear the angels singing<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All around us, night and day;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We should feel that they were winging<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">At our side their upward way!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">If it were our aim to ponder<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On the good that we might win,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Soon our feet would cease to wander<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In forbidden paths of sin;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We should hear the angels singing<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All around us, night and day;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We should feel that they were winging<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">At our side their upward way!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">If we only did our duty,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thinking not what it might cost,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then the earth would wear new beauty<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Fair as that in Eden lost;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We should hear the angels singing<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All around us, night and day;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We should feel that they were winging<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">At our side their upward way!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Kate Cameron.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>92]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>MY LITTLE HERO.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">HOW we wish that we knew a hero!&rdquo;<br />
+<span class="i3">Say the children, pressing round;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Will you tell us if such a wonder<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In London streets can be found?&rdquo;<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I point from my study-window<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">At a lad who is passing by:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;My darlings, there goes a hero;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">You will know his oft-heard cry.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;&rsquo;Tis the chimney-sweep, dear father,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In his jacket so worn and old;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What can <em>he</em> do that is brave and true,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Wandering out in the cold?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Says Maudie, &ldquo;I thought that a hero<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Was a man with a handsome face.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;And I pictured him all in velvet dressed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With a sword,&rdquo; whispered little Grace.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Mine is only a &lsquo;sweeper,&rsquo; children,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His deeds all unnoticed, unknown;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet I think he is one of the heroes<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">God sees and will mark for his own.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Out there he looks eager and cheerful,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">No matter how poorly he fares;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No sign that his young heart is heavy<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With the weight of unchildish cares.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>93]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 435px;">
+<img src="images/hd043.jpg" width="435" height="600"
+alt="The little chimney sweep, with his ragged clothes and brush" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">MY LITTLE HERO.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>94]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Home means to him but a dingy room,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A father he shudders to see;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Alas for the worse than neglected sons<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who have such a father as he!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;And a mother who lies on a ragged bed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So sick and worn and sad;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No friend has she but this one pale boy&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">This poor little sweeper-lad,<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;So rough to others, and all unskilled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet to her most tender and true,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oft waking with patient cheerfulness<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To soothe her the whole night through.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;He wastes no time on his own scant meals,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But goes forth with the morning sun;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Never a moment is wasted<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till his long day&rsquo;s work is done.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Then home to the dreary attic<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where his mother lies lonely all day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Unheeding the boys who would tempt him<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To linger with them and play.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Because she is helpless and lonely,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He is doing a hero&rsquo;s part;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For loving and self-denying<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Are the tests of a noble heart.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>95]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/hd044.jpg" width="400" height="400"
+alt="A robin sits on a snowy branch" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>ROBIN REDBREAST.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">ROBIN, Robin Redbreast,<br />
+<span class="i3">O, Robin, dear!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And what will this poor Robin do?<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For pinching days are near.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The fireside for the cricket,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The wheat-stack for the mouse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When trembling night winds whistle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And moan all round the house.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The frosty way like iron,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The branches plumed with snow&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Alas! in winter, dead and dark,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where can poor Robin go?<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Robin, Robin Redbreast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">O, Robin dear!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And a crumb of bread for Robin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His little heart to cheer.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>96]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>HOW SWEETIE&rsquo;S &ldquo;SHIP CAME IN.&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<p class="center">A CHRISTMAS STORY.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span>T will be a real honest story&mdash;of how
+Christmas came to a poor cold home,
+and made it bright, and warm, and glad.
+A <em>very</em> poor home it was, up three flights
+of worm-eaten, dirt-stained stairs, in the
+old gray house that stood far up a narrow,
+crooked alley, where the sun never shone
+except just a while in the middle of the
+day. He tried hard to brighten up the
+place a little, but the tall houses all about
+prevented him. Still he slanted a few
+golden beams even into that wretched
+home away up under the eaves; for
+though the few small panes of glass in
+the narrow windows had been mostly
+broken out, and their places filled with
+boards nailed tight to keep out the wintry
+winds, and rain, and snow, still there
+were some left through which a feeble
+ray did sometimes creep and make glad
+the hearts of the children. Five fatherless
+children lived with their mother in
+that old garret. Night and day the mother
+sewed, taking scarcely any rest, and
+yet found it hard to keep all the little toes
+and knees covered, and could get only the
+poorest food for the five hungry mouths.
+The thought that, work never so hard, she
+could not earn enough to give them one
+hearty, satisfying meal, made her heart
+ache.</p>
+
+<p>Three boys and two girls, in one old
+naked room, with only their mother to
+care for them, and she so poor, that for
+years she had not had a new gown, or a
+new bonnet! Yet she liked pretty new
+clothes, as well as any one ever did, I know.</p>
+
+<p>Of these five little folks, the oldest was
+Harry, the newsboy; then came Katie,
+and Willie, and Fred, and, last of all, wee
+Jennie.</p>
+
+<p>Though Harry was the oldest, yet <em>he</em>
+was not very old. Just twelve&mdash;a thin,
+white little fellow, with eyes that always
+looked as if they wanted more. More what?
+Well, more sunshine; more warm clothes,
+and bright, hot fires, and, O, very much
+more to eat! Sometimes he would make
+fifty cents in a day, selling newspapers,
+and then he would hurry joyfully home,
+thinking of the hungry little mouths it
+would help to fill. But some days he would
+hardly earn ten cents the whole long day.
+Then he would go slowly and sadly
+along, wishing all sorts of things&mdash;that
+he could take home as much meat as he
+could carry to the little ones who had not
+eaten meat for so long they had almost
+forgotten how it tasted; or that the gentlemen,
+who owned the clothing stores
+which he was passing, would say to him,
+&ldquo;Come in, my little fellow, and help yourself
+to as many warm clothes as you want
+for yourself and your little brothers at
+home;&rdquo; or that he could find a heap of
+money&mdash;and his mouth would water,
+thinking of the good things which he
+could buy and take home with some of it.</p>
+
+<p>The other children always knew whether
+it had been a good or bad day with
+Harry, by the way he came up the stairs.
+If he came with a hop, skip, and a jump,
+they knew it meant a good day; and a
+good day for Harry was a good evening
+for them all.</p>
+
+<p>Though Katie was really the name of
+the second child, she hardly ever was
+called so; for her mother, and the children,
+and all the neighbors, called her
+Sweetie, she was so good and so thoughtful
+for others, so sweet-tempered and
+kind. She did everything so gently that
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>97]</a></span>
+none of them could ever love her half as
+much as she deserved. Though only ten
+years old, and very small and pale, she
+did every bit of the housework, and kept
+the ugly old room and its faded furniture
+so neat, that it seemed almost home-like
+and pretty to them all. It was happiness
+enough for the little ones to get her first
+kiss when she came back from an errand,
+to sit by her at table, and, above all, to
+lie closest to her at night. Willie, and
+Fred, and Jennie, all slept with her on a
+straw bed in the corner; and they used
+to try to stretch her little arms over them
+all, so that even the one farthest off might
+feel the tips of her fingers, so dearly did
+they love her.</p>
+
+<p>They had once owned more than one
+bedstead, and many other comfortable
+things besides; but when their father
+was killed at the great factory where he
+worked, their mother was obliged to sell
+almost everything to get enough money
+to pay for his funeral, and to help support
+her little family; so that now she had
+only a narrow wooden settee for her bed,
+while Harry stretched himself on a couple
+of chairs, and the rest slept all together
+in the bed on the floor. Poor as they
+were, they were not very unhappy. Almost
+every night, when their mother took
+the one dim candle all to herself, so that
+she could see to sew neatly, Sweetie
+would amuse the other children by telling
+them beautiful stories about the little
+flower people, and the good fairies, and
+about Kriss Kringle&mdash;though how she
+knew about him I can&rsquo;t tell, for he never
+came down their chimney at Christmas.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And, when my ship comes in,&rdquo;
+Sweetie used to say, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have the tallest
+and handsomest Christmas tree, filled
+to the top with candies and toys, and
+lighted all over with different-colored candles,
+and we&rsquo;ll sing and dance round it.
+Let&rsquo;s begin now, and get our voices in
+tune.&rdquo; Then they would all pipe up as
+loud as they could, and were as happy as
+if they half believed Sweetie&rsquo;s ship was
+ready to land.</p>
+
+<p>But there came a hard year for poor
+needle-women: it was the year I am
+writing about, and Sweetie&rsquo;s mother
+found it almost impossible to get even
+the necessaries of life. Her children&rsquo;s
+lips were bluer, their faces more pinched,
+and thin, threadbare clothes more patched
+than ever. Sweetie used to take the two
+boys, and hunt in the streets for bits of
+coal and wood; but often, the very coldest
+days, they would have no fire. It was
+very hard to bear, and especially for the
+poor mother, who still had to toil on,
+though she was so chilled, and her hands
+so numbed, she could hardly draw her
+needle through her work; and for Harry,
+who trudged through the streets from
+daylight until the street lamps were
+lighted.</p>
+
+<p>The day before Christmas came. People
+were so busy cooking Christmas
+dainties that they did not stop to sift
+their cinders very carefully, and Sweetie
+and the boys had picked up quite a large
+bag full of half-burnt coal in the alleys,
+and were carrying it home as carefully as
+if it were a great treasure&mdash;as, indeed, it
+was to them. Being very tired, they sat
+down to rest on the curbstone in front of
+an elegant mansion. One of the long
+windows was open.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s get close up under the window,&rdquo;
+said Sweetie. &ldquo;I guess it&rsquo;s too warm
+inside, and may be we shall get some of
+the heat. O! O! don&rsquo;t it smell good?&rdquo;
+she cried, as the savory odors of the
+Christmas cooking stole out upon the air.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What is it, Sweetie?&rdquo; whispered
+Willie.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Coffee,&rdquo; said Sweetie, &ldquo;and turkeys,
+and jelly, perhaps.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I wish I had some,&rdquo; sighed Freddy,
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so cold and hungry!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Poor little man! he must come and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>98]</a></span>
+sit in Sweetie&rsquo;s lap; that will make him
+warmer,&rdquo; said his sister, wrapping her
+shawl around him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; that&rsquo;s nice,&rdquo; said the little fellow,
+hugging her tight.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rogers, the owner of this fine house,
+had lost his wife and two dear children
+within the year. He lived here alone,
+with his servants, and was very desolate.
+When the children stopped under his
+window, he was lying on a velvet sofa
+near it, and, lifting himself up, he peeped
+out from behind the curtains just as Fred
+crept into his sister&rsquo;s arms; and he heard
+all they said.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;When your ship comes in, Sweetie,
+will it have turkeys and jellies in it?&rdquo;
+said Willie, leaning against her.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, indeed,&rdquo; said Sweetie. &ldquo;There
+will be turkeys almost as big as Jennie,
+and a great deal fatter.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s so long coming, Sweetie;
+you tell us every time it <em>will</em> come, and
+it never <em>comes</em> at all.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, no, Freddy. I don&rsquo;t ever say it <em>will</em>
+come, but it&rsquo;s nice to think what we would
+do if it should come&mdash;isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;d buy a great white house, like
+this&mdash;wouldn&rsquo;t we, Sweetie?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, Willie. I&rsquo;d rather buy that nice
+little store over by the church, that&rsquo;s been
+shut up so long, and has FOR SALE on
+the door. I&rsquo;d furnish it all nice, and fill the
+shelves with beautiful goods, and trimmings
+for ladies&rsquo; dresses, and lovely toys.
+It shows so far that everybody would be
+sure to buy their Christmas things there.
+It&rsquo;s just the dearest little place, with two
+cosy rooms back of the shop, and three
+overhead; and I&rsquo;d put flour and sugar,
+and tea and coffee, and all sorts of goodies,
+in the kitchen cupboard, and new
+clothes for all of us in the closets up
+stairs. Then I&rsquo;d kindle a fire, and light
+the lamps, and lock the door, and go
+back to the dreary old garret once more&mdash;poor
+mother would be sitting there,
+sad and sober, as she always is now, and
+I would say to her, &lsquo;Come, mother, before
+you light the candle, Jennie and I want
+you to go with us, and look at the lovely
+Christmas gifts in the shop windows.&rsquo;
+Then she&rsquo;d say, sorrowfully, &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t
+want to see them, dear; I can&rsquo;t buy any
+of them for you, and I don&rsquo;t want to
+look at them.&rsquo; But I&rsquo;d tease her till I
+made her go; and I&rsquo;d leave Harry, who
+would know all about it beforehand, to
+lock up the dismal old room, and bring
+all the rest of you over to the new house.
+You&rsquo;d get there long before we did, and
+the light would be streaming out from the
+little shop windows&mdash;O, so bright!
+&lsquo;Mother,&rsquo; I&rsquo;d say, &lsquo;let&rsquo;s go in here, and
+buy the cotton you wanted;&rsquo; and when I
+got her in, I&rsquo;d shut the door quick, and
+dance up and down, and say, &lsquo;Dear mother.
+Sweetie&rsquo;s ship&rsquo;s come in, and brought
+you this new home, and everything comfortable;
+and Sweetie will tend the shop,
+and you needn&rsquo;t sew any more day and
+night, for it&rsquo;s going to be&mdash;&rsquo; &lsquo;A Merry
+Christmas and a Happy New Year for us&mdash;every
+one!&rsquo; Harry and all of you would
+shout, and our dear mother would cry for
+joy.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Will it come to pass soon, Sweetie?&rdquo;
+asked both the boys at once.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Not very, I&rsquo;m afraid,&rdquo; answered
+Sweetie, in a subdued tone; but, when
+she saw their look of disappointment, she
+brightened up in a moment, and added,
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be all the better, when it does come,
+for waiting so long&mdash;but look here! To-night
+is Christmas Eve, and we&rsquo;ve got
+coal enough here to make a splendid fire.
+We won&rsquo;t light it till dark, and then it will
+last us all the evening. And I&rsquo;ve got a
+great secret to tell you: Harry made a
+whole dollar yesterday, and mother is going
+to give us each three big slices of fried
+mush, and bread besides, for supper;
+and, after supper, I&rsquo;ll tell you the prettiest
+story you ever heard, and we&rsquo;ll sing
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"><!-- Illustration - HOW SWEETIE'S SHIP CAME IN --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>100]</a></span>
+every song we know, and I guess we&rsquo;ll
+have a merry Christmas if nobody else
+does.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 388px;">
+<img src="images/hd045.jpg" width="388" height="600"
+alt="Sweetie and two of the boys outside in the cold" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">HOW SWEETIE&rsquo;S SHIP CAME IN.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I wish it was Christmas all the time,&rdquo;
+said Freddy, faintly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Christ was born that day,&rdquo; said
+Sweetie, softly, &ldquo;and that makes it best
+of all.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Willie; &ldquo;the dear Lord
+who came from Heaven and, for our
+sakes, became poor, and had not where
+to lay his head, not even a garret as
+good as ours&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I know,&rdquo; said Freddy; &ldquo;he was born
+in a manger, and a beautiful star shined
+right over it. I can sing a hymn about it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then they picked up their bag, and
+started for home, gay as larks over the
+prospect of the treat they were to have
+that night&mdash;fried mush and a fire! that
+was all, you know.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rogers, concealed by the heavy
+silk curtains, had heard every word they
+said, and his eyes were full of tears. He
+rang for his servant.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Harris,&rdquo; said he, when the man came
+in, &ldquo;follow those children, find out where
+they live, and what their neighbors say
+of the family.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>When he was left alone again, he began
+to think,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Rich as I am, I have never yet done
+any great good to anybody. Who knows
+but God may have sent those children
+under my window to teach me that, instead
+of my own lost darlings, he means
+me to care for these and other suffering
+little ones who live in the lanes and alleys
+of this great city!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Harris soon came back, and told his
+master what he had learned about the circumstances
+of the family; and he added,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Everybody calls the oldest girl Sweetie,
+and they do say she&rsquo;s as good as gold.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rogers went out, and, before night,
+had bought the little corner store, for
+which Sweetie had longed. Then, calling
+his servants together, he related what
+he had overheard the children say, and
+told them how anxious he was to grant
+Sweetie&rsquo;s wish, and let her take her
+mother to her new home on Christmas
+Day.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But I cannot do it,&rdquo; said Mr. Rogers,
+&ldquo;unless you are willing to help me work
+on Christmas Eve, for there is a great
+deal to be done.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>No one could refuse to aid in so good
+a cause; and besides, Mr. Rogers was
+always so considerate of his servants
+that they were glad to oblige him. They
+all went to work with a will, and soon the
+little house and store were put in perfect
+order.</p>
+
+<p>There were ribbons, laces, buttons,
+needles, pins, tapes, and, indeed, all sorts
+of useful things in the store. In the cellar
+were coal and wood, two whole hams,
+a pair of chickens, and a turkey. The
+kitchen pantry was stocked with sugar
+and flour. There was one barrel of potatoes,
+and another of the reddest apples.
+Up stairs the closets and bureaus were
+bursting with nice things to wear, not
+quite made into garments, but ready to
+be made, as soon as Sweetie and her
+mother got time.</p>
+
+<p>So rapidly and so completely was everything
+arranged, that it seemed as if
+one of those good fairies, of whom Sweetie
+had so often told the children, had been
+at work.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The money this has cost me,&rdquo; thought
+Mr. Rogers, &ldquo;will make a family of six
+happy, and do them good all the rest of
+their lives. I am glad the thought has
+come to my heart to celebrate Christ&rsquo;s
+birthday in so pleasant a way.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Late in the afternoon he picked his way
+through the dull, dirty alley to the old
+gray house where Sweetie lived. As he
+went up the worn and dusty stairway,
+he heard the children singing their Christmas
+songs.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>101]</a></span>
+&ldquo;Poor little things!&rdquo; said he; and the
+tears stood in his eyes. &ldquo;Happy even
+in this miserable place, while I know so
+many surfeited with luxuries, and yet
+pining and discontented!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Harry jumped to open the door as he
+knocked; and Mr. Rogers, entering, apologized
+to the children&rsquo;s mother for his
+intrusion by saying he had come to ask a
+favor.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is but little we can do for any one,
+sir,&rdquo; replied Mrs. Lawson; &ldquo;but anything
+in our power will be cheerfully done.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Even if I propose to carry off this
+little girl of yours for a while?&rdquo; he
+asked; but, seeing the troubled look in
+the other children&rsquo;s faces, he hastened to
+explain.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The truth is,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;having no
+little folks of my own, I thought I&rsquo;d try
+and make other people&rsquo;s happy to-day;
+so I set out to get up a Christmas tree;
+but I find I don&rsquo;t know how to go to
+work exactly, and I want Sweetie to
+help me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>He spoke so sadly when he said he
+had no children of his own, that Sweetie
+could not refuse to go.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, yes, sir,&rdquo; said she; &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go;
+that is, if I may come back this evening&mdash;for
+I couldn&rsquo;t disappoint Freddy and
+all of them, you know!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;They shan&rsquo;t be disappointed, I promise
+you,&rdquo; said Mr. Rogers, as he took her
+down stairs.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, I never was in a carriage in all
+my life,&rdquo; said Sweetie, as he lifted her
+into his beautiful clarence, and sat down
+beside her.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I shouldn&rsquo;t wonder if you should ride
+in a carriage pretty often now,&rdquo; said Mr.
+Rogers, &ldquo;for your ship&rsquo;s coming in.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Sweetie couldn&rsquo;t tell whether she was in
+a dream or not. Half crying, half laughing,
+her face flushed with surprise, she
+asked,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How did you know?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Know what?&rdquo; said her friend, enjoying
+her bewilderment.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;about the way
+I keep up the children&rsquo;s spirits, and make
+them forget they are hungry and cold,
+while I tell them about my ship coming
+in?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A little bird told me,&rdquo; said he, and
+then was quiet.</p>
+
+<p>Sweetie did not like to ask any more;
+so she sat quite still, leaning back in one
+corner of the carriage, among the soft,
+crimson cushions, and watched the people
+in the street, thinking how happy she
+was, and how strange it was that little
+Katie Lawson should be riding with a
+grand gentleman in a splendid carriage!</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, with a whirl and a turn, they
+stopped before a house. Mr. Rogers
+lifted her out, and led her up the broad
+steps; and she found he was taking her
+into the beautiful white house, under the
+windows of which she had sat with Willie
+and Fred the day before.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said Mr. Rogers, rolling a
+comfortable arm-chair for Sweetie in front
+of a glowing fire, &ldquo;while you are getting
+warm, and eating your dinner, I am going
+to tell you about my Christmas tree, and
+how your ship came in.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A little table was brought in, and set
+between them, filled with so many delicacies,
+that Sweetie&rsquo;s head grew dizzy at
+the sight. She thought of her little hungry
+brothers and sister, and would rather
+not have eaten, but Mr. Rogers made her.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My little girl,&rdquo; said he, finally, &ldquo;never
+forget this: God always rewards a faithful
+heart. If he seems to be a long time
+without caring for his children, he never
+forgets or forsakes them.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then he told her that he had overheard
+her conversation with her brothers under
+his window, and that God had suddenly
+put it into his heart to take care of some
+of the poor and fatherless in that great
+city. &ldquo;And I am going to begin with
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>102]</a></span>
+Sweetie,&rdquo; said he, very tenderly; &ldquo;and
+this is the way her ship shall come in.
+She shall have a new home to give to her
+mother for a Christmas present, and the
+boys shall sing their Christmas hymns
+to-night in the bright little parlor of the
+corner store, instead of the dingy old
+garret; and here are the deeds made out
+in Katie Lawson&rsquo;s own name, and nobody
+can take it away from her. But
+come, little woman,&rdquo; he added,&mdash;for
+Sweetie was sobbing for joy, and could
+not thank him,&mdash;&ldquo;go and wash your face,
+for the horses are tired of standing in
+the cold, and we must go and fetch the
+boys, or I shall never get my Christmas
+tree set up.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>An old lady, with a face beaming with
+kindness,&mdash;it was Mr. Rogers&rsquo;s housekeeper,&mdash;then
+took Sweetie, and not
+only washed her tear-stained cheeks, but
+curled her soft brown hair, and put on
+her the loveliest blue dress, with boots to
+match. All the time she was dressing
+her, Sweetie, who could not believe her
+senses, kept murmuring,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s only a dream; it&rsquo;s too good to
+be true; the boys won&rsquo;t believe it, I
+know; it&rsquo;s just like a fairy story, and, of
+course, it&rsquo;s only pretending.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, indeed,&rdquo; said the old lady; &ldquo;it&rsquo;s
+really true, my dear, and I hope you&rsquo;ll be
+so grateful and kind to Mr. Rogers that
+he won&rsquo;t be so lonely as he has been
+without his own dear little children.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Sweetie could hardly realize her own
+good fortune; and, when she went down
+into the parlor, she burst into tears again,
+saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, sir, I can&rsquo;t believe it. I am so
+happy!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;So am I, Sweetie,&rdquo; said Mr. Rogers;
+and really it was hard to tell which was
+the happier&mdash;it is always so much more
+blessed to give than to receive. Together
+they rode to the new home, and laughed
+and cried together as they went all over
+it. After they had been up stairs, and
+down stairs, and in my lady&rsquo;s chamber,
+as Mr. Rogers said, he put her into the
+carriage again.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;James,&rdquo; said he to the coachman,
+&ldquo;you are under this young lady&rsquo;s orders
+to-night, and must drive carefully.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then, kissing Sweetie, he put the key
+of her new home into her hand, and, telling
+her he should want her help to-morrow
+about his Christmas tree, he bade
+her good night.</p>
+
+<p>James drove Sweetie home, for the last
+time, to the dilapidated old house. She
+ran up stairs, Freddy said afterwards,
+&ldquo;just as Harry always did when he&rsquo;d had
+a good day.&rdquo; &ldquo;Mother and children,&rdquo;
+said she, &ldquo;Mr. Rogers, the kind gentleman
+who was here, has sent me back in
+his carriage to take you all to see something
+beautiful he has been showing me.
+Harry, you be the gentleman of the
+house, and hand mother and Jennie to
+the carriage, and I&rsquo;ll come right along.&rdquo;
+She stopped long enough&mdash;this good
+child, who, even in her own good fortune,
+did not forget the misfortunes of
+others&mdash;to run into the next room, where
+an old woman lived, who was a cripple, and
+whose daughter supported her by sewing.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mrs. Jones,&rdquo; said she, hurriedly,
+&ldquo;a kind gentleman has given us a new
+home, and we are going to it to-night,
+never to come back here to live any
+more. Our old room, with the rent paid
+for a year, and all there is in it, I want
+you to take as a Christmas present from
+Sweetie; and I wish you a Happy, happy
+New Year, and please give this to
+Milly;&rdquo; and, slipping a five-dollar bill,
+which Mr. Rogers had given her, into the
+old woman&rsquo;s hand, she ran out, and
+jumped into the carriage. The street
+lamps blinked at them, like so many
+stars, as they rolled along, and the boys
+and Jennie screamed with delight; but
+Sweetie sat quite still.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>103]</a></span>
+James knew where to stop. Sweetie
+got out first, and ran and unlocked the
+door of the little corner store. When
+they were all inside, and before any one
+had time to ask a question, Sweetie threw
+her arms about her mother&rsquo;s neck.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mother,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;Sweetie&rsquo;s ship&rsquo;s
+come in; but it never would have come
+if it had not been for Mr. Rogers; and
+it&rsquo;s brought you this pretty house and
+shop for your own, and, please God, we&rsquo;ll
+all have&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A Merry Christmas and a Happy New
+Year!&rdquo; shouted Willie, ending her sentence
+just as she had ended the story the
+day before.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And all the better,&rdquo; said Fred, who
+remembered too, &ldquo;because Christ was
+born that day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Lawson, overwhelmed with joy,
+fainted. She soon recovered, however,
+though Sweetie insisted on her lying on
+the soft lounge before the fire, while she
+set the table. How pretty it looked, with
+its six purple and white plates, and cups
+and everything to match! How they did
+eat! How happy they were!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said Mrs. Lawson, when the
+dishes were washed, and they all sat
+round the fire, &ldquo;my little Sweetie, whose
+patience, and courage, and cheerfulness
+have kept up the hearts of the rest of us,
+and proved the ship that has brought us
+this cargo of comforts, you must tell us
+your Christmas story before we go to
+bed.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So Sweetie told them all Mr. Rogers
+had said and done for her. They were so
+excited they sat up very late, and happiness
+made them sleep so soundly, that
+they did not wake till the sun was shining
+brightly into the little shop. People began
+to come in very early, to make
+little purchases. One lady bought a whole
+dollar&rsquo;s worth of toys, which made them
+feel as if they were full of business already.</p>
+
+<p>Later in the forenoon, Mr. Rogers sent
+for Harry and Sweetie to come and help
+dress his Christmas tree; and Christmas
+night his parlor was filled with poor children,
+for each of whom some useful gift
+hung on the tree. Milly was there by
+Sweetie&rsquo;s invitation, and Mr. Rogers sent
+her home in his carriage, with the easiest
+chair that money could buy for her old
+lame mother. The tears filled his eyes
+as Milly thanked him again and again for
+all his kindness; and, as he shut the door
+after the last one, he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hereafter I will make it always a
+Merry Christmas for God&rsquo;s needy ones.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I am sure he did, for he had Sweetie
+always near him. He used to call her
+his &ldquo;Christmas Sweeting;&rdquo; and then she
+would laugh, and say he was her &ldquo;Golden
+Sweeting.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>What is better than gold he gave the
+family: he found patrons for Mrs. Lawson,
+and customers for the shop, and
+placed Harry in a mercantile house,
+where he soon rose to be head clerk.
+The other children he put at school.
+Sweetie he never would let go very far
+out of his sight. He had her thoroughly
+and usefully educated, and no less than
+her mother, and brothers, and sister, did
+he bless the day when &ldquo;Sweetie&rsquo;s ship
+came in&rdquo;&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A ship which brought for every day<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A welcome hope, an added joy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A something sweet to do or say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And hosts of pleasures unalloyed,<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Its cargo, made of pleasant cares,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of daily duties to be done,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of smiles and laughter, songs and prayers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The glad, bright life of Happy Ones.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Margaret Field.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>104]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 411px;">
+<img src="images/hd046.jpg" width="411" height="600"
+alt="A little boy, wearing a sailor suit and carrying a toy boat" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">NOTHING TO DO.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>105]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>NOTHING TO DO.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">I HAVE sailed my boat and spun my top,<br />
+<span class="i2">And handled my last new ball;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I trundled my hoop till I had to stop,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And I swung till got a fall;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I tumbled my books all out of the shelves,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And hunted the pictures through;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I&rsquo;ve flung them where they may sort themselves,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And now&mdash;I have nothing to do.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The tower of Babel I built of blocks<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Came down with a crash to the floor;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My train of cars ran over the rocks&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I&rsquo;ll warrant they&rsquo;ll run no more;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I have raced with Grip till I&rsquo;m out of breath;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">My slate is broken in two,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So I can&rsquo;t draw monkeys. I&rsquo;m tired to death<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Because I have nothing to do.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I can see where the boys have gone to fish;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They bothered me, too, to go,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But for fun like that I hadn&rsquo;t a wish,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For I think it&rsquo;s mighty &ldquo;slow&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To sit all day at the end of a rod<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For the sake of a minnow or two,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or to land, at the farthest, an eel on the sod:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I&rsquo;d rather have nothing to do.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Maria has gone to the woods for flowers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And Lucy and Rose are away<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">After berries. I&rsquo;m sure they&rsquo;ve been out for hours;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I wonder what makes them stay?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ned wanted to saddle Brunette for me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But riding is nothing new;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I was thinking you&rsquo;d relish a canter,&rdquo; said he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">&ldquo;Because you have nothing to do.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I wish I was poor Jim Foster&rsquo;s son,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For he seems so happy and gay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When his wood is chopped and his work all done,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With his little half hour of play;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He neither has books nor top nor ball,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet he&rsquo;s singing the whole day through;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But then he is never tired at all<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Because he has nothing to do.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>106]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 426px;">
+<img src="images/hd047.jpg" width="426" height="600"
+alt="Two polar bears with a seal they have caught" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">TWO GENTLEMEN IN FURS.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>107]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>TWO &ldquo;GENTLEMEN IN FUR CLOAKS.&rdquo;</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HIS is the name given to the bears
+in Kamschatka by the Laplanders,
+who think they will be offended if they
+are called by their real name; and we
+may give the same name to the bears in
+the picture. They are Polar bears, who
+live in the seas round the North Pole, and
+fine white fur coats they have of their own.
+They are white on purpose, so that they
+may not be seen easily among all the
+snow and ice in which they live. The
+head of the Polar bear is very long and
+flat, the mouth and ears are small in comparison
+with other bears, the neck is long
+and thick, and the sole of the foot very
+large. Perhaps you will wonder how the
+bear manages to walk on the ice, as nobody
+is very likely to give him skates or
+snow-boots. To be sure, he has strong,
+thick claws, but they would not be of
+much use&mdash;they would only make him
+slip on the hard ice&mdash;but the sole of the
+foot is covered nearly all over with thick,
+woolly hair, so the bear walks as safely
+as old ladies do when they wrap list
+round their boots.</p>
+
+<p>The Polar bear likes to eat fish, though
+he will eat roots and berries when he can
+get no better, and he is a very good swimmer;
+he can dive, too, and make long
+leaps in the water. If he wants a boat, he
+has only to get on a loose piece of ice,
+and then he can float about at his ease.</p>
+
+<p>This is a full-grown bear, of course.
+Young bears cannot do all these things;
+they have to stay with their mothers on
+shore, where they eat seals and seaweed;
+the seaweed is their vegetable, I suppose.
+When the young bears travel and get
+tired, they get on their mother&rsquo;s back, and
+ride there quite safely, whether in the
+water or on land.</p>
+
+<p>Bears are very fond of their young, and
+will do anything to defend them. There
+is a story told of a poor mother-bear and
+her two cubs which is almost too sad to
+tell, but it will make us think kindly of
+the bear, so I will tell it to you.</p>
+
+<p>Years ago a ship which had gone to the
+North Pole to make discoveries got fixed
+tight in the ice; one morning, while the
+ship was still unable to get loose, a man
+at the lookout gave warning that three
+bears were coming across the ice toward
+the ship. The crew had killed a walrus
+a few days before, and no doubt the bears
+had smelled it. The flesh of the walrus
+was roasting in a fire on the ice, and two
+of the bears ran eagerly to it, dragged
+out the bits that were not burnt, and began
+to eat them; they were the cubs,
+but were almost as large as their mother.</p>
+
+<p>The sailors threw some more of the
+flesh they had on board on to the ice.
+These the old bear fetched; and putting
+them before her cubs, she divided them,
+giving them each a large piece, and only
+keeping a small bit for herself. When
+she came to fetch the last piece the sailors
+shot at the cubs, killing them; they also
+wounded the mother, but not mortally;
+the poor mother never thought of herself,
+only of her cubs. They were not quite
+dead, only dying, and she crawled to
+where they lay, with the lump of meat
+she had fetched, and put it down before
+them, as she had done the first time.
+When she found they did not eat, she
+took hold first of one, then of the other,
+and tried to lift them up, moaning pitifully
+all the time, as if she thought it
+would be of no use. Then she went a
+little way off and looked back. But the
+cubs were dead now, and could not move,
+so she went back to them and began to
+lick their wounds. Once more she crawled
+away from them, and then again came
+back, and went round and round them,
+pawing them and moaning. At last she
+seems to have found out that they were
+dead; and turning to the ship, she raised
+her head and uttered a loud growl of anger
+and despair. The cruel sailors fired
+at her in reply, and she fell between her
+poor dead cubs, and died licking their
+wounds.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>108]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 406px;">
+<img src="images/hd048.jpg" width="406" height="600"
+alt="Charlie holding the broom that saved him" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE FAITHFUL BOY.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>109]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHARLIE&rsquo;S ESCAPE.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span> HAVE some boy-cousins living in the country of whom I think a great
+deal. They write me letters quite often. I can hardly tell whose letters
+give me the most pleasure, the &ldquo;big boys&rsquo;,&rdquo; who write me about their school,
+their colts and calves, their good times on the holidays, or the little printed
+letters I get from the &ldquo;small boys,&rdquo; telling me how many chickens they have
+and that they love me. I am sure I love them <em>all</em>, and hope they will grow
+to be good, true men.</p>
+
+<p>Charlie is one of the &ldquo;big boys.&rdquo; Not <em>very</em> big, either&mdash;just thirteen
+years old, and rather small and slight for his years. A few weeks ago a neighbor
+of his father&rsquo;s was going away, and got Charlie to do &ldquo;the chores&rdquo; for
+him during his absence&mdash;feed the young cattle, milk the cow and keep things
+in order about the barn. Charlie is an obliging boy, so he performed his
+task faithfully. If I had time, boys, I would just like to stop here and give
+you a little lecture on faithfulness, with Charlie for a model, for he <em>is</em> a &ldquo;faithful
+boy.&rdquo; But I want to tell my story. For two or three days Charlie went
+each morning to his neighbor&rsquo;s barn, and after milking the cow turned all
+the creatures to pasture, and every night drove them home again. One morning,
+as he stood by the bars waiting for them all to pass out, a frisky year-old
+calf&mdash;&ldquo;a yearling&rdquo; the farmers call them&mdash;instead of going orderly over the
+bars, as a well-disposed calf should, just gave a side jump and shook her horns
+at Charlie. &ldquo;Over with you!&rdquo; called Charlie, and waved his hand at her.
+Miss Yearling either fancied this an insult or an invitation to single combat, for
+she again lowered her head and ran at Charlie, who had no stick, and so
+thought best to run from the enemy. He started for the stable door, but in
+his hurry and fright he could not open it, and while fumbling at the latch the
+creature made another attack. Charlie dodged her again, and one of her
+horns pierced the door nearly an inch. Again she ran at him, and with her
+nose &ldquo;bunted&rdquo; him off his feet. Charlie was getting afraid now, and called
+out to the folks in the house, &ldquo;Oh, come and help me!&rdquo; and right then he bethought
+him of something he had read in his father&rsquo;s &ldquo;Agriculturist&rdquo; about a
+boy in similar danger, who saved himself by grasping the cow&rsquo;s horns that had
+attacked him. So just as the yearling was about to try again if she could
+push him over, he took fast hold of each horn. But his situation was getting
+<em>very unpleasant</em>, for he was penned up in a corner, with the barn behind him,
+a high fence on one side and the now angry heifer in front. He had regained
+his feet, but was pushed and staggered about, for he was fast losing his strength.
+No wonder his voice had a quiver in it as he again shouted as loud as he
+could, &ldquo;Oh, do come quick!&rdquo; The lady in the house was busy getting breakfast,
+and heard no sound. A lady-visitor in one of the chambers heard the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>110]</a></span>
+first call, but thought it only boys at play. By and by the distressed shout
+again smote her ears, and this time she heard the words, &ldquo;Help me!&rdquo; She
+ran down stairs to the housekeeper, who opened the outside door and listened.
+Charlie&rsquo;s voice was weak and faint now, and the fear came to the lady that he
+had fallen into the barn cellar. She ran quickly to the great door of the barn.
+&ldquo;Where are you, Charlie?&rdquo; &ldquo;Come to the stable door,&rdquo; answered back a
+faint, trembling voice. She quickly ran through the barn to that door, but
+she could not open it at first, for the heifer had pushed herself around till she
+stood broadside against the door. But the lady pushed hard and got the door
+open a little way, and seizing the big stable broom hit the naughty animal
+two or three heavy whacks that made her move around; and as soon as she
+opened the door wide, Charlie let go her horns, and she (the heifer), not
+liking the big broom-handle, turned and ran off as fast as her legs could go.
+The lady helped Charlie up and into the house, for he could hardly stand.
+He was bruised and lame, and the breath had almost left him. But after resting
+a while and taking some good warm drink, he tried to walk home; and though
+the lady helped him, he found it hard work, for he was so sore and bruised.
+Charlie&rsquo;s mother was frightened enough to see her boy come home leaning on
+their neighbor&rsquo;s arm and looking so pale. She helped him undress and lie
+down, and then she did just what your mother, little reader-boy, would do if
+you had such an escape as Charlie&rsquo;s. She put her arms around her boy and
+said, &ldquo;Let us thank the good Lord that you were not killed, my boy.&rdquo; And
+do you think Charlie will ever forget his escape? I don&rsquo;t. And I hope he
+will always thank &ldquo;the good Lord&rdquo; not only for the escape, but for his every
+blessing.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_110lower" id="Page_110lower"></a>I AM COMING!</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">I AM coming! I am coming! sings the robin on the wing;<br />
+<span class="i2">Soon the gates of spring will open; where you loiter I will sing;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Turn your thoughts to merriest music, send it ringing down the vale,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where the yellow-bird is waiting on the old brown meadow-rail.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I am coming! I am coming! sings the summer from afar;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And her voice is like the shining of some silver-mantled star;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In it breathes the breath of flowers, in it hides the dawn of day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In it wake the happy showers of the merry, merry May!<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>111]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>DAISY&rsquo;S TEMPTATION.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span> DON&rsquo;T think grandma would ever know it. I could just slip them into
+my pocket and put them on after I get there as e-a-sy! I&rsquo;ll do it;&rdquo; and
+Daisy Dorsey lifted her grandma&rsquo;s gold beads from a box on her lap. She
+clasped them about her chubby neck and stood before the mirror, talking softly
+to herself. &ldquo;How nice it will be!&rdquo; she said, drawing up her little figure till
+only the tip of her nose was visible in the glass. &ldquo;And Jimmy Martin will
+let me fly his kite instead of Hetty Lee. Hetty Lee, indeed! I don&rsquo;t believe
+she ever had any grandmother&mdash;not such a grandmother as mine, anyway.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then the proud little Daisy fell to thinking of the verse her mother had
+read to her that morning, about the dear Father in heaven who sees us always,
+and the blessed angels who are so holy and so pure.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And I promised mamma I would be so good and try so hard to do right
+always. No, no; I can&rsquo;t do it. Lie there, little pretty gold beads. Daisy
+loves you, but she wants to be good too. So good-bye, dear little, bright
+gold beads,&rdquo; laying them softly back in the drawer and turning away with her
+eyes like violets in the rain.</p>
+
+<p>Now, it so happened that good Grandma Ellis had heard every word Daisy
+had said, had seen her take the beads from their box in the drawer, knew
+just how her darling was tempted and how she had conquered pride and evil
+desire in her little heart, for she was in her bath-room, adjoining her chamber;
+and the door being ajar, she could hear and see all that Daisy said and did.</p>
+
+<p>How glad she was when she heard her say, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t do it. Good-bye,
+pretty gold beads!&rdquo; and she felt so sorry, too, for the great tears in the sweet
+blue eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Daisy wore the coral beads to the picnic, and no child had a merrier day
+than she, for she had struggled with temptation, had overcome through the
+loving Father&rsquo;s aid, and so was happy, as we all are when we do right.</p>
+
+<p>That evening, when the harvest-moon lifted its bright face to the bosom of
+the east, Grandma Ellis sat in her old-fashioned high-backed chair thinking.</p>
+
+<p>Such a pretty picture she made, too, with her light shawl draped gracefully
+over her shoulders, her kerchief and cap so snowy, and her sweet face so full
+of God&rsquo;s love and his divinest peace!</p>
+
+<p>In her hands she held the gold beads, and there was something very like
+tears in her gray eyes, for the necklace had a history that only grandma knew&mdash;she
+and one other, whose face that night was far away where they need no
+light of the moon, nor of the sun, for God is the light of the place.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come here, Daisy,&rdquo; she said, presently. &ldquo;Come to grandma.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The little creature flew like a bird, for she loved the sound of that dear old
+voice; and besides, Daisy was a happy child that night, and in her heart the
+singing-birds of content and joy kept up a merry music of their own.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>112]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 430px;">
+<img src="images/hd049.jpg" width="430" height="600"
+alt="Daisy takes the necklace out of the box" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">DAISY&rsquo;S TEMPTATION.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>113]</a></span>
+Grandma Ellis threw the little necklace over Daisy&rsquo;s head as she came
+toward her, and lifting her to her knee and kissing her glad eyes said,
+speaking low and softly,</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That is for my Daisy to keep always, for grandma&rsquo;s sake. It is not just
+the ornament for your little dear neck in these days, but keep it always, because
+grandma loved it and gave it to her darling that would not deceive her,
+even for the sake of flying Jimmy Martin&rsquo;s kite at the picnic.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then Daisy was sure grandma knew all about her sad temptation, and how
+she had coveted the bright gold beads for just one little day. Now they were
+to be hers for ever, and half for shame, half for very joy, Daisy hid her
+curly head in grandma&rsquo;s bosom and sobbed aloud.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hush, darling!&rdquo; grandma said; &ldquo;we are all tempted to do wrong sometimes,
+and the dear Father in heaven suffers this to be that we may grow
+stronger through resistance. Now, if you had yielded to the voice of pride
+and desire this morning, do you think you could have been happy to-day,
+even with the necklace and flying Jimmy&rsquo;s kite?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, no! Oh, grandma, forgive me!&rdquo; sobbed the little voice from
+grandma&rsquo;s bosom.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, dear, as I am sure God does, who saw how you were sorely tried and
+surely conqueror. Kiss me good-night now; and when you have said your
+&lsquo;Now I lay me,&rsquo; add, &lsquo;Dear Father, help grandma&rsquo;s Daisy to be good and
+happy always.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>An hour later, with the gold beads still about her neck, Daisy in her little
+bed was dreaming of the beautiful fields and flowers that are for ever fadeless
+in the land we name eternal; and the blessed angels, guarding her slumber
+and seeing the smile upon her happy lips, were glad because of Daisy&rsquo;s
+temptation, for they knew that the dear child would be stronger and purer
+and better because she had overcome.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_113lower" id="Page_113lower"></a>ANSWER TO A CHILD&rsquo;S QUESTION.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">DO you ask what the birds say? The sparrow, the dove,<br />
+<span class="i3">The linnet and thrush say &ldquo;I love and I love!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In the winter they&rsquo;re silent, the wind is so strong;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What it says I don&rsquo;t know, but it sings a loud song.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But green leaves and blossoms and sunny warm weather,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And singing and loving, all come back together.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But the lark is so brimful of gladness and love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The green fields below him, the blue sky above,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That he sings and he sings, and for ever sings he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I love my love, and my love loves me.&rdquo;<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>114]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 414px;">
+<img src="images/hd050.jpg" width="414" height="600"
+alt="Nelly watering some of her plants" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">NELLY&rsquo;S GARDEN.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>115]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>WHAT NELLY GAVE AWAY.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">N</span>ELLY RAY was a bright, brave-hearted little girl, whom no one could
+help loving.</p>
+
+<p>Singing like a lark in the morning, wearing sweet smiles on her face all day,
+cheerful even when the shadows fell, it would have been strange indeed if her
+humble home had not seemed like a bit of paradise, and the ground under
+her feet had not blossomed like the rose.</p>
+
+<p>It was a pleasant day in the early spring, when the grass was just lifting
+itself above the moist earth, when the soft south wind was blowing among the
+tender little leaves of the lilac bushes, when the birds were busy building their
+nests, when the merry little brook was beginning its song and the great round
+world looked glad and bright, that Nelly began to make her garden.</p>
+
+<p>Her father had dug the ground and made it ready for her, and so she took
+her little red basket full of seeds of different kinds, each kind tied up by itself
+and labelled, and down in the little beds she dropped candy-tuft, and phlox,
+and lady-slippers.</p>
+
+<p>How happy she was at her work! Her cheeks were the color of ripe peaches,
+her eyes were as sweet as twin violets, and her little mouth was like a fresh
+rosebud, but better and brighter far than the cheeks and lips was the light of
+kindness that shone in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Her sister Jennie, who sat sewing by the window, watched her with loving
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mother,&rdquo; she said, at length, looking up from her work, &ldquo;do you know
+what a generous little girl our Nelly would be if she was only a rich man&rsquo;s
+child?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is she not generous now, Jennie?&rdquo; asked her mother.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh yes, surely she is. But I was thinking how much good she would do,
+and how much she would give away, if only we were not poor.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>She saw that her mother was smiling softly to herself.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;She gives away more now, of course, than some rich children do. Just
+think how faithfully she works in that little garden, so as to have flowers to
+give away! I do not believe there is a house anywhere near us into which
+sickness or poverty comes where her simple flowers will not go.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Did you ever think, dear Jennie, of the other garden which Nelly weeds
+and waters every day?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, mother. What garden do you mean?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The garden of her heart, my dear child. You know that the rain which
+the clouds take from the lakes and rivers comes back to refresh and beautify
+our fields and gardens; and so it is with our little Nelly&rsquo;s good deeds and
+kind, loving words. She gives away more than a handful of violets, for with
+them goes a bright smile, which is like sunshine to the sick heart. She gives
+more than a bunch of roses, for with them always goes a kind word. And
+doing these little things, she gets a large reward. Her own heart grows
+richer.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>116]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>A STRANGE COMBAT.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>E are told that the old Romans
+greatly delighted in witnessing
+the combats of wild beasts, as well as
+gladiators, and that they used to ransack
+their whole broad empire for new and unheard-of
+animals&mdash;anything and everything
+that had fierceness and fight in it.
+Those vast amphitheatres, like the Coliseum,
+were built to gratify these rather
+sanguinary tastes in that direction.</p>
+
+<p>But I doubt whether even the old Romans,
+with all their large experience, ever
+beheld so strange and grotesque a &ldquo;set-to&rdquo;
+(I&rsquo;m pretty sure none of our American
+boys ever did) as the writer once
+stumbled upon, on the shores of one of
+our Northern Maine lakes&mdash;Lake Pennesseewassee,
+if you can pronounce that;
+it trips up editors sometimes.</p>
+
+<p>I had been spending the day in the
+neighboring forest, hunting for a black
+squirrel I had seen there the evening before,
+having with me a great, red-shirted
+lumberman, named Ben&mdash;Ben Murch.
+And not finding our squirrel, we were
+making our way, towards evening, down
+through the thick alders which skirted the
+lake, to the shore, in the hope of getting
+a shot at an otter, or a mink, when all at
+once a great sound, a sort of <em>quock, quock</em>,
+accompanied by a great splashing of the
+water, came to our ears.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; ejaculated Ben, clapping his
+hand to his ear (as his custom was), to
+catch the sound. &ldquo;Hear that? Some
+sort of a fracas.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And cautiously pushing through the
+dense copse, a very singular and comical
+spectacle met our eyes. For out some
+two or three rods from the muddy, grassy
+shore stood a tall, a very tall bird,&mdash;somewhere
+from four to five feet, I judged,&mdash;with
+long, thin, black legs, and an
+awkward body, slovenly clad in dull gray-blue
+plumage. The neck was as long as the
+legs, and the head small, and nearly bare,
+with a long, yellowish bill. Standing knee
+deep in the muddied water, it was, on the
+whole, about the most ungainly-looking
+fowl you can well imagine; while on a
+half-buried tree trunk, running out towards
+it into the water, crouched a wiry, black
+creature, of about average dog size, wriggling
+a long, restless tail, and apparently
+in the very act of springing at the long-legged
+biped in the water. Just now they
+were eying each other very intently; but
+from the splashed and bedraggled appearance
+of both, it was evident there had
+been recent hostilities, which, judging
+from the attitude of the combatants, were
+about to be renewed.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Show!&rdquo; exclaimed Ben, peering over
+my shoulder from behind. &ldquo;An old <em>hairn</em>&mdash;ain&rsquo;t
+it? Regular old <em>pokey</em>. Thought
+I&rsquo;d heered that <em>quock</em> before. And that
+creatur&rsquo;? Let&rsquo;s see. Odd-looking chap.
+Wish he&rsquo;d turn his head this way. Fisher&mdash;ain&rsquo;t
+it? Looks like one. Should judge
+that&rsquo;s a fisher-cat. What in the world got
+them at loggerheads, I wonder?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>By &ldquo;hairn&rdquo; Ben meant <em>heron</em>, the great
+blue heron of American waters&mdash;<i>Ardea
+Herodias</i> of the naturalists. And fisher,
+or fisher-cat, is the common name among
+hunters for Pennant&rsquo;s marten, or the <i>Mustela
+canadensis</i>, a very fierce carnivorous
+animal, of the weasel family, growing from
+three to four feet in length, called also
+&ldquo;the black cat.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The fisher had doubtless been the assailant,
+though both had now that intent,
+tired-down air which marks a long fray.
+He had probably crept up from behind,
+while old long-shanks was quietly frogging
+along the shore.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>117]</a></span>
+But he had found his intended victim a
+game one. The heron had a character to
+sustain; and although he might easily
+have flown away, or even waded farther
+out, yet he seemed to scorn to do either.</p>
+
+<p>Not an inch would it budge, but stood
+with its long, javelin-like beak poised,
+ready to strike into the fisher&rsquo;s eye, uttering,
+from moment to moment, that menacing,
+guttural <em>quock</em>, which had first attracted
+our attention.</p>
+
+<p>This sound, mingling with the eager
+snarling and fretting of the cat, made the
+most dismal and incongruous duet I had
+ever listened to. For some moments they
+stood thus threatening and defying each
+other; but at length, lashing itself up to
+the proper pitch of fury, the fisher jumped
+at his antagonist with distended jaws, to
+seize hold of the long, slender throat.
+One bite at the heron&rsquo;s slim neck would
+settle the whole affair. But this attempt
+was very adroitly balked by the plucky
+old wader&rsquo;s taking a long step aside, when
+the fisher fell into the water with a great
+splash, and while struggling back to the
+log, received a series of strokes, or, rather,
+stabs, from the long, pointed beak,
+dealt down with wonderful swiftness, and
+force, too; for we distinctly heard them
+<em>prod</em> into the cat&rsquo;s tough hide, as he
+scrambled upon the log, and ran spitting
+up the bank. This defeat, however, was
+but temporary, as any one acquainted with
+the singular persistence and perseverance
+of the whole weasel family will readily
+guess. The fisher had soon worked his
+way down the log again, the heron
+retiring to his former position in the
+water.</p>
+
+<p>Another succession of quocks and
+growlings, and another spring, with even
+less success, on the side of the cat. For
+this time the heron&rsquo;s bill wounded one of
+his eyes; and as he again retreated up
+the log, we could see the bloody tears
+trickling down over his shaggy jowl.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far the battle seemed favorable to
+the heron; but the fisher again rallied,
+and, now thoroughly maddened, rushed
+down the log, and leaped blindly upon his
+foe. Again and again his attacks were
+parried. The snarling growls now rose
+to shrieks, and the croaking quocks to
+loud, dissonant cries.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Faugh!&rdquo; muttered Ben. &ldquo;Smell his
+breath&mdash;fisher&rsquo;s breath&mdash;clean here.
+Always let that out somehow when
+they&rsquo;re mad.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Even at our distance, that strong, fetid
+odor, sometimes perceptible when a cat
+spits, could plainly be discerned.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Old <em>hairn</em> seems to be having the best
+of it,&rdquo; continued Ben. &ldquo;I bet on him.
+How cool he keeps! Fights like a machine.
+See that bill come down now!
+Look at the marks it makes, too!&rdquo; For
+the blood, oozing out through the thick
+fur of the cat in more than a dozen spots,
+was attesting the prowess of the heron&rsquo;s
+powerful beak.</p>
+
+<p>But at length, with a sudden bound upward,
+the fisher fell with his whole weight
+upon the back of his lathy antagonist.
+Old long-legs was upset, and down they
+both went in the water, where a prodigious
+scuffle ensued. Now one of the
+heron&rsquo;s big feet would be thrust up nearly
+a yard; then the cat would come to the
+top, sneezing and strangling; and anon
+the heron&rsquo;s long neck would loop up in
+sight, bending and doubling about in frantic
+attempts to peck at its foe, its cries
+now resembling those of a hen when
+seized in the night, save that they were
+louder and harsher. Over and over they
+floundered and rolled. The mud and
+water flew about. Long legs, shaggy
+paws, wet, wriggling tail, and squawking
+beak, fur and feathers&mdash;all turning and
+squirming in inextricable confusion. It
+was hard telling which was having the
+best of the <i>m&ecirc;l&eacute;e</i>, when, on a sudden, the
+struggle stopped, as if by magic.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>118]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 440px;">
+<img src="images/hd051.jpg" width="440" height="400"
+alt="The marten about to attack the heron" />
+</div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;One or t&rsquo;other has given in,&rdquo; muttered
+Ben.</p>
+
+<p>Looking more closely, we saw that the
+fisher had succeeded in getting the heron&rsquo;s
+neck into his mouth. One bite had been
+sufficient. The fray was over. And after
+holding on a while, the victor, up to his
+back in water, began moving towards the
+shore, dragging along with him, by the
+neck, the body of the heron, whose great
+feet came trailing after at an astonishing
+distance behind. To see him, wet as a
+drowned rat, tugging up the muddy bank
+with his ill-omened and unsightly prey,
+was indeed a singular spectacle. Whatever
+had brought on this queer contest,
+the fisher had won&mdash;fairly, too, for aught
+I could see; and I hadn&rsquo;t it in my heart
+to intercept his retreat. But Ben, to
+whom a &ldquo;black cat&rdquo; was particularly obnoxious,
+from its nefarious habit of robbing
+traps, had no such scruples, and,
+bringing up his rifle with the careless
+quickness of an old woodsman, fired before
+I could interpose a word. The fisher
+dropped, and after writhing and snapping
+a few moments, stretched out&mdash;dead.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving Ben to take off its skin,&mdash;for
+the fur is worth a trifle,&mdash;I was strolling
+along the shore, when upon coming under
+a drooping cedar, some six or seven rods
+from the scene of the fight, another large
+heron sprang out of a clump of brambles,
+and stalked off with a croak of distrust.
+It at once occurred to me that there might
+be a nest here; and opening the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>119]</a></span>
+brambles, lo, there it was, a broad, clumsy
+structure of coarse sticks, some two or
+three feet from the ground, and lined with
+moss and water grasses. In it, or, rather,
+on it, were two chicks, heron chicks, uncouth
+little things, with long, skinny legs
+and necks, and sparsely clad with tufts of
+gray down. And happening to glance
+under the nest, I perceived an egg, lodged
+down among the bramble-stalks. It had
+probably rolled out of the nest. It struck
+me, however, as being a very small egg
+from so large a bird; and having a rule
+in my pocket, I found it to be but two and
+a half inches in length by one and a half
+in width. It was of a dull, bluish-white
+color, without spots, though rather rough
+and uneven. I took it home as a curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>On the edge of the nest I saw several
+small perch, a frog, and a meadow-mouse,
+all recently brought, though the place had
+a suspicious odor of carrion.</p>
+
+<p>All this while the old heron had stood
+at a little distance away, uttering now and
+then an ominous croak. I could easily
+have shot it from where I stood, but
+thought the family had suffered enough
+for one day.</p>
+
+<p>The presence of the nest accounted for
+the obstinacy with which the old male
+heron had contested the ground with the
+fisher.</p>
+
+<p>Both old birds are said to sit by turns
+upon the eggs. But the nests are not always
+placed so near the ground as this
+one. Last summer, while fishing from
+the &ldquo;Pappoose&rsquo;s Pond,&rdquo; I discovered one
+in the very top of a lofty Norway pine&mdash;a
+huge bunch of sticks and long grass,
+upon the edge of which one of the old
+herons was standing on one foot, perfectly
+motionless, with its neck drawn down, and
+seemingly asleep.</p>
+
+<p>The artist who could have properly
+sketched that nest and bird would have
+made his fortune then and there.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">C. A. Stephens.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_119lower" id="Page_119lower"></a>LITTLE HOME-BODY.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">LITTLE Home-body is mother&rsquo;s wee pet,<br />
+<span class="i3">Fairest and sweetest of housekeepers yet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Up when the roses in golden light peep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Helping her mother to sew and to sweep.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Tidy and prim in her apron and gown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Brightest of eyes, of the bonniest brown;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Tiniest fingers, and needle so fleet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pattern of womanhood, down at my feet!<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Little Home-body is grave and demure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Weeps when you speak of the wretched and poor,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though she can laugh in the merriest way<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While you are telling a tale that is gay.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lily that blooms in some lone, leafy nook;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sly little hide-away, moss-sided brook;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fairies are fine, where the silver dews fall;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Home fairies&mdash;these are the best of them all!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">George Cooper.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>120]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 412px;">
+<img src="images/hd052.jpg" width="412" height="600"
+alt="Neddy hugs the lamb" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">NEDDY AND HIS LAMB.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>121]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>NEDDY&rsquo;S HALF HOLIDAY.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>E&rsquo;VE had a good time, Tony, old fellow, haven&rsquo;t we?&rdquo; said Neddy
+Harris, who was beginning to feel tired with his half day&rsquo;s ramble in
+the fields. As he said this he sat down on some boards in the barn.</p>
+
+<p>Tony replied to his young master by rubbing his nose against his face, and
+by a soft &ldquo;baa,&rdquo; which was as near as he could come to saying, &ldquo;A first-rate
+time, Master Neddy.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A grand good time,&rdquo; added the boy, putting his arms around the lamb&rsquo;s
+neck and laying his face on its soft wool.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And now,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;as father says we should always do, I&rsquo;ll just
+go back and think over what I&rsquo;ve done this holiday afternoon; and if I forgot
+myself in anything and went wrong, it will be best for me to know it, so that
+I can do better next time.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry about that poor squirrel,&rdquo; said Neddy; &ldquo;he never did me any
+harm. What a beautiful little creature he was, with his bright black eyes and
+shiny skin!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the boy&rsquo;s face grew sad, as well it might, for he had pelted this squirrel
+with stones from tree to tree, and at last knocked him to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But it was so cruel in me! Now, if I live a hundred years, I&rsquo;ll never harm
+another squirrel. God made these frisky little fellows, and they&rsquo;ve just as much
+right to live as I have.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Neddy felt better about the squirrel after this good resolution, which he
+meant to keep.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That was curious about the spider,&rdquo; he went on, trying to push all thoughts
+of the dead squirrel from his mind. Let me tell you about this spider. In
+the corner of a fence Neddy saw a large circular spider&rsquo;s web, shaped like a
+funnel, down in the centre of which was a hole. As he stood looking at the
+delicate thing, finer than any woven silk, a fly struck against it and got his feet
+tangled, so that he could not escape. Instantly a great black spider ran out of
+the hole at the bottom of the web, and seizing the poor fly dragged him out
+of sight and made his dinner off of him.</p>
+
+<p>Neddy dropped a piece of dry bark about the size of his thumb nail into
+the web, and it slipped down and covered the hole through which the spider
+had to come for his prey. Instantly the piece of bark was pushed up by the
+spider, who came out of his den and ran around on the slender cords of his
+web in a troubled kind of way. Then he tried to get back into his hidden
+chamber, but the piece of bark covered the entrance like a shut door. And
+now Mr. Spider was in a terrible flurry. He ran wildly up one side of his
+web and down another; then he tugged at the piece of bark, trying to drag it
+out, but its rough edges took hold of the fine silken threads and tore them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>122]</a></span>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll catch no more flies in that web, old chap,&rdquo; said Neddy as he stood
+watching the spider.</p>
+
+<p>But Neddy was mistaken. Spider did not belong to the give-up class. If
+the thing could not be done in one way, it might in another. He did not
+reason about things like human beings, but then he had instinct, as it is called,
+and that teaches animals how to get their food, how to build their houses or
+make their nests, and how to meet the dangers and difficulties that overtake
+them in life. After sitting still for a little while, spider went to work again,
+and this time in a surprising way. He cut a circle close around the piece of
+bark as neatly as you could have done with a pair of sharp scissors, and lo!
+it dropped to the ground, leaving a hole in the web about the size of a ten-cent
+piece.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Rather hard on the web, Mr. Landpirate,&rdquo; said Neddy, laughing. &ldquo;Flies
+can go through there as well as chips.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>When he called the spider a land-pirate, Neddy was wrong. He was no
+more a pirate&mdash;that is, one who robs and murders&mdash;than is the woodpecker or
+swallow, for they feed on worms and insects. The spider was just as blameless
+in his work of catching and eating flies as was Neddy&rsquo;s white bantam
+when she went off into the fields after grasshoppers.</p>
+
+<p>But Neddy&rsquo;s laugh at the spider was soon cut short. The most difficult part
+of his work was done when he got rid of the piece of bark. As soon as that
+was out of his way he began moving backward and forward over the hole he
+had cut in the web, just as if he were a weaver&rsquo;s shuttle, and in about ten
+minutes it was all covered with gauzy lacework finer than ever was worn by a
+queen.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll give it up, old fellow,&rdquo; exclaimed Neddy, taking a long breath as he
+saw the work completed. &ldquo;This just beats me out.&rdquo; Spider crept down into
+his den again to wait for another fly, and Neddy, leading Tony, went on his
+way pleased and wondering.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_122lower" id="Page_122lower"></a>THE SPARROW.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">THOU humblest bird that wings the air, the Master cares for thee;<br />
+<span class="i3">And if he cares for one so small, will he not care for me?<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">His eye looks on thee from above, he notices thy fall;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And if he cares for such as thee, does he not care for all?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">He feeds thee in the sweet spring-time, when skies are bright and blue;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He feeds thee in the autumn-time, and in the winter too.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">He leads thee through the pathless air, he guides thee in thy flight;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He sees thee in the brightest day, and in the darkest night.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Oh, if his loving care attends a bird so mean and small,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Will he not listen to my voice when unto him I call?<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>123]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 569px;">
+<img src="images/hd053.jpg" width="569" height="400"
+alt="Mrs Pike talks to Sarah and Jane" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>MRS. PIKE&rsquo;S PRISONERS.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">A TRUE STORY.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">E</span>ARLY on a cloudy April afternoon,
+many years ago, several little girls
+were playing in a village door-yard, not
+far from the fence which separated it from
+a neighbor&rsquo;s. They were building a play-house
+of boards, and were so busily occupied,
+that none of them had noticed a
+lady standing at a little four-paned window
+in the house the other side of the
+fence, who had been intently regarding
+them for some time. The window was so
+constructed as to swing back like a door,
+and being now open, the lady&rsquo;s face was
+framed against the dark background of
+the room, producing the effect of a picture.
+&rsquo;Twas a strange face, sallow and
+curiously wrinkled, with a nose like the
+beak of a hawk, and large black eyes,
+which seemed to be endowed with the
+power of perpetual motion. These roved
+from one to another of the busy builders,
+till suddenly one of them seemed to be
+aware that some one was looking at her,
+and turned towards the little window.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, I know you, Wealthy Robbins!
+Come here a minute, my little dear,&rdquo; spoke
+the lady, in a shrill, quavering voice. And
+she beckoned to her with a hooked finger
+like a claw. But Wealthy shrank back,
+murmuring, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to,&rdquo; almost
+under her breath, and nudging with her
+elbow the nearest girl; &ldquo;Hannah, Mrs.
+Pike wants something. See!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is that you, Hannah Green? Come
+over here, and I&rsquo;ll give you a piece of my
+Passover candy.&rdquo; And the lady waved in
+the air a long candle-rod entwined with a
+strip of scarlet flannel, which made it look
+like a mammoth stick of peppermint candy.</p>
+
+<p>This attracted the attention of all the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>124]</a></span>
+girls, and going close to the fence, they
+peered through, while she besought them,
+with enticing promises and imploring eyes,
+to come around under the window, for
+she had something to tell them.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t let&rsquo;s go,&rdquo; whispered Mary
+Green, the oldest of the group. &ldquo;Mother
+told me never to go near her window
+when she&rsquo;s standing there, for she&rsquo;s a
+crazy woman. That stick isn&rsquo;t candy no
+more than I am.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come, Sarah; I always knew you
+were a kind little girl,&rdquo; said Mrs. Pike, in
+a coaxing tone, to the youngest and smallest
+of the group; &ldquo;<em>do</em> come here just a
+minute.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>At last, Sarah Holmes and her sister
+Jane went around, and stood under the
+little window. Jane said it could do no
+harm just to go and see what Mrs. Pike
+wanted, and if <em>she</em> was shut up in jail,
+she guessed she&rsquo;d want a good many
+things.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now, you dear little lambs, you see I&rsquo;m
+all alone in the house; and they&rsquo;ve gone
+away, and forgotten to give me my dinner;
+and I&rsquo;m <em>very</em> hungry. All I want is a
+little unleavened bread, for this is Passover
+Day, you know. Well, you just
+climb in through the dining-room window,
+little Sarah,&mdash;Jane can help you,&mdash;and
+unlock my door, so I can go to the buttery
+and get some bread. Then I&rsquo;ll bring
+you out a nice saucer mince pie, and
+come back here, and you can lock me in.
+They&rsquo;ll never know; and I shall starve if
+you don&rsquo;t take pity on me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>After some whispering together, the little
+girls did as they were bidden, notwithstanding
+the warnings of their mates the
+other side of the fence. When they had
+disappeared from view, Mary Green
+turned away, and began to hammer, as
+though she was driving a nail into Mrs.
+Pike&rsquo;s head, or Jane Holmes&rsquo;s, or somebody&rsquo;s,
+ejaculating, &ldquo;I guess they&rsquo;ll rue
+this day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Which prophetic words came very near
+being verified at the moment they were
+spoken. For no sooner had Jane unlocked
+the door of Mrs. Pike&rsquo;s room,
+than out sprang that lady, and clutched
+one of the little girls with either hand,
+almost shrieking, &ldquo;Ah, I know you! you
+belong to that wicked and rebellious tribe
+of Korah. Why didn&rsquo;t you come over
+to the help of the mighty immediately?
+Now, you shall see how <em>you</em> like dwelling
+in the Cave of Machpelah for a day and
+a night, and a month and a year, until He
+shall come whose right it is to reign.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And she thrust the trembling, awe-struck
+children into the room that had
+been her prison, and turned the key upon
+them. Then away she strode out of the
+house and up the street, a noticeable
+figure, truly, in her short yellow nankeen
+dress, with pantalets of the same, and
+neat white Quaker cap, with long white
+ribbons crossed under her chin, and carrying
+an immense umbrella over her head.
+It was strange that none of the nearest
+neighbors should see her pass. The
+front door was on the opposite side of
+the house from where the little girls were
+playing; so they did not observe her exit;
+and thus it happened that the crazy lady,
+who had been confined in the house for
+weeks, escaped without any check upon
+her triumphant progress. Busy women,
+seeing her from their windows, thought
+Mrs. Pike must be better again, to be out,
+and did wish her friends wouldn&rsquo;t let her
+walk the streets looking like a Dutch
+woman. Boys paused in their games almost
+respectfully, as she passed by; for
+notwithstanding her strange appearance
+and rapid movements, there was an air
+of mysterious command about the woman
+which checked any rudeness.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There goes Madam Pike,&rdquo; exclaimed
+one ragged-kneed boy, when she had
+passed out of hearing. &ldquo;Got on her
+ascension-robe&mdash;hasn&rsquo;t she? Wonder
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>125]</a></span>
+if that umberil will help her any? I say,
+boys, do you suppose all the saints that
+walk the streets of the new Jerusalem look
+like her?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>While Mrs. Pike walked rapidly on,
+with a keen appreciation of the fresh air
+and occasional gleams of sunshine, the
+little prisoners drooped like two April
+violets plucked and thrown upon the
+ground. They were so frightened and
+awe-struck, that the idea of calling for
+help from the open window did not occur
+to them; and they crouched upon the
+floor, melancholy and mute. After a
+while, some odd-looking garments, hanging
+in a row on one side of the room,
+attracted their attention; but they did not
+dare to go near them at first. Mrs. Pike
+was what was called a Second Adventist,
+and had read the Bible and Apocrypha
+with a fiery zeal, and an earnest determination
+to find therein proof of what she
+believed, and had attended Second Advent
+meetings, and exhorted wherever she
+could get a hearing, until her poor brain
+was crazed. But lately her husband and
+friends had kept her in doors as much as
+possible; and she spent most of the time
+knitting ascension-robes for the saints of
+the twelve tribes of the house of Judah.
+These were long garments, coming nearly
+to the feet, each of a single color, royal
+purple and blue being her favorites. She
+said that she must improve every moment,
+lest the great and dreadful day of the Lord
+should come, and she should not be ready,
+i.&nbsp;e., would not have a robe prepared for
+each of the saints to ascend in. When
+her son, a boy of twelve, died, she had
+him buried by the front doorstep, so,
+when the procession of saints should
+pass out at the door, Erastus could join
+them immediately, and not have to come
+from the burying-ground, a mile away.</p>
+
+<p>It was after sunset when Mr. Pike
+passed along the village street, on his
+way home, and was informed by a good
+woman, standing at her gate, that his
+wife had gone by about one o&rsquo;clock, and
+that, not long after, Jane and Sarah
+Holmes were missed. Some little girls
+they had been playing with had seen them
+get into Mr. Pike&rsquo;s house through the
+dining-room window, and that was the
+last that had been seen or heard of them.
+Mrs. Holmes was going on dreadfully;
+for she thought that, as likely as not,
+Madam Pike had thrown them down in
+the well, or hid them where they would
+never be found, and then run away. The
+bewildered man hurried home to harness
+his horse, and go in search of his wife;
+for, with a trust in her better nature,
+worthy of a woman, he believed that she
+would tell him where the children were, if
+she knew. Fortunately, he found her in a
+tavern about a mile from home, preaching,
+as the children would say. As usual,
+she was exhorting her hearers to prepare
+for the great and terrible day of the Lord,
+etc., etc.; but when her husband appeared
+in the doorway, the thread of her discourse
+was suddenly broken, and she
+turned and accosted him with, &ldquo;Ah, Mr.
+Pike, have you seen my prisoners in the
+Cave of Machpelah? They belong to that
+wicked and rebellious tribe of Korah, you
+know.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, Mary, let&rsquo;s go home, and see
+how they are getting along,&rdquo; said he, in a
+confident tone; for he instantly divined
+who her prisoners were, and that the
+Cave of Machpelah could not be far away.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pike was quite willing to go with
+him, and worried all the way home; for
+she said prisoners were always in mischief,
+and there were the robes hanging
+in the cave, which she had forgotten to
+put out of their reach. So when they
+arrived, her first act was to unlock the
+door of the children&rsquo;s prison. And her
+next was to pounce upon them with even
+more vigor than when she emerged from
+it in the afternoon. For there they lay
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>126]</a></span>
+asleep on the carpet, Jane in a purple
+robe, and Sarah in a green, their hands
+and feet invisible by reason of the great
+length of their garments.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t hurt them, Mary,&rdquo; said Mr.
+Pike. For she was hustling off the precious
+robes before the little girls were fairly
+awake; and they might have fared hardly,
+had not the kind man been present to see
+that justice was done; to wit, that they
+were compensated for their imprisonment
+by pockets full of cakes and fruit, and
+sent home to their mother without delay.
+That happy woman did not send them
+supperless to bed, nor say a word about
+punishing them, either then or afterwards.
+Perhaps she guessed that their punishment
+had already been sufficiently severe.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, mother,&rdquo; said Jane, &ldquo;at first we
+didn&rsquo;t dare to stir or speak, for fear the
+crazy lady was listening; and she seemed
+angry enough to kill us. I felt as if my
+hair was turning gray, and Sarah looked
+as white as the wall. Well, after a great
+many hours, we began to look about the
+room, and we saw those queer gowns she
+knits, hanging in a row; and we got up
+and looked at them. By and by we got
+so tired doing nothing, that we took them
+down and tried them on, and played we
+were the saints. We tried to fly, but the
+old things were so heavy and long, that
+we couldn&rsquo;t even jump. And after a
+while we were so tired that we lay
+down and went to sleep, and never
+woke till Mrs. Pike came home. O, but
+&rsquo;twas the lonesomest, longest, dreariest
+afternoon we ever, ever knew&mdash;wasn&rsquo;t it,
+Sarah?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This was the story, with variations,
+which the Holmes girls had to tell to
+their mates the next day, and the next,
+and so on, until it ceased to be a novelty.</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Pike&rsquo;s prisoners were heroines,
+in the estimation of the village girls
+and boys, for more than one year, and
+doubtless still remember and tell to their
+children the story of their afternoon in
+the Cave of Machpelah.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">M. R. W.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_126lower" id="Page_126lower"></a>WAR AND PEACE.</h2>
+
+
+<h3 class="smcap">War.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">THE warrior waves his standard high,<br />
+<span class="i3">His falchion flashes in the fray;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He madly shouts his battle-cry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And glories in a well-fought day.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But Famine&rsquo;s at the city gate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And Rapine prowls without the walls;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The city round lies desolate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While Havoc&rsquo;s blighting footstep falls.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By ruined hearths, by homes defiled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In scenes that nature&rsquo;s visage mar,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We feel the storm of passions wild,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And pluck the bitter fruit of war.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3 class="smcap">Peace.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The cobweb hangs on Sword and belt,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The charger draws the gliding plow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The cannons in the furnace melt,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And change to gentle purpose now;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The threshers swing their ponderous flails,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The craftsmen toil with cheerful might;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The ocean swarms with merchant sails,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And busy mills look gay by night;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The happy land becomes renowned,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As knowledge, arts, and wealth increase,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And thus, with plenty smiling round,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">We cull the blessed fruits of peace.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>127]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 428px;">
+<img src="images/hd054.jpg" width="428" height="600"
+alt="Two soldiers with horses; more armed soldiers are visible in the distance" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">WAR.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>128]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHERRY-TIME.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">OH, cherry-time is a merry time!&rdquo;<br />
+<span class="i3">We children used to say&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;The merriest throughout the year,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For all is bright and gay.&rdquo;<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The air is fresh and sweet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And fair flowers in the garden bloom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And daisies &rsquo;neath our feet.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For hanging on the tree,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All round and glistening in the sun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The pretty fruit we see.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Up in the tree so high<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We children climbed, and, laughing, said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">&ldquo;Almost into the sky.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The robins thought so too,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And helped themselves to &ldquo;cherries ripe&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While wet with morning dew.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The sunshine and the showers<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of God&rsquo;s rich mercy fall on us<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In happy childhood&rsquo;s hours.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>129]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 408px;">
+<img src="images/hd055.jpg" width="408" height="600"
+alt="A boy feeds a cherry to another boy" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">CHERRY-TIME.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>130]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 440px;">
+<img src="images/hd056.jpg" width="440" height="400"
+alt="The boys in the pond, fishing with rods" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>THE DAVY BOYS&rsquo; FISHING-POND.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">B</span>OYS,&rdquo; said Mr. Davy, &ldquo;how
+would you like to have a fishing-pond?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The five boys looked at him eagerly, to
+see if he were in earnest.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, splendid, papa!&rdquo; say they in chorus;
+&ldquo;but how <em>can</em> we have a fishing-pond?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You know that hollow down in the
+pasture,&rdquo; continued Mr. Davy, &ldquo;and what
+a blemish it is upon the farm. I have
+wondered if we could not make it useful
+in some way, and at the same time improve
+the looks of things. I think we
+might build an embankment upon the
+open side, make the slope steeper all
+round, bring the water into it from the
+creek, and so have a fishing-pond. We
+should have to make a race-way from the
+creek to the pond, and cut a channel
+through the meadow, in which the water
+could flow back to the creek again below
+the fall. I think it could be done,&rdquo; said
+Mr. Davy, after a pause, &ldquo;only there
+would be a great deal of work necessary,
+and we could hardly afford to hire it done.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>131]</a></span>
+&ldquo;O, father, <em>we</em> can do the digging,&rdquo;
+shouted five voices in chorus; &ldquo;we can
+do it with our spades and wheelbarrows.
+School doesn&rsquo;t begin for a month yet, and
+we can get it all done in that time.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hurrah for a fish-pond!&rdquo; cried Percy,
+and in imagination he fairly felt the bites
+of the three-pound trout he was to catch
+before summer was over.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Davy is a practical farmer. By
+that I mean that he cultivates the land
+with his own hands. He, with his men,
+and those of the boys who are old enough,
+are in the fields every morning in summer
+by five o&rsquo;clock, ploughing, planting, sowing,
+or milking the cows, and, later in the
+season, haying, harvesting, or threshing.
+Tommy, the eldest of his sons, is thirteen
+years old; Clarence, the youngest, is
+five.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Davy had been thinking of the fishing-pond
+for some time, and had matured
+the plan in his mind before speaking of it
+to the boys. The morning after the conversation
+of which I have told you, I saw
+the five boys standing in thoughtful silence
+upon the bank above the hollow in
+the pasture. I do not believe the engineer
+who is planning the bridge across the
+British Channel, to connect England and
+France, feels anymore responsibility than
+did the Davy boys that morning.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;May we begin to-day, father?&rdquo; said
+they, eagerly, at breakfast-time.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; and Patrick can help you,&rdquo; was
+the reply.</p>
+
+<p>The horses were harnessed to the
+plough, and driven to the hollow. Patrick
+was instructed how to proceed. He
+put the reins round his neck, and took
+firm hold of the handles. &ldquo;Go on wid
+ye, now!&rdquo; he cried to the horses. A
+furrow was soon turned, and the fish-pond
+fairly begun.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Your work,&rdquo; said Mr. Davy to the
+boys, &ldquo;will be to wheel away the earth
+which Patrick ploughs out. The first
+thing is to lay a plank for your wheelbarrows
+to run upon.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Tommy and George soon brought the
+planks from the tool-house. Blocks were
+laid the proper distance apart to sustain
+them, and, after two or three hours&rsquo; work,
+a line of plank, which looked to the boys
+as grand as the new Pacific Railway,
+stretched across the hollow. The little
+laborers went in to dinner flushed with excitement
+and hard work, but as happy, I
+dare say, as if they had been to Barnum&rsquo;s
+Museum, and seen the wax figures and
+wild animals.</p>
+
+<p>Patrick had, during the forenoon,
+ploughed a good many furrows, and now
+the boys were busy enough carrying away
+the earth. Each had a wheelbarrow of
+his own&mdash;Clarence&rsquo;s a toy, which, with a
+tiny spade, his father had brought from
+the city with a view to the work now
+in progress. It required a steady hand to
+keep the wheelbarrows upon the plank.
+They <em>would</em> run off once in a while, and
+then all hands halted, and lifted them
+upon the track again. The earth was to
+be deposited&mdash;&ldquo;dumped,&rdquo; the boys said&mdash;upon
+the site of the new embankment.
+As the first loads were overturned, Mr.
+Davy made his appearance.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This fish-pond must have an outlet,
+you know,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;at the point where
+the bottom is lowest. I will measure it
+off for you, and drive three stakes on either
+side. Here we will have a gate; for
+our pond will need emptying and cleaning
+occasionally. Fish will not live in impure
+water.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The boys were delighted. All this excavating,
+laying out of earthworks, and
+planning of gate-way, seemed like real
+engineering. They were re&euml;nforced, after
+a while, by Patrick and the horses; and
+then how suddenly they became tired, his
+shovelfuls were so large in comparison
+with theirs&mdash;his wagon carried away so
+much more at a load!</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>132]</a></span>
+Pretty early that evening little Clarence
+crept into his mother&rsquo;s lap, and told her
+a marvellous story of the amount of earth
+he had wheeled away; but his tired little
+eyes acted as though some of it had blown
+between their lids; and soon mamma
+tucked him away for twelve hours&rsquo; sleep.</p>
+
+<p>The hollow in the pasture, I forgot
+to say, was half an acre in extent,
+and appeared as though Nature had
+scooped it out on purpose to make a place
+for the Davy boys&rsquo; fishing-pond. The
+creek, too, running nearly alongside, was
+there to supply it with water.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What shall we ever do with that hill?&rdquo;
+said Percy, pointing to a rise of ground
+on one side the hollow, as he and his
+brothers were surveying their work; &ldquo;we
+never can cart all that away, nor dig up
+those trees, either.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s leave it for an island,&rdquo; said
+Frank&mdash;&ldquo;a <em>real</em> island&mdash;land with water
+all round it&rdquo; (he had just begun studying
+geography); &ldquo;and the trees will make
+a splendid grove, where we can have picnics.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The island will afford a harbor for the
+boat, too,&rdquo; said Mr. Davy, who had just
+joined the children. &ldquo;I suppose you will
+want a boat on your pond&mdash;will you not?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The boys could scarcely believe their
+ears. A boat of their own, on their own
+pond! They had never dreamed of anything
+half so nice.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Time to be at work!&rdquo; said Mr. Davy.</p>
+
+<p>All the forenoon, as I watched them
+from my window, I saw the embankment
+growing slowly, but steadily, while the
+sloping sides of the hollow became steeper
+and steeper. At night a visible step
+had been taken towards a fishing-pond.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot tell you about every one of
+the days during which the Davy boys
+worked so industriously. At last, however,
+the excavation was completed, the
+embankment raised to the desired height.
+The frame for the gate-way stood firm
+between its crowding sides. Gates were in
+progress at the carpenter&rsquo;s, made of solid
+plank, a door sliding up and down over
+an open space near the bottom. This
+was easily worked by means of a handle
+at the top.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And now,&rdquo; said Mr. Davy, &ldquo;to get
+the water into the pond. Patrick and
+Michael must build a dam a little way up
+the creek and the race-way from a point
+just above. We shall need a gate similar
+to the one at the outlet.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The boys were glad to give way to Patrick
+and Michael, when it came to building
+dams and race-ways. In the mean
+time they assisted the mason who was
+lining the embankment on either side the
+gate with stone, to protect it against the
+action of the water. The stone-boat, a
+little, flat vehicle which slides over the
+ground without wheels, was brought out,
+for piles of stone were to be drawn from
+a distant part of the farm.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But I shall want one of you to carry
+the hod for me,&rdquo; said the mason.</p>
+
+<p>It was arranged that they should take
+turns at this; so one would stay and fill
+with mortar the queer little box which
+hod-carriers use, and bear it on his shoulders
+to the mason, who was fast laying
+the curved wall.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why do you have the wall laid in this
+rounding shape, papa?&rdquo; asked George.
+&ldquo;Why not have it straight?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Because the curve makes it stronger
+to resist the force of the water. You notice
+that the mason chooses stones which
+are larger at one end than at the other.
+He lays them so that the larger ends form
+the outer side of the curve&mdash;the smaller
+form the inner or shorter side, as you see
+by looking at this wall. The stones, thus
+wedged against each other, could not be
+as easily forced out of place as if they
+were square in shape, and laid in a straight
+line. Imagine the water pressing upon
+the inner side of the curve. How readily
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>133]</a></span>
+the wall would give way, and the water
+come pouring through! Have you never
+observed, children,&rdquo; continued Mr. Davy,
+&ldquo;that in bridges, culverts, or any structure
+which is to sustain a heavy weight,
+the foundations are always laid in the form
+of an arch?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, papa,&rdquo; answered George; &ldquo;but
+I never knew why it was. I see now that
+it is to make them strong.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The boys had quite enough of hod-carrying
+and stone-quarrying before the
+wall was done. In fact, Patrick was
+pressed into the service repeatedly. The
+hod became too uneasy a burden for the
+boys&rsquo; shoulders, even though it was padded
+with sheep-skin.</p>
+
+<p>A channel to convey the water from the
+pond was now the only thing wanting.
+This was speedily begun, and the little
+workmen found themselves down in a
+trench behind a low rampart of earth.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s play we are soldiers,&rdquo; said
+George. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have Patrick and Michael
+for captain and lieutenant (only
+they must work, if they <em>are</em> officers), and
+papa for general and engineer.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Each little soldier did his best. The
+officers worked faithfully. The engineer
+came round often, and the dark thread
+across the bright, green meadow spun out
+rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s elect Frank quartermaster,&rdquo;
+said Tommy; &ldquo;then he&rsquo;ll go to headquarters,
+and make requisition for rations.
+<em>I</em> think it&rsquo;s time for dinner.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tell mother to send a big basketful,
+Frank. Soldiers get awful hungry,&rdquo; said
+Percy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tell mother we want to make coffee
+in the field, too,&rdquo; said George. &ldquo;Real soldiers
+do.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I fear that Patrick and Michael did
+most of the work after this, for the department
+of the commissary seemed to
+require the attention of all the boys.</p>
+
+<p>Mamma was willing to issue rations in
+the field. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;soldiers
+often have only hard tack and coffee. I
+suppose you will want nothing more.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This was a view of the case for which
+the boys were not prepared. They did
+not wish to seem unsoldierly, but they
+were very hungry.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You know, mother,&rdquo; said Percy, &ldquo;soldiers
+had bacon sometimes with their hard
+tack.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And we are only <em>playing</em> soldiers.
+We ain&rsquo;t <em>real</em> soldiers,&rdquo; said matter-of-fact
+Clarence.</p>
+
+<p>His brothers were quite ashamed that
+he should give this as a reason for wanting
+a good dinner, yet when they saw
+the pies and cakes going into the basket,
+they made no remarks.</p>
+
+<p>While the quartermaster was at the
+house, Tommy and George had built a
+fire, to boil the coffee. Two crotched
+stakes were driven firmly in the ground.
+A stout rod lay across them, and on this
+hung the kettle. A lively fire was burning
+underneath, the water boiling. In a
+few moments the coffee was made.</p>
+
+<p>After washing carefully in the creek,&mdash;for
+everything must be done as soldiers
+do,&mdash;all sat down in a circle on the
+ground. The coffee was served in tin
+cups; but shall I confess that our soldiers
+were so unsoldierlike as to drink it
+with cream and sugar?</p>
+
+<p>Patrick and Michael partook; but as
+they were absent directly afterwards, under
+pretence of smoking a noon pipe, I
+fancy they ate still further rations in the
+farm-house kitchen. The boys, however,
+said it was the best dinner they ever ate
+in their lives.</p>
+
+<p>They were now ready for a visit from
+the general. &ldquo;We will have these breastworks,&rdquo;
+said he, &ldquo;smoothed down in regular
+shape, and sow grass-seed upon them,
+so that in a few weeks there will be a
+green slope in place of these unsightly
+clods.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>134]</a></span>
+I assure you that as I look from my
+window while writing this story, those
+slopes appear very pretty, with the merry,
+sparkling stream flowing between.</p>
+
+<p>But I must hasten; for you will be
+anxious to know that the pond, gates,
+outlet, and all were done at last. Then
+came the day upon which the water was
+to be let in. A great day it was for the
+whole neighborhood. All the boys for a
+mile round were there to see.</p>
+
+<p>When everything was ready, Mr. Davy,
+who was up at the dam, hoisted the gate;
+the water came rushing through; in a few
+moments it had reached the end of its
+course, and poured over into the pond.</p>
+
+<p>Such a shout as rose from the throats
+of the forty or fifty boys! It must have
+surprised those placid meadows and the
+great solemn rocks around. And you
+would have thought the sleepy old hills
+had actually been startled into life, such
+sounding echoes they sent back in answer.</p>
+
+<p>The water spread itself thinly at first
+over the bottom of the pond. Slowly it
+rose; the little hollows were filled up,
+the slight elevations hidden from sight.
+Gradually it closed round the tiny green
+island which stood out above its surface
+like an emerald set in shining silver. By
+night the pond was full. The water began
+running over the top of the gate,
+making the prettiest little waterfall, and
+over it a light spray rose softly towards
+the evening sky.</p>
+
+<p>Bright and early the next morning there
+was commotion at the Davys&rsquo;. The boys
+were going to Maxwell&rsquo;s Creek, ten miles
+away, fishing. Mrs. Davy was stirring
+round, preparing their lunch. George
+and Percy hurried to the stable.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come, Brown Billy,&rdquo; said Percy to
+the favorite pony; &ldquo;time to get up and
+have your breakfast. We are all going
+fishing to-day;&rdquo; and he laid his hand
+smartly upon the pony&rsquo;s back.</p>
+
+<p>Brown Billy raised his head, opened
+his eyes in astonishment to see the boys
+so early in his stall; but hearing their
+merry voices, he seemed to understand
+the situation at once, and to be in full
+sympathy with them. An extra allowance
+of oats was put in the manger, and
+while the boys were eating their breakfast
+in the house, Brown Billy leisurely
+munched his in the stable. Then, after a
+draught from the pump, he was put into
+the traces. Two casks and a large basket
+were lifted in, the luncheon deposited,
+and soon they were on their way. The
+sun was just peeping above the horizon,
+spreading a crimson glory over every hill,
+and tree, and shrub; but this was so familiar
+a sight to the Davy boys, that it
+caused no remark, though they were not
+insensible to its beauty.</p>
+
+<p>The scene of their day&rsquo;s sport was a
+beautiful glen among the hills, through
+which the stream, a genuine, untaught
+child of the woods, jumped and tumbled
+at its own wild will, now leaping from
+precipices in the loveliest cataracts, then
+fretting noisily over its stony bed, and, a
+little farther on, flowing as smoothly as
+if it never thought of foaming or fretting
+in all its course.</p>
+
+<p>Tommy tied Brown Billy to a tree,
+giving him a long tether, that he might
+pick at the fresh grass.</p>
+
+<p>Trout are the most delicate of fishes,
+and require careful treatment. Indeed,
+they are quite the aristocracy of the finny
+tribe. Mr. Davy had given Patrick directions
+not to allow them to be caught
+with a hook, as it could not be taken
+from their mouths without causing much
+pain, and perhaps death.</p>
+
+<p>Patrick chose a place in the stream
+where the channel was narrow, but deep,
+and waded in.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now, boys,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;yes all go
+above a little way, wade out into the
+sthrame, and bate the wather with yer
+fish-poles. This will drive thim down,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>135]</a></span>
+and I&rsquo;ll see what I can do wid the basket.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The boys pulled off shoes and stockings,
+and rolled their trousers above the
+knees. Clarence sat on the bank, paddling
+with his bare feet in the stream.
+Stepping out into the creek, they hopped
+from one mossy stone to another, the
+water pleasantly laving their feet. Standing
+in a row across the stream, they began
+beating rather gently, at the same time
+walking slowly forward, hoping to drive
+the fish before them. Presently Patrick
+brought up the basket, the water streaming
+from it as it did from Simple Simon&rsquo;s
+sieve, and in the bottom, wriggling and
+squirming, lay four fine trout. Tommy
+seized the basket, and in an instant the
+fish were within the cask, in their native
+element again, though in rather close
+quarters. The boys hung over the barrel,
+gazing at the pretty creatures with intense
+delight. The sun shone down into the
+water, making the bright spots on their
+sides look like gold.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Never mind, little trout,&rdquo; said Franky;
+&ldquo;you are not going to be hurt&mdash;only
+moved to our fish-pond.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Do you not think they enjoyed that day
+far more because there was no cruelty in
+their sport?</p>
+
+<p>Their amusement was varied by a delicious
+lunch, and an occasional ramble
+through the woods. Towards evening
+they drove home, elated with their success.
+The cask contained nearly as many
+fish as could swim. The second cask
+was filled with fresh water, to replace
+that in the first when it should no longer
+be fit for the use of the fish. These delicate
+little trout are so sensitive to any
+impurity, that they could not have remained
+in the same water during the drive
+home without suffering. Indeed, they
+might have died before reaching the pond.</p>
+
+<p>My young readers may not know that
+fish breathe an element of the water
+which is a part of air also. In fact, the
+same element which sustains us sustains
+them also, viz., oxygen. Only one ninth
+part of water, however, is oxygen, while of
+air it is one fifth. I dare say you have all
+seen goldfishes, shut up in crystal prisons,
+swimming their endless round in a quart
+or two of water. Perhaps you have observed
+them lifting their heads above the
+surface, mouths wide open, gasping for
+breath. The oxygen is exhausted from
+the water, and unless it be speedily
+changed their mistress will lose her beautiful
+pets.</p>
+
+<p>The trout were put into the pond&mdash;a
+small beginning, to be sure; but it <em>was</em>
+a beginning. How lonely they must have
+been at first! What a boundless ocean
+it must have seemed to them!</p>
+
+<p>We will hope they found some cosy
+harbor in the grassy-lined sides of the
+island, where they could meet together
+and talk over their strange experience of
+moving. Plenty of company came soon,
+however; for all the boys in the neighborhood
+were interested in stocking the
+pond.</p>
+
+<p>A boat was in progress in Mr. Davy&rsquo;s
+tool-house. The boys watched every
+inch of its growth, from the shaping of
+the skeleton frame to the last dash of the
+paint-brush. When it was done, the seats
+put across from side to side, the coatings
+of white paint laid on, and elevated upon
+four stakes to dry its glistening sides, the
+boys thought nothing was ever half so
+beautiful; but when they saw it upon the
+pond, gently rocking from side to side,
+the oars hanging in the locks, and lazily
+swaying to the motion of the water, it
+seemed to them more beautiful still.</p>
+
+<p>This is not all a fancy sketch, dear boys
+and girls. Perhaps some of the farmer
+children who read it may persuade their
+papas to make a fishing-pond of some
+unsightly &ldquo;hollow in the pasture&rdquo; upon
+their own farms.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">L. M. D.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>136]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 444px;">
+<img src="images/hd057.jpg" width="444" height="600"
+alt="The boy feeds his dog scraps from his plate" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE LITTLE SAVOYARD AND HIS DOG.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>137]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>STORIES ABOUT DOGS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">A</span> NEWFOUNDLAND dog belonging to a gentleman in Edinburgh was
+in the habit of receiving a penny each day from his master, which he
+always took to a baker&rsquo;s shop and bought a loaf of bread for himself. One
+day a bad penny was given him by a gentleman by way of frolic. Dandie
+ran off with it to the baker&rsquo;s, as usual, but was refused a loaf. The poor dog
+waited a moment, as if considering what to do; he then returned to the house
+of the gentleman who had given him the bad coin; and when the servant
+opened the door, he laid it at her feet and walked away with an air of
+contempt.</p>
+
+<p>Some dogs are fond of music, while others seem not to be affected by it in
+the slightest degree. These two anecdotes are related by the author of a recent
+volume. He is speaking of a friend: &ldquo;As soon as the lamp is lighted and
+placed on the sitting-room table, a large dog of the water-spaniel breed usually
+jumps up and curls himself around the lamp. He never upsets it, but remains
+perfectly still. Now, my friend is very musical, but during the time the piano
+is being played the dog remains perfectly unmoved, until a particular piece is
+played. He will not take the slightest notice of loud or soft pieces, neither
+sentimental nor comic, but instantly the old tune entitled &lsquo;Drops of Brandy&rsquo;
+is played, he invariably raises his head and begins to howl most piteously,
+relapsing into his usual state of lethargy as soon as this tune is stopped. My
+friend cannot account for this action of the dog in any way, nor can we learn
+from any source the reason of its dislike.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Again, the wife of a hotel-keeper, lately deceased, possessed a pet lap-dog
+which delighted in listening to its mistress playing on the piano; if the usual
+hour for her daily practice passed by, the dog would grow impatient, snap and
+bark, and be perfectly uneasy until the lady consented to gratify its wishes by
+sitting down to the instrument and playing a few tunes. During this operation
+the dog would sit motionless on a chair by her side; and when the music
+was ended, he would jump down, quite satisfied for that day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_137lower" id="Page_137lower"></a>A CHILD&rsquo;S PRAYER.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">JESUS, tender Shepherd, hear me;<br />
+<span class="i2">Bless thy little lamb to-night;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through the darkness be thou near me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Keep me safe till morning light.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Through the day thy hand hath led me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And I thank thee for thy care;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thou hast warmed and fed and clothed me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Listen to my evening prayer.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>138]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 516px;">
+<img src="images/hd058.jpg" width="516" height="350"
+alt="A man jumps from one steam locomotive to another" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>JOHN STOCKS AND &ldquo;THE BISON.&rdquo;</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">O</span>NE winter afternoon, as Archy
+Douglas sat studying his lessons,
+Mrs. Falkoner, the housekeeper, came
+to invite him to have tea in her room.
+While they were at the table, they heard
+the kitchen bell ring, at which Mrs. Falkoner
+seemed surprised, for she said the
+weather would incline few people to leave
+their own firesides.</p>
+
+<p>It turned out, however, to be a visitor
+for Mrs. Falkoner herself, for in a few
+minutes one of the servants came to say
+a person who called himself John Stocks
+wanted to see her, and John presented
+himself in the doorway without further
+delay.</p>
+
+<p>An active man, with the look, at first
+sight, of the mate of a ship, he stood
+gently stamping the snow off his boots
+on the door mat, laughing in a low tone,
+as if he was very much pleased to see the
+worthy Mrs. Falkoner, and was enjoying
+her stare of astonishment to the full.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Dear bless me, John, is it really you?&rdquo;
+said Mrs. Falkoner, almost running to
+meet him. &ldquo;Whatever wind has blown
+you here?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No wind at all, Mary; nought but the
+snow,&rdquo; he said, laughing: but correcting
+himself, he added, &ldquo;Ah, well, there was
+a wind, after all, for we&rsquo;re fairly drifted up
+a few miles t&rsquo;other side of the Junction;
+and so I got leave to run over and see
+you: not often I get the chance&mdash;is it,
+now?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>All this time he had been taking off
+his outer coat; and when he was fairly
+in the room, Archy found he was a young
+man, certainly not more than thirty. He
+had crisp black hair, a bold, manly face,
+very red with exposure to the weather, and
+at the same time expressive of great determination
+of character. But one peculiarity
+about his face was, that though so
+young, his forehead was not only scarred
+and lined, but round his eyes and about
+his mouth it was puckered and wrinkled
+to a most extraordinary degree. Archy
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>139]</a></span>
+felt a great curiosity about him, but was
+not long left in doubt, for Mrs. Falkoner
+took care to make her visitor known to
+the young gentleman as her youngest
+half brother and an engine-driver on the
+main line.</p>
+
+<p>A remarkably quiet man did John
+Stocks seem in regard to general conversation;
+he said very little about the
+weather, and less about things going on
+in the great world, and anything he did
+say on these topics had almost to be
+coaxed out of him. However, he evidently
+took great delight in giving all the
+family news, even to the most minute
+particular.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Of course you&rsquo;ve heard,&rdquo; he said,
+warming one hand at the fire, &ldquo;that Bob&rsquo;s
+come home from America. Then that
+old Thompson has given up the shop.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; so I heard,&rdquo; said Mrs. Falkoner,
+pouring out another cup of tea, not
+appearing to take very great interest in
+them. &ldquo;No accidents on your line lately,
+I hope.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Not much,&rdquo; was the answer, and he
+again went back to the family news.
+&ldquo;Jenny&rsquo;s got a baby,&rdquo; he said, suddenly,
+with great glee, as if this piece of news
+was far before any other.</p>
+
+<p>This intelligence at least was news to
+Mrs. Falkoner, and she listened to all he
+had to say about it with great interest.</p>
+
+<p>But when Mrs. Falkoner was called
+away for a few minutes, it became necessary
+for Archy to entertain the visitor till
+her return.</p>
+
+<p>Of course Archy had many questions
+to put about the railway and the engines,
+and dangers and catastrophes. John was
+excessively civil, and on this subject was
+full of intelligence; but when he was
+asked if his own engine had broken down
+in the snow, he became quite horrified, if
+not indignant.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What, master, broke down?&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;Not a bit o&rsquo;t. I&rsquo;d back the old Bison
+against a drift twice as heavy. But, d&rsquo;ye
+see, when you comes and finds an engine
+and seven wagons o&rsquo; minerals, and another
+engine, and wagons besides that all
+ahead o&rsquo; ye, and stuck fast, why, I says,
+ye must give in. There ain&rsquo;t no use expecting
+yer engine to drive <em>through</em> &rsquo;em,
+so must lie by till all&rsquo;s cleared, which
+won&rsquo;t be for five hours at least.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How is it that the line&rsquo;s blocked up
+now?&rdquo; asked Archy. &ldquo;There has been
+no more snow all day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ay, that&rsquo;s true, master,&rdquo; said the engine-driver.
+&ldquo;But d&rsquo;ye see, a mile from
+the Junction there&rsquo;s a bit of heavy cutting,
+with a steep sloping bank on either
+side. Now, this afternoon there was a
+slip; most all the snow drifted there, and
+part of the bank itself fell in, and so there
+is a block-up. As I said afore, the mineral
+train, she comes up first, and she
+sticks fast, and then we has to follow, as
+a matter in course. But had my old Bison
+been afront, he&rsquo;d have done differently,
+I make no doubt.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is your engine a much stronger one?&rdquo;
+said Archy, greatly amused to hear how
+funny it was to call a train she, while he
+called the engine he, and by an animal&rsquo;s
+name, too.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that he&rsquo;s stronger, sir, but
+he&rsquo;s got more go in him, has the Bison.
+He&rsquo;s an extraordinary plucky engine.
+I&rsquo;ve seen him do wonderful things when
+Mat Whitelaw was driver, and me stoker
+to &rsquo;em. I&rsquo;ll just tell you one on &rsquo;em, and
+then ye can judge what sort o&rsquo; stuff the
+Bison&rsquo;s made o&rsquo;. It was one day in summer,
+some two years ago; we had just
+taken in water at the junction, and were
+about to run back to couple on the
+coaches, when an engine passed us tearing
+along at a tremendous speed on the
+other line o&rsquo; rail, but, mark me, without
+a driver or stoker, or aught else on it.
+I thought my mate was mad, when he
+got up steam, and off in the same direction;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>140]</a></span>
+but in a moment I saw what he was
+up to. The Bison was going in the chase.
+&lsquo;See to the brake, John,&rsquo; was all Mat
+said, when off we were after the runaway
+at full speed. It seemed to me nought
+but a wild-goose chase; for, d&rsquo;ye see,
+master, we were on another line o&rsquo; rails
+altogether. But Mat knew what he was
+about, and it was my place to do his bidding.
+I was always proud o&rsquo; the old
+Bison before that morning, but I never
+knew till then what a good engine was,
+and what was depending on it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You would have thought he fairly
+snorted to his work, going at the rate o&rsquo;
+forty miles an hour we were, and at last
+we got abreast o&rsquo; the runaway engine,
+and could have passed him, but that
+would have been useless. There wasn&rsquo;t
+another driver on the whole line would
+have thought of the thing so quickly as
+Mat did, nor could have regulated the
+speed so nicely to a moment. The two
+different engines were running just opposite
+each other on the two different lines,
+the runaway being a good deal worn out
+now, and going much slower than at
+first, when Mat he says to me, hoarsely,
+&lsquo;Jump across. It&rsquo;ll be safer if I stick
+here to hold the regulator; but I&rsquo;ll go, if
+you&rsquo;d rather stay.&rsquo; I had such confidence
+in Mat Whitelaw, that I could trust my
+life with him before any mortal man; and
+the instant he gave the word, I jumped,
+and did it safe. We each put on our
+brakes, and took breath, and desperately
+hot we both were, I can assure you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Were you not terribly afraid?&rdquo; said
+Archy, who had been almost breathless
+during the recital.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say that we were,&rdquo; said John,
+coolly; &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ll tell you I was frightened
+enough the next moment, when Mat
+looked at his watch, and sees that the
+down express was due in a few minutes
+on his line. I believe that Mat thought
+more o&rsquo; the passengers that might be
+smashed, and the risk for the Bison, than
+o&rsquo; his own safety. He said it would never
+do to reverse the engines now; but if we
+kept on, he thought there might yet be
+time to run into the siding at the nearest
+station. So on we went once more at
+increased speed, straight on ahead, though
+it was like running into the very face of
+the danger. The telegraph had been
+hard at work, and the station people
+had been laying their heads together, and
+they were at the points. So, when they
+heard the whistle, and saw Mat putting
+on the brake, they at once opened the
+points,&mdash;not a moment too soon, I can
+tell you,&mdash;and in he ran into the siding.
+Now, what Mat did, sir, was what I call
+about equal to most generals in war, and
+as great a benefit to society.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He must be a brave fellow,&rdquo; said
+Archy; &ldquo;and I hope you were both rewarded
+for it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The company behaved very handsome,&rdquo;
+was the answer. &ldquo;Mat got on to
+the Great Western line at once; but the
+worst of it is, he and I are parted, and
+the old Bison; he felt his loss as much,
+if not more than me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Falkoner, who had come in during
+the latter part of the story, now said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But tell the young gentleman what
+you did your own self, and what the company
+thought of your conduct.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tuts, Mary,&rdquo; he answered; &ldquo;I did
+nought extraordinary; there ain&rsquo;t a man
+in the service but could have done the
+same, had they known old Bison as well
+as I did.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I should like to hear it, John,&rdquo; said
+Archy, who was standing ready to leave
+the brother and sister alone.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, &rsquo;cept it be to tell you how I got
+to be driver of the Bison myself, it&rsquo;s not
+worth the listening to. When Mat left,
+Bill Jones got to be my mate&mdash;the worst
+driver on the line; at least he couldn&rsquo;t
+manage the Bison. He did not understand
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>141]</a></span>
+that engine one bit, and was constantly
+getting into trouble, till I was
+driven almost wild. Bill would say,
+&lsquo;Bison, indeed! he ought to be called
+Donkey; it would suit his kicking ways
+better.&rsquo; It was quite true he kicked, but
+he never did it with Mat on him, and
+went along the rails as smooth as oil.
+Well, at one part o&rsquo; the line, there is a
+gradual long incline, and one day we were
+just putting on more steam to run up,
+when we sees at the top two or three
+coaches coming tearing down straight
+upon us. We knew there was a heavy
+excursion train on ahead, and we had
+been going rather slow on that account,
+and this was some of the coaches that
+had got uncoupled from the rest. Well,
+Bill, my mate, no sooner saw it coming,
+than says he, &lsquo;Jump for your life!&rsquo; and
+out he went. But I knew what a quick
+engine the Bison was, and, moreover, I
+saw our guard had noticed the danger,
+too, and would work with me; so I
+reversed the engine, and ran back, until the
+coaches came up to us, but did no further
+damage save giving us a bit of a shake as
+they struck on the old Bison; and so we
+drove them afore us right up to the station.
+Bill was killed, as might have been
+expected, for he had no faith in the Bison
+whatever; and so the company, they came
+to see I understood that engine, and they
+made me driver o&rsquo; him from that time.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Archy now bade the worthy engine-driver
+good night, saying that he should
+always take a greater interest in engines
+than ever before, and that he should have
+liked very much to have seen such a famous
+one as the Bison.</p>
+
+<p>John Stocks evidently took this speech
+as a personal compliment, and, in consequence,
+bade Archy a friendly good by,
+saying, as he did so, &ldquo;that people nowadays
+talked of nothing but ships and extraordinary
+guns, and what not, but to
+his mind a good engine was before them
+all.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Mrs. George Cupples.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_141lower" id="Page_141lower"></a>THE CHILDREN&rsquo;S SONG.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">MERRILY sang the children, as their mother softly played;<br />
+<span class="i4">With eager, outstretched faces a pretty group they made;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their clear and bird-like voices ran loudly through the air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till &ldquo;Baby&rdquo; heard the music, and crept from stair to stair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That she might join the singers, and in their gladness share.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Dear, merry little warblers! I love to hear you, too;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Your fresh, unworldly feelings, your hearts so fond and true,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Give to your songs a sweetness that no other strains possess;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They soothe the harassed spirit when troubles thickly press,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And evoke the warm petition, &ldquo;<span class="smcap">O God, our children bless!</span>&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>142]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 409px;">
+<img src="images/hd059.jpg" width="409" height="600"
+alt="Kate, Constance and Willy with their repaired treasures" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>143]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">HOW earnest Kate and Constance and Brother Willy look,<br />
+<span class="i3">Counting up varied treasures, ship, bat and doll and book!<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The three are very busy, and very happy too,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Trying to mend up old things to look almost like new.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The book was rather shabby, but Kate with paste and thread<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Has made it firm and tidy, and rubbed it clean with bread.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And now, ere she resigns it, she lingers, glancing o&rsquo;er<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The pretty picture pages and well-known lines once more.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Constance has dressed the dolly&mdash;you see how nice it looks&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And all its things are fastened with little strings or hooks.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The ship with clean new rigging&mdash;Will&rsquo;s work&mdash;they eye with pride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And they have quite a drawerful of other things beside&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Boxes of beads and sweeties, and many a top and ball,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Saved for the coming Christmas; and who&rsquo;s to have them all?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Not their own merry playmates, bright girl and happy lad,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who&rsquo;ll meet for winter pastime like them well fed and clad.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">No; children in close alleys, or the large workhouse near,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our little friends&mdash;obeying Christ&rsquo;s words&mdash;will please and cheer.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And their own Christmas pleasures will seem more glad and sweet<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For knowing such poor neighbors enjoy for once a treat.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>144]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 570px;">
+<img src="images/hd060.jpg" width="570" height="400"
+alt="A man stands over Que, who is asleep on his mailbag" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>QUE.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">H</span>E was a wee bit of a boy to carry the
+United States mail on his back,
+seven miles, every day. He was only
+eleven years old, and as long, to an inch,
+as the mail bag, which was just three feet
+and eleven inches long. When he went
+along the road, you would sometimes see
+him, and sometimes the bag; that was
+as you happened to be on this or the other
+side of him. Many persons&rsquo; hard hearts
+have been made to open a crevice, at sight
+of the little fellow, to let a little jet of pity
+spirt out for him. But &ldquo;The Point&rdquo; ran
+out three miles and a half to the south of
+the county road and the stage coach, and
+the nearest coach post-office; and because
+it was only a small point, and sparsely
+settled, it couldn&rsquo;t afford a horse for the
+short distance; and because it was a
+short distance, no man, or boy, who was
+able to do a full day&rsquo;s work, would break
+into it to walk the seven miles; and
+because it was seven miles, no one who
+was not well could walk so far every day,
+and the year round. So it happened that
+the job was up for bids one spring, and
+the person who would carry the mail from
+Gingoo to the Point for the smallest
+amount of money, was to have it for a
+year.</p>
+
+<p>One woman offered to carry it for
+eighty dollars; another for seventy; one
+big boy offered for sixty-five; he&rsquo;d make
+the girls at home do the work, he said,&mdash;they
+hadn&rsquo;t anything else to do,&mdash;and he
+would give them each a new ribbon to
+pay for it: and between you and me, I
+am very glad that that boy didn&rsquo;t get the
+job.</p>
+
+<p>Without saying a word to his family
+about it, Que made up his mind that he
+would carry the mail himself. When the
+others sent in their bids he sent in his,
+for fifty dollars. <em>So</em> it happened that Que
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>145]</a></span>
+was mail-carrier. He was so little and
+bow-legged, that there were not many
+things that he could do; for instance, he
+couldn&rsquo;t run. His head and feet were
+very large, and his arms and intermediate
+body very small; therefore he could
+dream and wonder what he should do
+when he grew up, and walk (with care) as
+much as he pleased, but was not a favorite
+among the boys in playing games.</p>
+
+<p>Of course he was not baptized into the
+name Que, but was called, by his parents
+and the christening minister, John Quincy
+Adams Pond, Jr.; named for his father,
+you see. They began to call him Que
+before he was out of his babyhood; for
+they had one boy named John Lee, but as
+they always called him Lee, they entirely
+forgot that fact till after the ceremony
+of Que&rsquo;s christening. And they really
+weren&rsquo;t much to blame, for they had nine
+other boys, and poor memories; and
+though both are misfortunes, they can&rsquo;t
+be helped. To avoid mixing their two
+Johns, they called one Lee and the other
+Que.</p>
+
+<p>Que looked upon seven miles a day as
+no walk at all, and upon fifty dollars a
+year as a fortune, and upon &ldquo;United
+States mail-carrier&rdquo; as a title little below
+&ldquo;Hon.&rdquo; or &ldquo;Esq.&rdquo; He had hoped, all
+his life, that he should, some fine day,
+have a right to one or the other of these
+titles. Probably the fact that his name
+already ended with a &ldquo;Jr.&rdquo; excited his
+ambition in that particular direction.
+Money and dignity seemed to Que the
+two things most to be desired in life,
+unless I might add a small family.</p>
+
+<p>Now, we will leave Que&rsquo;s antecedents
+behind, and go on to his life while he
+carried the mail; and a very queer little
+life it was, as you will say when you get
+to the end of it, though I don&rsquo;t know
+when that will be, for Que isn&rsquo;t there
+himself yet. The mail contract was from
+July 1, 1860, to July 1, 1861, and if your
+mathematics are in good running order,
+you will see that that was just a year.</p>
+
+<p>July 1, 1860, was as fine a day in Gingoo
+as any day in the year; and Que was in
+as high spirits as on any day in the course
+of his life. Unfortunately the mail coach
+reached Gingoo exactly at forty minutes
+past eleven, unless the driver got drunk
+or fell asleep, which happened about two
+hundred and forty days in the year. But
+whether sober, drunk, or asleep, the four
+coach horses always stood before Gingoo
+office door by twelve o&rsquo;clock at latest.</p>
+
+<p>It makes no difference to you or to me
+when the coach stood there; but it made
+a great deal of difference to Que, for
+twelve o&rsquo;clock on the finest day in the
+year, and that day the first of July, is apt
+to be rather warm; and in the year 1860
+it was <em>very</em> warm. Nevertheless, at quarter
+past twelve, Que started with the bag.
+I, happening to be at the right side of him,
+saw only the bag start with Que.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps you don&rsquo;t see why Que should
+have started right in the heat of the day;
+but if you had been Que, and could have
+heard all the Pointers clamoring for their
+mail, you would have started just when
+Que did. The mail-bag was made of
+very dark leather, and drew the sun tremendously.
+Now, as Que had on a pair
+of light linen pants and a little gray lined
+coat, of course he ought to have walked
+between the bag and the sun; but not
+being a scientific boy, he didn&rsquo;t think of
+that, and slung the bag over his sunny
+shoulder, and from that height it trailed
+to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Que walked on as fast as he could, trying
+not to think too much of the heat and
+the weight; but the peculiar odor that the
+sun brought from the leather bag was
+blown up his nose, and down his throat,
+and into his ears, by a strong south wind
+that blew, and before Que had time to
+think whether he had better or better not,
+he was lying fast asleep by the side of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>146]</a></span>
+road, on the grass; rather he was lying
+on the mail-bag, and that was lying on
+the grass. Why didn&rsquo;t he fall on the
+other side? For two reasons; first, he
+was attracted mail-bag way by the sleepy
+odor before spoken of; and secondly, the
+weight was all that way, and as he began
+to sleep before he began to drop, of
+course the bag was his natural bed when
+he did drop.</p>
+
+<p>The Point road was lonesome, and it
+must have been quite an hour before any
+one came that way. Then a man and
+two horses, and a cart loaded high with
+laths, were seen coming over the hill;
+that is, they would have been seen, if
+Que hadn&rsquo;t been asleep just then.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hollo! what&rsquo;s all this?&rdquo; said the
+driver when he got opposite the bag and
+Que.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;All this&rdquo; neither stirred nor spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Whoa! whoa, there!&rdquo; called the driver
+to his horses.</p>
+
+<p>Now, if Que had been taking only a
+light, after-dinner nap, he would have
+been wide awake as soon as the cart
+stopped; for the hill was a long one, and
+the rumbling had been as long, and merely
+from lack of that lullaby, a well-conditioned
+boy should have wakened at once.
+But Que didn&rsquo;t.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I declare,&rdquo; said the driver, &ldquo;if it ain&rsquo;t
+that bran new mail-boy!&rdquo; Thereupon
+he went up and looked at him; but not
+being of a magnetic temperament, he
+didn&rsquo;t wake Que that way.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Bless the chick, if he isn&rsquo;t dead asleep,&rdquo;
+continued the driver, talking to himself.
+This driver had a habit of talking to himself,
+for he said, &ldquo;then he was always sure
+of having somebody worth talking to.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now, won&rsquo;t those Pointers growl for
+their mail, when it is a couple of hours
+late? The first day, too! Que&rsquo;ll catch it.&rdquo;
+Then he gave Que a little roll, so that he
+rolled from the bag over into the grass.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I always <em>was</em> a good-natured
+fellow. Guess I&rsquo;ll take his bag along for
+him, and save him the scolding.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So the driver threw the bag on top of
+the load of laths, and left the bag-boy to
+sleep it out.</p>
+
+<p>When Que had slept half an hour
+longer, he started up, staring wide awake.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been asleep,&rdquo; said Que; and so
+he had.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My bag&rsquo;s been and gone,&rdquo; continued
+Que; and so it had.</p>
+
+<p>But he was a bright boy, and all the
+brighter, perhaps, for having just been
+asleep; so he looked round, which is a
+very good thing to do when you get into
+trouble, and the very thing that half the
+people in the world never think to do.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There are tracks in the grass; and
+there is a cart-track in the dust, and it
+had two horses, and these foot-tracks
+went back to it. Why, the lath man must
+have taken it;&rdquo; and so he had.</p>
+
+<p>Que started towards the Point as fast
+as he could go, and consequently, when
+he got there, which was just fifty minutes
+after the bag got there, he had no breath
+left to ask any questions about it. Still
+he panted on to the post-office.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Who are you?&rdquo; asked the postmaster.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m&mdash;a&mdash;bag,&rdquo; gasped Que.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Bag of wind!&rdquo; said the postmaster,
+emphatically.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A&mdash;mail&mdash;bag!&rdquo; said Que.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Humph! So you&rsquo;re the new mail
+boy&mdash;are you? Send your bag down by
+express, and came yourself by accommodation&mdash;didn&rsquo;t
+you?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The lath man&rsquo;s got it; where is he?&rdquo;
+Que had recovered his breath a little by
+this time.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know anything about the lath
+man,&rdquo; growled the postmaster.</p>
+
+<p>But when Que began to cry, which he
+did at once, the postmaster couldn&rsquo;t stand
+that, for he had no children of his own,
+and his feelings, consequently, weren&rsquo;t
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>147]</a></span>
+hardened; so he dragged the bag from a
+corner, and threw it on Que&rsquo;s back.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There, take your bag, and go home,
+and don&rsquo;t be two hours late the first day,
+next time.&rdquo; He didn&rsquo;t stop to think that
+there cannot be two first days to the same
+thing. Que didn&rsquo;t stop to think of it,
+either, but started homewards as fast as
+his bow-legs would let him. I think he
+approximated more nearly to running,
+that day, than he ever had done in his
+life before.</p>
+
+<p>Que&rsquo;s nine brothers treated him with
+great respect, when he got home. The
+family had been to tea, but each one had
+saved some part of his supper for Que;
+so, though he had an indigestible mixture,
+there was plenty of it,&mdash;while it
+lasted.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Did you have a good time, Que?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Was it fun?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Did you get anything for it?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Did you get tired?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Going to keep it up?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t I go next time?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you like it?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Did you see any boys?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Anybody give you a lift?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>How all together the questions did
+come! But the confusion of them saved
+Que from the trouble of answering the
+nine boys, and as soon as there was a lull,
+his father said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You were gone some time, sir; I hope
+you didn&rsquo;t stop to play on the road?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, no, sir,&rdquo; said Que. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t
+played at all;&rdquo; which was very true, you
+know.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Did there seem to be many letters?&rdquo;
+asked his mother; and be it understood,
+that she asked quite as much because
+Que looked as if the bag had been heavy,
+as from feminine curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Didn&rsquo;t notice, ma&rsquo;am; the bag wasn&rsquo;t
+very heavy;&rdquo; and it wasn&rsquo;t, except on
+his conscience, and he knew his mother
+didn&rsquo;t mean that, at all.</p>
+
+<p>For several weeks after that everything
+went on smoothly enough. Que had a
+pretty good time, and found it some fun,
+and felt that he was getting something
+for it, and didn&rsquo;t get very tired, and kept
+it up, and never took any of his brothers
+with him, and liked the business, and saw
+a good many boys, and got a large number
+of &ldquo;lifts&rdquo; from hay-carts and wagons,
+and particularly from the lath man. So,
+in course of time, all the brothers&rsquo; questions
+were satisfactorily answered.</p>
+
+<p>It is a way that the world has, to let
+you trip once, and then run on smooth
+ground some time, before it puts another
+snag in your way; and it made no exception
+in Que&rsquo;s favor. His drab clothes
+kept clean a long time, in spite of the
+leather bag, and washed well when they
+were not clean. The Gingoo postmaster
+took a fancy to him, and the Point post
+master refrained from tormenting him.
+The mails were not unbearably heavy
+nor the month of July remarkably hot
+after the first. Que had a good appetite
+for his supper, and plenty of supper to
+show it on, and slept long and heavily
+every night and a part of every morning,
+and thought that the world was a pretty
+good kind of place, after all. But that
+was only because he hadn&rsquo;t come to the
+second snag yet.</p>
+
+<p>One day, in the first end of August, a
+wind sprang up. It wasn&rsquo;t a very uncommonly
+high wind, only no one was
+expecting it, because the days had been
+muggy, and that made every one say,
+&ldquo;Why, what a high wind there is to-day!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>You and I can&rsquo;t tell why the wind
+should have gone on rising through the
+forenoon; but we can guess, which will
+answer our purpose just as well; for you
+know it is but little more than that that
+your father and his friends, and father&rsquo;s
+father and his friends, do, when they meet
+together and &ldquo;express opinions.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>148]</a></span>
+<em>I</em> guess that the wind rose higher
+through the forenoon because, as soon
+as it began to play about in the morning,
+it caught the whisper of people&rsquo;s surprise,
+and thought it would take the hint,
+and blow them up a little.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What a dickens of a wind!&rdquo; said
+Que, when he stood, or tried to stand, on
+top of the hill with his bag.</p>
+
+<p>Que had learned all the easy ways of
+carrying that bag long ago; of strapping
+it in a little roll over his shoulders when
+it wasn&rsquo;t very full; of carrying it on his
+head when it had enough inside to balance
+just right, and of strapping it round
+his body when it had nothing in it. But,
+as the days had been all stormless alike,
+he had been obliged to adapt himself
+only to the conditions of the bag, and
+not at all to the state of the weather.</p>
+
+<p>As the masculine mind is capable of
+taking in only one idea at a time, as soon
+as Que put his mind to the state of the
+weather, it drew itself away from the
+manner of carrying the bag.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Wish I had something between me
+and the wind,&rdquo; sighed he.</p>
+
+<p>Just then the wind blew off his hat,
+to teach him the polite order of mentioning
+two persons, of whom himself
+was one.</p>
+
+<p>Que followed after it as fast as he
+could, and let the bag drop beside him,
+and by chance it hung from his neck to
+the windward side.</p>
+
+<p>The wind blew very strong.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I do declare,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;I shouldn&rsquo;t
+wonder a bit if the wind blew me away.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Que was a truthful boy; but he did
+wonder very much when he found, two
+seconds afterwards, that the wind <em>was</em>
+blowing him away. But he didn&rsquo;t wonder
+at all, when he lay, a minute later,
+against a huge apple tree; partly because
+people generally get through wondering
+when they are at the end of anything,
+but mostly because the blow stunned
+Que, so that he didn&rsquo;t know anything for
+an hour.</p>
+
+<p>When he gradually came to himself,
+he didn&rsquo;t know where he was. Then a
+little wind shook a green apple down on
+his nose, and he concluded that he was
+under an apple tree; which was quite
+correct.</p>
+
+<p>Then he looked about to see whether
+he was in the United States or not; he
+saw the five juniper trees that had been
+standing in a row, half a mile from his
+father&rsquo;s house, ever since he could remember,
+and concluded that he must
+be; wherein he was again quite correct.</p>
+
+<p>Then he wondered if any one would
+come for him, for he felt so stiff and
+sore that he thought he never could go
+home alone.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;ll come for me, <em>I</em> know; for if
+I&rsquo;ve had a gale they must have had one;
+and if they have had one they&rsquo;ll know
+that I&rsquo;ve had one. Of course they&rsquo;ll
+come.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Que felt round for his mail-bag, and
+got his head on it, and waited. While
+he was lying there it occurred to him that
+the people down in the village wouldn&rsquo;t
+have been walking about with bags broader
+than themselves to windward of them,
+and mightn&rsquo;t have felt the breeze as he
+did; so his last reasoning wasn&rsquo;t correct
+at all.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll bet they didn&rsquo;t feel it a bit!&rdquo;
+thought Que; and by this time he was
+so fully in possession of his original faculties,
+that his reasoning was quite correct
+again. No one else had felt the
+gale.</p>
+
+<p>Que put his head on the bag and thought
+that his end had come, and so cried himself
+to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>His family had not felt the gale very
+heavily; but when tea-time came, and
+Que didn&rsquo;t, they felt that; and when
+darkness came, and Que didn&rsquo;t, they felt
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>149]</a></span>
+that; and when a report came, with a
+growl, from the Point that they wanted
+their mail, Que&rsquo;s father started out with
+a lantern to find it.</p>
+
+<p>Que, having finished his nap, felt better,
+and tried to get up; but his ankle
+didn&rsquo;t want to move; and when he tried
+again it actually wouldn&rsquo;t move; so he lay
+down again to wait and watch. When he
+saw the lantern go by, he called, and his
+father came.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What are you doing here, sir?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nothing,&rdquo; said Que.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Get up, then.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Que.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve been asleep, sir.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; said Que.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What have you done with the mail-bag?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is the mail-bag that&rsquo;s done with
+me,&rdquo; said Que.</p>
+
+<p>Then his father took him by the collar,
+and stood him up, and saw at once what
+was the matter. Que had sprained his
+ankle.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to Que, during the next four
+weeks, as if that ankle never would heal;
+but it did at last, and John Lee, who had
+carried the mail in the mean time, was
+loath to give the job to Que again. He
+felt for Que through his pain, but charged
+him one twelfth of fifty dollars for doing
+his work a month, and would like to do it
+a while longer.</p>
+
+<p>There isn&rsquo;t much more to tell of Que
+as a mail-boy. The end of the year
+found him the possessor of forty-five dollars
+and five shillings.</p>
+
+<p>The next year the Point afforded a
+horse, and Que took the mail on the
+horse&rsquo;s back; the year following they
+had a horse and wagon, and Que drove
+that; when they have a railway I have
+no doubt Que will be a conductor; and
+when the mail is blown through a tunnel,
+Que, of course, will blow it.</p>
+
+<p>Even the second snag, you see, needn&rsquo;t
+lay you a dead weight on the earth.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Mary B. Harris.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_149lower" id="Page_149lower"></a>WHAT THE CLOCK SAYS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">THE clock&rsquo;s loud tick<br />
+<span class="i3">Says, &ldquo;Time flies quick.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Listen,&rdquo; says the chime;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Make the most of time,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For remember, young and old,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Minutes are like grains of gold;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Spend them wisely, spend them well,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For their worth can no man tell.&rdquo;<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>150]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 434px;">
+<img src="images/hd061.jpg" width="434" height="600"
+alt="A little girl, held by a woman, reaches a finger towards falling snowflakes" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE SNOW-FALL.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>151]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE SNOW-FALL.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">OLD Winter comes forth in his robe of white,<br />
+<span class="i3">He sends the sweet flowers far out of sight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He robs the trees of their green leaves quite,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And freezes the pond and the river;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He has spoiled the butterfly&rsquo;s pretty nest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And ordered the birds not to build their nest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And banished the frog to a four months&rsquo; rest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And makes all the children shiver.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Yet he does some good with his icy tread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For he keeps the corn-seeds warm in their bed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He dries up the damp which the rain had spread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And renders the air more healthy;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He taught the boys to slide, and he flung<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rich Christmas gifts o&rsquo;er the old and young,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And when cries for food from the poor were wrung,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He opened the purse of the wealthy.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">We like the Spring with its fine fresh air;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We like the Summer with flowers so fair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We like the fruits we in Autumn share,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And we like, too, old Winter&rsquo;s greeting:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His touch is cold, but his heart is warm;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So, though he brings to us snow and storm,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We look with a smile on his well-known form,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And ours is a gladsome meeting.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/hd062.png" width="150" height="46"
+alt="Floral decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>152]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>STITCHING AND TEACHING.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>ILL had had the croup. Then
+the measles took possession of
+him, and lastly, the whooping-cough, finding
+him well swept and garnished, entered
+in, and shook and throttled him in a manner
+quite deplorable.</p>
+
+<p>His convalescence, however, was relieved
+of its monotony by a headlong fall
+from a step ladder in the library, whereby
+he sprained his wrist, to say nothing
+of the mischief that he made, in his descent,
+amid the ink, books, and papers.</p>
+
+<p>Treading on a pin in the sewing-room
+was another diversion in his favor, giving
+him, for a while, a daily looking forward
+to bandages and poultices, and an opportunity
+to weigh the advantages of obedience
+in case he should ever again wish,
+and be forbidden, to jump out of bed and
+run barefoot amid the dressmaker&rsquo;s shreds
+in search of his top.</p>
+
+<p>Now, all this is no uncommon experience
+for a small boy. I simply mention
+it by way of apology for introducing Will
+in an unamiable mood. One regrets to
+have one&rsquo;s friends make an unfavorable
+first impression.</p>
+
+<p>This was Will&rsquo;s first morning at school
+since his recovery. He found that the
+boys had gone on in their Latin, had
+gone on in their French, leaving him far
+behind; they had got into decimals, and
+he way back pages; they had a new writing-master,
+and wrote with their faces
+turned a new way, to the great disgust
+of Will. They had had a botany excursion
+to Blue Hills, which he had lost.
+He was down at the foot of the class, and
+at the end of the morning he had made
+up his desperate mind to remain there
+forever. It was no use for a fellow to try
+to put through such a pile of back lessons.</p>
+
+<p>He came stamping up stairs, kicked at
+the nursery door, slung in his bag of
+books, and stood on the threshold, pouting
+and glaring angrily at his sister Emily.</p>
+
+<p>Emily sat in the window opposite, the
+sunlight sifting through the flickering ivy
+leaves on to her golden hair and fair sweet
+face. She was singing over her sewing
+as Will made his noisy entrance. She
+looked up at the scowling boy in the doorway,
+her pale cheeks flushing with surprise
+and then with pity.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the matter?&rdquo; she asked, gently.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Matter?&rdquo; roared Will; &ldquo;I guess you&rsquo;d
+ask, if you knew how old &lsquo;Crit&rsquo; had been
+cramming the fellows, and me nowhere.
+I&rsquo;ll&mdash;run away to sea, or somewheres.
+I&rsquo;m not going to <em>stand</em> it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Will bounced his hand down so hard
+on a tea-poy, two little terra cotta shepherdesses
+bounded up from it, knocked
+their heads together, and fell clattering
+to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, Will,&rdquo; cried Emily, rising up with
+a scared face, and dropping her pretty
+work-basket, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t talk so. You are
+tired now, and everything troubles you,
+because you have been sick so long. By
+and by, when you are a little stronger,
+you will feel differently. Don&rsquo;t think
+about the back lessons. Just try to be
+glad you are well enough to go to school
+again, and be with the boys.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, don&rsquo;t preach!&rdquo; persisted Will,
+gruffly.</p>
+
+<p>With the cloud still hanging over his
+handsome face, he shook himself away
+from the caressing hand which was laid
+upon his shoulder, as if to hold him back
+from running away to the great, pitiless sea.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Asy! asy, now!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This was Kathleen, the nurse, calling
+out in cautioning tones to Will, who had
+jerked against the tray she was carrying
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>153]</a></span>
+causing the two saucers of strawberries
+to click together sharply, and the buttered
+rolls to slip over the edge of the plate.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re tired with the school, poor craythur,
+an&rsquo; no wonder at that same. Larnin&rsquo;s
+murtherin&rsquo;, bad luck to it! I tried it
+mysel oncet, a moonth or so, avenin&rsquo;s.
+It&rsquo;s myself was watchin&rsquo; for ye, Master
+Will, and when ye came round the corner
+I had this bit sup arl ready for ye. &lsquo;The
+crame&mdash;quick&mdash;Bridget!&rsquo; says I, and
+then I ran away up the two flights with
+it; and barrin&rsquo; the joggle you give it, it&rsquo;s
+in foine, tip-top orther an&rsquo; priservation
+arl tegither, bless your little sowl!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Kathleen set out the crisp little rolls
+and the great crimson berries in the most
+tempting way she could devise, and went
+off, bobbing her head with satisfaction to
+see the children place themselves at table,
+and partake of her well-timed lunch.</p>
+
+<p>Will, as an atonement for the ungentle
+way in which he had come in upon his
+sister after school, offered her the nicest
+plate of berries, and insisted that she
+should take the crispiest roll. He suddenly
+remembered that Emily, too, had
+had whooping-cough and measles at the
+same time, and quite as badly as himself.
+But, then, she had not sprained her wrist
+or lamed her foot; so it was no wonder
+her temper had not suffered. Besides, it
+was expected of girls not to make a fuss.</p>
+
+<p>In view of these last circumstances, he
+suppressed the apology he was about to
+make for his late unpleasant remarks.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It never will do to give up too much
+to girls,&rdquo; he reasoned, draining the last
+drop of cream from the pitcher.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Your grandmamma is coming over
+from Brookline this afternoon in the carriage,
+to take the two of you home with
+her to spind the night.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This was Kathleen back again at the
+nursery door, and wiping her face with her
+apron as she unburdened herself of this
+forgotten bit of news.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You won&rsquo;t run away to sea now,&rdquo; besought
+Emily, with imploring eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Maybe I mightn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; shouted Will,
+tossing up his cap in glee at this unexpected
+prospect of fun.</p>
+
+<p>It was now only the middle of the long
+summer day. Such a tiresome journey as
+the sun had to go before it rolled quite
+away in the west! Will longed to give
+it a push, and to hurry up the clock to
+strike five, the hour when they should be
+on their way to beautiful Brookline.</p>
+
+<p>Impatient little Will! Emily kindly
+helped him to get through with the lagging
+time. At her suggestion, he played
+ball a while on the lawn, while from time
+to time she nodded encouragingly to him
+through the open window. By and by
+the ball bounded up into a spout, cuddling
+down among some soft old maple leaves,
+where Will could not see it. Thereupon
+Will came into the house in a great pet,
+storming about till he was persuaded to
+sit on the floor and paste pictures in his
+scrap-book.</p>
+
+<p>This quiet occupation did not amuse
+him long. His fingers, his chin, his
+cheeks, his curls even soon became stiff
+with mucilage. Mucilage on his trouser
+knees, mucilage on his jacket elbows&mdash;in
+fact, mucilage everywhere on and
+around him.</p>
+
+<p>Emily, after having, with great painstaking,
+washed her brother and all the
+surrounding furniture, proposed that he
+should study a Latin lesson. The book
+soon went down with a bang. &ldquo;Because,&rdquo;
+as Will sulkily explained to his sighing
+sister, &ldquo;it made his head buzz.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Emily gently suggested a French lesson
+as a corrective of this unpleasant
+&ldquo;buzz.&rdquo; The remedy soon proved to be
+a failure. The French book came down
+more noisily than the Latin book.</p>
+
+<p>Emily laid aside her drawing in despair.
+It was such a relief to hear Kathleen&rsquo;s
+heavy step in the entry, and to remember
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>154]</a></span>
+it was time now for Will to be dressed
+for dinner!</p>
+
+<p>Poor Kathleen had a thankless task
+before her. Master Will required a great
+deal of preparation. His curls were
+gummed and tangled; his fingers were
+inky, and suspiciously pitchy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve been climbin&rsquo; unknownst up
+that pine tree again, an&rsquo; you a told not
+to?&rdquo; questioned Kathleen, examining the
+fingers keenly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hush up, and go ahead!&rdquo; was Will&rsquo;s
+rude answer.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How <em>can</em> you speak so?&rdquo; reproved
+Emily, turning round upon Will, while
+she tied back her hair with a band of blue
+ribbon.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Fie, fie, sir!&rdquo; cried displeased Kathleen,
+&ldquo;going ahead&rdquo; with great energy,
+her mouth pursed up in disapproval of
+Master Will&rsquo;s manners, while she washed,
+and combed, and curled, and took off and
+put on his apparel.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where&rsquo;s your stockings, Master Will,&mdash;the
+blue stripes?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Dunno.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Will sat in a low chair, his stubby bare
+feet stuck out before him, and his two
+hands actively employed as fly-catchers.
+Suddenly he remembered having amused
+himself the day before in oiling his sled
+runners, using the striped stockings for
+wipers; but he did not trouble Kathleen
+just then with the tidings. The blue-striped
+stockings were not found. Then
+came a difficulty with his new boots.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Aow! they pinch!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where, sir?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Master Will, not being able to say exactly
+where, was left to get used to the
+new boots as well as he could.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now see, here&rsquo;s your new suit; an&rsquo;
+be careful with it, mind&mdash;careful as iver
+was. It&rsquo;s me afternoon out; and if ye
+go tearin&rsquo; the cloos on ye, ye&rsquo;ll jist mind
+thim yersel, or else go in tatthers wid yer
+grandmamma.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This speech had no more wholesome
+effect on Will than to cause him to stick
+out his tongue at Emily, while Kathleen,
+standing behind him, arranged his buttons
+and his drapery generally.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now, if you could only be as good as
+you&rsquo;re purty,&rdquo; exclaimed Kathleen, wheeling
+Will suddenly round before his tongue
+was quite in place again, &ldquo;you&rsquo;d do well
+enough.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>With a few finishing touches to Emily&rsquo;s
+sash ribbon, Kathleen went off to make
+her own gorgeous toilet for her afternoon
+out.</p>
+
+<p>The dinner was next to be gotten
+through with. But that was not an unpleasant
+hour to Will. After dinner the
+children were permitted by their mother
+to amuse themselves under the shadow
+of the great elm behind the house. She
+knew that with Emily this permission
+simply meant liberty to sit quietly beneath
+the overhanging branches, gazing dreamily
+over the soft summer landscape, or listening
+to the sweet sounds that stirred the
+air around and above her. But with Will
+it might be more broadly interpreted into
+leave for frequent raids over fences and
+through bars for butterflies and beetles,
+or any luckless rover that strayed along.
+So she explained to her son in this
+wise:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Will, dear, remember that your grandmamma
+is coming for you, and you must
+not soil or tear your clothes by running
+about. Play quietly in the shade. The
+time will not be long now.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, mum.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Such implicit obedience as this &ldquo;Yes,
+mum&rdquo; implied! In fact, there was the
+promise in it of every one of the cardinal
+virtues.</p>
+
+<p>The two children then went away
+through the long hall, whose doors stood
+wide open in the warm summer afternoon,
+and Will, dragging along the slower-footed
+Emily, hurried on to the elm tree.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>155]</a></span>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t pull so, Will; I shall drop my
+basket, and my spool and thimble will
+roll away.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What do you want to bother with
+work for this beautiful afternoon?&rdquo; inquired
+Will, slackening his pace.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I promised mamma I would try and
+finish it this week,&rdquo; said Emily, &ldquo;and I
+like to keep my word.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I thought the machine sewed.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;So it does; but mamma says I must
+learn just the same as if there were no
+machines.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;m glad I&rsquo;m not a girl, to sit
+pricking my fingers, and jabbing needles
+in and out all day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Patience was not one of Will&rsquo;s virtues.</p>
+
+<p>How lovely it was out under the elm!
+The sweet-scented grass was warm with
+the afternoon sun, and musical with the
+chirp and hum of its insect homes. The
+bees fluttered in and out over mamma&rsquo;s
+rose garden, and all the air was filled with
+the delicate fragrance of the roses.</p>
+
+<p>Emily, seated on the great gnarled elm
+roots, drank in all the sweet scents and
+sounds, her forgotten work-basket lying
+overturned in the grass before her. Will
+spread himself out at full length on the
+ground, and kept his eyes open for chippers
+and spiders, and all the busy little
+things that crept, or leaped, or flitted
+around him. Now and then the afternoon
+hush was broken by the faintly tinkling
+bells of a horse-car turning some distant
+corner, the rumbling of a heavy team going
+over the dusty turnpike, or the voices
+of the belfry clocks calling the hour to
+each other from the steeples of the neighboring
+city.</p>
+
+<p>Master Will, however, soon became
+tired of this quiet. He scrambled up,
+and wandering away into the rose garden,
+lifted caressingly to his cheek the beautiful
+pink blossoms which leaned towards
+him from amid the green leaves. He was
+looking for a choice little bud to fasten in
+Emily&rsquo;s hair; and when he found it, he
+came whistling out into the clear grassy
+spaces again, a little bird in a bough overhead
+tilting, and twittering, and eying him
+askance.</p>
+
+<p>Will rushed up to Emily, and hung the
+bud in her ear; he rearranged it in the
+blue ribbon of her hair, so that it nodded
+sleepily over her nose; he dropped it, as
+if it were a tiny pink egg, in the soft golden
+moss of curls which he upturned on
+his sister&rsquo;s head. Then he threw it away,
+and stamped on it; for Emily had drawn
+a book from her pocket, and deep in some
+fairy under-world story, was unmindful
+of his roses and his pains.</p>
+
+<p>He ran recklessly away into the rose
+garden; he caught a bumblebee; he pursued
+a daddy long-leg with the watering-pot,
+going deeper and deeper all the time
+among the briery branches. The crashing
+of the stems caused Emily to come
+up from fairy-land a moment.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Have a care, Will, dear. The roses
+have thorns. You may tear your nice
+jacket.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Crash, crash! rip, rip! The rose
+trees are dragging at Will with their
+prickly fingers. With great effort he
+burst away from them, and rushed out,
+with no worse mischance than a rent in
+his trousers.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Aw! aw! aw!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>All the little knolls seemed to take up
+Will&rsquo;s sorrowful cry, and repeat it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You must not tear or soil your clothes.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Every cricket in the grass seemed to
+be screaming these words of his mother,
+and here was her luckless son with two
+green spots on his stockings, and a grievous
+rent in his new pantaloons.</p>
+
+<p>It was Kathleen&rsquo;s afternoon out; she
+had warned him, and there was no help
+in that direction. He looked mournfully
+over his shoulder at the damages with a
+vague idea that he had perhaps some undeveloped
+capacity for mending.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>156]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 417px;">
+<img src="images/hd063.jpg" width="417" height="600"
+alt="Emily repairs Will's trousers" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption smcap">&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll see how nicely I&rsquo;ll sew it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>157]</a></span>
+&ldquo;Couldn&rsquo;t you pin it up nicely?&rdquo; he
+inquired, in most insinuating tones, of
+Emily, whose eye just then met his.</p>
+
+<p>Emily burst into a merry laugh.</p>
+
+<p>Will was mute with indignation, and
+tingling to his finger&rsquo;s ends, with this untimely
+mirth. His flashing eyes asked if
+this were a time for jesting.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come here, Willy, boy, and you&rsquo;ll see
+how nicely I&rsquo;ll sew it, not pin it. Never
+fret about it, dear; I will explain to
+mamma that you were really not so much
+in fault. It was only rather a mistake to
+get in so far among the bushes. If you
+had been chasing the cat, or turning somersets,
+she might, perhaps, be vexed; but
+poh! she will excuse this.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Will, unseen by Emily, wiped away with
+his thumb one big tear after another out
+of the corner of his eye.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;She is a good sister, anyhow, and I
+am a mean fellow ever to get mad with
+her, and say rude things to her,&rdquo; he said
+to himself, as Emily darned, and chatted,
+and bade him be of good cheer.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My stockings, too, sister. There&rsquo;s a
+great green grass stain on both of them,
+and grandmamma expects us to be <em>so</em>
+nice.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Will coughed to choke down a sob.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Perhaps you may have time to change
+them, Will. I will help you. But we
+must get the pantaloons all nicely done
+first.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So this kind sister stitched, and taught
+unconsciously as she stitched, lessons of
+love and patience, lessons of cheerful helpfulness
+and sweet unselfishness, which
+Will never forgot.</p>
+
+<p>More than once, in after life, when, in
+heedless pursuit of life&rsquo;s roses, he had
+been wounded by its thorns, he remembered
+that sweet face of consolation,
+those dear hands held out to aid him,
+and all the sunshine and the song of
+that sweet summer afternoon, and fresh
+peace and hope came to him with the remembrance.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all finished now, the very last
+stitch; and now for the stockings. Let
+me see the spots.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Will put his two heels firmly together,
+turned out his toes, pulled up his puffy
+pantaloons, and stooped his head and
+strained his eyes to look for them.</p>
+
+<p>They were but little ones, after all, and
+a brisk rubbing with the handkerchief, and
+a judicious pulling down of the trouser
+bindings, almost concealed them. They
+were just in time with their repairs; for
+grandmamma&rsquo;s yellow-wheeled carriage
+was coming up the avenue.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">E. G. C.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_157lower" id="Page_157lower"></a>OUR DAILY BREAD.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">A LITTLE girl knelt down to pray<br />
+<span class="i3">One morn. The mother said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;My love, why do we ever say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Give us our daily bread?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Why not ask for a week or more?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The baby bent her head<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In thoughtful mood towards the floor:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">&ldquo;We want it fresh,&rdquo; she said.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>158]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 402px;">
+<img src="images/hd064.jpg" width="402" height="600"
+alt="Willie looks out of the window, leaning on his hands on the ledge" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">LITTLE WILLIE.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>159]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>WILLIE&rsquo;S PRAYER.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">ONE sweet morning little Willie,<br />
+<span class="i3">Springing from his trundle-bed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bounded to the vine-wreathed window<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And put out his sunny head.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">It was in the joyous spring-time,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When the sky was soft and fair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the blue-bird and the robin<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Warbled sweetly everywhere.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">In the field the lambs were playing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where the babbling brook ran clear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To and fro, in leafy tree-tops,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Squirrels frisked without a fear.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">In his ear his baby-brother<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Baby-wonders tried to speak,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the kiss of a fond mother<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Rested on his dimpled cheek.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Zephyrs from the fragrant lilacs<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Fanned his little rosy face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the heart&rsquo;s-ease, gemmed with dewdrops,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Smiled at him with gentle grace.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Gliding back with fairy footsteps,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Willie, dropping on his knees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Softly prayed, &ldquo;Dear God, I love you!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Make it always happy, please!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>160]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>SQUIRRELS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">H</span>OW pretty little squirrels look perched
+in the branches of a tree! I
+like to watch them as they nimbly run up
+the trunk or spring from bough to bough.
+One or two are generally to be seen in a
+clump of great old beeches near a house
+in the country where I usually spend some
+happy weeks in summer; and I will tell
+you a story of a little squirrel whose acquaintance
+I made there last summer.</p>
+
+<p>I happened to be up very early one
+morning, long before breakfast was ready
+or any of the family were down, and I
+went out into the garden to enjoy the
+fresh, sweet smell of the early day. The
+cows were grazing in the field beyond,
+and now and then lowing a friendly
+&ldquo;good-morning&rdquo; to each other. Some
+ducks were waddling in procession down
+to the pond, quacking out their wise remarks
+as they went. The little birds
+were singing lustily their welcome to the
+new-born day. Even the old watch-dog
+came yawning, stretching, blinking and
+wagging his tail in kindly dog-fashion
+to bid me &ldquo;good-day&rdquo; in the summer
+sunshine.</p>
+
+<p>As I stood under the great beech trees,
+taking in with greedy eye and ear the
+sights and sounds of country-life so refreshing
+to a Londoner, I heard something
+fall from one of the trees, then a
+scuffle, and immediately afterward a white
+Persian cat belonging to the house
+bounded toward me in hot pursuit of a
+dear little squirrel. I was just in time to
+save the poor little animal by stepping
+between it and the cat. The squirrel
+passed under the edge of my dress and
+made off again up another tree; so pussy
+lost her prey.</p>
+
+<p>Soon afterward, when we were at
+breakfast, the butler told us that one
+of the little boys of the village, who had
+lost a pet squirrel, had asked if he might
+look for it in the garden of the house.
+It had first escaped into some trees in the
+park, and he had traced it from them into
+the garden. It at once occurred to me
+that this must be the little creature I had
+saved from the cat. I remembered how
+it made straight toward me, as if asking
+me for protection from its enemy,
+which only a tame squirrel would do;
+and I proposed, when breakfast was
+over, that we should go out and help in
+the search.</p>
+
+<p>Little Jack Tompkins stood under the
+beech trees, looking with tear-stained
+face up into the branches. Suddenly I
+saw his face brighten, and he called out,
+&ldquo;I see un, ma&rsquo;am; I see un! If so be
+no one warn&rsquo;t by, I be sure he&rsquo;d come
+to I.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I need not say we retreated to a distance;
+then Jack called up the tree in a
+loud whisper, &ldquo;Billee, Billee!&rdquo; and in a
+minute down came the little creature on
+to his shoulder. I can tell you Jack was a
+happier child than he had been when he
+came into the garden. And when I told
+him what a narrow escape &ldquo;Billee&rdquo; had
+had from the cat, he said, &ldquo;It would be
+hard if a cat eat he, for our old puss
+brought he up with her own kits.&rdquo; Then
+he told us how the squirrel, when a tiny
+thing, had dropped out of its nest and
+been found by him lying almost dead at
+the foot of a tree, and how he had carried
+it home and tried whether pussy would
+adopt it as one of her own kittens. The
+cat was kind; the squirrel throve under
+her motherly care, and became Jack&rsquo;s
+pet and companion.</p>
+
+<p>Now, children, in this instance it was
+all very well to keep a tame squirrel.
+&ldquo;Billee&rdquo; seemed happy leading the life
+he was accustomed to; he had been fed
+and cared for by human beings from his
+infancy, and might be as incapable of
+finding food and managing for himself in
+a wild state as a poor canary would be
+if let loose from its cage. But generally
+it is cruel to imprison little wild birds and
+animals who have known the enjoyment
+of liberty.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>161]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd065.jpg" width="600" height="454"
+alt="A squirrel holding a partially eaten nut" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE SQUIRREL.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>162]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>PUPPET.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">P</span>UPPET had two occupations. She
+had also a guitar and a half-bushel
+basket. These things were her capital&mdash;her
+stock in trade.</p>
+
+<p>The guitar belonged to one of her occupations,
+the half-bushel basket to the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>In consideration of her first employment,
+she might have been called a street
+guitarist. In consideration of her second,
+she might have been called a beggar&mdash;a
+broken-bits beggar.</p>
+
+<p>Puppet would have been considered,
+among lawyers, &ldquo;shrewd;&rdquo; or, at a mothers&rsquo;
+meeting, &ldquo;cunning;&rdquo; or, among business
+men, &ldquo;sharp.&rdquo; That is to say, she
+knew a thing or two. She knew that being
+able to sing no songs was a disadvantage
+to her first occupation, as a large
+hole, half way up her basket, was an advantage
+to her second.</p>
+
+<p>It seems odd that a hole in one&rsquo;s begging
+basket should be an advantage.</p>
+
+<p>But because of the hole, she had always
+behind her a crowd of dogs, that seemed
+to have been just dropped from the basket,
+the last one never having fairly got
+his nose out; and because of the dogs
+she was known as &ldquo;Puppet&rdquo; all over the
+city.</p>
+
+<p>To be known by a characteristic name
+is of great advantage to a beggar.</p>
+
+<p>If Biddy, looking from the basement
+door, says to cook, &ldquo;Och, an&rsquo; there
+comes up the street our little Puppet,
+with her dogs all behind her, carrying
+her basket,&rdquo; cook is much more likely
+to see the broken bits &ldquo;botherin&rsquo;
+roun&rsquo; on the schalves o&rsquo; the cubbid,&rdquo;
+than she would be if Biddy should say,
+&ldquo;Shure, an&rsquo; thir cams to us a dirty beggar,
+it is.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But it is with Puppet&rsquo;s first occupation,
+and not her second, that we have to do.
+If you had not read more descriptions of
+faces within the last year than you can
+possibly remember in all the years of
+your life put together, I would tell you
+what sort of face Puppet&rsquo;s was; that it
+was a bright face, with blue eyes, just the
+color of the blue ribbon that went first
+round the guitar&rsquo;s neck, and then round
+Puppet&rsquo;s; that Puppet&rsquo;s teeth were
+as white as the mother-of-pearl pegs
+that held her guitar strings at the bottom;
+that her cheeks were as white as
+the ivory keys; that her hair was long,
+and yellow&mdash;just the shade of the guitar&rsquo;s
+yellow face.</p>
+
+<p>But that would be very much like a
+dozen other faces that you have seen; so
+I will only say that it was a smiling little
+face.</p>
+
+<p>It smiled as it bent over the guitar,
+while the little fingers picked their ways
+in and out among the strings; and it
+smiled yet more sweetly as she looked up
+to catch the coppers thrown from the
+fourth and fifth story, and sky-parlor windows.</p>
+
+<p>Puppet once lived with a man who
+said that he was her uncle; and she believed
+him so thoroughly, that she let him
+box her ears whenever he felt like it, till
+he died. Since then Puppet had lived
+almost friendless and alone.</p>
+
+<p>One hot July day Puppet was wandering
+through the streets of the great city,
+with her little guitar under her little arm.
+The city did not seem so great to Puppet
+as it does to some of the rest of us, because
+she was born and brought up there.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, dear,&rdquo; sighed Puppet, &ldquo;<em>what</em> a
+mean place you are!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>No one had given her a copper since
+the cool of the morning. People seemed
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>163]</a></span>
+to have a fancy for spending their coppers
+on soda-water and ice-cream.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What shall I do?&rdquo; moaned Puppet.
+Whatever should she do? Puppet must
+have coppers, or she could not live.</p>
+
+<p>She sat in a cool, shaded court, close
+to the busy street; but she couldn&rsquo;t get
+away from the heat, and the noise, and
+the people sighing, like herself, &ldquo;O dear,
+O dear!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll try once more,&rdquo; said Puppet, tuning
+her guitar.</p>
+
+<p>She played &ldquo;Home, Sweet Home,&rdquo;
+with variations. But all the people who
+heard her were suffering, because their
+homes in the city were rather hot than
+sweet. &ldquo;Home, Sweet Home&rdquo; could
+win no pennies from &ldquo;city folks&rdquo; in July.</p>
+
+<p>Then Puppet whistled to her guitar accompaniment
+a little &ldquo;Bird Waltz,&rdquo; and
+whirled on the pavement in time, till I
+doubt if she herself knew whether the
+guitar had gone mad, and were waltzing
+about her, or she were waltzing about the
+guitar.</p>
+
+<p>A boy came dancing into the court,
+singing,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;O, whistle, and I&rsquo;ll come to you, my lad!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O, whistle, and I&rsquo;ll come to you, my lad!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>But he danced out again, without leaving
+a penny behind him; so it would have
+been just as well if he had never come in.
+Still, he amused himself for a few minutes,
+which not many people were able to
+do in that hot July midday.</p>
+
+<p>Puppet went from the little court, and
+wandered on and on. At last she left the
+city far away behind her.</p>
+
+<p>And out and away from the city there
+were green fields.</p>
+
+<p>Puppet had heard of green fields, but
+she had never seen any face to face before.
+As she looked at them, she had a
+dim remembrance that she had heard that
+they were covered with long, waving grass.
+But all these fields were close shaven,
+like the beautiful mouse-colored horses in
+the city.</p>
+
+<p>It was pleasant, but not very exciting
+to a city girl. The city girl presently
+grew tired of it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There seem to be houses farther
+along,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go and play
+there.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Puppet slung the little guitar about her
+little neck, and started off again.</p>
+
+<p>Presently she came to a cottage with a
+little green yard in front of it, and in
+the middle of the little green yard was a
+great green tree.</p>
+
+<p>Puppet sat down on the grass, leaned
+against the tree, and felt very hungry.</p>
+
+<p>A lady was sitting by an open window,
+sewing. She was sitting so that Puppet
+could see only a bit of her left cheek, and
+her dark hair, just beginning to turn gray,
+and her right hand as she brought the
+needle up from her work. From what
+she did see, Puppet thought that she
+would give her something to eat, if she
+could but get her attention. Surely, she
+must be often hungry herself, or why
+should she have so many gray hairs?</p>
+
+<p>Puppet, leaning against the tree, ran
+her fingers over the guitar frets in light
+harmonies; but the lady did not look.</p>
+
+<p>Her thoughts must be far away, in a
+quiet and happy place, that Puppet&rsquo;s
+harmonies should seem a part of that
+place.</p>
+
+<p>The guitar broke into a low, mournful
+minor. Still the lady gave no heed to
+Puppet.</p>
+
+<p>Puppet was feeling very hungry. She
+would play the Fandango. That <em>must</em>
+rouse any one. She began at the most
+rattling part.</p>
+
+<p>The gray-haired lady looked round
+quickly. &ldquo;Bless me, bless me! what&rsquo;s
+this?&rdquo; Seeing a little girl out by the
+tree, she put her sewing on the table, and
+came to the door and into the yard.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Dear me! a little girl with yellow
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>164]</a></span>
+hair, and I just to have been dreaming
+of a little girl with yellow hair!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is anything the matter with my hair,
+mum?&rdquo; Puppet stopped playing, and
+ran her hands through the yellow mass
+of uncombed locks.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, no, little girl! there is nothing
+the matter with your hair. Only&mdash;&rdquo;
+The lady was thinking how soft, and fine,
+and curly was the yellow hair of which
+she had been dreaming.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What do you want?&rdquo; asked the lady.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very hungry,&rdquo; said Puppet, &ldquo;because
+of the walk, and&mdash;and&mdash;and all,&rdquo;
+concluded Puppet, remembering that the
+lady could not understand.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come in, then.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Puppet went in. Up in one corner of
+the sitting-room were a little tip-cart and
+a doll. Puppet ate her bread and meat,
+looking hard at the tip-cart.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where is it, mum?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where is what, child?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The child, mum.&rdquo; Puppet pointed to
+the tip-cart.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Gone, my dear,&rdquo; said the lady, softly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Dead?&rdquo; Puppet remembered that
+that was what they said about her uncle
+when he went away. It was the only going
+away that she had ever known.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, I suppose so,&rdquo; said the lady,
+with a little shiver.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s bad, mum.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, not bad,&rdquo; said the lady, sorrowfully.
+&ldquo;It is just right that it should be so.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But it must be lonesome like, unless
+there were kicks and things.&rdquo; Puppet
+was still thinking of her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>The lady wondered what the child could
+mean, and not knowing, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s your name? How could I
+have forgotten to ask your name?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Puppet.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a funny name. And where do
+you live?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Two or three miles away from here.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Have you walked here to-day?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, mum.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What should make the child walk so
+far, I wonder?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Money, mum, and things to eat.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Have you eaten enough?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes. I must go home now, or I shall
+be late.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Are you sure you know the way?&rdquo;
+asked the lady, a little anxiously. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re
+such a little thing!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, yes, mum! Go as I came.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, good by.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Good by, mum.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But was Puppet <em>sure</em> that she knew
+the way?</p>
+
+
+<p class="smlpadt">The next morning, a man walking on a
+road that ran by the edge of a meadow,
+was going to his work.</p>
+
+<p>Hark! What did he hear? Was it a
+cry! was it a child&rsquo;s cry? And what was
+that? It sounded like a fiddle. He
+stopped to look around.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I declare, we&rsquo;ve had a high tide in
+the night!&rdquo; said he, and trudged on.</p>
+
+<p>But what was that? <em>That</em> was certainly
+a child&rsquo;s cry.</p>
+
+<p>The man looked sharply about.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It can&rsquo;t be she,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Folks
+from heaven wouldn&rsquo;t cry, even if they
+were let to come&mdash;at least, if they were
+little children.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so he still looked sharply about.
+And looking, what did he see?</p>
+
+<p>He saw great haystacks of meadow
+hay out in the meadow, with the tide-water
+all about them. Then his eyes were fixed
+on one particular haystack. On its top,
+with her yellow hair and smiling face in
+sight, was&mdash;it could not be, though&mdash;but
+it was&mdash;a little girl, and dangling by
+the side of the stack was a guitar with a
+yellow face. The man waded through
+the water that lay between the dry land
+and the stack.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Crawl down to my shoulders;&rdquo; and
+he stood by the side of the stack till she
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>165]</a></span>
+was on his shoulders, with her arms about
+his neck.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 530px;">
+<img src="images/hd066.jpg" width="530" height="400"
+alt="Puppet, with her guitar, sitting on top of a haystack" />
+</div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How came you there?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I went everywhere to try to get home,
+and it was dark, all but the moon; and I
+saw the stack, and a board went from the
+ground to the top of it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Sure enough, the prop.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And I was so tired!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Poor child!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And I never saw the water come before,
+and it was only wet enough to wet
+my feet when I got up.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, well! We&rsquo;ll go home and get
+something to eat.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The man walked into his kitchen with
+the little girl and the guitar on his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, John, are you back? Dear me,
+if there isn&rsquo;t that same child&mdash;Puppet!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>John went off to his work again. Puppet
+ate her breakfast, and told her story,
+and then said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Please, mum, may I play with the
+cart?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And because of her yellow hair, she
+might play with the cart.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But aren&rsquo;t you sick, and oughtn&rsquo;t you
+to take some medicine, and go to bed?&rdquo;
+asked the lady, whose hair had grown
+gray over sickness and medicine.</p>
+
+<p>Puppet meditated. She felt very well.
+She thought that she had rather play with
+the tip-cart than to take medicine. So
+she played all day, and went to bed at
+night.</p>
+
+<p>At night John come home from his
+work, and, as usual, heard of all that had
+happened through the day.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I wish we could keep the little thing,
+John, dear. She has yellow hair, just
+like&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said John, &ldquo;I saw.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And she&rsquo;d be <em>such</em> a comfort!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If she didn&rsquo;t die by and by,&rdquo; said
+John.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>166]</a></span>
+&ldquo;But, John, dear, just think of a little
+thing like her spending the night in the
+middle of a meadow, with the water all
+about her.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>John thought. And he thought that
+if she could stand that without being
+sick, she could stand their love without
+dying.</p>
+
+<p>So Puppet and the guitar live with John
+and the gray-haired lady.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Mary B. Harris.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 484px;">
+<a name="Page_166lower" id="Page_166lower"></a>
+<img src="images/hd067.jpg" width="484" height="400"
+alt="Mike lying at the bottom of the steps" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Mike rolled over and over to the foot of the steps.</span>&rdquo; See p. <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</p>
+
+<h2>MERRY CHRISTMAS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">A</span>LL the hill-side was green with maples,
+and birches, and pines. The
+meadows at its foot were green, too, with
+the tufted salt grass, and glittering with
+the silver threads of tide braided among
+its winding creeks. Beyond was the city,
+misty and gray, stretching its wan arms
+to the phantom ships flitting along the
+horizon.</p>
+
+<p>From the green hill-side you could hear
+the city&rsquo;s muffled hum and roar, and sometimes
+the far-off clanging of the bells from
+its hundred belfries. But the maples and
+birches seemed to hear and see nothing
+beyond the sunshine over their heads and
+the winds which went frolicking by. Life
+was one long dance with them, through
+the budding spring and the leafy summer,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>167]</a></span>
+and on through the grand gala days of
+autumn, till the frost came down on the
+hills, and whispered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Your dancing days are all over.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But the pines were quite different.
+They, the stately ones, stood quite aloof,
+the older and taller ones looking stiffly
+over the heads of the rollicking maples,
+and making solemn reverences to the
+great gray clouds that swept inland from
+the ocean. The straight little saplings
+at their feet copied the manners of their
+elders, and folding their fingers primly,
+and rustling their stiff little green petticoats
+decorously, sat up so silent and
+proper.</p>
+
+<p>So unlike the small birches and maples
+that chattered incessantly, wagging their
+giddy heads, and playing tag with the
+butterflies in the sunshine all the day long!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How tiresome those stupid old pines
+are! No expression, no animation. So
+lofty and so exclusive, and forever grumbling
+to each other in their hoarse old
+Scandinavian, which it gives one the
+croup even to listen to! Of what possible
+use <em>can</em> they be?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This was what the maple said to the
+birch one day when the Summer and her
+patience with her sombre neighbor were
+on the wane&mdash;one day when there was a
+gleam of golden pumpkins in the tawny
+corn stubble beyond the wood, and the
+purpling grapes hung ripening over the
+old stone wall that lay between, and the
+maple had brightened its summer dress
+with a gay little leaf set here and there in
+its shining folds.</p>
+
+<p>The birch agreed with the maple about
+the pines, and the maple went glibly on.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve ordered my autumn dresses&mdash;a
+different one for each day in the week.
+Just think of those horrid pines never
+altering the fashion of their stiff old
+plaiting.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We shall not be obliged to remain in
+this dull place much longer,&rdquo; said the tall
+pines loftily to each other, looking quite
+over the heads of the maple and the birch.
+&ldquo;We shall soon be crossing the ocean,
+and then our lives will have just begun.
+We simply vegetate here.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ho, ho!&rdquo; laughed the maple and the
+birch behind their fluttering green fans,
+pretending to be greatly amused at what
+the west wind was saying to them.</p>
+
+<p>Now, though the trees spoke a different
+language, yet each understood perfectly
+well what the other said; so their rudeness
+was quite inexcusable.</p>
+
+<p>When the summer was ended, the maple
+began to put on her gorgeous autumn
+dresses; but the pines looked much at
+the sky, and paid little heed to the maple.
+The other trees on the hill-side, quite
+faded with their summer gayeties, looked
+on languidly in the still autumn days at
+the maple&rsquo;s brilliant toilets.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the cold rains swept in from the
+sea, blurring the wood vistas; and when
+they were gone, the frost came in the
+midnight, with its unwelcome message,
+and later the snow lay white above all
+the faded and fallen crimson and gold
+of the maple and the tarnished silver of
+the birch.</p>
+
+<p>All the trees, brown and bare now,
+moaned in the wintry wind&mdash;all but the
+tall pines, and they were crossing the
+ocean; their lives had begun. The little
+saplings remained behind, but with their
+heads perked stiffly up above the snow;
+they had the air of expecting somebody.</p>
+
+<p>They were not disappointed. One sunny
+morning, a boy and a girl came singing
+through the wood paths, each in a pair of
+high-topped boots, and each in a faded
+and closely-buttoned coat, the girl with a
+blue hood pulled over her rosy face, and
+the boy with a fur cap closely tied about
+his ears by a red comforter. The two
+drew a hand-sled, and peered about under
+the tall trunks as they went stamping
+through the deep snow. How they shouted
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>168]</a></span>
+as they spied the little pine trees perking
+up their heads! How they tossed
+aside the snow, and worked away with
+their jackknives, hacking at the little pine
+trees till they had cut them all down, all
+ready to be piled up on their hand-sled.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where are you going?&rdquo; asked the
+giddy little birch of the pines, peeping
+out from a small window in her snow-house.
+Her nose was purple, and her
+fingers stiff with cold; but down under
+the earth her feet were warm, and that
+was pleasant, at any rate.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is of no consequence where,&rdquo; said
+the pines, in their grimmest Scandinavian.</p>
+
+<p>The birch simply said, &ldquo;O!&rdquo; and drew
+in her little purple nose, hoping heartily
+they were all going to be burned, as that
+would be a good end and riddance of them.</p>
+
+<p>But the little pines were not going to
+be burned; they were going away to the
+city that lay misty and still beyond the
+frozen meadows. Stretched out stiffly on
+the hand-sled, they were jostled along out
+through the wood, over the frozen turnpike,
+and across the mill-dam to Boston.</p>
+
+<p>They alighted at the Boylston Market,
+and were ranged in a row against the dark
+brick wall.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How much happens in a very short
+time!&rdquo; they said to each other; &ldquo;all
+those gaudy, chattering trees left without
+a leaf to cover them, our own friends all
+gone on their travels, and we here in the
+city, wrapped in our warm winter furs.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It was the Christmas week. The shop
+windows were gay with toys and gorgeous
+Christmas offerings; the shop doors were
+opening and shutting on the crowd that
+came and went through them. A bustling
+throng of people passed incessantly up
+and down the narrow sidewalks, and carriages
+of all descriptions blocked the
+crossings, or drove recklessly over the
+frozen pavement.</p>
+
+<p>The old woman in the quilted black
+hood and shaggy cape, who had charge
+of the little pine trees, drove a brisk trade
+that day in her wreaths and holly; but
+though many people stopped to admire the
+little pines, and even to ask their price, no
+purchaser had yet appeared for them.</p>
+
+<p>The old dame was rubbing her mittened
+hands briskly together, and mumbling in
+a displeased way at the pine trees, when
+a carriage drew suddenly up at the curbstone,
+and out sprang a little girl.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;See, papa, how lovely! So green, and
+fresh, and thick!&rdquo; she said, pointing to
+the row of pines.</p>
+
+<p>A bargain was concluded in a trice.
+The money was dropped into the eager,
+outstretched mitten of the old woman,
+and a little Christmas tree dragged over
+the sidewalk, and set up in the buggy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We must have some of these lower
+branches cut off; they are in the way,&rdquo;
+said papa.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hev a knife, sir?&rdquo; shouted a ragged
+little fellow, whipping a rusty old knife
+out of his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Please, sir, lemme cut it for you. Say,
+where?&rdquo; he cried, laying hold of the pine,
+as the gentleman in the buggy pointed to
+him where to cut.</p>
+
+<p>The lower branches being trimmed to
+the gentleman&rsquo;s satisfaction, the Christmas
+tree, leaning comfortably against the
+crimson afghan, was soon on its way to
+Meadow Home, while its lower branches
+and some jingling small coin remained in
+the hands of the gaping urchin on the
+curbstone.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This here&rsquo;s luck&mdash;fust-rate luck,&rdquo;
+remarked the small boy, stamping his
+feet, and staring stupidly after the retreating
+buggy wheels.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Out of the way there!&rdquo; growled a
+man in a farmer&rsquo;s frock, lifting a pile of
+frozen turkeys from a wagon.</p>
+
+<p>The boy ducked aside, his ragged little
+trousers fluttering in the wind. Then he
+sat down on the market steps to count
+his coin.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>169]</a></span>
+&ldquo;Hi! twenty-five cents. There&rsquo;s a
+mutton stew and onions for you and your
+folks a Christmas, Mike Slattery, and all
+this jolly green stuff thrown in free gratis.
+That chap was a gen&rsquo;leman, and no mistake.
+Won&rsquo;t Winnie hop when she sees
+me a-h&rsquo;isting of these here over our stairs,
+and she a-blowin&rsquo; at me for a week to
+bring her some sich, and me niver seein&rsquo;
+nary a chance at &rsquo;em &rsquo;cept stealin&rsquo;s, which
+is wot this here feller ain&rsquo;t up to no ways
+whatsomever. No, <em>sir</em>. Hi!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mike waved his Christmas boughs aloft
+in great glee.</p>
+
+<p>An old gentleman with gold-headed
+cane and spectacles was going up the
+steps of the market, followed by a beautiful
+black-and-white setter. The playful
+dog sprang at the green branches. Mike
+held on to them stoutly. The dog suddenly
+let go of them, and bounded away,
+while Mike rolled over and over to the
+foot of the steps, clutching tightly the
+pine boughs.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll ketch it,&rdquo; he muttered, setting
+his teeth hard together behind his white
+lips, and trying in vain to scramble up.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yer hurt, bub?&rdquo; asked a wrinkled
+old apple woman, turning round on her
+three-legged stool, and thrusting her nose
+inquiringly out of the folds of the old
+brown shawl, which was wrapped around
+her head.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You bet I be!&rdquo; whimpered Mike,
+pointing forlornly with his one unoccupied
+finger to his bruised ankle.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Been playin&rsquo; pitch-pennies, yer mis&rsquo;ble
+young &rsquo;un!&rdquo; grinned a tall boy, strolling
+by with his hands in his pockets, and
+his ferret eyes on the sharp lookout for
+mischief.</p>
+
+<p>In a twinkling he swooped up Mike&rsquo;s
+small coin, which had rattled to the pavement,
+and vanished with them in a struggling
+tangle of horse cars and omnibuses
+before Mike finished his desperate yell of,
+&ldquo;Gim me &rsquo;um.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>By this time a crowd had gathered about
+the prostrate Mike, who, faint with pain,
+was at last lifted into the chaise of a kind-hearted
+doctor, who was passing, and carried
+to his house in Bone Court.</p>
+
+<p>There we will leave Mike for a while,
+and look after the little pine tree on its
+way to Meadow Home.</p>
+
+<p>Such a group of round, rosy faces as
+were on the watch for it in the great bay
+window of Meadow Home, peering out
+in the red sunset, straining their eyes in
+the dim twilight, and peering still more
+persistently as the stars came out through
+the gathering darkness!</p>
+
+<p>The fire danced in the grate, and the
+shadows danced on the wall, and the four
+little heads danced more and more impatiently
+in the window pane, as the cold
+winter night settled down on the world
+outside of Meadow Home.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re run away with and threw
+out. What will you bet, Mab?&rdquo; shouted
+Will, turning away from the window in
+disgust, and indulging in a double somerset.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Thrown</em>, Will,&rdquo; corrected Mabel, just
+now more indignant with his grammar
+than his slang.</p>
+
+<p>Mabel began to clear with her sleeve
+an unblurred peep through the pane, and
+then pressed her nose hard against the
+glass.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s <em>my</em> opinion,&rdquo; she said, with great
+pompousness, &ldquo;that the Christmas trees
+are all sold. I told Ely not to put off
+buying till to-day. Don&rsquo;t you remember,
+Alice? And so papa is just coming home
+without them.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Alice poh-pohed. Alice was sitting up
+stiffly at a table by the fire, stuffing a
+pin-cushion, assisted, or, more properly,
+impeded, by her small brother Chrissy,
+who had offered his services, and would
+not listen to Alice&rsquo;s nay. Chrissy was
+not handsome in any light, but by the
+flickering firelight he looked like a little
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"><!-- Illustration - THE LITTLE SLATTERYS --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>171]</a></span>
+ogre. He sat hunched up in his chair,
+his knees drawn up to his nose, the sharp
+end of his tongue curling out of the
+corner of his mouth, and his small eyes
+actually crossed in the earnestness of
+his work, which consisted in snatching
+chances at the stuffing with a table-spoon
+and a cup of bran.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 407px;">
+<img src="images/hd068.jpg" width="407" height="600"
+alt="Three children holding firewood, in front of the fireplace with a cat" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE LITTLE SLATTERYS.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I hear them,&rdquo; exclaimed Mabel, springing
+down from the window, her nose a
+spectacle.</p>
+
+<p>Now away down stairs flew all the four,
+who had been wriggling for an hour in
+the bay window.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Shut the door, Chrissy,&rdquo; nodded the
+dignified Alice to Chrissy, whose eyes
+had marvellously uncrossed, and whose
+tongue had disappeared at Mabel&rsquo;s announcement.
+Chrissy drew down his
+knees, and obeyed. &ldquo;Spoon up the bran
+you spilled, Chrissy,&rdquo; directed Alice,
+calmly stitching at her pin-cushion.</p>
+
+<p>The reluctant Chrissy&rsquo;s obedience was
+less of a success this time. The noise
+of a great commotion in the hall below
+reached the quiet chamber. Chrissy,
+with his face twisted inquiringly first
+over one shoulder and then over the
+other, spooned at random.</p>
+
+<p>The sounds came nearer. Through the
+hurrying of eager feet and the clamor of
+glad voices was a tap-tapping on the
+wainscot and a thumping on the oaken
+stairs.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;May be it&rsquo;s St. Nicholas?&rdquo; questioned
+Chrissy, spooning very unsteadily, his eyes
+and his ears wide open.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No; it isn&rsquo;t time for him. He&rsquo;s
+doing up his pack now, and they are harnessing
+his reindeer.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Who? Where?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The door burst open, and in tumbled
+four children and the little pine tree.
+Chrissy darted forward, shrieking with
+delight, and fell headlong among the
+family group.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What a pretty pine!&rdquo; said Alice,
+calmly locking up the pin-cushion in her
+work-box.</p>
+
+<p>Now Ely, still in her fur cap and sack,
+rushed in excitedly among her struggling
+brothers and sisters, and rescued the pine
+tree.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Sitting up so piminy there, Alice
+Eliot, your two hands folded, and the
+beautiful Christmas tree just going to destruction,
+with those four wretched little
+thunderbolts pitching into it!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Ely was purple with wrath.</p>
+
+<p>The four little Eliots were on their feet
+again in a trice, giggling and nudging each
+other behind the excited Ely.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a truly lovely pine,&rdquo; remarked
+Alice, composedly, shaking some bran
+from her skirt.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You might have said so, if you had
+gone round looking for them in the freezing
+cold, as I did, and then couldn&rsquo;t find
+one fit to be seen, except&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Alice, didn&rsquo;t I tell her so?&rdquo; interrupted
+Mabel, pulling Chrissy&rsquo;s fat fingers
+away from Ely&rsquo;s pocket just as they were
+about to grasp the protruding heels of a
+little dancing jack.</p>
+
+<p>Alice now lighted the gas, Ely set the
+pretty pine tree carefully against the wall,
+and the four little Eliots danced hand in
+hand frantically about it.</p>
+
+<p>Then Alice, and Mabel, and Ely went
+up close to the fender, and whispered together
+about the presents Ely had brought
+home to put in the children&rsquo;s stockings,
+and Mabel helped Ely empty her great
+stuffed-out pocket; and the fire laughed
+through the bars of the grate to see the
+parcels that came forth.</p>
+
+<p>By and by Mabel and Ely took the pine
+tree carefully down stairs into a beautiful
+room, and Alice came close behind them
+with a great covered basket. The four
+little Eliots followed noisily, striving to
+peep under the basket covers; but Ely
+thrust them all out again into the hall,
+and locked the door upon them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>172]</a></span>
+Now began the Christmas adorning of
+the little pine tree. Such beautiful things
+as were hung upon it, and folded about it,
+and festooned around it!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How charming to be a pine!&rdquo; murmured
+the little tree, with its head among
+the frescoed cherubs on the ceiling.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where are you, Mabel Eliot? Light
+up the burners now,&rdquo; commanded Ely
+from the top of a step-ladder.</p>
+
+<p>Ely crept out from under the green
+baize around the foot of the pine tree,
+two pins in her mouth, a crimson smoking-cap
+on her dishevelled head, and a
+pair of large-flowered toilet slippers drawn
+over her hands.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I crawled in behind there to see if
+there mightn&rsquo;t be a place somewhere for
+these,&rdquo; explained Ely, hastening for the
+torch, and proceeding to light up.</p>
+
+<p>The pine tree now saw itself reflected
+in the great mirror opposite, and echoed
+the &ldquo;splendid&rdquo; of the three girls, who
+clapped their hands at the gorgeous effect.
+Then the lights were put out. The silver
+key was turned in the door again, and the
+girls went away, leaving the pine tree in
+darkness indeed.</p>
+
+<p>The four small Eliots, after pinning up
+their stockings by the chimney, seated
+themselves in their night-gowns on the
+hearth-rug, and talked over St. Nicholas
+before they got into bed. Each agreed
+to wake the others if he &ldquo;should just
+but catch Santa Claus coming down the
+chimney.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Chrissy, squinting up his eyes till nothing
+but two little lines of black lashes
+were visible, was sure &ldquo;he should catch
+him; O, yes, he should.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So they all climbed sleepily into bed,
+pinning their faith on Chrissy.</p>
+
+<p>The night darkened and deepened, the
+stars moving on in a grand procession.
+Somewhere about midnight St. Nicholas
+was off on his ride, galloping over the roof-tops,
+and knocking at every chimney-top
+that had a knocker, just getting through
+at day dawn with the deal he had to do.
+The &ldquo;eight tiny reindeer&rdquo; had barely
+trotted him out of sight, when thousands
+of little children in thousands of homes
+began hopping out of bed to look in their
+stockings.</p>
+
+<p>The Christmas morning was breaking
+in joy and gladness, as if the dear Christ
+Child of eighteen hundred years ago were
+newly born that day. Little children, and
+old men, and maidens waked to give good
+gifts and greetings to each other, remembering
+whom the good Father in heaven
+had given to them on that first glad
+Christmas morn.</p>
+
+<p>In an attic in Bone Court, Mike Slattery,
+wildly staring about him, bolted up
+in bed, waked by big Winnie, and little
+Pat, and Jimmy roaring &ldquo;Merry Christmas&rdquo;
+in his ears.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oop, Mike, an&rsquo; tak&rsquo; a look at Winnie&rsquo;s
+Christmas fixin&rsquo;s foreninst yer two eyes,&rdquo;
+piped Jimmy, flapping the little breeches
+he was too excited to put on at the little
+pine branches stuck up thickly in the
+window.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t yer fut that better ye might hobble
+up to see what the good gintleman&mdash;him
+as brought ye home&mdash;left behind for
+yees and us arl&mdash;the Christmas things,
+ye&rsquo;ll mind?&rdquo; inquired Winnie, combing
+her tangled auburn locks, and stooping
+compassionately over Mike.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s the big burhd for yees,&rdquo; cackled
+little Pat, staggering up to the bedside
+with a goose hugged to his bosom.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hooray!&rdquo; cried Mike, swinging his
+pillow; &ldquo;that thafe of a chap didn&rsquo;t do
+us out of our Christmas dinner, thin.
+Here&rsquo;s a go beyant mutton and onions.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Blissid be thim as saysonably remimbers
+the poor,&rdquo; sniffed Mrs. Slattery, who
+was down on her hands and knees washing
+up the broken bit of hearth under the
+stove.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s so,&rdquo; chimed in the little
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>173]</a></span>
+Slatterys; and then they all fell again to admiring
+the goose.</p>
+
+<p>The sun had climbed a long way up the
+sky, and was just looking in through the
+pine branches in the Slatterys&rsquo; window,
+when a little golden head, surmounted by
+a blue velvet hat, looked in through the
+Slatterys&rsquo; door.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Merry Christmas. May I come in?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Pat looked at Jim, and Jim looked at
+Mike, and all three, open-mouthed, looked
+at the little golden head in the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I just came in to bring you some pretty
+story books of mine, and a cap of brother
+Jack&rsquo;s, and a nice new pair of shoes for
+Mike. How do you do, Mike, this morning?
+Papa&mdash;he&rsquo;s the doctor who brought
+you home, Mike&mdash;is coming soon to see
+you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>She had emptied her little leathern bag,
+laid down her gifts on a chair, and vanished
+before Winnie got up the stairs
+from the wood-house, or Mrs. Slattery, in
+the closet, had finished skewering up the
+goose, or a single little Slattery had found
+a word to say.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot stay to tell you about the
+Slatterys&rsquo; Christmas dinner, and Mike
+perched up at the table, with brother
+Jack&rsquo;s cap on his head, and the new pair
+of shoes on the floor by his side. I have
+just time to stop a minute at Meadow
+Home, where a little golden head, with a
+little blue velvet hat tilted atop, flits in
+before me at the great hall door. As I
+went quickly through the holly and under
+the wreaths, a little voice, in wheedling
+tones, called from the gallery above,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Stay to dine to dinner?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>At the same time a small dancing jack,
+dangling from somewhere overhead,
+caught by his hands and feet in my
+chignon, as if striving to pull me up. Ah,
+naughty Chrissy!</p>
+
+<p>Chrissy clapped his hands in delight,
+and then dropping the string of the little
+jack, ran away swiftly to hide.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do stay to dine, aunt Clara,&rdquo; begged
+Mabel, and Alice, and Ely, all three
+springing forward at once to disengage
+the jumping jack from my hair.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, do, Miss Clara; I&rsquo;ve something
+to tell you about a little boy I saw this
+morning,&rdquo; pleaded little golden-head,
+peering through an evergreen arch. &ldquo;Do
+stay and see the Christmas tree lighted
+after dinner,&rdquo; besought all four, gathering
+closely around me.</p>
+
+<p>But aunt Clara was engaged to dine at
+the square old house over the way, with
+the dear old lady who could not see the
+pine wreaths that made her old-fashioned
+parlor so sweet with their resinous, balmy
+fragrance.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;They remind me of the times when
+my girls and boys were all about me so gay
+and happy, and the old house resounded
+with their &lsquo;Merry Christmas.&rsquo; &rsquo;Tis many
+a year now, dear Clara, since there was a
+merry Christmas here; but happy Christmases
+there have been, thank God, not a
+few. A happy Christmas, dear, to you,
+and thanks for brightening the day for
+me,&rdquo; said the old lady, with a gentle sigh,
+as I placed her at the quiet table.</p>
+
+<p>A merry, merry Christmas to all the
+little &ldquo;Merrys&rdquo; who read this story. Do
+not forget that there are homes where
+live forlorn little Mikes and Jimmys,
+whom you can make glad in this glad
+time; and do not forget that there are
+sorrowing homes which the mere sight
+and sound of your bright young faces
+and voices will brighten and cheer.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">E. G. C.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>174]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 415px;">
+<img src="images/hd069.jpg" width="415" height="600"
+alt="Annie stands on tiptoe to see the food on the table" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">ANNIE.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>175]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>ANNIE.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">I&rsquo;VE a sweet little pet; she is up with the lark,<br />
+<span class="i2">And at eve she&rsquo;s asleep when the valleys are dark,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And she chatters and dances the blessed day long,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now laughing in gladness, now singing a song.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She never is silent; the whole summer day<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She is off on the green with the blossoms at play;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now seeking a buttercup, plucking a rose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or laughing aloud at the thistle she blows.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She never is still; now at some merry elf<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You&rsquo;ll smile as you watch her, in spite of yourself;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You may chide her in vain, for those eyes, full of fun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Are smiling in mirth at the mischief she&rsquo;s done;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And whatever you do, that same thing, without doubt,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Must the mischievous Annie be busied about;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She&rsquo;s as brown as a nut, but a beauty to me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And there&rsquo;s nothing her keen little eyes cannot see.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She dances and sings, and has many sweet airs;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And to infant accomplishments adding her prayers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I have told everything that the darling can do,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For &rsquo;twas only last summer her years numbered two.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She&rsquo;s the picture of health, and a southern-born thing<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Just as ready to weep as she&rsquo;s ready to sing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I fain would be foe to lip that hath smiled<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At this wee bit of song of the <em>dear little</em> child.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>176]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>IF; OR, BESSIE GREEN&rsquo;S HOLIDAY.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span>T seems absurd to say so, and at first sight almost impossible, that that one
+little word of only two letters could have so much power, and yet there is
+no doubt that the constant use of &ldquo;<em>if</em>&rdquo; spoilt Bessie Green&rsquo;s holiday and took
+away from it all the enjoyment and pleasure which she imagined a long summer
+day spent in the country would give. How she had thought about it and
+looked forward to it for weeks beforehand! Her parents were poor, hardworking
+people who rarely left home, and so the very idea of a treat like this was
+delightful, and she scarcely slept the night before, so afraid was she of not
+being ready in time. I cannot tell you how often she got up in the course of
+the night, either to see what o&rsquo;clock it was or to look out of the window and
+wonder whether it was going to be a fine or a wet day, but it seemed to her
+as if morning would never come. However, long before six she was up and
+dressed, and with one last good-bye to her mother through the kitchen door
+was off to the station. And very soon the train went speeding away from the
+smoky streets of the city toward the green fields and shady lanes of the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>Now, if Bessie Green had been as wise as her companions, she would have
+done as they did&mdash;looked out of the window and admired all she saw passing
+by, and so have begun the enjoyment of the day; for to eyes unaccustomed to
+such scenes even the cows and sheep grazing in the meadows or the horses
+galloping off across the fields frightened by the train were all new and amusing
+sights. But our foolish little friend, instead of doing this, began to look first
+at her own dress and then at her neighbors&rsquo;, and thereby she grew discontented:
+&ldquo;<em>If</em> I only had a felt hat with a red feather in it, like Mary Jones&rsquo;,
+instead of this straw one with a plain bit of blue ribbon round it, how I should
+like it! and <em>if</em> mother would buy me a smart muslin frock, such as Emma
+Smith wears, how much better it would be than the cotton frocks she always
+gets for me!&rdquo; And she pouted and frowned and looked so miserable that her
+schoolfellows would have wondered what was the matter if they had noticed
+her, but they were so busy thinking of other things that they never saw there
+was anything amiss. Happy children! They had resolved to enjoy themselves,
+and they did so from morning till night, while unhappy little Bessie let
+discontent creep in, and so her holiday&mdash;that day she had looked forward to so
+much&mdash;was, as I said before, spoilt.</p>
+
+<p>Ah! I fear there are many people in this world, both young and old, who
+do as Bessie did: instead of being contented with the state of life in which
+God has placed them, and doing their best to make themselves and others
+happy, they let this little word &ldquo;<em>if</em>&rdquo; creep in on every occasion, and in too
+many cases spoil not <em>one day only</em>, but their <em>whole lives</em>.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 448px;">
+<img src="images/hd070.jpg" width="448" height="550"
+alt="Bessie leans around the edge of the door" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">GOOD-BYE.</p>
+
+<p>But to return to our story. The train went speeding along, miles and miles
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"><!-- Illustration - GOOD-BYE --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>178]</a></span>
+away from London, with its millions of people and houses and hot, dusty streets
+and courts, where almost the only green leaves were the cabbages on the costermongers&rsquo;
+trucks, out into the pure, fresh, breezy country, where houses were
+as scarce as trees in the city, and the cornfields stretched away and away, till
+bounded in the far distance by sloping heathery hills. And what a shout of
+pleasure arose from the two hundred throats of our little travellers when at
+length they stopped at a roadside station and exchanged the train for a shady
+lane leading to a park, the kind owner of which had placed it at their disposal
+for the day! Now ought not Bessie to have begun at last to enjoy herself?
+No; foolish Bessie had seen a carriage at the station, and envied the ladies
+who got into it: &ldquo;<em>If</em> I had a carriage and horses, how much pleasanter it
+would be driving up this lane, instead of walking as I am obliged to do now!&rdquo;
+And so she went along at such a slow, sulky pace that she was far behind when
+the lodge gates were reached, and was almost shut out when the children and
+teachers were admitted into the park. And as they had shouted for joy at
+sight of the shady lanes, how much more did they shout when they saw the
+beautiful spot in which for a whole long day they were to amuse themselves!
+There were meadows covered with hay&mdash;not such hay as is seen in stables,
+brown and hard and stiff, but soft, green and grassy-looking, smelling sweetly,
+and just the thing to roll about in and cover one another up with; then there
+was a nice level cricket-ground, and all ready for the boys to begin a game;
+there were shady trees under which to sit and listen to the birds&rsquo; songs, and
+woody dells and valleys full of ferns and wild flowers; ponds on which swans
+swam about and came on swiftly and silently through the water in hopes of
+food, and little streams trickling along with a murmuring noise between the
+rushes and yellow flags which grew on their banks. Certainly this was a delightful
+spot to be in; and when in the midst of the beautiful park they saw
+the house and gardens&mdash;a house so large that it seemed a palace in the eyes of
+the children, while the gardens were filled with flowers of every color&mdash;they
+shouted again, all except Bessie, who of course began again to envy: &ldquo;Oh,
+what a splendid house! <em>If</em> I could only live there, I am sure I should never
+be unhappy again; <em>if</em> I could stay here and not go back to London; <em>if</em>&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But at this point her grumbling came to a sudden stop, for at a given signal
+all the children, who had been racing over the grass, formed into line and
+marched straight up to the house to make their bows and curtseys to the kind
+lady and gentleman who lived there, and who had come out into the porch
+with her own little girls and boys to welcome the visitors. Of course Bessie
+found something fresh to be discontented at: &ldquo;<em>If</em> I were one of that lady&rsquo;s
+little girls, I should be dressed as nicely as she is, and then, <em>if</em> I liked to play
+about here all day long, I could do so.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And in this way she went on all the day. After going to the house and listening
+to a few words from the owner, and in return singing one of their
+prettiest songs, the children were sent off to play, and in a few minutes they
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>179]</a></span>
+were scattered in all directions, amusing themselves in different ways; and
+though Bessie joined in many games, yet that one word &ldquo;<em>if</em>&rdquo; was in her mind
+the whole time, and she did not play as merrily as usual. Dinner came, and
+the children, called together by a bugle, sat down in a tent; but though the
+fare provided was better than Bessie was accustomed to, even on a Sunday,
+yet this spirit of discontent had so possessed her that it was only because she
+was very hungry that she ate what was given her, all the time wondering what
+the people who lived at the great house were eating for their dinner, and thinking
+over and over again, &ldquo;<em>If</em> I had the chickens and other good things which
+they are sure to have, I should like it much better than this mutton and cherry
+pie.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Oh, Bessie, Bessie! when you are older and know more of the world, you
+will discover that living in a grand house and having good things to eat do
+not make people happier; they in their turn may be as discontented as you
+are, and be always wishing they had something else which does not belong to
+them, and that word &ldquo;<em>if</em>&rdquo; may be as frequently in <em>their</em> mouths as in <em>yours</em>.</p>
+
+<p>But now the dinner is over, and the merry troop have dispersed again&mdash;the
+boys eager to return to their game of cricket, and the girls to haymaking and
+swinging under the trees or other modes of spending the hours of this pleasant
+day; and judging by the laughter and shouts of joy, all are as happy as it is
+possible to be&mdash;indeed, it is a surprise to many when the bugle calls them once
+more together for tea, and they find that even a summer&rsquo;s day must come to an
+end at last, and that within two hours they will all be starting once more on
+their homeward journey. Very quickly did most of the children drink up the
+fragrant tea and the delicious milk, for they wanted to have a last look at the
+places where they had spent the day and picked wild flowers or made hay.
+Bessie was among the foremost of these; for now that she was going away so
+soon from it, she grew yet more discontented, and that little word &ldquo;<em>if</em>&rdquo; was
+used more than ever as she went about, not, as the others did, just to say good-bye
+to the fields and woods, but to look at them again and wish they were
+hers.</p>
+
+<p>I need not stop to tell you of the evening journey, for it was like the morning
+one, excepting that now the hopes of a pleasant day had been fulfilled, and
+the children talked of what they had done, instead of what they intended to
+do. Bessie Green wondered, as she heard them talking, how it was that they
+all seemed so much happier than she did, and how it was that the longed-for
+holiday had not been altogether a day of enjoyment. When she arrived at
+home, she had very little to say about what she had done or seen; but as she
+has since then been more contented, we must suppose that her wondering has
+had some effect, and that she is beginning to see what made the day so different
+to her and to her companions; in which case we may hope that the next
+time she goes into the country she will not spoil her holiday by the too frequent
+use of the word &ldquo;<em>if</em>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>180]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE FORCED RABBIT.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">A FUNNY FACT TOLD IN VERSE.</p>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">YOU have heard of forced potatoes, have you not, dear little folks?<br />
+<span class="i3">Of melons forced, and cucumbers, and grapes in purple cloaks?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But I have seen, and handled, too&mdash;and oh, the sight was funny!&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A rabbit forced, a tiny one, a snow-white little Bunny.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Two little girls of ten and twelve&mdash;I love them very much&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Once thought a tenant they would like for their new rabbit-hutch,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So off to town they drove one day, and there a rabbit bought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And home the furry tenant in their pony-carriage brought.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">They petted, nursed and fondled it, and showed it every care,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And said before it went to bed its sheets of straw they&rsquo;d air;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They also begged it very hard itself at home to make,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hoped, although its bed was strange, it would not lie awake.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">How happy was this Bunny white I really cannot tell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But certainly it happy looked, and was extremely well;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Its eyes were bright, its nose was cool, its tongue a lovely pink.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And for its pulse&mdash;well, that was strong and regular, I think.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">When summer came, the little girls were taken to the sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And left their rabbit with the groom&mdash;a youth of twenty-three.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They bathed and dug upon the shore, and played with Cousin Jack;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They heard the band upon the sand, and rode on donkey-back.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then home they came, and went at once to see their Bunny dear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To stroke his ribs, and pat his head, and feel each wiry ear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But oh! alas! they found him not&mdash;the rabbit was not there!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His hutch, like Mrs. Hubbard&rsquo;s shelf, was very, very bare.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Now, where is he? They called the groom, the youth of twenty-three,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And said, &ldquo;Oh, George, where&rsquo;s Bunny gone? Oh where, oh where is he?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;He&rsquo;s in the hot-house,&rdquo; George replied; &ldquo;the gardener put him there,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For he was growing thinner, miss, and losing all his hair.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">They trotted to the garden then, and there the Bunny found,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And &rsquo;neath a vine beheld their pet reposing on the ground.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Why, what is that?&rdquo; they both exclaimed; &ldquo;can that a rabbit be?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I never in my life before so strange a thing did see!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>181]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 438px;">
+<img src="images/hd071.jpg" width="438" height="600"
+alt="Two girls feed nuts to a squirrel" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE RABBIT.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>182]</a></span><span class="i0">They were surprised, and certainly the sight was strange to view,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For Bunny looked so very huge, and such a bundle too!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Such fat he had, and lots of hair, they longed a bit to pull;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He was exactly like a ball of living cotton-wool.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">No tailor ever did produce a coat so superfine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&rsquo;Twas white as snow, and very thick on stomach, chest and spine&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As thick as heads of stupid boys with countenances glum;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And oh! the hair was very long&mdash;as long as any sum!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A host of friends and neighbors came the funny sight to see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To one and all a rabbit forced was quite a novelty;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And everybody petted him, and loved him very much,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And brought him goody-goodies for the larder in his hutch.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"> * <span class="space">&nbsp;</span> * <span class="space">&nbsp;</span> * <span class="space">&nbsp;</span> * <span class="space">&nbsp;</span> *<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">One day&mdash;and now my pen and ink the deepest mourning wear&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They let him out upon the lawn for exercise and air;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They turned their backs, two dogs rushed up, and one, with swelling chest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Seized Bunny by his woolly throat, and&mdash;you must guess the rest.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_182lower" id="Page_182lower"></a>UP AND DOING.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">BOYS, be up and doing,<br />
+<span class="i3">For the day&rsquo;s begun;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Soon will come the noontide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then the set of sun;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At your tasks toil bravely<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till your work is done.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Let your hands be busy<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In some useful way;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Don&rsquo;t neglect your study,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Don&rsquo;t forget your play;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There is time enough for each<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Every blessed day.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>183]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>A DARING FEAT.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">R</span>EMARKABLE for its spire, the
+loftiest of St. Petersburg, is the
+church of St. Peter and St. Paul. An
+anecdote connected with this church, and
+not known, I believe, out of Russia, is
+worth telling. The spire, which rises</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Lofty, and light, and small,&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>and is probably represented in an engraving
+as fading away almost into a point in
+the sky, is, in reality, terminated by a
+globe of considerable dimensions, on
+which an angel stands, supporting a large
+cross. This angel was out of repair; and
+some suspicions were entertained that he
+designed visiting, uninvoked, the surface
+of the earth. The affair caused some
+uneasiness, and the government at length
+became greatly perplexed. To raise a
+scaffolding to such a height would cost a
+large sum of money; and in meditating
+fruitlessly on this circumstance, without
+knowing how to act, some time was suffered
+to elapse.</p>
+
+<p>Among the crowd of gazers below, who
+daily turned their eyes and their thoughts
+towards the angel, was a mujik called
+Telouchkine. This man was a roofer of
+houses (a slater, as he would be called in
+countries where slates were used); and
+his speculations by degrees assumed a
+more practical character than the idle
+wonders and conjectures of the rest of the
+crowd. The spire was entirely covered
+with sheets of gilded copper, and presented
+to the eye a surface as smooth as
+if it had been one mass of burnished gold.
+But Telouchkine knew that the sheets of
+copper were not even uniformly closed
+upon each other, and, above all, that there
+were large nails used to fasten them, which
+projected from the side of the spire.</p>
+
+<p>Having thought on these circumstances
+till his mind was made up, Telouchkine
+went to the government and offered to
+repair the angel without scaffolding, and
+without assistance, on condition of being
+reasonably paid for the time expended in
+the labor. The offer was accepted.</p>
+
+<p>The day fixed for the adventure arrives.
+Telouchkine, provided with nothing more
+than a coil of ropes, ascends the spire in
+the interior to the last window. Here he
+looks down at the concourse of the people
+below, and up at the glittering &ldquo;needle,&rdquo;
+as it is called, tapering far above his head.
+But his heart does not fail him; and stepping
+gravely out upon the window, he
+sets about his task.</p>
+
+<p>He cuts a portion of the cord in the
+form of two large stirrups, with a loop at
+each end. The upper loops he fastens
+upon two of the projecting nails above his
+head, and places his foot in the others.
+Then digging the fingers of one hand into
+the interstices of the sheets of copper, he
+raises one of the stirrups with the other
+hand, so as to make it catch a nail higher
+up. The same operation he performs on
+behalf of the other leg, and so on alternately.
+And thus he climbs, nail by nail,
+step by step, and stirrup by stirrup, till
+his starting-point is undistinguished from
+the golden surface, and the spire dwindles
+in his embrace till he can clasp it all
+round.</p>
+
+<p>So far, so well. But he now reaches
+the ball&mdash;a globe of between nine and
+ten feet in circumference. The angel,
+the object of this visit, is above this ball,
+and concealed from his view by its smooth,
+round, and glittering expanse. Only fancy
+the wretch at this moment, turning up
+his grave eyes, and graver beard, to an
+obstacle that seems to defy the daring and
+intrepidity of man!</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>184]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 406px;">
+<img src="images/hd072.jpg" width="406" height="600"
+alt="A boy sits on a rock, looking out to sea" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE SEA.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>185]</a></span>
+But Telouchkine is not dismayed. He
+is prepared for the difficulty; and the
+means he used to surmount it exhibits
+the same remarkable simplicity as the
+rest of the feat.</p>
+
+<p>Suspending himself in his stirrups, he
+girds the &ldquo;needle&rdquo; with a cord, the ends
+of which he fastens around his waist;
+and so supported, he leans gradually back,
+till the soles of his feet are planted against
+the spire. In this position, he throws, by
+a strong effort, a coil of cord over the
+ball; and so coolly and accurately is the
+aim taken, that at the first trial it falls in
+the required direction, and he sees the
+end hang down on the opposite side.</p>
+
+<p>To draw himself into his original position,
+to fasten the cord firmly around the
+globe, and with the assistance of this
+auxiliary to climb to the summit, is now
+an easy part of his task; and in a few
+minutes more Telouchkine stands by the
+side of the angel, and listens to the shout
+that bursts like sudden thunder from the
+concourse below, yet comes to his ear
+only like a faint and hollow murmur.</p>
+
+<p>The cord, which he had an opportunity
+of fastening properly, enabled him to descend
+with comparative facility; and the
+next day he carried up with him a ladder
+of ropes, by means of which he found it
+easy to effect the necessary repairs.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_185lower" id="Page_185lower"></a>THE WORLD.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">GREAT, wide, beautiful, wonderful world,<br />
+<span class="i3">With the wonderful water around you curled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the wonderful grass on your breast&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">World, you are beautifully dressed.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The wonderful air is over me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It walks on the water, and whirls the mills,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And talks to itself on the tops of the hills.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">You friendly Earth, how far do you go,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With the wheat-fields that nod, and the rivers that flow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With cities, and gardens, and cliffs, and isles,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And people upon you for thousands of miles?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ah, you are so great, and I am so small,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I tremble to think of you, World, at all!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And yet, when I said my prayers to-day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A whisper inside me seemed to say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You can love and think, and the Earth cannot!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet"><i>Lilliput Lectures.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>186]</a></span></p>
+<h2>C&mdash;A&mdash;T.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">FOR THE VERY LITTLE ONES.</p>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">BE quiet, good Tabby!<br />
+<span class="i3">See how still you can be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For I&rsquo;m going to teach you<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To spell C&mdash;A&mdash;T.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I&rsquo;ll show you the way<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Mother reads it to me:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She looks very sober,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And says C&mdash;A&mdash;T.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Fred says you can&rsquo;t learn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But we&rsquo;ll show him that we<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Can learn, if we please,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To spell C&mdash;A&mdash;T.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">To what little May said<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Tabby did not agree,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I doubt if she learned<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To spell C&mdash;A&mdash;T.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>187]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 418px;">
+<img src="images/hd073.jpg" width="418" height="600"
+alt="May practises her spelling with Tabby beside her" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">C&mdash;A&mdash;T.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>188]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE GIRAFFE.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE creature which forms the subject
+of this paper is the giraffe, or camelopard
+(<i>Camelopardalis Giraffa</i>) noted
+for its wonderful and beautiful form and
+its remarkable habits.</p>
+
+<p>At the first sight of a giraffe, the spectator
+is struck by its enormously long
+neck, and will naturally ask himself how
+it is supported, and how its mobility is
+preserved. Every one who has the least
+acquaintance with anatomy is aware that
+a strong and very elastic ligament passes
+down the back of the neck, and acts as a
+strap by which the head is preserved from
+falling forward. In the giraffe this ligament
+(popularly called the paxwax) is of
+great length and thickness, and is divided
+into longitudinal halves, and proceeds,
+not only down the entire neck, but along
+the back, nearly to the tail. So powerful
+a band requires correspondingly large attachments;
+and accordingly we find that
+the vertebr&aelig; of the shoulders send out
+enormously long perpendicular processes,
+which give to the shoulder that height
+which is so eminent a characteristic of
+the animal. To these processes the ligament
+of the neck is fastened by accessory
+bands, which add both to its strength and
+elasticity.</p>
+
+<p>The natives of Southern Africa make
+great use of this ligament, which is carefully
+removed and dried. When the native
+wishes to make a kaross, or any other
+article of apparel, he soaks a piece of the
+ligament in water, and then beats it with
+a stone. This treatment causes it to split
+into filaments, which can be worked to
+almost any degree of fineness, and with
+these the native sews his leathern dress.
+I have now before me a piece of this
+Kaffir thread, as it is called. In its dry
+state, it is shrivelled and contracted, and
+no one who was not acquainted with it
+could guess the purpose to which it was
+originally devoted.</p>
+
+<p>Although the neck of the giraffe is
+so enormously long, it only consists of
+seven vertebr&aelig;, as is indeed the rule
+throughout the mammalia. It seems very
+remarkable that in the neck of the elephant
+and of the giraffe there should be
+precisely the same number of vertebr&aelig;.
+Such, however, is the case, and the difference
+in length is caused by the great
+length of those bones in the giraffe, and
+their shortness and flatness in the elephant.</p>
+
+<p>The giraffe is a swift animal, and even
+upon level ground will put a horse to its
+utmost mettle; but on rough and rocky
+ground, especially if the chase be directed
+up hill, the horse has no chance against
+the giraffe, which can hop over the stones
+with the agility of the goat, and even leap
+ravines which no horse will dare to face.
+So energetic is the animal when chased,
+and so violently is the tail switched from
+side to side, that the long, stiff hairs hiss
+sharply as they pass through the air.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes, but very rarely, the giraffe
+will miss its footing and fall to the ground;
+but it recovers itself immediately, and is
+on its feet before much advantage can be
+taken of the mishap. When it lies down
+intentionally, it is obliged to pack up its
+legs in a manner which seems extremely
+awkward, although the animal can lie or
+rise with perfect ease; and, like the
+camel, it possesses callosities upon the
+knees and breast, on which it rests while
+reposing.</p>
+
+<p>The height of the giraffe is rather variable,
+but on an average is from twelve to
+eighteen feet.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>189]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 393px;">
+<img src="images/hd074.jpg" width="393" height="600" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE GIRAFFE.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>190]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE LION ON THE THRESHOLD.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">A</span>T Rietriverspoort, South Africa,
+writes Lichtenstein, we came to
+the dwelling of a farmer named Van
+Wyk. Whilst we were resting our tired
+oxen, and enjoying the cool shade of the
+porch, Van Wyk told us the following
+story:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It was something more than two
+years ago that here, in this spot where
+we are standing, I had to make a daring
+shot. My wife was sitting in the house
+near the door, the children were playing
+about, and I was busy doing something
+to my wagon on the other side of the
+house, when suddenly what should we
+see, on the doorstep, but the shadow of a
+great lion darkening the bright daylight.
+My wife, quite stunned with terror, and
+knowing also how dangerous it often is to
+try and run away in such cases, remained
+in her place, while the children took refuge
+upon her lap. Their cries made me
+aware of something having happened;
+and my astonishment and consternation
+may be imagined when I discovered what
+guest was blocking up my entrance to my
+own house.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The lion had not as yet seen me: but
+how was I, unarmed as I was, to defend
+my family? Involuntarily I moved along
+the side of the house towards the window,
+which was open; and, most happily for
+me, I saw, standing in a corner of the
+room near the window, a loaded gun. I
+was able to reach it with my hand, though
+the window, as you see, is too small for
+any one to get through. Still more providential
+was it that the room door happened
+to be open, so that I could see the
+whole terrible scene through the window.
+The lion had got into the house, and was
+looking steadfastly at my wife and children.
+He made a movement, and seemed
+about to spring upon them, when, feeling
+that there was no longer any time to
+waste in deliberating what was to be done,
+I uttered a few encouraging words to my
+wife, and with God&rsquo;s help, shot right across
+the room into the passage, where I struck
+the lion in the head, so that he could not
+move again. The ball had passed close
+to the hair of my little boy.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd075.jpg" width="600" height="457" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE LION.</p>
+
+<p>The same writer, Lichtenstein, says
+that the lion, like a cat, takes its prey by
+springing upon it, and never attacks a
+man or animal which does not attempt to
+run away from him without first placing
+himself at a distance of ten or twelve
+paces off, and measuring his spring. This
+habit of the lion has been turned to account
+by hunters, who make it their practice
+never to fire at a lion until he has so
+placed himself: long practice enabling
+them to know exactly where and when to
+hit it with effect while the animal is preparing
+for his spring. If any one is so
+unfortunate as to meet a lion unarmed,
+the only hope of escape is presence of
+mind. To run away is certain destruction;
+if a man has the coolness to remain
+standing where he is, the lion will not attack
+him. He will not attempt the spring
+if the man stands motionless as a statue,
+and looks quietly into his eyes. The
+erect figure of the human species of itself
+alarms the lion, and when, in addition to
+this, he sees his antagonist calm and
+unmoved, the feeling of awe is increased.
+A sudden gesture, indicative of alarm,
+will of course disturb this impression;
+but if the man continues to show self-possession,
+the lion will at last be as afraid
+of the man as the man of the lion. After
+a time he slowly raises himself, looks
+carefully round, retreats a few steps, lies
+down again, makes a further retreat, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"><!-- Illustration - THE LION --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>192]</a></span>
+ends by taking a rapid flight, as if his
+desire were to get as far out of the presence
+of the human species as he possibly
+can. Indeed, we are told by the settlers
+at the Cape, that it is not likely that the
+experiment has been very often made.
+Formerly, when there were more lions to
+be seen there than at present, and when, at
+the same time, the settlers were inexperienced
+in lion-hunting, large numbers
+of hunters used to go in chase of the
+lion, whom they would endeavor to entice
+into the plain, and round whom they used
+to form a circle. They shot at him first
+from one side and then from another,
+and if the poor animal tried to break
+through the left side of the human wall,
+they would attack him from the right.
+At present, however, experienced
+lion-hunters generally prefer going alone after
+their dangerous prey, and sometimes pursue
+him to his den. Such species of
+sport is always dangerous, however, and
+is often attended with fatal results. We
+have heard from a reliable source that in
+many sports among the mountains near
+the Elephant River, lions are to be seen
+in such large numbers, that on one occasion
+our informant saw as many as three
+and twenty together. Most of them were
+young, and only eight quite full grown.
+He had just loosened his oxen on an
+open place, and took the rather cowardly
+than humane course of escaping to the
+tents of some Hottentots, and leaving
+his oxen to the mercy of the lions, without
+firing a shot.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_192lower" id="Page_192lower"></a>THE SNOW-MAN.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">LOOK! how the clouds are flying south!<br />
+<span class="i3">The wind pipes loud and shrill!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And high above the white drifts stands<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The snow-man on the hill.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Blow, wild wind from the icy north!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Here&rsquo;s one who will not fear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To feel thy coldest touch, or shrink<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thy loudest blast to hear!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Proud triumph of the school-boy&rsquo;s skill!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Far rather would I be<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A winter giant, ruling o&rsquo;er<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A frosty realm, like thee,<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And stand amidst the drifted snow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Like thee, a thing apart,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Than be a man who walks with men,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But has a frozen heart!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Marian Douglas.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>193]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 440px;">
+<img src="images/hd076.jpg" width="440" height="600"
+alt="Two boys build a snowman" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE SNOW-MAN.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>194]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/hd077.jpg" width="400" height="398"
+alt="A pair of barn swallows bring food to their nestling" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>BARN SWALLOWS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>HEN I was a youngster,&mdash;and
+that, let me tell you, young
+friends, was some time ago,&mdash;they used
+to say that swallows lived in the mud all
+winter, as the eels do. The books made
+no such stupid blunder; only the ignorant
+people, such as never seem to use
+their eyes or their reason. It was one of
+the popular errors of the time. Silly as
+the notion seems, it has been held by a
+great many respectable persons.</p>
+
+<p>Possibly the error may have arisen from
+the fact that the moment the swallows
+appear in any locality, in the spring of the
+year, they immediately search out some
+muddy place, where they can get materials
+for their nests. First they carry a
+mouthful of mud, then some threads of
+dry hay or straw, then more mud, and
+so on. These frequent visits to a marshy
+locality might readily lead an unobserving
+person to imagine that the birds came
+from the muddy recesses in the banks.
+But, of course, they are on a very different
+errand.</p>
+
+<p>Having commenced their nests, the
+swallows rest during the warmest part of
+the day, so that the sun may dry their
+work, and make it hard and strong.
+Then more mud is plastered on&mdash;more
+threads of straw; and so the industrious
+birds continue until the body of the nest
+is completed. A nice, soft lining of fine
+grass or hair finishes the whole, and
+makes a summer home for both birds
+and their young.</p>
+
+<p>Unlike most other birds, swallows
+often repair old nests, if the frosts and
+storms of winter have injured them, as
+they generally do; and sometimes the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>195]</a></span>
+birds come back to the same locality for
+several years. They select some unexposed
+corner, under the eaves of a barn
+or house, if possible pretty high from the
+ground, and in a very few days the entire
+dwelling, lining and all, will be completed.</p>
+
+<p>If unmolested, barn swallows will form
+quite a colony in the space of a few years.
+But, if their nests are injured or torn
+down, or their young ones are stolen
+away or disturbed, the birds forsake the
+locality forever. Where a number of
+families live together, their chattering,
+when, as the evening comes on, they are
+catching gnats and flies for supper, or
+feeding their young ones, is very pleasant
+and diverting. And there is music in
+their language, too&mdash;music which a
+thoughtful person is ever glad to hear.</p>
+
+<p>Last summer, when business was dull,
+I went on a vacation, away up into the
+Granite State. While passing through
+the town of Unity (my little niece insists
+upon calling it <em>Utiny</em>&mdash;but she will
+speak plainer one of these years), my
+attention was called to a small village
+church on the wayside. Around the
+entire building, under the eaves, were
+brackets, some three inches in width, and
+perhaps as far apart. In the spaces thus
+formed were hundreds upon hundreds of
+swallows&rsquo; nests. Hardly a single space
+was left unoccupied, while many contained
+two, and sometimes three nests.
+Not content with the eaves, the colony
+had commenced upon the belfry, and far
+up towards the spire every possible nook
+and corner seemed to be spoken for.</p>
+
+<p>I stopped to contemplate the very interesting
+spectacle. A villager informed
+me that the colony came regularly every
+year, and, as near as could be judged,
+the same birds; that for ten years the
+birds had been petted by the inhabitants,
+and protected by all, old and young. He
+said that the swallows had all disappeared
+in a body, about a week previous to my
+visit, adding, &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know what a
+lovely spectacle it is to witness the evolutions
+of these birds on a summer evening,
+when they are teaching their young ones
+to fly. They swarm around the building
+like bees, and their music is most delightful
+to hear.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I could readily imagine the beauty of
+the scene, from the great number of
+nests, though I mean to see the colony
+at their devotions this year. &ldquo;Yea, the
+sparrow hath found a house, and the
+swallow a nest for herself, where she may
+lay her young, <em>even thine altars</em>, O Lord
+of hosts, my King and my God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It would be interesting to know where
+these birds go as winter approaches. It
+is very easy, and perhaps very true, to
+say that they &ldquo;go south.&rdquo; But to what
+part of the south? Do they keep in a
+body there, as here? Do they have nests,
+and rear their young, there, as with us?
+There is a fine field for inquiry, which it
+is hoped some of our boys will go into
+by and by. For the present, if any of
+them are passing through Unity, let them
+remember the church which has its
+largest congregation on the outside.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">W. Wander.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/hd078.png" width="150" height="14"
+alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>196]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>GRATITUDE OF A COW.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">A</span> GENTLEMAN passing through a field observed a cow showing many
+symptoms of uneasiness, stamping with her feet and looking earnestly
+at him. At first he feared to approach her, but afterward went toward her,
+which seemed to please her much. She then guided him to a ditch where her
+calf was lying helpless; and he was just in time to save it from death, to the
+no small delight of the cow. Some days after, when passing through the same
+field, the cow came up to him as if to thank him for his kindness. As among
+the various animals with which the earth abounds none is more necessary to
+the existence of man than the cow, so likewise none appears to be more extensively
+propagated; in every part of the world it is found, large or small,
+according to the quantity and quality of its food. There is no part of Europe
+where it grows to so large a size as in England, whose pastures are admirably
+suited to its nature. The quantity of milk and butter varies according to the
+difference of its pasture; some cows in favorable situations yield twenty
+quarts of milk in a day.</p>
+
+<p>To form a just idea of the value of this animal, we ought to consider that
+there is scarcely any part of it without its utility to man. The skin is manufactured
+into leather; the hair, mixed with lime, is used in plastering walls
+and building houses; the bones serve as a substitute for ivory; when calcined,
+they are used by the refiners of silver to separate the baser metals; and when
+ground and spread over the fields, they form a fertilizing manure. Combs,
+knife-handles and many useful articles are made from the horns, which, when
+softened in boiling water, become pliable, so as to be formed into lanterns&mdash;an
+invention usually ascribed to King Alfred. We are furnished with candles
+from the tallow, and the feet afford an oil adapted to a variety of purposes.
+Glue is made from the cartilages, gristles and parings of the hide boiled in
+water; calves&rsquo; skins are manufactured into vellum; saddlers and others use a
+fine thread prepared from the sinews, which is much stronger than any other
+equally fine. The blood, gall, etc., are used in many important manufactures.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 418px;">
+<img src="images/hd079.jpg" width="418" height="600" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE COW AND HER CALF.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>MINUTES.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">WE are but minutes&mdash;little things!<br />
+<span class="i4">Each one furnished with sixty wings,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With which we fly on our unseen track,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And not a minute ever comes back.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">We are but minutes; use, use us well,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For how we are used we must one day tell.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who uses minutes has hours to use;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who loses minutes whole years must lose.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"><!-- Illustration - THE COW AND HER CALF --></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>198]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 458px;">
+<img src="images/hd080.jpg" width="458" height="400"
+alt="Uncle Godfrey wades through snow, two horses and a dingo nearby" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>GOING FOR THE LETTERS.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">AN AUSTRALIAN STORY.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span>T was a bitter cold day in the end of
+the month of January. The morning
+had been a very unpleasant one&mdash;neither
+frost nor snow, a sort of compound of
+rain and sleet; but now the snow was
+falling fast, and the clear crystals were
+fast hiding every shrub and plant that had
+a place in the beautiful flower garden, in
+front of the drawing-room windows of
+Arundel Manor, while inside a roaring
+fire, that made the handsomely-furnished
+apartment look even more than usually
+snug and comfortable, was surrounded by
+a family party consisting of Mrs. St. Clair,
+the three children, and uncle Godfrey.</p>
+
+<p>It was the &ldquo;children&rsquo;s hour,&rdquo; and his
+niece was trying to coax a tale out of
+&ldquo;dear uncle,&rdquo; who did not seem much in
+the humor to comply with her request,
+when mamma looked up and said, &ldquo;My
+dear, do not trouble your uncle so. I am
+sure, Godfrey, that Lydia must torment
+you; and if she does, we must send her
+to the nursery.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Poor Lydia&rsquo;s face fell at once. &ldquo;I am
+sure I did not mean to tease uncle.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Never mind, my pet; I know I promised
+to tell you a story to-night, and was
+just thinking what it was to be, when my
+fit of musing sent memory back many a
+long day, and revealed a scene distant
+many a thousand miles. Now that I am
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>199]</a></span>
+fairly awake, I will show you the picture
+of my waking dream. So up you jump;&rdquo;
+and Lydia, catching hold of his hand,
+was quickly seated on her uncle&rsquo;s knee,
+her usual place at story time, and throwing
+her arms round his neck, exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, you dear old pet!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I heard,&rdquo; began uncle Godfrey, &ldquo;some
+boys, who shall be nameless, grumbling
+this morning at being kept inside, for fear
+of catching cold on such a raw day, and
+my thoughts instantly turned to a day
+similar to this, and how I then prayed to
+be under the shelter of some friendly
+roof; and I also thought how thankful
+every one ought to be who is able to sit
+at a warm fire, when it freezes hard, or
+when the snow is covering the earth by
+inches every hour.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I dare say you think it fine fun to run
+over to the lodge and bring the letters
+from the post-boy; at least I did when as
+young as you are; but going for letters is
+not always the pleasantest thing imaginable,
+as I once nearly found out to my
+cost.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If you are all so anxious to hear the
+contents of letters from your uncle Wilfred,
+you may fancy how eagerly he and I
+used to watch for the arrivals of the mails
+at Sydney, and be sure that one or both
+of us were certain to be at the office in
+Kiandra on the day it reached there, and
+with what delight we read and re-read the
+letter which never failed to make its appearance
+monthly to one or other of us.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Our winter fall of snow generally began
+about the 12th of May, and from that
+date till the month of October it was a
+matter of no small difficulty to get our
+letters at the place where we lived, a long
+nine miles from Kiandra of a very mountainous
+track.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;186- was an extraordinary season.
+May passed, no snow&mdash;June the same,
+only heavy, I may say, nearly constant
+showers of rain. &lsquo;A glorious year,&rsquo; the
+diggers called it. &lsquo;Never such a season
+for work since the diggings broke out.
+Two months&rsquo; work at a time when there
+is never any water. O, what a wash-up
+there will be in November!&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Such was the substance of the conversation
+when any two of the residents
+met, varied, perhaps, by remarks as to
+whether old So-and-so, who had been
+twenty years in the district, would be
+right in saying there was to be nine feet
+of snow, or whether So-and-so was a better
+judge in saying we were to have none
+at all?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I was then living by myself, Wilfred
+being away in Sydney, and was looking
+out for him every day, and hoping he
+might be back before the winter fairly set
+in, when it was scarcely possible to travel.
+As I said before, June had passed, and
+we were getting well into July, when I
+heard that our English mail would be in
+Kiandra on the following Wednesday.
+It was now Friday.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We had got a fine week for work,
+raining gently all the time, which is what
+we diggers like, and no frost, which
+dries up the water, and makes us all idle,
+when on Sunday the weather completely
+changed, and very suddenly, too, as, indeed,
+it always did there. The wind,
+which had been from north or east, without
+any warning chopped right round to
+the south-west, and we had a strong frost.
+Next day was cloudy, but at night frost
+was harder than ever, and everything with
+liquid in it, even to the tea-pot in a room
+where there was a fire nearly all night, was
+full of solid ice.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The thermometer was down to 18&deg;
+below zero in the same place; and in bed,
+in the next room, with four pairs of new
+blankets, I thought I should have been
+fairly frozen. We were hard at work all
+that day, which was a drizzly, snowy one,
+everything betokening a fall of snow; so,
+when Wednesday dawned, though not so
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>200]</a></span>
+deep as I expected, I was not surprised to
+find more than a foot of it all over.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Down the country the floods had been
+dreadful; nearly all the bridges had been
+washed away, and the roads turned into
+bogs, so that our mails came in very irregularly,
+sometimes ten days behind time.
+You may therefore imagine I was in a
+great worry to hear from Wilfred, my last
+letter being a month old, as well as anxious
+for <em>home</em> news. So I donned my
+oil-skin over my blanket-coat, put on my
+thigh gum-boots, tied my comforter round
+my neck and up over my ears, and pulling
+my south-wester on, prepared to face
+the weather.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I found the walk into town, though
+very heavy, not so bad as I expected, and
+arrived safely, without any mishaps, but
+rather tired and uncomfortably moist, it
+being a sort of drizzle all the way; but a
+letter from Wilfred, saying he would not
+leave for some time, and so would not be
+caught in this storm, and the perusal of
+a kind one from &lsquo;the old country&rsquo; soon
+made me forget my discomfort, and I
+spent a pleasant evening at a friend&rsquo;s.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;At bed-time it was a beautiful starry
+night; but I did not altogether fancy it.
+There was a kind of half soft feel through
+the frost, that sounded to me like a change,
+and the thought of the morrow&rsquo;s walk was
+not a pleasant one; but there was no use
+forestalling what might never be. So to bed
+and to sleep; but ere my eyes were well
+closed, the wind began to whistle round
+the corner of the house, and&mdash;hallo&mdash;what&rsquo;s
+that! Big drops of rain, and
+lumps of earth and gravel, were pelting
+the panes of glass.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A few minutes there was a lull&mdash;a
+dead silence&mdash;when flash! crash!&mdash;the
+room was in a blaze of light, and at the
+same instant the thunder made the very
+bed shake again, and also made my heart
+rise to my mouth. Listening earnestly
+for some time, and no further disturbances
+occurring, I began, after thanking a kind
+Providence for his protection, to think
+over the matter, and came to the conclusion
+that at last we were in for a downright
+fall, this being the third time that,
+to my knowledge, such had been preceded
+by a single clap of thunder.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Next day the snow came down in
+earnest; and as it was drifting in every
+direction, I took the advice of my friends,
+and quietly stopped where I was. Large,
+feathery flakes fell unceasingly all the afternoon,
+and by night there was fully two
+feet in the town; but as it looked a little
+better on Friday afternoon, and my dog,
+cat, and fowls could get nothing to eat
+until my return, I determined to make a
+start, though against the opinions of most
+of the town&rsquo;s people.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;When I left Kiandra there was a
+dense fog, which shortly changed, first to
+a light, and then to a heavy snow; and
+by the time I dragged myself the mile to
+the top of the mountain, it was coming
+down, and no mistake!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It was impossible to see one yard in
+any direction, and my legs were already
+beginning to <em>talk</em>; but it was too late to
+think of turning. I had had only to fight
+through one extra deep drift as yet, and
+knew the road hitherto well; but now I
+had to turn off from where the track lay hid,
+and had not gone far when my difficulties
+fairly began, and I was quickly ploughing
+my way through some five or six feet of
+snow.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Half an hour&rsquo;s hard work found me
+clear of that, and for a couple of miles
+everything went swimmingly. The snow
+was here firm enough to bear my weight,
+although now and again, bump! down I
+went through the crust, nearly jerking my
+joints out. The nearer home the deeper
+got the snow, and, of course, so much the
+more tired I felt. The main creek to be
+crossed was hidden entirely; and as its
+exact whereabouts was not very easily
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>201]</a></span>
+guessed at, you may depend it was not a
+pleasant sensation to plump down and
+find myself up to the neck. Luckily, the
+water was no depth, and as my boots
+were tight and long, a hard scramble
+pulled me out of my first trouble.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A short rest, and I was again on my
+way; but it took me a good many hours
+to get the next three or four miles, even
+though I met no more serious difficulty
+than some very heavy drifts. I was getting
+very tired, and hungry, too, and you
+may fancy it was no joke wading the snow,
+never less than two feet, lucky if not going
+past the knees at every step; but at last
+I was in a mess, and how to get out of it
+I knew not. The look of the country,
+when a lull gave me the chance of seeing,
+showed I was off my road; and when I
+felt I was lost, my thoughts were anything
+but satisfactory.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I knew not which way to turn, so sat
+down to think it over, and was looking
+around as well as the drifting snow would
+permit, when coming along my tracks
+was a large yellow dog. My heart gave a
+bound of delight, and jumping up, I let a
+&lsquo;cooey,&rsquo;<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> to tell its master that some one
+was in the same predicament, as I doubted
+not he was.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Slowly a minute or two passed, but
+no reply to my communication. Alas!
+all was silence, and I then saw, by its
+pointed ears and bushy tail, that it was a
+dingo, or native dog, which was running
+my footsteps. It was no use sitting where
+I was. So on I started in the direction
+I fancied, every minute feeling more and
+more fagged, and when at last darkness
+set in, was almost inclined to give up.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My yellow friend followed me for
+some time at a respectful distance; and
+though the dingo is a sneaking coward,
+still, had sleep overpowered me, he might
+have been tempted to try how I tasted, as
+he must have been hungry to come so
+close to me as he did. So, although I
+never had any fear of such an event actually
+occurring, I was not at all sorry
+when he trotted off, his tail, as usual, between
+his legs, to join some of his companions,
+whose unearthly howls he heard
+at no great distance; there must have
+been five or six.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I felt really glad they came no nearer,
+as a mob of them are very daring; and I
+have known them, when well starved for
+a week or two, kill calves, and even colts,
+when the mothers were weak and could
+not fight for them. But it was not very
+long before I found that they were not
+after me, as I nearly stumbled against a
+mare and colt belonging to myself, that
+were standing under a tree, and whinnied
+as I spoke. We had sent all our horses
+away two months ago but this one, as she
+could not be found, and we thought she
+was dead. The poor thing could not have
+tasted food for days; but what could I do
+but pity the pair, and feel that their end
+was to be food for the <i>warregals</i> (native
+dogs).</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;As I had now been walking seven or
+eight hours, and hard at it all the time, I
+could see nothing for it but to yield to
+necessity, as sleep was fast overpowering
+me, when I distinctly heard the bark of a
+dog, which I felt confident was my old
+watch, &lsquo;Jack.&rsquo; My spirits rose at once,
+and again I was alive, and pushed in the
+direction of the welcome sound.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;At the same time I caught a glimpse
+of a cluster of trees, whose peculiar shape
+I had often remarked, which told me where
+I was; and this fact was also quickly
+proved by my plunging into an old prospecting
+hole&mdash;the only one in the neighborhood.
+It was about six feet deep, and
+full of snow and water. I thought I was
+lost, as the frozen slush went down my
+back, and that I, who had been picked
+out of the Canton River, in a dark night,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>202]</a></span>
+when the tide ran six knots an hour, was
+fated to be drowned in a filthy pot-hole.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But, luckily, such was not my lot on
+the present occasion, as, after many a failure,
+I managed to pull myself out, my
+boots full of water, and my whole body
+nearly numb from the cold. Luckily, the
+house was only half a mile off.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I reached it in safety, and just in time,
+as my feet were all but frost-bitten, when
+I should have been fortunate to lose only
+a few of my toes, as I knew a man here
+who had <em>both</em> legs cut off in consequence
+of a severe frost-bite.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;As it was, I was a sorry figure; my
+clothes were like a board, my socks were
+in a similar state, while icicles hung in
+festoons from my hair and beard. But,
+when at last I managed to open the door,
+and get a light, one or two rough towels,
+and some ten minutes&rsquo; hard rubbing, soon
+put a glow of heat over my whole body;
+and by the time I turned into bed, after a
+cup of scalding hot coffee (I was too hungry
+to eat), my misfortunes were forgotten,
+and all I felt was thankfulness for having
+reached my house, which seems to me,
+even now, to have been a very doubtful
+matter, had &lsquo;Jack&rsquo; not barked when he
+did.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;See how many things turned out all
+for my good&mdash;the mare and the colt in
+the snow, the dingo running after her
+through hunger, and my dog barking at it,
+showed me where my house was, when
+I was fairly lost, and thus saved my life,
+and enabled me to spin you this yarn,
+which I must now finish by saying that
+since that time I am always glad to have
+a warm house to shelter me in such
+weather as this, and cannot help thinking
+that if any boys had ever been placed in
+my predicament, they would only be too
+thankful to remain inside on such a day
+as this, without requiring their mother to
+order them to do so.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But what about the poor mare? Did
+she die? and did the wild dogs eat the
+colt?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, I almost forgot to tell you that, to
+my astonishment, in two or three days,
+when the snow hardened a bit, the pair
+found their way home, and I, after a deal
+of trouble, got them to the banks of the Tumut
+River, which, although only a couple
+of miles away, was so many hundred feet
+lower, that they could paw away the snow,
+and so got grass enough to live till spring
+when they soon got fat. The little colt I
+named &lsquo;Snowdrop,&rsquo; and when she was old
+enough, broke her in; and many a good
+gallop we had over the place where she
+and her mother neighed to me on that
+dark and dismal night.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a>
+A peculiar shout, heard at a great distance, which
+is common among the Australian settlers.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_202lower" id="Page_202lower"></a>SPRING HAS COME.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">SPRING has come back to us, beautiful spring!<br />
+<span class="i3">Blue-birds and swallows are out on the wing;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Over the meadows a carpet of green<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Softer and richer than velvet is seen.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Up come the blossoms so bright and so gay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Giving sweet odors to welcome the May.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sunshine and music are flooding the air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beauty and brightness are everywhere.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>203]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>ABOUT &ldquo;BITTERS.&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/hd081.jpg" width="500" height="132"
+alt="Bitters being chased by a rooster" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">C</span>HARLEY and Jimmie D. were
+playing near the barn one day,
+when along came the forlornest looking
+cur you ever did see. The children commenced
+calling him, and laughed loudly
+as the animal came towards them, he was
+<em>such</em> an ill-looking thing.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Good fellow! nice fellow!&rdquo; said Charley,
+patting him. &ldquo;Jim, you run in, and
+get him something to eat&mdash;won&rsquo;t you?
+and don&rsquo;t tell mother yet; you know she
+dislikes dogs so. We&rsquo;ll tie him up to-night,
+and tell her to-morrow, if no one
+comes for him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Such another looking dog I think I
+never saw&mdash;scrawny and poor, as though
+he had never been more than half fed;
+a slit in one ear, tail not much to speak
+of, and color a dirty black and white.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmie soon came back from a successful
+forage, and gave him a good supper.
+At least doggie seemed to think so, for
+he gobbled it up in about a minute, and
+then wagged the stump of his tail for
+more.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, sir,&rdquo; said Charley, &ldquo;no more to-night.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then they shut him up in a little room
+in a corner of the barn, and ran to find
+their father, and tell him, well knowing
+he would not care, if their mother was
+willing.</p>
+
+<p>They found their father, who went with
+them to see him, and laughed long and
+loud as they led out the ugly beast.</p>
+
+<p>Then all went in to supper; the great
+secret almost revealing itself in their tell-tale
+looks and occasional whisperings,
+neither of which attracted their mother&rsquo;s
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>Supper over, they made a final visit
+to their pet, and then left him for the
+night.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What shall we name him?&rdquo; said Jimmie,
+when they were alone in their room
+at night.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, we must have a funny name, he&rsquo;s
+such a sorry looking feller! Wouldn&rsquo;t
+you call him &lsquo;Bitters&rsquo;?&rdquo; said Charley.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Bitters!&rdquo; said Jim, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, that&rsquo;s bad enough.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So Bitters he was named; and next
+morning they won their mother&rsquo;s reluctant
+consent to keep the dog, provided he
+was kept at the barn, or away from the
+house, at all events.</p>
+
+<p>Then they fed and played with him
+till school time, and shut him up till noon.</p>
+
+<p>Bitters seemed to take to his new
+admirers, and appeared quite satisfied
+with his quarters, and was getting to look
+a little more like a respectable dog, when
+one morning, as he was running round a
+corner of the barn, he came suddenly
+upon the old rooster, who bristled up and
+showed fight. Bitters turned, and ran
+for dear life, as hard as he could go, and
+never has been seen or heard from, from
+that day to this, much to the boys&rsquo;
+regret.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">F. E. S.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>204]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 446px;">
+<img src="images/hd082.jpg" width="446" height="600"
+alt="Stephen holding a rose in his mouth" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">DOG STEPHEN.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>205]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>FRED AND DOG STEPHEN.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">N</span>OW, just one good cuddle,&rdquo; said little six-year-old Freddie, &ldquo;and then
+I&rsquo;ll be ready for school;&rdquo; and he curled himself up like a young
+Turk in his mother&rsquo;s lap, and nestled there in a very enjoyable way.</p>
+
+<p>She was sitting by the dining-room window; it was open, and a pitcher of
+wild phlox and pink-and-white wake-robins stood in it. While they sat there
+they saw Uncle Rube, who lives over on the hillside, coming along the crooked
+path with a basket on his arm. His head was down, and he was thinking
+so intently that he did not hear the steps behind him of his young dog,
+Stephen.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Rube means to make the best dog in the world of Stephen&mdash;the playful
+little puppy!&mdash;and he never permits him to follow him anywhere unless by
+special invitation. About once a week he will say to him, &ldquo;Stevie, would
+you like to go to your grandfather&rsquo;s with me? Come on, then;&rdquo; and here
+they will come, the puppy so glad that his gait is more awkward than ever,
+his fat body, twisted out of all shape, wriggling along, while his tail will flap
+about in every direction and his ears look like wilted cabbage-leaves.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t know Stevie is behind him, does he, ma? and now let&rsquo;s watch
+and see what they will both do when they find out.&rdquo; So they snugged down
+by the window and tittered and watched and anticipated rare fun.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Rube was whispering to himself and nodding his head and making
+gesticulations with his open hand, while Stephen trotted with his little soft,
+careful feet behind him, smelling of the ground, and thinking green grass
+with the dew sparkling on it was just made purposely for dogs to admire.</p>
+
+<p>Just as Rube came to the big gate and stopped to unlatch it he heard a little
+whiffy breathing behind him, and then he looked and saw Stephen. He was
+very much surprised; but as he never scolded the dog, he simply said, in a
+very earnest way, &ldquo;Steve, I am astonished! You go right back home immediately.
+You&rsquo;re a great boy, indeed, to sneak along without ever being
+invited! I didn&rsquo;t want you, sir, or I&rsquo;d have told you so. Now go right
+back again.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Oh, it was <em>so</em> funny! Stephen just threw his head back and whirled on his
+heels, and ran with all his might down the crooked path.</p>
+
+<p>Then the school-bell rang, and Fred&rsquo;s mother kissed him &ldquo;good-morning,&rdquo;
+and he started off with his books, and as he turned round the corner his white
+teeth showed prettily as, half laughing, he said to himself in wonderment,
+&ldquo;<i>Dear little Stevie dog! he just ran back &rsquo;zactly as if he wanted to.</i>&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>206]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>NOW THE SUN IS SINKING.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">NOW the sun is sinking<br />
+<span class="i3">In the golden west;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Birds and bees and children<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All have gone to rest;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the merry streamlet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As it runs along,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With a voice of sweetness<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sings its evening song.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Cowslip, daisy, violet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In their little beds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All among the grasses,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Hide their heavy heads;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There they&rsquo;ll all, sweet darlings!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lie in happy dreams<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till the rosy morning<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Wakes them with its beams.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_206lower" id="Page_206lower"></a>A RIGMAROLE ABOUT A TEA-PARTY.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">MRS. DYER<br />
+<span class="i4">Stirred the fire,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Agnes Stout<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Poked it out,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Tommy Voles<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fetched the coals,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Alice Good<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Laid the wood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bertie Patch<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Struck the match,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Charlotte Hays<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Made it blaze,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Mrs. Groom<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Kept the broom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Katy Moore<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Swept the floor,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fanny Froth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Laid the cloth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Arthur Grey<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Brought the tray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Betty Bates<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Washed the plates,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nanny Galt<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Smoothed the salt,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dicky Street<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fetched the meat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sally Strife<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rubbed the knife,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Minnie York<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Found the fork,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sophie Silk<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Brought the milk,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Mrs. Bream<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sent some cream,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Susan Head<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cut the bread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Harry Host<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Made the toast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Mrs. Dee<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Poured out tea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And they all were as happy as happy could be.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>207]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE FAIRY BIRD.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span>&rsquo;M so glad to-morrow is Christmas,
+because I&rsquo;m going to have lots of
+presents.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;So am I glad, though I don&rsquo;t expect
+any presents but a pair of mittens.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And so am I; but I shan&rsquo;t have any
+presents at all.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As the three little girls trudged home
+from school they said these things, and as
+Tilly spoke, both the others looked at her
+with pity and some surprise; for she spoke
+cheerfully, and they wondered how she
+could be happy when she was so poor she
+could have no presents on Christmas.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you wish you could find a purse
+full of money right here in the path?&rdquo;
+said Kate, the child who was going to
+have &ldquo;lots of presents.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, don&rsquo;t I, if I could keep it honestly!&rdquo;
+And Tilly&rsquo;s eyes shone at the very
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What would you buy?&rdquo; asked Bessy,
+rubbing her cold hands, and longing for
+her mittens.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d buy a pair of large, warm blankets,
+a load of wood, a shawl for mother, and a
+pair of shoes for me; and if there was
+enough left, I&rsquo;d give Bessy a new hat,
+and then she needn&rsquo;t wear Ben&rsquo;s old felt
+one,&rdquo; answered Tilly.</p>
+
+<p>The girls laughed at that; but Bessy
+pulled the funny hat over her ears, and
+said she was much obliged, but she&rsquo;d
+rather have candy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s look, and may be we <em>can</em> find a
+purse. People are always going about
+with money at Christmas time, and some
+one may lose it here,&rdquo; said Kate.</p>
+
+<p>So, as they went along the snowy road,
+they looked about them, half in earnest,
+half in fun. Suddenly Tilly sprang forward,
+exclaiming,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I see it! I&rsquo;ve found it!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The others followed, but all stopped
+disappointed, for it wasn&rsquo;t a purse; it
+was only a little bird. It lay upon the
+snow, with its wings spread and feebly
+fluttering, as if too weak to fly. Its little
+feet were benumbed with cold; its once
+bright eyes were dull with pain, and instead
+of a blithe song, it could only utter
+a faint chirp now and then, as if crying
+for help.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nothing but a stupid old robin. How
+provoking!&rdquo; cried Kate, sitting down to
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I shan&rsquo;t touch it; I found one once,
+and took care of it, and the ungrateful
+thing flew away the minute it was well,&rdquo;
+said Bessy, creeping under Kate&rsquo;s shawl,
+and putting her hands under her chin to
+warm them.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Poor little birdie! How pitiful he
+looks, and how glad he must be to see
+some one coming to help him! I&rsquo;ll take
+him up gently, and carry him home to
+mother. Don&rsquo;t be frightened, dear; I&rsquo;m
+your friend.&rdquo; And Tilly knelt down in
+the snow, stretching her hand to the bird
+with the tenderest pity in her face.</p>
+
+<p>Kate and Bessy laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t stop for that thing; it&rsquo;s getting
+late and cold. Let&rsquo;s go on, and look for
+the purse,&rdquo; they said, moving away.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You wouldn&rsquo;t leave it to die!&rdquo; cried
+Tilly. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather have the bird than the
+money; so I shan&rsquo;t look any more. The
+purse wouldn&rsquo;t be mine, and I should only
+be tempted to keep it; but this poor thing
+will thank and love me, and I&rsquo;m <em>so</em> glad I
+came in time!&rdquo; Gently lifting the bird,
+Tilly felt its tiny cold claws cling to her
+hand, and saw its dim eyes brighten as it
+nestled down with a grateful chirp.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 384px;">
+<img src="images/hd083.jpg" width="384" height="600"
+alt="Tilly, Kate and Bessy find the bird" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE FAIRY BIRD.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now I&rsquo;ve got a Christmas present,
+after all,&rdquo; she said, smiling, as they walked
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"><!-- Illustration - THE FAIRY BIRD --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>209]</a></span>
+on. &ldquo;I always wanted a bird, and this
+one will be such a pretty pet for me!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll fly away the first chance he gets,
+and die, anyhow; so you&rsquo;d better not
+waste your time over him,&rdquo; said Bessy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He can&rsquo;t pay you for taking care of
+him, and my mother says it isn&rsquo;t worth
+while to help folks that can&rsquo;t help us,&rdquo;
+added Kate.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My mother says, &lsquo;Do as you&rsquo;d be
+done by;&rsquo; and I&rsquo;m sure I&rsquo;d like any one
+to help me, if I was dying of cold and
+hunger. &lsquo;Love your neighbor as yourself,&rsquo;
+is another of her sayings. This bird
+is my little neighbor, and I&rsquo;ll love him and
+care for him, as I often wish our rich
+neighbor would love and care for us,&rdquo; answered
+Tilly, breathing her warm breath
+over the benumbed bird, who looked up
+at her with confiding eyes, quick to feel
+and know a friend.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What a funny girl you are!&rdquo; said Kate,
+&ldquo;caring for that silly bird, and talking
+about loving your neighbor in that sober
+way. Mr. King don&rsquo;t care a bit for you,
+and never will, though he knows how
+poor you are; so I don&rsquo;t think your plan
+amounts to much.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I believe it, though, and shall do my
+part, any way. Good night. I hope you&rsquo;ll
+have a merry Christmas, and lots of pretty
+things,&rdquo; answered Tilly, as they parted.</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes were full, and she felt <em>so</em> poor
+as she went on alone towards the little old
+house where she lived! It would have
+been so pleasant to know that she was
+going to have some of the pretty things
+all children love to find in their full stockings
+on Christmas morning! and pleasanter
+still to have been able to give her
+mother something nice. So many comforts
+were needed, and there was no hope
+of getting them; for they could barely
+get food and fire.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Never mind, birdie; we&rsquo;ll make the
+best of what we have, and be merry in
+spite of everything. <em>You</em> shall have a
+happy Christmas, any way; and I know
+God won&rsquo;t forget us, if every one else
+does.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>She stopped a minute to wipe her eyes,
+and lean her cheek against the bird&rsquo;s soft
+breast, finding great comfort in the little
+creature, though it could only love her&mdash;nothing
+more.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;See, mother, what a nice present I&rsquo;ve
+found!&rdquo; she cried, going in with a cheery
+face, that was like sunshine in the dark
+room.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad of that, deary; for I haven&rsquo;t
+been able to get my little girl anything but
+a rosy apple. Poor bird! Give it some
+of your warm bread and milk.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, mother, what a big bowlful!
+I&rsquo;m afraid you gave me all the milk,&rdquo; said
+Tilly, smiling over the nice steaming supper
+that stood ready for her.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had plenty, dear. Sit down and
+dry your wet feet, and put the bird in my
+basket on this warm flannel.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Tilly peeped into the closet, and saw
+nothing there but dry bread.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mother&rsquo;s given me all the milk, and is
+going without her tea, &rsquo;cause she knows
+I&rsquo;m hungry. Now I&rsquo;ll surprise her, and
+she shall have a good supper too. She is
+going to split wood, and I&rsquo;ll fix it while
+she&rsquo;s gone.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So Tilly put down the old teapot, carefully
+poured out a part of the milk, and
+from her pocket produced a great plummy
+bunn, that one of the school children had
+given her, and she had saved for her
+mother. A slice of the dry bread was
+nicely toasted, and the bit of butter set by
+for her to put on it. When her mother
+came in, there was the table drawn up in
+a warm place, a hot cup of tea ready, and
+Tilly and birdie waiting for her.</p>
+
+<p>Such a poor little supper, and yet such
+a happy one! for love, charity, and contentment
+were guests there, and that
+Christmas eve was a blither one than that
+up at the great house, where lights shone,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>210]</a></span>
+fires blazed, a great tree glittered, and
+music sounded, as the children danced
+and played.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We must go to bed early; for we&rsquo;ve
+only wood enough to last over to-morrow.
+I shall be paid for my work the day after,
+and then we can get some,&rdquo; said Tilly&rsquo;s
+mother, as they sat by the fire.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If my bird was only a fairy bird, and
+would give us three wishes, how nice it
+would be! Poor dear, he can&rsquo;t give me
+anything; but it&rsquo;s no matter,&rdquo; answered
+Tilly, looking at the robin, who lay in the
+basket, with his head under his wing, a
+mere little feathery bunch.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He can give you one thing, Tilly&mdash;the
+pleasure of doing good. That is one
+of the sweetest things in life; and the
+poor can enjoy it as well as the rich.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As her mother spoke, with her tired
+hand softly stroking her little daughter&rsquo;s
+hair, Tilly suddenly started, and pointed
+to the window, saying, in a frightened
+whisper,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I saw a face&mdash;a man&rsquo;s face&mdash;looking
+in. It&rsquo;s gone now; but I truly saw it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Some traveller attracted by the light,
+perhaps; I&rsquo;ll go and see.&rdquo; And Tilly&rsquo;s
+mother went to the door.</p>
+
+<p>No one was there. The wind blew
+cold, the stars shone, the snow lay white
+on field and wood, and the Christmas
+moon was glittering in the sky.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What sort of a face was it?&rdquo; asked
+Tilly&rsquo;s mother, coming back.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A pleasant sort of face, I think; but
+I was so startled, I don&rsquo;t quite know what
+it was like. I wish we had a curtain
+there,&rdquo; said Tilly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I like to have our light shine out in the
+evening; for the road is dark and lonely
+just here, and the twinkle of our lamp is
+pleasant to people&rsquo;s eyes as they go by.
+We can do so little for our neighbors, I
+am glad to cheer the way for them. Now
+put these poor old shoes to dry, and go to
+bed, deary; I&rsquo;ll come soon.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Tilly went, taking her bird with her to
+sleep in his basket near by, lest he should
+be lonely in the night.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the little house was dark and still,
+and no one saw the Christmas spirits at
+their work that night.</p>
+
+<p>When Tilly opened the door the next
+morning, she gave a loud cry, clapped her
+hands, and then stood still, quite speechless
+with wonder and delight. There,
+before the door, lay a great pile of wood,
+all ready to burn, a big bundle and a basket,
+with a lovely nosegay of winter roses,
+holly, and evergreen tied to the handle.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, mother, did the fairies do it?&rdquo; cried
+Tilly, pale with her happiness, as she
+seized the basket while her mother took
+in the bundle.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, dear; the best and dearest fairy
+in the world, called &lsquo;Charity.&rsquo; She walks
+abroad at Christmas time, does beautiful
+deeds like this, and does not stay to be
+thanked,&rdquo; answered her mother, with full
+eyes, as she undid the parcel.</p>
+
+<p>There they were, the warm, thick blankets,
+the comfortable shawl, the new
+shoes, and, best of all, a pretty winter hat
+for Bessy. The basket was full of good
+things to eat, and on the flowers lay a
+paper, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;For the little girl who loves her neighbor
+as herself.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mother, I really think my bird is a
+fairy bird, and all these splendid things
+come out from him,&rdquo; said Tilly, laughing
+and crying with joy.</p>
+
+<p>It really did seem so; for, as she spoke,
+the robin flew to the table, hopped to the
+nosegay, and perching among the roses,
+began to chirp with all his little might.
+The sun streamed in on flowers, bird,
+and happy child, and no one saw a shadow
+glide away from the window. No one
+ever knew that Mr. King had seen and
+heard the little girls the night before, or
+dreamed that the rich neighbor had learned
+a lesson from the poor neighbor.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>211]</a></span>
+And Tilly&rsquo;s bird <em>was</em> a fairy bird; for
+by her love and tenderness to the helpless
+thing, she brought good gifts to herself,
+happiness to the unknown giver of them,
+and a faithful little friend, who did not fly
+away, but staid with her till the snow was
+gone, making summer for her in the winter
+time.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Louisa M. Alcott.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 486px;">
+<a name="Page_211lower" id="Page_211lower"></a>
+<img src="images/hd084.jpg" width="486" height="400"
+alt="The fiddler on the hut roof, with the coyotes below" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">&ldquo;<span class="smcap">As the night advanced, the old negro felt the cold pierce his stiffened limbs.</span>&rdquo; P. <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</p>
+
+<h2>SAVED BY A FIDDLE.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">A</span>MONG the most rapacious and dangerous
+animals of North America,
+is the wolf, commonly called the coyote
+(pronounced ky-<em>o</em>-te) in some of the Southern
+and Western States. The wolves&mdash;far
+more numerous in the United States
+than in Europe&mdash;are, perhaps, more horrible
+in aspect than those of the old
+world. Along desert paths, on the prairies
+or in the woods, the wolf, the ghoul
+of the animal race, presents itself to the
+traveller, with its slavering jaws and
+flashing eyes, uttering a growl, which is
+the usual sign of cowardice blended with
+impudence. &ldquo;The coyote,&rdquo; says a recent
+writer, &ldquo;is a living, breathing allegory of
+Want. He is always poor, out of luck,
+and friendless.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It is very difficult to catch coyotes in a
+trap, but they are frequently hunted down
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>212]</a></span>
+with horses and dogs. Their coat is of a
+dull reddish color, mixed with gray and
+white hairs. Such is their ordinary condition,
+but like other animals they display
+varieties. Their bushy tail, black at the
+tip, is nearly as long as one third of their
+body. They resemble the dogs which
+one sees in the Indian wigwams, and
+which are certainly descended from this
+species. They are found in the regions
+between the Mississippi and the Pacific,
+and in Southern Mexico. They travel in
+packs like jackals, and pursue deer, buffaloes,
+and other animals which they hope
+to master. They do not venture to attack
+buffaloes in herds, but they follow the latter
+in large packs, watching till a laggard&mdash;a
+young calf or an old bull, for instance&mdash;may
+fall out; then they dart upon
+it and tear it to pieces. They accompany
+parties of sportsmen or travellers, prowl
+round deserted camps, and devour the
+fragments they find there. At times they
+will enter a camp during the night, and
+seize lumps of meat on which the emigrants
+calculated for their morning meal.
+These robberies sometimes exasperate
+the victims, and, growing less saving of
+their powder and shot, they pursue them
+till they have rubbed out the mess-number
+of several.</p>
+
+<p>This breed of wolves is the most numerous
+of all the carnivora in North America,
+and it is for this reason that the coyotes
+often suffer from hunger. Then, but only
+then, they eat corn, roots, and vegetables&mdash;in
+short, anything that will save them
+from death by starvation.</p>
+
+<p>The coyote is ignorant of any feeling
+of sympathy, and for this reason inspires
+none. Here is an anecdote, however,
+which proves that this quadruped thief
+of the wood is capable of feeling a certain
+degree of sensibility of the nerves, at any
+rate, if not of the heart. This story was
+told me under canvas, while we were hunting
+with the Pawnee Indians.</p>
+
+<p>During the first period of the colonization
+of Kentucky, the coyotes were so
+numerous in the prairie to the south of
+that state, that the inhabitants did not
+dare to leave their houses unless armed
+to the teeth. The women and children
+were strictly confined in-doors. The coyotes
+by which the country was infested
+belonged to the herd whose coat is dark
+gray, a very numerous species in the
+northern district, in the heart of the dense
+forests and unexplored mountains of the
+Green River.</p>
+
+<p>The village of Henderson, situated at
+the left bank of the Ohio, near its confluence
+with Green River, was the spot most
+frequented by these depredators.</p>
+
+<p>The pigs, calves, and sheep of the planters
+paid a heavy tax to these voracious
+animals. Several times in the depth of
+winter, when the snow covered the ground,
+and the flocks were kept in the stalls, the
+starving coyotes attacked human beings;
+and more than one belated farmer, returning
+home at night, found himself surrounded
+by a raging pack, from whose
+teeth he had great difficulty in defending
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>Among the many startling adventures
+I have heard narrated, not one made a
+greater impression on me than that of
+which Richard, the old negro fiddler, was
+the hero, and which I will tell you.</p>
+
+<p>Richard was what is called a &ldquo;good old
+good-for-nothing darky.&rdquo; The whole
+district allowed that he had no other
+merit beyond that of sawing the fiddle;
+and this merit, which is not one in our
+own eyes, was highly valued, however, by
+all the colored people, and even by the
+whites who lived for a distance of forty
+miles round. One thing is certain&mdash;that
+no festival could be held without Fiddler
+Dick being invited to it.</p>
+
+<p>Marriages, christenings, parties prolonged
+till dawn, which are called &ldquo;break-downs&rdquo;
+in the United States, could not
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>213]</a></span>
+take place without the aid of his fiddle;
+and though the negro minstrel was old,
+and a good deal of his black wool was absent
+from the place where the wool ought
+to grow, still Richard was no less welcome
+wherever he presented himself, with
+his instrument wrapped up in a ragged
+old handkerchief under his arm, and a
+knotted stick in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Old Richard was the property of one
+of the Hendersons, a member of the family
+that gave its name to this Kentucky
+county and village. His master had a
+liking for him, owing to his obedient and
+original character, and the slave, instead
+of tilling the soil, was at liberty to do
+whatever he thought proper. No one
+raised any objection to this tolerance, for
+Richard, whom his master was used to
+call a necessary evil, had before all the
+talent of keeping the negroes of the plantation
+in good humor by means of his
+fiddle.</p>
+
+<p>Richard, who understood all the importance
+of his exalted functions, knew
+nothing but his duty, and was remarkably
+punctual whenever those who honored
+him with their confidence let him know
+that his services were required. In this
+respect the merest trifle irritated him, and
+any vexation or disturbance rendered him
+ferocious.</p>
+
+<p>Despite the proverbial timidity attributed
+to geniuses, old Dick displayed a
+touch of the hyena whenever, at any of
+the negro festivals presided over by him,
+anything or anybody offended etiquette
+or the proprieties. As for Dick, he never
+forgot himself in the slightest degree, and
+whenever he was called upon to undertake
+the duties he performed so well, he
+had never once kept the company waiting.
+And yet one day&mdash;poor Dick! The following
+narrative will show that it was not
+by his own fault that he arrived too late
+at his appointment.</p>
+
+<p>A wedding of colored people was about
+to come off on a plantation about six
+miles from the one where the fiddler
+lived. In order that the feast might be
+perfect, old Dick had been invited, and
+he was unanimously appointed master of
+the ceremonies. It was during the winter;
+the cold was excessive, and the snow,
+which had fallen incessantly for three
+days, covered the ground to a depth of
+several feet.</p>
+
+<p>While all Mr. Henderson&rsquo;s negroes,
+with their master&rsquo;s previous permission,
+hastened to the spot where pleasure called
+them, the ebony Apollo was arranging his
+toilet with peculiar delight. A white shirt,
+a collar as immoderately long in front as
+it was high in the neck,&mdash;so that Dick&rsquo;s
+head resembled a block of coal in a sheet
+of white paper,&mdash;a blue coat with gilt buttons,
+and long tails that reached to his
+heels,&mdash;a present from his master,&mdash;a
+red silk cravat fringed at the ends, a
+green waistcoat ornamented with an
+orange patch at the spot where the watch-pocket
+formerly was, boots which had
+seen their best days, and a wide-awake
+hat,&mdash;such was the elegant and excessively
+fashionable attire of Dick, the old
+black fiddler, who, when dressed in these
+rags, believed himself as handsome as
+Adonis.</p>
+
+<p>After taking a parting glance at the
+piece of looking-glass held by three nails
+on the wall of his bedroom, and favoring
+himself with a smile that expressed a personal
+satisfaction, Richard took his fiddle
+under his arm and set out.</p>
+
+<p>The moon was shining over his head,
+the stars sparkled&mdash;to use the fiddler&rsquo;s
+picturesque expression&mdash;like &ldquo;gilt nails
+driven into the ceiling of the firmament
+by an audacious upholsterer.&rdquo; No sound
+could be heard, save the crackling of the
+snow beneath Richard&rsquo;s feet, as he put
+them down with the heaviness of old age.
+The road he had to follow was very narrow;
+its complicated windings passed
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>214]</a></span>
+through a dense forest which the axe had
+not yet assailed, and whose depths were
+still as entirely unknown as at the period
+when the Redskins were the sole owners
+of the territory. This track could only
+be followed by a pedestrian; no cart road
+existed for several miles round.</p>
+
+<p>The profound solitude of this road must
+infallibly produce its effect&mdash;that of fear
+or apprehension&mdash;on a being belonging to
+the human race; but at this moment the
+old man was so deeply plunged in thought
+that nothing could make him forget the
+anxiety he felt at not arriving in time at
+the place where he was expected. He
+doubled his pace as he thought of the
+furious glances that would be bestowed
+on him by those whose joys his absence
+retarded, and he regretted the time he had
+spent in giving an extra polish to his coat
+buttons and in pulling up the two splendid
+points of his shirt collar.</p>
+
+<p>While thinking of the reproaches that
+menaced him, old Dick looked up, and
+the moon shining above his head proved
+to him that he was even more behindhand
+than he had supposed. His legs
+then began moving like the wheels of a
+locomotive, so as to keep him constantly
+ahead of certain black shadows which
+seemed to be following his every footstep
+on the forest path.</p>
+
+<p>They were coyotes, horrible coyotes,
+that cast these shadows, and from time to
+time gave a snarl of covetousness or impatience;
+but old Dick paid no attention to
+them. Ere long, however, he was obliged
+to devote his entire attention to what was
+going on behind him. He had walked
+half the distance, and already saw through
+the forest arcades the clearing which he
+must cross to reach the spot where he
+was expected. The angry barks of the
+wolves had increased during the last quarter
+of an hour, and the sound of their
+paws making the snow crackle inspired
+the old man with an indescribable terror.
+The number of animals seemed momentarily
+to be augmented; it resembled an
+ant-heap seen through the magnifying-glass
+of a gigantic microscope.</p>
+
+<p>Wolves, in all parts of the world, look
+twice before attacking a man; they study
+the ground, and wait for the propitious
+moment. This was what was now happening,
+very fortunately for old Dick, who
+was more and more perceiving the greatness
+of the danger, and doubled his speed
+in proportion as his pursuers grew more
+daring, brushed past his legs with gnashing
+teeth, and joyously strove to get ahead
+of each other. Dick was thoroughly acquainted
+with the habits of his enemies,
+and hence carefully avoided running;
+that would have been giving the signal of
+attack, for coyotes only rush on persons
+who are frightened.</p>
+
+<p>The only chance of salvation left him
+was to prolong this dangerous walk to the
+skirt of the forest. There he hoped the
+coyotes, as they do not dare venture into
+an open plain, would leave him and allow
+him to continue his walk at peace. He
+also remembered that in the centre of
+the clearing there was a deserted cabin,
+and the thought of reaching this refuge
+restored him a portion of his courage.</p>
+
+<p>The daring of the coyotes increased
+with each moment, and the hapless negro
+could not look around without seeing
+bright eyes moving in all directions, like
+the phosphorescent fireflies in summer.
+One after the other the quadrupeds tried
+their teeth on old Dick&rsquo;s thin legs, and as
+he had dropped his stick he had recourse
+to his fiddle to keep his foes aloof. At
+the first blow he dealt the springs produced
+a sound which had the immediate effect
+of putting to flight the coyotes, which
+were surprised by this unusual music.</p>
+
+<p>Dick, an observer naturally and by
+necessity, then began strumming his fiddle
+with his fingers; and the carnivorous
+animals at once manifested fresh marks
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>215]</a></span>
+of surprise, as if a charge of shot had
+tickled their ribs. This fortunate diversion,
+repeated several times, brought Dick
+to the skirt of the forest, and taking advantage
+of a favorable moment, he darted
+on, still striking the strings, and going in
+the direction of the hut.</p>
+
+<p>The coyotes halted for a moment, with
+their tails between their legs, looking at
+their prey flying before them; but ere
+long their ravenous instinct gained the
+upper hand, and with a unanimous bark
+they all rushed in pursuit of the unfortunate
+negro. Had the wolves caught up
+to old Dick in this moment of fury, he
+might have appealed in vain to his fiddle.
+By running he had destroyed the charm,
+and the coyotes would not have stopped
+to listen to him even had he played like
+Orpheus in the olden times, or Ole Bull
+in ours.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately, the old man reached the
+cabin at the moment when the coyotes
+were at his heels. With a hand rendered
+doubly vigorous by the imminence of the
+danger, he shut the door of the protecting
+cabin, and secured it with a beam he
+found within reach. Then he hoisted
+himself, not without sundry lacerations of
+his garments, on the ruined roof, the
+beams of which alone remained, supported
+on blocks of wood at the four corners of
+the walls.</p>
+
+<p>Old Dick found himself comparatively
+out of danger; but the coyotes displayed
+a fury which threatened to become terrible.
+Several of them had entered the
+cabin, and conjointly with those outside
+they leaped at the legs of the minstrel,
+whom rapid movements and repeated
+kicks scarce protected from numerous
+bites.</p>
+
+<p>Old Dick, in spite of his agony, had
+not forgotten his fiddle, which had saved
+his life in the forest. Seizing his bow
+with a firm hand, he drew from the instrument
+a shrill note, which overpowered
+the deafening barks of the coyotes, and
+silenced them as if by enchantment. This
+silence henceforth continued, only interrupted
+by the hysterical sounds which the
+fiddle produced under the fear-stiffened
+fingers of the old negro performer.</p>
+
+<p>This inharmonious music could not
+satisfy the starving animals for long, and
+from the efforts which they soon made to
+reach their prey, old Dick comprehended
+that noise was not sufficient to enchant
+the wolves. They dashed forward more
+furiously than ever to escalade the wall.
+He considered himself lost, especially
+when he noticed, scarce half a yard from
+his trembling legs, the enormous head of
+a coyote, whose large, open eyes seemed
+to flash fire and gleam.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Lord ha&rsquo; mussy on all!&rdquo; he
+cried; &ldquo;I am an eaten man!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And without knowing what he was
+about, he let his trembling fingers stray
+over the fiddle, and began playing the
+famous air of &ldquo;Yankee Doodle.&rdquo; It was
+the chant of the swan singing its requiem
+in the hour of death.</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly&mdash;O, miracle of harmony!&mdash;a
+calm set in round the negro minstrel.
+Orpheus was no fable: the animals obeyed
+this new enchantment; and when Dick, on
+recovering from his terror, was unable to
+understand what was going on around
+him, he saw himself surrounded by an
+audience a hundred fold more attentive to
+the charms of music than any which had
+hitherto admired his execution. This was
+so true that so soon as his bow ceased
+moving, the coyotes dashed forward to renew
+the battle.</p>
+
+<p>Dick now knew what his means of preservation
+were. He must play the fiddle
+till some help arrived. Ere long, yielding
+to the fascination of the art, the musician
+completely forgot the danger he incurred.
+Indulging all the fancies of his imagination,
+he gave his four-footed audience a
+concert in which he surpassed himself.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>216]</a></span>
+Never had he played with more taste,
+soul, and expression. Hence he forgot,
+in the intoxication of his triumph, the
+wedding and the brilliant company, the
+whiskey-punch and supper smoking hot
+on the board, that awaited him no great
+distance off.</p>
+
+<p>But alas! every medal has its reverse
+in this world, and all days of pleasure
+have their to-morrow of woe. As the
+night advanced, the old negro felt the cold
+pierce his stiffened limbs. In vain did he
+try to rest; if the bow left the fiddle
+strings, the coyotes rushed against the
+walls of the cabin; if, on the contrary, he
+continued to wander along the paths of
+harmony, these <i>dilettanti</i> of a novel sort
+squatted down on their hams, with their
+tails stretched out on the snow, ears
+pricked up, tongues hanging from their
+half-opened jaws, and they followed, with
+a regular movement of the head and body,
+all the notes produced by old Dick&rsquo;s fiddle.</p>
+
+<p>While this fantastic scene, illumined
+by the moonbeams, was taking place in
+the clearing, the negroes, who were awaiting
+their comrade to begin the fun, were
+growing sadly impatient, and did not know
+what to think of the delay of their musician,
+who was usually most punctual.
+At last six of them, tired of waiting, left
+the house to make a voyage of discovery;
+and on reaching the cabin, on the top of
+which Dick was perched, they noticed
+some thirty coyotes in the position I have
+described. The old player was still continuing
+his involuntary concert, with his
+eyes fixed on his deadly foes.</p>
+
+<p>At the moment when the six negroes
+raised a simultaneous shout, the whole
+band of coyotes thought it high time to
+bolt. In a twinkling they disappeared,
+and the fiddler, frozen and numbed, fell
+fainting into the arms of his rescuers.
+His woolly hair, which, in spite of his great
+age, was perfectly black at the time when
+he performed his toilet, had turned white
+in the space of two hours.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Sir Lascelles Wraxall.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_216lower" id="Page_216lower"></a>THE BIRD&rsquo;S NEST.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">DEEP in a leafy dell we found,<br />
+<span class="i3">When early Summer wove her crown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A bird&rsquo;s nest on the mossy ground,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From blooming bough blown down.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Five pretty eggs, quite warm and white,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Were waiting for the brooding wing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That from each shell there might take flight<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A bird, to trill and sing.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The mother sat and grieved apart;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Her song had no rejoicing note.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sorrow of her wounded heart<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Seemed sobbing in her throat.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She thought of all the summer days,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With their sweet sunshine, yet to come;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of fledgelings echoing God&rsquo;s praise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While only hers were dumb.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>217]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd085.jpg" width="600" height="416"
+alt="A ground-level nest, containing five eggs" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE BIRD&rsquo;S NEST.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>218]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE YOUNG ARTIST.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>ELL done, little one! A very pretty tune, and very nicely sung!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The speaker was a stranger who had just come in sight of the
+pretty cottage where Robbie and Maria Barnes lived with their widowed
+mother, and outside of which the little singer sat nursing the baby, while
+Robbie chopped wood at a little distance.</p>
+
+<p>The widow, hearing a stranger&rsquo;s voice, came to the door, and seeing that
+he appeared to have been walking far invited him to come in and take a rest.
+This he very gladly did; and while she dusted a chair for him, Mary brought
+a mug of fresh milk, and they were soon on very friendly terms with him.</p>
+
+<p>He said that he was an artist, and that he had come to that part of the
+country for a time to take sketches of the scenery around; that he was at
+present staying at the village inn, but that he would be very glad if they could
+arrange to let him live with them for a few weeks. This was agreed upon, and
+on the next day Mr. Page&mdash;for that was the stranger&rsquo;s name&mdash;took up his
+abode in the widow Paul&rsquo;s cottage.</p>
+
+<p>Very pleased Robbie and Maria were with him; and when he came home
+from his rambles and sat under the shade of the large tree by the side of the
+house finishing the sketches he had taken, they would stand looking on with
+wondering interest. Robbie especially, who had never seen any other pictures
+than those in his spelling-book, was rapt in amazement as he saw hills, rivers,
+flowers, trees and animals start up into seeming life under the artist&rsquo;s hand.
+Mr. Page, seeing how interested the boy was in what he saw, invited him to
+accompany him in his rambles. Robbie did so, and many valuable things he
+learned in these pleasant wanderings.</p>
+
+<p>When the time came for Mr. Page to leave these simple cottagers, he was
+as sorry to go as they were to part with him; and he promised that if he lived
+and prospered, he would endeavor to do something for his favorite, Robbie.</p>
+
+<p>This visit of the artist to their humble abode became the turning-point in
+Robbie&rsquo;s life. An idea had taken possession of the boy&rsquo;s mind. Why should
+he not learn to be an artist like Mr. Page? He had watched very carefully
+the manner in which that gentleman proceeded when taking sketches of the
+objects around him; he had begun himself to look upon those objects with
+very different eyes from what he had been accustomed to, and felt sure that
+with patience and perseverance he could master the art of drawing and painting
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>His first attempt was a rough sketch of grandma on his slate. It was done
+with a few strokes of the pencil, but there was really some likeness to the
+dear old lady in it, and mother felt sure her boy would some day be an
+artist.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 416px;">
+<img src="images/hd086.jpg" width="416" height="600"
+alt="Grandma and mother admire Robbie's slate sketch" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE YOUNG ARTIST.</p>
+
+<p>Several weeks passed away, and at length he thought he might attempt the
+portrait of his little dog, &ldquo;Pink,&rdquo; and, if he could succeed to his satisfaction,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"><!-- Illustration - THE YOUNG ARTIST --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>220]</a></span>
+he determined that he would carry it home and surprise his mother with it.
+After much patient labor he finished his task, and showed the sketch first of
+all to his friend Thomas, who being much pleased with it, they hastened at
+once to Robbie&rsquo;s home with it. Watching their opportunity, they stood the
+picture unobserved against the wall, and waited to see the effect it would produce.
+Little Maria was the first to notice it. &ldquo;Oh, mother,&rdquo; she cried,
+&ldquo;here&rsquo;s a picture of Pinky! Do come and look at it! Isn&rsquo;t it real?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The widow turned from her work to look.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, so it is,&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Who painted it, Robbie? Where did
+you get it from?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Robbie did it himself,&rdquo; cried Thomas, unable to keep the secret any
+longer.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Robbie did it?&rdquo; echoed the widow, with a look of bewilderment. &ldquo;<em>You</em>
+painted it, Robbie?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, mother,&rdquo; laughed Robbie, enjoying her perplexity; &ldquo;I did it all
+myself. I have been learning unknown to you. If I can learn to paint
+as well as Mr. Page, mother, eh! Sha&rsquo;n&rsquo;t I be able to help you then,
+mother?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled and kissed him. His cleverness was pleasing to her, but his
+loving ambition to be of service to her was still more grateful to her mother&rsquo;s
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>The famous Benjamin West said his mother&rsquo;s kiss made him a painter.
+Robbie Barnes might have said the same thing, for from that moment he was
+more than ever determined to persevere. A few weeks after this, Robbie and
+Thomas were out in the woods together. It was a holiday with them both,
+and Robbie had determined to spend the time in sketching a certain landscape
+he had in view. They had brought their dinner with them; and while
+Robbie was drawing, Thomas laid out the provisions. Having got it all ready,
+he went off to the brook to fetch a mug of water, and as he returned called to
+Robbie to come to dinner. But what was his annoyance, as he came near, to
+see the mischievous dog munching the last piece of cheese? In sudden
+passion he caught up a stick and gave chase to Pink, who scampered off with
+the cheese in his mouth. Robbie was so amused at the comical scene that he
+thought he would attempt a painting of it, and this idea set Thomas laughing
+as heartily as himself. It was weeks before he had finished the sketch; but
+when it was completed, it made a striking picture for a boy of his age.</p>
+
+<p>Years passed, and Robbie worked faithfully at his painting, and made such
+progress that Mr. Moring urged him to go with him on a visit to the neighboring
+city, where he could see some gentlemen who might be able to assist him
+in his desire of becoming a painter. Robbie was unwilling to leave his mother,
+but she was resolved he should not lose the opportunity for her; and shortly
+afterward Robbie, with Thomas and Mr. Moring, was on his way to the great
+city, which he had never seen before. Arrived there, Mr. Moring took him
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>221]</a></span>
+to an exhibition of pictures, and there introduced him again to his old friend
+Mr. Page. The artist, to whom Mr. Moring had already showed the painting
+of the dog running off with the dinner, was exceedingly surprised that a boy
+so entirely self-taught should have made such progress, and was pleased indeed
+to see him again. His judgment of the merits of Robbie&rsquo;s work was
+such that Mr. Moring undertook to have the boy instructed by one of the best
+teachers of drawing, and so put him in a fair way of attaining that upon
+which his heart was set&mdash;the becoming a painter like Mr. Page. Robbie&rsquo;s
+mother, though sad to part with him, gratefully consented to his leaving his
+home for a time for this purpose; and though Robbie was much troubled to
+think what his mother would do without the little help he had been able to
+render her, he was persuaded that the best way to serve her was to improve
+himself. He had not been long away before a message came to his mother
+telling her that he could earn enough by the sale of his little drawings to pay
+one of the village-lads to fetch wood and water, and to do other little things
+for her; that he was improving very fast, and that he had good reason to hope
+that he should one day be able to earn enough to keep them all in comfort.</p>
+
+<p>Little Maria was busy braiding straw when this message came.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I shall not want Robbie to work for me, mother,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I shall
+soon be able to earn my own living, and I will help to support our dear
+mother when she grows old.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;God bless you, my child!&rdquo; said the happy mother. &ldquo;With such dutiful
+children as you and your dear brother, no mother need fear to grow old.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">YOU&rsquo;RE starting to-day on life&rsquo;s journey,<br />
+<span class="i3">Along on the highway of life;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You&rsquo;ll meet with a thousand temptations;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Each city with evil is rife.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This world is a stage of excitement;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">There&rsquo;s danger wherever you go;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But if you are tempted in weakness,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Have courage, my boy, to say NO!<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>222]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE RUSTIC MIRROR.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">SADIE&rsquo;S boudoir is a meadow,<br />
+<span class="i3">Carpeted with blue-eyed grass;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Slender birches, rounded maples,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Frame her inlaid looking-glass.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Curtains woven up in cloud-land<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Trail their fringes over all,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shifting shadows gray and purple,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which aerial elves let fall.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Hither Sadie, morn and evening,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Comes for water from the spring,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pausing ere she fills her pitcher<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where the greenest mosses cling,&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Pausing where, as in a mirror,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">She a wistful face beholds;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Magic mirror, for within it<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Many a vision fair unfolds.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">When the April clouds are driven<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Over depths of azure skies,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Windows open into heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And she sees her mother&rsquo;s eyes.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">When she binds upon her forehead<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Wreath of daisies twined with wheat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She is queen, and wears a jewelled<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Crown, with slippers on her feet.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">When the glories of October,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Crimson maple, golden birch,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Make her mirror finer, richer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Than stained windows of a church,&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She of golden-rod and aster<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Weaves a garland for her hair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Leans above the magic mirror,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Murmuring, &ldquo;Mother called me fair.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But &rsquo;tis best when clouds are flying<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">O&rsquo;er the clear blue April skies,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And through dreamy depths she gazes<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Into heaven and mother&rsquo;s eyes.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet">M. R. W.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>223]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 417px;">
+<img src="images/hd087.jpg" width="417" height="600"
+alt="Sadie uses the pond as a mirror to put a garland in her hair" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE RUSTIC MIRROR.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>224]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">COME back, come back together,<br />
+<span class="i3">All ye fancies of the past,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ye days of April weather,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Ye shadows that are cast<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By the haunted hours before!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come back, come back, my childhood;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thou art summoned by a spell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the green leaves of the wildwood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From beside the charmed well,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For Red Riding-Hood, the darling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The flower of fairy lore.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The fields were covered over<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With colors as she went;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Daisy, buttercup and clover<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Below her footsteps bent;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Summer shed its shining store;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She was happy as she pressed them;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Beneath her little feet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She plucked them and caressed them;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They were so very sweet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They had never seemed so sweet before<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To Red Riding-Hood, the darling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The flower of fairy lore.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">How the heart of childhood dances<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Upon a sunny day!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It has its own romances,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And a wide, wide world have they&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A world where Phantasie is king,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Made all of eager dreaming;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When once grown up and tall&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now is the time for scheming&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then we shall do them all!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Do such pleasant fancies spring<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For Red Riding-Hood, the darling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The flower of fairy lore?<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>225]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 420px;">
+<img src="images/hd088.jpg" width="420" height="600"
+alt="Little red riding-hood, wearing her cloak, stands in the doorway" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>226]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">She seems like an ideal love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The poetry of childhood shown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And yet loved with a real love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As if she were our own&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A younger sister for the heart;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like the woodland pheasant,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Her hair is brown and bright;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And her smile is pleasant,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With its rosy light.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Never can the memory part<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With Red Riding-Hood, the darling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The flower of fairy lore.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Did the painter, dreaming<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In a morning hour,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Catch the fairy seeming<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of this fairy flower?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Winning it with eager eyes<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the old enchanted stories,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lingering with a long delight<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On the unforgotten glories<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of the infant sight?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Giving us a sweet surprise<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In Red Riding-Hood, the darling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The flower of fairy lore?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Too long in the meadow staying,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where the cowslip bends,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With the buttercups delaying<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As with early friends,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Did the little maiden stay.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sorrowful the tale for us;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">We, too, loiter &rsquo;mid life&rsquo;s flowers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A little while so glorious,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So soon lost in darker hours,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All love lingering on their way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like Red Riding-Hood, the darling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The flower of fairy lore.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">L&aelig;titia Elizabeth Landon.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>227]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 456px;">
+<img src="images/hd089.jpg" width="456" height="400"
+alt="Maggie runs to rescue the child from the bull" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>HOW MAGGIE PAID THE RENT.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">P</span>RESENCE of mind is one of the
+rarest, as it is one of the most enviable
+of endowments. It is the power
+of instantaneously forming a judgment,
+and acting upon it, and includes not only
+moral courage, but self-possession. No
+matter how brave a man may be in the
+face of expected peril,&mdash;if he lacks presence
+of mind, he is helpless in a sudden
+emergency. But, as this quality is an
+ingredient of the highest courage, the
+bravest men invariably possess it. The
+presence of mind of one man has often
+saved thousands of lives in sudden peril,
+on sea or land. This is naturally
+enough regarded as a distinctively masculine
+virtue; but it is one that both sexes
+may profitably cultivate, as is shown by
+the following story. Girls as well as boys
+should be taught self-reliance&mdash;to depend
+on themselves, to think quickly and act
+promptly. Perhaps no emergency will
+arise in their lives in which the importance
+of such mental training shall be illustrated;
+but it is well to be prepared &ldquo;for any fate,&rdquo;
+and the discipline which produces this virtue
+gives strength and symmetry to the
+whole intellectual organism.</p>
+
+
+<p class="smlpadt">&ldquo;Is supper nearly ready, Maggie? It
+is time for Jack to return from his work.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The speaker was an elderly woman in
+a widow&rsquo;s garb, and the person she addressed
+was her granddaughter, a pleasant-looking
+girl, who might perhaps have
+been fourteen years of age.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, grandmother, it is just ready,
+such as it is,&rdquo; replied Maggie; &ldquo;but I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>228]</a></span>
+could wish poor Jack had a better meal
+after his hard work than what we are able
+to give him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ay, ay, child, I wish it as much as
+you can; but what is to be done? Wishing
+will never make us rich folk, and we
+may be thankful if worse troubles than a
+poor supper do not come upon us soon.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So spoke the grandmother, and taking
+the spectacles from her nose, she wiped
+their dim glasses with her apron.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, grandmother, what do you
+mean?&rdquo; cried Maggie, looking up in
+alarm. &ldquo;What worse troubles can be
+coming, think you?&rdquo; And eagerly and
+anxiously she fixed her bright blue eyes
+upon her grandmother&rsquo;s face.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; replied the old woman, &ldquo;the
+truth is just this, Maggie: I hear that
+the new landlord is going to make some
+changes among his tenants; the cottages
+are all to be repaired, and the folks who
+can pay higher rents will stay, while those
+who cannot must find lodging elsewhere.
+And how can we ever pay a higher rent,
+Maggie? Even now, every penny of poor
+Jack&rsquo;s earnings is spent at the end of the
+week, and yet we live as cheaply as ever
+we can.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment or two the girl&rsquo;s face was
+as perturbed and downcast as that of her
+grandmother&rsquo;s, and she bent over her
+knitting in silence; but by an evident
+effort she quickly assumed a more cheerful
+aspect. And advancing to the old
+lady&rsquo;s side, and placing a gentle hand on
+her shoulder, she said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t fret, dear grandmother; God
+has cared for us so far, and he will never
+suffer us to want, if we put our trust in
+him. That&rsquo;s what father used to say,
+and what he said up to the very day of
+his death.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So saying, Maggie stooped and kissed
+the withered cheek of that father&rsquo;s mother,
+thereby enforcing, as it were, her encouraging
+words.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;God bless you, my child!&rdquo; sobbed
+the old woman, returning the kiss. &ldquo;You
+remind me of what I am too apt to forget.
+Yes, Maggie, your father&rsquo;s God is our
+God, and he will never forsake his people.
+I will wipe away these tears, and put faith
+in him for the future.&rdquo; And the grandmother
+dried her eyes, and rising from
+her low seat, said cheerfully, &ldquo;Maggie,
+dear, go to the gate, and watch for your
+brother Jack. When you see him coming
+across the field, let me know, and I will
+dish up the supper, so as to have it ready.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Maggie put down her work, and passing
+through the low doorway of the cottage,
+stood presently at the little gate that separated
+the tiny garden from the meadow
+of a neighboring farmer, who turned his
+cattle out there to graze.</p>
+
+<p>Opening the gate, Maggie leaned against
+it, while with one hand she shaded her
+eyes from the yet dazzling beams of the
+sinking sun, which bathed with its parting
+radiance the western horizon, and crimsoned
+the landscape around.</p>
+
+<p>A moment or two she thus stood, but
+Jack did not appear; and wondering why
+he should be so late, Maggie was about
+to retrace her steps in order to fetch her
+knitting, when, from that corner of the
+field which by a stile communicated with
+the landlord&rsquo;s grounds, she saw a little
+child emerge, dressed in a bright red
+frock and jacket, and running heedlessly
+along, nearer and nearer to the cattle,
+which hitherto had been grazing quietly
+in the centre of the field.</p>
+
+<p>Now, however, as the little one approached,
+directing her steps so as to
+pass them closely, they raised their heads,
+and a huge bull, the king and guardian of
+the herd, attracted doubtless and enraged
+by the color of the scarlet dress, bounded
+away from his companions, and with his
+savage head bent, and his tail raised, gave
+chase to the child, who, frightened at the
+bellowing of the angry beast, quickened
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>229]</a></span>
+her pace, and fled screaming towards the
+cottage gate, at which Maggie was standing.
+But the utmost speed of which the
+little one was capable was nothing to the
+long gallop of the bull, and in the first
+moment that Maggie witnessed the child&rsquo;s
+danger, her quick presence of mind and
+tender heart resolved to do what many
+strong men, less self-forgetful, would not
+have dared to attempt.</p>
+
+<p>Tearing from her head a colored kerchief,
+which she had thrown over it before
+she came out, she sprang through the
+gateway into the meadow, and bounding
+lightly over the turf, in another minute
+she had placed herself between the fierce
+animal and the child. On in his headlong
+fury came the gigantic brute, and was
+about to pass Maggie, seeing only the
+scarlet frock just beyond, when the intrepid
+girl, springing forward, dashed the
+kerchief across his eyes, and before he
+had time to recover himself and recommence
+his pursuit, she had turned, snatched
+up the little one, and was running towards
+the cottage gate. Close behind the fugitives
+followed the bull, now recovered
+from his momentary astonishment; but
+Maggie&rsquo;s feet were winged, for she felt
+that through God&rsquo;s help she should
+save the child.</p>
+
+<p>A few more rapid steps, and the gate
+was reached and barred, while Maggie
+tottered into the house, still carrying the
+child, and in the reaction of the fearful
+excitement, fell fainting on the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Maggie&rsquo;s fainting fit, however, did not
+last long; and she was fully restored, and
+had told her grandmother the whole story,
+before Jack arrived, half an hour later.</p>
+
+<p>He, too, had something to recount.
+On his way home from the landlord&rsquo;s
+grounds, where he had been working, he
+was overtaken by a young woman, who
+seemed in a great state of alarm. She
+told Jack that she was the nursery maid,
+and that while that afternoon she was sitting
+at work beneath one of the trees, with
+the children playing around her, one of
+them&mdash;little Gertrude, a child about six
+years old&mdash;must have slipped away from
+her brother and sisters unobserved; and
+when tea time came, and the nurse rose
+to bring the children home, she was nowhere
+to be found. The nurse had taken
+the other three little ones home, and had
+now come in search of Gertrude, fearful
+lest she should fall into danger of any
+kind.</p>
+
+<p>Jack would not stop to eat his supper,
+after telling his own story and hearing
+Maggie&rsquo;s, but announced his intention of
+at once carrying the little truant lady back
+to her home.</p>
+
+<p>So the kind-hearted youth took Gertrude
+in his arms, and soon conveyed her
+safely to the landlord&rsquo;s house, where she
+astonished every one by the childish recital
+of her own danger and Maggie&rsquo;s
+courage.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Gertrude&rsquo;s mother
+came down to the cottage to thank Maggie
+for the preservation of her darling&rsquo;s
+life, and to bring a message from her
+husband.</p>
+
+<p>This message consisted of his grateful
+acknowledgments, and of the promise that
+Jack should be promoted to the office of
+assistant gardener as soon as that post
+was vacant (which would be in the course
+of a few weeks). But, best of all, the
+promise included also this, namely, that
+the widow and her grandchildren should
+hold the cottage rent free for the remainder
+of their lives.</p>
+
+<p>Thus was averted, by means wholly
+unforeseen, the trial of poverty and want
+so dreaded by the old widow in her
+thoughts of the future; and never again
+was she heard to repine, or even to express
+a fear for herself or for those whom
+she loved.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>230]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>DECLAMATION&mdash;FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH;</h2>
+
+<p class="center">OR, THE SENTRY OF HERCULANEUM.<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">DARK&rsquo;S the night, dun&rsquo;s the sky with smoke;<br />
+<span class="i3">Never more my guard they&rsquo;ll change;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Three hours ago I could crack my joke,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And now e&rsquo;en the thought seems strange.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Hark! the thunder bellows loud,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the night&rsquo;s come down apace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the lava flame, through its sulphurous cloud,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Is ruddy on my face.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;With a crash did yon temple fall;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But ever, through all the din,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shrill rose a death-wail o&rsquo;er all,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The vestals&rsquo; screams within.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Men are running, away, away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With tight zones up yonder street;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But a soldier of Rome must stay<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">At his post, as seems him meet.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I remember my levying morn&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I remember my sacred vow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I&rsquo;d hold it matter of scorn<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In death&rsquo;s teeth to break it now.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Jove! lava is all around&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">It nears me with scorching breath;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It hisses along the ground<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To my feet, and the hiss means&mdash;death.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve fought as a soldier should<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">&rsquo;Neath many an alien sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And at home at my post I&rsquo;ve stood<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Amidst cowards, and now, to die.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Great Mars, give me heart of grace<br /></span>
+<span class="i1"><i>Triarii</i>,<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> over the bowl<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Say, &lsquo;He died with a smile on his face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And glory in his soul&rsquo;!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">W. B. B. Stevens.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a>
+Overwhelmed, together with Pompeii, by a lava eruption, A.&nbsp;D. 79.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a>
+The Roman <i>Triarii</i> were old soldiers, of approved valor, who formed the third line in a legion&mdash;hence
+their name.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>231]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 362px;">
+<img src="images/hd090.jpg" width="362" height="600"
+alt="The sentry at Herculaneum stays at his post" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE FAITHFUL SENTRY.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>232]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>VACATION.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">O, MASTER, no more of your lessons!<br />
+<span class="i4">For a season we bid them good by,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And turn to the manifold teachings<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of ocean, and forest, and sky.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We must plunge into billow and breaker;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The fields we must ransack anew;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And again must the sombre woods echo<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The glee of our merry-voiced crew.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">From teacher&rsquo;s and preacher&rsquo;s dictation&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From all the dreaded lore of the books&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Escaped from the thraldom of study,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">We turn to the babble of brooks;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We hark to the field-minstrels&rsquo; music,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The lowing of herds on the lea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The surge of the winds in the forest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The roar of the storm-angered sea.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">To the tree-tops we&rsquo;ll climb with the squirrels;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">We will race with the brooks in the glens;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The rabbits we&rsquo;ll chase to their burrows;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The foxes we&rsquo;ll hunt to their dens;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The woodchucks, askulk in their caverns,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">We&rsquo;ll visit again and again;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And we&rsquo;ll peep into every bird&rsquo;s nest<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The copses and meadows contain.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">For us are the blackberries ripening<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By many a moss-covered wall;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There are bluehats enough in the thickets<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To furnish a treat for us all;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In the swamps there are ground-nuts in plenty;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The sea-sands their titbits afford;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, O, most delectable banquet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">We will feast at the honey-bee&rsquo;s board!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">O, comrades, the graybeards assure us<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That life is a burden of cares;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That the highways and byways of manhood<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Are fretted with pitfalls and snares.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Well, school-days have <em>their</em> tribulations;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Their troubles, as well as their joys.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then give us vacation forever,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If we must forever be boys!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Beverly Moore.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>233]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 430px;">
+<img src="images/hd091.jpg" width="430" height="600"
+alt="The boys poke about in a brook, while the girls relax on the bank" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption smcap">&ldquo;Escaped from the thraldom of study,<br />
+We turn to the babble of brooks.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>234]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>UNCLE JOHN&rsquo;S SCHOOL-DAYS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HIS picture reminds me, children, of
+some funny stories that I have heard
+your uncle John tell, when he and I were
+boy and girl together, of his exploits as a
+schoolboy. According to his account,
+not only he, but most of his schoolfellows,
+used to lead merry lives enough at school.
+They had what they called the &ldquo;Academy
+Band,&rdquo; and grand music it made, with a
+hat-box for a drum, cricket-bat for violoncello,
+and paper flute and trumpets. You
+would not recognize Uncle John, whom
+you know only as a man six feet high, in
+that little lad on the left side of the picture
+with a battledore for a fiddle. They
+had a great deal of what he called excellent
+fun, though I am afraid it sometimes
+bordered upon mischief or naughtiness.
+I used to consider that he and his schoolfellows
+were regular heroes as I listened
+to his stories when he came home for the
+holidays; and even now I must confess
+I cannot help laughing when I think of
+some of his naughty pranks.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle John first went to a large school
+when he was eleven years old, and I remember
+now the tremendous hamper of
+good things he took with him. The boys
+who slept in his bedroom were so pleased
+with the contents of his hamper that they
+determined to make a great feast. To
+add to their enjoyment, they imagined
+themselves to be settlers in the backwoods
+of America or Australia. They
+built a log hut with bolsters, and had a
+sort of picnic. One of them mounted on
+the top of the log hut to look out with his
+telescope for any approaching savages,
+while the others enjoyed their suppers in
+and about the hut. When their fun was
+at its height, the door softly opened, and
+in walked Dr. Birchall, spectacles on
+nose and cane in hand. What followed
+may be imagined.</p>
+
+<p>You know that Uncle John is an engineer
+now, and even as a little boy he had
+a great turn for mechanical inventions.
+Well, he pondered over some means by
+which such a sudden interruption to the
+enjoyment of his schoolfellows might be
+prevented in future; and I will tell you
+what he did.</p>
+
+<p>It happened that the large room in
+which he slept formed the upper floor of
+a wing of the house which had been
+added to it when it became a school; and
+there was no access to this room from the
+principal staircase of the house. You had
+to pass through the room below and go
+up a little separate staircase to reach to
+the floor above. The lower room was
+also a bedroom for the boys, and Uncle
+John&rsquo;s little scheme was this:</p>
+
+<p>He made a hole with a gimlet in the
+frame of one of the windows of his bedroom,
+passed a piece of string through the
+hole, and carried it outside the wall of the
+house down to a similar hole in a window-frame
+of the room below. To the end of
+the string in the upper room was fastened
+a small rattle, while the other end of the
+string&mdash;that in the room below&mdash;was
+taken into the bed of a boy who slept
+near the window.</p>
+
+<p>This admirable little invention once in
+order, there was more rioting in the upper
+room than ever; and the master, disturbed
+by the noise, soon went, cane in hand, to
+stop it. The instant he set foot in the
+lower room the boy there who held the
+string in bed gave it a little pull: the
+rattle sounded&mdash;ting! ting!&mdash;in the room
+above, and in an instant every boy was
+in bed and snoring. Perhaps they had
+been playing at leap-frog the moment before,
+but as Dr. Birchall entered the room&mdash;and
+he crept up the staircase very
+quietly, that he might catch them unawares&mdash;he
+found some twenty boys lying
+in bed, seemingly sound asleep, though
+snoring unnaturally loud.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor was so disconcerted by this
+unexpected state of things that he retired
+at once, fancying perhaps that his ears
+had deceived him when he thought he
+had heard a noise in the room. The same
+thing happened two or three times; the
+doctor was puzzled, and the invention
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"><!-- Illustration - THE ACADEMY BAND --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>236]</a></span>
+appeared a complete success; but at last all
+was discovered.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 430px;">
+<img src="images/hd092.jpg" width="430" height="600"
+alt="The boys play their 'instruments' in the band" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE ACADEMY BAND.</p>
+
+<p>The boys one evening began imprudently
+to play at &ldquo;tossing in the blanket&rdquo;
+before they were undressed. The rattle
+sounded, and they had just time to hide
+away the blanket. But the doctor coming
+in, and finding they were only then beginning
+to undress, knew they must have
+been at some mischief, and began questioning
+one after another. Unluckily,
+while he was in the room the rattle
+sounded again by accident; perhaps the
+boy in the room below had pulled the
+string by moving in bed. The doctor
+looked about, found the rattle hanging
+just below the window, saw the string,
+opened the window and traced its course
+outside, went down into the room below,
+and understood the whole arrangement.
+Then he put the rattle in his pocket and
+went away without saying a word. The
+boys declared he had such difficulty in
+keeping himself from laughing that he
+was afraid to speak lest he should burst
+out.</p>
+
+<p>However, next day every boy in that
+room had a slight punishment, and so the
+matter ended.</p>
+
+<p>Now I will tell you another of Uncle
+John&rsquo;s pranks at school. There was a
+large tree in the playground, the upper
+branches of which spread out very near
+to the windows of the bedroom I have
+been describing. One evening Uncle
+John got hold of a large hand-bell which
+was used for ringing the boys up in the
+morning; and climbing up the tree, he
+fastened it by a piece of string to a branch
+near the top. Then another boy threw
+him the end of a long string from a window
+of the bedroom into the tree, and he
+fastened it to the bell in such a way that
+when it was pulled in the bedroom it made
+the bell ring in the tree. Having accomplished
+this arrangement, he came down
+from the tree and went to bed.</p>
+
+<p>At ten o&rsquo;clock at night the household
+was disturbed by the loud ringing of this
+bell. The master, in his dressing-gown,
+came out into the playground, and soon
+discovered where the sound came from,
+but of course supposed that some boy had
+climbed up into the tree, and was ringing
+the bell there. It was the middle of
+summer, and a beautiful moonlight night,
+so the boys could see from the windows
+all that took place. Dr. Birchall stood
+at the foot of the tree, looking up, and
+exclaimed, angrily,</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come down, you naughty boy! Come
+down, I say, directly! Oh, I&rsquo;ll give you
+such a flogging! Stop that horrible
+noise, I tell you, and come down!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The bell still went on ringing. At
+last the string&mdash;being pulled too hard,
+I suppose, in the excitement of the fun&mdash;broke,
+and the bell tumbled down from
+the top of the tree, falling very near the
+old schoolmaster. This was worse than
+all.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What!&rdquo; he exclaimed; &ldquo;you throw the
+bell at me? Why, if it had hit me on the
+head, it might have killed me. Oh, you
+wicked boy! I&rsquo;ll expel you, sir. I&rsquo;ll find
+out who you are if I stop here till morning.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>At last, however, his patience was exhausted,
+and he went away, but left an
+old butler to watch the tree all night. The
+boys from the windows could see this man
+settle himself comfortably on a seat which
+was at the foot of the tree. He lighted
+his pipe, and prepared to carry out his
+master&rsquo;s orders and watch till daylight.
+By three o&rsquo;clock in the morning the dawn
+broke; then the man began to look up
+occasionally into the tree. Now and then
+he walked a little distance away, first in
+one direction, and then in another, to
+look into parts of the tree that he could
+not see from underneath. He kept this
+up till the sun had risen and it was broad
+daylight; then at last he became convinced
+that it was impossible there could
+be a boy in the tree. He walked slowly
+into the house, still smoking his pipe, with
+a puzzled expression on his face.</p>
+
+<p>And I suspect he was not the only person
+who felt puzzled. The next day the
+boys were going home for the holidays,
+so that no further inquiry could be made.
+I wonder if Dr. Birchall ever found out
+how it had been managed?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>237]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 532px;">
+<img src="images/hd093.jpg" width="532" height="400"
+alt="An English mastiff lying down, head on his paws" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption smcap">The English Mastiff.</p>
+
+<h2>FAITHFUL FRIENDS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE dog has sometimes been called
+the &ldquo;friend of man.&rdquo; This is because,
+of all animals, it is the one whose
+attachment to mankind is purely personal.
+It is found in almost every part of the
+world, sharing every variation of climate
+and outward lot with the human race.
+There are only a few groups of islands in
+the Southern Pacific Ocean where this
+valuable creature is wanting. Without
+its aid, how could men have procured
+sustenance among tribes to whom the
+art of tilling the land was not known? or
+how could they have resisted the attacks
+of the beasts of prey that roamed in the
+forests around them?</p>
+
+<p>Anecdotes of dogs, when they are well
+attested, are always welcome; and I will
+therefore relate a few.</p>
+
+<p>There were some time ago two families,
+one living in London, the other at Guildford,
+seventeen miles distant. These
+families were very friendly with each
+other, and for several years it was the
+custom of the one residing in London to
+pass the Christmas with the one at Guildford.
+It was the visitors&rsquo; uniform practice
+to arrive to dinner the day before Christmas
+day; and they were accompanied by
+a large spaniel, which was a great favorite
+with both families.</p>
+
+<p>These visits were thus regularly paid
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>238]</a></span>
+for seven years. At the end of that time
+an unfortunate misunderstanding between
+the friends caused the usual Christmas
+invitation from the country to be omitted.
+About an hour before dinner, on the day
+before Christmas day, the Guildford gentleman,
+who was standing at his window,
+exclaimed to his wife,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, my dear, the &mdash;&mdash;s have thought
+better of it. I declare they are coming
+as usual, though we did not invite them;
+here comes C&aelig;sar to announce them.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Sure enough, the dog came trotting up
+to the door, and was admitted, as he had
+often been before, to the parlor. The
+lady of the house gave orders to prepare
+beds; dinner waited an hour; but no
+guests arrived.</p>
+
+<p>C&aelig;sar, after staying the exact number
+of days to which he had been accustomed,
+one morning set off for home, and reached
+it in safety. The correspondence which
+this visit of the favorite spaniel occasioned,
+had the happy effect of renewing
+the intercourse of the estranged friends.
+As long as C&aelig;sar lived, he paid the annual
+visit, in company with his master and mistress,
+to Guildford.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A Frenchman named Chabert, who,
+from his wonderful performances with
+fire, was known as the &lsquo;Fire King,&rsquo; was
+the owner of a very beautiful Siberian
+dog, which, when yoked to a light carriage,
+used to draw him twenty miles a
+day. Chabert sold him for nearly two
+hundred pounds; for the creature was as
+docile as he was beautiful. Between the
+sale and the delivery, the dog happened
+to get his leg broken. Chabert, to whom
+the money was of great importance, was
+almost in despair, expecting that the lamed
+animal would be returned, and the price
+demanded back. He took the dog by
+night to a veterinary surgeon, and formally
+introduced them to each other.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Doctor, my dog; my dog, your doctor.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He next talked to the dog, pointed to
+his own leg, limped around the room, and
+then requested the surgeon to apply bandages
+to his leg; after which he walked
+about the room sound and well. Chabert
+then patted the dog on the head, who was
+looking by turns at him and the surgeon;
+desired the surgeon to pat him, and to
+offer him his hand to lick; and lastly,
+holding up his finger to the dog, and
+gently shaking his head, quitted the room
+and the house. The dog immediately
+laid himself down, submitted to have the
+fracture set, and to have a bandage put
+on the limb, without a motion beyond once
+or twice licking the operator&rsquo;s hand. He
+was afterwards submissive, and lay all but
+motionless day after day, until, at the end
+of a month, the limb was sound and whole
+once more. So perfect was the cure, that
+the purchaser never knew the dog had
+sustained any injury.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I will finish my paper with a story of a
+dog that saved the life of a French soldier
+who was wounded in one of the terrible
+battles that have been lately fought
+in France:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The man had been struck by a ball
+in the chest, near the village of Ham, and
+lay on the ground for six hours after the
+fighting was over. He had not lost consciousness;
+but the blood was flowing
+freely, and he was gradually getting weaker
+and weaker. There were none but the
+dead near him; and his only living companion
+was an English terrier, which ran
+restlessly about him, with his master&rsquo;s
+<i>kepi</i>, or military cap, in his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;At last the dog set off at a trot; and
+the wounded soldier made sure that now
+his last friend had deserted him. The
+night grew dark, the cold was intense,
+and he had not even the strength to touch
+his wounds, which every instant grew
+more and more painful.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 340px;">
+<img src="images/hd094.jpg" width="340" height="400"
+alt="The terrier, carrying a kepi, tries to get help for his master" />
+</div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;At length his limbs grew cold, and,
+feeling a sickly faintness steal upon him,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>239]</a></span>
+he gave up all hope of life, and recommended
+himself to the mercy of God.
+Suddenly he heard a bark, which he
+knew belonged to only one little dog in
+the world, then felt something lick his
+face, and saw the glare of lanterns. The
+dog had wandered for miles till he arrived
+at a road-side <i>cabaret</i>, or country wine-shop.
+The people had heard the cannonading
+all day, and seeing the <i>kepi</i> in the
+dog&rsquo;s mouth, and noticing his restless
+movements, decided to follow him. He
+took them straight to the spot&mdash;too
+straight for a little cart they had brought
+with them to cross fields and hedges&mdash;but
+just in time. When the friendly help
+arrived, the man fainted; but he was
+saved. There were honest tears in the
+man&rsquo;s eyes when he was telling me,&rdquo; says
+the narrator; &ldquo;and I fully believed him.
+The dog, too, had been slightly touched
+in the leg by a ball in the same battle,
+and has since been lame. He got him,
+when a puppy, from an English sailor at
+Dunkirk, and called him &lsquo;Beel;&rsquo; very
+probably the French for Bill.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This little terrier showed something
+more than instinct&mdash;some share, at least,
+of common sense. At all events, he deserves
+to be immortalized; so here you
+have his portrait, with the cap in his
+mouth, begging the people whom he has
+found in the way-side inn to come to the
+help of his wounded master.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">X.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>240]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 405px;">
+<img src="images/hd095.jpg" width="405" height="600"
+alt="The Erl-King reaches out for the rider and his child" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE ERL-KING.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>241]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/hd096.jpg" width="500" height="166"
+alt="Flowers" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>THE ERL KING.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">WHO rideth so late through the night-wind wild?<br />
+<span class="i4">It is the father with his child;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He has the little one well in his arm,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He holds him safe, and he folds him warm.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;My son, why hidest thy face so shy?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Seest thou not, father, the Erl King nigh?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Erlen King, with train and crown?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;It is a wreath of mist, my son.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Come, lovely boy, come go with me;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Such merry plays I will play with thee!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Many a bright flower grows on the strand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And my mother has many a gay garment at hand.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;My father, my father, and dost thou not hear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What the Erl King whispers in my ear?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Be quiet, my darling, be quiet, my child;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through withered leaves the wind howls wild.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Come, lovely boy, wilt thou go with me?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My daughters fair shall wait on thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My daughters their nightly revels keep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They&rsquo;ll sing, and they&rsquo;ll dance, and they&rsquo;ll rock thee to sleep.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;My father, my father, and seest thou not<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Erl King&rsquo;s daughters in yon dim spot?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;My son, my son, I see, and I know<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&rsquo;Tis the old gray willow that shimmers so.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I love thee; thy beauty has ravished my sense;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And willing or not, I will carry thee hence.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;O, father, the Erl King now puts forth his arm&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O, father, the Erl King has done me harm.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The father shudders, he hurries on;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And faster he holds his moaning son;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He reaches his home with fear and dread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And lo! in his arms the child was dead.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet"><i>From the German of Goethe.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>242]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE SILLY YOUNG RABBIT.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN.</p>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">THERE was a young rabbit<br />
+<span class="i3">Who had a bad habit&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sometimes he would do what his mother forbid.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And one frosty day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His mother did say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;My child you must stay in the burrow close hid;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For I hear the dread sounds<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of huntsmen and hounds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who are searching around for rabbits like you;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Should they see but your head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They would soon shoot you dead,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the dogs would be off with you quicker than boo!&rdquo;<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">But, poor foolish being!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When no one was seeing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Looking out from his burrow to take a short play,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He hopped o&rsquo;er the ground<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With many a bound,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And looked around proudly, as if he would say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Do I fear a man?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Now catch me who can!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So this young rabbit ran to a fine apple tree,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where, gnawing the bark,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He thought not to hark<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The coming of hunters, so careless was he.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Now, as rabbits are good<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When roasted or stewed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A man came along hunting rabbits for dinner;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He saw little bun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Then raised his big gun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And there he lay dead, the foolish young sinner.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>243]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd097.jpg" width="600" height="450"
+alt="A rabbit eating a leaf" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE SILLY RABBIT.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>244]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>NINO.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE rain was just beginning to fall
+in a thin, chilling drizzle, and the
+cold air nipped sharply any unwary toe
+that showed itself, as Nino played a little
+air full of thoughts of birds and flowers.
+His thin jacket was no protection, and
+his dark eyes looked as if a shower might
+drop from them; but the clouds had been
+over his life too long, and there were no
+tears left to fall. He was not so old that
+this must be the case; but he stood alone
+in the wide street, and no one spoke to or
+noticed him. One friend he had&mdash;his
+guitar; and now he put that under his
+jacket, lest the rain should hurt it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<i>Ah, carissima!</i>&rdquo; he murmured, as he
+hugged it under his arm; &ldquo;you are never
+hungry or tired, and you shall not be wet.
+One of us shall be happy.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The guitar gave a little whisper as his
+jacket rubbed against it, and Nino smiled
+and nodded in answer. Now the rain was
+falling rapidly, and he stepped under an
+awning, to wait until it held up. There
+was a lady standing there, her skirts held
+high, and her cloak drawn closely, and
+Nino stood one side; for why should he
+be near any one? He well knew no one
+wanted him. He watched the water run
+by in the gutter, and looked into the barrel
+of apples at his side&mdash;large, rosy
+apples, that would be so good; and he
+glanced up to see if any one saw him.
+Why not take one? He could hide it,
+and eat it afterwards. The grocer had so
+many; he had none, and it was days since
+he had eaten anything but dry bread. He
+knew it was not right to take what belonged
+to another; but he heard so little
+of right, and hunger and want pressed
+him every day.</p>
+
+<p>As he stood thinking, not quite resolved
+to take one, there was a patter of little
+feet, a merry laugh, and a bright vision
+stood by his side.</p>
+
+<p>Was she a fairy? She looked as he
+always felt his guitar would look if it
+could take a human form&mdash;slender, active,
+fair. A shower of golden hair, not
+pale, but bright, like the summer sun;
+eyes as deep and blue as the distant sky;
+a face of which one would dream. Nino
+held his breath, and as the blue velvet
+coat brushed his ragged arm, drew a sigh,
+and stepped back.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Did I frighten you, little boy?&rdquo; asked
+the child. &ldquo;It was raining so hard, and
+nursey had to run.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come, stand in here, where it does not
+drip,&rdquo; cried the nurse, drawing her away.</p>
+
+<p>Nino peeped under his coat, to be sure
+his guitar had not been transformed, and
+then stepped aside under the eaves. It
+seemed as if he ought to be wet when
+such a lovely being was obliged to endure
+the discomfort of standing there. As she
+chattered, he drew near again, and wondered
+whether angels did not look like
+that. She was certainly more beautiful
+than those in churches. He had forgotten
+that he was cold, and was feeling very
+happy, when the intentness of his gaze
+attracted the child&rsquo;s attention. She was
+whispering to her nurse, when a harsh
+voice cried out,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Boy, go away from there! I can&rsquo;t
+watch those apples all the time.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Nino had thoughtlessly laid his hand
+on the barrel, and when the grocer spoke,
+moved hastily away.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here, little boy,&rdquo; cried the silvery
+tones of the child; &ldquo;don&rsquo;t go; I want to
+give you an apple.&rdquo; Then she said to the
+grocer, &ldquo;A big one, please.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, miss; I did not notice you were
+there; but those boys are so bad!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>245]</a></span>
+Nino&rsquo;s face flushed, and his eyes glittered;
+but when the child handed him
+the apple, he smiled, touched his hat, and
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Thankee, little lady.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As he walked away, he did not notice
+the falling drops, but laid his cheek against
+the apple, and smoothed its plump rosiness
+before he tasted its rich juiciness.</p>
+
+<p>Nino had no associates among the rough
+boys in the streets; he had a pride that
+kept him above their coarse ways. As he
+played and sang the songs he learned in
+Italy, dim memories of a better life came
+to him, and his music seemed a holy spirit.
+He would have died but for that, his life
+was so cold, hard, and bare.</p>
+
+<p>He had been brought over by a sea
+captain, who dealt in boys; and as he
+was very ill on the voyage, the captain let
+an old woman take him for a small sum.
+She thought his thin, sad face would move
+the passers, and in pity they would give
+him money. For this reason she sent him
+out day after day, in storm or shine, ill
+clad and weary, giving him but little food.
+But nature helped him. In spite of this
+treatment, he became stronger, and after
+a time ran away from her. Then he joined
+himself to a party of boy musicians, and
+by their help got his guitar. But they
+were unkind to him; for he was yet weak
+and timid, and the leader, a large boy,
+sometimes beat him if he refused to play.
+One night Nino ran away from them, his
+precious guitar under his arm; and since
+then he had played and sung through the
+streets, sometimes begging, sometimes in
+despair, with thoughts of stealing.</p>
+
+<p>His chief delight and comfort was to lie
+in the sun on a fair day. He was always
+hungry, almost always cold, and when the
+wind did not blow, and the sun was hot,
+he liked to bask on a step, and dream of
+good dinners, pretty clothes, and a soft
+bed. The sun was the only thing he could
+find in the cold northern climate which
+was like his old home. In this way he
+would be nearly happy; but when storms
+came, he was chilled within and without.
+The world then was gray; he could not
+even play on his guitar, which in sunny
+days brought him pleasant pictures of
+green fields, dancing water, and leafy
+vines, loaded with purple grapes.</p>
+
+<p>His guitar was his only companion, and
+he treated it as if it was alive; he talked
+to it, cared for and loved it with a tenderness
+which was of no value to the instrument,
+but was of service to the friendless
+boy, in giving him an unselfish motive.</p>
+
+<p>The autumn was fast advancing when
+he met the golden-haired child; and as
+the days became colder, he cherished the
+thought of her, and it made him warm
+when the sky was cloudy, as if she was a
+ray of sunlight. He had generally slept
+on steps or any spot where the police
+would leave him unmolested; but now
+the nights were so chill, that he tried hard
+with a few cents to pay for a lodging.</p>
+
+<p>With this purpose in his mind, he
+stopped before a house in a private street
+one evening just after dark. The gas was
+already lighted; but the curtains were not
+drawn, and Nino could see the table bountifully
+spread, and a servant moving about,
+adding various articles to it. A dancing
+figure passed and repassed the window,
+now peeping out, and again running back.
+Nino&rsquo;s voice trembled as he saw this light
+and warmth; and as he sang of &ldquo;love
+and knightly deeds,&rdquo; he thought of himself
+out in the cold, with nothing to love
+but his guitar, and he felt very sad.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the door opened, and out
+sprang the child he had thought of so
+long. The light seemed to follow her,
+and she cried,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here are some pennies.&rdquo; Nino removed
+his ragged hat, and held it out,
+and she said, &ldquo;O, you&rsquo;re the same little
+boy! Wait a minute, and I&rsquo;ll get you a
+cake.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>246]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 421px;">
+<img src="images/hd098.jpg" width="421" height="600"
+alt="Nino sings and plays guitar" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">NINO.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>247]</a></span>
+Nino stood with his hat off until she
+returned and gave him a cake.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You play such pretty tunes! and I
+know you now; for I&rsquo;ve seen you twice,&rdquo;
+she said, folding her hands, and looking
+at him.</p>
+
+<p>Nino murmured,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Thankee, pretty lady,&rdquo; and looked at
+her as if she was a being from another
+world.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What is your name?&rdquo; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nino.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come, darling; don&rsquo;t stand out there,&rdquo;
+called her mother from the house.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My name&rsquo;s Viola. Good by,&rdquo; she
+cried, as she ran in.</p>
+
+<p>Nino sang one more song, and then
+kissing his hand to the little form at the
+window, went on his way happy. The
+money brought him a night&rsquo;s lodging and
+permission to leave his guitar. In the
+morning&mdash;for the following day was Sunday,
+and if he carried it with him, the
+police might arrest him for trying to play&mdash;he
+made a light breakfast on a roll,
+and went to the street where Viola lived,
+to see if he could meet her. As the bells
+were ringing, she came down the steps
+with her parents, and Nino followed at a
+respectful distance, until they went into
+church. Nino attempted to go in also;
+but the sombre sexton at the door frightened
+him with a severe look, and he
+wandered on. After a time he came to a
+mission church, where, by a sign, all were
+invited to enter. Taking a back seat, and
+trying to understand the preacher, he fell
+asleep. When he awoke, the preacher
+was gone; but the room was full of ragged
+children, and for the first time Nino found
+himself in a Sunday school.</p>
+
+<p>The teacher nearest to him was a sweet-faced
+lady, who spoke gently to the boys
+of being kind to others, and patient with
+those who had not the chance to learn
+that they had; she told them stories, to
+show them how kindness would return to
+them, and how happy it made them to
+have others gentle with them. Nino listened,
+and thought of Viola; and when
+all sang some hymns while a lady played
+the piano, a new life stirred in him.</p>
+
+<p>When the services were over, the teacher
+gave him a paper, and asked him to
+come again. He sat on the steps after all
+were gone, looking at the pictures, and
+when he returned to his lodging went
+around by Viola&rsquo;s house, and was rewarded
+by seeing her sitting in the window
+with a book. When he reached the
+wretched place where he had spent the
+night, and looked for his guitar, he could
+not find it. Asking the woman about it,
+she said she was cleaning up, and it was
+somewhere on the floor. Nino&rsquo;s heart
+began to swell, and when he found it in
+one corner, snapped and broken, his grief
+and anger burst forth in a volley of Italian.
+He hugged it, and sobbed over it, called
+the woman a beast, and pointed to the ruin
+of his favorite in angry despair.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of this tumult of feeling
+the paper he had received dropped out of
+his bosom, and striking his feet, recalled
+the teacher&rsquo;s words and Viola sitting quietly
+by the window. Nino stopped, and
+for a moment was silent, then saying,
+&ldquo;You didn&rsquo;t mean to,&rdquo; picked up the
+paper, folded his jacket over the guitar,
+and left the house. His anger had vanished;
+but his grief remained. He spent
+the evening in tears and wretchedness, alternately
+gazing at his guitar, stroking it,
+and then giving way to passionate crying.
+At last he slept, curled up in one corner,
+and in the morning awoke with a cough
+which hurt his side.</p>
+
+<p>Now he had only his singing to depend
+on; he had not been taught any useful
+employment, and did not know how to
+work. He wandered about in the most
+disconsolate manner, his cough getting
+worse, and his grief for his guitar, which
+he always carried with him, still tormenting
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>248]</a></span>
+him. Sometimes, when people saw
+the poor boy crouching in a corner, hugging
+a broken guitar, and crying bitterly,
+they would give him a few cents. He
+would not beg; something held him back,
+and the thought of Viola would not let
+him steal.</p>
+
+<p>On the Saturday after he had been to
+Sunday school, as he was sitting on a
+step, sadly thinking, he saw Viola and her
+nurse crossing the street towards him.
+At that moment a carriage with wildly
+running horses turned the corner. Men
+on the sidewalk shouted and waved their
+arms. Viola, confused by their cries,
+turned back, and the horses, startled,
+dashed in the same direction. Nino threw
+aside his guitar, and sprang forward, drew
+Viola out of danger, but fell himself, and
+the carriage passed over his foot, crushing
+it, while in falling he hit his head against
+the pavement, and lay insensible. Some of
+the men ran after the horses, some helped
+the nurse carry Viola home,&mdash;for she was
+crying and trembling with fright,&mdash;and a
+policeman took Nino away.</p>
+
+<p>When Viola was restored, she began to
+ask for Nino.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It was Nino, mamma, and I want to
+see him,&rdquo; was her constant cry.</p>
+
+<p>Her father and mother were also anxious
+to reward the brave boy who had
+saved their only child, and made many
+inquiries to find him. The policeman had
+taken him to the station-house, and there
+no one remembered anything about him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There are so many of those children
+brought in, madam, you have no idea.
+We don&rsquo;t pretend to keep track of them
+all,&rdquo; was the only information they could
+get.</p>
+
+<p>At last they were obliged to give up
+their search; but Viola was much dissatisfied.</p>
+
+<p>About a week after the accident Viola&rsquo;s
+mother was invited by a lady friend to
+visit one of the city hospitals. She took
+Viola with her, and as they walked by the
+white beds, the child held her mother&rsquo;s
+hand tightly, and felt quite subdued at
+the pale, sick faces about her. But suddenly
+she bounded away, and climbing on
+a little bed, cried,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, I&rsquo;ve found him! here he is&mdash;my
+dear Nino.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Nino&mdash;for it was he&mdash;shrank back
+into his pillows, and covering his face with
+his hands, cried aloud. From the station-house
+he had been taken to the hospital,
+where his foot had to be amputated, and
+he had lain for several days, with a bandaged
+head, in great pain. His guitar was
+lost, and he had been so lonely, though
+the nurses were kind, that at the sight of
+Viola his fortitude gave way.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t cry, and don&rsquo;t be frightened,&rdquo;
+said Viola, kissing him, and taking her
+handkerchief to wipe his tears. &ldquo;I love
+you, dear Nino, and now I&rsquo;ve found you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is this your Nino, Viola?&rdquo; asked her
+mother, while the nurses and other patients
+looked on with surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, mamma; is he not pretty?&rdquo; and
+she tried to remove his hands.</p>
+
+<p>When he was a little more composed,
+Viola&rsquo;s mother thanked and praised him
+for saving her daughter&rsquo;s life, and persuaded
+him to tell her what he knew about
+himself. And the nurses told how patient
+he had been, and she gave him some fruit,
+and promised to come again. When Viola
+bade him good by, she put her arms about
+his neck and kissed him, and they left him
+quite happy.</p>
+
+<p>A few days after they came again, and
+Viola cried when she saw him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You are going to come and live with
+us, and be my brother.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If you would like to,&rdquo; said her mother;
+and Nino&rsquo;s eyes sparkled with joy at
+the thought.</p>
+
+<p>Then he was carefully laid in the carriage,
+and taken to his beautiful new
+home. More than he had ever dreamed,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>249]</a></span>
+or fancied, came to him&mdash;books, pictures,
+toys, kind care, love, and a fine new guitar,
+with the promise of learning to play it
+better. An artificial foot was to help him
+walk, and the wonders and delights of his
+home ever multiplied.</p>
+
+<p>Best of all was his sister Viola. He
+almost worshipped her; and it was a long
+time before he could bring himself to treat
+her with any familiarity. When she caressed
+him, which was often,&mdash;for she
+loved him dearly, and he was a lovable
+boy,&mdash;he always kissed her hands. One
+day she shook her head at this, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nino, that is not the way; kiss me
+good;&rdquo; and she turned her face, with its
+rosy mouth, towards him.</p>
+
+<p>With reverence, as if he was saluting a
+queen, Nino leaned towards her, and then
+with a sudden impulse, caught her in his
+arms, and kissed her heartily. That was
+the seal of their affection, and from that
+time Nino assumed all a brother&rsquo;s pride,
+care, and tenderness. After he had recovered,
+they were constantly together,
+and their mother was never so content as
+when Nino had the charge of Viola. He
+never spared himself to serve her, and
+she was ever an impulse to goodness and
+truth, shining before him like a star, as
+she had from the first time he saw her.
+And she clung to him with the same love
+she had first felt, proud of her brother,
+who developed a noble character; and
+they all learned to thank the accident which
+had brought them so happily together.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Sara Conant.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_249lower" id="Page_249lower"></a>COMMON THINGS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">THE sunshine is a glorious thing,<br />
+<span class="i3">That comes alike to all,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lighting the peasant&rsquo;s lowly cot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The noble&rsquo;s painted hall.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The moonlight is a gentle thing;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">It through the window gleams<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Upon the snowy pillow where<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The happy infant dreams;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">It shines upon the fisher&rsquo;s boat<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Out on the lovely sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or where the little lambkins lie<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Beneath the old oak tree.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The dewdrops on the summer morn<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sparkle upon the grass;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The village children brush them off,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That through the meadows pass.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">There are no gems in monarchs&rsquo; crowns<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">More beautiful than they;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And yet we scarcely notice them,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But tread them off in play.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>250]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 426px;">
+<img src="images/hd099.jpg" width="426" height="600"
+alt="Sally hanging a sock on a line in the kitchen" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">SALLY SUNBEAM.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>251]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>SALLY SUNBEAM.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HIS is not her real name. Her real
+name is Sally Brown. Why, then,
+have I called her Sally Sunbeam? Why,
+because everybody else calls her so.</p>
+
+<p>The reason is this: she is such a
+pleasant, happy, kind, sweet-tempered
+child that wherever she comes she comes
+like a sunbeam, gladdening and brightening
+all around her. It was her uncle
+Tom who first gave her her new name.
+He was spending a few days with the
+family for the first time for some years,
+for he lived a long way off and had not
+seen Sally since she was a baby. Sally
+became very fond of him at once, and
+so did he of Sally. As soon as he came
+down of a morning, there was Sally with
+her merry, laughing eyes to greet him.
+Whatever he wanted done, there was
+Sally with her ready willingness to do
+it for him. Wherever he went, there
+was Sally with her merry chat and her
+pleased and happy face to keep him
+company.</p>
+
+<p>And when the evening came, and
+Sally, with an affectionate kiss, had
+bidden him good-night and gone away
+to bed, he felt as though a cloud had
+cast its shadow over the house. So one
+morning, when Uncle Tom was going
+out for a walk and wanted Sally to go
+with him, he said, &ldquo;Where is my little
+sunbeam? Sally Sunbeam, where are
+you? Oh, here you are!&rdquo; laughing
+as she came skipping in from the
+garden.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But my name is not Sally Sunbeam,
+uncle,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;My name is Sally
+Brown.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Her mamma smiled. &ldquo;It is only your
+uncle&rsquo;s fun,&rdquo; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, it is only my fun,&rdquo; said Uncle
+Tom. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s a very proper name for
+her, for all that. She is more like a sunbeam
+than anything else. So come along,
+Sally Sunbeam. Let us go and have a
+nice walk.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And from that time Uncle Tom never
+called her by any other name. And other
+people came to call her by it too, and
+everybody felt that it was as true and
+fitting a name for her as ever a child
+could have.</p>
+
+<p>Here she is in our picture, hanging
+up her doll&rsquo;s clothes, that she has just
+washed. How bright and happy she
+looks! Uncle Tom may well call her
+Sally Sunbeam. But it is not only her
+cheerfulness and playfulness that makes
+her worthy of her name. This, of itself,
+would not be sufficient to make her loved
+as she is loved. Oh no! It is the kindness
+of her heart, the gentleness of her
+disposition, the delight she takes in trying
+to make everybody happy. This is
+what makes everybody love her.</p>
+
+<p>Only the other day a group of several
+children passed the garden gate on their
+way from school. There was one poor
+little thing amongst them whose dress was
+so shabby and whose shoes were so bad
+as to make it evident that her parents
+must be very, very poor.</p>
+
+<p>Sad to say, her schoolfellows were
+jeering her and teasing her about her
+appearance. One of these especially
+was taunting her very cruelly, and the
+poor child was crying. Sally ran out
+to her, and putting her arm lovingly
+round her said,</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What is the matter, dear? What do
+you cry for?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>252]</a></span>
+&ldquo;Because they keep on laughing at
+me so,&rdquo; sobbed the child.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, who can help laughing at
+her?&rdquo; cried the girl who had been teasing
+her the most. &ldquo;Look at her shoes!
+Do you call those shoes?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And at this the children all burst out
+laughing afresh.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You ought to be ashamed of yourselves,&rdquo;
+said Sally, &ldquo;to laugh at the poor
+child and make her cry. It is very cruel
+of you. Suppose <em>you</em> could not get good
+shoes, how would <em>you</em> like to be laughed
+at?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And there was something so serious
+and pitying in her tone that the children
+<em>were</em> ashamed of themselves, and went
+off without saying another word.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Never mind what they say,&rdquo; said
+Sally to the child. &ldquo;Come into my
+garden till they have gone right away.
+There! sit down on that seat for a minute,&rdquo;
+she said, leading her to one. &ldquo;I
+will be back again directly.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And she ran to her mamma, and in a
+great hurry told her all about it, and when
+the story was finished said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a
+boxful of money, mamma, that I have
+saved to buy toys with. May I buy the
+little girl a pair of new boots with it?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I must go and speak to her first,&rdquo; said
+her mamma.</p>
+
+<p>So Sally&rsquo;s mamma came to the child
+and asked her a few questions, and found
+that the little thing had no father, and that
+her mother was ill, and that she had several
+brothers and sisters, and the good lady
+judged from all this how poor they must
+be.</p>
+
+<p>Having satisfied herself that the child&rsquo;s
+mother was not likely to be offended by
+the gift of a pair of boots to her little one,
+she said, &ldquo;My little daughter here would
+like to buy you a new pair of boots. Would
+you like to have a pair?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Buy <em>me</em> a new pair of boots!&rdquo; said the
+child, with a look of astonishment. &ldquo;Oh,
+but they&rsquo;ll cost a lot of money. Mother
+has been going to buy me some for ever
+so long, only she hasn&rsquo;t been able to get
+money enough.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve got ever so much money that
+I was going to buy toys with,&rdquo; said Sally,
+&ldquo;only I would rather buy you a pair of
+boots if you would let me. And then
+those naughty girls won&rsquo;t be able to
+tease you about your shoes any more,
+you know. So come along, and we&rsquo;ll
+buy them at once. May we, mamma?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, if you like.&rdquo; And away they
+all went together to the bootmaker&rsquo;s, and
+the money that Sally had thought to buy
+herself all sorts of toys with was expended
+upon a nice warm pair of boots for the
+stranger-child.</p>
+
+<p>Don&rsquo;t you think that Sally must have
+seemed like a sunbeam to that poor little
+one?</p>
+
+<p>But this is only one of the instances
+of her kindness and sympathy and goodness
+of heart. She has learned of Him
+who all his life &ldquo;went about doing
+good,&rdquo; and every day tries to follow his
+blessed example. She has her faults, of
+course, like the rest of us, and these she
+has to fight against. But it is her virtues,
+not her faults, that she is known by&mdash;her
+brightness, her good temper, her sweetness
+of disposition, her kindness, her
+unselfishness; and this is how it is that
+everybody agrees to call her Sally Sunbeam
+instead of Sally Brown.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>253]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 574px;">
+<img src="images/hd100.jpg" width="574" height="400"
+alt="A monkey is in the window behind Aunt Thankful" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>AUNT THANKFUL.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">S</span>HE was our school teacher, a little
+bit of a woman, hardly larger than a
+good-sized doll. She had moved into our
+village years before I was born; for so I
+heard the folks say, I don&rsquo;t know how
+many times. Nobody seemed to know
+where she came from. She had no relatives&mdash;at
+least, none called to see her or
+to visit her. Once or twice, as I grew
+older, I heard dark hints whispered about
+Aunt Thankful, about her having left her
+early home to get away from unpleasant
+memories, but no whisper against her
+character. She was a good woman, a
+Christian woman&mdash;only the people called
+her <em>odd</em>.</p>
+
+<p>But everybody loved her. In sickness
+or health, in trouble or joy, in prosperity
+or adversity, everybody was sure they
+could depend upon assistance and sympathy,
+if needed, from Aunt Thankful.
+She was always ready to extend her helping
+hand, always ready to do a generous
+act. She was ever true to herself as well
+as to her neighbors. Perhaps that was
+the reason why the world called her <em>odd</em>.
+If so, how earnestly I wish there were a
+great many more odd folks!</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Thankful lived many years in the
+village before she began to keep school.
+I remember how funny she used to look
+as she came down the street towards the
+school-house. She was so small that I
+should not have been astonished to see
+her driving a hoop to school.</p>
+
+<p>Then she wore her spectacles in such
+a funny way! What use they were to her,
+I never could discover. If she looked
+at the scholars in the school-house, she
+looked <em>over</em> the glasses; if she was reading
+or writing, she looked <em>under</em> them.
+I have often heard boys, who were considered
+truthful, declare that on no occasion
+was she ever known to look <em>through</em> them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>254]</a></span>
+But what made Aunt Thankful so popular
+with the children was her kind manner
+and her kinder words. Somehow or
+other she used to like the poor and the
+friendless children the best. That was
+quite a puzzle to me at first. We usually
+pay most attention to such as are well off,
+and prosperous, and dressed nicely. But
+not so was it with Aunt Thankful. She
+took sides always with the weak and the
+down-trodden. I have seen her mend
+many an apron, many a torn dress worn
+by a poor scholar, during school hours.
+She did it, too, in such a kind way, that
+it made one forget that they were poor.
+That was because she was <small>ODD</small>, you
+know.</p>
+
+<p>As I grew up, I began to understand
+more of this good lady&rsquo;s character than I
+ever dreamed when I went to school. I
+saw things in a different light, as it were.
+And for her many good acts, from the
+fact that she was about my first school
+teacher, I do not think I shall ever forget
+her.</p>
+
+<p>There is another reason why I shall
+never forget Aunt Thankful. Perhaps I
+had better tell you about it. She kept
+our village school one summer; I think
+it must have been the second or third
+year I went to school. Anyhow, I was
+in one of the lower classes.</p>
+
+<p>The school-house was a little box of a
+thing, hardly bigger than a decent-sized
+shed. There was only one room in the
+building. The teacher sat upon a small
+platform on one side, while the seats for
+the scholars were raised, one above the
+other, on the opposite side. Over the
+teacher&rsquo;s desk was a little square window,
+looking out upon the horse shed in the
+rear.</p>
+
+<p>It was a hot summer forenoon, and the
+windows were all open; the morning lessons
+had been completed. Aunt Thankful
+sat writing at her desk, now and then
+casting her eyes round the school-room,
+to see that everything was in order. But
+there was mischief brewing. The children
+were waiting impatiently for noon
+recess, and more than one of them were
+having a quiet whisper or giggle all by
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>All at once some of the children saw
+the mischievous face of a monkey peeping
+in at the little back window behind the
+teacher&rsquo;s desk. Of course those who saw
+such an unusual sight laughed outright,
+greatly to the astonishment of Aunt
+Thankful.</p>
+
+<p>Rap! rap! rap! went her ruler upon
+the desk, as a signal for quiet. At the
+noise the monkey dodged out of sight in
+a moment, and soon the children were
+restored to order. Aunt Thankful went
+on writing.</p>
+
+<p>To explain so unusual a sight, I ought
+to say that a strolling organ man, with a
+monkey, had been in the village that day.
+He had stopped in the shed behind the
+school-house to eat his dinner. Accidentally,
+he had fallen asleep; and his monkey,
+being of an inquisitive turn, had got
+loose, and was exploring on his own account.
+He carried a part of his chain
+upon his neck all the while, and somehow
+or other he had climbed up to the little
+square window, as related.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Thankful went on writing. But
+soon the monkey appeared again over her
+head, turning his funny little face to one
+side and the other, showing his teeth,
+grinning, and going through other performances.
+This time the laughing was
+louder than before, because more children
+saw the show. I must record here that
+a funnier sight I never have witnessed.</p>
+
+<p>The teacher looked up once more, and
+rapped on her desk quite indignantly.
+&ldquo;James Collins,&rdquo; she said, with severe
+authority, &ldquo;come here, this moment. If
+you cannot sit in your seat without laughing,
+come and stand by me. You, too,
+Walter, and Solomon. And you, Martha
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>255]</a></span>
+Hapgood. I am astonished at your conduct.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The recusant children ranged themselves
+before the teacher, who seemed to
+think she had now quenched the rebellion.
+I noticed that they managed to stand so
+they could have a good view of the window,
+as if they expected, or even hoped
+for, another occasion for laughing.</p>
+
+<p>And they didn&rsquo;t wait long, either. In
+a minute or two the monkey appeared for
+the third time; and on this occasion he
+came wholly into sight, chain and all, and
+began to dance up and down in his peculiar
+way, bowing and nodding to the spectators.
+By this time all the children had
+found out&mdash;by the usual school telegraph,
+I suppose&mdash;what was going on,
+and joined in a loud and universal laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Sakes alive!&rdquo; exclaimed Aunt Thankful,
+jumping up and seizing her ruler;
+&ldquo;what&rsquo;s got into the children?&rdquo; Whether
+the monkey thought the flourish which
+the teacher&rsquo;s ruler took was a signal for a
+fight or not, I never knew; but certain it
+is he began to scream and shake his chain.
+The children laughed louder than ever.
+Aunt Thankful turned round, saw what
+the trouble was, and raised her hands.
+The monkey construed this as an act of
+war, and with a single jump landed on
+the desk. Here for a few moments he
+made the papers fly pretty nimbly. He
+upset the inkstand, scattered the sandbox
+and pens, screaming all the while like
+mad. After he had experimented long
+enough, he gave another jump out of the
+window; and that was the last we saw of
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Thankful looked as white as a
+sheet. She was taken by surprise, and
+seemed really frightened.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Marcy on us,&rdquo; she said, as soon as
+she could find words, &ldquo;what a dreadful
+creature! You may go to your seats,
+children; I guess you can be excused for
+laughing.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The poor lady proceeded to pick up her
+papers, and set matters to rights. It was
+quite a task. The ink had run over all
+her papers and into her desk. For years
+after, that ink spot was pointed out by the
+children to the new comers, and the story
+of the monkey had to be related.</p>
+
+<p>Before noon the organ grinder had
+wakened from his after-dinner sleep, and
+finding out that his monkey had been into
+mischief, concluded that it was best to be
+off. He was not seen in the village any
+more.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Thankful kept school afterwards
+for several years, and then age compelled
+her to give up her office. About that
+time, and just when she wanted it most,
+one of the inhabitants of our village left
+her three thousand dollars in his will, as
+a &ldquo;mark of his esteem.&rdquo; Surely never
+was charity more properly bestowed, or
+more gratefully received. I don&rsquo;t think
+there was a person in the world who envied
+her the gift, or thought it undeserved.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">M. H.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/hd101.jpg" width="200" height="171"
+alt="Sword and flower decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>256]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 448px;">
+<img src="images/hd102.jpg" width="448" height="400"
+alt="The children at the bottom of the basement steps" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>HOW A GOOD DINNER WAS LOST.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>ING a ling ling! a ling ling! ling
+ling! ling! So went the dinner
+bells&mdash;first mamma&rsquo;s, then Mrs. Green&rsquo;s,
+Mrs. Brown&rsquo;s, Mrs. White&rsquo;s, and all the
+other neighbors&rsquo; with colored names. It
+was everybody&rsquo;s dinner hour; and by the
+way, is it not funny how everybody gets
+hungry together?</p>
+
+<p>Dinner was to be eaten at the healthy,
+good old-fashioned hour of noon, between
+the two sessions of school. The children
+were just fresh from slates, with long,
+crooked rows of hard figures, and heavy
+atlases, with unpronounceable towns and
+rivers that would not be found out. There
+were chickens and dough-balls for dinner.
+The smell of them made the children ravenous;
+and they very nearly tripped up
+Maria and her platter in their haste to
+reach the table.</p>
+
+<p>Mamma looked around to see if they
+were all there, and counted on her fingers,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Baby, Jelly, Tiny&mdash;Tiny, where&rsquo;s
+Bunch?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, I thought she was in the kitchen,&rdquo;
+said Tiny, looking wistfully at the
+tempting drumsticks. &ldquo;Papa, won&rsquo;t you
+please help us little folks first&mdash;just to-day?
+&rsquo;cause we&rsquo;re so awful hungry.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>257]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/hd103.jpg" width="400" height="308"
+alt="A bunch of poppy heads" />
+</div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tiny, I do
+believe that
+Bunch has gone
+down to the Midgetts&rsquo;.
+You must
+go and find her
+before you eat
+your dinner; and
+hurry, now.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, dear! can&rsquo;t she hear the dinner bell
+just as well as I can?&rdquo; and off flew Tiny,
+with the streamers of her jockey standing
+straight out behind her, and her new buttoned
+shoes spattering water from every
+mud-puddle in her way.</p>
+
+<p>We were not invited; so we can&rsquo;t stay
+to dinner; but perhaps we will have time
+to learn something about the little ones
+while Tiny is hunting her tardy sister
+Bunch.</p>
+
+<p>Her name was not really Bunch; that
+is, she was not christened so. At school
+she answered &ldquo;Present&rdquo; at roll-call to the
+prettier name of Florence; but uncle Tim&mdash;he&rsquo;s
+such a jolly fellow!&mdash;said, when he
+first held her in her delicately-embroidered
+blankets, that she was such a bouncer, so
+red and so dumpy, that she would never
+be anything but a bunch; and so dubbed,
+she carries the name to this day. But
+did not she disappoint him, though! for,
+in some unaccountable way, she daily
+stretched long, and flattened out, and became
+thin and bony. Her collar-bone
+grew to be a perfect shelf, and her stockings
+got a very awkward fashion of wrinkling
+about her ankles.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after, when Tiny&rsquo;s
+little red face began to
+screw and squint at uncle
+Tim, she was such a mite
+that he was sure to be
+right this time if he nicknamed
+her Tiny; and she
+was so little, that an ordinary pillow made
+her a bed of a comfortable size; and all
+the old cronies in the village whispered
+that the new baby would either die off
+pretty quick, or live to be a second Mrs.
+Tom Thumb. But Tiny lived, and spited
+them, and waxed fat and bunchy, while
+Bunch astonished them all by waning lean
+and tiny.</p>
+
+<p>Jelly&rsquo;s name came no one knew how.
+Some mischievous sprite probably whispered
+it to her; for she persisted that it was
+her name; and so she was indulged in it.</p>
+
+<p>Near their home was a vacant lot&mdash;vacant,
+excepting for a one-story shanty,
+with a cellar, piles of broken crockery, old
+shoes, dislocated hoop skirts, and bushes
+of rank stramoniums, with their big, poisonous
+blossoms. Cows strayed in the lot,
+munching the ugly snarls of grass, and
+the neighbors&rsquo; pigs and fowls made a
+daily promenade through the wilderness
+of refuse.</p>
+
+<p>Although it seemed a very unattractive
+place for a neat little girl to visit, now
+especially, since a pipe of the great sewer
+had overflowed, and had deluged parts of
+the ground. But to that miserable shanty
+mamma believed her little Bunch to have
+strayed; and there Tiny found her, seated
+on a log of wood in the corner of the largest
+room, with her apron thrown over
+her face and the Midgett girls&mdash;there
+were two of them&mdash;first staring at her,
+and then winking at each other.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Bunch,&rdquo; said Tiny, &ldquo;Bunch, mamma
+says to hurry right straight home; and
+guess what there is for dinner. Chicken
+pot-pie, and it&rsquo;s my turn to have the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>258]</a></span>
+wish-bone! Why, Bunch, what&rsquo;s the matter
+with you? What a baby! You&rsquo;re always
+forever a-crying about something or other.
+Come on now. I&rsquo;m going right home;
+and you&rsquo;ll get an awful punishing for coming
+here!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The eyes of the Midgett girls glared at
+her and the insult.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, dear! O, dear!&rdquo; sobbed Bunch,
+just peeping from one corner of her apron
+at the outer door.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, dear, what?&rdquo; snapped Tiny, in
+such a hurry for a drumstick.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tiny, did you see anything on the
+front stoop when you came in?&rdquo; asked
+Bunch, her eye still peeping at the outer
+door.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Any what?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, any&mdash;any cats&mdash;any wildcats?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Wildcats&mdash;what are they?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O!&rdquo; said the Midgetts, shouting together;
+&ldquo;wildcats! dreffle ones! my! yes!
+green eyes! awful cats, that spit fire out
+o&rsquo; their mouths, and claws that&rsquo;ll scratch
+yer to death;&rdquo; imitating the clawing with
+their long dirty fingers quite in the face
+of poor Bunch, who immediately retired
+to the seclusion of her apron, and continued
+her frightened sobs.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, where? where?&rdquo; asked Tiny, excitedly,
+opening wide her big blue eyes,
+and glancing uneasily in every corner.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, jist out o&rsquo; there, hid under the
+stoop; an&rsquo; when yer go out, they&rsquo;ll pounce
+onto yer.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O,&rdquo; said Tiny, bravely, &ldquo;&rsquo;tain&rsquo;t so!
+I don&rsquo;t believe it. There wasn&rsquo;t any there
+when I came in.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s because they was asleep, then,&rdquo;
+said Ann Matilda. She had red, fiery
+red hair, was freckled, and had tusks for
+teeth. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve just got woke up now;
+and they&rsquo;re hungry, too.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;So am I,&rdquo; said Tiny. &ldquo;Come, Bunch,
+let&rsquo;s hurry past, and they can&rsquo;t touch us;
+besides, you know no wild animals live
+about here nowadays.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, but these ones are what comes up
+out of the sewer,&rdquo; instructed the Midgetts.</p>
+
+<p>Tiny&rsquo;s courage began quickly to ooze
+away, and every bit of it deserted her
+when she and Bunch just put their noses
+outside of the door, and heard a most ferocious
+ya-o-o-ing from&mdash;well, they could
+not tell where.</p>
+
+<p>Of the Midgett tribe, there was no one
+at home but the two girls. There was no
+Mr. Midgett, but there was a Mrs. Midgett,
+who was out washing. The children
+had seen her plunging her hard, red arms
+into the soap suds, over their mother&rsquo;s
+wash-tub. She probably had a hard time
+managing a living. They were very poor.
+Sometimes the girls got employment as
+nurse girls or as extra help in the neighbors&rsquo;
+kitchens; but no one cared particularly
+to employ them, they were so
+vulgar, indolent, and slovenly. So they
+subsisted on the odd bits of broken victuals
+which they begged from door to door in
+baskets. Some people said they always
+gathered so much, that they must keep a
+boarding-house to get rid of the stuff;
+but I always regarded this as a fine bit of
+sarcasm. The Midgett mansion was a
+forbidden haunt of the children; but on
+this day Bunch had gone, for the last
+time, on special business of her own.</p>
+
+<p>On Christmas last, Santa Claus had
+visited their home, and left for each a
+pretty doll of the regulation pattern, with
+blue eyes, and golden crimpy hair, dressed
+in billowy tarleton, and the height of
+fashion, the beauty of which dolls quite
+bewildered the unaccustomed eyes of the
+Midgetts when the children took their
+young ladyships for an airing. And so
+one day the Midgetts borrowed them for
+a minute, while the children neglected
+their responsibilities, leaving them on a
+door stone, while they crowded for a closer
+peep at the mysterious dancers in a hand-organ.
+From that day to this the whereabouts
+of the dollships has remained a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>259]</a></span>
+solemn secret from the knowledge of all
+but the Midgetts. And it was to them
+Bunch had gone for a clew to her treasure.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O,&rdquo; said Keziah Jane, &ldquo;while we was
+a-standin&rsquo; a-waitin&rsquo; for yous two to git
+away from the music, and give us a chance
+to peek in at the dancin&rsquo;, the black feller
+what lives down the sewer come, and
+snatches &rsquo;em away; and we chases him
+like fury, and he run; and we never seed
+those ere dolls agin&mdash;nor him nor the
+dolls.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Sh! sh!&rdquo; cautioned Ann Matilda.
+&ldquo;Who&rsquo;s that a-knockin&rsquo; at the door? Run
+quick in the bed-room, and hide under the
+bed. Maybe it&rsquo;s that ere black feller, or
+those wildcats.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Scramble under the dirty bed went the
+two little girls while the door was opened.
+Only Jelly; no black man, nor wildcats,
+either. Jelly, and unharmed; Jelly sent
+from mamma to escort her naughty sisters
+home, but who was readily frightened into
+remaining with them; and so there were
+three little entertainers for the Midgett
+ogresses that afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of a half hour came another
+rapping at the door. What a reception
+the Midgetts were having! Keziah
+Jane pushed the children under the bed,
+while Ann Matilda opened the door. This
+time it was the grown-up sister Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>O, how the children&rsquo;s hearts throbbed
+when they heard Rosa&rsquo;s pleasant voice!
+but they dared to speak never a word;
+for Keziah Jane crawled down on the floor
+close beside the bed, and looked hard at
+them with her wicked black eyes, and
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Wildcats!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Are my little sisters here?&rdquo; asked
+Rosa.</p>
+
+<p>O, how they wished she was just near
+enough so they might pull her dress!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, no, mem!&rdquo; said red-headed Ann
+Matilda, with the door opened on a most
+inhospitable crack. &ldquo;O, no, indeed! they
+haven&rsquo;t been here in a month. I seed &rsquo;em
+a-goin&rsquo; to school with their books jest as
+the town clock struck&rsquo;d two.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How strange!&rdquo; thought Rosa. &ldquo;They
+wouldn&rsquo;t have gone back to school without
+their dinners.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And when she reached home, she told
+uncle Tim that she half believed they were
+there, though what could entice them to
+the horrible hut she could not imagine.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O my! how cramped up my neck is!&rdquo;
+said Bunch.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, O, how hungry I am!&rdquo; cried Tiny,
+remembering the drumsticks.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like it here, and I want to go
+home,&rdquo; sobbed Jelly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, get up, then, and le&rsquo;s hev dinner,&rdquo;
+said the Midgetts.</p>
+
+<p>Dinner! There were old baked potatoes,
+and a mess of turnips, and a bite of
+fried beefsteak, all mixed in a heap in a
+rusty tin pan on the table; and Tiny whispered
+to Bunch that there was &ldquo;a piece
+of the very codfish balls which were on
+mamma&rsquo;s breakfast table.&rdquo; Her appetite
+had deserted her, Bunch had cried hers
+away, and Jelly had left hers at her own
+bountiful table. But the Midgetts ate,
+and enjoyed.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said they, &ldquo;if you&rsquo;ll be real
+good, and mind, we&rsquo;ll give you a gay old
+treat. Want to go a-swimmin&rsquo;? We
+dunno as we mind a-givin&rsquo; yer a little
+pleasure, pervidin&rsquo; yer&rsquo;ll mind, and not
+go near the closet where the black snake
+lives.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O,&rdquo; shouted the children, &ldquo;we don&rsquo;t
+want to go near any snakes!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Besides, we can&rsquo;t swim,&rdquo; said Tiny.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;ll show yer how,&rdquo; said Keziah
+Jane; &ldquo;besides, yer all look jest&rsquo;s
+if a good bath wouldn&rsquo;t hurt yer&mdash;don&rsquo;t
+they, Ann Matilda?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Ann Matilda laughed, and said yes,
+looked down at her own bare feet, and
+bade the children to &ldquo;be a-takin&rsquo; off their
+shoes and stockin&rsquo;s.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>260]</a></span>
+&ldquo;Now, then, foller me,&rdquo; said Keziah
+Jane, opening the door which led to the
+cellar stairs.</p>
+
+<p>The children looked down into the
+black hole, and shrank back with fear.
+The stairs ended in a pool of black,
+muddy water, in much the same way that
+they do in a <i>bona fide</i> swimming-bath.
+You will remember that a pipe of the
+sewer had burst, and the dirty water had
+overflowed the Midgetts&rsquo; cellar. To wade
+about in this had been the recreation of
+the Midgetts for days.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come on now,&rdquo; said they; &ldquo;lift up
+your dresses, and come along.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The cellar was growing every minute
+lighter the longer they were in it; and
+soon the children lost their fear, and began
+to paddle about with their naked feet,
+taking excellent care to steer clear of the
+closet containing the black snake.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s getting awful, awful dark,&rdquo; said
+Jelly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s so,&rdquo; said Bunch, wondering,
+and looking up to see why the small window
+gave so little light. Something outside
+moved just then. The window was
+opened, and there were two faces looking
+down at them&mdash;two faces full of astonishment.
+They belonged to Rosy and
+uncle Tim.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Children, get right out of that filth,
+and go up stairs,&rdquo; ordered Rosy.</p>
+
+<p>Up stairs they went, one hanging behind
+the other, and entered the room from
+the cellar just as Rosy came in at the front
+door. Can you imagine how they must
+have looked, drenched and spoiled with
+the impure water from the dainty ruffles
+at their throats to the very nails of their
+toes? Like drowned rats! Rosy only
+said, with a withering glance at the Midgetts,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Never come to our house again for
+cold pieces.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then bidding the children gather up
+their stockings and shoes, she marched
+them off barefooted between herself and
+uncle Tim. Tiny&rsquo;s new buttoned shoes
+had found a watery grave; for, as the
+bathers came up stairs, one of the Midgett
+feet pitched them gracefully into the cellar.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tiny,&rdquo; said Bunch, as they walked
+mournfully home, amid the astonished
+gaze of the returning school children. &ldquo;I
+don&rsquo;t believe there was a wildcat there
+any of the time.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, nor a black man in the sewer,&rdquo;
+said Tiny.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nor a black snake in the closet,&rdquo; said
+Jelly.</p>
+
+<p>But there were a hot bath and clean
+clothing at home for them, and warm
+beds. Whether there was anything more
+severe than a good lecture, I will leave
+you to guess; for mamma said they were
+old enough to know better than to believe
+in any such ridiculous nonsense, all excepting
+little Jelly.</p>
+
+<p>I should be ashamed to finish the conclusion
+of the affair; for what do you
+think, children? It all actually happened,
+once upon a time, to myself and two of
+my sisters.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Fannie Benedict.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">MIRTH is a medicine of life:<br />
+<span class="i4">It cures its ills, it calms its strife;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It softly smooths the brow of care,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And writes a thousand graces there.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>261]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>LAME SUSIE.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">C</span>HILDREN,&rdquo; said Miss Ware to her little band of scholars, &ldquo;Susie
+Dana is coming to school next Monday. She is lame, and I want
+you to be kind and thoughtful toward her. She does not show her lameness
+until she commences to walk, and then you can see that one of the
+fat little legs is longer than the other, which makes her limp. So do not
+watch her as she walks. Be sure not to run against her in your plays,
+and don&rsquo;t shut her out from them because she cannot run and jump as
+you do, but choose, some of the time, plays in which she can take part.
+Remember, I make this rule: When you leave the room at recess or
+after school, wait, every one of you, in your places till she has passed
+out; then she will not be jostled or hurt in any way. Her lameness is a
+hard trial for a little girl. She would like to run and dance as well as
+any of you, and I do hope you will feel for her, and at least not make
+her burden heavier. How many, now, will promise to try to make her
+happy?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Every hand was instantly raised, and the children&rsquo;s clear, honest eyes
+met their teacher&rsquo;s with a look which was a promise.</p>
+
+<p>You have read stories, no doubt, of lame, blind or deformed children,
+and poor ones in patched clothes, who met treatment from others harder
+to endure than their poverty, privation or pain. Sometimes their schoolmates
+have been foolish and cruel enough to shun them, cast them out
+from their plays and pleasures, brush roughly against them, talk about,
+and even ridicule, them. But I hope it is not often so. In this case it
+was by far the reverse.</p>
+
+<p>These children remembered their pledge, and they made Susie so
+happy that she almost forgot her lameness. She was a cheerful, pleasant,
+good little girl, and her schoolmates, who had begun by pitying
+her and trying to help her, soon loved to be with her.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;May I sit with Susie, Miss Ware?&rdquo; became a frequent request.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Susie dear, here&rsquo;s a cake I&rsquo;ve brought you,&rdquo; one would say at
+recess.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Take half my apple, Susie.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>262]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 414px;">
+<img src="images/hd104.jpg" width="414" height="600"
+alt="Harry protects Susie from the oxen" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">NOTHING SHALL HURT YOU.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>263]</a></span>
+One day, as Susie was on her way to school she met a large drove of
+oxen. Poor little girl! she was very much frightened, and the big blue
+eyes were fast filling with tears when Harry Barton, one of the school-boys,
+stepped up before her and said, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t cry, Susie. I will take care
+of you. Nothing shall hurt you while I am here.&rdquo; And right bravely
+he stood before her until the last one had passed, and then took Susie
+to school, kindly helping her over the rough places.</p>
+
+<p>So the seasons wore on, and Susie, who, though she ardently desired
+to learn, had dreaded going among other children, was always happy
+with them. She loved her teacher and schoolmates, and made such
+progress as she could not have done had these things been different.</p>
+
+<p>The summer vacation was over. The glorious days of early autumn,
+with sunshine glinting through the crimson foliage, dropping nuts and
+golden harvests, passed swiftly away, and cold weather came.</p>
+
+<p>The school-room was pleasant still with its cheery fire and bright
+faces. One day, when all were busy as usual, a cry rang out,</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Fire! Fire! The school-house is on fire!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Books and pens dropped from trembling hands, little faces paled, and
+eager, appealing eyes turned instantly to the teacher.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Run, children!&rdquo; she said, hurriedly.</p>
+
+<p>Only one moved&mdash;lame Susie. She limped along as fast as she could,
+and all the rest, frightened as they were, remained in their places till she
+was safe outside the walls. Then with a rush they cleared the room
+almost in an instant. Even in that time of peril and dread they remembered
+their duty and kindness toward her, and gave her the richest proof
+in their power of their thoughtful love. Not mere obedience to a rule
+could have prompted this unselfish act, and as such a proof she must
+have felt it.</p>
+
+<p>It is a beautiful illustration, as it is a <em>true</em> one, of God&rsquo;s love for all
+living and for all times.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;As ye would they should do to you, do ye to them.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/hd105.jpg" width="150" height="41"
+alt="Floral decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>264]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 414px;">
+<img src="images/hd106.jpg" width="414" height="400"
+alt="Pepper the dog is told a secret" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>THE SECRET.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">PEPPER BAKER, don&rsquo;t you tell!<br />
+<span class="i3">If you ever do, I&rsquo;ll&mdash; Well,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I&rsquo;ll do something you&rsquo;ll remember<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till the last day of December.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Pepper, look me in the eye!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">You must be as shy, as shy&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Play, you don&rsquo;t know where I&rsquo;m going,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Don&rsquo;t know anything worth knowing!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">When the bell for breakfast rings,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I will bring you cakes and things;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Don&rsquo;t go down till Ben calls, &ldquo;Pupper,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Pupper; come and &rsquo;ave your supper!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>265]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">What I&rsquo;ve told you no one knows,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Only you, and I, and Rose<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">(Maybe she has told her kitty),<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">No one else in Boston city.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Pepper, look at me, and say<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With your eyes,&mdash;look straight this way,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With your teeth, and mane so shaggy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With your ears and tail so waggy,&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I will never, never tell.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They may tie a ding-dong-bell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To my little tail so waggy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Singe my ears and coat so shaggy.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;They may drown me in the well,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All because I will not tell.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That will do, you grim old Quaker!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I can trust you Pepper Baker.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Mary R. Whittlesey.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_265lower" id="Page_265lower"></a>SILVER AND GOLD.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">SILVER or golden, which is the best&mdash;<br />
+<span class="i3">Which with God&rsquo;s love is most richly blest?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which is the fairer I cannot tell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Grandfather dear or my baby Bel.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The soft twilight hour, when shadows fall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To little Bel seems the best of all;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then grandfather lays aside his book;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He cannot resist the pleading look.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">There&rsquo;s room for two in the great arm-chair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His arms enfold her with loving care;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Upturned is a smiling, rosy face;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Two dimpled arms have found their place.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sweet eyes of hazel, so clear and bright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Look up with a happy, loving light;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The curls are golden that softly stray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While breezes amid their sunshine play.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Little she dreams of sorrow and care;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Life is unknown, and to her seems fair.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As years roll by the face may grow old;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But the loving heart will never grow cold.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>266]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 427px;">
+<img src="images/hd107.jpg" width="427" height="600"
+alt="Bel and her grandfather sit together in the armchair" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">SILVER AND GOLD.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>267]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">When the hand of Time on her head is laid,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The lustre of gold must surely fade;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But lovely is even a silver frost,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If truth and goodness have not been lost.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Pride and passion have left no trace<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On the old man&rsquo;s placid, saintly face;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The journey so long is almost done&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The strife is over, the victory won.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The voice that speaks is gentle and deep;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Surely it means God&rsquo;s grace to keep.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Eyes like the heavens so darkly blue;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Surely God&rsquo;s love is shining through.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Forehead so noble, calm, and fair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Surely God&rsquo;s peace is resting there.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The snowy locks are a silver crown;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Softly the blessing of God came down.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Silver or golden, which is the best&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which with God&rsquo;s love is most richly blest?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which is the fairer I cannot tell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Grandfather dear or my baby Bel.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Ellis Gray.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_267lower" id="Page_267lower"></a>TWO MORNINGS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">STEP softly; the baby sleeps;<br />
+<span class="i3">Drop the curtains, and close the door;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Baby sleeps, while mother weeps&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sleeps, never to waken more.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Not a breath disturbs his repose;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The blossom he wears has forgotten to blow.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Once his two cheeks were red as a rose;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Now they are lilies, you know.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Morning will come, with its sweet surprise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Waken the flowers, and scatter the dew;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But never again shall the baby&rsquo;s eyes<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Watch the sunbeams break through.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Yet in heaven his morning is growing<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To fairer dawning than ours has known&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A fountain of light forever flowing<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Forth from the great white throne.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>268]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 348px;">
+<img src="images/hd108.jpg" width="348" height="450"
+alt="Tim gazes at the goods in the confectioner's window" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>TIM, THE MATCH BOY.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>IM had been standing for a long
+while gazing in at the confectioner&rsquo;s
+window. The evening was drawing
+in, and ever since morning a thick, unbroken
+cloud had covered the narrow
+strips of sky lying along the line of roofs
+on each side of the streets, while every
+now and then there came down driving
+showers of rain, wetting him to the skin.</p>
+
+<p>Not that it took much rain to wet Tim
+to the skin. The three pieces of clothing
+which formed his dress were all in tatters.
+His shirt, which looked as if it never
+could have been whole and white, had
+more than half the sleeves torn away, and
+fell open in front for want of a collar, to
+say nothing of a button and button-hole.
+The old jacket he wore over it had never
+had any sleeves at all, but consisted of a
+front of calf-skin, with all the hair worn
+away, and a back made with the idea that
+it would be hidden from sight by a coat,
+of coarse yellow linen, now fallen into
+lamentable holes. His trousers were
+fringed by long wear, and did not reach
+to his ankles, which were blue with cold,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>269]</a></span>
+and bare, like his feet, that had been
+splashing along the muddy streets all day,
+until they were pretty nearly the same
+color as the pavement. His head was
+covered only by his thick, matted hair,
+which protected him, far better than his
+ragged clothes, from the rain and wind,
+and made him sometimes dimly envious
+of the dogs that were so far better off, in
+point of covering, than himself. His
+hands were tucked, for warmth, in the
+holes where his pockets should have
+been; but they had been worn out long
+ago, and now he had not even accommodation
+for any little bit of string, or morsel
+of coal, he might come across in the
+street.</p>
+
+<p>It was by no means Tim&rsquo;s habit to
+stand and stare in at the windows of cake
+shops. Now and then he glanced at them,
+and thought how very rich and happy
+those people must be who lived upon such
+dainty food. But he was, generally, too
+busy in earning his own food&mdash;by selling
+matches&mdash;to leave him much time for
+lingering about such tempting places.
+As for buying his dinner, when he had
+one, he looked out for the dried-fish stalls,
+where he could get a slice of brown fish
+ready cooked, and carry it off to some
+doorstep, where he could dine upon it
+heartily and contentedly, provided no policeman
+interfered with his enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>But to-day the weather had been altogether
+too bad for any person to come
+out of doors, except those who were bent
+on business; and they hurried along the
+muddy streets, too anxious to get on
+quickly to pay any heed to Tim, trotting
+alongside of them with some damp boxes
+of matches to sell. The rainy day was
+hard upon him. His last meal had been
+his supper the night before&mdash;a crust his
+father had given him, about half as big as
+it should have been to satisfy him. When
+he awoke in the morning, he had already
+a good appetite, and ever since, all the
+long day through, from hour to hour, his
+hunger had been growing keener, until
+now it made him almost sick and faint to
+stand and stare at the good things displayed
+in such abundance inside the shop
+window.</p>
+
+<p>Tim had no idea of going in to beg.
+It was far too grand a place for that; and
+the customers going in and out were
+mostly smart young maid-servants, who
+were far too fine for him to speak to.</p>
+
+<p>There were bread shops nearer home,
+where he might have gone, being himself
+an occasional customer, and asked if they
+could not find such a thing as an old crust
+to give him; but this shop was a very different
+place from those. There was scarcely
+a thing he knew the name of. At the
+back of the shop there were some loaves;
+but even those looked different from what
+he, and folks like him, bought. His hungry,
+eager eyes gazed at them, and his
+teeth and mouth moved now and then,
+unknown to himself, as if he was eating
+something ravenously; but he did not
+venture to go in.</p>
+
+<p>At last Tim gave a great start. A
+customer, whom he knew very well, was
+standing at the counter, eating one of the
+dainty bunns. It could be no one else
+but his own teacher, who taught him and
+seven and eight other ragged lads like
+himself, in a night school not far from
+his home. His hunger had made him forgetful
+of it; but this was one of the evenings
+when the school was open, and he
+had promised faithfully to be there to-night.
+At any rate, it would be a shelter
+from the rain, which was beginning to fall
+steadily and heavily, now the sun was set;
+and it was of no use thinking of going
+home, where he and his father had only
+a corner of a room, and were not welcome
+to that if they turned in too soon of an
+evening. His teacher had finished the
+bunn, and was having another wrapped up
+in a neat paper bag, which he put
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>270]</a></span>
+carefully into his pocket, and then stepped out
+into the street, and walked along under
+the shelter of a good umbrella, quite unaware
+that one of his scholars was pattering
+along noiselessly behind him with bare
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>All Tim&rsquo;s thoughts were fixed upon the
+bunn in his teacher&rsquo;s pocket. He wondered
+what it would taste like, and whether it
+would be as delicious as that one he had
+once eaten, when all the ragged school
+had a treat in Epping Grove&mdash;going
+down in vans, and having real country
+milk, and slices of cake to eat, finishing
+up with a bunn, which seemed to him as if
+it must be like the manna he had heard
+of at school, that used to come down
+from heaven every morning before the
+sun was up. He had never forgotten that
+lesson; and scarcely a morning came that
+he did not wish he had lived in those
+times.</p>
+
+<p>The teacher turned down a dark, narrow
+street, where the rain had gathered
+in little pools on the worn pavement,
+through which Tim splashed carelessly.
+They soon reached the school door; and
+Tim watched him take off his great-coat,
+and hang it up on the nails set apart for
+the teachers&rsquo; coats.</p>
+
+<p>Their desk was at a little distance; and
+he took his place at it among the other
+boys, but his head ached, and his eyes
+felt dim, and there was a hungry gnawing
+within him, which made it impossible to
+give his mind to learning his lessons, as
+he usually did. He felt so stupefied, that
+the easiest words&mdash;words he knew as
+well as he knew the way to the Mansion
+House, where he sold his matches&mdash;swam
+before his eyes, and he called them
+all wrongly. The other lads laughed and
+jeered at him, and his teacher was displeased;
+but Tim could do no better.
+He could think of nothing but the dainty
+bunn in the teacher&rsquo;s pocket.</p>
+
+<p>At last the Scripture lesson came; and
+it was one that came home to Tim&rsquo;s state.
+The teacher read aloud first, before hearing
+them read the lesson, these verses:
+&ldquo;And Jesus, when he came out, saw
+much people, and was moved with compassion
+toward them, because they were
+as sheep not having a shepherd: and he
+began to teach them many things. And
+when the day was now far spent, his disciples
+came unto him,&rdquo; etc. Read Mark
+vi. 34-44.</p>
+
+<p>Tim listened with a swelling heart, and
+with a feeling of choking in his throat.
+He could see it all plainly in his mind.
+It was like their treat in Epping Grove,
+where the classes had sat down in ranks
+upon the green grass; and O, how green
+and soft the grass was! and the teachers
+had come round, like the disciples, giving
+to each one of them a can of milk and
+great pieces of cake; and they had sung
+a hymn all together before they began to
+eat and drink. Tim fancied he could see
+our Saviour as once he had seen him in
+a beautiful picture, with his hands outstretched,
+as if ready to give the children
+surrounding him anything they wanted,
+or to fold them every one in his loving
+arms. He thought he saw Jesus, with
+his loving, gentle face, standing in the
+midst of the great crowd of people, and
+asking the disciples if they were sure they
+had all had enough. Then they would
+sing, thought Tim, and go home as happy
+as he had been after that treat in Epping
+Grove. All at once his hunger became
+more than he could bear.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, I wish He was here!&rdquo; he cried,
+bursting into tears, and laying his rough
+head on the desk before him. &ldquo;I only
+wish He was here.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The other lads looked astonished; for
+Tim was not given to crying; and the
+teacher stopped in his reading, and touched
+him to call his attention.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Who do you wish was here, Tim?&rdquo;
+he asked.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>271]</a></span>
+&ldquo;Him,&rdquo; sobbed the hungry boy; &ldquo;the
+Lord Jesus. He&rsquo;d know how bad I feel.
+I&rsquo;d look him in the face, and say, &lsquo;Master,
+what are I to do? I can&rsquo;t learn nothink
+when I&rsquo;ve got nothink but a griping
+inside of me.&rsquo; And he&rsquo;d think how hungry
+I was, having nothink to eat all day.
+He&rsquo;d be very sorry&mdash;he would, I know.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Tim did not lift up his head; for his
+tears and sobs were coming too fast, and
+he was afraid the other lads would laugh
+at him. But they looked serious enough
+as the meaning of his words broke upon
+them. They were sure he was not cheating
+them. If Tim said he had had nothing
+to eat all day, it must be true; for he
+never grumbled, and he always spoke the
+truth. One boy drew a carrot out of his
+pocket, and another pulled out a good
+piece of bread, wrapped in a bit of newspaper,
+while a third ran off to fetch a cup of
+water, having nothing else he could give to
+Tim. The teacher walked away to where
+his coat was hanging, and came back with
+the bunn which he had bought in the shop.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tim,&rdquo; he said, laying his hand kindly
+on the lad&rsquo;s bowed-down head, &ldquo;I am
+very sorry for you; but none of us knew
+you were starving, my boy, or I should
+not have scolded you, and the lads would
+not have laughed at you. Look up, and
+see what a supper we have found for you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It looked like a feast to Tim. One of
+the boys lent him a pocket knife to cut
+the bread and carrot into slices, with which
+he took off the keen edge of his hunger;
+and then he ate the dainty bunn, which
+seemed to him more delicious than anything
+he had ever tasted before. The rest
+of the class looked on with delight at his
+evident enjoyment, until the last crumb
+had disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I could learn anything now,&rdquo; said
+Tim, with a bright face; &ldquo;but I couldn&rsquo;t
+understand nothink before. Then you
+began telling about the poor folks being
+famished with hunger, and how Jesus
+gave them bread and fishes, just as if
+he&rsquo;d been hungry himself some time, and
+knew all about it. It is bad, it is. And
+it seemed such a pity he weren&rsquo;t here in
+the city, and I couldn&rsquo;t go to him. But,
+I dessay, he knows how you&rsquo;ve all treated
+me, and I thank you all kindly; and I&rsquo;ll
+do the same by you some day, when
+you&rsquo;ve had the same bad luck as me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the teacher, &ldquo;Jesus knew
+how hungry you were; and he knew how
+to send you the food you wanted. Tim,
+and you other lads, I want you to learn
+this verse, and think of it often when you
+are grown-up men: &lsquo;Whosoever shall
+give to one of these little ones a cup of
+cold water only in the name of a disciple,
+verily I say unto you, He shall in no wise
+lose his reward.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_271lower" id="Page_271lower"></a>ENVY PUNISHED.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">A</span> BURMESE potter, it is said, became
+envious of the prosperity of
+a washerman, and to ruin him, induced
+the king to order him to wash one of his
+black elephants white, that he might be
+&ldquo;lord of the white elephant,&rdquo; which in
+the East is a great distinction.</p>
+
+<p>The washerman replied that, by the
+rules of his art, he must have a vessel
+large enough to wash him in.</p>
+
+<p>The king ordered the potter to make
+him such a vessel. When made, it was
+crushed by the first step of the elephant
+in it. Many times was this repeated; and
+the potter was ruined by the very scheme
+he had intended should crush his enemy.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>272]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 447px;">
+<img src="images/hd109.jpg" width="447" height="600"
+alt="Addie's pet bird perches on her finger" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">WINGS.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>273]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>WINGS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span>F I only had wings like you!&rdquo; said Addie Lewis, speaking
+to her pet bird as she opened the cage door.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Chirp, chirp!&rdquo; answered the bird, flying out and resting
+on Addie&rsquo;s finger.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, birdie, if I only had your wings!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Wings!&rdquo; spoke out Addie&rsquo;s mother. &ldquo;You have wings,&rdquo;
+she said, in a quiet way.</p>
+
+<p>Addie looked at her shoulders, and then at her mother&rsquo;s. &ldquo;I
+don&rsquo;t see them,&rdquo; she said, with a little amused laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We are using them all the while,&rdquo; said Mrs. Lewis. &ldquo;Did
+you never hear of the wings of thought?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! That&rsquo;s what you mean? Our thoughts are our wings?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; and our minds can fly with these wings higher and
+farther than any bird can go. If I read to you about a volcano
+in Italy, off you go on the wings of thought and look down into
+the fiery crater. If I tell you of the frozen North, you are there
+in an instant, gazing upon icy seas and the wonders of a desolate
+region. The wings of an eagle are not half so swift and strong
+as the wings of your thought. The very king of birds would
+perish in regions where they can take you in safety.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 250px;">
+<img src="images/hd110.jpg" width="250" height="84"
+alt="Foliage decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>274]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 408px;">
+<img src="images/hd111.jpg" width="408" height="450"
+alt="Squanko sitting on a wide window ledge" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>SQUANKO.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>HAT a name for a dog, auntie!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Name!</em> Why, Frank, when
+you hear the whole, like the Queen of
+Sheba, you&rsquo;ll say the half has not been
+told you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, didn&rsquo;t you find Squanko quite
+enough for one dog?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;His full name,&rdquo; said my aunt, loftily,
+&ldquo;is Squanko Guy Edgerly Patterson.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>She rolled out these resonant titles
+with due gravity, and Squanko, turning
+his bright eyes from one to the other,
+solemnly wagged his tail, as if to signify
+approval.</p>
+
+<p>I was a New Hampshire boy, and this
+was my first visit to the city. My experience
+with dogs previously had been that
+of a country boy bred up among sportsmen.
+I had known several highly-trained
+hounds, and famous bird dogs, though
+my ideal of canine perfection was that
+marvel of sagacity, the shepherd dog.
+Still, my first love among dogs had been
+a noble old hound, who, though sightless
+from age, would follow a rabbit better
+than any young dog was capable of doing.
+The scent of powder brought back his
+lost youth. Let him hear the loading of
+a gun,&mdash;or the mere rattle of a shot-pouch
+was enough,&mdash;he would break out
+into the wildest gambols, dashing hither
+and yon, in an ecstasy of delight.</p>
+
+<p>Running headlong against rock or tree,
+as he was liable to do, only tempered his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>275]</a></span>
+zeal for a moment; the next, he was tearing
+along more madly than ever. Dear
+old Trim! I had shed a boy&rsquo;s hot tears
+over his grave on the hill-side, and I was
+not ashamed of it either.</p>
+
+<p>I felt a tenderness for Squanko. The
+yellow spots which marked his white fur
+reminded me of Trim&rsquo;s. Remembering
+the accomplishments of my lost favorite,
+I ventured another question.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What is he good for, aunt Patterson?
+Can he hunt?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Good for!&rdquo; ejaculated my aunt&mdash;&ldquo;<em>good
+for!</em> I couldn&rsquo;t keep house without
+him.&rdquo; A certain fine disdain curled
+her lip; she had utterly ignored my second
+question. Completely quenched, I
+was fain to accept Squanko at once, hunter
+or no hunter.</p>
+
+<p>And we were, on the whole, pretty
+good friends, in spite of the battles we
+fought, nearly every evening, for the possession
+of the lounge. It made small
+difference to Squanko if I was beforehand
+with him. Though quite a large
+dog, he would creep up behind me, slowly
+insinuating himself between me and
+the back of the lounge. Then, watching
+his opportunity, he would brace his feet
+suddenly, and more than once the execution
+of this man&oelig;uvre sent me rolling,
+ignominiously, upon the floor.</p>
+
+<p>The intruder ousted, his majesty would
+settle himself for a nap, not heeding in
+the least the shouts of laughter which
+his triumph never failed to evoke.</p>
+
+<p>On all occasions (excepting only nights,
+when he slept tranquilly on a rug in my
+aunt&rsquo;s room) he felt it his duty to keep
+watch and ward over the premises. His
+favorite perch, in sunny mornings, was in
+the window of my aunt&rsquo;s chamber. If by
+any chance the white curtain had not
+been looped up, as usual, leaving the
+window sill exposed, Squanko went down
+for help, and by whining, pulling his mistress&rsquo;s
+dress and similar arts, persuaded
+her to go up and remove the obnoxious
+curtain. Carefully seating himself upon
+the sill, which was all too narrow for his
+portly figure, he would fall to work, by
+barking furiously at every person&mdash;man,
+woman, or child&mdash;who presumed to pass
+up or down the street. Most fortunately
+for him, the window he occupied overlooked
+the lawn at the side of the house,
+instead of the pavement in front; for on
+several occasions his fury became so ungovernable,
+that he barked himself sheer
+off his foundation.</p>
+
+<p>Catching a glimpse of his whirling figure,
+my aunt rushed out, armed with a
+bottle of liniment; and while she bathed
+his imperilled legs, she strove also to
+soothe his outraged feelings. For the
+time all vanity seemed to have been
+dashed out of him; but comforted by
+sympathy and caresses, he again mounted
+his perch, and barked with undiminished
+ardor.</p>
+
+<p>At table, my aunt always occupied
+what is termed an office chair. Being
+quite small in person, a portion of the
+great leather cushion, at the back, was
+left vacant. Squanko rarely failed to
+possess himself of this vantage-ground,
+and squatting thereon, peered wisely over
+his mistress&rsquo;s shoulder, as if studying the
+problem of what portion of the goodly
+meal before him might safely be counted
+on as a remainder.</p>
+
+<p>Yet Squanko had his grievances. One
+was, not being allowed the freedom of the
+garden. If he went out, my aunt&rsquo;s careful
+hand hastened to link the long chain,
+attached to his house, to his collar. She
+had a chronic fear of his running away.</p>
+
+<p>Squanko utterly disdained to occupy
+the bed of straw which graced his dwelling,
+but climbing to a board which surmounted
+the ridge of the roof, would lie
+upon that narrow ledge, ready to pounce
+upon any one who ventured near.</p>
+
+<p>Missing him one morning, both here
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>276]</a></span>
+and on the window-sill, one of the wee
+Johnnys of the neighborhood, who stood
+in wholesome awe of Squanko, put his
+curly head in at the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where&rsquo;s Squanko, Mrs. Patterson?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Gone to walk.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Gone to walk</em>,&rdquo; chuckled Johnny,
+bursting with merriment. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s funny&mdash;<em>a
+dog gone to walk</em>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Squanko&rsquo;s <em>walk</em> was rarely omitted;
+generally it was performed under my
+aunt&rsquo;s tutelage, when she went a little
+way with her husband, whose business
+took him to the city every morning. If,
+for any reason, Mrs. Patterson let her
+husband go to the cars alone, she sent
+Squanko off by himself, with strict orders
+to return speedily, which direction he had
+never failed to obey.</p>
+
+<p>Besides his chain, Squanko had one
+other trial to endure&mdash;a thorough ablution
+once a week. Bathing was his aversion;
+still, he had been obliged to submit
+to it from his puppyhood, and Mrs.
+Patterson was inexorable. A dog who
+was not faultlessly clean could have no
+place in the arrangements of her household.
+In and about her dwelling all was
+spotlessly neat. Everything susceptible
+of polish shone, from the window-panes,
+and the great cooking-stove, to Squanko&rsquo;s
+white coat. In vain were his protests,
+his indignant snorts and sneezes,
+his incipient growls; into the tub of
+warm water he had to go, while the
+scrubbing-brush performed its office upon
+his fat sides. Having been duly washed
+and wiped, he always indulged in a vicious
+shake or two, producing a sort of mist
+in his immediate vicinity. After being
+wrapped in his own blanket shawl, he
+was placed on the lounge, to repose while
+drying. His luxurious nap completed,
+he would emerge from his retirement, his
+short white hair shining like satin,&mdash;as
+clean a playfellow as one might desire.
+His temper,&mdash;not usually of the best,&mdash;after
+one of these baths, would remain
+sunny for hours.</p>
+
+<p>But Squanko&mdash;like many another
+spoiled darling,&mdash;was not content with
+the home where he was so petted and
+indulged.</p>
+
+<p>As his master opened the door to go
+into the garden, one evening, Squanko
+rushed past him, and made for the street.
+In vain our hurried search, up and down,
+in the dark spring night. In vain his
+mistress&rsquo;s frantic calls. If Squanko was
+hidden in some nook hard by, and heard
+her entreaties, his heart must have been
+harder than a stone. That hasty exit
+was the last we ever saw of him. Night
+after night my uncle, coming home from
+the city, inquired for Squanko, only to
+receive the sad reply,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, Roy! We never&mdash;never shall
+see Squanko again.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Soon a fat, brindled puppy was installed
+in the vacant place. Day by day
+he grew, both in bulk and in the affections
+of the family. My aunt named him
+&ldquo;Trouble.&rdquo; All the devotion which had
+been Squanko&rsquo;s was straightway lavished
+on him.</p>
+
+<p>When, in process of time, the tidings
+were borne to my aunt&rsquo;s ears, that
+Squanko, forgetful of former friends,
+was leading a jolly existence in a neighboring
+town, she only replied, with a toss
+of her head, &ldquo;Let the ungrateful imp stay
+there. Trouble is worth a dozen of
+him!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">F. Cheseboro.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/hd078.png" width="150" height="14"
+alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>277]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>&ldquo;THE SWEET ONE FOR POLLY.&rdquo;</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dcapp"><span class="dcap">P</span></span>OLLY had expected
+to be
+very happy in
+getting ready
+for the party;
+but when the
+time came she
+was disappointed,
+for somehow
+that
+naughty thing
+called envy
+took possession
+of her, and
+spoiled her
+pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>Before she
+left home she
+thought her
+new white muslin
+dress, with
+its fresh blue ribbons, the most elegant
+and proper costume she could have; but
+now, when she saw Fanny&rsquo;s pink silk, with
+a white tarlatan tunic, and innumerable
+puffings, bows, and streamers, her own
+simple little toilet lost all its charms in
+her eyes, and looked very babyish and
+old-fashioned.</p>
+
+<p>Even Maud was much better dressed
+than herself, and looked very splendid in
+her cherry-colored and white suit, with a
+sash so big she could hardly carry it, and
+little white boots with red buttons.</p>
+
+<p>They both had necklaces and bracelets,
+ear-rings and brooches; but Polly
+had no ornament except the plain locket
+on a bit of blue velvet. Her sash was
+only a wide ribbon, tied in a simple bow,
+and nothing but a blue snood in the pretty
+brown curls. Her only comfort was the
+knowledge that the modest tucker drawn
+up round the plump shoulders was real
+lace, and that her bronze boots cost nine
+dollars.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Polly, with all her efforts to be
+contented, and not to mind looking unlike
+other people, found it hard work to
+keep her face bright and her voice happy
+that night. No one dreamed what was
+going on under the muslin frock, till
+grandma&rsquo;s wise old eyes spied out the
+little shadow on Polly&rsquo;s spirits, and
+guessed the cause of it. When dressed,
+the three girls went up to show themselves
+to the elders who were in grandma&rsquo;s
+room, where Tom was being helped
+into an agonizingly stiff collar.</p>
+
+<p>Maud pranced like a small peacock,
+and Fan made a splendid courtesy, as
+every one turned to survey them; but
+Polly stood still, and her eyes went from
+face to face with an anxious, wistful air,
+which seemed to say, &ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m not
+right; but I hope I don&rsquo;t look very bad.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Grandma read the look in a minute;
+and when Fanny said, with a satisfied
+smile, &ldquo;How do we look?&rdquo; she answered,
+drawing Polly toward her so kindly,
+&ldquo;Very like the fashion-plates you got the
+patterns of your dresses from. But this
+little costume suits me best.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you really think I look nice?&rdquo;
+and Polly&rsquo;s face brightened, for she valued
+the old lady&rsquo;s opinion very much.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, my dear; you look just as I
+like to see a child of your age look. What
+particularly pleases me is, that you have
+kept your promise to your mother, and
+haven&rsquo;t let any one persuade you to wear
+borrowed finery. Young things like you
+don&rsquo;t need any ornaments but those you
+wear to-night,&mdash;youth, health, intelligence,
+and modesty.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As she spoke, grandma gave a tender
+kiss that made Polly glow like a rose, and
+for a minute she forgot that there were
+such things in the world as pink silks and
+coral ear-rings.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd112.jpg" width="600" height="388"
+alt="Tom handing a bouquet to Polly" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">&ldquo;THE SWEET ONE FOR POLLY.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>She only said, &ldquo;Thank you, ma&rsquo;am,&rdquo;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278"><!-- Illustration - THE SWEET ONE FOR POLLY --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>279]</a></span>
+and heartily returned the kiss; but the
+words did her good, and her plain dress
+looked charming all of a sudden.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Polly&rsquo;s so pretty, it don&rsquo;t matter what
+she wears,&rdquo; observed Tom, surveying
+her over his collar with an air of calm
+approval.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;She hasn&rsquo;t got any bwetelles to her
+dwess, and I have,&rdquo; said Maud, settling
+her ruffled bands over her shoulders,
+which looked like cherry-colored wings
+on a stout little cherub.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I did wish she&rsquo;d just wear my blue
+set, ribbon is so very plain; but, as Tom
+says, it don&rsquo;t much matter;&rdquo; and Fanny
+gave an effective touch to the blue bow
+above Polly&rsquo;s left temple.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;She might wear flowers; they always
+suit young girls,&rdquo; said Mrs. Shaw, privately
+thinking that her own daughters
+looked much the best yet, and conscious
+that blooming Polly had the most attractive
+face.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Bless me! I forgot my posies in
+admiring the belles! Hand them out,
+Tom;&rdquo; and Mr. Shaw nodded toward
+an interesting-looking box that stood on
+the table.</p>
+
+<p>Seizing them wrong side up, Tom produced
+three little bouquets, all different
+in color, size, and construction.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, papa, how very kind of you!&rdquo;
+cried Fanny, who had not dared to receive
+even a geranium leaf since the
+late scrape.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Your father used to be a very gallant
+young gentleman once upon a time,&rdquo; said
+Mrs. Shaw, with a simper and sigh.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, Tom, it&rsquo;s a good sign when you
+find time to think of giving pleasure to
+your little girls.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And grandma patted her son&rsquo;s bald
+head as if he wasn&rsquo;t more than eighteen.</p>
+
+<p>Thomas, Jr., had given a somewhat
+scornful sniff at first; but when grandma
+praised his father, the young man thought
+better of the matter, and regarded the
+flowers with more respect as he asked,
+&ldquo;Which is for which?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Guess,&rdquo; said Mr. Shaw, pleased that
+his unusual demonstration had produced
+such an effect.</p>
+
+<p>The largest was a regular hot-house
+bouquet of tea-rosebuds, scentless heath,
+and smilax; the second was just a handful
+of sweet-peas and mignonette, with a
+few cheerful pansies and one fragrant
+little rose in the middle; the third, a
+small posy of scarlet verbenas, white
+feverfew, and green leaves.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Not hard to guess. The smart one
+for Fan, the sweet one for Polly, and the
+gay one for Pug. Now, then, catch hold,
+girls;&rdquo; and Tom proceeded to deliver the
+nosegays with as much grace as could be
+expected from a youth in a new suit of
+clothes and very tight boots.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That finishes you off just right, and
+is a very pretty attention of papa. Now
+run down, for the bell has rung; and remember
+not to dance too often, Fan; be
+as quiet as you can, Tom; and, Maud,
+don&rsquo;t eat too much supper. Grandma
+will attend to things, for my poor nerves
+won&rsquo;t allow me to come down.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>With that Mrs. Shaw dismissed them,
+and the four descended to receive the first
+visitors.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Louisa M. Alcott.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/hd113.jpg" width="150" height="139"
+alt="Decoration - a child frees a cat from a bag" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>280]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE ACCIDENT.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dcapt2"><span class="dcap">T</span></span>OM named his velocipede
+Black Auster,
+in memory of
+the horse in &ldquo;The
+Battle of Lake Regillus,&rdquo;
+and came
+to grief as soon as
+he began to ride his
+new steed.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come out and
+see me go it,&rdquo;
+whispered Tom to
+Polly, after three
+days&rsquo; practice in the
+street, for he had
+already learned to
+ride in the rink.</p>
+
+<p>Polly and Maud
+willingly went, and
+watched his struggles
+with deep interest,
+till he got an
+upset, which nearly
+put an end to his velocipeding forever.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hi, there! Auster&rsquo;s coming!&rdquo;
+shouted Tom, as he came rattling down
+the long, steep street outside the park.</p>
+
+<p>They stepped aside, and he whizzed
+by, arms and legs going like mad, and the
+general appearance of a runaway engine.
+It would have been a triumphant descent,
+if a big dog had not bounced suddenly
+through one of the openings, and sent the
+whole concern helter-skelter into the gutter.
+Polly laughed as she ran to view
+the ruin, for Tom lay flat on his back with
+the velocipede atop of him, while the big
+dog barked wildly, and his master scolded
+him for his awkwardness. But when she
+saw Tom&rsquo;s face, Polly was frightened, for
+the color had all gone out of it, his eyes
+looked strange and dizzy, and drops of
+blood began to trickle from a great cut on
+his forehead. The man saw it, too, and
+had him up in a minute; but Tom couldn&rsquo;t
+stand, and stared about him in a dazed
+sort of way, as he sat on the curbstone,
+while Polly held her handkerchief to his
+forehead, and pathetically begged to know
+if he was killed.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t scare mother&mdash;I&rsquo;m all right.
+Got upset, didn&rsquo;t I?&rdquo; he asked, presently,
+eying the prostrate velocipede with
+more anxiety about its damages than his
+own.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I knew you&rsquo;d hurt yourself with that
+horrid thing. Just let it be, and come
+home, for your head bleeds dreadfully,
+and everybody is looking at us,&rdquo; whispered
+Polly, trying to tie the little handkerchief
+over the ugly cut.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Come on, then Jove! how queer
+my head feels! Give us a boost, please.
+Stop howling, Maud, and come home.
+You bring the machine, and I&rsquo;ll pay you,
+Pat.&rdquo; As he spoke, Tom slowly picked
+himself up, and steadying himself by
+Polly&rsquo;s shoulder, issued his commands,
+and the procession fell into line. First,
+the big dog, barking at intervals; then
+the good-natured Irishman, trundling
+&ldquo;that divil of a whirligig,&rdquo; as he disrespectfully
+called the idolized velocipede;
+then the wounded hero, supported by the
+faithful Polly; and Maud brought up
+the rear in tears, bearing Tom&rsquo;s cap.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Louisa M. Alcott.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 149px;">
+<img src="images/hd114.jpg" width="149" height="150"
+alt="Decoration - a herd of deer" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>281]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 388px;">
+<img src="images/hd115.jpg" width="388" height="600"
+alt="Tom falls off the velocipede" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">&ldquo;It would have been a triumphant descent, if a big dog had not
+bounced suddenly through one of the openings.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>282]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/hd116.jpg" width="500" height="118"
+alt="Decoration - a coach and horses" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>POLLY ARRIVES.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dcapt3"><span class="dcap">T</span></span>HE train was just
+in when Tom
+reached the station,
+panting like
+a race-horse and
+as red as a lobster
+with the wind and
+the run.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Suppose she&rsquo;ll
+wear a top-knot
+and a thingumbob,
+like every one
+else; and how ever
+shall I know her?
+Too bad of Fan to
+make me come
+alone!&rdquo; thought
+Tom, as he stood
+watching the crowd stream through the
+depot, and feeling rather daunted at the
+array of young ladies who passed. As
+none of them seemed looking for any one,
+he did not accost them, but eyed each
+new batch with the air of a martyr.
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s her,&rdquo; he said to himself, as he
+presently caught sight of a girl, in gorgeous
+array, standing with her hands
+folded, and a very small hat perched on
+top of a very large &ldquo;chig-non,&rdquo; as Tom
+pronounced it. &ldquo;I suppose I&rsquo;ve got to
+speak to her, so, here goes;&rdquo; and,
+nerving himself to the task, Tom slowly
+approached the damsel, who looked as if
+the wind had blown her clothes into rags,
+such a flapping of sashes, scallops, ruffles,
+curls, and feathers was there.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I say, if you please, is your name
+<em>Polly Milton</em>?&rdquo; meekly asked Tom,
+pausing before the breezy stranger.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, it isn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; answered the young
+lady, with a cool stare that utterly
+quenched him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where in thunder is she?&rdquo; growled
+Tom, walking off in high dudgeon. The
+quick tap of feet behind him made him
+turn in time to see a fresh-faced little girl
+running down the long station, and looking
+as if she rather liked it. As she
+smiled, and waved her bag at him, he
+stopped and waited for her, saying to
+himself, &ldquo;Hullo! I wonder if that&rsquo;s
+Polly?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Up came the little girl, with her hand
+out, and a half-shy, half-merry look in her
+blue eyes, as she said, inquiringly, &ldquo;This
+is Tom, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes. How did you know?&rdquo; and
+Tom got over the ordeal of hand-shaking
+without thinking of it, he was so surprised.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, Fan told me you&rsquo;d got curly hair
+and a funny nose, and kept whistling,
+and wore a gray cap pulled over your
+eyes; so I knew you directly.&rdquo; And
+Polly nodded at him in the most friendly
+manner, having politely refrained from
+calling the hair &ldquo;red,&rdquo; the nose &ldquo;a pug,&rdquo;
+and the cap &ldquo;old.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where are your trunks?&rdquo; asked
+Tom, as he was reminded of his duty by
+her handing him the bag, which he had
+not offered to take.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Father told me not to wait for any
+one, else I&rsquo;d lose my chance of a hack;
+so I gave my check to a man, and there
+he is with my trunk;&rdquo; and Polly walked
+off after her one modest piece of baggage,
+followed by Tom, who felt a trifle depressed
+by his own remissness in polite
+attentions.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Louisa M. Alcott.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>283]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 368px;">
+<img src="images/hd117.jpg" width="368" height="600"
+alt="Polly introduces herself to Tom" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">&ldquo;THIS IS TOM, ISN&rsquo;T IT?&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>284]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">L</span>AST month a gentleman related an
+incident in his early life, showing
+how kindness to the brute creation makes
+them entirely subservient to our will.
+Similar experience is familiar to every
+one of us. This volume would not begin
+to contain the proofs which come
+under notice every day of our lives. Your
+dog or your cat understands your disposition
+as well as your brother or your sister.
+Give them a kick as you pass by, pull
+their ears or tail whenever you get an
+opportunity, and they will shun you as
+they would the plague. On the other
+hand, speak a kind word to them, give
+them a morsel of food, or fondle them
+kindly, and they will soon treat you as a
+friend.</p>
+
+<p>I have a cat who waits for my coming
+home every night as regularly as the sun.
+And if, perchance, I do not come at my
+usual time in the train, she shows her
+disappointment by mewing. She will roll
+over as obediently as you ever saw a dog,
+at the word of command. After supper,
+when I put on my slippers and take the
+evening paper, puss takes possession of
+my lap, and then she seems contented
+and happy.</p>
+
+<p>Kindness did all this&mdash;nothing else.
+Any cat can be taught to &ldquo;roll over&rdquo; in
+a week&rsquo;s time. Any cat will be your
+friend, and love you, if you will treat her
+well.</p>
+
+<p>It is precisely thus with wild animals.
+They know who their friends are as well
+as you know yours. They don&rsquo;t need to
+be told. There is no end of stories about
+the elephant, the horse, the dog; about
+their docility, and the affection they have
+for those who treat them kindly. Even
+the lion, when brought under the dominion
+of man, becomes strongly attached
+to those who treat him with kindness.
+An instance of this is related of one that
+was kept in the menagerie of the Tower
+of London. He had been brought from
+India, and on the passage was given in
+charge to one of the sailors. Long before
+the ship arrived at London, the lion and
+Jack had become excellent friends. When
+Nero&mdash;as the lion was called&mdash;was shut
+up in his cage in the Tower, he became
+sulky and savage to such an extent that
+it was dangerous even for his keeper,
+who was not over kind to him, to approach
+him.</p>
+
+<p>After Nero had been a prisoner for
+some weeks, a party of sailors, Jack being
+among the number, paid a visit to the
+menagerie. The keeper warned them not
+to go near the lion, who every now and
+then turned round to growl defiance to
+the spectators.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What! old shipmate!&rdquo; cried Jack,
+&ldquo;don&rsquo;t you know me? What cheer, old
+Nero, my lad?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the lion left off growling,
+sprang up to the bars of his cage, and
+put his nose between them. Jack patted
+it on the head, and it rubbed his hand with
+its whiskers like a cat, showing evident
+signs of pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah,&rdquo; said Jack, turning to the keeper
+and spectators who stood looking on
+with astonishment, &ldquo;Nero and I were
+shipmates, and you see he isn&rsquo;t like some
+folks; he don&rsquo;t forget an old friend.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 427px;">
+<img src="images/hd118.jpg" width="427" height="500"
+alt="Jack and the lion are reunited" />
+</div>
+
+<p>But here&rsquo;s a story of another sort.
+Some weeks ago a caravan was exhibiting
+in Illinois. Among the animals was
+an elephant, to whom a mischievous boy
+had given an apple with tobacco concealed
+inside. As soon as the animal discovered
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>285]</a></span>
+the trick, the boy began to laugh at the joke
+which he had played on the creature. The
+elephant, however, looked angry, and the
+keeper, having heard of the affair, told
+the boy to keep out of his reach, unless
+he wanted to be hurt.</p>
+
+<p>But, although the lad did not come so
+near that the elephant could get hold of
+him, he hung round in the vicinity. Presently
+a pail of water was brought for the
+elephant to drink. The insulted creature
+filled his trunk as full as he could, and
+seeing a good opportunity, blew the whole
+of it upon the boy who had given him
+tobacco, wetting him from head to foot.
+Verdict of the spectators, and of the
+readers of this book, &ldquo;Served him right.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Robert Handy.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>286]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 398px;">
+<img src="images/hd119.jpg" width="398" height="400"
+alt="Children playing around a haystack" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>ALL AMONG THE HAY.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">ALL among the buttercups,<br />
+<span class="i3">All among the hay!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh that spring would come again,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With its merry May!<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Hasten summer&rsquo;s pleasant days,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Summer&rsquo;s pleasant hours;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Send us back the butterflies<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the pretty flowers.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>287]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Yes, bright days will come again,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Winter soon will go,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the smiling sun shall melt<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All this dreary snow.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then beside the flowing stream<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Merrily we&rsquo;ll play,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All among the buttercups,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All among the hay.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_287lower" id="Page_287lower"></a>THE MOUSE AND CANARY.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">A</span> LADY, having gone rather early into an apartment in which she had a
+fine canary, whose cage hung on the knob of the window-shutter, was
+much surprised to find the bird sitting asleep in the bottom of the cage, side
+by side with a live mouse, also asleep. On raising the window-blind, the
+mouse squeezed itself through between the wires of the cage and fled. The
+box of seeds, crumbs, etc., intended for the canary was found to be cleaned
+out, doubtless devoured by the strange companion. On the following evening,
+while the lady and her husband were sitting quietly by the fireside, they were
+still further astonished at seeing a mouse (no doubt the same one) climbing
+nimbly up the shutter and entering the cage between the wires. Thinking it
+might do harm to the bird, they tried to catch the mouse, but it made its
+escape as before. The cage was then suspended from a nail, so that the mouse
+could not gain access. Strange to say, however, on the following morning
+the canary was found asleep on the floor of the room (the cage door having
+been left open), and a piece of potato beside him. Most likely the mouse had
+spent the whole of the night there.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/hd120.png" width="150" height="36"
+alt="Floral decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>288]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE TWO FRIENDS.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">A STORY FOR BOYS.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>ANY years ago two youths, whom
+we will call only by their Christian
+names,&mdash;Walter and Sidney,&mdash;were
+at the same boarding-school, at Mount&rsquo;s
+Bay, in Cornwall. They were each the
+sons of captains in the merchant service;
+but though they were equals in station,
+there was a great difference in their circumstances,
+for Walter inherited considerable
+property. Sidney&rsquo;s father had not
+been a prosperous man, and it was as
+much as he could do to give his boy a
+good education.</p>
+
+<p>Among the whole school there were no
+two lads so closely knit in friendship as
+Walter and Sidney; they were within a
+week of the same age (thirteen) at the
+time our narrative begins. It is always a
+pleasant sight, and also a good example,
+when two intelligent, kind-hearted boys
+become friends. They show to others
+what a disinterested and noble thing true
+friendship is. Thus, in their lessons and
+their sports, these boys were helpful to
+each other. They shared together every
+indulgence that the kindness of friends
+procured them, and if any added study
+were imposed, Sidney, who learned easily,
+would, after he had swiftly mastered
+his own lesson, take upon himself both
+the office of teacher and companion, and
+never rest until Walter was as well up in
+the task as he himself was. Most certainly
+the punishment of one was ever the
+punishment of both, for, if they were
+sharers in each other&rsquo;s joys, they were
+not the less so in their troubles. Perhaps
+the vigilance which each exercised over
+the other was the reason why they were
+comparatively seldom in any very serious
+disgrace, and their characters stood high
+in the school, both with masters and
+pupils.</p>
+
+<p>But while in the little world within the
+walls of the school all went equally well
+with the youthful friends, in the great world
+outside, heavy troubles came to Sidney&rsquo;s
+father. The vessel he commanded was
+lost near the mouth of the River Mersey,
+and though the crew were saved, yet it
+was judged that some mismanagement
+caused the disaster, and Sidney&rsquo;s father
+lost his certificate, and no owners would
+again trust him to command a vessel.
+The poor man took this so much to heart
+that he fell into a bad state of health, and
+declined so rapidly, that the week after
+Sidney received from Liverpool the first
+intimation of his father&rsquo;s illness, tidings
+came that he was dead.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the autumnal quarter, about
+eight weeks before Christmas, that the
+sad letter was received which told Sidney
+he was now an orphan. The only aunt
+the poor boy had, his father&rsquo;s sister,
+wrote the account, and she was obliged
+to add the painful fact that, with the
+loss of his father, Sidney would lose the
+means of further education, and must
+look forward to some humble means of
+earning his daily bread, with as little
+delay as possible.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 421px;">
+<img src="images/hd121.jpg" width="421" height="600"
+alt="Walter learns why Sidney is upset" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">&ldquo;Why, Sid,&mdash;what&rsquo;s this? Dear old fellow, what&rsquo;s the matter?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In his first great grief at hearing of his
+father&rsquo;s death, all else seemed trivial.
+Change of circumstances, hard work, any
+trouble, would have been as nothing if
+his father had been spared to him. But
+after the first shock of his sorrow, Sidney
+admitted that he must leave school;
+that it would not be honest, either to his
+aunt or his schoolmaster, to remain.
+Strangely enough, the very week in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289"><!-- Illustration - WHY SID, WHAT'S THIS? --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>290]</a></span>
+which this trouble came to Sidney, his
+friend Walter was at home for a few days,
+joining in the celebration of his father&rsquo;s
+fiftieth birthday. He had wanted Sidney
+to have a holiday also; but the latter,
+being already aware of his father&rsquo;s reverses
+and illness, though having no fear
+of any greater grief impending over him,
+had declined his friend&rsquo;s kind invitation.
+So it happened that, while a happy jubilee
+was being celebrated in Walter&rsquo;s home,
+Sidney was suddenly made a poor orphan.</p>
+
+<p>Never, during the three years that they
+had been school-fellows, had the countenances
+of the two boys showed such a
+contrast of expression as when they met
+in the playground a few minutes after
+Walter had alighted at the gate, on his
+return from the pleasant sojourn at his
+home. He was flushed with health and
+happiness, and ran up, with a boyish shout
+of mirth, to greet his friend. Poor Sidney,
+pale and choking with the effort to
+restrain his tears, could only grasp the
+proffered hand in silence, and turn away
+his head, unable to look up,&mdash;almost
+unable to bear the pent-up grief that
+throbbed at his heart, and tightened his
+chest with a sense of suffocation.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, Sid, what&rsquo;s this? Dear old
+fellow, what&rsquo;s the matter?&rdquo; was Walter&rsquo;s
+astonished inquiry, when a boy near whispered
+in his ear the brief words,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;His father&rsquo;s dead!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That explained all; and Walter, twining
+his arm round his friend, led him
+away to a quiet spot, where they could
+weep together. The greater grief so
+completely absorbed Sidney on his first
+meeting with Walter, that it was not until
+the next day that any mention was made
+between them of how this bereavement
+would affect the future. Young and prosperous
+as Walter was, he knew well
+enough how sad it would be for his friend
+to lose the advantages of education just
+at the time when his studies would be
+needed to fit him for some pursuit in
+life.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, as Sidney&rsquo;s aunt had not
+been able to send the money for the poor
+lad to go so long a journey as from West
+Cornwall to Liverpool, to attend his
+father&rsquo;s funeral, there was no immediate
+hurry at the school in preparing for the
+youth&rsquo;s departure. Walter, therefore, had
+time to carry out a plan which his affection
+suggested. He wrote an urgent letter
+to his father, filled with praises of
+Sidney, and accounts of all the help
+which his cleverness and conduct had
+afforded to him (Walter), and earnestly
+pleading that he might have the gratification
+of paying for a year or more schooling
+for his orphan friend, adding, as a
+concluding argument,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You know, papa, that I have forty
+pounds that aunt Margaret put in the
+savings bank for me, to do as I like with;
+and how could I spend it better, or so
+well, as in helping a good clever fellow
+like Sidney? It would be a real treat to
+me&mdash;the best I could have; and you
+promised to increase my pocket-money:
+you needn&rsquo;t; I can screw myself down
+famously, if you&rsquo;ll only give it to help
+Sid, who&rsquo;s always been helping me, I
+can tell you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Walter was too earnest, it seemed, to
+pick and choose his words. He meant to
+have corrected and rewritten his letter, but
+there was no time; so he sent it, faults
+and all. And his father, in reading it,
+felt the heart-throb that beat in his boy&rsquo;s
+generous words; and though a man not
+at all demonstrative, he was observed to
+be taken as if with a sudden cold in his
+head, to judge by the vigorous use of his
+pocket handkerchief; but all he said was
+conveyed in a single nautical phrase,&mdash;&ldquo;The
+youngster is on the right tack.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The day after, the principal of the
+Mount&rsquo;s Bay School received an intimation
+that Sidney was to continue his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>291]</a></span>
+studies there as long as he proved diligent;
+but the name of his patron was
+not to be told him. So, to the lad&rsquo;s great
+satisfaction, he was informed that a friend
+who had known his father would, for the
+present, help him. Walter knew the
+truth, but though he felt the intense joy
+that a good action always yields to the
+doer even more than to the receiver, he
+was careful to obey his father, and keep
+the secret.</p>
+
+<p>If Sidney was studious before, he redoubled
+his diligence now, and in the
+year made such great progress, that a
+Dutch gentleman, who visited the school,
+offered him a situation in his office at
+Rotterdam; and as Sidney knew that a
+residence abroad would be a great improvement
+to him, and also was eager to
+enter upon some mode of earning his
+own living, he wished earnestly to take
+the offer. At no time during their now
+four years of mutual school-life and
+friendship would Walter have heard with
+patience of Sidney leaving. But a parting
+now came.</p>
+
+<p>Walter&rsquo;s father had become an invalid,
+and was ordered to a warmer climate.
+The family removed to Florence, in Italy,
+and, of course, Walter went with them;
+his greatest grief being that Sidney could
+not accompany them.</p>
+
+<p>With the keenest pangs of youthful
+sorrow, the two friends parted, promising
+to write often, looking forward to meet at
+no distant future, for the world did not
+seem too wide for them, accustomed as
+they were, by association, to maritime
+people and travellers.</p>
+
+<p>It was three months after Walter had
+left, when Sidney took leave of his kind
+master, and the school which had been a
+home to him, and went, in cold spring
+weather, to the Venice of the north&mdash;Rotterdam.
+When he left he made one
+request, which his tutor thought it not
+wrong to grant. He desired to know the
+name of the benefactor who had so munificently
+helped him; and though he
+was not very much surprised when he
+heard the source from whence the aid
+had come, and was indeed glad that his
+gratitude was due where his friendship
+had so long been given, yet it naturally
+moved him very deeply when he found
+how Walter had been the means of effecting
+this. He also remembered vividly
+some acts of self-denial that added to the
+delicacy of his friend&rsquo;s silence, and made
+the action truly noble.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I can never repay you, dear Walter,
+nor your kind father; I shall ever be
+your grateful debtor,&rdquo; he wrote; &ldquo;but I
+will try to employ the talents you have
+cultivated, so as not, at all events, to
+disgrace your friendship.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Though railways made the continent
+open to travellers, and the desire to see
+his friend Walter never languished, yet
+years went by and it was not realized.
+Some tidings there were of reverse of
+fortune through a lawsuit, and of journeyings
+to different places. The last that
+Sidney heard of his friend was in a letter
+from Madeira, where his father was lingering
+on in too weak a state to bear
+removal.</p>
+
+<p>The desultory, unsettled life that the
+family had led seemed to have prevented
+Walter from making much progress as a
+sculptor,&mdash;a profession he had thought
+of while in Italy,&mdash;and his letters were
+somewhat vague and unsatisfactory as to
+his future plans.</p>
+
+<p>Then came a long interval with no tidings,
+and afterwards a returned letter
+with the one word <span class="smcap">Dead</span>, written under
+the name of Walter&rsquo;s father on the superscription.</p>
+
+<p>So, like a pleasant morning that ends
+in clouds and gloom, the friendship
+seemed to end which had so gladdened
+the youth of Sidney, and even blended
+with all the fondest memories of his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>292]</a></span>
+boyhood. Many were the prayers he
+breathed, that one who had been as a
+brother might not be entirely lost to him.</p>
+
+<p>As years went on great changes occurred
+in the firm that Sidney served.
+He had risen in the confidence of his
+employers. They had a business in
+Australia, under the care of a partner,
+who was also a relative. He died, and as
+there was a sudden increase of business
+facilities at Melbourne, Sidney was sent
+out, and a share in the concern was given
+him. His surname did not appear. He
+was announced, as many a junior partner
+is, by the little word &ldquo;Co.&rdquo; appended to
+the principal name of the firm.</p>
+
+<p>Sidney had been in the colony some
+three years, and was now a stalwart
+young man of twenty-seven, when one
+day, riding on horseback towards a suburb
+of the rapidly growing city of Melbourne,
+called Brighton, he noticed a
+gang of young men working on the road.
+He knew that many respectable emigrants
+had come over during the first excitement
+of the gold discoveries. Clerks
+used only to the pen, students, unsuccessful
+professional men, all in the first
+delirium fever-fit of the gold fever, had
+come in the expectation that hands unused
+to hard toil could use the pickaxe of
+the gold-digger, or wash the rubble for
+the precious ore. Ah, it was a wild, a
+fatal delusion! Many a gentleman and
+scholar pined to death with hardships and
+disappointments, while some, after weeks
+of sickness, rose to earn their bread by
+the humblest manual labor. Working on
+the roads, for which government pay was
+given, was often the resource of those
+who had been worsted in every other
+effort. Unable to help among such numbers
+of claimants on sympathy, Sidney
+had contented himself with joining in the
+subscriptions raised for the relief of the
+sick and destitute: but now, as he passed
+along, he felt a desire to speak to the
+workers in this gang. As his eye scanned
+them he saw only a group of thin, toil-worn,
+weather-beaten men, with rough
+beards half hiding their wasted features.
+Nothing was more acceptable, as a recreation
+to the emigrants, than books, and
+Sidney had commenced a lending library
+of books and publications; so, after a
+cheerful salutation, he now reined up his
+horse, and began to tell them of his plan,
+and to add, &ldquo;I have opened a room,
+friends, two nights a week,&mdash;it is but a
+rough shed, but I hope to make it better
+soon,&mdash;as a meeting-place, where a comfortable,
+pleasant, and profitable evening
+may be spent.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; said a man with a strong
+Irish brogue, &ldquo;your honor&rsquo;s the great
+Dutch merchant.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, at the Dutch merchant&rsquo;s store;
+but I am English; my name is Sidney&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There was a wild panting sort of cry,
+and a man in the group fell to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s in a fit.&rdquo; &ldquo;He oughtn&rsquo;t to have
+come.&rdquo; &ldquo;Poor fellow!&rdquo; &ldquo;Fetch water!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Give him air!&rdquo; These were
+the cries that were uttered. Meanwhile,
+throwing his horse&rsquo;s bridle over a post,
+Sidney dismounted, and helped to lift in
+his strong arms the tall but wasted form
+of a man from the ground. He was borne
+to a bank at the side of the road. Sidney
+put aside the matted hair that fell
+over his brow, and taking the pannikin,
+which some one had filled with water, he
+put it to his lips, wholly unconscious that
+he had ever seen that face before, until
+the eyes slowly opened, and the old expression,
+the soul-gaze, shone in them,
+and the hoarse and altered voice, yet
+with tones that woke old echoes, said,
+&ldquo;Sidney! Dear friend! Don&rsquo;t&mdash;don&rsquo;t
+you know me&mdash;Walter?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Walter! Yes it was he. The once
+blooming, prosperous, happy boy was
+this wasted, worn skeleton of a man. O,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>293]</a></span>
+the tide of feeling that rushed through
+Sidney&rsquo;s every vein, as he recognized
+his early friend&mdash;his benefactor! To
+raise him up, put him on his own horse,
+lead him gently to his own home, and,
+once there, to send for the best medical
+skill, and tend him through the illness
+that supervened, with a tenderness feminine
+in its thoughtful gentleness, was
+Sidney&rsquo;s privilege.</p>
+
+<p>In the intervals of his illness Walter
+related that his father had died at Madeira;
+that, hoping to obtain a settlement
+of some claims, he had visited America;
+that, waiting to have better news of himself
+to communicate, he put off writing
+from time to time; that he had gone with
+a company of adventurous young men to
+California, and there, instead of finding
+gold, spent all his means. Hoping to
+retrieve his position, he had come to
+Australia, and there his lot, though hard,
+was only that of hundreds, in the first
+trying time of mad excitement and wild
+adventure. &ldquo;And I must get to work
+again. I&rsquo;m not going to be here idle
+much longer,&rdquo; he said, at the conclusion
+of a conversation on the past.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;As to work, I&rsquo;ve plenty for you to do.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t continue to be a burden on
+you, Sid. I&rsquo;ve no claim.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve every claim. As to burdens,
+you remind me how long I was a burden
+on you and your father. Once for all, I
+say, the help you gave me fitted me to
+get my living, and, by God&rsquo;s blessing,
+to make my way in life. Share with me
+in my business.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Walter was beginning to interrupt; but
+Sidney, raising his hand, deprecatingly,
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You have still the advantage over me,
+that you gave me help when I had done
+nothing to deserve it of you. I only
+make a small repayment&mdash;a mere instalment
+of a great debt. Dear Walter,
+my good fellow, let there be no contest
+between us. Are we not friends? Does
+that not mean helpers?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so it was. The tie, never broken,
+was knit again yet more closely. Brothers
+in friendship, they ultimately became
+so in relationship; for as soon as Walter
+had a home, he invited a sister to share
+it with him, and she, in a few months
+after her arrival, became the wife of Sidney.
+And so the bond of brotherhood
+prospered, for many years.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_293lower" id="Page_293lower"></a>PUSS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span>S it not a little more than surprising
+that the common domestic cat, an animal
+which we are better acquainted with
+than the dog, should be permitted to grow
+up with so little instruction? I think so.
+Almost every dog has some tricks; many
+dogs have a great number. Yet how
+rarely do you see a cat of which anything
+more is expected than that she shall purr
+when she is petted, play with your ball
+of yarn, or growl when you give her a
+nice dinner.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 426px;">
+<img src="images/hd122.jpg" width="426" height="600"
+alt="The neighbor's tabby cat asking for food" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">MUFFY RINGING THE BELL.</p>
+
+<p>You teach your dog to bark at the word
+of command, to roll over, to stand upon
+his hind feet, and hold up his paws, to
+jump through a small hoop, to sing, and
+a thousand other pretty tricks; but why
+do you neglect your cat? You can teach
+her all these things,&mdash;except to bark,&mdash;and
+quite as easily. Any cat, not more
+than a year old, can be taught, in less
+than fifteen days, to &ldquo;roll over;&rdquo; and
+she learns other capers quite as freely.
+Bear in mind that to do this you have to
+appeal to the creature&rsquo;s love of food.
+That is her nature. She cares nothing
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294"><!-- Illustration - MUFFY RINGING THE BELL --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>295]</a></span>
+for you; it is the dinner she is after.
+So, when you desire to teach puss to
+turn over, take her when she is hungry.
+Put your hand upon her back, and turn
+her over; and then give her a small
+bit of meat. Gradually she will require
+less and less force. She will understand
+what you want, and know what must be
+done in order to be served. Never disappoint
+her, but let the food immediately
+follow obedience. Other tricks may be
+taught in the same way. If you wish to
+teach her to go through a hoop, you will
+be obliged at first to take her up bodily,
+and put her through. But this will not
+be for a great while. She will soon understand
+what you desire.</p>
+
+<p>I once had a cat which would open any
+door in the house. She learned herself!
+The latch-doors came pretty easy, but
+the knobs bothered her a good deal. She
+persevered, however, and became an expert
+at either.</p>
+
+<p>I have a cat now&mdash;a Maltese&mdash;which
+is a marvel of intelligence. There seems
+to be no end to her interesting feats. She
+is terribly rough at play; if you impose
+upon her, you must look out for her claws.
+She watches for my coming from the city
+quite regularly; and as soon as I sit down
+to read, she plants herself in my lap.
+She had some kittens a few weeks ago.
+One evening, soon after, as I sat in the
+rocking-chair, with my newspaper, puss
+came into the room with one of her kittens
+in her mouth. She placed it carefully
+in my lap, and immediately went for
+the other one.</p>
+
+<p>A neighbor of mine has a cat which
+rings a bell when she is hungry. The
+bell is a small one, and hangs about a
+yard high, so that Miss Puss has to exert
+herself to reach it.</p>
+
+<p>Another cat I heard of recently seems
+to have discovered a way to get into the
+warm kitchen whenever she is accidentally
+shut out in the cold.</p>
+
+<p>At the side wall of the house there is
+a small aperture, of about two feet square,
+opening into the kitchen, and intended for
+the use and convenience of butchers, bakers,
+or grocers, who would otherwise
+have to go round to the back entrance;
+inside of this aperture is suspended a
+bell, which Miss Muffy must, no doubt,
+have often seen used by butchers, bakers,
+and grocers, to call the attention of cook.
+She has, therefore, adopted the same plan;
+and when tired of her prowlings about the
+garden, or hunting for birds in the adjoining
+wood, she springs up to the little
+door, and, with her paw or head, keeps
+ring, ring, ringing at the bell until the
+door is opened, and she gets admission.</p>
+
+<p>Muffy is not only a very intelligent little
+cat, but I can tell you she is also a
+very good-natured one, too. She submits
+to being dressed in the doll&rsquo;s clothes,
+and will sometimes lie quite still in the
+cradle for hours together, and when told
+to stand upon her hind legs and give a
+kiss, does so with a gracefulness hitherto
+unknown in the annals of cats.</p>
+
+<p>These funny marks of intelligence in
+dumb creatures are quite interesting. As
+you grow older, you will spend many an
+hour in trying to discover where the dividing
+line between <small>INSTINCT</small> and <small>REASON</small>
+is. It is <small>SOMEWHERE</small>. If you hatch
+some chickens by heat, miles away from
+any other fowls, the hens will cackle, and
+the cocks will crow, all the same, although
+no one has taught them. Why is it?</p>
+
+<p>If you could hatch a robin&rsquo;s egg in the
+same way, far removed from other birds,
+the bird would, when grown, build its
+nest precisely as other robins do, and of
+the same material, although it never saw
+a pattern in the world. <span class="smcap">Instinct</span>, or, if
+you prefer, <small>NATURE</small>, teaches all this. But
+it is not <small>REASON</small>, as you will know as you
+grow older.</p>
+
+<p>Just exactly so it is the instinct of a
+dog or a cat to obey you whenever you
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>296]</a></span>
+require it. Take notice that you can
+never teach a dumb creature by observation.
+One cat will never learn to turn
+over by observing that another one gets
+its food thereby.</p>
+
+<p>But I will not try to mix you up in this
+discussion now. You will reach it soon
+enough if you live. And when you reach
+it, you will find a very difficult, as well as
+a very interesting question to solve.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Robert Handy.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 484px;">
+<a name="Page_296lower" id="Page_296lower"></a>
+<img src="images/hd123.jpg" width="484" height="400"
+alt="The children watch the toy village burning" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>HOLIDAY LUCK.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>OTHER, mother!&rdquo; with a prolonged
+<em>er</em>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mary, where&rsquo;s mother?&rdquo; and the
+children raced through the house, looking
+into every room on the way.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here, Willie; what do you want?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, mother, we are to have a holiday.
+Miss Mortimer has gone home.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t it fun!&rdquo; cried Ada, swinging on
+her mother&rsquo;s arm.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That depends upon how you spend it,&rdquo;
+Mrs. Constant replied.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, a holiday means to have fun,
+and do just what you please,&rdquo; asserted
+Willie.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And not get any lessons,&rdquo; said Dolly,
+snipping the tape with her mother&rsquo;s scissors.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Constant took them from her, and
+smiled on the excited three.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>297]</a></span>
+&ldquo;I hope you will have a pleasant day,
+and try to be good.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Not too good, mother,&rdquo; expostulated
+Willie.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, only don&rsquo;t get into mischief.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What shall we do first?&rdquo; asked Ada.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; replied Dolly. &ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t
+it fun to have one whole day which is not
+Christmas or Thanksgiving?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>For a short time the children remained
+in Mrs. Constant&rsquo;s room, upsetting her
+baskets, tangling her silk, and plying her
+with numberless questions.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I think you had better take a run in
+the garden,&rdquo; she finally said. &ldquo;You are
+so restless and full of holiday, I think the
+fresh air would relieve you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What a dear mother!&rdquo; they cried;
+and having tumultuously kissed her, they
+repaired to the garden.</p>
+
+<p>They lived in a country town, and had
+a large plot of ground at the back of the
+house, through the farther end of which
+flowed a brook. Each one had his garden
+bed, and at one side was a summer-house,
+where they kept their garden tools and
+many of their playthings, also a pet rabbit,
+named Blackhawk. It was too late in
+the fall for flowers, only a few sturdy asters
+and hardy verbenas being in blossom, and
+they played tag, hide-and-seek, and chased
+each other with handfuls of dead leaves.
+While they were thus occupied, their
+mother called them, and told them that
+aunt Clara had sent for her to come and
+spend the day; she had sprained her ankle,
+and wanted some one to sit with her.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Won&rsquo;t you be home to dinner?&rdquo; they
+asked in despairing chorus.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No; but Mary will take care of you,
+and you can enjoy yourselves; but don&rsquo;t
+do foolish things, or your holiday will be
+spoiled. Now, you must all be mother to
+each other, that I may find you well and
+happy when I come home.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>For a while after she had gone, they
+amused themselves being mother to one
+another; but Willie made such a failure
+that they gave it up.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let us play with the dolls a little
+while,&rdquo; suggested Dolly.</p>
+
+<p>The proposition met with favor, and
+they went to the summer-house. Ada
+had a large family of paper dolls, and
+Dolly of wooden ones. They played tea
+party, and dinner, and visiting; but Willie
+could not forget that they had a holiday,
+and he longed to do something unusual.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You have too many girls, Ada,&rdquo; he
+cried. &ldquo;Let us play China, and burn
+some up.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A funeral pyre was soon constructed
+with splinters of wood, Dolly ran to the
+kitchen for matches, and Willie turned
+his jacket inside out, tied Ada&rsquo;s sack
+about his neck by the sleeves, put the
+watering-pot on his head, and was ready
+to personate the priest. Ada selected
+four victims, who were securely bound
+with thirty cotton, and laid on the pile.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let us have Blackhawk for the idol,&rdquo;
+cried Ada.</p>
+
+<p>Blackhawk was brought forth, a string
+of colored beads put about his neck, and
+he was bolstered up in the arm-chair of
+the Princess Widdlesbee, Dolly&rsquo;s largest
+doll. But when the match was struck
+and applied with a great flourish, he
+sprang from his throne, and fled to the
+farthest corner.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The god is displeased; the sacrifice
+must cease,&rdquo; cried Ada, who began to
+feel remorse as her dolls crisped and
+turned to ashes.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; shouted Willie, &ldquo;I am the priest;
+I know he means burn all;&rdquo; and seizing
+a brand, he applied it to Dolly&rsquo;s village,
+which stood near by. For a moment it
+was fun to see the flames bursting from
+the roofs of houses, and lapping about
+the fences; but Dolly soon gave a cry of
+dismay.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Susanna and Posy are in the church;
+I don&rsquo;t want them burned.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>298]</a></span>
+&ldquo;To the rescue!&rdquo; shouted the heathen
+priest, snatching the pot from his head,
+and running to fill it with water.</p>
+
+<p>But Dolly could not wait, and had already
+burned a hole in her apron, and
+singed her hair, trying to save her favorites.
+Blackhawk cowered in the corner,
+stamping his hind feet, while Ada was
+pulling apart the pyre on which her dolls
+had perished.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, Willie, the floor is burned. Hurry,
+hurry!&rdquo; cried Dolly.</p>
+
+<p>Willie ran, deluged the burning village,
+and Dolly seized Susanna and Posy, free
+from damage, with the exception of Posy&rsquo;s
+legs, which were so long, they lay outside
+the church door, and were burned off.
+When they cleared away the ruins, there
+was a round, black spot on the floor,
+where the village had stood, and the children&rsquo;s
+hands and clothes were wet and
+grimy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you think mother will care?&rdquo;
+asked Dolly, after they had looked solemnly
+at one another.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe she will as long as we
+did not burn any more,&rdquo; replied Willie,
+stepping back on the rest of the matches.</p>
+
+<p>They were explosive, and lighted with
+a snap that made him jump. When he
+saw what he had done, he turned the watering-pot
+over them, and put his foot on it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now they are safe,&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Let
+us bury the pieces of the village.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Ada. &ldquo;After I get a carrot
+for Blackhawk, let us make a raft of some
+of them, and put the rest on, and let them
+float away on the brook.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This was speedily done, and when the
+little craft had passed the boundaries of
+their garden, Willie proposed they should
+build a dam, and some time he would put
+up a mill. They were hardly fairly at
+work when Mary called them to dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Willie took the head of the table, and
+was rather offended that Mary did not let
+him cut the meat.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;At any rate, I&rsquo;ll help the pie,&rdquo; he declared.</p>
+
+<p>Mary prudently cut the pieces before
+she put it on, and while they were eating
+it, Willie very grandly said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You may go now, Mary.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>His mother usually dismissed her at
+dessert, and Willie wished to have all the
+privileges of the place he occupied. Mary
+retired with a smile, and when the first
+pieces of pie were disposed of, Willie
+offered the girls a second. It was mince
+pie, very nice and tempting; and though
+Ada knew a second piece was not generally
+allowed, she thought a holiday might
+make a difference. Dolly was busy feeding
+Prig,&mdash;a brisk Scotch terrier, with
+large, bright eyes, stiff, rough hair, and a
+tail about two inches long,&mdash;and refused.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner they returned to their dam,
+Ada and Dolly bringing the material, and
+Willie building. But Dolly became dissatisfied,
+and insisted on being allowed to
+work in the water, while Ada deserted
+altogether, and played with Blackhawk,
+whom they had let out.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Dolly,&rdquo; cried Willie, &ldquo;won&rsquo;t you go
+to my room and get my hammer? and be
+quick, for I&rsquo;ve got to hold this while you
+are gone.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The dam was nearly finished, and both
+were much excited with the success of
+their work; for the water had collected
+in quite a pool above, and would soon
+flow over in a fine fall. Dolly ran, leaving
+the doors open behind her. Back she
+came, and Willie was carefully adjusting
+the last beam, when Ada shouted,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s Prig, and Blackhawk&rsquo;s out.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>All three started, calling Prig, and
+running after her and Blackhawk in wild
+confusion. Prig misunderstood their
+anxiety, and supposing they were setting
+her on the rabbit, joined in the hunt.
+Poor Blackhawk tried to escape, but Prig
+caught him, gave one shake, and the pretty
+rabbit lay dead.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>299]</a></span>
+&ldquo;O, you wicked dog!&rdquo; cried Ada, while
+Willie and Dolly stood quite overcome
+by the misfortune.</p>
+
+<p>Prig saw in a moment she had made a
+mistake, and when Willie rushed at her
+with uplifted hammer, hid behind the
+summer-house. With loud grief and many
+tears, the children raised their dead pet,
+and laid it on a bench in the out-house.
+Its blue eyes were half open, its soft
+black-and-white fur wet and rumpled, and
+they cried and blamed Prig as they tenderly
+arranged it on the bench. Ada
+fairly howled, and Bridget and Mary ran
+out to see what was the matter.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; said Bridget, &ldquo;and it was Dolly
+herself left the door open, though I told
+her to shut it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know Prig was there,&rdquo; sobbed
+Dolly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all Prig&rsquo;s fault,&rdquo; said Willie, &ldquo;and
+I&rsquo;ll kill her.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; pleaded Dolly, with whom
+Prig was an especial favorite.</p>
+
+<p>A consultation was held over the bench,
+and it was finally decided that the case
+should be referred to Mrs. Constant on
+her return, though Willie still vowed
+vengeance. Prig had crept back, and
+crouched in the doorway; but when the
+children saw her, they drove her away,
+throwing stones and calling her the worst
+names they could invent. She skulked
+outside very unhappy, until Willie shut
+her up in the summer-house, while the
+children spent the rest of the long afternoon
+over their dead rabbit. Dolly tied
+the Princess Widdlesbee&rsquo;s best blue sash
+about his neck, Willie emptied his toolbox
+to lay him in, and Ada spread her
+best doll&rsquo;s bed-quilt over him. Then they
+sat and cried together until Dolly started
+up, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s mother.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The first thing Mrs. Constant heard
+when she entered the house was the cry
+of,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mother, mother!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Not with the joyous ring it had in the
+morning, but with an appeal in it which
+told her some trouble had come which
+mother could best heal. All told the story
+separately and together, laying Blackhawk
+on her knees, and crying on her shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And I&rsquo;m going to hang Prig for a
+wicked, bad dog,&rdquo; said Willie, to conclude.
+&ldquo;She is a murderer!&rdquo; and he
+fiercely wiped his tears.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My dear little boy, I don&rsquo;t think poor
+Prig was to blame at all.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, mother!&rdquo; cried a mournful chorus.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No; Dolly left the door open, you all
+excited her, and I begin to think you
+were having too much of what Willie calls
+a holiday.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But it wasn&rsquo;t her holiday, and she&rsquo;s
+killed Blackhawk. O-o-o!&rdquo; and they all
+cried again.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Constant soothed them, and sympathized.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t cry any more. You will be sick.
+I would not kill Prig, for then she would
+be gone too, and to-morrow you would be
+sorry. And besides, she was only trying
+to do as you wanted her to, and following
+out her doggish instinct.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But half convinced, the children went
+to the summer-house and called Prig;
+but she would not come. Then they
+drove her out, and as she stood trembling
+before them, reproached her, and raising
+their arms, shouted,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Go!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Prig hesitated a moment, looked from
+one to another, then with her tail between
+her legs, her hair on end, she uttered an
+unearthly howl, and fled at full speed,
+crowded under the gate, and disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>The children went to bed early, as Mrs.
+Constant thought the excitement was bad
+for them, and in the night she was called
+to the little girl&rsquo;s room. Dolly was feverish,
+and ill with a sore throat, and Ada in
+great pain. They were sick all night, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>300]</a></span>
+in the morning Mrs. Constant heard about
+the second piece of pie and Dolly&rsquo;s dam
+building. Her sleeves had been wet all
+the afternoon, and the grief, added to the
+pie and wet, had made them both ill.</p>
+
+<p>They were not able to go out that day,
+and Willie buried Blackhawk alone, while
+they watched him sadly from the window.
+They took their last farewell of their pet
+at the kitchen door, and would have given
+all their yesterday&rsquo;s sport to have helped
+Willie with the funeral. He had meant
+that Prig should have attended as chief
+mourner, but she was nowhere to be found.
+No one had seen her since her flight, and
+for days they could find no trace of her.
+This added to their discomfort; for they
+all loved her, and Ada and Dolly were
+confined to the house for some time, and
+wanted her to play with them.</p>
+
+<p>About a week after, on a rainy night,
+Bridget found her at the kitchen door,
+and with great difficulty persuaded her to
+come in. She was very thin and unhappy,
+and hid from the children, when they, already
+sorry for their harshness, were kind
+to her, and tried to play with her. It was
+a long time before she was the lively Prig
+she used to be, and was always a little
+lame in her left fore foot. Something had
+hurt her in those days of absence; and
+though after a while the children forgot
+their holiday and the consequences, I am
+afraid poor Prig never did.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Sara Conant.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_300lower" id="Page_300lower"></a>LET HIM LIVE.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">WHEN one sees a harmless snake,<br />
+<span class="i4">Lying torpid, scarce awake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">On a chilly morning,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is it well his life to take<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Without leave or warning?<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Pretty brown and yellow snake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whom the sun doth gently wake<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In the lap of nature,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Here is room for weed and brake&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Room for every creature.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Teach us, Nature, how to love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not the flower and bird alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Gracious man and woman&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not the beautiful alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Whether brute or human.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Teach us, that we may not wound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Even a striped snake on the ground,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sunshine all around him!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We will go without a sound&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Leave him as we found him.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Mary R. Whittlesey.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>301]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>MONKEYS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dcapb"><span class="dcap">B</span></span>EFORE the advent of man, and with him civilization,
+monkeys were spread over a much larger portion of
+the earth than at present. They lived in the south of
+Europe, in England, and in France. Except a few
+of the Paviane, those of the present time are found
+only in warm climates, and are very sensitive to cold.</p>
+
+<p>Monkeys belong to the liveliest and most active of
+the mammalia. As everything eatable is acceptable to
+them, there is always something to catch, to dig, to
+gather&mdash;insects, fruits, roots, nuts, succulent herbs,
+buds, leaves, eggs, &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>Many stories are told about the orang-outang, or
+pongo, an inhabitant of the islands of Borneo and
+Sumatra. It is the largest of the apes, being, in some
+cases, seven feet high.</p>
+
+<p>Vosmarin, a Hollander, kept a tamed pongo for a
+long time. He says, &ldquo;My pongo had rather a sad
+and downcast look, but was gentle and affectionate,
+and very fond of society, preferring those persons who
+busied themselves about it. Once it seized a bottle of
+Malaga, uncorked it, brought the wine to a secure
+place, recorked the bottle, and set it back again. This
+monkey was very fond of roasted and boiled meats,
+and sucked eggs with great delight; however it preferred
+fruits to all other food. After drinking,
+it was in the habit of wiping its
+mouth with the back of the hand, as men
+sometimes do, and it generally used a
+toothpick. It made great preparations
+before going to sleep, shaking the hay for
+its bed, and making a bundle for a pillow;
+it covered itself with any cloth or
+garment it could find.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Seeing me unlock a door, it observed
+very attentively, then put a piece of wood
+in the keyhole, and tried to turn it round.
+Having been scratched by a cat with
+which it was playing, it could never be
+induced to touch pussy again. It untied
+knots easily, and regularly practised upon
+the shoes of those who came near. It
+could lift very heavy burdens, and made
+as good use of its hind as of its fore legs;
+for example, if it could not reach a thing
+with the fore hands, it lay on its back,
+and drew the object with the hind ones.
+It never cried except when left alone. At
+first the crying resembled the howling of
+a dog, then it became rougher, and at last
+resembled the noise of a wood-saw. It
+died of consumption.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Jeffries tells of an orang-outang which
+was very neat; it frequently washed the
+floor with a cloth, after carrying away
+all remnants of food. It also washed
+its face and hands like a man. This animal
+was very affectionate towards all
+who spoke kindly, and often kissed its
+owner and waiter.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd124.jpg" width="600" height="457"
+alt="A monkey holding some partially eaten fruit" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE MONKEY.</p>
+
+<p>The chimpanzee is more like man, in
+shape, than any other animal. It is from
+four to five feet high; is found in the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302"><!-- Illustration - THE MONKEY --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>303]</a></span>
+west part of Africa. Its strength is astonishing;
+one chimpanzee can break off
+branches of trees which two men cannot
+bend. It is kind and amiable, and very
+teachable. Captain Grantpret speaks of
+a chimpanzee, which he had on board
+ship, as follows: &ldquo;It worked with the
+sailors, casting anchor, reefing sails, &amp;c.,
+and doing its full share of work faithfully.
+The ship&rsquo;s baker depended upon it to
+heat the oven, which it did with wonderful
+care and exactness, never letting the
+coals fall, and ever getting the right heat.
+It made a peculiar motion to show that
+the oven was ready, and the baker, fully
+confiding in its judgment, was not disappointed.
+The sailors were very fond of it,
+and treated it as a companion; but the
+pilot, a cruel, heartless man, abused the
+animal, despite its pitiful looks and gestures,
+as it placed its hand upon its heart,
+and then stretched it towards him, to tell
+the pain it felt. However, it did not resent
+his continued ill-treatment, but
+refused to take any nourishment; five days
+after it died of hunger and a broken heart.
+The sailors bemoaned its loss as that of a
+companion.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We read of another chimpanzee, which
+sat at table, ate with knife, fork, and
+spoon, drank from a wine-glass, used a
+napkin, put sugar into a cup, poured out
+tea, stirred it with a spoon, and sipped
+from the cup until cool enough to drink.</p>
+
+<p>A sick monkey is truly a pitiable object;
+it sits quiet and sad, and its look,
+as it seems to beg for help, in its distress,
+is almost human. The nearer it approaches
+its end, the gentler and milder
+it becomes; losing in its animal, it seems
+to gain in its spiritual nature. It perceives
+a benefactor in its attending physician,
+and thankfully acknowledges his
+kindness. If it has been relieved by
+bleeding, it invariably stretches out its
+arm at the doctor&rsquo;s approach, as if desiring
+to be bled again.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">L. B. U.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_303lower" id="Page_303lower"></a>MY MOTHER&rsquo;S STORIES.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span> RECALL a little verse my mother
+taught me one summer twilight, which,
+she remarked, she had taught the older
+children when they were little like me.
+It was this:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Have communion with few, be
+intimate with One, deal justly by
+all, and speak evil of none.</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And then she added cheerfully, &ldquo;It
+took some time to get your brother to
+repeat it correctly; he would say <em>untimate</em>
+for intimate, and <em>justless</em> instead of
+justly. But he learned it correctly at last,
+and, I may add, has never forgotten it.&rdquo;
+So with amusement were mother&rsquo;s good
+instructions blended; after the pleasant
+story about my brother&rsquo;s childhood it
+was impossible to forget the text.</p>
+
+<p>But, alas, I have never taught it to my
+children; so many papers, books, and
+magazines made expressly for children of
+this generation, hasten the lighting of the
+evening lamp, and the twilight lessons of
+home become fewer. But in them all, I
+never read a more comprehensive paragraph,
+and one that would do to put in
+practice in every particular so thoroughly,
+and I hope if it gets into print, not only my
+children, but those of other households,
+will commit it to memory, imbibe its spirit,
+and put it in practice through life.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">E. E.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>304]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 375px;">
+<img src="images/hd125.jpg" width="375" height="600"
+alt="A little boy sails boats in a pail of water, beside a woman who has taken a break from her spinning" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">SAILING THE BOATS.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>305]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>SAILING THE BOATS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">HO! the jolly sailors,<br />
+<span class="i3">Lounging into port!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Heave ahead, my hearties&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That&rsquo;s your lively sort!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Splendid sky above us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Merrily goes the gale.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stand by to launch away<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Rag and paper sail!<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Archie owns a schooner,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Jack a man-o&rsquo;-war,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Joe a clipper A 1<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Named the Morning Star;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Charlie sails a match-box,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Dignified a yawl;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Breakers on the lee shore&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Look out for a squall!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Now we&rsquo;re bound for China&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That&rsquo;s across the pond;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When we go a-cruising<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Many a mile beyond.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Man-o&rsquo;-war is watching<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A rakish-looking craft&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Kerchunk! goes a bullfrog<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From his rushy raft.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">There&rsquo;s a fleet of lilies<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">We go scudding round,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bumblebees for sailors,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And they&rsquo;re fast aground.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Here&rsquo;s a drowning fly<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In her satin dress.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All hands, about ship!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Signals of distress.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Argosies of childhood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Laden down with joys,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Gunwale-deep with treasures!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Happy sailor boys,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">May your merry ventures<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All their harbors win,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And upon life&rsquo;s stormy sea<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Every ship come in.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">George Cooper.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>306]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 306px;">
+<img src="images/hd126.jpg" width="306" height="400"
+alt="The wasp trying to get to Harry's pudding" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>IT TAKES TWO TO MAKE A QUARREL.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">A STORY FOR OUR YOUNGEST READERS.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">H</span>OW Harry Marshall had reckoned
+upon that piece of currant-pudding!
+The farmer&rsquo;s wife, whose name was Jolly
+(and a very fit name for her it was), had
+promised him a plateful for dinner, because
+he had taken such good care of her pet
+brood of chickens while she had been
+away from Elm Tree Farm on a visit.</p>
+
+<p>Harry was a farmer&rsquo;s lad, ten years old,
+tall and stout for his age, and able to do
+a great many more things than some city
+boys of fourteen. He could ride and
+drive, keep the stable in order, and even
+handle a plough. Nor was he a dunce;
+for, thanks to an evening school, which
+some of his Sunday teachers had opened
+in the village, he had learned to read and
+write very fairly. He had a comfortable
+place at farmer Jolly&rsquo;s; but there was
+plenty of work to do, and the food was
+plain, though he always had enough; so
+he did not get pudding every day. No
+wonder, then, that he should go to bed
+and dream about that particular currant-pudding
+of which I am writing. You must
+not suppose that this was made with such
+&ldquo;currants&rdquo; as are put into a <em>Christmas</em>
+pudding; they are only small <em>grapes</em>.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>307]</a></span>
+No; it was a real currant-pudding, full of
+nice red fruit and juice, enough to make
+your mouth water.</p>
+
+<p>The long morning&rsquo;s work was at last
+over, and Harry, nothing loath, hastened
+in and took his place at the side table in
+the kitchen, where he usually sat. His
+plate of meat and potatoes was soon
+cleared, for the boy&rsquo;s appetite had been
+sharpened by several hours in the fields.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And now, Harry,&rdquo; said Martha, the
+servant, &ldquo;here&rsquo;s your pudding, and a nice
+piece it is; but you mustn&rsquo;t be long about
+it, for John and Peter will want you back
+in the field; they have been gone this
+half hour.&rdquo; So saying, Martha placed
+the longed-for treat before Harry, and
+went out to attend to some work in the
+farm-yard.</p>
+
+<p>Just at that moment a wasp, who had
+grown tired of buzzing about the peaches
+in the garden, and trying in vain to get at
+them (for Peter had covered them with
+network), peeped in at the window with
+one of his many eyes, and, spying Master
+Harry&rsquo;s pudding, thought, I suppose, that
+he should like a share. So, without waiting
+to be invited, he flew in with a loud
+hum, and made straight for the table, just
+as Harry had stuck his fork into the first
+piece of crust.</p>
+
+<p>Now, our farmer&rsquo;s boy, though he liked
+pudding, did not like wasps, which he fancied
+were always ready to sting; and being
+himself rather hasty in temper, he at once
+declared war against the little intruder.
+First he hit at it with his knife, but without
+success; and then with his fork, but
+only with this result&mdash;that the pudding,
+instead of going into Harry&rsquo;s mouth, flew
+under the grate among the ashes, while
+the wasp seemed to be humming a song
+of defiance.</p>
+
+<p>Harry grew red in the face, and vowed
+vengeance against &ldquo;the nasty thing;&rdquo; but
+&ldquo;the nasty thing&rdquo; would not come and
+be killed. Seizing a large wooden
+pudding spoon, which lay close at hand,
+Harry jumped on one of the wooden
+chairs and aimed a desperate blow at the
+poor insect. But Yellow-band was too
+sharp for him, and Harry, losing his
+balance, fell down with a thump on the
+sanded floor, while his weapon, spinning
+across the kitchen, came in contact with
+one of Mrs. Jolly&rsquo;s basins, and brought it
+down with a crash. In rushed Martha in
+a fright, and, worse still, farmer Jolly&rsquo;s
+round, good-natured face appeared close
+behind.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Bless the boy,&rdquo; cried Martha, &ldquo;what
+have you been up to now?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why&mdash;why,&rdquo; said Harry, rubbing his
+shoulder and looking ruefully at the broken
+china, &ldquo;it was all that horrid wasp.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And why couldn&rsquo;t you leave the wasp
+alone?&rdquo; retorted Martha, angrily, as she
+picked up some of the pieces.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ay, boy,&rdquo; said farmer Jolly, &ldquo;why
+couldn&rsquo;t you leave the wasp alone, eh?
+Why couldn&rsquo;t you leave it alone?&rdquo; he repeated,
+catching Harry by the arm with a
+grip that made him wince.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Please, sir&mdash;please, sir,&rdquo; stammered
+the boy, &ldquo;I thought the nasty&mdash;the wasp
+I mean&mdash;was going to sting me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Stuff and nonsense,&rdquo; replied the
+farmer; &ldquo;if you don&rsquo;t interfere with the
+wasps, the wasps won&rsquo;t interfere with you.
+How often have I told you that <em>it takes
+two to make a quarrel</em>? Now you have
+wasted your time, spoiled your dinner,
+and done mischief; so you had better be
+off to your work, and Martha will put the
+pudding away till to-morrow.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Harry hastened out, looking very foolish,
+and feeling very much disappointed.
+&ldquo;I wish I&rsquo;d left the wasp alone,&rdquo; he said
+to himself; &ldquo;then I shouldn&rsquo;t have lost the
+pudding. The farmer says, &lsquo;It takes two
+to make a quarrel,&rsquo; and I suppose it does.
+At that rate we needn&rsquo;t quarrel at all,
+unless we like. I&rsquo;ll think about that, so I
+will.&rdquo; And so he did; and when he felt
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>308]</a></span>
+inclined to quarrel, not only with wasps,
+but with boys, he checked himself by
+calling to mind farmer Jolly&rsquo;s words.</p>
+
+<p>And I am of opinion that, if the boys
+and girls who read this story would remember
+it too, they would escape many
+unpleasant and disagreeable things, and
+be more likely to have a really happy
+year. For a far wiser Teacher than
+farmer Jolly once said, &ldquo;Blessed (or
+happy) are the peacemakers.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 530px;">
+<a name="Page_308lower" id="Page_308lower"></a>
+<img src="images/hd127.jpg" width="530" height="400"
+alt="Suvaroff makes a speech to some of his soldiers" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>A GOOD WORD NOT LOST.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">F</span>IELD-MARSHAL ALEXANDER
+SUVAROFF, the commander-in-chief
+of the Russian army during the
+reigns of Catharine II. and Paul I., was
+especially fond of mixing with the common
+soldiers, and sharing in their sports
+and conversations, being always highly
+delighted when his men failed to discover
+him; and this happened pretty often, for,
+thanks to his small stature and ugly face,
+as well as the extreme plainness of his
+dress, the great marshal looked as little
+like a general as any man could do. In
+this way he got to understand thoroughly
+the character of his soldiers, and had a
+greater power over them than any Russian
+general before or after him. His marvellous
+power of enduring fatigue, his insensibility
+to heat, cold, or hunger, and his
+untiring energy on the field of battle (in
+all which points he surpassed the hardiest
+of his grenadiers), made him the idol of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>309]</a></span>
+the rough soldiers whom he commanded;
+and a word of reproof from Father Alexander
+Vasilievitch, as his men affectionately
+called him, was more dreaded than
+the fire of a battery.</p>
+
+<p>Before one of his Italian campaigns,
+Suvaroff gathered together a number of
+his best men, and made them one of the
+short pithy speeches for which he was
+famous, and some of which are remembered
+among the peasantry to this
+day:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My children, we are going to fight the
+French. Remember, whatever you meet,
+<em>you must go forward</em>. If the enemy
+resist, kill them; but if they yield, spare
+them; and always remember that a
+Russian soldier is not a robber, but a
+Christian. Now, go and tell your comrades
+what I have said!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A few days later a great battle took
+place, in which the day went against the
+French, who began to retreat about sunset;
+and a soldier named Ivan Mitrophanoff,
+who had distinguished himself by
+his bravery throughout the whole day,
+captured, with the help of a comrade who
+was with him, a French officer and two
+of his men. Mitrophanoff bound up the
+officer&rsquo;s wounded arm, and seeing that
+the prisoners appeared faint from want
+of food, shared with them the coarse rye
+loaf which was to have served him for
+supper. He had scarcely done so, when
+up came three or four Russian grenadiers,
+hot with fighting, and raising furious
+cries.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What,&rdquo; cried they, &ldquo;three of these
+French dogs living yet!&rdquo; and they ran
+upon the prisoners with levelled bayonets.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hold, my lads!&rdquo; cried Mitrophanoff.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve given them their lives, and no one
+must touch them now!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But the soldiers would not listen to
+him, and were rushing forward, when
+a stern voice from behind shouted,
+&ldquo;Halt!&rdquo; and a little, pugnosed, dirty-faced
+man, dressed only in a coarse
+linen shirt and a pair of tattered gray
+trousers, stepped into the circle. But,
+ragged and dirty as he was, the fierce
+soldiers could not have looked more
+frightened had he been a giant in full
+armor.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The general!&rdquo; muttered they, slinking
+off.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ay, the general!&rdquo; roared Suvaroff,
+&ldquo;who will have some of you shot presently,
+if you can&rsquo;t learn to obey orders better!
+And you,&rdquo; he added, turning to Mitrophanoff,
+&ldquo;who taught you to be so good?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Your highness&rsquo; own self taught me,&rdquo;
+answered the grenadier. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t forgotten
+what you told us last week&mdash;that
+a Russian soldier is not a robber, but a
+Christian!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Right!&rdquo; exclaimed Suvaroff, with a
+brightening face. &ldquo;A good word is never
+lost, you see. Give me your hand, my
+lad; you shall be a sergeant to-morrow,
+and a right good one you&rsquo;ll make!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the next day he made good his
+word.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/hd128.png" width="200" height="22"
+alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>310]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>PONTO.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">O</span>UR dog Ponto is a knowing old fellow. It is as good as a
+show to watch him sometimes. He has one quality that
+most of us might seek after with advantage&mdash;that is, a will
+to overcome difficulties that scarcely anything can hinder. If
+Ponto takes it into his head to do anything, he is pretty sure to
+succeed. What helps his dogship is the faculty of imitation.
+He is like a monkey in this, only a great deal more sensible
+than any monkey I ever heard tell of. You never catch him
+venturing upon unknown danger, or making himself ridiculous,
+because his human friends and companions choose to step aside
+from the ways of safety and respectability.</p>
+
+<p>One day, a few years ago, Ponto was missing. He had been
+about as usual during the morning, but all at once disappeared.
+A neighbor told us that he had seen him fighting with the
+butcher&rsquo;s dog about noon, and that he was getting the worst
+of it. I went over to the butcher&rsquo;s during the afternoon, and
+the butcher&rsquo;s boy confirmed the neighbor&rsquo;s story. Ponto had
+come over there for a fight, as the boy said, and &ldquo;got more
+than he bargained for.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll not try it again very soon, I&rsquo;m thinking,&rdquo; added the
+boy, with a malicious pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you know where he is now?&rdquo; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Home, I suppose. He went off that way, limping,&rdquo; answered
+the boy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Was he much hurt?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Considerable, I guess.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I went back home, but no one had seen Ponto. I was beginning
+to feel anxious about the dog, when he was found in
+one of the third-story rooms, snugly covered up in bed, with
+his head on the pillow. On turning down the clothes a sight
+met our eyes. The sheets were all stained with blood, and the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311"><!-- Illustration - PONTO --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>312]</a></span>
+poor dog, hurt and exhausted, looked as helpless and pitiful
+as any human being.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd129.jpg" width="600" height="434"
+alt="Ponto standing, looking attentive" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">PONTO.</p>
+
+<p>I will not tell you of all the wounds he had received. There
+were a great many of them, and some quite severe. &ldquo;A good
+lesson for him,&rdquo; we all said. And it proved so, for he was a
+little more careful after that how he got into a fight.</p>
+
+<p>A few months before, I had been thrown from a wagon and
+badly hurt&mdash;so much so that I was confined to bed for a week.
+Ponto was with me at the time of the accident, and on my
+arrival at home followed me into the house and up to the
+chamber where I was taken. He watched every movement as
+I was laid in bed, and then sat down with his eyes on my pale
+face, regarding me with such looks of pity and interest that I
+was touched and surprised.</p>
+
+<p>When Ponto&rsquo;s turn came, he remembered the comfortable
+way in which I had been cared for, and profited by what he had
+seen. But his mistress, while she pitied the poor animal, did
+not fancy having her spare bedroom turned into a dog-hospital;
+and so we removed him to an out-house and made
+him as comfortable there as possible.</p>
+
+<p>One cold winter evening Ponto was absent from his accustomed
+place in the hall, where he slept on a mat. The wind
+was high and there was a confusion of sounds outside.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hark!&rdquo; said one.</p>
+
+<p>We all listened.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I thought I heard a knock at the hall door.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Only the wind,&rdquo; was replied.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; there it is again.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We all heard two distinct knocks, given quickly one after
+the other.</p>
+
+<p>I arose, and going into the hall went to the front door and
+opened it. As I did so Ponto bounded in past me, gave two
+or three short, glad barks, and then paid his boisterous respects
+to the family in the sitting-room. I waited a moment, and then
+stepped out to see who had lifted the knocker, but found no
+one. Ponto had done it himself, as we had proof enough afterward;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>313]</a></span>
+for ever since that time he has used the knocker as
+regularly as any two-legged member of the family.</p>
+
+<p>I could tell you stories for a whole evening about Ponto,
+but these two must answer for the present.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_313lower" id="Page_313lower"></a>BRUIN AT A MAPLE-SUGAR PARTY.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">O</span>NE evening near the first of April,
+three years ago this spring, I was
+making my way the best I could down
+from the west branch of the Penobscot
+River towards the plantation of Nikertou.
+(Up in Maine they call an unincorporated
+town a plantation. Down south
+the word has a different meaning.) How
+and why I came to be in that wild section,
+at the hour of twilight, may need a
+word in explanation.</p>
+
+<p>A month previously I had been sent
+up to the &ldquo;Head of Chesuncook&rdquo; from
+Bangor, by the lumbering firm of which
+my uncle was a member, to pay off one
+of their &ldquo;gangs,&rdquo; which made the &ldquo;head&rdquo;
+of that lake a sort of depot and place of
+rendezvous.</p>
+
+<p>Both going up and coming back as far
+as the foot of Lake Pemadumcook, I had
+had with me, as guide and armed protector,
+an old hunter named Hughy Clives. But
+on getting down to the foot of this lake,
+and within six or eight miles of Nikertou,
+old Hughy had been seized with a
+sudden desire to leave me and to go
+to Millinocket Lake in quest of otters;
+and so giving me my &ldquo;course&rdquo; for Nikertou,
+he had bidden me &ldquo;good luck,&rdquo;
+and again started northward.</p>
+
+<p>It was a warm, spring-like afternoon,
+though the snow in that region still lay
+to the depth of three or four feet; but on
+my snow-shoes I didn&rsquo;t mind the depth;
+the main thing was to keep out of the
+brush and the dense hemlock and cedar
+thickets.</p>
+
+<p>It was about two o&rsquo;clock when I left
+the river; and I had expected to get
+down to the little &ldquo;settlement&rdquo; by sunset.
+But the sun went below the distant
+spruce-clad ridges, and dusk fell, with as
+yet no signs of a &ldquo;clearing.&rdquo; Had I lost
+my way? My little pocket-compass said
+I was all right&mdash;if Hughy had given me
+a correct course; and I had all confidence
+in the old man too. Still, as the twilight
+deepened around me, with the unbroken
+forest stretching drearily ahead, I began
+to feel rather uneasy; especially as (since
+parting with Hughy and his rifle) I had
+no weapon save a jack-knife and a little
+pocket-pistol I had brought along with
+me from Bangor&mdash;not very effective
+arms in case a catamount should take
+it into his head to drop down upon me
+from a tree-top, or a big black bear to
+step out from behind one of those low
+hemlocks, or even a cross old &ldquo;lucivee&rdquo;
+to rush out from some of those thick cedar
+clumps. For thoughts of these things
+had begun to pop into my mind. I was
+but seventeen then, and hadn&rsquo;t quite outgrown
+my fear of the dark. And thus
+plodding timorously onward, thinking on
+many things injurious to a boy&rsquo;s courage,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>314]</a></span>
+I had begun to think I should have to
+make a night of it there, somewhere,
+when the red gleam of a fire, from the
+crest of the ridge before me, suddenly
+burst out on the darkness, banishing all
+my fears. For a fire, whether in a hunter&rsquo;s
+camp or a farm-house window, is
+good evidence of man&rsquo;s presence, with
+food and shelter&mdash;the two great wants
+of the belated.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 460px;">
+<img src="images/hd130.jpg" width="460" height="400"
+alt="The bear invades the sugar party camp" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Hurrying on, I made my way up the
+slope. The fire seemed to be in the open
+air, among trees&mdash;a woodman&rsquo;s camp
+probably; and, knowing that these men
+are sometimes a little <em>ticklish</em> about
+having strangers come too suddenly
+into their night camps, I halted, while
+yet at some distance, for a good look
+ahead.</p>
+
+<p>There seemed to be several large kettles,
+slung with chains from a &ldquo;lug-pole&rdquo;
+supported by strong crotched stakes at
+each end&mdash;a circumstance which struck
+me as a little odd at a hunting-fire. No
+one was in sight, though a sort of half
+shelter of hemlock might contain the
+campers. Whatever they were, it would
+be well to hail them. So, calling in my
+breath, I gave a loud &ldquo;hullo.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Two dusky figures rose from the shelter,
+and looked out towards me into the
+darkness.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hullo!&rdquo; I repeated; and in response
+heard a clear boyish voice exclaiming,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Who&rsquo;s there?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Belated tramper.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, walk up, Mr. Tramper, where
+we can see what you are.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I moved up to be seen, and on my
+part saw a couple of youngsters, of about
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>315]</a></span>
+my own age, who were tending what
+turned out to be a sugar-camp.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where from?&rdquo; demanded the taller
+of the two.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Head of Chesuncook. Going to Bangor.
+Can I stay here to-night?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Of course you can. Had any supper?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Not a mouthful.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Something left&mdash;wasn&rsquo;t there, Zeke?&rdquo;
+said he, turning to his comrade, who was
+now pouring cold sap into the &ldquo;heater.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Enough for one, I guess,&rdquo; said Zeke;
+and, taking a bucket and a wooden bowl
+from under the hemlock, he produced
+a slab of johnny-cake from the former,
+and, pouring out something like a quart
+of maple sirup into the latter, bade me
+&ldquo;go ahead.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I did so without further invitation, and
+never made a better supper, the programme
+being to dip the bread into the
+sirup, mouthful by mouthful.</p>
+
+<p>The boys were now preparing their
+night&rsquo;s wood.</p>
+
+<p>There had been, they said, &ldquo;an excellent
+run of sap&rdquo; during the last few days.
+The kettles were kept boiling day and
+night, steadily. It was truly a wild scene.
+Clouds of steam gushed up from the
+surging kettles; and the fires gleamed
+brighter as the darkness deepened, while
+all about us seemed a wall of blackness.
+But my long tramp had thoroughly tired
+me down, and my recollections of the
+remainder of the evening are a little
+drowsy, though I learned in the course
+of it that the names of the two youthful
+sugar-makers, upon whose camp I had
+stumbled, were Zeke Murch and Sam
+Bubar; and I also helped to take off a
+large kettle of hot sirup, which we set in
+a snow-drift, two or three rods from the
+fire, to cool. This done, I was soon
+asleep, rolled up in an old coverlet, and
+knew very little till, hearing voices, I
+opened my eyes to the fact that the sun
+was staring me in the face from over the
+eastward ridge, as if surprised at my
+sloth.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily unrolling myself, I saw Sam
+and Zeke out at the kettle we had set in
+the snow, pointing and excitedly discussing
+something.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Old scamp!&rdquo; exclaimed Zeke. &ldquo;What
+work he&rsquo;s made here!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;All this sugar gone&mdash;spoiled!&rdquo; cried
+Sam.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What is it?&rdquo; said I, going out to
+them. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s the matter?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why,&rdquo; said Sam, turning and laughing
+in spite of his vexation, &ldquo;something
+has <em>guzzled</em> up &rsquo;most the whole of this
+&lsquo;honey&rsquo; we set out here last night. Only
+see there!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The kettle, which must have held several
+pailfuls, was nearly empty; and what
+was left hadn&rsquo;t a very inviting look certainly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What in the world ate all that?&rdquo;
+cried I.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well&mdash;a bear, we expect,&rdquo; said Zeke.
+&ldquo;There&rsquo;s been one hanging round here
+for several nights. We heard him <em>hoot
+out</em>, down in the swamp, ever so many
+times, after you had gone to sleep last
+night. Didn&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;d come up so
+near the fire, though. But we both got
+to sleep a little while after midnight. I
+suppose he must have <em>lushed</em> up the sirup
+then.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tremendous fellow, too,&rdquo; said Sam.
+&ldquo;Look at those tracks!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Tracks indeed! There in the snow
+about the kettle were his broad, deep
+footmarks, long as a man&rsquo;s boot, and
+much wider, pressed down, too, into the
+snow, as only great weight could have
+pressed.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Gracious!&rdquo; exclaimed I, &ldquo;you wouldn&rsquo;t
+have caught me going to sleep here if I
+had known there was such a monster as
+that round!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Rather lucky, I think,&rdquo; said Zeke,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>316]</a></span>
+&ldquo;that he didn&rsquo;t take it into his head to
+<em>top off</em> his sirup with some of us.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And I&rsquo;m mad, too,&rdquo; continued Zeke.
+&ldquo;We were depending on this kittle of
+sirup for our party to-night.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Your party?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; we&rsquo;ve invited a lot of the boys&mdash;and
+girls, too&mdash;to come up here this
+evening, to make &lsquo;sheep-skins.&rsquo; You&rsquo;ll
+stay&mdash;won&rsquo;t you? We were going to
+ask you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; said I, still thinking of
+the bear.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;ll meddle with
+us,&rdquo; said Sam, guessing at my hesitation.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going down to get some <em>fixins</em>, and
+shall bring up a gun. If he calls again,
+he may get a dose of buckshot.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>No one is apt to be a great coward
+after the sun is up. Thus reassured, I
+concluded to stop to the party, for which
+the boys were intending to make a great
+preparation.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s do the thing up in style now,&rdquo;
+said Sam.</p>
+
+<p>We went at it. First we cut low,
+shrubby evergreens, hemlocks mostly,
+and with these made a sort of enclosure,
+some four rods in diameter, around the
+kettles, by planting them in the snow.
+Then clipping off an immense quantity
+of smaller boughs, we strewed the snow
+inside the enclosure with these. We thus
+had a sort of green room (without any
+roof), in the centre of which steamed the
+boiling kettles; and at the entrance, or
+doorway, we made a grand arch of cedar.
+For seats we rolled in &ldquo;four-foot&rdquo; cuts
+from the trunk of a large poplar they had
+lately felled, first splitting off a slab from
+the side of each to form a seat, which we
+cushioned with cedar.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile another kettle of sirup was
+boiling down to supply the place of
+that the bear had drank; and filling
+some fifteen or twenty sap-buckets with
+clean snow, crowded down hard to make
+the &ldquo;sheep-skins&rdquo; on, we were ready for
+our company.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly night before all this had
+been completed. Sam had been down to
+the &ldquo;settlement&rdquo; and brought up a quantity
+of bread to go with our honey; and
+I was glad to see that he hadn&rsquo;t forgotten
+the gun; for, as night began to close in
+again, I couldn&rsquo;t help remembering the
+great tracks out there in the snow-drift.
+As it grew dark and the fire began to
+shine on the green boughs, our scenery
+looked even better than by daylight; and
+for beacons to our incoming guests, we
+fixed torches of pitch-wood upon stakes
+thrust into the snow around our camp,
+and at several points out in the woods,
+like lamp-posts in a town.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Quite a show,&rdquo; said Sam, surveying
+the preparation. &ldquo;How changed and odd
+it makes it look all about!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Ere long voices began to be heard
+coming up through the woods,&mdash;merry
+shouts and hails,&mdash;to which the boys responded,
+bidding them hurry, and promising
+a big &ldquo;sheep-skin&rdquo; to the one who
+first got up there.</p>
+
+<p>A chorus of merry cries and laughter
+followed this announcement; and in a
+few moments a racing, panting crowd of a
+dozen boys and girls came up in sight,
+and poured under the arch&mdash;sturdy lads,
+and lasses in red frocks and checked
+aprons. And here be it said that a
+girl&mdash;a certain rosy Nell Ridley&mdash;won
+the sheep-skin by being the first under
+the archway. But the others were not
+far behind, and in another moment our
+green arena was swarming with the young
+folks.</p>
+
+<p>Though a stranger, I soon found myself
+acquainted and on the best of terms
+with everybody. Sheep-skins were now
+being run by the dozen, the process being
+to pour hot sirup upon the cold, hard-pressed
+snow in the buckets, where it
+instantly cooled, becoming tough and of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>317]</a></span>
+the color of sheep-skin. And if one has
+a &ldquo;sweet tooth,&rdquo; nothing among all the
+&ldquo;sugars&rdquo; can compare with a maple
+sheep-skin.</p>
+
+<p>We all had <em>sweet teeth</em> there, and were
+in the midst of a furious romp around
+the kettles in chase of Nell, whom some
+one had accused of appropriating &ldquo;the
+great one,&rdquo; when somebody suddenly
+cried,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hark!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There was an instant hush; when clear
+on the evening air there came a wild cry&mdash;a
+long, quavering &ldquo;Hoo-oo-oo.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Bear! A bear!&rdquo; exclaimed several
+of the boys, to whom bruin&rsquo;s nightly cries
+were but familiar sounds. But save that
+a few of the girls looked a little startled,
+no one seemed to be much alarmed. I
+saw Zeke looking to the priming of the
+old gun, though; and for a while we were
+pretty whist, listening; but the cry, which
+had seemed at a considerable distance,
+was not repeated. Indeed, in the merriment
+which soon succeeded, the most of
+us had entirely forgotten it, I think. At
+least we were all in the midst of another
+scrimmage over the &ldquo;last biscuit,&rdquo; when
+a loud snort, like that of a startled horse,
+a sort of &ldquo;woof! woof!&rdquo; accompanied
+by a great rustling in our evergreen
+hedge, startled us; and turning, we saw&mdash;I
+shall never forget the sight&mdash;an
+enormous black creature coming through
+our <em>fence</em>, with all the independence of a
+sole proprietor! Of course, as Zeke afterwards
+expressed it, &ldquo;if <em>he</em> was <em>coming
+in</em>, we wanted to <em>go out</em>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The girls were not of the fainting sort;
+but they did scream some, and we all
+sprang away like cats through the opposite
+side of the hedge. The gun had
+been left standing near the place where
+the bear had broken in, and was not to be
+got at, of course. But, catching out my
+pistol, as we scrambled through the hemlock,
+I discharged it at the old fellow,
+hitting him, I guess; for he growled and
+came straight after me. &rsquo;Twas no time
+to be loitering. Down the slope we all
+ran together, slumping and sprawling full
+length in the soft snow! Up and on
+again, knocking out spiles and kicking
+over sap-buckets, bumping and grazing
+ourselves against the rough bark of the
+maples; for it was pitch dark in the
+woods. But on we went for dear life,
+expecting every moment to feel the bear&rsquo;s
+teeth or claws from behind. At first I
+had a sort of impression that we boys
+should have to wait and put ourselves
+between the girls and the bear; but I
+soon found I had all I could do to keep up
+with them. Such girls to run I never
+saw before! And we never stopped till,
+at a distance of a mile below, the forest
+opened out into a cleared field.</p>
+
+<p>There we began to discover that the
+bear was not after us, and gradually came
+to a halt. After getting breath, however,
+we kept on&mdash;at a little slower pace, though&mdash;down
+to the &ldquo;corners,&rdquo; where, after seeing
+the girls to their respective dwellings,
+guns were procured, and, rallying out
+Mr. Bubar and Mr. Murch, senior, with
+several other men, we all started back to
+hunt up the bear. Going quietly up
+through the woods, we cautiously approached
+to a point where the gap we
+had made in rushing out of our enclosure
+enabled us to see what was going on inside;
+and there by the firelight we beheld
+the bear sitting cosily before the coals,
+and gazing wistfully into the boiling kettles.
+He had probably found them too
+hot for his use.</p>
+
+<p>Raising their guns, the men all fired
+together&mdash;a murderous volley of bullets
+and buckshot. Rearing upon his haunches
+with a sullen growl, old bruin glared
+around a moment, then fell over backwards,
+and, with a few dying kicks and
+groans, was dead. And this was the end
+of Bruin and the maple-sugar party.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>318]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd131.jpg" width="600" height="360"
+alt="A pair of adult elephants" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>319]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HERE is not the least difficulty in
+distinguishing the Asiatic from the
+African elephant. The ears of the former
+are comparatively small, only reaching a
+little below the eyes, while the ears of the
+African species are of enormous dimensions,
+actually crossing on the back of
+the neck, drooping far below the chin,
+and extending beyond the shoulder-blade.
+Generally, the ears are laid so flatly against
+the neck, that they seem almost to form
+part of the skin of the head and shoulders;
+but when the creature is suddenly roused,
+the ears are thrown forward, and stand
+out so boldly, that they look more like
+wings than ears. Towards the lower part
+the ears form themselves into slight folds,
+which are not without some degree of
+elegance.</p>
+
+<p>The end of the trunk also differs from
+that of the Asiatic species. In that animal
+a kind of finger projects from the
+upper part of the extremity; but in the
+African species the end of the trunk is
+split so far, that the two lobes act as opposable
+fingers, and serve to grasp any
+object which the animal desires to hold.
+This structure can easily be seen by offering
+the animal a piece of biscuit. The
+forehead, too, affords another means of
+distinction, being convex in the African,
+and flat or slightly concave in the Asiatic.</p>
+
+<p>Another very decided difference lies in
+the teeth. These enormous engines of
+mastication are made up of a number of
+flat plates laid side by side, and composed
+of enamel and bone. In the Asiatic species
+these plates are nearly oval in form,
+and may be imitated by taking a piece of
+cardboard, rolling it into a tube, and then
+pressing it until it is nearly flat. But in
+the African species these plates are of a
+diamond shape, and may be rudely
+imitated by taking the same cardboard tube,
+and squeezing it nearly flat at each end,
+leaving the centre to project. In consequence
+of these distinctions, several systematic
+zo&ouml;logists have thought that the
+African elephant ought to be placed in a
+separate genus, and have therefore called
+it <i>Loxodonta Africana</i>, the former of
+these words signifying &ldquo;oblique-toothed.&rdquo;
+I think, however, that there are no real
+grounds for such a change, and that the
+genus Elephas is amply sufficient for both
+species.</p>
+
+<p>The enormous ears of the African elephant
+are not without their use to the
+hunter, who finds in them an invaluable
+aid in repairing damages to his wagons
+and guns. Even if a gun-stock be
+smashed,&mdash;an accident which is of no
+very unfrequent occurrence in South African
+hunting,&mdash;a large piece of elephant&rsquo;s
+ear, put on while fresh and wet, and allowed
+to dry in the sun, sets matters right
+again, and binds the fragments together
+as if they were enclosed in iron. Sometimes
+the ear seems to be a protection to
+the animal; for it is so tough and strong,
+despite its pliability, that the hunter will
+occasionally find several bullets lodged in
+the ear, which have not been able to penetrate
+through a substance at once tough
+and flexible.</p>
+
+<p>This species is of a thirsty nature, so
+that wherever elephant paths are seen, the
+hunter knows that he is not very far from
+water of some kind. And as elephants
+have a fashion of travelling in Indian file,
+it is easy enough to trace their footsteps,
+and so to find the water. The animals go
+to drink in the evening, as do many other
+wild beasts, and the quantity which they
+consume is enormous. They go close to
+the water&rsquo;s edge, insert the end of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>320]</a></span>
+trunk into the liquid, draw it up until the
+two nostril-tubes are full, turn the end of
+the trunk into the mouth, and then discharge
+the contents into the stomach.
+When satiated, they amuse themselves
+for a while by blowing water all over their
+bodies, and then retrace their steps to the
+forest glades whence they came.</p>
+
+<p>The enormous quantity of water which
+they carry home within them has a rather
+curious effect. At tolerably regular intervals
+a loud, rumbling sound is heard, much
+resembling the &ldquo;glug-glug&rdquo; produced by
+pouring wine out of a bottle, and lasting
+a few seconds. Were it not for this phenomenon,
+the hunters would meet with far
+less success than at present is the case.
+When hiding from a foe, the elephant can
+remain motionless, so that not a cracking
+stick nor a rustling leaf betrays its presence.
+But it cannot prevent this periodical
+rumbling; and accordingly, when a
+hunter is in the bush after elephants, he
+sits down every few minutes, and waits,
+in order to catch the sound which tells
+him that elephants are near. Even in the
+semi-domesticated specimens at the London
+Zo&ouml;logical Gardens, this sound is
+easily to be heard.</p>
+
+<p>The African elephant is more hunted
+than the Asiatic species, and affords better
+sport and greater profit to the hunter.
+It seems to be a fiercer, more active, and
+probably a more cunning animal, and,
+owing to the character of the country
+through which it ranges, it seems to be
+of a more nomad disposition. The chase
+of the African elephant appears to exercise
+a kind of fascination over its votaries,
+like the chase of the chamois among the
+Swiss mountaineers; and when a hunter
+has fairly settled down to the business, he
+cannot tear himself away from it without
+exercising great self-denial. Perhaps few
+sports are encompassed with greater difficulties
+and dangers, or involve greater
+hardships; and yet the wild, free, roving
+life has such charms, that even a highly-educated
+European can scarcely make up
+his mind to return to civilization.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, elephant hunting is
+not, as are many sports, an expensive
+amusement. On the contrary, a hunter
+who possesses a sufficiency of skill, courage,
+and endurance will be able not only
+to cover his expenses, but to pay himself
+handsomely for his trouble. There is
+certainly a very large expenditure at the
+outset; for a hunter will need two wagons,
+with a whole drove of oxen, several
+good and seasoned horses, a small arsenal
+of guns, with ammunition to match,
+provisions for a lengthened period, and
+plenty of beads and other articles which
+can be bartered for ivory. Moreover, a
+number of native servants must be kept,
+and the amount of meat which they consume
+daily is almost appalling.</p>
+
+<p>Then there are always great losses to
+be counted upon. The cattle get among
+the dread Tzetse flies, and die off in a few
+hours; the horses catch the &ldquo;paardsikte&rdquo;
+(a kind of murrain), or tumble into pitfalls;
+wagons break down, servants run away
+with guns, native chiefs detain the wagons
+for weeks, together with a host of minor
+drawbacks. Still, if a man is worthy of
+the name of hunter, and boldly faces these
+difficulties, he will pay himself well, provided
+that his health holds out&mdash;there
+are so many valuable articles to be brought
+from Southern Africa, such as the horns
+and furs of animals, the skins of birds,
+ostrich feathers, and ivory.</p>
+
+<p>The teeth of the elephant, too, are valuable,
+and are made into various articles
+of use and ornament. A set of knife-handles
+made of elephant&rsquo;s tooth is sometimes
+to be seen, and I have now before
+me an excellent specimen of a knife-handle,
+which shows the alternate rows of
+enamel and bone in a very striking manner,
+and is certainly a much handsomer
+article than a handle made of simple ivory.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>321]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd132.jpg" width="600" height="456"
+alt="An adult elephant with long tusks" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE ELEPHANT.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>322]</a></span>
+The elephant is, indeed, one of the most
+eccentric of animals. There is no possibility
+of calculating upon it, and nothing
+but experience can serve a hunter when
+measuring his own intellect against the
+elephant&rsquo;s cunning. The scent or sight
+of a human being at the distance of a
+mile will send a herd of powerful male
+elephants on their travels, the huge creatures
+preferring to travel for many miles
+rather than meet a man. Yet, when assailed,
+there is scarcely any animal which
+is more to be dreaded. It forgets fear,
+and, filled with blind rage, it will chase an
+armed man in spite of his rifle, and will
+continue to charge him until it dies.</p>
+
+<p>It will engage in deadly battle with its
+own species, or with the mail-clad rhinoceros,
+and yet will run away at the barking
+of a little dog. There was a curious
+instance some years ago, when an elephant
+that was travelling in America went
+mad, escaped from its keeper during the
+night, and traversed the country for miles,
+doing great damage. It broke carts to
+pieces, killed the horses, and was trying
+to force its way into a barn where another
+horse had taken refuge, when it was
+checked by a bull-dog, which flew at the
+huge animal, bit its legs, and worried it
+so thoroughly, that the elephant, mad as
+it was, fairly ran away. Indeed, nothing
+seems to cast this gigantic animal into
+such a state of perplexity as the noisy
+attacks of a little, cross-tempered, insolent,
+yapping terrier. The elephant cannot
+understand it, and gets into such a state
+of nervous irritation, that it never thinks
+of running away or annihilating its diminutive
+foe, but remains near the same spot,
+making short and ineffectual charges, until
+the hunter comes up and deliberately
+chooses his own position for attack.</p>
+
+<p>The flesh of the elephant is anything
+but palatable, and when cut into strips
+and dried in the sun, has been aptly compared
+to leather straps. A well-known
+hunter said that the character of elephant&rsquo;s
+flesh might easily be imagined by
+taking the toughest beefsteak ever cooked,
+multiplying the toughness by four, and
+subtracting all the gravy. The natives,
+however, are possessed of marvellously
+strong jaws and sharp teeth, and to them
+meat is meat, whether tough or tender.
+There are, however, several parts of the
+elephant which are always good; and
+these are the heart, the feet, and the trunk.
+The heart and trunk are simply roasted,
+with the addition of some of the fat from
+the interior of the body; but the feet require
+a more elaborate mode of cookery.</p>
+
+<p>While some of the men are cutting off
+the feet, others are employed in digging a
+circular hole in the ground some ten feet
+deep and three wide, the earth being
+heaped round the edge. An enormous
+heap of dry wood and leaves is then piled
+over the hole, set on fire, and allowed to
+burn itself out. As soon as the last sticks
+have fallen into the hole, the men begin
+to rake out the glowing embers with long
+poles. This is a laborious and difficult
+task, the heat being so great, that each
+man can only work for a few consecutive
+seconds, and then gives way to a cooler
+comrade. However, there are plenty of
+laborers, and the hole is soon cleared.
+The elephant&rsquo;s foot is then rolled into
+the hole, and covered over with the earth
+that was heaped round the edge. Another
+pile of wood is then raised, and when it
+has completely burned out, the foot is
+supposed to be properly baked. Thus
+prepared, the foot is thought to be almost
+the greatest luxury which South Africa
+can afford, the whole interior being dissolved
+into a soft, gelatinous substance
+of a most delicate flavor. There is never
+any lack of fuel; for the elephants break
+down so many branches for food, and
+in their passage through the bush, that
+abundance of dry boughs can always be
+picked up within a limited area.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>323]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE SONG OF THE BIRD.</h2>
+
+
+<h3>I.</h3>
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span>N those unhappy days when revolution
+prevailed in France, there were a number
+of noble families who were reduced
+to extreme poverty. One of these was
+the family of Duke Erlan, who was a noble
+and highly-respected man, while his
+wife was kind and charitable to such an
+extent that all the poor people in the surrounding
+country loved her with great affection.</p>
+
+<p>They had two children&mdash;Carl and Lillie.
+When a certain revolutionary outbreak
+had occurred, the duke removed
+from the city where he lived to his chateau,
+in a retired part of the country,
+where he was surrounded by rocks, vineyards,
+and fields of grain, far removed
+from the bustle and turmoil of city life.</p>
+
+<p>The good man regarded himself as very
+fortunate in being permitted to live here
+in quiet with his family, and become the
+teacher of his children.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the great danger prevailing
+in the country, this was indeed a
+happy family.</p>
+
+<p>The duke was a good musician, and he
+made it an object to teach his children to
+play on the piano; and though they were
+quite young, both of them knew a number
+of very beautiful tunes.</p>
+
+<p>On one stormy evening, near the end
+of winter, all four of them sat together
+near their splendid piano. The duke had
+composed a little song for his two children.
+It was such a pleasant, lively melody,
+that they had learned it very easily,
+and each of them could play it. Their
+mother, however, did not know it, and
+the children now thought it a great thing
+for them to have the privilege of teaching
+it to her.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Carl,&rdquo; said the duke, &ldquo;you play, and
+we will sing.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And they sang this song:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i3">&ldquo;Take courage, bird;<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Our Father says,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">In winter&rsquo;s storms<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">And summer&rsquo;s rays<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">You have no barns,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">You sow no wheat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But God will give you bread to eat.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>While they were singing, they heard
+some one knock at the door. They
+heard the bell ring, and when the door
+was opened, five soldiers, clad in uniform,
+demanded Duke Erlan to deliver himself
+up. They walked straight up to him, and
+told him that he must go immediately to
+prison. His wife cast herself at their
+feet, and begged them to let him live in
+peace.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We cannot help it,&rdquo; said they. &ldquo;We
+have our orders, and must obey them.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Not five minutes elapsed before that
+good man was taken from the midst of
+his happy family, and hurried to prison.
+The duchess and her son and daughter
+were overwhelmed with sorrow. They
+could not sleep that night, and the next
+morning, as they looked out of the window
+and saw how the storm had prevailed
+in the vineyards and on the fields, they
+felt that the storm in their own hearts had
+been far more destructive.</p>
+
+<p>The unhappy duchess now determined
+to use every means to rescue her beloved
+husband. She went to the judges and
+assured them of her husband&rsquo;s innocence;
+but they did not seem to have any more
+feeling than so many marble statues. She
+received, in reply to her entreaties, this
+answer:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;In a few days your husband will be
+beheaded.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>She returned to the castle after three
+days, and found that it was occupied by
+soldiers. The furniture had all been
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>324]</a></span>
+taken away, and the treasures were missing.
+She was not permitted even to enter the
+castle, and was informed that her children,
+for whom she was weeping in great
+sorrow, were gone&mdash;nobody could tell
+where.</p>
+
+<p>It was late at night, and she did not
+know where she would sleep. Going
+out into the castle-yard, she was met by
+Richard, an old and faithful servant, who
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Good mistress, you are in danger every
+moment of being arrested. There is
+no safety for you unless you flee as quickly
+as possible. I cannot conceal you, for
+that would be dangerous for all. I cannot
+save your husband, and if you stay
+here it will be certain death. Your children
+are at my house. Come with me.
+My brother, the old fisherman, who keeps
+the ferry at the Rhine, is already informed
+of the matter. I will go with you this
+very night, and he will take you and your
+children safely over the river. Run&mdash;let
+us run for life.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The duchess came to the house of good
+Richard, where she found her children.
+But Lillie was quite sick, and lay upon
+Richard&rsquo;s cot, suffering from a high fever.
+She did not even know her mother. How
+could that good lady leave her sick child?
+She did not wish to do it, but the peasant
+told her that she could be of no assistance,
+and that he would see that she was
+well provided for.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Run,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;for your life is in
+danger.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It was a sad moment when Lillie&rsquo;s
+mother was compelled to leave her child
+lying upon that sick bed; but the good
+woman, before giving her a parting kiss,
+knelt at her side, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O Lord, I commit this dear child to
+thee for safe keeping. I believe thou wilt
+one day restore her to me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The duchess was silent for a few moments;
+then, calmly arising, she kissed
+her child, took Carl by the hand, and hastened
+through the door towards the distant
+river.</p>
+
+<p>She finally came to the old ferryman&rsquo;s
+house, and he gave them a great deal of
+welcome, having provided some warm
+soup and bread to strengthen them.
+They were taken over the river, and the
+two brothers, Solomon and Richard, returned
+in the boat.</p>
+
+<p>It was a desolate condition in which
+the duchess and her child were placed,
+and we must follow her in her wanderings.
+The farther she went from the river, the
+safer it would be for her and Carl. She
+followed the direction which Richard had
+given her, until she reached Switzerland.
+But her delay there came near costing
+her her life, for she learned that a detective
+officer was in search of them. With
+all the haste possible, she got across the
+Swiss boundary into the Tyrol, which
+was Austrian territory. There she was
+safe. They passed over high mountains,
+and through deep valleys, seeking a place
+where they could settle. At last they
+came to a certain valley, which, in quiet
+beauty, surpassed anything that they had
+seen.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This reminds me more of home,&rdquo; she
+said, &ldquo;than any country through which
+we have passed. I have got several hundred
+louis which good Richard saved
+when our house was plundered, and we
+can afford to rent a little cottage.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The old Tyrolese peasant told her that
+there was no house for sale in all the
+valley. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;you can board
+in my cottage if you choose.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The price was agreed upon, and the
+duchess and her son became inmates of
+the family. The little room which was to
+be their home was very plainly furnished;
+but simple as it was, the first thing that
+she did on entering it was to kneel there
+with her child, and thank God for a shelter.
+She arranged her affairs as well as
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>325]</a></span>
+she could for a permanent residence with
+the Tyrolese peasant, and she began to
+look upon it as home.</p>
+
+<p>One day she told the peasant that she
+wished to send her little boy Carl to
+school, if there was a good schoolmaster
+in the neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The pastor in a neighboring village,&rdquo;
+said the peasant, &ldquo;will be here to-day to
+catechise my child. He teaches school,
+and I think you can make an arrangement
+with him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That day the gray-haired old pastor
+came, and an arrangement was made
+with him for Carl to go to school to him.
+Books were provided for him, and he
+went to school with the greatest pleasure.
+He was a rapid student, and repeated his
+lessons every evening to his mother.</p>
+
+<p>In the Tyrol a great many canary birds
+are trained, and are sold to dealers all
+through the country. The old Tyrolese
+peasant with whom the duchess and Carl
+were boarding had a young and beautiful
+bird, which sang very sweetly. Carl asked
+his mother to buy this bird, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mother, this bird is very much like
+the one that our dear, sweet Lillie used to
+have. Buy it for me, so that it may learn
+how to sing.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The duchess bought the bird, and soon
+became very much attached to it. Carl
+took the greatest pleasure in its training,
+and in due time, little Tim&mdash;for that was
+his name&mdash;would come to him and peck
+at his fingers, and rub his little head on
+Carl&rsquo;s hand.</p>
+
+<p>Carl was a natural musician, just as his
+father was, and would sometimes play on
+a flute which the old Tyrolese peasant
+had. Little Tim would imitate his tunes,
+and sometimes the concert was well worth
+hearing.</p>
+
+<p>The old pastor provided the duchess
+with news. One day he gave her a French
+newspaper, and in the first column which
+she read there was a long list of the names
+of noblemen who had been beheaded.
+Among them she read the name of her
+husband, Henry Erlan. The newspaper
+fell from her hands, and she swooned
+away. A severe illness came on, and it
+was a long time doubtful whether she
+would recover. The old Tyrolese despaired
+of her life, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The coming autumn may find her no
+more with us; but who knows what the
+good Lord will bring out of all this sorrow?&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<h3>II.</h3>
+
+<p>The old servant Richard, having rescued
+his good mistress from arrest, and
+probably from death, now formed the resolution
+to save his master too. He had
+not much time to plan, for he learned that
+the duke was to be beheaded the following
+week. It so happened that the son
+of his brother Solomon, the ferryman,
+belonged to the National Guard, and was
+stationed at the prison to guard it. If he
+could only secure him to engage in the
+enterprise, he felt that he could succeed.
+It was a difficult thing to get a word to
+say to any member of the National Guard.
+But old Richard had done many kind
+things for his nephew, and he succeeded
+in getting a note to him through the post
+office, appointing a time, when he was off
+duty, to meet him. Richard opened the
+whole enterprise freely to his nephew,
+and told him all the great injustice that
+had been done a noble family, and the
+sufferings through which the different
+members had passed.</p>
+
+<p>The duke was informed that he was to
+be beheaded next day, and his door was
+marked by the prison-keeper as the room
+of a man who was to be executed the following
+morning. The good man knelt
+in prayer after the intelligence had been
+conveyed to him, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;To whom shall I go for help and
+courage, this last night of my life, but to
+thee, O Lord? Thou knowest best what
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>326]</a></span>
+will happen to me. If it be in accordance
+with thy will, permit me to see my wife
+and children again. If thou seest that it
+is not best for thy glory that I should live,
+then I will obey willingly. Thy will, not
+mine, be done.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 488px;">
+<img src="images/hd133.jpg" width="488" height="400"
+alt="Lillie, her father and Richard listen to the bird singing" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Father, father! that is the very tune which we were singing together the night that you
+were arrested.</span>&rdquo; See page <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.]</p>
+
+<p>That was a noble prayer. Scarcely
+had the last word fallen from his lips,
+when he heard somebody gently lifting
+the latch of his door, and inserting the
+key.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Save yourself,&rdquo; whispered the person
+who entered, who was none other than
+old Solomon&rsquo;s son, to whom Richard
+had confided his enterprise. It was two
+o&rsquo;clock in the morning, the very best time
+to accomplish his purpose.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Put on these clothes,&rdquo; said he, as he
+unfolded a soldier&rsquo;s uniform; &ldquo;take this
+hat, and here is a gun. As quickly as
+you possibly can, transform yourself into
+a soldier.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>They escaped in safety from the prison,
+accompanied by the faithful Richard, and
+went as rapidly as they could towards the
+Rhine. They reached old Solomon&rsquo;s ferry
+house. The young man knocked gently
+at the window, and asked his father to
+come out as soon as possible and take
+the duke over the river.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Are you not going to take your little
+girl with you?&rdquo; said the old ferryman.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What little girl?&rdquo; asked the duke.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Your little daughter, whom my brother
+has brought here this very day; and
+she is as sweet a child as I ever saw in
+my life. She lies asleep now in the corner
+of the room.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This was news which the nobleman did
+not expect to hear, and he was almost
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>327]</a></span>
+overcome with joy. But he had no time
+to spend in greeting, except to give his
+dear Lillie a kiss. Soon they were over
+the Rhine; but before reaching the bank
+on the opposite side, they were fired at
+by soldiers who had come in search of
+them. A bullet passed through the top
+of the duke&rsquo;s high soldier hat, but he
+was not harmed, and escaped in safety.</p>
+
+<p>The great task for him to accomplish
+now was to find his wife and boy, though
+he had but little hope of ever finding
+them. Old Richard had enough money
+to buy the duke a horse; so the father
+mounted the horse, and took his little
+daughter on the saddle with him. They
+travelled over the mountains and through
+the vales, asking, whenever they met any
+person, to tell them if they knew of any
+strangers in that section of the country.
+But nobody gave any information.</p>
+
+<p>Old Richard was yet with them, for he
+had still enough money left to buy a mule,
+and he rode beside his good master and
+Lillie until the 17th of July arrived, and
+that was Lillie&rsquo;s birthday. The duke determined
+that they three should stop and
+celebrate it by taking a little rest and a
+good meal in a cottage by the wayside.
+Having finished their dinner, they went out
+of doors and looked about the beautiful
+yard, which was all blooming with flowers.
+A bird cage was hanging by the side of
+the door, and the bird was singing the
+tune to these words:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i3">&ldquo;Take courage, bird;<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Our Father says,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">In winter&rsquo;s storms<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">And summer&rsquo;s rays<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">You have no barns,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">You sow no wheat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But God will give you bread to eat.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>Lillie was astounded at again hearing
+that sweet melody, and she exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Father, father! that is the very tune
+which we were singing together the night
+that you were arrested.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The little bird went over it two or three
+times, and the father said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You are right, my dear child. That
+is the melody&mdash;not a note is wanting.
+This is truly wonderful. I do believe
+that this bird has been taught to sing
+that song by Carl and your good mother.
+O, Richard, can you not find out how this
+bird came here?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Richard said in reply,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I will do all I can, but I am afraid
+that it will be very difficult.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>He made inquiries of the man who
+owned the bird, and who had furnished
+them with the dinner, as to where the
+bird came from. The Tyrolese replied,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know where it came from, except
+that a young man who passed along
+the road, and who lives about three miles
+from here, sold it to me for a trifling sum
+one day. I was pleased with its appearance,
+because it was a beautiful bird, and
+the price was very low.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then Richard said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Can you not see that young man, and
+find out where he got it from?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I will do so if you wish,&rdquo; he answered.</p>
+
+<p>Richard then told him to report as soon
+as possible what he had learned.</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon, about five o&rsquo;clock, the
+young man was brought to Richard and
+the duke, and inquiries were made as to
+where he got the bird. He said that he
+did not know where it came from exactly,
+except that it was found one day after it
+had escaped from somebody&rsquo;s cage. He
+did not know who owned it, or else he
+would have taken it to its owner.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where was it you found it?&rdquo; said the
+duke.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;About ten miles from here, when I
+was going to see my mother, who lives a
+great many miles away.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you know whether any strangers
+are in that neighborhood?&rdquo; asked the
+duke.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I heard my mother say that there
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>328]</a></span>
+were a lady and a little boy living some
+three miles the other side of her house,
+and that she was a very good woman.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Did you ever see the boy yourself?&rdquo;
+inquired the duke.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, I saw the boy going to school.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The duke, on making further inquiries
+as to his appearance, came to the conclusion
+that the boy whom he had seen
+was probably none other than Carl. He
+accordingly made his arrangements to go
+to the place of which the young man had
+spoken.</p>
+
+<p>That night he reached the house where
+this good lady and her son were boarding.
+True enough, the duke and little Lillie
+were in the presence of the duchess and
+Carl. It was a happy meeting, far beyond
+my power to describe. Their gratitude to
+their heavenly Father for preserving them
+to each other knew no bounds. It was
+an hour of such happiness as is seldom
+permitted any one to enjoy.</p>
+
+<p>They sat up late that night and recounted
+their experiences to each other,
+and then the duke revealed the secret of
+his coming to that house; that it was a
+canary bird which had been the instrument
+of his finding her and Carl. They
+spent a few days in great happiness there,
+and made a bargain with the man who
+owned the canary bird which had escaped
+from Carl&rsquo;s cage to get it back
+again.</p>
+
+<p>Two years passed on, and peace and
+quiet were again restored to France.
+The duke and his family were permitted
+to return to his castle, and the government
+made him ample reparation for all
+the losses that he had incurred. They
+took with them their little canary bird,
+which had lost none of its sweet notes
+by the lapse of time.</p>
+
+<p>One day a magnificent new piano arrived
+from Paris, and after tea the duke
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now we will try the piano in our
+own quiet home. What shall we sing?&rdquo;
+asked he.</p>
+
+<p>The duchess, and Carl, and Lillie all
+answered with one voice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We must sing our bird song.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i3">&ldquo;Take courage, bird;<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Our Father says,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">In winter&rsquo;s storms<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">And summer&rsquo;s rays<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">You have no barns,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">You sow no wheat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But God will give you bread to eat.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_328lower" id="Page_328lower"></a>THE SHEEP AND THE GOAT.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">NOT all the streets that London builds<br />
+<span class="i3">Can hide the sky and sun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shut out the winds from o&rsquo;er the fields,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or quench the scent the hay swath yields<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All night, when work is done.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And here and there an open spot<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lies bare to light and dark,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where grass receives the wanderer hot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where trees are growing, houses not;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">One is the Regent&rsquo;s Park.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>329]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd134.jpg" width="600" height="454"
+alt="A goat eating grass, a kid lying alongside" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE GOATS.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>330]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Soft creatures, with ungentle guides,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">God&rsquo;s sheep from hill and plain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Are gathered here in living tides,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lie wearily on woolly sides,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or crop the grass amain.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And from the lane, and court, and den,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In ragged skirts and coats,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come hither tiny sons of men,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wild things, untaught of book or pen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The little human goats.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">One hot and cloudless summer day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">An overdriven sheep<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Had come a long and dusty way;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Throbbing with thirst the creature lay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A panting, woollen heap.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But help is nearer than we know<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For ills of every name;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ragged enough to scare the crow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But with a heart to pity woe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A quick-eyed urchin came.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Little he knew of field or fold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet knew enough; his cap<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was just the cap for water cold&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He knew what it could do of old;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Its rents were few, good hap!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Shaping the brim and crown he went,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till crown from brim was deep.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The water ran from brim and rent;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Before he came the half was spent&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The half, it saved the sheep.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">O, little goat, born, bred in ill,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Unwashed, ill-fed, unshorn!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thou meet&rsquo;st the sheep from breezy hill,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Apostle of thy Saviour&rsquo;s will,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In London wastes forlorn.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Let others say the thing they please,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">My faith, though very dim,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thinks He will say who always sees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In doing it to one of these<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thou didst it unto him.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>331]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>FROM BAD TO WORSE.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">COME, children, leave your playing,<br />
+<span class="i3">And gather round my knee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I&rsquo;ll tell you a little story:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Away across the sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In a meadow where the mosses<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the grass were frozen brown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Three little maids sat milking<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">One day as the sun went down&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not cows, but goats of the mountain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And before their pails were full,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The winds, they pierced like needles<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Through their gowns of heavy wool.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And as one hand, then the other,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They tried to warm in their laps,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bitter weather froze their breath<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Like fur about their caps.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And so, as they sat at their milking,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They grew as still as mice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Save when the stiff shoes on their feet<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Rattled like shoes of ice.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">At last out spoke the youngest<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As she blew on her finger-nails:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I have planned a plan, sweet sisters:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Let us take our milking-pails,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And go to the side of the mountain<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As fast as we can go,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And heap them up to the very top<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From the whitest drifts of snow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And let us build in the meadow<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where we will milk our goats at night<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A house to keep us from the cold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With walls all silver white.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">We will set the door away from the wind.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The floor we will heap with moss,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And gather little strips of ice<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And shingle the roof across.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then all the foolish maidens,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They emptied their pails on the ground,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And bounded up the mountain-side<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As fast as they could bound,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And came again to the meadow<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With pails heaped high with snow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And so, through half the night, the moon<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Beheld them come and go.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>332]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">But when with the daybreak roses<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The silver walls shone red,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The three little foolish maidens<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Were lying cold and dead.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The needles of the frost had sewed<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Into shrouds their woollen coats,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And with cheeks as white as the ice they lay<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Among their mountain goats.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Alice Cary.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 504px;">
+<a name="Page_332lower" id="Page_332lower"></a>
+<img src="images/hd135.jpg" width="504" height="400"
+alt="Gracie shows her father the money she has saved" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption smcap">Gracie and her Father.</p>
+
+<h2>MY STORY.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">M</span>ANY years ago, when the sky was
+as clear, the flowers as fragrant,
+and the birds as musical as now, I stood
+by a little mahogany table, with pencil and
+paper in hand, vainly trying to add a short
+column of figures. My small tin box, with
+the word <i>Bank</i> in large letters upon it,
+had just been opened, and the carefully
+hoarded treasure of six months was
+spread out before me. Scrip had not
+come into use then; and there were one
+tiny gold piece, two silver dollars, and
+many quarters, dimes, half-dimes, and
+pennies. For a full half hour I had been
+counting my fingers and trying to reckon
+up how much it all amounted to; but the
+problem was too hard for me. At last I
+took pencil and paper, and sought to work
+it out by figures.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What are you doing, Gracie?&rdquo; pleasantly
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>333]</a></span>
+inquired my father, entering the
+room with an open letter in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, papa! is that you?&rdquo; I cried, eagerly
+turning towards him. &ldquo;Just look&mdash;see
+how much money I&rsquo;ve got! John has just
+opened my bank. It is six months to-day
+since I began to save, and I&rsquo;ve more than
+I expected.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, you are quite rich.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;So much that I can&rsquo;t even count it.
+I&rsquo;ve done harder sums in addition at
+school; but somehow, now, every time I
+add, I get a different answer. I can&rsquo;t
+make it come out twice alike.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where did you get that gold piece?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, don&rsquo;t you know? <em>You</em> gave it to
+me for letting Dr. Strong pull out my big
+back tooth.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Father laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Did I?&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;I had forgotten
+it. But where did you get those two silver
+dollars?&rdquo; he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, grandmother gave me this one.
+It&rsquo;s <em>chicken</em> money. She gave it to me for
+feeding the chickens every morning all
+the while I staid there; and the other is
+<em>hat</em> money. Aunt Ellen told me if I&rsquo;d
+wear my hat always when I went out in
+the sun, and so keep from getting sun-burned,
+that she would give me another
+dollar; and she did.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where did the remainder come from?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mostly from you, papa. You are always
+giving me money. These two
+bright, new quarters you gave me when
+you looked over my writing-book, and saw
+it hadn&rsquo;t a blot. How much is there in
+all?&rdquo; I earnestly asked.</p>
+
+<p>Father glanced at the little pile, and
+smilingly said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Seven dollars and ten cents. That&rsquo;s
+a good deal of money for a little girl only
+nine years old to spend.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And may I spend it just as I please?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Certainly, my dear; just as you please.
+It&rsquo;s a great thing for little people to learn
+to spend money wisely.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Saying this, he seated himself by the
+window, and drawing me towards him,
+placed me upon one knee.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Gracie, dear, I have just received a
+letter from grandmother. She proposes
+that I come to Vermont and bring you;
+that I remain as long as business will admit,
+and leave you to pass the summer
+just as you did last year. How would
+that suit?&rdquo; fixing his kind dark eyes full
+upon my upturned face to read my changing
+thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, I should like it very much!&rdquo; I
+quickly exclaimed, clapping my hands with
+delight. Then I reflected a moment, and a
+shadow fell over my prospective happiness.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;On the whole, papa,&rdquo; I said, earnestly,
+&ldquo;I think I had better go, and not stay
+any longer than you can stay. I am all
+the little girl <em>you</em> have, and you are all
+the parent <em>I</em> have, and we should be very
+lonely without each other.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I felt his warm, loving kiss upon my
+cheek as he folded me to his heart, and a
+tear fell on my forehead. For two years I
+had been motherless; but a double portion
+of pity and tenderness had been lavished
+upon me by my indulgent father. He was
+a New York merchant of ample means.
+Our home was elegant and tasteful.</p>
+
+<p>The home of my father&rsquo;s only surviving
+parent, my doting grandmother, whom we
+were designing to visit, was a plain, unpretending
+farm-house, snuggly nestled
+up among the hills of Vermont. There
+were tall poplar trees and a flower-garden
+in front, a little orchard and a whole
+row of nice looking out-buildings in the
+rear. There was no place on earth so full
+of joy for me. The swallows&rsquo; nests on the
+barn; the turkeys, geese, and chickens;
+the colt, lambs, and little pigs; in short,
+everything had an ever-increasing attraction,
+far exceeding any pleasures to be
+found within the limits of the crowded city.</p>
+
+<p>The prospect of another visit to Woodville
+filled my heart with intense delight.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>334]</a></span>
+A week passed, and on one of the
+sunniest and freshest of June mornings
+we started for Vermont. I was exceedingly
+fond of travelling in the cars, and it
+seemed as if a thousand sunbeams had
+suddenly fallen upon my young life. The
+train left New York, and we found ourselves
+rapidly whirling past hills, forests,
+towns, and villages. Sometimes we were
+flying through dark, deep cuts, then crossing
+streams and rich green fields and
+meadows.</p>
+
+<p>We expected to reach grandmother&rsquo;s
+that evening. I had written to inform
+her of our coming. One hour after another
+passed. The day was declining, and
+the sun was slowly sinking in the west.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How much longer have we to go?&rdquo;
+was the question I had asked for the fiftieth
+time at least.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;About another hour&rsquo;s ride, Gracie,&rdquo;
+smilingly answered my father. &ldquo;I think
+we shall reach Woodville about eight.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The cars continued to hurry on till we
+were within a few rods of the station.</p>
+
+<p>The bell was ringing its usual warning,
+and the bell from a train from behind was
+beginning to be heard. We had commenced
+to switch off, to allow the express
+train to pass. But by some carelessness
+or miscalculation our train was a minute
+too late. Father and I were comfortably
+occupying one of the front seats of the
+rear car; and I was in a state of impatient
+excitement to reach our destination.
+But there came, in an instant, a stunning,
+frightful crash; and I was thrown violently
+forward. What followed for the next
+ten minutes I do not know.</p>
+
+<p>I think I must have been in a semi-unconscious
+state, for I have a dim recollection
+of strange sounds, confusion, anxiety,
+and terror. Strong hands seemed to pull
+me out from under a heavy weight, and
+gently lay me down. I felt dizzy and
+faint. I opened my eyes, and light came
+gradually to my darkened vision. A
+gentleman stood over me with his fingers
+upon my wrist. A kind, sunny-faced old
+lady was wetting my head.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Are you much hurt?&rdquo; she tenderly
+inquired, gazing upon me in undisguised
+anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the matter? Where am I?&rdquo;
+I cried, springing up and gazing wildly
+around.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment my eye caught sight of
+the broken rear car. There were several
+wounded and bleeding people about me.
+I saw the front cars emptied of passengers,
+who were actively employed in caring
+for the injured. I comprehended in an
+instant that there had been an accident.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My father! my father!&rdquo; I cried.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You shall see him soon,&rdquo; soothingly
+answered the gentleman by my side.
+&ldquo;Drink this;&rdquo; and he held to my mouth
+a glass of something pleasant and pungent.
+I drank its entire contents. I think
+it helped to quite restore me. I ran wildly
+about in search of my missing parent.
+There was a little group of men and women
+a short distance off. I hurried towards
+it, and recognized Peter, my grandmother&rsquo;s
+man, who had come to meet us
+at the station.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where is my father?&rdquo; I said in a
+voice hardly audible from terror, seizing
+Peter&rsquo;s arm.</p>
+
+<p>Before he could reply, I saw father,
+white and motionless, upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He is dead!&rdquo; I shrieked, springing
+towards him, and convulsively throwing
+my arms about him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He is stunned, <em>not</em> dead, my child,&rdquo;
+said the physician, kindly drawing me
+away, to minister to him. &ldquo;We hope he
+will soon be better.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In spite of his soothing words and
+tones, I read the truth in his face; that
+he feared life was almost extinct.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, what can I do? Save him! save
+him! You must <em>not</em> let him die! you must
+<em>not</em>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>335]</a></span>
+&ldquo;My poor child, I will do all I can,&rdquo;
+replied the physician, touched by my distress.</p>
+
+<p>But no efforts to restore my father to
+consciousness availed anything. There
+was a deep, ugly cut on one side of his
+head. No other external injury could be
+found; yet he had not spoken or moved
+since he was taken out from the broken
+car.</p>
+
+<p>The accident had occurred but a few
+rods from the station; and as grandmother&rsquo;s
+house was scarcely a mile distant,
+Peter strongly urged that he should
+be taken there at once. Accordingly a
+wagon was procured. The seats were
+taken out, and a mattress placed upon the
+bottom, and father was carefully laid upon
+it; and Peter drove rapidly home, while I
+followed with the doctor in his buggy.
+A man had been sent in advance of us to
+inform grandmother of our coming. She
+met us at the door with a pallid face, but
+was so outwardly calm, that I took courage
+from beholding her.</p>
+
+<p>Father was laid upon a nice, white bed,
+in a little room on the ground floor; and
+again every means for restoring him was
+resorted to. Still he remained unconscious.</p>
+
+<p>The hours went on. The old family
+clock had just struck two, and we were
+watching and working in an agony of
+suspense.</p>
+
+<p>I had not left my father&rsquo;s bedside, till
+the low, indistinct conversation between
+the doctor and grandmother, in the next
+room, fell upon my ear.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There is life yet,&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;I thought
+once he had ceased to breathe.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And you are quite sure he does?&rdquo;
+she inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes. I held a small mirror over his
+face; and the mist that gathered upon it
+proves there is still faint breathing.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I shuddered and ran out to them.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You think he will die!&rdquo; I cried,
+seizing grandmother&rsquo;s hand with desperate
+energy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I cannot tell, dear Gracie. His life,
+like yours and mine, is in the hands of
+God. We cannot foresee his purposes.
+We can only submit to his will.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Saying this, she returned with the doctor
+to the sick room, and I was left alone.</p>
+
+<p>The prospect of being deprived of my
+only surviving parent almost paralyzed
+me. I looked out of the open window.
+It was a calm, clear summer night. The
+moon shone out in all its glory and brilliancy,
+and the stars twinkled as cheerily
+as though there was no sorrow, suffering,
+or death in the world.</p>
+
+<p>I sprang towards the door and closed
+it, and then threw myself upon my knees,
+and poured out my great anguish into the
+pitying ear of the heavenly Father.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, good, kind Father in heaven, do
+hear and quickly answer me. Do save
+my own dear papa from death. Mother,
+Bessie, and little Fred have all gone to
+live with thee; and he is all I have left.
+Do, I entreat thee, help him to get well;
+I will be more kind, and generous, and
+obedient than I have ever been before,
+and will try to please thee as long as I
+live.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I arose comforted and strengthened.
+Returning to my father&rsquo;s room, I saw the
+doctor with his fingers upon his wrist
+again.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A faint pulse,&rdquo; he said, turning towards
+grandmother.</p>
+
+<p>Another hour passed. The breath was
+perceptible now, and the doctor looked
+more hopefully.</p>
+
+<p>Morning came, and the glad sunlight
+streamed in through the windows. Father
+remained in a deep stupor, but manifested
+more signs of life than at any time since
+the accident. He had moved slightly
+several times, and as the hours went on
+his breathing became more natural and
+regular.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>336]</a></span>
+Suddenly he opened his eyes and gazed
+feebly around.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Father, dear father, are you better?&rdquo;
+I cried in a choking voice.</p>
+
+<p>He smiled faintly, then closed his eyes
+again, and sank into a sweet, refreshing
+slumber.</p>
+
+<p>Another day came, bringing joy immeasurable
+to all of us. Father was conscious
+and rallying fast, and before night
+the doctor assured us all danger was past.
+The weeks went on.</p>
+
+<p>June went out and July came in. We
+had been nearly a month in Woodville;
+and how different my visit had resulted
+from the season of perfect happiness I
+had so ardently anticipated!</p>
+
+<p>Father was gradually regaining his former
+health; and although the wound on
+his head was but partially healed, he was
+pronounced doing admirably by the attentive
+physician.</p>
+
+<p>He was now able to go out, and we
+took many long rides together, keenly enjoying
+the beautiful scenery and the pure
+air. As strength increased, the necessity
+of returning to his business pressed upon
+my father, and the first week in September
+was appointed for our departure.</p>
+
+<p>On the last Sunday of our sojourn in
+Woodville, grandmother and I went in
+the morning to church. There had just
+been a fearfully destructive fire in one of
+the neighboring towns, and a large number
+of people were homeless. The minister
+announced that at the close of the
+afternoon service, a collection would be
+taken up for the sufferers, and he strongly
+urged a generous contribution from his
+parishioners.</p>
+
+<p>I had hitherto paid little heed, when in
+church, to what the minister said; but
+since the dreadful accident and father&rsquo;s
+almost miraculous recovery, I had been far
+more thoughtful and attentive than formerly.
+My heart went out in deep sympathy
+and pity for the poor men, women,
+and children who were made houseless in
+a single night, and I ardently longed to
+do the little in my power to relieve them.</p>
+
+<p>So, during the intermission between
+the services, I took out the money I had
+brought with me, and which father had
+told me I was free to spend as I pleased.
+I tied it up in my handkerchief. There
+was too much for my pocket-book to conveniently
+hold, for it was all of the carefully
+hoarded treasure of my bank. It
+was my design to put it into the contribution-box.</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother did not go to church in
+the afternoon; but father decided to go,
+and I accompanied him. After the services
+were over, two men arose and began
+to pass round the boxes to collect money
+for the people whose homes had been
+burned. As I beheld one of them coming
+slowly up the aisle, stopping at every
+pew, I was in a flutter of excitement. It
+was a novel thing for me to put money
+into the contribution-box, and my heart
+beat violently.</p>
+
+<p>I drew out my handkerchief from my
+pocket, and hurriedly began to untie the
+knot. But my usually nimble fingers
+were provokingly slow to act now; and I
+pulled and pulled away, but to no purpose.
+The knot obstinately refused to yield.
+The man with the box had nearly reached
+our pew, and I began to fear I should lose
+the chance to give.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t let him slip by me,&rdquo; I whispered
+so loudly to father as to cause at least a
+dozen persons in the adjacent seats to
+stare wonderingly at me. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve something
+to put in.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Another prodigious effort, and the knot
+yielded.</p>
+
+<p>The man passed the box first to father,
+and he put in a bill. He glanced at me, evidently
+thinking a child would hardly have
+money to give, and was about to go on;
+but I looked beseechingly towards him,
+and he stopped and extended the box to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>337]</a></span>
+me. In an instant the entire contents of
+my handkerchief were emptied into it&mdash;as
+much money as my two chubby hands
+could hold.</p>
+
+<p>Father looked down upon me, and a
+half-amused smile flitted over his face, as
+he beheld my unexpected act.</p>
+
+<p>After we had returned home, father sat
+down by the window in an easy chair, and
+calling me to him, placed me upon his knee.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Gracie, dear,&rdquo; said he, smilingly, &ldquo;tell
+me how it happened you put so much
+money into the contribution-box. It must
+have taken nearly all you had.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It <em>was</em> all I had, papa. It was the
+money I saved in my bank, and you told
+me I could spend it just as I pleased.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, yes, dear; I am glad to have you;
+only it was a good deal for a little girl.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I gave it because I wanted to please
+God,&rdquo; I replied with earnest solemnity.
+&ldquo;That dreadful night, when we all thought
+you would die, dear papa, I promised
+God I would be a better girl than I have
+ever been before. I would be more kind,
+generous, and obedient, and would try
+and please him all my life, if he would
+only let <em>you</em> get well; and I gave my
+money to-day because I am so glad and
+grateful to him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Precious child,&rdquo; said he tenderly and
+with much emotion, drawing me close to
+him, &ldquo;and I am glad, and grateful too, for
+the rich gift of my dear little daughter.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">Sarah P. Brigham.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_337lower" id="Page_337lower"></a>THE WAY TO WALK.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">AS I tramped over a stony path,<br />
+<span class="i3">One cloudy morning early,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I learned the only way to step,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To keep from being surly.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Don&rsquo;t hurry, and stride, and come down hard<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Upon the rolling pebbles,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But lightly step; and that&rsquo;s the way<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To charm all kinds of rebels.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Don&rsquo;t hurry, and stride, and come down hard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Even on troublesome people;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But carry your feet, and tread on air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As though you lived on a steeple.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">There are rolling stones in every path,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And rocks with jagged edges,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which, if we gently touch, may turn<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To flowers and bending sedges.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet">M. R. W.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>338]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd136.jpg" width="600" height="459"
+alt="Two dromedary, or Arabian, camels, one standing, the other lying down" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE CAMEL.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>339]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/hd137.jpg" width="500" height="128"
+alt="Foliage decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>CAMELS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE Bactrian camel may be at once
+known by the two humps upon its
+back, which give the animal a most singular
+appearance.</p>
+
+<p>This species is a native of Central Asia,
+China, and Thibet, and is generally as
+useful in those countries as is the dromedary
+in Arabia, being employed for the
+saddle, for draught, and burden. It is,
+however, chiefly employed for the second
+of those purposes, and is of the greatest
+service to its owners.</p>
+
+<p>The vehicle to which this camel is generally
+harnessed is a rude cart of wood,
+ingeniously put together, without a particle
+of iron, and, after the fashion of such
+structures, shrieking, creaking, and groaning
+as the wheels turn on their roughly-made
+and ungreased axle. The drivers,
+however, care nothing for the hideous
+and incessant noise, and probably are so
+accustomed to it, that they would not feel
+at home with a cart whose wheels moved
+silently. The mode of harnessing is precisely
+that which so simple a vehicle requires.
+From the front of the cart projects
+a pole, and to this pole are hitched a pair
+of camels by a yoke that passes over their
+shoulders. In fact, the entire harness is
+nothing more than a wooden yoke and a
+leathern strap.</p>
+
+<p>In spite, however, of the rude machine
+to which they are attached, and the great
+loss of power by the friction of the
+badly-fitted wheels, the animals can draw very
+heavy weights for considerable distances.
+A burden of three thousand pounds&rsquo;
+weight is an ordinary load for a pair of
+camels, and a peculiarly strong yoke of
+these animals will draw nearly four thousand
+pounds&rsquo; weight. This camel is commonly
+yoked in pairs.</p>
+
+<p>For the plough the camel is never employed,
+not because it is not sufficiently
+strong for the task, but because it does
+not pull with the steadiness needed to
+drag the ploughshare regularly through
+the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes, however, the Bactrian camel
+is employed as a beast of burden, the bales
+being slung at each side, and the water-skins
+suspended below the belly. When
+the animal is employed for this purpose,
+a kind of pack-saddle is used, somewhat
+similar in shape to that which has already
+been described in the history of the one-humped
+camel, but necessarily modified
+in its structure. The owner of the camel
+takes great care not to overload his animal,
+as he is afraid of injuring the humps,
+and thereby detracting from the value of
+the camel.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 426px;">
+<img src="images/hd138.jpg" width="426" height="600"
+alt="The camel is laden with items, and two small children are in hanging bags on the side" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">CAMEL OF A TARTAR EMIGRANT.</p>
+
+<p>In Persia the camel is employed for a
+very singular purpose. There was, and
+may be now, a corps of the army which
+is called the camel artillery. It consisted
+of a number of camels, each
+fitted with a peculiar saddle, which not
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340"><!-- Illustration - CAMEL OF A TARTAR EMIGRANT --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>341]</a></span>
+only accommodated the rider, but carried
+a swivel-gun of about one pound calibre.
+These weapons had a greater range than
+the ordinary Persian matchlocks, and,
+owing to the rapidity with which they
+could be transferred from spot to spot,
+formed a valuable branch of the artillery.</p>
+
+<p>When the enemy saw that a detachment
+of the camel artillery was about to attack
+them, their usual device was to reach such
+a position as to force the camels to traverse
+wet and muddy ground, in which they
+were sure to slip about, to lose all command
+over their limbs, and sometimes to
+lame themselves completely by the hind
+legs slipping apart.</p>
+
+<p>Camels were especially serviceable for
+this purpose, because they are wonderfully
+sure-footed when the ground is dry, almost
+rivalling the mule in the certainty
+of the tread. The Arabian camel is notable
+for his sure tread, but the Bactrian
+species is still more remarkable in this
+respect. Owing, in all probability, to the
+elongated toe, which projects beyond the
+foot, and forms a kind of claw, the Bactrian
+camel can climb mountain passes with
+perfect security, and in consequence of
+this ability is sometimes called the mountain
+camel.</p>
+
+<p>It is as serviceable in winter as in summer.
+The soft, cushion-like feet, which
+slide about so helplessly in mud, take a
+firm hold of ice, and enable their owner
+to traverse a frozen surface with easy security.
+In snow, too, the Bactrian camel
+is equally at home; and the Calmucks
+would rather ride a camel than a horse in
+the winter, because the longer legs of the
+former animal enable it to wade through
+the deep snow, in which a horse could
+only plunge about without finding a foothold.
+No greater proof of the extreme
+utility of this animal can be adduced than
+the fact that a body of two thousand
+camels were employed in conducting a
+military train over the &ldquo;snow-clad
+summits of the Indian Caucasus&rdquo; in winter
+time, and that throughout the space of
+seven months only one camel died, having
+been accidentally killed.</p>
+
+<p>Although the camel has so strong an
+objection to mud, it has none to water,
+and will wade across a river without hesitation.
+It can even swim well when the
+water is too deep to be forded; but it does
+not appear to have much power of directing
+its course, or of propelling itself through
+the water with much force. Indeed, it
+may rather be said to float than to swim.</p>
+
+<p>In point of speed it cannot approach
+the Arabian dromedary, although it is
+little inferior to the ordinary camel of
+burden. About two and a half miles per
+hour is the average pace at which a pair
+of Bactrian camels will draw a load, varying
+in weight from three to four thousand
+pounds; and if they travel over a well-made
+road, they can do their thirty miles
+a day for many successive days. In countries,
+therefore, which are adapted to its
+habits, the camel is far superior to any
+other beast of burden, whether for draught
+or carriage.</p>
+
+<p>One great advantage of the camel is,
+that its feet are so tough, that they can
+pass over rough and stony places without
+suffering, and that therefore the animal
+does not require the aid of shoes. In an
+ordinary march, the constant attention to
+the shoeing of horses and cattle entails
+great labor, much watchfulness, and often
+causes considerable delay, so that the
+peculiar formation of the camel&rsquo;s foot,
+which neither requires nor admits of an
+iron shoe, is of exceeding value in a
+forced march. In some places a leathern
+shoe is fixed to the camel&rsquo;s foot, but is
+really of little use.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd139.jpg" width="600" height="372"
+alt="Two dromedary, or Arabian, camels, one standing, the other lying down" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE CAMEL.</p>
+
+<p>The very worst time for the Bactrian
+camel is the beginning and end of winter,
+when frost and thaw occur alternately.
+At such times of the year the snow falls
+thickly, is partially melted in the daytime,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342"><!-- Illustration - THE CAMEL --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>343]</a></span>
+and at night freezes on the surface into a
+thin cake of ice. Through this crust the
+feet of the camel break, and the animal
+cuts its legs cruelly with the sharp edges
+of the broken ice.</p>
+
+<p>For the cold weather itself this species
+of camel cares little, passing its whole
+time in the open air, and feeding on the
+grass when it is caked with the ice formed
+from the dew. Indeed, it bears a severe
+winter better than either horse, ox, or
+sheep, and has been observed to feed
+with apparent comfort when the thermometer
+had sunk many degrees below
+zero. In some places&mdash;such as the
+country about Lake Baikal&mdash;the camel
+is partially sheltered from the cold by
+a thick woollen cloth, which is sewn
+over its body; but even in such cases
+its owners do not trouble themselves to
+furnish it with food, leaving it to forage
+for itself among shrubs and trees of higher
+ground, or among the reeds and rushes
+that grow on marshy land and the banks
+of rivers.</p>
+
+<p>Almost the only disease among the
+Bactrian camels is an affection of the
+tongue, which is covered with blisters, so
+that the poor animal cannot eat, and dies
+from starvation.</p>
+
+<p>The fleece of the Bactrian camel ought
+to weigh about ten pounds, and is used
+for making a coarse and strong cloth. In
+the summer time the hair becomes loose,
+and is easily plucked off by hand, just as
+sheep used to be &ldquo;rowed&rdquo; before shears
+were employed in removing the wool.
+The camel in the Zo&ouml;logical Gardens
+may be seen in the summer time in a
+very ragged state, its fleece hanging in
+bunches in some parts of the body, while
+others are quite bare. The price of the
+wool is about six cents a pound.</p>
+
+<p>The skin is used for making straps,
+ropes, and thongs, and is seldom tanned.
+It is thought to be inferior to that of the
+ox, and is in consequence sold at a comparatively
+cheap rate, an entire hide only
+fetching about two dollars. The milk is
+used for food, but is produced in very
+small quantities, the average yield being
+only half a gallon. The flesh is eaten,
+and when the animal is fat is tolerably
+tender, and is thought to resemble beef.
+If, however, it be in poor condition, the
+meat is so tough and ill-flavored, that none
+but hungry men, armed with good teeth,
+can eat it. The price of a good Bactrian
+camel is about fifty dollars.</p>
+
+<p>The weight of a full-grown animal is
+about one third more than that of the
+average ox&mdash;that is to say, about twelve
+hundred pounds. The average height is
+seven or eight feet, and the animal generally
+lives about thirty-five or forty years.</p>
+
+<p>Dissimilar in external appearance as are
+the Bactrian and Arabian camels, their
+skeletons are so alike, that none but a
+skilful anatomist can decide upon the
+species to which a skeleton has belonged.
+The legs of the Bactrian species are rather
+shorter in proportion than those of the
+Arabian animal, and in them lies the chief
+distinction of the two species. Indeed,
+many naturalists deny that there is any
+real difference of species, and assert that
+the two animals are simply two varieties
+of the same species.</p>
+
+<p>The specimen in the Zo&ouml;logical Gardens
+is called &ldquo;Jenny&rdquo; by the keeper, and has
+rather a curious history, being associated
+with one of the great events of the present
+century. During the late Russian
+war her mother was taken from the enemy
+in the Crimea, and was unfortunately
+killed. The deserted little one ran about
+among the soldiers, and was adopted by
+the corps of Royal Engineers, who towards
+the end of 1856 presented her to
+the Zo&ouml;logical Society. Both the camels
+are fed upon the same diet, and eat about
+the same quantity.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">J. G. Wood.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>344]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 342px;">
+<img src="images/hd140.jpg" width="342" height="550"
+alt="Two girls looking thoughtful; one of them is sitting on a clothes trunk" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>WHAT SO SWEET?</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">WHAT so sweet as summer,<br />
+<span class="i4">When the sky is blue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the sunbeams&rsquo; arrows<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Pierce the green earth through?<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">What so sweet as birds are,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Putting into trills<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>345]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">The perfume of the wild-rose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The murmur of the rills?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">What so sweet as flowers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Clovers white and red,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where the brown bee-chemist<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Finds its daily bread?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">What so sweet as sun-showers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When the big cloud passes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the fairy rainbow<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Seems to touch the grasses?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">What so sweet as winds are,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Blowing from the woods,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hinting in their music<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of dreamy solitudes?<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Rain, and song, and flower,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When the summer&rsquo;s shine<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Makes the green earth&rsquo;s beauty<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Seem a thing divine.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Mary N. Prescott.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_345lower" id="Page_345lower"></a>COUNTING BABY&rsquo;S TOES.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">DEAR little bare feet,<br />
+<span class="i3">Dimpled and white,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In your long night-gown<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Wrapped for the night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come let me count all<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Your queer little toes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pink as the heart<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of a shell or a rose.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">One is a lady<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That sits in the sun;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Two is a baby,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And three is a nun;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Four is a lily<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With innocent breast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And five is a birdie<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Asleep on her nest.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>346]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 398px;">
+<img src="images/hd141.jpg" width="398" height="600"
+alt="Uncle John takes Nellie and Rose to see the well" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE WELL.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>347]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THORNS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">D</span>EEPDALE is a delightful place to visit.&rdquo; So thought little Nellie
+Harris when she went there to see Cousin Rose. All day long they
+wandered over the farm with Uncle John, first to feed the chickens, then to
+the well so dark and deep Nellie shuddered when she looked far, far down
+into it, and held tight to Rose for fear of falling. Uncle John turned the
+windlass to let Rose and Nellie see the bucket rise all dripping from its watery
+bed.</p>
+
+<p>One morning after Nellie&rsquo;s return to the city, Rose was walking alone in
+the garden.</p>
+
+<p>The flowers were charming, for the dew was not yet off their delicate petals;
+and they were so fragrant that little Rose&rsquo;s nose was put close up to a
+great many, to find which it was that smelled so very sweetly. First she was
+sure it was a great cabbage-rose that nodded at her from its stalk, but soon
+after she was surer that it was a little bed of pansies, or &ldquo;Johnny-jump-ups,&rdquo;
+which turned all their bright little faces to the sun, like a family of newly-washed
+and clean-aproned children just starting for school. Soon, however,
+she was surest that it was a patch of mignonette under the pear tree, which,
+though it looked so plain and humble with its little bits of blossoms, was
+pouring out the richest perfume.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, it is you, is it?&rdquo; said little Rose. &ldquo;Mamma read to us yesterday
+that perfume was the soul of flowers. I guess you have got the biggest soul
+of them all, if you are so little.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Pretty soon Rose began to think of something more substantial than bird-songs,
+sunbeams and flowers. There were very nice raspberries, red and ripe,
+over beyond the currant-bushes, and her mamma allowed her to pick them in
+that part of the garden, for she knew how delightful it is for little folks to eat
+their fruit just where they pick it from the bushes.</p>
+
+<p>Little Rose went around into the lower walk, where she could see the raspberries.
+A good many had ripened over-night, and hung on the long, waving
+stems, waiting to be picked.</p>
+
+<p>There was a short way to them, right across between two great branching
+currant-bushes. She saw it was guarded by long briar-stalks with sharp thorns
+all along their sides, but it was so much nearer than to go around the long
+row of currants. &ldquo;Mamma says we must not be afraid of trials and discouragements
+in our way,&rdquo; Rose said. She was very fond of quoting things she
+heard said or read, and applying them to her own experience.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I guess I can get through. Little girls must be brave!&rdquo; And she pushed
+boldly into the middle of the space between the bushes. But there she caught
+fast, and could not go a step farther. One great, strong branch of thorns
+was stretched across her foot, the sharp points sticking fast in her stocking,
+and hurting her flesh cruelly if she tried to move it. Another one caught
+hold of her little garden-shawl and pulled it away back off her shoulders.
+She pulled and twitched with all her might, but could not get it loose. On
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>348]</a></span>
+the other side her little bare elbow was torn and bleeding from a scratch,
+while her dress was held as fast as if a hundred invisible hands were pulling
+at it. There she was. She could not get on nor back. There was nothing
+to be done but to call for her mother. This she did so loudly that everybody
+in the house came rushing to see what was the matter. Dolly and Hannah,
+leaving their dish-washing in the kitchen, got there first, and setting to work
+soon had Rose out, but with scratched hands, arms and feet and two great
+rents in her dress.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How in the world did you come in there among the briars?&rdquo; asked
+mamma, after they were in the house again and Rose became comforted a
+little.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It was the nearest way to the raspberries,&rdquo; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The nearest? Yes; but not the best. It would have been far better to
+go around by the path.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I heard you tell Cousin Lucy the other day that folks must never mind if
+there were thorns in their way,&rdquo; said little Rose, almost sobbing again, for
+she had thought that at least her mother would praise her courage and philosophy.</p>
+
+<p>Her mother smiled, but presently looked grave.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My darling,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;it is true we must not mind thorns if they are
+in the path of duty. But when they grow in any other path, we have a right&mdash;indeed,
+we ought&mdash;to avoid them if we can.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But wasn&rsquo;t I in the path of duty when I tried to get the raspberries,
+mamma? You said that I might pick all that grew down there.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You were not doing wrong in trying to get them.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t that the same as duty?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Not exactly. Would it have been wrong for you to do without them?
+Or would you have been to blame for going by the path?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh no,&rdquo; said Rose; &ldquo;it would not have been wrong, for nobody said I
+must get them, or that I must go through the currant-bushes.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Then you see it was not duty.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Please tell me exactly what is meant by duty, mamma.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Duty is not only something which we may do, it is something which we
+ought to do, and which it would be wrong to neglect. It is not simply permission,
+but obligation. Is that plain?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, mamma. I understand now. I was permitted to pick the berries,
+but I was not obliged to do it or else do wrong. But if you had sent me to
+pick them for you, it would have been duty.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And do you think that in that case it would be right to go through the
+thorns?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, mamma; I see now. It is right to take the plainest, easiest way
+when we can.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, my dear. We must not be afraid of thorns if our path leads over
+them. But if we leave the true path and foolishly try to push ourselves
+through unnecessary obstacles, it is not bravery or fortitude, but vanity and
+silly rashness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>349]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>UNDER THE PEAR TREES.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">UNDER the pear trees one August day,<br />
+<span class="i3">In the long-ago and the far-away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Four little children rested from play,<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Cheering the hours with childish chat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now laughing at this or shouting at that,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till a golden pear fell straight in Fred&rsquo;s hat.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I&rsquo;m lucky,&rdquo; he cried as he hastened to eat<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The mellow pear so juicy and sweet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;If I tried for a week, that couldn&rsquo;t be beat.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then Tom and Jenny and Mary spread<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their hats and aprons wide, and said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;We can catch pears as well as Fred.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then long and patient they sat, and still,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hoping a breeze from over the hill<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their laps with the golden fruit would fill.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Till, weary of waiting, Tom said with a sneer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I could gather a <em>bushel</em> of pears, &rsquo;tis clear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While idly we <em>wait</em> for a <em>windfall</em> here.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then up the tree he sprang, and the power<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of his sturdy arm soon sent a shower<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of yellow fruit as a golden dower.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">It was long ago, that August day<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When four little children rested from play<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Under the pear trees far away.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And the children, older and wiser now,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With furrows of care on either brow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Have not forgotten the lesson, I trow&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The lesson they learned on that August day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That for having our wishes the surest <em>way</em><br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is to <em>work</em>, and in <em>earnest</em>, without <em>delay</em>.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>350]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE CAVE OF BENTON&rsquo;S RIDGE.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE cave was a large opening in a
+ledge of rocks, about half a mile
+from the village of M&mdash;&mdash;, and had for
+years been a favorite resort for the boys
+on the holidays.</p>
+
+<p>&rsquo;Twas at the close of school, on a bright
+June day, when, with a rush and a shout,
+out came a bevy of boys from the school-house,
+and over the wall with a bound
+were half a dozen before the rest had
+emerged from the open door. The first
+ones took their way across the fields to
+the cave, and had thrown themselves
+down on the rock at the entrance, and
+were busily talking, when the last comers
+arrived.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve planned to have a time Saturday;
+if Miss Walters will take the botany
+class for a walk, we&rsquo;ll come here and have
+supper, and go home by moonlight,&rdquo; said
+Fred Manning. &ldquo;How does that strike
+you?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Count me in,&rdquo; said Phil Earle. &ldquo;I
+second the motion,&rdquo; said Arthur Ames.
+&ldquo;Where shall we go to walk?&rdquo; said another;
+&ldquo;this is nearly far enough for
+some of the girls.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Pooh! no! we can get some nice
+pitcher-plants, if we go to Eaton&rsquo;s meadows;
+we haven&rsquo;t been there for ever so
+long,&rdquo; said Phil.</p>
+
+<p>All agreed it would be fun, and Phil
+was deputized to ask Miss Walters, and
+with her complete the arrangements.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s Thursday now; and I&rsquo;ll ask father
+if we can&rsquo;t have some of the hay
+they are making down in the lower field, to
+put inside the cave; for we must fix up a
+little,&rdquo; said Arthur. Willie Eaton said his
+mother would make them a jug of coffee;
+and as he lived near, he would run round
+that way at noon, and put it in the spring,
+so as to have it nice and cool. For one
+of the attractions of this place was a
+lovely spring, that bubbled and sparkled
+among the ferns, just under the rock
+where the cave was.</p>
+
+<p>Fred and Phil began to lay the stones
+for the fireplace; for though it was not
+cold on these bright June nights, still a
+fire was one of the grand features of the
+occasion.</p>
+
+<p>They all worked, some brushing out the
+cave with bushes, some getting old wood
+in piles to burn, rolling stones for seats,
+etc., until it was time for them to go home,
+when, with merry shouts, off they ran
+down the rock, and over the fields, home.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning Phil called for Miss
+Walters, and on the way told her of the
+plans for Saturday, into which she entered
+heartily, and wanted the boys to
+stay a few moments after the morning
+session, to perfect the arrangements.</p>
+
+<p>At recess she called the girls of the
+botany class to her, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Girls, can you go on Saturday to
+walk? The boys have invited us to take
+supper at the cave.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, yes!&rdquo; &ldquo;O, yes!&rdquo; &ldquo;Yes, indeed!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Splendid!&rdquo; answered half a dozen
+voices.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We will meet here at two o&rsquo;clock;
+and you must dress for the meadows.
+I believe the boys are mostly web-footed,
+by the way they take to such places;
+however, we do find the best specimens
+there. Another thing&mdash;the boys are to
+furnish eggs and coffee, they say; and
+each of you can bring what is most convenient.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Off went the girls, eager to plan and
+discuss the welcome project.</p>
+
+<p>Saturday came&mdash;a bright, cloudless
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>351]</a></span>
+day. All were at the school-house at
+two, or before, and set forth, looking like
+strollers, as they were.</p>
+
+<p>They did not make many collections
+on the high land; but when they entered
+the meadows, they soon found a variety
+of pretty grasses.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Fudge!&rdquo; said Ella Barton; &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not
+going to get any of that old hay&mdash;would
+you, Miss Walters?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, certainly not, if I did not want
+the trouble of carrying it; but I think
+them very lovely to put with branches of
+bayberry, as they form such a pretty contrast
+of color with the delicate pearl-gray
+berries and brown branches; and if you
+add a few bunches of bright red arum
+berries, you have a pretty, fadeless winter
+bouquet.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where can we get the bayberries?&rdquo;
+said Fred, coming up.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;In most places near the salt water.
+In the town where my home is, there are
+acres and acres of it; and may be at
+Thanksgiving time I can send you some
+to distribute, or, better still, you might
+make up a party, and come down. I&rsquo;ll
+promise you a fine tramp, plenty of berries,
+and perhaps my mother will let you
+taste of her Thanksgiving pies.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Off went Fred&rsquo;s hat high in the air.
+&ldquo;Hurrah for the pie! I&rsquo;ll certainly go,
+if you&rsquo;d like to have me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Walters laughed, and said nothing
+would give her greater pleasure than to
+welcome the whole party.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, Miss Walters, what&rsquo;s this lovely
+flower?&rdquo; &ldquo;Come here, come here!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;O, how lovely! here&rsquo;s plenty more!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;And here, and here,&rdquo; were the exclamations
+of several of the advancing stragglers.</p>
+
+<p>All who were with Miss Walters hastened
+forward; and there, in a wet,
+treacherous-looking place, grew patches
+of a most delicate lilac-colored or light
+purple flower.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, that&rsquo;s Arethusa,&rdquo; said the teacher;
+&ldquo;it is very beautiful.&rdquo; Rubber boots only
+can get at them; and two or three boys
+soon returned with hands full, which
+they distributed. Miss Walters said they
+could not stop to analyze any that day,
+but some of each kind must be put in
+the botany box, for the class to work with
+at some future time. As they walked
+along, Miss Walters told them that the
+flower was named after Arethusa of Grecian
+story, who was changed by Diana
+into a fountain, to escape from the god of
+the river where she was one day surprised
+by him while bathing.</p>
+
+<p>They had not gone far when Phil and
+two of the girls came running up with
+hands full of the Sarracenia, or pitcher-plant.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What fine specimens!&rdquo; said Miss
+Walters.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, I know where they grow!&rdquo; said
+Phil. &ldquo;I always go for them every year,
+just over that old fence, in a boggy place.
+I like them better than almost any of the
+plants, they are so curious. But where&rsquo;s
+a basket?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here, Amy!&rdquo; called Bessie White;
+&ldquo;can&rsquo;t you let me put my small lunch in
+your big basket with yours, and let Phil
+have mine for a specimen basket?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This arrangement being satisfactorily
+made, they moved along, one of the girls
+telling the new comers of the Arethusa
+and its name. And it was decided that
+all Miss Walters might tell them concerning
+the flowers should be written down,
+for the benefit of all, as they were often
+separated, searching for specimens.</p>
+
+<p>In the next meadow they came upon
+beds of Menyanthes&mdash;an ugly name, and
+its common one of buck-bean is not much
+better. They could find but few perfect
+specimens of the pretty white velvety
+flowers, with their yellow and brown anthers,
+as it was rather late for them.</p>
+
+<p>They found Pogonias and buds of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>352]</a></span>
+Calopogon,&mdash;pretty pinkish flowers,&mdash;both
+of which Miss Walters told them were
+closely related, and, indeed, belonged to
+the same family as the Arethusa. This
+was the Orchid family, which contained
+a large number of beautiful but strange
+plants, about a dozen of which were common
+in New England.</p>
+
+<p>On the edge of an overgrown ditch
+near by they found very nice specimens
+of Andromeda.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;See,&rdquo; said Miss Walters, &ldquo;how white
+and lovely these bells are, in spite of the cold
+wet places where it is compelled to grow.
+It is named after Andromeda, famed in
+Grecian myths, a victim to her mother&rsquo;s
+pride of beauty. Her mother had dared
+to compare herself to the sea nymphs, for
+which they, enraged, sent a huge monster
+to ravage the coast. To appease the
+nymphs, her father thought he must sacrifice
+his daughter; so he chained her to
+the water&rsquo;s edge; but as the monster approached,
+Perseus, assisted by the gods,
+killed him, delivered Andromeda, and afterwards
+married her.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The party now turned from the meadows
+on to higher ground. Houstonias and violets,
+with here and there Potentilla, covered
+the ground, the last so called because
+it was supposed to be powerful in medicine,
+<i>potens</i>, from which it is derived,
+meaning powerful.</p>
+
+<p>The Saxifrage on the rocks, derived
+from Latin words, indicating its manner
+of growth.</p>
+
+<p>Anemones, or wind flowers, were not
+entirely gone; so named because it was
+formerly thought the flowers only opened
+when the wind blew.</p>
+
+<p>Specimens multiplied. Each little group
+found something new.</p>
+
+<p>Trilliums, remarkable for having leaves,
+sepals, petals, and seed-vessels in threes;
+Smilacina, with its clean, green leaves,
+and white flowers, grew plentifully about
+them; Streptopus, meaning twisted foot,
+called so because its foot, or pedicel, is
+twisted.</p>
+
+<p>About five o&rsquo;clock they began their
+homeward walk, which took them round
+through some grand old pine woods. At
+last they came to their resting-place. All
+were more or less tired; and glad were
+they when they saw the black mouth of
+the cave open invitingly before them.
+Some threw themselves on the rock outside,
+some went in and rested on the fragrant
+hay that Arthur had piled on the
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>After resting a while in the cool shade,
+Phil said, &ldquo;I have a bright thought that
+rhymes with &lsquo;light.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is it the opposite of &lsquo;loose&rsquo;?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is not &lsquo;tight.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is it what you are sometimes?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is not &lsquo;bright.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, I meant a &lsquo;fright&rsquo;!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Thank you; it is not &lsquo;fright.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is it what we are all wishing for?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is a &lsquo;bite.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This was greeted with a shout, and
+committee number one, self-appointed,
+started for the baskets. Others arranged
+the table with boards and rocks put outside
+the cave door. The eatables were
+soon temptingly arranged. The jug of
+coffee and bottle of milk, with rubber
+mugs, were placed under Arthur&rsquo;s care;
+and he soon had as much as he could do
+to pour the refreshing draughts.</p>
+
+<p>The girls had little to do, the boys doing
+the honors in fine style. Very merry
+they grew over the good things; and so
+intent were they trying to sell the last at
+auction, that they never noticed a large cloud
+that had overspread the sky, until
+a few drops of rain fell upon the table.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a pretty go!&rdquo; said Fred.
+&ldquo;Run, Miss Walters; and, girls, get into
+the cave, and we&rsquo;ll clear the tables.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 502px;">
+<img src="images/hd142.jpg" width="502" height="400"
+alt="The friends' picnic is spoiled by the rain" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Busy hands quickly disposed of all the
+articles to be kept dry, and the boys were
+glad to get into the friendly shelter.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>353]</a></span>
+Down came the rain, heavily rolled the
+thunder, and for a little while the lightning
+was vivid. Soon the rain began to
+find its way into the cave.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This will not do. Where&rsquo;s the table,
+Fred? We must have up a storm door,&rdquo;
+said Phil.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;All ready to slide right up,&rdquo; said
+Fred. &ldquo;Arthur, will you get the chandelier
+ready? for it will be rather dark when
+the door is up.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Arthur crept on his hands and knees to
+a little crevice in the inner part of the
+cave, and drew out a tin box, with four
+holes in the cover. The girls gathered
+around, and were much amused to see
+him take out his four candles. These he
+stuck into the holes of the box; and
+lighting them, he placed them on a shelf
+prepared expressly for the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>Never were boys and girls more happy.
+They were enjoying excitement without
+danger or discomfort. They sang, played
+games; and when the rain had nearly
+ceased, some of the boys ran out and
+lighted the fire. They had kept the wood
+dry. Then turning the table on its side,
+they put out the candles, and had the full
+benefit of the fire-light. For a while conundrums
+were the order of the day;
+then they drew lots to determine who
+should tell the first story. It fell to Millie
+Gray, who, with timid modesty, demurred;
+but the penalty threatened for default was
+so great, that though she had never told a
+story in her life, she thought she had better
+begin now. Attentively they listened,
+waiting for her to begin. Presently she
+commenced.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There was, once upon a time, a beautiful
+little girl, with blue eyes and golden
+hair.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>354]</a></span>
+&ldquo;O,&rdquo; interrupted Fred, &ldquo;can&rsquo;t we have
+this one with black eyes and red hair, or
+brown eyes; I&rsquo;m tired of blue eyes and
+yellow hair.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, no, no,&rdquo; said Arthur; &ldquo;I like
+blue eyes. Go on, Millie.&rdquo; With a blush&mdash;for
+her own were blue, and she knew
+what Arthur meant&mdash;she continued.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I like to oblige all parties,&rdquo; replied
+Millie. &ldquo;Suppose we say her eyes
+were black and blue; but if any one else
+interrupts, I&rsquo;ll have them committed for
+contempt of court, and they shall be bound
+over to keep the peace.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Which piece?&rdquo; Fred was beginning
+to say, when Arthur jumped up and placed
+his hand over Fred&rsquo;s mouth, saying, &ldquo;Consider
+yourself bound over, sir.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, this little girl lived in a deep
+forest, in a little bit of a house, with no
+one for company but her grandmother
+and a little yellow dog.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The grandmother was just as cross as
+she could be, and poor little&mdash;let&rsquo;s see,
+what shall I call her?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Odahbeetoqua,&rdquo; suggested Fred. &ldquo;I
+suppose she was descended from the
+Indians.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Millie, very seriously, &ldquo;that
+was her name; but nobody called her by it
+all at one time; they said Daisy, for short.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, one day little Daisy felt so sad
+and lonely, and her grandmother had been
+so cross, that she said to the little yellow
+dog,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Tip, let&rsquo;s run away. I&rsquo;m tired of
+staying here. Granny is so cross, I cannot
+stand it another minute.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, indeed. I&rsquo;ll go with you, Daisy,&rsquo;
+said Tip, wagging his tail; &lsquo;for this
+morning, when I was licking up a bit of
+butter off the floor, she kicked me, and
+hit me over the head with a broom, and
+threw a stick of wood after me as I indignantly
+left the premises, and wounded my
+feelings very much.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;But then, Tip, suppose we should
+get lost in the woods, and die of starvation,
+and bears should eat us up.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Trust to me, Daisy,&rsquo; Tip replied.
+&lsquo;I will lead you safely out of the wood,
+and see that nothing hurts you.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Just then a woman came to the door,
+and said, &lsquo;I have heard your conversation.
+Come with me, and you shall both live in
+a nice house, where you can play all day,
+and have fine clothes, and plenty to eat.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Ah, wouldn&rsquo;t that be pleasant!&rsquo; said
+Daisy; and she was just preparing to go
+with the woman, when she stopped suddenly,
+and said, &lsquo;But who will get wood
+for granny&rsquo;s fire? and who will pick berries
+for her? She&rsquo;d die if we should
+leave her alone. No, I can&rsquo;t leave her.
+She&rsquo;s very cross; but then, she is sick
+all the time, nearly, and I won&rsquo;t go.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;O, yes, do!&rsquo; said the woman. &lsquo;I
+have a lovely white pony, as gentle as a
+kitten, that you shall have to ride, and
+beautiful dresses. You&rsquo;d better come.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Thank you,&rsquo; said Daisy; &lsquo;I&rsquo;d like
+to go with you. You may take Tip. Perhaps
+he&rsquo;d like to go, but I won&rsquo;t leave
+grandmother; she&rsquo;d die if I did.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No sooner had Daisy finished speaking,
+than the woman turned into a beautiful
+fairy, the shanty turned into a palace,
+granny turned into a queen, Daisy into a
+lovely princess, with black and blue&mdash;I
+mean heavenly&mdash;eyes, and Tip turned
+into a beautiful prince, all dressed in embroidered
+green velvet; and down on his
+knees he fell at the princess&rsquo;s feet, vowing
+love and fidelity untold.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The fairy spread her wings over the
+young couple, saying, &lsquo;Behold the reward
+of unselfishness!&rsquo; and vanished, leaving
+them in all their bliss.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Millie&rsquo;s story was greeted with shouts
+of applause and flattering comments.</p>
+
+<p>The boys were about renewing the fire,
+when Miss Walters announced that it was
+seven o&rsquo;clock.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O, don&rsquo;t go yet!&rdquo; shouted Phil from
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>355]</a></span>
+the wood-pile. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve wood enough for
+an hour yet. Seven o&rsquo;clock&rsquo;s awful early.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t go, don&rsquo;t go!&rdquo; came from a
+chorus of voices; and Miss Walters, who
+only cared for their comfort, said she
+would stay if that was the general wish,
+or would go with any of the girls that
+were in haste to get home. No one made
+any movement to go, and she was quietly
+led back to her throne on the hay, at the
+entrance of the cave.</p>
+
+<p>A song was proposed, and Miss W.
+led them in the sweet words of &ldquo;In the
+Beauty of the Lilies,&rdquo; the boys coming
+out strong with the chorus. Then two
+girls sang a duet very sweetly. Another
+hour glided swiftly away, when Miss Walters
+said, &ldquo;Phil, your fire burns low; push
+the blazing ends for a final blaze, so we may
+get all our things; for we must go now.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Everything arranged, they bade good by
+to the hospitable cave, then marched down
+the hill, the boys whistling &ldquo;When Johnny
+comes marching Home.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>On they trudged, dropping various members
+of their little party as they turned off
+to go to their homes. All agreed they had
+had a delightful day.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">F. E. S.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 514px;">
+<a name="Page_355lower" id="Page_355lower"></a>
+<img src="images/hd143.jpg" width="514" height="400"
+alt="The lynx, bear and eagle go after the hunters' buffalo carcass" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>THE HAUNTS OF WILD BEASTS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span>N crossing the forests which lie about
+that singular system of ponds and
+lakes that occupy the northern interior of
+the State of Maine, the tourist and hunter
+will often come upon well-beaten paths,
+running through the woods, trodden hard,
+as if by the passage of myriads of feet;
+and this in a region rarely, or never, entered
+by man. They are the paths of
+wild beasts&mdash;bears, lynxes, wildcats, the
+moose, and the carribou,&mdash;along which
+they pass from lake to lake, in pursuit of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356"><!-- Illustration - THE GRIZZLY BEAR --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>357]</a></span>
+their food, or upon hostile forays. When
+two lakes adjoin each other, with no more
+than a mile or half a mile of forest between
+them, there will nearly always be
+found, across the narrowest part of the
+isthmus, a path of this sort, more or less
+worn, according as the locality abounds
+with game, or the lakes with fish.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd144.jpg" width="600" height="456"
+alt="The bear standing on a rock outcrop" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE GRIZZLY BEAR.</p>
+
+<p>One of the widest and most used of
+these that I have ever seen, led from the
+bank of Moose River up to the low shores
+of Holeb Pond, in one of the not yet numbered
+townships near the Canada line&mdash;so
+near that the high, dingy summit of
+the &ldquo;Hog&rsquo;s Back&rdquo; was plainly visible to
+the north-westward. Starting out from
+between two large boulders on the stream,
+which at this point is broken by rips, it
+runs crooking and turning amid clumps
+of hazel and alder, till lost to view in a
+wide flat, covered with &ldquo;high bush&rdquo; cranberries,
+but lost to sight only, however;
+for its tortuous course still continues beneath
+the thick shrubs, until at a distance
+of two hundred rods it emerges on the pond.</p>
+
+<p>Happening to cross it a year ago last
+autumn, in company with Rod Nichols
+(my comrade on these tramps), the idea
+suggested itself that a good thing might
+perhaps be done by setting our traps along
+the path. For where there were so many
+passing feet, some of them might without
+doubt be entrapped.</p>
+
+<p>Rod thought it was the &ldquo;beat&rdquo; of some
+bears, or &ldquo;lucivees,&rdquo; while I inclined to
+the opinion that otters or &ldquo;fishers&rdquo; had
+made it.</p>
+
+<p>So we brought up our traps,&mdash;half a
+dozen small ones, which we used for sable
+and otter&mdash;from the dug-out (canoe) down
+on the stream, and during the following afternoon
+set them at different points in the
+path, between the border of the cranberry
+flat and the river. Then drawing our canoe
+up out of the water, we encamped on the
+stream about a mile below the path, and
+waited for the game.</p>
+
+<p>Our stock of deer meat had got out.
+We had to content ourselves, both for
+supper and breakfast, the following morning,
+with a couple of hares&mdash;lean as usual.
+Who ever saw a fat hare?</p>
+
+<p>Old hunters are always telling the young
+sportsman about the marvellous properties
+of shaving-soap made from hare&rsquo;s
+tallow and cedar ashes. The flesh has
+about as much taste and nutrition in it as&mdash;so
+much paper pulp, for want of a better
+comparison to express its utter lack
+of flavor. But during the forenoon we
+managed to shoot four partridges. These
+we first parboiled in our camp kettle, then
+broiled on coals. They made us a comfortable
+dinner; and towards sunset we
+again paddled up the stream, to visit the
+traps.</p>
+
+<p>Coming near where the path strikes
+out from the river, we drew up the dug-out,
+and followed in to the place where
+we had set the first trap. It was gone;
+but the grass about the spot was beaten
+down, and the bushes broken. And on
+looking around, we discovered a trail
+leading off through the weeds. Following
+this for ten or a dozen rods, we
+came to a large, rough stone; and near
+it lay the trap, shattered and bent, with
+the springs broken, and the jaws gaping
+and powerless. The stone, too,
+looked newly scratched, as if from heavy
+blows. The trap had evidently been
+beaten upon.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Some large animal,&rdquo; said I.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Bear, probably,&rdquo; said Rod. &ldquo;They
+will frequently smash up a small trap to
+get it off their feet.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Whatever it was, the creature had freed
+himself and gone. Rod picked up the
+broken trap, and we went back, and on
+to the next.</p>
+
+<p>This one was just as we had placed it&mdash;not
+sprung. So we kept on to the
+third, which was sprung, but empty, with
+little clots of hair clinging to the teeth.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>358]</a></span>
+The hair looked like that of a sable; but
+he, too, had escaped.</p>
+
+<p>The fourth was sprung and drawn out
+of the path. We crept cautiously up, and
+lo! we had a contemptible little musquash
+(muskrat)&mdash;skin not worth a shilling.
+He was busy as a bee gnawing at
+his leg. In a few minutes more he would
+have been at liberty&mdash;minus a foot. If
+left any length of time after being caught,
+they will frequently gnaw off the leg in
+the trap. For this reason, those who
+make a business of trapping them set
+their traps under water, well weighted.
+They will then drown in a few moments,
+and may thus be secured.</p>
+
+<p>The last two traps were not sprung.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A big thing this!&rdquo; muttered Rod.
+&ldquo;Had our labor for our pains. Too bad.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We were near the edge of the cranberry
+flat; and just as Rod was bemoaning our
+poor luck, a slight crackling out in the
+thick cranberry bushes came to our ears.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hark!&rdquo; whispered Rod; &ldquo;something
+out there. The bear, perhaps.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Standing on tiptoe, we peeped quietly
+over the tops of the bushes, now laden
+with the green cranberries. Off some
+seventeen or eighteen rods, something
+was slowly moving. We could see it
+plainly&mdash;something which, at first sight,
+looked like the roots of an old dry
+pine stump, a great mass of stubs and
+prongs.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A moose!&rdquo; exclaimed Rod, in an
+eager whisper. &ldquo;A moose browsing the
+cranberries! Quick with your rifle! Together
+now!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We both fired. The huge animal, fully
+nine feet in height beneath his antlers,
+bounded into the air at the reports, with a
+wild, hoarse cry, which I can compare to
+nothing I have ever heard for hideousness.
+In a frightful way it resembled the neigh
+of a horse, or, rather, the loud squeal of
+that animal when bitten or otherwise hurt&mdash;bounded
+up, then fell, floundering and
+wallowing amid the cranberries, uttering
+hideous moans.</p>
+
+<p>As quickly as we could for the thick
+and tangled bushes, we made our way
+out towards the spot. The fearful struggles
+stilled as we drew near. Our aim,
+at so short a distance, had been thoroughly
+fatal. A great opening in the
+bushes had been smashed down, in the
+midst of which lay the moose, with its
+large nostrils dilated, gasping and quivering.
+But its great ox eyes were set, and
+rapidly glazing. The bushes were all besprinkled
+and drenched with blood. One
+bullet had struck and broken the skull into
+the brain; that was Rod&rsquo;s. Mine had
+gone into the breast, striking the lungs,&mdash;probably,
+from the profuse bleeding.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A pretty good shot!&rdquo; exclaimed
+Rod, looking upon the slaughter from a
+purely business stand-point. &ldquo;Moosehide
+is always worth something. So are
+those antlers. A noble set&mdash;aren&rsquo;t they?
+All of four feet broad across the top.
+Pretty heavy to lug; we can put them
+in the canoe, though.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Then there&rsquo;s the meat,&rdquo; said I.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s so,&rdquo; cried Rod, smacking his
+lips. &ldquo;No more rabbit&rsquo;s broth for us at
+present. O, won&rsquo;t we have some grand
+moose steaks! Do you hear that, old
+boy? How does that strike your fancy?
+Come, let&rsquo;s skin him, and cut him up. I
+long to behold some of that surloin broiling!
+Rabbit meat, indeed!&rdquo; and Rod
+whipped out his hunting-knife, and fell
+upon the carcass with the zeal of a hungry
+bald eagle.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes we had stripped off
+the skin. Rod then wrenched off the
+antlers, cut out the muffle (the end of the
+nose), and also about a hundred weight
+of what he considered the choicest of the
+meat. The rest of it&mdash;nine or ten hundred
+pounds&mdash;we could only leave where
+it had fallen. It would be of no use to
+us, so far from the settled lands.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>359]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd145.jpg" width="600" height="446"
+alt="A tiger pauses to look around" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE TIGER.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>360]</a></span>
+To carry our spoils down to our canoe,
+we had to make two trips; for the antlers
+alone were as much as one could take
+along at once. We had gone back after
+them and the hide.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Too bad,&rdquo; remarked Rod, &ldquo;to leave
+all this flesh here to rot above ground.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I doubt if it be left to rot above
+ground,&rdquo; said I. &ldquo;There are too many
+hungry mouths about for that.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Right there,&rdquo; said Rod; &ldquo;and that
+makes me think we might use it to lure
+them, and to bait our traps with. Drag
+it out to the path, and set the traps
+round it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The idea seemed a good one. So we
+cut the remains of the carcass in two.
+Whole it was too heavy to be moved.
+Then, fastening some stout withes into
+them, we dragged the pieces, one after
+the other, out to the path, and left it at
+the place where the path entered the
+cranberry bushes. This done, we set the
+traps about it,&mdash;the remaining five,&mdash;and
+then went back to the canoe with the
+antlers and skin.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Made a very fair thing of it, after all,&rdquo;
+remarked Rod, as we floated with the
+current down to our camp. &ldquo;Tell you
+what, old fellow, these steaks are not to
+be sneezed at. More than ordinary pot
+luck just at this time.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It is needless to say that we fully satisfied
+our taste for venison that night, or
+that our breakfast next morning was
+merely a repetition of supper. Such
+things are to be expected in the wilderness.
+Suffice it to add, that we neither
+overate nor overslept, but were up betimes,
+and off to examine our traps considerably
+before sunrise. We did not go
+up in the canoe on the river, but walked
+along the bank through the woods.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We may surprise a bear or a lynx at
+the carcass,&rdquo; said Rod.</p>
+
+<p>So, as we drew near the place where we
+had left it in the path the evening before,
+we made our way amid the brush with as
+little noise as possible. A small hollow,
+overrun with hackmatack, led up towards
+the spot. We crept along the bed of it,
+in order to approach unobserved. Pausing
+a moment to listen, the clank of a
+chain came faintly to our ears, then a
+growling, worrying noise, heard when two
+creatures, jealous of each other&rsquo;s rights,
+eat from the same piece.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Game!&rdquo; whispered Rod.</p>
+
+<p>Climbing quietly up the steep side, we
+peeped out from amid the green boughs.
+We had got up within nine or ten rods;
+but intervening bushes partially hid the
+carcass. Something was moving about
+it, however&mdash;something black. The trap
+chains were rattling. Then a big black
+head was raised, to growl; and as if in
+reply came a sharp snarl from some animal
+out of sight. The black creature
+darted forward; and a great uproar arose,
+growling, grappling, and spitting, at which
+there flew up a whole flock of crows,
+cawing and hawing; and the noise increasing,
+there sprang into the air, at a
+single flap, a great yellow bird, uttering a
+savage scream.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;An eagle!&rdquo; whispered Rod; &ldquo;and
+that black creature&rsquo;s a bear, I guess.
+Can&rsquo;t see him just plainly. Growls like
+one, though. Fighting with some other
+animal&mdash;isn&rsquo;t he? Some sort of a cat,
+by the spitting.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Shall we fire on them?&rdquo; said I.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No; let &rsquo;em have it out,&rdquo; said Rod.
+&ldquo;One of them will be pretty sure to get
+chewed up, and the other won&rsquo;t leave the
+carcass. Besides, the cat&rsquo;s in the trap, I
+reckon, by the rattling.&rdquo; For the jingling
+of the chain could still be heard over the
+howling they were making. But ere the
+fight had lasted many seconds, a suppressed
+screech, followed by a crunching
+sound, told ill for one or the other of the
+combatants. &ldquo;The cat&rsquo;s got his death
+hug,&rdquo; muttered Rod.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>361]</a></span>
+Presently the bear&mdash;a great, clumsy-looking
+fellow&mdash;came out into view,
+strutted along, scrubbing his feet on
+the grass, like a dog, and went back to
+the carcass. The eagle and the crows
+had come back to it. They flew before
+him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Keep your eye on the eagle,&rdquo; whispered
+Rod. &ldquo;I would like to get him.
+It isn&rsquo;t a &lsquo;white head.&rsquo; Never saw one
+like it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The great bird circled slowly several
+times, then stooped, almost touching the
+bear&rsquo;s shaggy back with its hooked talons.
+At that the bear raised his ugly muzzle,
+all reeking from his feast, and growled
+menacingly. This was repeated several
+times, the bear warning him off at each
+stoop, and sometimes striking with his
+big paw. Finding the bear not inclined
+to divide with him, the eagle, with
+one mighty flap of his wings, rose up to
+the top of a tall hemlock standing near,
+and perched upon it. We could see the
+branches bend and sway beneath his
+weight.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have him now,&rdquo; muttered Rod,
+poking the muzzle of his rifle out through
+the boughs. &ldquo;You take the bear. Ready!
+now!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We blazed away. With a wild shriek
+the eagle came tumbling down through
+the hemlock. Rod ran out towards him,
+and I made up to the bear. Old Bruin
+was merely wounded&mdash;an ugly flesh
+wound; and not knowing whence it
+came, he had flown at the dead lynx,&mdash;for
+such it turned out to be,&mdash;and was
+giving him another hugging. Seeing me,
+he started up, to rectify his mistake, probably;
+but I had put in another charge,
+and instantly gave him a quietus. Just
+then Rod came up, dragging the eagle.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Never saw one like it,&rdquo; exclaimed he.
+&ldquo;I mean to take it down to Greenville.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>After skinning the bear and the lynx,
+we gathered up the traps, and went down
+to our camp. Together with the spoils
+of the moose, we had now a full canoe
+load, and stowing them in, went down
+the river that afternoon. Two days after,
+we arrived at Greenville, at the foot of
+Moosehead Lake. There we fell in with
+a party of tourists&mdash;from Boston, I believe.
+They pronounced Rod&rsquo;s &ldquo;big
+bird&rdquo; to be a golden eagle.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">C. A. Stephens.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_361lower" id="Page_361lower"></a>WORSHIP OF NATURE.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">THE green earth sends her incense up<br />
+<span class="i3">From many a mountain shrine;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From folded leaf and dewy cup,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">She pours her sacred wine.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The mists above the morning rills<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Rise white as wings of prayer;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The altar curtains of the hills<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Are sunset&rsquo;s purple air.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>362]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>A HUNTING ADVENTURE.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>IRED of the heat and confusion of
+the city, my friend Clarke and I left
+New York one fine morning for a hunting
+excursion on the prairies.</p>
+
+<p>At Galena, on the Mississippi, we went
+aboard a steamer which conveyed us to
+St. Paul. Here we fitted out for the trip,
+and finally, at Sauk Rapids set our foot
+for the first time on the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>From the Mississippi, at Sauk Rapids,
+we struck about north-west across the
+prairie for Fort Garry, a Hudson Bay
+Company&rsquo;s fort, at the junction of the
+Assiniboine and Red River, where we
+replenished some of our stores; and
+thence we travelled through the Sioux, or
+Da-ko-tah country, until we reached Turtle
+Mountain.</p>
+
+<p>Our party consisted of Clarke and myself,
+two French Canadians, whom we had
+engaged at St. Paul, and a half-breed,
+whom we had met on the frontier before
+reaching Fort Garry.</p>
+
+<p>One evening, before camping at the base
+of Turtle Mountain, Clarke and I gave
+chase to some buffalo, and I killed one,
+which I proceeded to cut up at once by
+removing the tongue and undercut of the
+fillet. The meat I tied to the thongs of
+my saddle, placed there especially for that
+purpose, and I rejoined the camp before
+nightfall. Clarke came back shortly afterwards,
+having killed his buffalo in three
+or four shots, and after a long chase. This
+had delayed him so much, that he lacked
+time to cut up his animal; so he marked
+the spot as well as he could by its bearings
+with Turtle Mountain, and he rode
+homewards to the camp, intending to go
+on the following morning, and get the
+meat for home consumption.</p>
+
+<p>We cooked and ate our dinners, and
+rolling ourselves up in our buffalo robes,
+we slept most soundly. The following
+morning, Clarke went out and fetched his
+pony, which was picketed near the camp,
+saddled it, took his rifle and hunting-knife,
+and then off he started to look for the
+dead buffalo of the previous evening, cut
+it up, and bring home some of the meat.</p>
+
+<p>I remained in camp; and as my wardrobe
+was rather dilapidated from constant
+hunting, and the limited number of clothes
+I had with me, I proceeded to mend my
+trousers, which were worn through just
+where it might naturally be expected they
+would first give way. This I could only
+do by shortening the legs of the garment.
+However, the end justified the means in
+this case.</p>
+
+<p>These repairs, with other necessary
+work about our rifles and guns, occupied
+the morning very pleasantly; and about
+midday I went up the hill behind our
+camp, where a small bluff, or headland,
+projected from it over the vast grassy
+plain. I took my telescope with me, as
+every traveller in those wild regions should
+always do, when spying out either the fatness
+of the land or the possible surrounding
+dangers. Far and wide my eye fell
+over the gentle undulations of the prairie,
+but no deer or buffalo could I see.</p>
+
+<p>No; instead of quietly feeding game, I
+discovered my friend Clarke, some three
+or four miles from camp, galloping at the
+top of his horse&rsquo;s speed towards us, and
+five Indians in hot pursuit of him.</p>
+
+<p>Knowing his danger, I of course ran
+down the bluff as hard as I could to the
+camp, and holloaed to the men to make
+haste and come to the rescue. I then
+ran for my pony, which was picketed at
+a short distance from our tent; but he
+was difficult to catch, or had drawn his
+peg out of the ground. At any rate, I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>363]</a></span>
+could not get hold of him; so I gave him
+up, and seizing my rifle, darted off as hard
+as I could to meet my friend.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 409px;">
+<img src="images/hd146.jpg" width="409" height="450"
+alt="Clarke being pursued by the Indians" />
+</div>
+
+<p>The men also turned out with their
+guns; and soon afterwards Clarke rode
+up, both he and his pony looking much
+distressed. Clarke was as white as a
+sheet, and his pony was completely blown.
+The Indians sheered off on seeing us ready
+with our rifles. So no shot was fired;
+for they never came within range.</p>
+
+<p>I then asked Clarke what had happened;
+and I give you his story of the affair.</p>
+
+<p>On leaving camp in the morning, he had
+gone in search of the dead buffalo of the
+previous night. He soon found the carcass;
+and wishing to bring home the
+meat, he got off his pony, tied the animal
+to the horns of the buffalo,&mdash;as you are
+always taught to do in the Indian country,&mdash;and
+straightway began to cut off the
+pieces of meat which he wished to bring
+back to camp. Whilst so employed, he
+thought he saw another herd of buffalo
+not far away; so he finished cutting off
+the meat, and rode towards the new herd,
+on murderous thoughts intent.</p>
+
+<p>He stalked the herd for some distance,
+until he thought himself tolerably near,
+when he looked round the corner of a
+hillock, and then to his horror found he
+had been carefully approaching five
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>364]</a></span>
+Indians, who were congregated round a dead
+buffalo, their horses close by, and the men
+occupied in cutting up the beast.</p>
+
+<p>Before he could turn to flee out of sight
+the Indians discovered him. They were
+Sioux, and at war with the whites. Instantly
+they jumped on their horses and
+gave chase, fired, no doubt, with the noble
+zeal to hang a white scalp in a Sioux lodge.
+Off went Clarke as hard as his little pony
+could carry him, the Indians shouting behind,
+and brandishing their guns in the
+air as they became excited by the chase,
+whilst he was thinking of the probability
+that existed of his scalp returning to camp,
+or dangling at the saddle-bow of one of
+these bloodthirsty savages.</p>
+
+<p>Clarke supposes that he was five or six
+miles from camp when the chase began;
+and he recollected well throwing the cover
+away from his rifle, in preparation for a
+fight should his pony fall, or the Indians
+catch him through the superior speed of
+their animals.</p>
+
+<p>Imagine the horrible feelings of a young
+fellow galloping away from five wild redskins,
+who not only desire to kill him
+then and there, but have, further, the
+sportsman-like anxiety to strip his scalp,
+and hang the dearly-beloved trophy in
+some filthy lodge, where it will gradually
+dry up, and remain the most valued heirloom
+in the family of the &ldquo;Big Snake,&rdquo;
+or the &ldquo;Screeching Eagle,&rdquo; or some other
+no less happily-named Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>Their horrible shrieks ring in his ears,
+whilst he anxiously measures with his
+eyes the distance betwixt himself and his
+bloodthirsty pursuers; he endeavors to
+estimate his chances of escape, and longs
+for the protection of the camp, as Wellington
+longed for night or Blucher, knowing
+that if he falls he will be shot, or tomahawked
+and scalped, in the course of a
+couple of minutes.</p>
+
+<p>No wonder, then, that poor Clarke did
+look as if he had seen a ghost, or encountered
+something even much worse; nor
+do I believe that during his subsequent
+army service he was ever much nearer a
+horrible death than during the few minutes
+which that pursuit lasted.</p>
+
+<p>To conclude the account of this adventure,
+we covered his return to camp with
+our rifles, as I mentioned in the earlier
+part of this story; and you may conceive
+that we kept a very strict watch in the
+camp during the night, fearing lest the
+Sioux should either stampede us with an
+increased number of their friends after
+nightfall, or try to carry off our horses,
+and leave us deserted in the midst of the
+prairie. However, the night passed off
+quietly; and often since then have Clarke
+and I talked over this memorable adventure.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">ONE step and then another,<br />
+<span class="i3">And the longest walk is ended;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One stitch and then another,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the largest rent is mended.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One brick upon another,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the highest wall is made;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One flake upon another,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the deepest snow is laid.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>365]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>NEARLY LOST.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span> KNOW what I shall do!&rdquo; exclaimed
+Walter Harrison to about a dozen
+other boys, his schoolfellows, who were
+standing round him. &ldquo;I shall just tell
+&lsquo;old Barnacles&rsquo; that my father and
+mother wish me to have a holiday this
+afternoon, and he can&rsquo;t say &lsquo;no&rsquo; to that.
+It&rsquo;s the simplest and best way. If you
+all agree to it, we shall get a holiday all
+around. Who&rsquo;ll go in for my plan?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I will! and I! and I!&rdquo; responded
+nearly all the boys.</p>
+
+<p>The facts of the case were simply
+these: There were taking place in a
+park close by a series of athletic sports,
+and this afternoon the admission was free
+to any one who chose to go. Of course
+all the boys in Mr. Jackson&rsquo;s school were
+mad to see the sports; but by the time
+the school was out the best fun would be
+over, and the majority of the boys guessed
+pretty shrewdly what would be the result
+of asking their parents to let them stay
+away. The grand idea was to induce the
+master to give a general holiday, but the
+question was how that desirable end was
+to be brought about. It had been suggested
+to stay away bodily, without so
+much as saying, &ldquo;With your leave or by
+your leave;&rdquo; but as such a course carried
+a certainty of punishment in its train, it
+was universally rejected. Another idea,
+which had received some favor, had been
+to trip up the poor half-blind schoolmaster,
+quite by accident, and by rendering
+him incapable obtain the desired
+holiday, but there had been a majority
+found to protest against such cruelty;
+and now Walter Harrison had suggested
+his plan. But although most of them
+were inclined to adopt it, there were two
+who resolutely refused to do so.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why won&rsquo;t you join us?&rdquo; asked
+Walter of these two.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I sha&rsquo;n&rsquo;t, because I&rsquo;m not going to tell
+a pack of lies for the sake of a holiday,&rdquo;
+answered Willie Ford, the younger of the
+two.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How good we are!&rdquo; replied Walter,
+tauntingly; and then throwing his cap
+up into the air, he sang out:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;&lsquo;There was a curly-headed boy<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who never told a lie;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He knew a trick worth two of that:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That was the reason why.&rsquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Sly fox!&rdquo; he said, patting Willie on the
+back. &ldquo;He does the &lsquo;good&rsquo; dodge to
+perfection, and finds it answers too; don&rsquo;t
+you, Ford?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Walter&rsquo;s sallies were received with roars
+of laughter by the boys. Willie took no
+notice of them, although it was a difficult
+matter to restrain his anger.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What a milksop the fellow is!&rdquo; cried
+out one of the boys.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A stupid little muff!&rdquo; cried another.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Am I?&rdquo; cried Willie, his temper now
+fully roused; &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll show you about that.
+Although I&rsquo;m not going to tell lies, I&rsquo;ll
+fight any one of you. Come now, Harrison,
+let&rsquo;s have it out together.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Harrison burst out laughing: &ldquo;Fancy
+me fighting with a little cock-sparrow like
+you! I should like to see myself!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Willie was about to burst out again, but
+a friendly hand was laid on his arm, and
+his friend Philip said, gently, &ldquo;Come
+away, Will; no fighting about such a
+trifle as that, lad.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What a peppery little chap!&rdquo; called
+out Walter as Willie turned away with
+his friend. &ldquo;Pepper and sop! Ugh! what
+a nasty mess!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The boys followed out their plan, and
+got their holiday, all except Willie and
+Philip and several little fellows who had
+taken no interest in the matter.</p>
+
+<p>School over, the two boys rushed off
+in the hope that they might be in time to
+see something. They were too late, however,
+for the performances were just coming
+to an end when they arrived, so they
+started for a stroll through the beautiful
+park, which was not often open to the
+public.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, there are our fellows!&rdquo; said
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>366]</a></span>
+Philip as they suddenly came in sight
+of a group of boys on the edge of the
+magnificent lake.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What are they up to? They&rsquo;re very
+busy about something!&rdquo; exclaimed Willie.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go and see,&rdquo; Philip said, in
+reply.</p>
+
+<p>As they came nearer they could tell
+that the boys were gesticulating and
+shouting to something in the water.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It can&rsquo;t be one of them gone in and
+lost his depth,&rdquo; said Willie, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>No such thing, as they found when
+they got close&mdash;only a dog that the boys
+were amusing themselves by seeing how
+long they could keep under water. The
+creature was making frantic efforts to
+gain a landing-place, but as he approached
+the shore they drove him back
+with sticks and stones.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re teaching him to swim,&rdquo; cried
+one as Philip and Willie came up. &ldquo;A
+miserable little mongrel! he can&rsquo;t swim
+a bit!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, don&rsquo;t you see,&rdquo; cried Willie,
+eagerly, &ldquo;that he&rsquo;s as weak as a rat? He
+can scarcely support himself in the water.
+I should think he&rsquo;s been starved.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>At this moment the dog, being turned
+back once more, disappeared, quite close
+to the shore. With a loud cry of pain
+and anger, Willie darted through the
+boys, and wading into the shallow water
+succeeded in enticing the drowning dog
+toward him. He came out, holding the
+dripping creature safely in his arms.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We must carry it home,&rdquo; he said to
+Philip, after they had vainly endeavored
+to set it upon its feet; and accordingly,
+they started off at a good pace, the poor
+half-drowned animal safely sheltered in
+Willie&rsquo;s arms.</p>
+
+<p>Well might his mother be alarmed to
+see him come home to tea in such a
+plight; but when she heard his explanation,
+she was quite ready to sympathize
+with him, and told him he had done
+bravely and well to rescue the poor
+animal. As he seemed none the worse
+for his wetting, he was allowed to come
+down stairs again as soon as he had put
+on dry things. Very tenderly the little
+half-starved dog was fed with warmed
+milk. He had fallen into good hands.
+Willie&rsquo;s father and mother were kind
+Christian people, who had taught their
+children to be gentle and considerate to
+the meanest of God&rsquo;s creatures.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Why, Willie, he&rsquo;s a fine fellow, and
+only quite a puppy; he will be a splendid
+dog when he is fully grown,&rdquo; his father
+said, when the animal had recovered
+sufficiently to be examined.</p>
+
+<p>And so it proved. Bruno, as Willie
+named him, turned out a splendid creature.
+His devotion to the whole family,
+but especially to Willie, was quite touching
+to see. He would obey the slightest
+gesture of his young master in every
+matter except one. As a child once
+burned dreads the fire, so Bruno, once
+nearly drowned, could never be induced
+to enter the water.</p>
+
+<p>While Bruno was developing into a
+handsome dog, Willie, you may be sure,
+was not standing still. He had grown
+into a fine strong lad, and got beyond
+poor old Dr. Jackson&rsquo;s school.</p>
+
+<p>To the last day of his stay there he
+and Walter Harrison never managed to
+get on very good terms, and a suspected
+unfairness in the matter of obtaining a
+prize made them part with still greater
+coldness.</p>
+
+<p>A year or two after he had left school
+Willie&rsquo;s parents went with their family
+to spend the summer months near the
+sea. Before they had been in their new
+quarters many weeks, much to Willie&rsquo;s
+vexation and disappointment, he found
+that Walter and his parents were also
+staying in the same town, and quite close
+to him.</p>
+
+<p>The two lads frequently met, but they
+could get on no better now than they had
+done in the old days. Walter still looked
+upon Willie as a contemptible little milksop,
+and Willie was inclined to consider
+Walter&rsquo;s exploits more the result of foolhardiness
+than bravery.</p>
+
+<p>One day they met on the beach.
+Walter had come down with a friend
+to take a boat.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Rather rough for rowing,&rdquo; Willie
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>367]</a></span>
+called out as he passed, &ldquo;but I suppose
+you&rsquo;re a good oar.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s that to you?&rdquo; responded
+Walter, insolently; &ldquo;I suppose you&rsquo;re
+afraid of a little sea.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see the pleasure of going out
+when there&rsquo;s any risk,&rdquo; Willie replied,
+good-humoredly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How precious careful you are over
+yourself!&rdquo; replied Walter.</p>
+
+<p>The boat pushed off, and away started
+the two friends. Willie, not caring to
+watch them after the haughty, rude manner
+in which his remark had been received,
+turned away; but before he had
+gone far his attention was attracted by a
+succession of shouts and ejaculations.</p>
+
+<p>The tiny boat had come to grief before
+they had got much more than fifty yards
+from the shore. In the unskilful hands
+of the two lads the little bark was a mere
+plaything in the angry sea. Carried on
+with a swiftness they were unable to
+check, they rushed headlong on to one
+of the hidden rocks with which the coast
+abounded. The boat turned over and
+disappeared, leaving its occupants struggling
+in the water.</p>
+
+<p>There were but few bystanders, and of
+these no one did more than talk and
+gesticulate and ask wildly what was to
+be done.</p>
+
+<p>The same impulse that had prompted
+Willie to rescue a drowning dog now
+caused him to risk his life in order to
+save that of the boy who had always
+shown so unfriendly a disposition toward
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Pulling off his coat, he threw it and
+his hat down on the shore; and giving
+Bruno an injunction to guard them, he
+plunged bravely into the tempestuous
+waves. He could swim well, and succeeded
+with great difficulty in reaching
+the spot where Walter had but a moment
+ago disappeared, and then began the
+terrible struggle for life.</p>
+
+<p>Bruno sat by his master&rsquo;s clothes and
+gazed out over the sea with eyes which
+looked almost human in their intelligent
+anxiety. Presently he grew restless, and
+in another moment the faithful creature
+dashed into the waves, and made resolutely
+for the spot where his master was
+laboriously engaged in trying to convey
+one of the drowning lads to shore.</p>
+
+<p>By the powerful aid of the noble dog
+Walter and Willie were saved; and a boat
+having now put off, Walter&rsquo;s friend was
+picked up after a while. What a cheer
+rent the air when the dog and the two
+lads gained the shore I cannot attempt
+to describe. Willie was never called a
+milksop any more, and Bruno was more
+loved and prized than ever.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 250px;">
+<img src="images/hd147.jpg" width="250" height="132"
+alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>368]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHARLEY.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span> MADE the acquaintance of my little friend Charley under very unusual
+and startling circumstances. I saw a lad about fifteen years of age clinging
+desperately for very life to the topmast of a sunken ship. I will tell you
+how it happened.</p>
+
+<p>I must go back nearly twenty years. Indeed, I ought to explain that Charley
+was a little friend of mine a long time ago; now he&rsquo;s a grown-up man. Well,
+twenty years ago I was not very old myself, but my sister, who is some years
+older than I am, was already married, and her husband was very fond of yachting.
+They lived during a great part of the year in the Isle of Wight, and
+there I often used to go to stay with them.</p>
+
+<p>The &ldquo;Swallow&rdquo;&mdash;that was the name of my brother-in-law&rsquo;s yacht&mdash;was a
+beautiful boat, and many happy hours have I passed on board her as she
+skimmed merrily over the sparkling water. I delighted to sit on deck, watching
+the fishing-boats as they rode bravely from wave to wave, or sometimes
+wondering at some large ship as it passed by, on which men live for weeks
+and months without ever touching land. We used to sail long distances, and
+occasionally be out for several days and nights together. My brother-in-law&rsquo;s
+skipper could tell me what country almost every vessel that we saw was bound
+for. Some were sailing to climates where the heat is so great that our most
+sultry summer in England is comparatively cold; others were off northward,
+perhaps whale-fishing, where they would see huge icebergs and hear the growling
+of the polar bears.</p>
+
+<p>We were taking our last cruise of the season. It was already near the end
+of October, and the weather was becoming stormy. Passing out of the Solent
+into the Channel, we found the sea much rougher than we expected, and as
+night came on it blew a regular gale. The wind and sea roared, the rain
+poured down in torrents, and the night seemed to me to be the darkest I had
+ever known. But on board the &ldquo;Swallow&rdquo; we had no fear. We trusted to
+the seamanship of our skipper and the goodness of our vessel, and went to
+bed with minds as free from fear as if the sea were smooth and the sky clear.</p>
+
+<p>I awoke just as dawn was breaking, dressed quickly, and throwing a water-proof
+cloak over me popped my head up the companion-ladder to see how
+things looked. The old skipper was on deck; he had not turned in during the
+night. I wished him good-morning, and he remarked, in return, that the wind
+was going down, he thought. Looking at the sea, I observed two or three large
+fragments of wood floating near, and they attracted his notice at the same moment.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Has there been a wreck, captain?&rdquo; I asked, with a feeling of awe.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s about what it is, miss,&rdquo; answered the old seaman.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you think the people are drowned?&rdquo; I inquired, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; replied Captain Bounce, casting, as I thought, rather a contemptuous
+glance at me, &ldquo;people don&rsquo;t in general live under water, miss.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>369]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 421px;">
+<img src="images/hd148.jpg" width="421" height="600"
+alt="Charley is reunited with his mother and siblings" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">CHARLEY&rsquo;S WELCOME HOME.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>370]</a></span>
+&ldquo;Perhaps they may have had boats,&rdquo; I said, meekly. &ldquo;Do you think
+boats could have reached the shore in such a storm?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; answered the old captain, &ldquo;they might have had boats, and they
+mightn&rsquo;t; and the boats, supposing they had &rsquo;em, might have lived through the
+storm, and at the same time they mightn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This was not giving me much information, and I thought to myself that my
+friend the skipper did not seem so much inclined for a chat as usual. I turned
+to look at the sea in search of more pieces of wreck, when I discovered in the
+distance a dark speck rising out of the water. I pointed it out to the skipper
+at once, who took his glass out of his pocket, and after looking through it for
+a moment exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s something floating there, and a man clinging to it, as I&rsquo;m alive!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke my brother-in-law came on deck, and also took a look through
+the telescope. Then he, the captain and every sailor on board became eager
+and excited. You would have thought it some dear friend of each whose life
+was to be saved. The yacht was headed in the direction of the object, the
+boat was quickly lowered, the captain himself, with four sailors, jumping into
+it, and in another minute they caught in their arms a poor little exhausted
+and fainting boy as he dropped from the mast of a large sunken ship. We
+could now distinguish the tops of all the three masts appearing above the waves,
+for the sea was not deep, and the ship had settled down in an upright position.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Charley Standish was soon in the cabin of the yacht, and after swallowing
+some champagne he revived sufficiently to tell us his story. The sunken
+ship was the &ldquo;Melbourne,&rdquo; bound for Australia, and this was Charley&rsquo;s first
+voyage as a midshipman on board. During the darkness of the night she had
+been run into by a large homeward-bound merchantman of the same class.
+She sank within an hour of the collision. In the scramble for the boats Charley
+thought he had but little chance for finding a place; and as the ship filled and
+kept sinking deeper in the water, an instinct of self-preservation led him to
+climb into the rigging. Then up he went, higher and higher, even to the topmast;
+and at last, when the vessel went down all at once, he found himself, to
+his inexpressible relief, still above the surface.</p>
+
+<p>What most astonished us all was that a boy so young should have been able
+to hold on for more than an hour to a slippery mast, exposed to the fury of the
+wind, and within reach, even, of the lashing waves. We sailed home at once
+to the Isle of Wight, and wrote to the boy&rsquo;s mother, a widow living in London,
+to tell her of his safety. The boy himself stayed with us two or three days,
+until we bought him new clothes, and then went to his mother. Great was
+her joy when she once more clasped him to her loving heart. My brother-in-law
+took a great fancy to him. He has watched his career, and seen him at
+intervals ever since. Charley Standish is now a chief mate on board a great
+merchantman of the same class as the &ldquo;Melbourne.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>371]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE PARSEES.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE Parsees are supposed to be descendants
+of the ancient Persians,
+who, after the defeat of their King Yezdezerd,
+the last of the dynasty of Sassan,
+by the followers of Mohammed, fled to
+the mountains of Khorasan. On the death
+of Yezdezerd, they quitted their native
+land, and putting to sea, were permitted
+to settle at Sanjan, a place near the sea-coast,
+between Bombay and Surat, about
+twenty-four miles south of Damaun.</p>
+
+<p>The Parsees are now chiefly settled in
+Bombay, numbering about one hundred
+and fifteen thousand souls, or one fifth of
+the population.</p>
+
+<p>The most enterprising, in a commercial
+point of view, of the various races of Bombay,
+are the Parsees, some of whom are
+even more wealthy than the most successful
+of the European merchants. They
+bear the very highest character for honesty
+and industry, and are intelligent and
+benevolent. The late Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy
+was a faultless model of a merchant
+prince, in integrity, enterprise, and
+munificence. He founded a hospital that
+bears his name, and made himself conspicuous
+for his active benevolence up to
+the day of his death.</p>
+
+<p>Great numbers of the poorer Parsees
+are clerks in the government offices&mdash;a
+species of service for which they are peculiarly
+fitted, on account of their attention
+to business, industry, and general
+intelligence. Their inclinations are essentially
+pacific; and such a phenomenon as
+a Parsee soldier is almost unknown.</p>
+
+<p>The Parsees are alive to the advantage
+of affording a good education to their
+children; and among the largest seminaries
+in the city of Bombay are those belonging
+to this community. A Parsee
+school is an interesting sight. The children
+are decidedly pretty; and as they
+sit in rows, with glittering, many-colored
+dresses, and caps and jewels, they look
+like a gay parterre of flowers.</p>
+
+<p>On account of their peculiar religious
+belief, the Parsees are known also as
+&ldquo;Fire Worshippers;&rdquo; but however great
+their awe for fire and light, they consider
+them only as emblems of a higher power.
+The Parsees pay reverence to two kinds
+of fire&mdash;the Adaran, lawful for the people
+to behold; and the Behram, which must
+be seen by none but the chief Dustoor,
+or priest, and must be screened from the
+rays of the sun. When required for a
+new temple, a portion of the sacred fire
+is procured in a golden censer from Mount
+Elbourg, near Yezd, where resides the
+chief pontiff, and where the holy flame is
+perpetually maintained. The Behram fire
+is said to have had its origin from the
+natural bituminous fires on the shores of
+the Caspian, and to have never been extinguished.
+It is supposed to be fed with
+sandal and other precious and aromatic
+woods, and is kept burning on a silver
+grating.</p>
+
+<p>The Parsees are the only Eastern nation
+who abstain from smoking. They
+do not eat food cooked by a person of
+another religion, and object to beef and
+pork.</p>
+
+<p>When a Parsee dies, a dog must be
+present, as it is supposed to drive away
+evil spirits, who are on the alert to seize
+upon the dying man&rsquo;s soul. This precaution
+is called the <i>sagdad</i>, or dog-gaze.
+One of the chief reasons for the great
+veneration in which dogs are held by
+Parsees arises from the tradition that in
+their emigration from Persia to India their
+ancestors were, during a dark night, nearly
+driven upon the shores of Guzerat, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372"><!-- Illustration - PARSEE CHILDREN, BOMBAY --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>373]</a></span>
+that they were aroused and first warned
+of their impending danger by the barking
+of the dogs on board their ships.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd149.jpg" width="600" height="428"
+alt="A group of six boys and girls" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">PARSEE CHILDREN, BOMBAY.</p>
+
+<p>When a Parsee dies, the body is dressed
+in clean, but old clothes, and conveyed to
+its last resting-place on an iron bier; meat
+and drink are placed at hand for three
+days, as during that time the soul is supposed
+to hover around in the hope of being
+reunited to its late earthly tenement.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 230px;">
+<img src="images/hd150.jpg" width="230" height="400"
+alt="A Parsee man wearing one of the distinctive tall hats" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">A PARSEE.</p>
+
+<p>The Parsee sepulchres are of so peculiar
+a character as to merit particular
+notice. Should any of my readers ever
+go to Bombay, he will find two of these
+<i>dakhmas</i>, or Temples of Silence, in a
+secluded part of Malabar Hill, though
+admittance is denied within the walls enclosing
+the melancholy structures to aught
+but Parsees. The interior is fitted up
+with stages or stories of stone pavement,
+slanting down to a circular opening, like
+a well, covered with a grating, into which
+the bones are swept, after the fowls of the
+air, the dew, and the sun have deprived
+them of every particle of flesh.</p>
+
+<p>The Parsees assign as their reason for
+not burying their dead, that, having received
+many benefits from the earth during
+their lifetime, they consider it defiled by
+placing dead bodies in it. Similarly, they
+do not adopt the Hindoo custom of burning
+their dead, as another element, fire,
+would be rendered impure.</p>
+
+<p>The chief distinctive feature of the
+Parsee dress is the hat, to which the community
+cling with a pertinacity that would
+be extraordinary, were it not common.
+Even the Parsee representative of &ldquo;Young
+Bombay,&rdquo; dressed from top to toe in European
+costume, including a pair of shiny
+boots, cannot be induced to discard the
+abominable <i>topee</i>, or hat, distinctive of his
+race; though, perhaps, after all, we who
+live in glass houses should not throw
+stones; for what can be more hideous
+than the chimney-pot hat of our boasted
+civilization? The Parsee head-dress,
+which contests the palm of ugliness with
+its English rival, is constructed on a
+strong but light framework, covered with
+highly-glazed, dark-colored chintz. The
+priests, who dress like the laity, wear a
+hat of much the same shape as the former,
+but white, instead of a dark color.</p>
+
+<p>On occasions of ceremony, the ordinary
+tight-fitting narrow garment is exchanged
+for one with very full skirts, like a petticoat;
+and a shawl is usually worn round
+the waist, which is at other times omitted.
+The costume of the women is a combination
+of that of the Hindoos and Mussulmans,
+consisting of the short body and
+<i>sarree</i> of the former, with the full trousers
+of the latter. Both sexes endue themselves,
+at seven years of age, with the
+sacred shirt, which is worn over the
+trousers; the <i>sadra</i>, as it is called, is
+made of a thin, transparent muslin, and
+is meant to represent the coat-of-mail the
+men wore when they arrived in India,
+and with which they believe they can resist
+the spiritual assaults of Ahriman, the
+evil principle. The hair of the women is
+concealed by linen skull-caps, fitting tight
+to the head.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>374]</a></span>
+It is a singular and interesting sight to
+watch the Parsees assembled on the sea-shore,
+and, as the sun sinks below the
+horizon, to mark them prostrating themselves,
+and offering up their orisons to
+the great giver of light and heat, which
+they regard as representing the Deity.
+Their prayers are uttered, it is said, in an
+unknown tongue; and after the fiery face
+of the orb of day has disappeared in his
+ocean bed, and the wondrous pillars of
+light shooting aslant the sky, proclaim
+that the &ldquo;day is done,&rdquo; and the night is
+at hand, they raise themselves from their
+knees, and turn silently away from the
+beach, which is left once more to twilight
+and the murmur, or, if in angry mood, the
+roar, of the sea as it breaks on the shore.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 312px;">
+<a name="Page_374lower" id="Page_374lower"></a>
+<img src="images/hd151.jpg" width="312" height="400"
+alt="The unknown man rescues the girl from the burning building" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>THE CRIPPLED BOY.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">FROM THE FRENCH.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">D</span>ON&rsquo;T cry any more, Genevieve;
+you must get married again,&rdquo; said
+a man in the working dress of a slater,
+just returning from his day&rsquo;s work, to a
+poor woman who was sitting at the foot
+of a camp bed, weeping, and rocking her
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>375]</a></span>
+baby at the same time. &ldquo;Your husband
+is dead; he fell from a ladder, and it
+killed him. It is a great misfortune for
+you and your family; but crying won&rsquo;t
+help you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Saying these words in a rough voice,
+to hide the emotion caused by the poor
+woman&rsquo;s despair, the workman brushed
+away a tear with his coat sleeve.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My poor George!&rdquo; said the woman.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If your son was only good for anything,&rdquo;
+added the workman, rudely, throwing
+a glance of disdain upon a poor, pale,
+weak, and crippled boy, who was seated
+on the floor in a corner of the room; &ldquo;if
+that child would ever grow into a man, I
+would take him with me, and teach him
+how to clamber over roofs, and to keep
+his balance upon the beams, and drop
+from the end of a rope. But no, he grows
+worse and worse every day; and now he
+can hardly bear his own weight. He is
+almost twelve years old, that son of yours;
+and if they said he was four, it would be
+a compliment.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is it the fault of Jacques that he came
+crooked into the world, my brother?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, certainly not. I don&rsquo;t blame him,
+poor child, I don&rsquo;t blame him; but he will
+always be a useless mouth in the world.
+Luckily, he will not live long,&rdquo; he whispered
+in the ear of his sister. Then he
+rose, and went out, calling, &ldquo;Good by
+till to-morrow,&rdquo; in a tone of voice which
+betrayed the anxiety he felt at the situation
+of his sister and her children.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Luckily</em> I shall not live long,&rdquo; was
+repeated by a sweet, sad voice, in an accent
+which only belongs to those who have
+suffered deeply.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What are you saying, Jacques?&rdquo; inquired
+Genevieve.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That I am good for nothing. My
+uncle was right.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Take courage, my son. When you
+are older, you will grow stronger.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, if&mdash;&rdquo; said the boy.</p>
+
+<p>But he left the sentence unfinished, and
+his mother was too much absorbed in her
+grief to ask him what he meant. It was
+late, and in a few minutes the poor family
+retired. It was hardly light when Jacques
+went down into the court-yard to see the
+grooms curry the horses, wash the carriages,
+and get ready for the day.</p>
+
+<p>It was summer, and very soon a pretty
+little girl came down into the court.
+Jacques uttered a loud cry when he saw
+her.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Without crutches, Mademoiselle Emilie!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;So you see, Jacques,&rdquo; replied the
+young girl, with a sweet smile. &ldquo;I shall
+not use them any more. To be sure, I
+am a little weak here,&rdquo; she added, showing
+her left arm and foot, which were
+smaller than the right; &ldquo;and besides,&rdquo;
+she said, &ldquo;I am a little crooked.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And mademoiselle believes that she
+is entirely cured?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Certainly, Jacques. Only think, I
+was worse than you are! Stop, Jacques!
+I do really believe that <em>you</em> would be cured
+if you would go with me, and take lessons
+in gymnastics at the house of Colonel
+Amoros.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I am too poor to do that, mademoiselle.
+Somebody told my mother that
+these academies of gymnas&mdash;gym&mdash;I
+don&rsquo;t know what&mdash;are very expensive;
+and besides that, what good would they
+do me? for my uncle says I shall not live
+long.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Perhaps your uncle does not know any
+better than our doctor. But really, Jacques,
+have you not seen sometimes old people
+crooked and deformed? They have lived
+long, perhaps, those same old people.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But it is not at all likely that they
+were obliged to earn their living, mademoiselle.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 438px;">
+<img src="images/hd152.jpg" width="438" height="600"
+alt="Jacques, with his crutches, sits on a bench under a tree" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE LITTLE CRIPPLE BOY.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Poor Jacques!&rdquo; exclaimed Emilie, in
+a tone of compassion. &ldquo;You listen to
+me. When I am married, and have lots
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376"><!-- Illustration - THE LITTLE CRIPPLE BOY --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>377]</a></span>
+of money, I promise you that it will give
+me pleasure to make any sacrifice to pay
+for your being cured.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, I shall be too old then, or dead&mdash;who
+knows?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What can be done?&rdquo; she exclaimed,
+tapping the toe of her boot on the ground
+with an air of vexation.</p>
+
+<p>Then seeing an elderly lady come into
+the court, she ran to meet her, exclaiming,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My dear friend, allow Jacques to go
+with us to the Amoros gymnasium. You
+gave me one ticket. Say, will you give
+me two?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is impossible, mademoiselle. I cannot
+give away your tickets without leave
+from your father.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Leave from my father, who is not
+here!&rdquo; cried Emilie. &ldquo;He is in Martinique.
+Before we could get an answer&mdash;O,
+dear! O, dear!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do not distress yourself so, my child,&rdquo;
+said the governess. &ldquo;I have heard that
+they receive free pupils in the gymnasium
+conducted by M. Amoros. For many
+years they have taken those unfortunate
+children who are unable to pay the price
+of subscription. It is very generous and
+kind in Colonel Amoros, for it must be
+very expensive to support an establishment
+of this kind in the city.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is very good in the colonel; but
+then I want to pay for Jacques, because
+if every one went without paying, the
+school would soon come to an end.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But what money have you to pay
+with?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, you shall see, my kind friend.&mdash;Jacques,&rdquo;
+she added, turning to the poor
+boy, whose pale and suffering face expressed
+all the interest he took in this
+conversation,&mdash;&ldquo;Jacques, you must come
+with me to the gymnasium.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Never, for I cannot walk so far as
+that, mademoiselle,&rdquo; said Jacques, sadly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But you must ride in my carriage.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Just think of that, mademoiselle!
+No, I am too poorly clothed,&rdquo; said the
+poor son of the slater, glancing at his
+worn-out vest and at his green trousers
+patched with gray.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Haven&rsquo;t you any Sunday clothes?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, mademoiselle, but they are very
+little better.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;They must be cleaner, certainly. Go
+and put them on. Hurry!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Jacques obeyed. A few moments later,
+he came down, looking a little better
+dressed; but it was owing to the careful
+hands of a good workwoman, and not to
+the quality of the cloth which made his
+garments.</p>
+
+<p>Emilie was obliged to use all her authority
+before the servants would allow
+the little peasant to enter the coach. At
+last she placed him on the seat before
+her, and he was much more astonished
+than delighted at finding himself run away
+with by a pair of frisky young horses.</p>
+
+<p>In a street named Jean-Goujon you can
+see a large white building, of a very elegant
+style of architecture. On the front
+of it was printed, in large letters, the
+words <span class="smcap">Gymnase Civil Orthosomatique</span>,
+and other inscriptions to explain the
+object of the edifice.</p>
+
+<p>In 1815 Colonel Amoros made the first
+effort to introduce gymnastics into France.
+Messrs. Jomard and Julien not only seconded
+him fully, but insisted on the importance
+of these exercises, not alone for
+physical development, but for moral and
+intellectual strength.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Amoros was of Spanish origin,
+and became distinguished in the Spanish
+army. He formed two companies of
+Zouaves, and achieved the most daring
+exploits with them in Europe and Africa.
+Then he became private secretary to King
+Charles IV. He formed a large gymnasium
+in Madrid, which was destroyed in
+the war of 1808. But in devoting, his
+life to the physical training of children in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>378]</a></span>
+Paris, Colonel Amoros performed the
+greatest service to humanity. Though
+societies decorated him with medals, and
+France gave him funds for his military
+gymnasium, he will find in grateful hearts
+his best reward.</p>
+
+<p>But let us return to little Emilie, when
+the coach stopped at the gymnasium.</p>
+
+<p>The exercises had not begun. The
+professors, who were all young and active
+men, wore the same dress&mdash;a white vest
+and trousers, with a tri-colored belt, and
+a little blue cap on the head. They only
+waited for a signal to begin, as they stood
+in groups in the centre of the court. Very
+soon a middle-aged gentleman appeared
+among them. Though he was no longer
+young, he was still strong and active, and
+seemed to have a powerful constitution.
+He wore a blue coat, and a decoration at
+his button-hole, which was given as a
+token of bravery. He wore a cap upon
+his head.</p>
+
+<p>He came forward to speak to Emilie,
+and his eye fell upon poor Jacques, who
+was overcome with emotion at seeing a
+school where children who had been lame
+from weakness found the use of their
+limbs on recovering their health.</p>
+
+<p>Before the colonel had time to ask who
+this boy was,&mdash;for he knew Jacques was
+not one of his scholars,&mdash;Emilie seized
+his hand, and with the coaxing voice that
+children know how to use so well when
+they want to ask a favor, she said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I can walk without crutches now,
+colonel.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I am rejoiced to hear it, my child.
+You ought to be able to do so.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And I have grown almost an inch in
+six months. O, I am so much obliged to
+you, colonel!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You mean to my gymnasium, my dear
+child.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No, to you, colonel, to you. For really
+I was much worse than Jacques is,
+and to-day I am better than he is.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Who is Jacques?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This boy that you see here,&rdquo; said
+Emilie, taking the hand of Jacques, who
+was hiding behind her, and making him
+come forward before the colonel. &ldquo;He is
+the son of a slater. His father is dead.
+He fell from a roof. Poor man! His
+mother is very miserable, for she has
+another child to take care of; so you see
+yourself, colonel, it is quite necessary that
+he should be able to stand alone.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>All the time that M. Amoros was examining
+Jacques, rolling up the sleeves
+of his jacket to see his arms, turning up
+his trousers to look at his legs, feeling
+his spine, and making him stretch out his
+limbs, Emilie continued, with a coaxing
+voice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If you are willing, Colonel Amoros,
+we can make an arrangement. O, you
+must not refuse me, I beg of you!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What?&rdquo; said the kind man, continuing
+his examination.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This boy is very poor&mdash;very, very
+poor. If he is not cured, he will never
+be able to get his living. He has a
+mother and sister to support; and see,
+colonel, I am very sure my poor Jacques
+will die soon.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Will you hold your tongue, you little
+simpleton?&rdquo; said the colonel, suddenly
+turning round at the word &ldquo;die.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He will die soon if you don&rsquo;t take
+pity on him, dear Colonel Amoros,&rdquo; added
+the little girl, clasping her small hands
+eagerly before the colonel, who was too
+much engaged in examining poor Jacques,
+and considering the best way to cure him,
+to pay much attention to Emilie&rsquo;s words.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Please let Jacques take part in the
+exercises, and I will pay you out of my
+savings; or if you are willing to wait, I
+will pay it when I am married. And besides
+that, I will write to my father, and
+tell him to let me come and take lessons
+here after I am entirely cured.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The colonel could not restrain his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>379]</a></span>
+mirth at the idea of Emilie wishing to
+pay him for a kind action, which his generous
+heart prompted him to do without
+any persuasion.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It does not require so much eloquence
+to urge me to do a kindness, my little
+friend,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;Do you think I
+don&rsquo;t enjoy my practice? I will receive
+your prot&eacute;g&eacute; with pleasure, if he will
+promise to obey my orders, and if he will
+resemble his protectress in the love of
+doing good.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>While speaking these words, the colonel
+called one of the teachers, and pointing
+to Jacques,&mdash;who did not know
+whether he was dreaming or not,&mdash;he
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Take this boy, give him a belt, and a
+knot of scarlet ribbon on the left shoulder;
+that is the side which needs strengthening.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then he explained which exercises he
+should take, and those he ought to avoid.</p>
+
+<p>He then gave a signal for the bell to
+ring, and the professors and children were
+soon busy in the centre of the gymnasium.</p>
+
+<p>It was a pretty sight, I can assure you.
+Such a wonderful combination of poles,
+ropes, posts, and ladders! You might
+wonder, at first, what they all meant.
+But soon every child came along in his
+turn, without effort, and with such perfect
+enjoyment, that it explained the mystery.</p>
+
+<p>Gymnastic exercises were practised
+with great care by the ancients. They
+formed part of the education of a gentleman.
+They give that physical beauty
+and grace which only spring from a
+fine muscular development. Among the
+Greeks and Romans, men frequented the
+gymnasium and the circus. Philosophers,
+judges, and soldiers took part in these
+exercises with the citizens, that they
+might become stronger and more athletic,
+more active and capable of bearing fatigue.</p>
+
+<p>M. Amoros not only gave health and
+strength to the pupils of his gymnasium,
+but he taught them to call only those deeds
+<em>great</em> which were inspired by bravery,
+love of humanity, and pure benevolence.</p>
+
+<p>Two years had passed away; spring
+had arrived at the old chateau on the
+Loire, and M. Martel, the father of little
+Emilie, had returned from his voyage to
+Martinique. He was busy in making
+many necessary repairs in his family mansion,
+and many workmen came from Paris
+for that purpose. The night after their
+arrival, the chateau was discovered to be
+on fire. M. Martel awoke in haste;
+startled by the light of the flames, which
+suddenly illuminated his room, he ran to
+see where the fire sprang from, and called
+aloud for his daughter, whom he could
+not see anywhere. The spectacle that
+met his view quite overwhelmed him.
+The story that was on fire was the place
+where his daughter slept. It could be
+reached only from a neighboring roof,
+that was almost consumed. A single
+beam connected one building with the
+other. Notwithstanding his age and the
+gout, which paralyzed one of his limbs,
+the poor father wished to climb up and
+save his daughter, or to die with her.
+They held him back; he uttered fearful
+shrieks, when a young man, little more
+than a boy, was seen on the beam, which
+tottered with his weight. He walked
+along without fear. A profound silence
+succeeded to the cries of terror. The
+souls of the spectators seemed to look
+out of their eyes. M. Martel fell upon
+his knees.</p>
+
+<p>The intrepid youth reached the window,
+and scaled it. They saw him unroll a
+long rope, or rope-ladder, and fasten it
+securely to the iron balcony which ornamented
+the window; then he disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>Not a sound betrayed the anxiety of
+the spectators. The unknown man returned;
+he held a young person supported
+upon his back. He mounted the iron
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>380]</a></span>
+balcony, and suspended himself with his
+precious burden upon it, for she was well
+secured by a strong belt. This horrible
+suspense was more than M. Martel could
+bear. He covered his face with his hands.
+But soon the universal shouts of joy told
+him that his daughter was safe.</p>
+
+<p>After the first moments of delight, the
+young girl turned to her deliverer. An
+exclamation of surprise fell from their
+lips.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Jacques!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mademoiselle Emilie!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then they gazed at each other in silence
+by the red light of the fire.</p>
+
+<p>They were no longer two pale, sad children,
+with haggard little faces, already
+prematurely old. They had been separated
+ever since Emilie had left the gymnasium,
+and, not living in the same place,
+they hardly recognized each other. Emilie
+was a tall and beautiful girl, enjoying all
+the delight of perfect health. Jacques
+almost had become a man.</p>
+
+<p>M. Martel had not heard without emotion
+about his daughter&rsquo;s generous act,
+and her efforts to have Jacques received
+as a pupil in the Amoros gymnasium.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Am I not well rewarded?&rdquo; she exclaimed,
+extending her hand to the young
+man. &ldquo;You would not have had any
+daughter without him, papa. The horror
+of my position, the impossibility of my
+finding a rope, a ladder, or any way of
+escape, frightened me so, that I lost my
+senses, and I should have been burned
+alive, if it had not been for Jacques.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, mademoiselle,&rdquo; said the slater&rsquo;s
+son, with emotion, &ldquo;it is not life alone
+that I owe to you; is it not more than
+life? It is health, the use of my limbs,
+and the happiness of being able to support
+my mother. Yes, mademoiselle,&rdquo;
+added Jacques, with fervor, &ldquo;I am a
+workman, and thanks to the lessons of
+our excellent professor, Colonel Amoros,
+I am more skilful than any of my fellow-laborers.
+I can support my family, and
+my wages are higher, because I can work
+harder and work longer than the rest.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Brave boy!&rdquo; exclaimed M. Martel,
+pressing Jacques in his arms, who was
+quite overcome at the meeting. &ldquo;From
+this day forward you shall be my son. I
+will take charge of your education and
+your advancement, of your mother and
+your sister. Brave boy! My daughter
+has done much for you, but you deserve
+it; she understood your heart.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>M. Martel kept his word. And some
+days after, when Jacques and his uncle
+met in the small attic of the poor widow,
+and were rejoicing over the happy change
+in their fortunes, the poor mother clasped
+her boy&rsquo;s head to her heart, and bathed
+his curls with tears, and covered them
+with kisses, exclaiming,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now you see, brother, Jacques was
+not a useless creature. It is owing to
+him that our fortune is made.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, thanks to Colonel Amoros,&rdquo; said
+the workman.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Thanks to Mademoiselle Emilie,&rdquo; said
+Jacques, heaving a sigh.</p>
+
+<p class="sig smcap">S. W. Lander.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/hd035.jpg" width="200" height="124"
+alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>381]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/hd153.jpg" width="600" height="350"
+alt="The girl kisses her father on the forehead" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>A DINNER AND A KISS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">I HAVE brought your dinner, father,&rdquo;<br />
+<span class="i2">The blacksmith&rsquo;s daughter said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As she took from her arm the kettle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And lifted its shining lid.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;There is not any pie or pudding;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So I will give you this;&rdquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And upon his toil-worn forehead<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">She left the childish kiss.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The blacksmith took off his apron,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And dined in happy mood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wondering much at the savor<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Hid in his humble food,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While all about him were visions<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Full of prophetic bliss;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But he never thought of the magic<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In his little daughter&rsquo;s kiss.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">While she, with her kettle swinging,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Merrily trudged away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stopping at sight of a squirrel,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Catching some wild bird&rsquo;s lay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O, I thought, how many a shadow<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of life and fate we would miss,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If always our frugal dinners<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Were seasoned with a kiss!<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>382]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>MY MOTHER.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;Honor thy father and thy mother.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">FATHER and mother! sacred names and dear;<br />
+<span class="i3">The sweetest music to the infant ear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And dearer still to those, a joyous band,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who sport in childhood&rsquo;s bright enchanted land.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And when, as years roll on, night follows day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The young wax old and loved ones pass away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through mists of time yet holier and more dear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Father and mother&rdquo; sound to memory&rsquo;s ear.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The days, the hours, the moments as they speed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each crowned by loving thought or word or deed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh, heart&rsquo;s long-suffering, self-denying! sure<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Earth holds no love more true, and none so pure.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Thou happy child whom a good God hath given<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A parents&rsquo; shelt&rsquo;ring home, that earthly heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where ceaseless care, where tireless love and true,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nurse thy young life as flowers are nursed by dew.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">E&rsquo;en as the flowers, for the dear debt they owe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bloom, and sweet odors in rich meed bestow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Let the fair blossoms of thy love and duty<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cluster about thy home in fragrant beauty.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Never from eye or lip be seen or heard<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sullen glance or the rebellious word,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And never wilfully or heedless pain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The tender hearts that cannot wound again.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But fond caress, sweet smile and loving tone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Obedience prompt and glad, be thine alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For filial love, like mercy, is twice blest;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While to the parent of earth&rsquo;s joys the best,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Richer than treasures of the land or sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It wins God&rsquo;s blessing, O my child, for thee!<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>383]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 406px;">
+<img src="images/hd154.jpg" width="406" height="600"
+alt="The mother shows the Book of Proverbs to her child" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">MY MOTHER.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>384]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>REGINALD&rsquo;S FIRST SCHOOL-DAYS.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">O</span>NE frosty morning in January two delicate-looking children were sitting before
+a blazing fire in a long, low nursery with oak rafters running across the ceiling.
+Between them lay a great shaggy dog.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You will take good care of Rover whilst I am away?&rdquo; said the boy, winding
+his fingers in Rover&rsquo;s shaggy hair and leaning his head against him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; he shall go for a walk with me every day, and in the twilight I will talk to
+him about you,&rdquo; answered Alice. &ldquo;You might send messages to him in your letters,&rdquo;
+she added.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Would you understand them, old fellow?&rdquo; asked Reginald, lifting up the dog&rsquo;s
+head and looking into his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>The dog wistfully returned his master&rsquo;s gaze and gave him his paw.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I believe he understands,&rdquo; said Reginald, throwing his arms round the dog&rsquo;s
+neck. &ldquo;Oh, Rover, Rover, if I could only take you with me!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It would not be so bad then,&rdquo; sighed Alice.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It won&rsquo;t be really bad when I get accustomed to it. Just at first it may be strange,
+but I shall be sure to like one, at any rate, out of the forty boys. It is going out
+into the world, and my father says it is well for a boy to learn his level early. On
+the whole, I am glad I am going; it is only the first bit of it that one is not sure
+about.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<p class="smlpadt">It was a large room, with desks and benches on either side, and an aisle, as Reginald
+called it, up the middle. It had four large windows looking out on the playground,
+and a fireplace at each end, round which some dozen or two of boys were
+clustered.</p>
+
+<p>Reginald advanced toward the fireplace at the lower end of the room, hoping that
+some one might speak to him and rid him of the strange, uncomfortable feeling that
+crept over him; but none of the boys spoke, though they regarded him critically, as
+if measuring the sort of being he was before committing themselves to any closer
+acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p>So he sat down on a bench halfway down the school-room, tried to look unconscious,
+and half wished himself at home again.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Have any of you fellows got a knife? I want to cut this piece of string,&rdquo; said a
+tall boy, addressing the group generally.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Reginald had taken out his new knife and offered it to the speaker.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said Thompson, the tall boy; &ldquo;a capital knife. Much obliged; will borrow
+it for the present;&rdquo; and after using it he quietly put it into his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the boys laughed. One of them, however, murmured, in an undertone,
+&ldquo;What a great shame!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Reginald&rsquo;s color rose. He walked straight up to Thompson:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Will you please to give me my knife again?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Thompson looked surprised:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No; I shall please to do nothing of the kind. You offered it, and I accepted it.
+An offer&rsquo;s an offer.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I lent it to you to cut the string.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You did not say so.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I do not think it just of you to take my knife in that way,&rdquo; said Reginald, thoroughly
+aroused; &ldquo;and if you do not return it at once, I shall speak to Dr. Field
+about it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; said Thompson, coolly; &ldquo;you&rsquo;re a sneak, are you?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>385]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 406px;">
+<img src="images/hd155.jpg" width="406" height="600"
+alt="Reginald working on his slate by the light of a candle" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">INDUSTRIOUS REGINALD.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>386]</a></span>
+The boys, who had been gathering round Reginald, admiring his spirit in confronting
+the tall boy, now drew back, and the words &ldquo;tell-tale!&rdquo; &ldquo;blab!&rdquo; &ldquo;sneak!&rdquo;
+were distinctly heard. And Reginald found himself standing alone, deserted by
+those who had drawn near in sympathy with him, for Thompson was the tyrant of
+the school.</p>
+
+<p>Presently, when the boys had returned to their places by the fire, and Reginald
+was apparently forgotten, a merry-looking boy a year older than himself sat down
+by him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;you must not say anything to Dr. Field. You must let your
+knife go, and learn wisdom for the future.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Reginald looked up.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s mean and unfair,&rdquo; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That may be, but the boys would say it was meaner still to complain. One has
+to put up with things of this sort at school, and make the best of them.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s your name?&rdquo; asked Reginald, suddenly, for there was something about
+the boy that he liked, and he thought this might be the one who was to be his
+friend.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Barton. And yours?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Reginald Murray.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Murray&rsquo;s enough, without the other.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I should like you to be my friend.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Barton glanced at the large dark eyes that were fixed upon him, and at the delicate
+and somewhat mournful face, and felt attracted also.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I think I shall like you,&rdquo; he returned; &ldquo;but I must wait and see how you go on.
+I think you&rsquo;ve the right spirit; but you must take my advice about the knife. Will
+you?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There was a struggle in Reginald&rsquo;s mind. It was very hard to give up the knife
+that Alice had saved up her pocket-money to buy for him. Still, Barton had been
+at school for some time, and knew better than he what ought to be done, so he answered,
+&ldquo;I will.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But Barton was not prepared for his manner of carrying out the decision. To his
+great surprise, Reginald marched straight up to Thompson. &ldquo;I shall not,&rdquo; he said,
+&ldquo;speak to Dr. Field about the knife. It&rsquo;s unfair and unjust of you to take it, and I
+sha&rsquo;n&rsquo;t be friends with you as long as you keep it. But Barton says it would be telling
+tales if I made a complaint.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Some of the younger boys stood quite aghast at Reginald&rsquo;s boldness; one or two
+even murmured, &ldquo;Well done!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Thompson stared, half in astonishment, half in anger. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re too fast, young
+sir; you&rsquo;ll have to be put down, I see,&rdquo; said he. But he did not give Reginald his
+knife again.</p>
+
+<p>School was indeed a new world to Reginald. He made friends and found enemies;
+he worked hard&mdash;indeed, often sat up by candle-light to prepare examples for
+the next day. He played well, and on the whole was tolerably popular. Thompson,
+however, still kept the knife, using it upon all occasions, which caused a thrill of indignation
+to go through Reginald&rsquo;s delicate frame.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If I can&rsquo;t get it one way, I will another,&rdquo; thought he; and he brooded over the
+knife until he magnified every word that Thompson said into a series of insults to
+himself, and Thompson, pleased with the power he possessed over the boy, exercised
+it on all occasions.</p>
+
+<p>So the spring went by, and the summer came, and the days slipped away, and the
+holidays were close at hand.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>387]</a></span>
+&ldquo;If I were strong enough, I would fight him for it,&rdquo; said Reginald to Barton, one
+day, when Thompson had been more than usually aggravating.</p>
+
+<p>The remark was repeated to Thompson, who was standing by the side of the river
+that ran at the foot of the playground.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment Reginald drew near.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;So you would like to fight me if you were big enough?&rdquo; said he, with a sneer.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I should!&rdquo; answered Reginald, warmly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah! it&rsquo;s a bad state of feeling. If the knife causes such wicked thoughts, the best
+way is to get rid of it. So here it goes, and there is an end of it!&rdquo; And drawing
+the knife from his pocket, he flung it into the river. It fell short of where he intended,
+and Reginald saw his beloved knife through the clear river, lying within
+what he supposed to be an easy reach. Without a moment&rsquo;s thought he jumped
+in after it, regardless of the cry that rose, &ldquo;The water&rsquo;s deeper than it looks!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>His hand had, as if by instinct, grasped the knife, but as he tried to struggle back
+through the swiftly-running water he got confused, for, as the boys had called out to
+him, it was a great deal deeper than it looked, and just there the ground shelved
+suddenly, and Reginald, taking a false step, lost his footing.</p>
+
+<p>There was a general outcry, which brought Dr. Field and a visitor who had just
+arrived to the spot:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Murray&rsquo;s in the river!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And they pointed to the spot where the poor boy had sunk.</p>
+
+<p>With such a cry as the boys long remembered, the visitor had plunged into the
+water, and had caught the boy, who had risen for the last time, by the arm.</p>
+
+<p>And the next thing that the boys knew was that a white, dripping form was carried
+through the playground into the house.</p>
+
+<p>Then a whisper went round, &ldquo;It was his father.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then a whispered question, &ldquo;Is he dead?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And Thompson shuddered as he heard it.</p>
+
+<p>But Reginald did not die; he opened his eyes to find his father clasping his hand.
+At first he could remember nothing, then he looked round anxiously: &ldquo;Is the knife
+safe? I went to pick up my knife.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then he closed his eyes and remained for a long time silent; and when he spoke
+again, it was in the wild ravings of delirium.</p>
+
+<p>The shock had been too much for the delicate boy. Fever came on, and it was
+weeks before he could be moved home. And then he was ordered to the South,
+and Italy was the chosen place in which Mr. and Mrs. Murray and their two children
+should sojourn until Reginald should have completely recovered his health.</p>
+
+<p>And this time Rover was to go with his young master.</p>
+
+<p>The day before Reginald left home a carriage drove up to the door, and Thompson
+stepped out of it.</p>
+
+<p>He and Reginald were alone for a quarter of an hour, and they parted friends.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I have my knife now, Thompson,&rdquo; said Reginald, &ldquo;and so the quarrel is over.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And Thompson returned to Dr. Field&rsquo;s a better and a wiser boy. He never
+bullied any one again.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 250px;">
+<img src="images/hd156.png" width="250" height="85"
+alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>388]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/hd157.jpg" width="500" height="186"
+alt="Three kittens, two wrestling and one clasping a ball in its front paws" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>CLEOPATRA.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">WE&rsquo;VE called our young puss Cleopatra;<br />
+<span class="i4">&rsquo;Twas grandpa who named her like that.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He says it means &ldquo;fond of good living&rdquo;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A queer enough name for a cat!<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She leads the most lovely existence,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And one which appears to enchant;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Asleep in the sun like a snow-flake<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That tries to get melted and can&rsquo;t;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Or now and then languidly strolling<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Through plots of the garden, to steal<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On innocent grasshoppers, crunching<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Her cruel and murderous meal!<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Or lapping from out of her saucer&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The dainty and delicate elf!&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With appetite spoiled in the garden,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">New milk that&rsquo;s as white as herself.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Dear, dear! could we only change places,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">This do-nothing pussy and I,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You&rsquo;d think it hard work, Cleopatra,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To live, as the moments went by.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ah! how would you relish, I wonder,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To sit in a school-room for hours?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You&rsquo;d find it less pleasant, I fancy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Than murdering bugs in the flowers.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Edgar Fawcett.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>389]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>DECLAMATION.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">SHAKSPEARE.</p>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">SHE sat in her eternal house,<br />
+<span class="i3">The sovereign mother of mankind;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Before her was the peopled world,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The hollow night behind.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Below my feet the thunders break,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Above my head the stars rejoice;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But man, although he babbles much,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Has never found a voice.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Ten thousand years have come and gone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And not an hour of any day<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But he has dumbly looked to me<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The things he could not say.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;It shall be so no more,&rdquo; she said;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And then, revolving in her mind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She thought, &ldquo;I will create a child<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Shall speak for all his kind.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">It was the spring-time of the year,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And, lo! where Avon&rsquo;s waters flow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The child, her darling, came on earth<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Three hundred years ago.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">There was no portent in the sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">No cry, like Pan&rsquo;s, along the seas,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor hovered round his baby mouth<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The swarm of classic bees.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">What other children were he was;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If more, &rsquo;twas not to mortal ken;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The being likest to mankind<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Made him the man of men.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Before he came, his like was not,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Nor left he heirs to share his powers.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The mighty mother sent him here<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To be her voice and ours;<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">To be her oracle to man;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To be what man may be to her;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Between the Maker and the made<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The best interpreter.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="poet smcap">Richard H. Stoddard.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>390]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>SMILES AND TEARS.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">BOTH sword and guns are strong, no doubt,<br />
+<span class="i3">And so are tongue and pen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And so are sheaves of good bank-notes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To sway the souls of men;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But guns and swords, and gold and thought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Though mighty in their sphere,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Are often poorer than a smile,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And weaker than a tear.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_390lower" id="Page_390lower"></a>NICOLO&rsquo;S LITTLE FRIEND.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">N</span>ICOLO, Nicolo, where are you?
+Where have you hidden yourself?
+Come here; I want you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It was a very bright-eyed little girl who
+spoke these words&mdash;under a bright sky,
+too&mdash;the sunny sky of Italy.</p>
+
+<p>But Nicolo, a boy some years older
+than herself, looked far from bright or
+happy; he was lying full length on the
+ground in the sunlight; but his face was
+overcast and melancholy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Lazy fellow!&rdquo; said little Gianetta,
+laughingly, as she came up to him; &ldquo;I am
+out of breath calling to you. Come along;
+I want you. Mother has done with me,
+and we can make some music together.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But Nicolo shook his head, though he
+smiled at his little friend.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What is it?&rdquo; asked Gianetta. &ldquo;Why
+can&rsquo;t you come? Is it the father again?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Nicolo sighed. He was a cheerful,
+happy-tempered boy by nature. And yet
+Gianetta often found him looking very sad.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tiresome, bad man!&rdquo; broke forth the
+little girl. &ldquo;He has been scolding you
+again; but no. Stop; I will say no
+wicked things of him, for he is your father;
+and we must honor our parents, be
+they bad or good, Father Clement says.
+But tell me, Nicolo, what has he said or
+done?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is nothing,&rdquo; said Nicolo, rousing
+himself at length&mdash;&ldquo;nothing, my little
+Gianetta; but it wearies me. It is the
+old tale; he likes not my music&mdash;thinks
+it an excuse for idleness. Listen, little
+one. I make my plans now. I cannot
+bear this life. I must do as he wishes&mdash;learn
+a trade or somewhat, and give up
+my violin.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That you never shall do,&rdquo; said Gianetta,
+earnestly. &ldquo;You think me naughty,
+Nicolo; but I am not. I only see it
+plainer than you or your father. God has
+given you this talent,&mdash;this great one,&mdash;and
+you shall not hide it, you shall not
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>391]</a></span>
+bury it.&rdquo; The little girl&rsquo;s face was so
+eager, that Nicolo smiled at her.</p>
+
+<p>But she went on, more excitedly:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Get up this moment, Nicolo, and come
+in with me. We will play somewhat together.
+Your father never scolds you
+when I am by. And you shall not give
+up your music.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The boy, half in earnest, and half
+amused, let the child drag him into a
+little house near, put his violin into his
+arms, and then seat herself at the piano,
+while in the distance sat Nicolo&rsquo;s father,
+gloomily watching the pair.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Begin,&rdquo; said Gianetta, &ldquo;and tell me
+when I play wrongly.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But for such a mere child, Gianetta
+played with marvellous correctness. As
+for Nicolo, his countenance cleared with
+every sound that he drew from his beloved
+violin; he forgot his gloomy father;
+he thought no longer of his dull, sad home.
+He was wrapped in that wonderful content
+which the possession of some great
+talent gives.</p>
+
+<p>With the last chord the brightness
+faded, however, out of his face.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Take me home now,&rdquo; said the little girl.</p>
+
+<p>Home was only across the street; but
+Gianetta wanted another word in private
+with her friend.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nicolo,&rdquo; she said, gravely, &ldquo;never
+speak more of giving up the music; it is
+not to be. I am sorry for you, my poor
+boy; I know it is a hard life, but&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But I will make a name for myself at
+last,&rdquo; said Nicolo, catching her enthusiasm;
+&ldquo;and then, perhaps, my father will
+have faith in me. Till then I will be
+brave, little one; so good night.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It <em>was</em> a hard life for Nicolo&mdash;his
+mother dead, his father with no care for
+his son&rsquo;s one great passion&mdash;music.
+Many a time the boy&rsquo;s spirit failed, and
+he even grew to doubt his own powers
+under the cold glance and cruel taunts
+which daily met him.</p>
+
+<p>He was sitting one day, feeling even
+sadder than usual,&mdash;discontented even
+with the sounds he drew from his instrument,&mdash;when
+Gianetta&rsquo;s mother stood in
+the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The child is ill,&rdquo; she said, hurriedly&mdash;&ldquo;very
+ill, and calls ever for you. Come.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So Nicolo went, and, though tossed
+with fever, his little friend smiled on him.
+There was, however, a longing look in
+her eyes; but her parched lips could not
+form a word.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is it the violin?&rdquo; asked Nicolo, softly.</p>
+
+<p>She smiled again, and Nicolo fetched
+his treasure.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A sleeping song?&rdquo; he questioned.</p>
+
+<p>The little face grew calm and soft at
+his question. Sweetly the music floated
+through the room, stilling the little sufferer,
+and comforting the watchers. When
+he had finished, Gianetta stretched out
+her arms.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Thank you, dear Nicolo,&rdquo; she said;
+&ldquo;that was pleasant. Now I shall sleep;
+but <em>you</em> must never sleep; you have much
+else to do; you must go out into the
+world, and be famous&mdash;go away far, far
+from here. Do you mind my words?
+Will you remember them?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And she lay back exhausted on her
+pillow, never more to ask for music in
+this world. Gianetta was listening even
+then to the angels&rsquo; song.</p>
+
+<p>That night Nicolo sat beside the dead
+body of his little friend. Lights burned,
+flowers were scattered round her, and
+prayers were said without ceasing in all
+those long hours. It was the custom of
+the country; it did not disturb the dead,
+and it comforted the living.</p>
+
+<p>And when morning dawned, the friendless
+boy went back to his little room
+across the road, and there he poured out
+his heart in a farewell strain to his dear
+companion who had thus suddenly been
+snatched from him.</p>
+
+<p>There was no more now to be done but
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>392]</a></span>
+to fulfil her last command&mdash;to go out into
+the world, and to make himself famous.</p>
+
+<p>Did he do so?</p>
+
+<p>Ask those who love music, and hold
+dear all great names in its roll of fame, if
+they ever heard of Nicolo Paganini; for
+it is of his boyhood that I write.</p>
+
+<p>How far he owed his success in life to
+a little girl, each reader may judge for
+himself. She certainly inspired him with
+courage when he was very down-hearted;
+and through all his brilliant career, I think
+he at least must always have remembered
+her with gratitude.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">H. A. F.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="Page_392lower" id="Page_392lower"></a>A CHILD&rsquo;S PETITION.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="cap">O THOU above,<br />
+<span class="i3">From whose great love<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The world all good receives,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Make me as bright<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With thy blessed light<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As a rose with all her leaves.<br /></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Wash me as clean<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From every sin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O pitiful, pitiful One;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And make me shine<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With thy grace divine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like a lily with the sun.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Take pride away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Dear Lord, I pray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And make me pure and true,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That I may be fed<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">On thy living bread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As the daisy is fed on the dew.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Help me still<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To do thy will<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till life has passed away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And in the dark<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To sing like a lark<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At the golden gate of the day.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>393]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>THE TRUANT.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>HAT&rsquo;S the matter with Neddy Oram?&rdquo; I said as a noise outside drew
+me to the window, and I saw old Mrs. Oram dragging her grandson
+along the street. She looked angry and determined.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s played truant, I guess,&rdquo; answered my little girl as she came to my
+side. &ldquo;He played truant last week, and Mr. Jonas made him stand on one
+foot ever so long a time. And when he got tired and put the other one down,
+he switched him on the leg. Oh dear! I don&rsquo;t want to go this morning. I
+wish Neddy wouldn&rsquo;t play truant, nor be bad in school! He&rsquo;s such a nice
+boy, and I can&rsquo;t bear to see him whipped. Mr. Jonas will cut him dreadfully,
+I know he will, for he said he&rsquo;d take the skin off of him if ever he played
+truant again.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Neddy was a nice boy, as my little girl said. He was bright and active,
+kind-hearted and generous. I never saw him do a mean or selfish thing. But
+he had a free, rather reckless spirit and a will that was stubbornness itself when
+aroused. Kindness softened, but anger hardened, him.</p>
+
+<p>Neddy&rsquo;s father and mother were both dead, and the boy lived with his
+grandmother, who was rather a hard woman, and believed more in the power
+of force than in the power of kindness.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as I understood the case I put on my bonnet hastily and ran after
+Mrs. Oram, hoping to come up with her before she reached the school-room.
+I was a few moments too late for this, but in time to have a word with Mr.
+Jonas, who stood at the door holding the struggling boy firmly by the arm.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I want you to promise me one thing,&rdquo; I said, laying my hand on the
+schoolmaster&rsquo;s. I spoke in as quiet a voice as I could assume, but very seriously.
+My words and manner threw Mr. Jonas off of his guard. His hold
+on the boy relaxed, and in the next instant Neddy was beyond his reach and
+running off as fast as his feet could carry him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;After him!&rdquo; cried the schoolmaster, greatly excited. &ldquo;After him, John
+Wilkins!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A large, coarse-looking boy started forward, and was about passing through
+the door, when I put my hand on him, and pressing him back said,</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Wait a moment, John. Maybe, after I&rsquo;ve said a word to Mr. Jonas, he&rsquo;ll
+not want you to go. Tell him to wait, Mr. Jonas; do, now, because I want
+you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I softened my voice to a persuasive tone, and so made my interference
+effectual. The schoolmaster told John Wilkins to go back to his seat.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Oram had started after her troublesome grandson on the instant of his
+escape, and so I was left alone with the excited teacher.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Now, don&rsquo;t be angry with me,&rdquo; said I, &ldquo;nor tell me to go away and
+mind my own business. Two heads are sometimes better than one; and it&rsquo;s
+my opinion that if you and I put our heads together, we can save this poor
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394"><!-- Illustration - THE TRUANT --></a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>395]</a></span>
+boy from being ruined. There is a great deal of good in him, but as things
+go now I&rsquo;m afraid it will be lost. With natures like his, &lsquo;love has readier
+will than fear.&rsquo; His grandmother doesn&rsquo;t know how to manage him. Let
+us try to show her a better way.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadtop" style="width: 441px;">
+<img src="images/hd158.jpg" width="441" height="600"
+alt="Neddy being dragged to school by his grandmother" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE TRUANT.</p>
+
+<p>By the time I had said this the thoughts of Mr. Jonas had become clearer
+and his anger against Neddy much abated. I saw this in his face.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Let the boy go now,&rdquo; I added. &ldquo;After school come and see me, and
+we&rsquo;ll have a long talk over the matter. But promise me one thing.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What is that?&rdquo; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If old Mrs. Oram brings Neddy back to-day, don&rsquo;t punish him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Very well. It shall be as you say,&rdquo; answered the schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>That evening Mr. Jonas called to see me. He was a better man, on the
+whole, than he was a schoolmaster. Out of school he was kind and genial,
+but as a teacher he was not always as wise and as patient as he should be.
+Like Neddy&rsquo;s grandmother, he believed more in the power of force than he
+did in the power of kindness. His rod was always in sight, and too often in
+his hand. He ruled by fear, and not by love.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Did Neddy come back to school?&rdquo; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Jonas shook his head gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, mother,&rdquo; cried my little girl, rushing into the room just at this
+moment, &ldquo;Neddy Oram&rsquo;s lost or run away!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>She stopped on seeing Mr. Jonas; her face, that had been a little pale,
+flushed deeply, and her eyes had an angry flash. &ldquo;And it&rsquo;s all your fault!&rdquo;
+she added, with a sudden brave indignation in her tiny voice as she turned on
+the schoolmaster and looked at him steadily.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My fault!&rdquo; said the schoolmaster, in a startled voice.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, sir. It&rsquo;s all your fault. If you hadn&rsquo;t made him stand on one leg
+until he was almost tired to death, and switched him when he put the other
+down, and if you hadn&rsquo;t said you&rsquo;d cut the skin off of him, he wouldn&rsquo;t have
+run away.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And here little Carrie burst out crying, and buried her face, sobbing, in my
+lap.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Brave talk for my timid little girl, Mr. Jonas,&rdquo; I said, in an undertone,
+&ldquo;but all true, I&rsquo;m afraid.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What is true?&rdquo; he asked, looking bewildered.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;All that Carrie has said. This way you have of flogging children does
+more harm than good. A man of your clear mind and kindly nature might
+surely find some better way to govern your scholars.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Jonas did not answer. There was a look of pained surprise on his
+face.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Run away, lost!&rdquo; he exclaimed, after a few moments, rising to his feet.
+His manner had become suddenly agitated. &ldquo;Poor boy! I must see about
+this;&rdquo; and he went out hastily.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>396]</a></span>
+When Neddy Oram, who was only ten years old, escaped from the schoolmaster,
+he went directly home and hid himself in the garret, behind some
+boxes and old furniture. He ran so much faster than his grandmother that
+she lost sight of him and did not see him go into the house. So no search
+was made for him in the garret. Like some poor hunted animal that had
+gained a place of safety, he crouched panting in his hiding-place, enjoying for
+a time a sweet sense of security. But Neddy could not long forget how small
+and weak and dependent he was. It was all very well to hide away from his
+grandmother, but how was he to get anything to eat?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Run away!&rdquo; said a voice that spoke inside of him, but so loud and clear
+that he almost started. &ldquo;Run away!&rdquo; repeated the voice. &ldquo;Grandmother
+Oram will find you out up here and take you back to school, and Mr. Jonas
+will switch you half to death.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I wonder who it was that said this, or how a voice could speak inside of
+Neddy Oram? It was a bad spirit, I think, that wished to do him harm. We
+may often hear these bad spirits speaking in our thoughts and telling us to do
+naughty things. Good spirits speak in our thoughts as well as bad ones, and
+they tell us to do what is right, to be kind and generous and loving and
+true.</p>
+
+<p>I am sorry to say that Neddy, who was not only angry with his grandmother
+and the schoolmaster, but on account of his wrong-doings and disobedience
+afraid of them, listened to this voice, and as he listened the bad spirit made
+the voice seem so like his own thoughts that he knew not but that all came
+from himself.</p>
+
+<p>So under this wrong influence he planned an escape from the house, which
+was to be made as soon as his grandmother went out. For an hour or two he
+heard her moving around. At last all was still. Then he stole from his hiding-place
+and listened at the head of the stairs. Not the slightest sound broke
+the deep silence. Grandmother had gone away. Then he took a loaf of
+bread, a large slice of cake and some apples, which he tied up in a handkerchief;
+and stealing out of the back door, he ran through the garden and out
+of a gate that opened into a lane. At the end of this lane was a piece of
+woods, and beyond this wood a deep hollow, along which it was easy to go
+without danger of being seen by any one.</p>
+
+<p>How strangely the little boy&rsquo;s heart beat as he hurried along, going he
+knew not whither! It was not long before he reached the hollow beyond the
+woods. After crossing this hollow, he entered another wood by a narrow path
+made by the cattle. The trees in this wood were very tall and close together,
+and the underbrush grew so thick that he could see before him only for a short
+distance.</p>
+
+<p>The silence and darkness of this heavy forest caused a lonely feeling to
+come over Neddy. All at once the thought of bears and wolves came into
+his mind, and with the thought fear crept into his heart. A weakness fell upon
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>397]</a></span>
+him, and he stood still with drops of cold sweat on his forehead. Then he
+turned and ran back, but in doing so missed the way and took a path that,
+instead of taking him out of the forest, led him farther into it. He ran
+and ran, panting for breath, until he was so tired that he had to sit down to
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What if I am lost?&rdquo; he said to himself, a cold chill running over him at
+the thought. Lost! How wildly the poor little boy&rsquo;s heart began to beat!
+As he sat there, feeling too weak from weariness and fear to arise, he heard not
+far off the sound of feet cracking the dry sticks and rustling the leaves that
+lay upon the ground. He held his breath in terror, for he was sure it was a
+bear or wolf. Nearer and nearer the animal came, passing only a few rods
+from where he sat motionless.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, oh!&rdquo; exclaimed Neddy, in tones of relief, starting to his feet as he
+saw a young heifer which was astray in the woods.</p>
+
+<p>At sight of the boy the heifer, scared by his sudden appearance, started off
+at a run and was soon out of sight, leaving Neddy again alone. He tried to
+follow her, but was not able to get on her track. Oh how he did wish
+himself at home! How sorry he was that he had played truant on the day
+before!</p>
+
+<p>In trying to follow the heifer, Neddy left the narrow path along which he
+had been going, and now he was among the thick undergrowth of the forest,
+his hands and face scratched with briars. The trees stood so close together
+that no sunshine came down through their thick branches. All was dim and
+shadowy.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Neddy! A great fear and loneliness fell on him again; and sitting
+down on the limb of a fallen tree, he began to cry bitterly. But crying was
+of no use. It wouldn&rsquo;t get him out of the woods and safely home again. So
+he dried his tears and started on again, hoping to find the path he had left.
+But he tried in vain. All at once he noticed that the light was fading rapidly
+and the air growing cold. The sun had gone down, and night was falling.
+Neddy&rsquo;s heart began to beat wildly; he could feel the throbs all over him;
+there was a great pressure as if a hand were laid on his breast; he could
+scarcely breathe, so strong was the feeling of suffocation that oppressed him.
+He tried to run, but his foot caught in a vine, and he fell upon the ground,
+where he lay for a long time before he had strength enough to arise.</p>
+
+<p>In his weakness and exhaustion the poor boy found strength and courage.
+How! Think, my little reader. What would you have done if lost in the
+woods as Neddy was lost? Where would you have looked for help? You
+would have done, I am very sure, just as he did. And what did he do?
+Why, he put his little hands together, and lifting his tearful eyes upward
+prayed that God would take care of him, and not let any wild beasts eat him
+up.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he had done this the dreadful fear from which he was suffering went
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>398]</a></span>
+out of his heart. Just a little way beyond the spot where Neddy had fallen
+was a small clear place in the forest, where grew a bed of soft green moss. A
+few rays of light came down through an opening in the trees and showed him
+this cosy nook. Once in it, there seemed to grow all about him a wall of darkness.
+So he sat down upon the moss with a strange feeling of peace and security
+in his heart.</p>
+
+<p>And now, for the first time, Neddy felt hungry. So he opened the bundle
+of bread and cake which he had brought with him, and ate with a keen relish.
+Then he began to feel tired and heavy. The soft moss on which he was resting
+was just the bed for a poor tired boy like him, and before he had time to
+think of his loneliness and danger he was fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>But sleep sometimes gives us frightful dreams, and one of these came to
+Neddy. He still thought himself a poor lost boy in the woods trying to find
+his way out. He heard wolves howling, and saw bears and tigers and all
+kinds of wild beasts. At last a wolf with great red jaws came after him, and
+he started to run, but his terror was so great that he could scarcely move his
+feet. A fearful growl ran through the woods, and the dreadful beast came
+rushing down upon him. At this frightful moment he heard his name called;
+and turning, he saw Mr. Jonas, the schoolmaster, running toward him with an
+axe in his hand, with which he struck the wolf just as he was about seizing
+him. The wolf fell dead, and the schoolmaster, catching Neddy up in his
+arms, said, tenderly, &ldquo;My poor, poor boy!&rdquo; and hugged him tightly to his
+breast.</p>
+
+<p>Was all this a dream? No, not all, for Neddy awoke and found himself in
+the schoolmaster&rsquo;s arms, with two or three men around holding lanterns in
+their hands.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My poor, poor boy!&rdquo; said the schoolmaster again, laying his hand tenderly
+on his recovered scholar; and this time Neddy heard the words in full
+wakefulness.</p>
+
+<p>He did not stir, but lay with his head close against Mr. Jonas, who, guided
+by the men with lanterns, walked hurriedly through the forest, and soon came
+to the road that led to the village.</p>
+
+<p>I was at Grandmother Oram&rsquo;s, waiting anxiously for news of the lost boy,
+when the schoolmaster came in with Neddy in his arms. I had been talking
+long and seriously with the frightened old lady about her way of treating Neddy,
+and she had promised me not to say a hard or angry word to him when he
+came home, if that ever should be. She was very much softened, and her
+real love for Neddy was having its full course.</p>
+
+<p>It was after ten o&rsquo;clock when we heard the sound of coming feet. The poor
+old lady started up and stood pale and breathless. The door opened and Mr.
+Jonas came in, carrying Neddy in his arms. His face was softer in expression
+than I had ever seen it. He did not say a word until he came close up to Mrs.
+Oram, when, holding out the boy, he said, in a low voice that was broken and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>399]</a></span>
+tender, &ldquo;Be kind to the poor child, Mrs. Oram. I will see you about him
+in the morning,&rdquo; then merely adding, as he turned to leave, &ldquo;We found him
+asleep in the woods,&rdquo; went out hastily.</p>
+
+<p>There was a new order of things in the village school after that. The rod
+fell from Mr. Jonas&rsquo; hand, never to be lifted again, and he soon learned that
+in kindness was greater power than in fear. Neddy was in his place on the
+next day, and from that time onward was one of the most obedient and faithful
+scholars in school. Mr. Jonas&rsquo; manner toward him was kind and gentle,
+and Neddy felt drawn toward him by a strange attraction that gave the schoolmaster
+the power over him of a wise and loving father. No thought of disobedience
+crossed the boy&rsquo;s mind. It was his delight to obey.</p>
+
+<p>All this happened many years ago, and now the boy Neddy has grown to be
+a strong, wise, good man, an honor to the position he holds, and one of the
+best of citizens. He had the opportunity of doing Mr. Jonas many kind acts;
+and when at last the old man grew too feeble to earn his living, Mr. Oram
+made his last days comfortable by placing him above the reach of want.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter ipadboth" style="width: 250px;">
+<img src="images/hd159.png" width="250" height="90"
+alt="THE END" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<div class="bbox">
+<p><b>Transcriber's Note</b></p>
+
+<p>Archaic spelling is preserved as printed. Variable spelling and inconsistent
+hyphenation is preserved as printed across different pieces, but has been
+made consistent within pieces if there was a prevalence of one form.
+Punctuation and printer errors (e.g. omitted or transposed letters) have
+been repaired.</p>
+
+<p>The following amendments have also been made:</p>
+
+<div class="amends">
+<p>Page <a href="#Page_133">133</a>&mdash;omitted word 'the' added&mdash;"&ldquo;Tell
+mother we want to make coffee in the field, too&rdquo; ..."</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Page_341">341</a>&mdash;mud amended to snow, based on the context&mdash;"...
+enable it to wade through the deep snow, ..."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the story "How a Good Dinner was Lost" the older sister is named as
+both Rosa and Rosy.</p>
+
+<p>Illustrations have been moved where necessary so that they are not in the
+middle of a paragraph. Omitted page numbers were the original location of
+full page illustrations.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Happy Days for Boys and Girls, by Various
+
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,18759 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Happy Days for Boys and Girls, 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: Happy Days for Boys and Girls
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: December 20, 2009 [EBook #30720]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAPPY DAYS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sam W. and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                          HAPPY DAYS
+                             FOR
+                        BOYS AND GIRLS.
+
+
+            [Illustration: {Three children playing}]
+
+
+                       136 ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+                       CONTRIBUTIONS BY
+
+  LOUISA M. ALCOTT, ALICE AND PHOEBE CAREY, C. A. STEPHENS,
+     MARY N. PRESCOTT, WILLIAM M. THAYER, F. CHESEBORO,
+            J. G. WOOD, S. W. LANDER, and others.
+
+
+                        PHILADELPHIA:
+                       PORTER & COATES,
+                     822 CHESTNUT STREET.
+
+
+
+
+                       Copyright, 1877,
+           BY HORACE B. FULLER AND PORTER & COATES.
+
+
+                          PRESS OF
+                      HENRY B. ASHMEAD.
+                        PHILADELPHIA.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: YOUNG FISHERS.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A bird and nestlings}]
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+PROSE.
+
+                                                                PAGE
+  Accident, The                       _Louisa M. Alcott_         280
+
+  Adventure in the Life of Salvator
+      Rosa                            _L. D. L._                  84
+
+  African Elephant, The               _J. G. Wood_               319
+
+  Animal in Armor, The                                            75
+
+  Aunt Thankful                       _M. H._                    253
+
+  Barn Swallows                       _W. Wander_                194
+
+  Birds                               _F. F. E._                  25
+
+  "Bitters"                                                      203
+
+  Books and Reading                                               36
+
+  Bruin at a Maple-Sugar Party        _C. A. Stephens_           313
+
+  Camels                              _J. G. Wood_               339
+
+  Cave at Benton's Ridge              _F. E. S._                 350
+
+  Charley                                                        368
+
+  Charlie's Escape                                               109
+
+  Charlie's Christmas                                             79
+
+  Crippled Boy, The                   _S. W. Lander_             374
+
+  Daisy's Temptation                                             111
+
+  Daring Feat                                                    183
+
+  Davy Boys' Fishing-Pond             _L. M. D._                 130
+
+  Envy Punished                                                  271
+
+  Every Cloud has a Silver Lining                                 31
+
+  Faithful Friends                    _X._                       237
+
+  Fairy Bird, The                     _Louisa M. Alcott_         207
+
+  Fred and Dog Stephen                                           205
+
+  Giraffe, The                        _J. G. Wood_               188
+
+  Going for the Letters                                          198
+
+  Good Word not Lost                                             308
+
+  Gratitude of a Cow                                             196
+
+  Haunts of Wild Beasts               _C. A. Stephens_           355
+
+  Help Yourselves                     _Wm. M. Thayer_             46
+
+  Holiday Luck                        _Sara Conant_              296
+
+  How a Good Dinner was Lost          _Fannie Benedict_          256
+
+  How Maggie paid the Rent                                       227
+
+[Illustration: {Children sledding}]
+
+  How Sweetie's "Ship came In"        _Margaret Field_            96
+
+  Hunting Adventure                                              362
+
+  If; or, Bessie Green's Holiday                                 176
+
+  Iron Ring, The                      _A. L. O. E._               76
+
+  It takes Two to Make a Quarrel                                 306
+
+  John Stocks and the Bison           _Author of "Drifting
+                                          to Sea"_               138
+
+  Kindness Rewarded                                               28
+
+  Kindness to Animals                 _Robert Handy_             284
+
+  Lace-making                                                     44
+
+  Lame Susie                                                     261
+
+  Lion the Fire-dog                   _Benjamin Clarke_           38
+
+  Lion on the Threshold                                          190
+
+  Marcellin                                                       82
+
+  Merry Christmas                     _E. G. C._                 166
+
+  Monkeys                             _L. B. U._                 301
+
+  Motherless Boy, The                                             49
+
+  Mouse and Canary, The                                          287
+
+  Mrs. Pike's Prisoners               _M. R. W._                 123
+
+  My Mother's Stories                 _E. E._                    303
+
+  My Story                            _S. P. Brigham_            332
+
+  Nearly Lost                                                    365
+
+  Neddy's Half Holiday                                           121
+
+  Nicolo's Little Friend              _H. A. F._                 390
+
+  Nino                                _Sara Conant_              244
+
+  Orchard's Grandmother               _S. O. J._                   9
+
+  Parsees, The                                                   371
+
+  Polly Arrives                       _Louisa M. Alcott_         282
+
+  Ponto                                                          310
+
+  Puppet                              _Mary B. Harris_           162
+
+  Puss                                _Robert Handy_             293
+
+  Que                                 _Mary B. Harris_           144
+
+  Reason and Instinct                 _Flaneur_                   60
+
+  Reginald's First School-Days                                   384
+
+  Rough                               _M. R. O._                  17
+
+  Sally Sunbeam                                                  251
+
+  Saved by a Fiddle                   _Sir Lascelles Wraxall_    211
+
+  Song of the Bird                                               323
+
+  Squanko                             _F. Cheseboro_             274
+
+  Squirrels                                                      160
+
+  St. Bernard Dog                                                 53
+
+  Stitching and Teaching              _E. G. C._                 152
+
+  Stories about Dogs                                             137
+
+  Strange Combat, A                   _C. A. Stephens_           116
+
+  Sweet One for Polly                 _Louisa M. Alcott_         277
+
+[Illustration: {Two children having a picnic}]
+
+  Thorns                                                         347
+
+  Tim the Match-Boy                                              268
+
+  Truant, The                                                    393
+
+  Two Friends. A Story for Boys                                  288
+
+  Two Gentlemen in Fur Cloaks                                    107
+
+  Uncle John's School-Days                                       234
+
+  What Nelly gave Away                                           115
+
+  White Butterfly                                                 63
+
+  Wings                                                          273
+
+  Working is Better than Wishing                                  65
+
+  Young Artist, The                                              218
+
+
+POETRY.
+
+  All among the Hay                                              286
+
+  Annie                                                          175
+
+  Answer to a Child's Question                                   113
+
+  Bird's Nest, The                    _Mary. N. Prescott_        216
+
+  C--A--T                                                        186
+
+  Cherry-Time                                                    128
+
+  Child's Petition                                               392
+
+  Child's Prayer                                                 137
+
+  Children                                                        62
+
+  Children's Song                                                141
+
+  Cleopatra                           _Edgar Fawcett_            388
+
+  Common Things                                                  249
+
+  Coral-Workers, The                                              37
+
+  Counting Baby's Toes                                           345
+
+  Dinner and a Kiss                                              381
+
+  Dream of Summer, A                  _Mary N. Prescott_          29
+
+  Erl King                            _Mary N. Prescott_         241
+
+  Faithful unto Death; or, The Sentry
+      of Herculaneum                  _W. B. B. Stevens_         230
+
+  Flight of the Birds                                             56
+
+  For the Children                                                58
+
+  Forced Rabbit, The                                             180
+
+  From Bad to Worse                   _Alice Cary_               331
+
+  Frost, The                                                      22
+
+  Good-Humor                                                      35
+
+  Good Shepherd, The                                              52
+
+  I am Coming                                                    110
+
+  Kind to Everything                                              68
+
+  Let him Live                        _Mary R. Whittlesey_       300
+
+  Little Helpers                                                  73
+
+  Little Home-body                    _Geo. Cooper_              119
+
+[Illustration: {Two figures walk through a snowy landscape}]
+
+  Little Red Riding-Hood              _L. E. Landon_             224
+
+  My Little Hero                                                  92
+
+  My Mother                                                      382
+
+  Minutes                                                        196
+
+  My Picture                                                      23
+
+  Music Lesson, The                                               22
+
+  Nothing to Do                                                  105
+
+  Now the Sun is Sinking                                         206
+
+  Our Daily Bread                                                157
+
+  Preparing for Christmas                                        143
+
+  Rich and Poor                       _Ellen M. H. Gates_         42
+
+  Rigmarole about a Tea-Party                                    206
+
+  Robin Redbreast                                                 95
+
+  Rustic Mirror, The                  _M. R. W._                 222
+
+  Sailing the Boats                   _George Cooper_            305
+
+  Secret                              _Mary R. Whittlesey_       264
+
+  Shakspeare                          _Richard H. Stoddard_      389
+
+  Sheep and the Goat                                             328
+
+  Silly Young Rabbit, The                                        242
+
+  Silver and Gold                     _Ellis Gray_               265
+
+  Smiles and Tears                                               390
+
+  Snow-Fall                                                      151
+
+  Snow-Man, The                       _Marian Douglas_           192
+
+  Song of the Rose                    _T. E. D._                  41
+
+  Sparrow, The                                                   122
+
+  Spring has Come                                                202
+
+  Story of Johnny Dawdle                                          47
+
+  Summer                                                          78
+
+  That Calf                           _Phoebe Cary_               70
+
+  To the Cardinal Flower              _M. R. W._                  40
+
+  Touch Not                                                       61
+
+  Two Mornings                        _Mary N. Prescott_         267
+
+  Under the Pear Trees                                           349
+
+  Up and Doing                                                   182
+
+  Vacation                            _Beverly Moore_            232
+
+  War and Peace                                                  126
+
+  Way to Walk                         _M. R. W._                 337
+
+  We should hear the Angels singing   _Kate Cameron_              91
+
+  What so Sweet                       _Mary N. Prescott_         344
+
+  What the Clock says                                            149
+
+  Why                                                             24
+
+  Willie's Prayer                                                159
+
+  World, The                          _Lilliput Lectures_        185
+
+  Worship of Nature                                              361
+
+
+
+
+HAPPY DAYS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Settlers run from the native inhabitants}]
+
+THE ORCHARD'S GRANDMOTHER.
+
+
+I must ask you to go back more than two hundred years, and watch two
+people in a quiet old English garden.
+
+One is an old lady reading. In her young days she was a famous beauty.
+That was very long ago, to be sure; but I think she is a beauty
+still--do not you?
+
+She has such a lovely face, and her eyes are so sweet and bright! and
+better than that, they are the kind which see pleasant things in
+everybody, and something to like and be interested in. I hope with all
+my heart yours are that kind, too.
+
+The other person is a little child. She was christened Mary Brenton,
+like her grandmother; but she was called Polly all her days, for
+short; and we will call her so.
+
+She is sitting on the grass with a little cat in her arms, which she
+is trying to put to sleep. But the kitten is not so accommodating as
+a doll would be, and just as Polly does not dare to move for fear of
+waking her, she makes up her mind that a run after a leaf and a play
+with any chance caterpillar which may be so unlucky as to cross her
+path, will be very preferable, and tries to get away.
+
+It is one of the most delightful days that ever was. September, and
+almost too warm, if it were not for the breeze that brings cooler air
+from the sea. Once in a while some fruit falls from the heavily-laden
+trees, and the first dead leaves rustle a little on the ground. The
+bees are busy, making the most of the bright day; for they know of the
+stormy weather coming. The sky is very blue, and the flowers very
+bright. Two swallows are playing hide-and-seek through the orchard,
+and chasing each other in great races, now so close to the ground that
+it seems as if their feet might catch in the green grass, and now away
+up in the air over the high walls out towards the hills; and just as
+one loses sight of them, and turns away, here they are again. And in
+the kitchen the girls are clattering the dishes and laughing; and do
+you hear some one singing a doleful tune in a cheery, happy voice?
+
+That is Dorothy, Polly's dear Dorothy, who waits upon grandmother,
+with whom she has been to France, and Holland, and Scotland, and who
+can tell almost as charming stories as grandmother herself.
+
+The house is large and old, with queer-shaped windows, all sizes and
+all heights from the ground, and a great many of them hidden by the
+ivy. That is the outside; and if you were to go in, you would find
+large, low rooms, filled with furniture that you would think queer and
+uncomfortable. And there are portraits in some of them, one of Polly,
+probably painted not very long before, in which she is attired after
+the fashion of those days, and looks nearly as old as she would now
+if she were living!
+
+Now let us go back to the garden. The kitten has escaped, and Polly is
+wishing for something to do.
+
+"Where's Dolly?" says grandmother. "Find her, and then gather some
+apples and plums, and have a tea drinking."
+
+The doll had been very ill all day; it was strange in grandmother to
+forget it. She had fallen asleep just before dinner, and been put
+carefully in her bed; it would never do to wake her so soon. And
+besides, a tea party was not amusing when there was no one to sit at
+the other end of the table. This referred to Tom, Polly's dearest
+cousin, who had just left her after a long visit; and she missed him
+sadly.
+
+"And," says Polly, "I do not think I should care for it if he were
+here, if I could have nothing but apples. I'm tired of them. I have
+eaten one of every kind in the garden to-day, even the great yellow
+ones by the lower gate. I think they're disagreeable; but I left them
+till the very last, and then I was afraid they would feel sorry to be
+left out. I think I will eat another, though; and I will not have a
+party--it's a trouble. Which kind would you take, grandmother?"
+
+"One of the very smallest," says the old lady, laughing; "but stop a
+moment. I have one I'll give you;" and she took a beauty from her
+pocket, and threw it on the grass by Polly.
+
+"That's the very prettiest apple I ever saw," says the child. "Where
+did you get it? Not off our trees. 'Father gave it to you?' and where
+did he find it?"
+
+Grandmother did not know.
+
+[Illustration: LITTLE POLLY.]
+
+After admiring her apple a little more, Polly eats it in a most
+deliberate manner, enjoying every bite as if it were the first she had
+eaten that day, and when she has finished it, gives a contented little
+sigh, and sits looking at the fine brown seeds which she holds in
+her hand. Presently she says, earnestly,--
+
+"Grandmother!"
+
+"What now, Polly?"
+
+"I wish I had that dear little apple's two brothers and two sisters,
+and I would put them in the doll's chest until to-morrow; I wouldn't
+eat them to-day, you know."
+
+"I will tell you what you can do," says grandmother. "Are those seeds
+in your hand? Go find Dorothy, and ask her to give you the empty
+flower-pot from the high shelf at my window; and then you can fill it
+with dark earth from one of the flower-beds, and plant them; then by
+and by you will have a tree, and can have plenty of your apple's
+children."
+
+That was a happy thought. And Polly puts the seeds carefully on a
+leaf, and runs to find Dorothy. Now she comes back with a queer little
+Dutch china flower-pot, and sits down on the grass again, and makes a
+hole in the soft brown earth with her finger, and drops the fine seeds
+in.
+
+For days she watered them, and carried them to sunny places; but at
+last she grew very impatient, and one morning, when she was all alone
+in the garden, very much provoked that they had not made their
+appearance, took a twig and explored; and the first poke brought to
+light the little seeds, as shiny and brown as when they left the
+apple. It was a great disappointment, and Polly caught them up, and
+threw them as far away as she could, and with tears in her eyes ran in
+to tell grandmother.
+
+"Ah," said the dear old lady, "it was not time! Thou hast not learned
+thy lesson of waiting; and no wonder, when there are few so hard, and
+thou art still so young."
+
+Then she sent Polly back to the garden, and the pot was put in its
+place, again. And a week or two after, as grandmother was just going
+to make room in the earth for a new plant, she saw growing there a
+little green sprig, which was not a weed. She listened a moment, and
+heard the child's voice outside.
+
+"Polly, my dear, are you sure you scattered all the seeds of your
+pretty apple the day you were so provoked at their not having begun to
+grow for you?"
+
+The child reddened a little, and turned away.
+
+"I don't know, grandmother. I think so; I wished to then."
+
+How delighted she was when the old lady showed her the treasure, and
+how carefully it was watched and tended! For one little seed had been
+buried deeper than the rest, and now in the sunshine of grandmother's
+wide window it had come up. Every pleasant day it was placed somewhere
+in the sun, and at night it was always carried to Polly's own room.
+Her dolls and other old play-house friends, formerly much honored, and
+of great consequence, were quite neglected for "the apple tree," as
+she always called the tiny thing with its few bits of leaves.
+
+And now we must leave the Brentons' old stone house and the garden.
+All this happened in the days of King Charles I., when there was a
+great war, and the country in a highly discordant state. Polly's
+father was on the king's side, and one day he did something which was
+considered particularly unpardonable by his enemies, and at night he
+came riding from Oxford in the greatest hurry he had ever been in; and
+riding after him were some of Cromwell's men. It was bright moonlight,
+and as he rode in the paved yard the great dogs in their kennels began
+to bark, and that waked Polly's mother, in a terrible fright at
+hearing her husband's voice, and sure something undesirable had
+happened.
+
+Squire Brenton hurried in to tell her, in as few words as possible,
+what he had done, and that he was followed, and had just time to say
+good by, and take another horse, and rush on to the sea, where he
+hoped to find a fishing-boat, by means of which he could escape.
+
+"And you," said he, "had better take Polly and one of the men, and
+ride to your cousin Matthew's; for in their rage at my escape, they
+may mean to burn my house. I little thought a month ago,--when he
+offered you 'a safe home,' and I laughed in his face, and said, 'Give
+your good wife the same message; for she may not find your house so
+safe as mine by and by,'--that you would need to accept so soon."
+
+"But I cannot go there now," said Mistress Brenton; "for cousin
+Matthew is away with the Roundhead army, and his wife and sister have
+gone to the north. I'll go with you. Listen: I heard one of the maids
+say to-day that a ship sails to-morrow at daybreak from the bay by
+Dunner's with a company of Puritans for Holland, on their way to one
+of the American colonies. We will go for a time to our friends in
+Amsterdam, and be quite safe."
+
+Anything was better than staying where he was; and Squire Brenton,
+bidding her hurry, went to the stables with his tired horse, and
+waking one of his men whom he could trust, told him why he was there,
+and to say, when the men came, that he was in Oxford yesterday, when
+they had a letter, and that Mistress Brenton had gone north to some
+friends. He gave him some messages for his brother, and then, sending
+him out to a field with the horse he had been riding, which would
+certainly have betrayed him, he went back to the yard, trying to keep
+the two fresh horses still, while he listened, fearing every moment to
+hear his pursuers coming down the road.
+
+Presently out came Mistress Brenton, carrying some bundles of
+clothing, and a few little things besides, and wrapped in a great
+riding cloak; and at her side walked Polly, very sleepy, and looking
+wonderingly in the faces of the others, and asking all manner of
+childish questions.
+
+Suddenly she ran back to the house, just as her father was going to
+lift her on his horse; and when she came back, what do you think she
+had? Together in a little bag were her doll and kitten, and one arm
+held tightly her little apple tree, wrapped in some garment of her own
+which she had found lying near it.
+
+And then they rode away. The poor child, after begging them to go to
+her uncle's, so she might say good by to grandmother, fell asleep,
+holding fast her treasures all the while.
+
+There was a faint glimmer of light over the sea as they neared the
+shore, and they saw anchored at a little distance a small ship, and
+could see the men moving about her deck; for the wind had risen. Mr.
+Brenton found a man whom he knew, in whose charge he left the horses,
+and then a fisherman rowed them to the vessel.
+
+The captain was nowhere to be seen, and the sailors paid no attention
+to them as they came on deck in the chilly morning twilight; and they
+went immediately below, and hid themselves in a dark corner, thinking
+they might have to go ashore if discovered, and that it was best to
+keep out of sight until it was too late to turn back. In the darkness
+they fell asleep. This may seem very strange; but remembering the long
+ride, and the fright they had been in, and that now they felt safe, we
+can hardly wonder. At any rate, it was the middle of the afternoon
+before Colonel Brenton--I think I have never given him his title
+before--made his appearance on deck, to the great astonishment of the
+captain and all the other people, who knew him more or less. He told
+the captain what had happened, saying at the end he would pay him
+double the usual passage money to Holland, where he meant to stay for
+a while; and at this the rough man really turned pale.
+
+"Holland, _Holland_!" said he; "do you not see we're going down the
+Channel? We are bound direct for America."
+
+The story says that Colonel Brenton was almost beside himself, and
+offered large sums of money to be taken back, or to France; but the
+captain would not consent, saying that they had made good progress,
+and it was late in the year. The ship would come back in the spring,
+and he must content himself.
+
+Those of the ship's company who knew our friends had great wonderings
+at their having turned Puritans, until they knew the true state of
+affairs. Must not it have been dreadful news to Mistress Brenton, and
+was it not really a dreary prospect--a dreary journey in that frail
+ship, and at the end a cold, forlorn country? and all the stories of
+the Indians' cruelties to the settlers came to her mind. They could
+not, in all probability, return for many months. No one whom she cared
+particularly for would be there to welcome them. Polly did not take it
+very much to heart, though she cried a little because she was not to
+go to Holland, which she had heard so much of from her grandmother and
+Dorothy. It was a great many days before they gave up their hope of
+falling in with some vessel to which they might be transferred; and
+the first two weeks were sunshiny and pleasant, with a good wind. But
+soon it grew bleaker and colder, and they suffered greatly. All
+through the pleasant days, Polly had been having a very enjoyable
+time. There were several children on board, and they had games around
+the deck and in the cabin.
+
+It was delightful to have the kitten, who had a cord tied around her
+neck; and when she was not in Polly's arms, she was generally anchored
+for safety in the cabin. Every day she had part of her little
+mistress's dinner; and though she missed the garden, and the dead
+leaves that nestled about the walks, and made such nice playthings,
+and the sedate old family cat, her mother, and her mother's numerous
+poor relations who lived in the stables, she was by no means unhappy.
+And the doll's expression was as complacent as ever, though she had
+worn one gown an astonishing length of time. But if you could have
+seen the care the little tree received! It was carefully wrapped in
+the same little cloak Polly put round it the night they left home, and
+only on the warmest days it was taken on deck to have the sunshine;
+and every day it had part of Polly's small allowance of water; and
+when the kitten had had its share, there would often be very little
+left.
+
+The weary days went slowly by. The ship was slow at the best, and the
+winds were contrary. The provisions grew less and less, and the water
+was almost exhausted. Two people--a man, and a child Polly had grown
+very fond of--died, and were buried in the sea. The sky was cold and
+gray, and it snowed and rained, and every one looked sad and
+disheartened. It was terribly desolate. Polly could not often go on
+deck, for the frozen spray and rain made it very slippery and
+dangerous there; and her mother told story after story, and did her
+best to shorten the longest December days she had ever known. And soon
+there came a terrible bereavement. One night there was a great storm,
+and the dearly-beloved kitten, frightened to death by the things
+rolling about, and the pitching of the ship, broke the cord and rushed
+out in the darkness, and never was seen any more. I think a little cat
+has never been so mourned since the world began. That night, the Dutch
+flower-pot, with its leafless twig, went rolling about the cabin
+floor, and half the earth was scattered in the folds of its
+wrappings, and carefully replaced next morning.
+
+But at last the voyage was ended; they saw land, and finally came
+close to it and went ashore, Polly with her dear doll and something
+else rolled up in a little gray cloak. The ship was to stay until
+spring; and there seemed no hope of getting back to England until
+then. It was hard to decide what to do; but at last Colonel Brenton
+heard of some men whom he had known, who had been made prisoners in
+some of the battles in the north of England and sent to the
+Massachusetts colony by Cromwell, who had feared to imprison them.
+They had been sent to the settlement in York.
+
+So the Brentons joined a party going there, or to places beyond. It
+was the last of January that they came to York, and were warmly
+welcomed at the great garrison, where they lived till spring. Polly
+found a very nice child to play with. There had been a good harvest,
+and the Indians were uncommonly peaceable. They had great log fires in
+the wide fireplace in the east room; and for a winter in those times,
+it was very comfortable. The flower-pot was deposited in a chink of
+the great chimney. Polly had insisted upon bringing it with her; and
+though "the tree" at that time was a slender little straight stick,
+she had firm faith that spring time would give it leaves again. And
+strange to say, she was not disappointed; for all the exposure had not
+destroyed it. The first of June came, and they were still living in
+the garrison-house, looking every day for a messenger to tell them the
+ship was ready to go back. Some people on their way to one of the
+eastern settlements, early in April, had told them there were no signs
+of her sailing; and since then they had heard nothing. How dismayed
+they were, early in June, to find the ship had sailed nearly two
+months before! It seemed as if everything was against them; and they
+could live no longer in the garrison. So the Brentons had a little log
+house near by, and "the squire" worked every day in the great field
+down towards the river. It must have been such a strange life for
+them! and I suppose their thoughts often went back to the dear English
+home. When Mistress Brenton looked from the small window in her log
+house out over half-cleared fields, and saw the garrison-house, and
+her husband working among the hills of corn with his gun close by,
+every now and then looking anxiously about him, she would remember the
+wide window, with its cushioned seat, in her own room at home, and the
+sunny garden, with the flowers and bees, and the maids and men singing
+and chattering in the distance, and the dear voice of grandmother
+singing the old church hymns. It was a great change; but days much
+more forlorn than these were yet to come.
+
+The Indians came around the settlement in large numbers, and no one
+dared to be out alone. At night the people waked in fear at the
+slightest noise; and in the daytime it was after the same fashion.
+News came of whole settlements having been murdered or made captives,
+and some of their own neighbors disappeared finally; and then the
+suspense was terrible. At last, one day Mrs. Brenton had gone up to
+the garrison to see one of the women, who was ill, and most of the men
+were in the field. Polly went with her mother; but the women were
+talking over something about the king and Parliament, which she found
+very uninteresting, and soon she unfastened the great outer door, and
+unwisely ran out with her doll in her arms, and went down to the field
+to see the men at work. But on her way, she bethought herself of a
+charming stump she had seen out at one side of the path, and went to
+visit it. None of the men happened to see her. She talked to the
+doll, and made a throne for her of the soft moss growing around her,
+and had been playing there some time, when suddenly she heard shouts,
+and thought they must be killing a snake, and looked up to see all the
+men running up the hill to the garrison, with a great many Indians
+chasing them; and she heard a gun fired, and saw one of the men who
+had petted and been very kind to her, and told her stories, fall to
+the ground. Ah, how frightened she was!
+
+The doll was snatched from her throne, and the poor little girl ran
+towards the garrison, too, right towards the Indians. It was weary
+work running over the rough ground,--and the tall grass was not much
+better,--and then on, up the hill. By this time the men had succeeded
+in getting in; and the wicked-looking Indians, after a yell of
+disappointment, turned to go back to the one who lay dead on the
+hill-side, and to escape the bullets which would come in a moment from
+the loopholes. O, if she could only get by them!
+
+Up the hill she hurried as fast as the poor tired little feet could
+carry her, hugging the doll, almost breathless, with the great tears
+falling very fast, and still crying, "Wait, father!"
+
+I am glad I know one kind thing the Indians of those days did. As they
+turned, they saw her coming, and some hurried forward a little to
+seize her; and it would have been so easy. But one spoke, and they all
+stopped, and laughed, and shouted, and the child got safely in.
+
+Then the Indians went to the Brentons' house, and some others, and
+burned them; but luckily the apple tree was at the play-house, by a
+large rock, at a little distance, and the wind was not in that
+direction; and after they disappeared, it was brought up to the fort,
+safe and sound.
+
+It soon grew tall and strong, and in a little while was entirely too
+large for its pot; and finally Polly was forced to put it in the
+ground. It was hard to do it; for she had cared for it, and loved it
+so long, and this was giving it up, in a measure. And I think if she
+had understood that now it must be left behind, it would have been
+almost impossible to have persuaded her. Her father comforted her by
+telling her he could get quantities of the apples not very far from
+home, and she could plant more seeds as soon as she liked, or, far
+better than that, he would graft a tree.
+
+In September, news came that a ship was going to the east coast of
+England; and they were all heartily glad, in spite of the long,
+dangerous voyage; and leaving the York friends, who had been so kind,
+and whom they would probably never see any more, Polly gave the little
+tree to a Masterson child, her great friend, who promised to wrap it
+in straw for winter, and to be very kind to it and fond of it. And I
+think she must have been faithful to her charge. Mistress Brenton laid
+some of the leaves in the little book she had had in her pocket that
+night, almost a year ago, when they left home. So they went to Boston,
+and sailed for the old country.
+
+I know nothing more of them; but we will hope their voyage was a short
+and easy one, and that they reached home on a pleasant, sunny day, and
+grandmother was there, and Dorothy, and all the people, and Polly had
+stories to tell as wonderful as Dorothy's, and all true, and that they
+were all happy forever after.
+
+A while ago I stood on the hill with an old farmer, eating one of a
+pocketful of apples he had given me, and said how very nice it was,
+and that I had never seen any like it.
+
+"There are none of my apples sell half so well," said he. "I've forty
+young trees that have been bearing a few years; and over to the right
+you see some old ones. Mine were grafted from those and my father
+took his grafts from an old tree I'd like to show you;" and as we
+walked towards it, he said, "It looks, and I guess it is, as old as
+any around here. My father always said it was brought from England in
+a flower-pot by some of the first settlers. Perhaps you have heard the
+story. It's very shaky. The high winds last fall were pretty hard on
+it. It will never bear again, I am afraid. I set a good deal by the
+old thing. The very first thing I can remember is my father's lifting
+me up to one of the lower limbs, and I was frightened and cried. I
+believe I think more of that tree than of anything on my farm. My wife
+always laughs at me about it. Well, it has lasted my time. I'm old and
+shaky, too; and I suppose my sons won't miss this much, and will like
+the young orchard best."
+
+"And you and I like your orchard's grandmother," said I.
+
+                                                    S. O. J.
+
+
+
+
+ROUGH.
+
+
+He was a donkey, and we called him Rough. He belonged to Gerald and
+me. We didn't keep him for his useful qualities, and we certainly
+didn't keep him for his moral qualities; and I don't know what we did
+keep him for, unless, for the best reason in the world, that we loved
+him.
+
+He was always getting us into scrapes, the most renowned of which was
+one Rough's enemies were fond of alluding to.
+
+We were bidden to a christening one fair spring morning; and we not
+only accepted the invitation, but promised to bring apple-blossoms, to
+fill the font and make the church look gay. We had an old apple
+orchard, that bore beautiful blossoms, but worthless fruit; and of
+these blossoms we had leave to pick as many as we chose.
+
+So we filled the donkey-cart with them, and set forth for the
+christening, which was to be at a little church about a mile or more
+distant from our farm. Rough's enemies will tell how we arrived when
+the christening was all over, and our apple blossoms faded.
+
+We were never so happy as when we had a whole leisure afternoon to go
+off with Rough in the donkey-cart, and our little sister Daisy by
+Gerald's side, on the board that served as seat, and I lying on my
+back on the bottom of the cart, with my heels dangling out of it. So I
+would lie for hours, whistling and looking up at the drifting clouds,
+or with my hat over my eyes to keep out the sun.
+
+One afternoon, early in March, when the roads were almost knee deep in
+mud, and the last of the melting snow made a running stream on either
+side of the road, we were slowly travelling along after the manner I
+have described. We were going to take a longing look at the skating
+pond, two miles from our farm. We were forbidden to try the dangerous
+ice, but meant only to look upon the scene of our winter's delight.
+
+"Some one's in the pond!" cried Daisy.
+
+"How do ye know?" said I, not removing my hat from my face.
+
+You see Daisy was only six years old, and I hadn't much faith in her
+observation.
+
+"Cos I sees 'em with my own eyes."
+
+I jumped up and looked. It was only a hat I saw. Gerald meanwhile
+said nothing, but had pulled up Rough (who not only stopped, but lay
+down in the mud), and looked. I watched him, to see what he thought,
+or proposed to do.
+
+[Illustration: {A child collecting flowers together}]
+
+People had a way of trusting to Gerald's judgment rather than their
+own, and were generally better off for it.
+
+"It _is_ some one in the pond," said Gerald; and then followed a short
+discussion as to whether we should leave Daisy alone to the mercies of
+Rough, which resulted in our leaving Rough, and taking Daisy along
+with us down to the pond.
+
+We could see a boy, apparently about Gerald's age, swimming and
+striving to keep up, and catching at the ice, which broke as he clung
+to it. He swam feebly, as if benumbed and wearied.
+
+"Keep a brave heart!" roared Gerald; "we'll save you!" and then began
+to take off his boots and coat. The boy sank--under the ice, this
+time. We could see it bobbing up and down as he swam beneath it.
+
+"Stay here till I call you," said Gerald to me, as he stepped from the
+shore on to the ice, and walked out towards where the swimmer was
+hidden by the ice. I stood breathless, with my eye on Gerald.
+
+The ice began to crack under him. He lay down on his stomach, and
+pulled himself forward with his hands. Up came the swimmer not far
+from him.
+
+"Keep up! Gerald will save you!" cried Daisy.
+
+The poor fellow cast one despairing look at Gerald, and sank again.
+Gerald had gone as far as was practicable on the ice. I could hear it
+cracking all over, and see the white cracks darting suddenly over ice
+that had looked safe.
+
+Up came the boy again.
+
+"Keep up! keep up!" cried Daisy, in an excited treble. "Gerald will
+save you!"
+
+But the boy could hear nothing. He had his eyes closed, and seemed to
+have fainted. Gerald reached out, and clutched him by the arm. How the
+ice cracked all about him! My heart was in my mouth; I thought he was
+in. I began to take my coat off.
+
+"A scarf!" said Gerald, speaking for the first time.
+
+I took off my own, and picked up Gerald's from the ground, and tied
+them firmly together. I saw that they were too short. Daisy offered
+hers. I took it, with an inward fear, if the child should catch cold;
+it seemed paltry to think of it at such a moment. I stepped out on the
+ice, and went a few steps, when Gerald cried,--
+
+"Stop!"
+
+I obeyed like a soldier.
+
+"Throw it now!"
+
+I threw the long string of scarfs. Gerald dexterously caught it, and
+upholding the poor boy with one hand, with the other passed the string
+under his arms, and tied the ends of it to his own arm. Then he paused
+a moment before attempting the hazardous work of coming ashore, and
+looked at me speculatively. I knew what he meant. There was a shadow
+of trouble in his face that had nothing to do with his own danger. He
+was weighing the possibility of his falling in, and my doing the same
+in trying to save him, and Daisy alone on the shore. I gave a cheering
+"Go ahead, old fellow!" and he began to push himself back again,
+dragging his senseless burden after him by the scarf tied to his arm.
+
+Crack! crack! crack! went the ice all about him, and little tides of
+water flooded it. At last it seemed a little firmer. Gerald rose to
+his feet, and dragging the boy still in the water after him, began to
+walk slowly towards the shore, not seeming to notice how the sharp
+edges of the ice cut the face and forehead of the poor half-drowned
+boy.
+
+Again the ice began to crack and undulate. Gerald stood still for a
+moment, and the piece on which he stood broke away from the rest, and
+began to float out. He jumped to the next, which broke, and so to the
+next, and the next, till he neared the shore. Then he paused a moment,
+and looked at me.
+
+"Go ashore!" he roared like a sea captain.
+
+Then I noticed that I stood on a detached piece of ice, but nearer
+land than Gerald. I found no difficulty in gaining the shore.
+
+"Now stand firm and give a hand!" said Gerald.
+
+I grasped his hand, and he jumped ashore, and together we lifted the
+boy out of the water. Daisy burst into tears, crying,--
+
+"O, Gerald, Gerald, I thought you'd be drowned!"
+
+Gerald very gently put her clinging arms away from him, saying,
+firmly,--
+
+"Don't cry, Daisy. We have our hands full with this poor fellow."
+
+I got the skates off the "poor fellow," and gave them to Daisy to
+hold. She, brave little woman, gulped down her tears, and only gave
+vent to her emotion, now and then, by a little suppressed sob. Gerald
+began beating the hands and breathing into the mouth and nostrils of
+the seeming lifeless form before us.
+
+"Is he dead, Gery?" said I.
+
+"No!" said Gerald, fiercely. It was evident that he wouldn't believe
+he had gone through so much trouble to bring a dead man ashore. "Look
+for his handkerchief, and see if there's a mark on it."
+
+I fished a wet rag out of the wet trousers pocket, and found in one
+corner of it the name "Stevens."
+
+"There's a farmer of that name two miles farther on. I don't know any
+one else of that name. Must be his son. We'll take him home;" and he
+began wrapping his coat about the poor boy; but I insisted on mine
+being used for the purpose, as Gerald was half wet, and his teeth were
+already chattering. "We must get him off this wet ground as soon as
+possible," said Gerald; and together we lifted him, and slowly and
+laboriously bore him to the donkey-cart in the road.
+
+By this time Gerald had only strength enough to hold the reins, and we
+set out forthwith for the Stevens farm, I, with what help Daisy could
+give, trying to bring some show of life back to the stranger. Perhaps
+the jolting of the cart helped,--I don't know,--but by and by he began
+to revive, and at last we propped him up in one corner of the cart,
+with his head supported by Daisy's knee.
+
+I shall not soon forget how long the road seemed, and how I got out
+and walked in deep mud, and how, when poor Rough seemed straining
+every muscle to make the little cart move at all, Gerald insisted on
+getting out, too, and leading Rough; how the sun set as we were wading
+through a long road, where willow trees grew thick on either side, and
+Daisy said, "See; all the little pussies are out!" how, at last, we
+reached the Stevens farm, and restored the half-drowned boy to his
+parents. I remember, too, how they were so utterly absorbed, very
+naturally, in the welfare of their boy, as to forget all about us, and
+offer us no quicker means of return home than our donkey-cart.
+
+They came to call on us the next day, and to thank us, and specially
+Gerald, with tears of gratitude. And Gerald was a hero in the village
+from that day forth.
+
+I remember well how dark it grew as we waded slowly and silently
+home, and how poor little Rough did his very best, and never stopped
+once.
+
+I think he understood the importance of the occasion; but those who
+were not Rough's friends, believe it was a recollection, and
+expectation of supper, that made him acquit himself so honorably.
+
+As we neared our home, we saw a tall figure looming up in the dark,
+and soon, by the voice, we knew it was Michael, one of the farm hands,
+sent to seek us.
+
+"Bluder an nouns," he exclaimed, "it is you, Mister Gery! An' yer
+muther, poor leddy, destroyed wid the fright. An' kapin' the chilt out
+to this hair. Hadn't ye moor sense?"
+
+We explained briefly; and Daisy begged to be carried, as the cart was
+all wet.
+
+With many Irish expressions of sympathy, Michael took the child in his
+arms; and so we arrived at home, and found father and mother half
+distracted with anxiety, and the farm hands sent in all directions to
+look for us. We were at once, all three of us, put to bed, and made to
+drink hot lemonade, and have hot stones at our feet, and not till then
+tell all our experiences, which were listened to eagerly.
+
+Daisy escaped unhurt, I with a slight cold, but Gerald and poor little
+Rough were the ones who suffered. Gerald had a severe attack of
+pneumonia, from which we had much ado to bring him back to health, and
+Rough was ill. They brought us the news from the stable on the next
+morning. We couldn't tell what was the matter; perhaps he had strained
+himself, perhaps had caught cold. We could not tell, nor could the
+veterinary surgeon we brought to see him. Poor Rough lay ill for
+weeks, and one bright spring morning he died.
+
+They told us early in the morning, before we were out of bed, how, an
+hour ago, Rough had died.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE MUSIC LESSON.]
+
+THE MUSIC LESSON.
+
+
+    Touch the keys _lightly_,
+      Nellie, my dear:
+    The noise makes Johnnie
+      Impatient, I fear.
+
+    He looks very cross,
+      I am sorry to see--
+    Not looking at all
+      As a brother should be.
+
+    Whatever you're doing,
+      Bear this always in mind:
+    In all _little things_
+      Be both _thoughtful_ and _kind_.
+
+
+
+
+THE FROST.
+
+
+    The frost looked forth one still clear night,
+    And whispered, "Now I shall be out of sight;
+    So through the valley and over the height
+          In silence I'll take my way:
+    I will not go on like that blustering train,
+    The wind and the snow, the hail and the rain,
+    Who make so much bustle and noise in vain,
+          But I'll be as busy as they."
+
+    Then he flew to the mountain, and powdered its crest;
+    He lit on the trees, and their boughs he dressed
+    In diamond beads; and over the breast
+          Of the quivering lake he spread
+    A coat of mail, that it need not fear
+    The downward point of many a spear
+    That he hung on its margin, far and near,
+          Where a rock could rear its head.
+
+    He went to the windows of those who slept,
+    And over each pane like a fairy crept:
+    Wherever he breathed, wherever he stept,
+          By the light of the moon were seen
+    Most beautiful things: there were flowers and trees;
+    There were bevies of birds and swarms of bees;
+    There were cities with temples and towers, and these
+          All pictured in silver sheen!
+
+    But he did one thing that was hardly fair:
+    He peeped in the cupboard, and finding there
+    That all had forgotten for him to prepare--
+          "Now, just to set them a-thinking,
+    I'll bite this basket of fruit," said he,
+    "This costly pitcher I'll burst in three,
+    And the glass of water they've left for me
+          Shall 'tchick!' to tell them I'm drinking."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A woman and two children with a calf}]
+
+MY PICTURE.
+
+
+    I have a little picture;
+      Perchance you have one too.
+    Mine is not set in frame of gold;
+      'Tis first a bit of blue,
+    And then a background of dark hills--
+      A river just below,
+    Along whose broad, green meadow banks
+      The wreathing elm trees grow.
+
+    Upon an overhanging ridge
+      A little farm-house stands,
+    Whose owner, like the man of old,
+      Has builded "on the sands;"
+    And yet, defying storms and wind,
+      It stands there all alone,
+    And brightens up the landscape
+      With a beauty of its own.
+
+    Fairy-like my picture changes
+      As the seasons come and go.
+    Now it glows 'neath summer's kisses;
+      Now it sleeps 'mid winter's snow.
+    I can see the breath of spring-time
+      In the river's deeper blue,
+    And autumn seems to crown it
+      With her very brightest hue.
+
+    Ah. I'd not exchange my picture
+      For the choicest gem of art;
+    Yet I must not claim it wholly;
+      It is only mine in part;
+    For 'tis one of nature's sketches--
+      A waif from that Great Hand
+    Which hath filled our earth with models
+      Of the beautiful and grand.
+
+
+
+
+WHY?
+
+
+    Why are the blossoms
+      Such different hues?
+    And the waves of the sea
+      Such a number of blues?
+    So many soft greens
+      Flit over the trees?
+    And little gray shadows
+      Fly out on the breeze?
+
+    Why are the insects
+      So wondrously fair;
+    Illumining grasses
+      And painting the air?
+    You dear little shells,
+      O, why do you shine?
+    And feathery sea-weed
+      Grow fragile and fine?
+
+    Why are the meadows
+      Such gardens of grace,
+    With infinite beauty
+      In definite space?
+    Each separate grass
+      A world of delight?
+    O, food for the cattle,
+      Why are you so bright?
+
+    Why are our faces
+      Such lovable things,
+    With lips made for kisses,
+      And laughter that sings?
+    With eyes full of love,
+      That sparkle and gleam,
+    Through beautiful colors,
+      That change like a dream?
+
+    Think for a moment--
+      Look up to the sky;
+    Question your heart; it
+      Will answer the Why!
+    Bright is the glitter
+      Of beauty unfurled--
+    Boundless the love that
+      Has fashioned the world!
+
+
+
+
+BIRDS.
+
+
+The wisdom of God is seen in every part of creation, and especially
+in the different kinds of birds. The beauty displayed in their
+graceful forms and varied colors strikes every beholder, while the
+adaptation of their organs for the purposes of flight, their peculiar
+habits and modes of living, are a constant source of admiration to the
+student of nature.
+
+Almost everything about the shape of a bird fits it for moving rapidly
+in the air, and all parts of its body are arranged so as to give it
+lightness along with strength. The soft and delicate plumage of birds
+protects them from cold or moisture; their wings, though so delicate,
+are furnished with muscles of such power as to strike the air with
+great force, whilst their tails act like the rudder of a ship, so that
+they can direct their course at pleasure with the utmost ease.
+
+The internal structure of a bird also is such as to help it to sustain
+itself in, and to fly quickly through, the air. Its lungs are pierced
+with large holes, which allow air to pass into cavities in the breast,
+and even into the interior of the bones. It is thus not only rendered
+buoyant, but is enabled to breathe even while in rapid motion. Two
+sparrows, it is said, require as much air to maintain their breathing
+properly as a guinea pig.
+
+In many other ways the skill and goodness of God are seen in the "fowl
+of the air." Their necks and beaks are long, and very movable, so that
+they may readily pick up food and other objects from the ground. The
+muscles of their toes are so arranged that the simple weight of the
+body closes them, and they are able, in consequence, to sit on a perch
+a long time without fatigue. Even in a violent wind a bird easily
+retains its hold of the branch or twig on which it is sitting. Their
+bills are of almost all forms: in some kinds they are straight; in
+others curved, sometimes upwards and sometimes downwards; in others
+they are flat; in some they are in the form of a cone, wedge-shaped,
+or hooked. The bill enables a bird to take hold of its food, to strip
+or divide it. It is useful also in carrying materials for its nest, or
+food to its young; and in the birds of prey, such as the owl, the
+hawk, the falcon, eagle, etc., the beak is a formidable weapon of
+attack.
+
+The nostrils of birds are usually of an oval form, and are placed near
+the base of the beak. Their eyes are so constructed that they can see
+near and distant objects equally well, and their sight is very acute.
+The sparrow-hawk discerns the small birds which are its prey at an
+incredible distance. No tribe of birds possesses an outward ear,
+except those which seek their food by night; these have one in the
+form of a thin, leathery piece of flesh. The inside ear, however, is
+very large, and their hearing is very quick.
+
+[Illustration: BIRD'S NEST.]
+
+Another admirable feature in the structure of birds consists in their
+feathers. These are well adapted for security, warmth, and freedom of
+motion. The larger feathers of the body are placed over each other
+like the slates on the roof of a house, so that water is permitted to
+run off, and cold is kept out. The down, which is placed under the
+feathers, is a further protection against the cold; and hence it is
+most abundant in those species that are found in northern climates.
+The feathery covering of birds forms their peculiar beauty: on this,
+in the warm climates, Nature bestows her most delicate and brightest
+colors.
+
+[Illustration: {An apteryx, or kiwi}]
+
+Another point which sets forth the resources of Infinite Wisdom is the
+structure and uses of the wings of birds. The size of the wings is not
+always in proportion to the bulk of their bodies, but is accommodated
+to their habits of living. Accordingly, birds of prey, swallows, and
+such birds as are intended to hover long in the air, have much longer
+wings, in proportion to their size, than hens, ducks, quails, etc. In
+some, such as the ostrich, the cassiowary, and the penguin, the
+largest quill-feathers of the wing are entirely wanting.
+
+Then, again, how varied is the flight of birds! The falcon soars above
+the clouds, and remains in the air for many hours without any sign of
+exertion. The swallow, the lark, and other species, sail long
+distances with little effort. Others, like the sparrow and the
+humming-bird, have a fluttering flight. Some, as the owl, fly without
+any noise; and some, like the partridge, with a loud whir.
+
+                        "Around the head
+    Of wandering swain the white-winged plover wheels
+    Her sounding flight, and then directly on
+    In long excursion skims the level lawn,
+    To tempt him from her nest."
+
+How graceful are the motions of the hawk, sweeping higher and higher
+in circles, as he surveys far and wide the expanse of fields and
+meadows below, in which he hopes to espy his prey. Our paper would be
+too long were we to say even a little about the roosting, the
+swimming, or running, the migration, the habits and instincts, the
+varied notes and pleasant songs, of the endless species of birds.
+
+All these subjects are well worthy of being carefully studied; for
+they all show the design of their Creator. The extraordinary creature
+represented in the engraving is the "Apteryx," or "wingless bird" of
+New Zealand. It was not known to European naturalists till of late
+years, and for a long time the accounts which the natives of New
+Zealand gave of it were discredited. A specimen of it, preserved in
+brine, was, however, brought to this country, and a full description
+of the bird given.
+
+The kirvi-kirvi, as the New Zealanders call it, stands about two feet
+high. Its wings are so small that they can scarcely be called wings,
+and are not easy to find under the general plumage of the body. Its
+nostrils, strange to say, are at the tip of the beak. The toes are
+strong, and well adapted for digging, the hind one being a thick,
+horny spur. To add to the singularity of this creature, it has no tail
+whatever. The kirvi-kirvi conceals itself among the extensive beds of
+fern which abound in the middle island of New Zealand, and it makes a
+nest of fern for its eggs in deep holes, which it hollows out of the
+ground. It feeds on insects, and particularly worms, which it disturbs
+by stamping on the ground, and seizes the instant they make their
+appearance. Night is the season when it is most active; and the
+natives hunt it by torchlight. When pursued, it elevates its head,
+like an ostrich, and runs with great swiftness. It defends itself,
+when overtaken, with much spirit, inflicting dangerous blows with its
+strong spur-armed feet.
+
+In this instance, as in all others, God has wisely adapted the very
+shape and limbs of the creature to the habits by which it was intended
+to be distinguished.
+
+                                                    F. F. E.
+
+
+
+
+KINDNESS REWARDED.
+
+
+When Agrippa was in a private station, he was accused, by one of his
+servants, of having spoken injuriously of Tiberius, and was condemned
+by that emperor to be exposed in chains before the palace gate. The
+weather was very hot, and Agrippa became excessively thirsty. Seeing
+Thaumastus, a servant of Caligula, pass by him with a pitcher of
+water, he called to him, and entreated leave to drink. The servant
+presented the pitcher with much courtesy; and Agrippa, having allayed
+his thirst, said to him,--
+
+"Assure thyself, Thaumastus, that if I get out of this captivity, I
+will one day pay thee well for this draught of water."
+
+Tiberius dying, his successor, Caligula, soon after not only set
+Agrippa at liberty, but made him king of Judea. In this high situation
+Agrippa was not unmindful of the glass of water given to him when a
+captive.
+
+He immediately sent for Thaumastus, and made him controller of his
+household.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {People gathering hay}]
+
+A DREAM OF SUMMER.
+
+
+    West wind and sunshine
+      Braided together,
+    What is the one sign
+      But pleasant weather?
+
+    Birds in the cherry-trees,
+      Bees in the clover;
+    Who half so gay as these
+      All the world over?
+
+    Violets among the grass,
+      Roses regretting
+    How soon the summer 'll pass,--
+      Next year forgetting.
+
+    Buds sighing in their sleep,
+      "Summer, pray grant us
+    Youth, that its bloom will keep
+      Fragrance to haunt us!"
+
+    Rivulets that shine and sing,
+      Sunbeams abetting,--
+    No more remembering
+      Their frozen fretting.
+
+    Sweet music in the wind,
+      Sun in the showers;
+    All these we're sure to find
+      In summer hours.
+
+                         MARY N. PRESCOTT.
+
+[Illustration: SUMMER FLOWERS.]
+
+
+
+
+EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING.
+
+
+"Please, Mr. Mate has _that_ cloud a silver lining?"
+
+The question was asked by little Kate Vale, the daughter of an
+emigrant, who, with her mother, was following her father, who had gone
+before to New York. Katie was a quiet, gentle little child, who gave
+trouble to no one. She had borne the suffering of seasickness at the
+beginning of the voyage so patiently, and now took the rough sea-fare
+so thankfully, that she had made a fast friend of Tom Bolton, the
+mate. Bolton had a warm, kindly heart, and one of the children whom he
+had left in England was just the age of Katie; this inclined him all
+the more to show her kindness. Katie often had a piece of Bolton's
+sea-biscuit; he told her tales which he called "long yarns," and
+sometimes in rough weather he would wrap his thick jacket around her,
+to keep the chill from her thinly-clad form. Katie was not at all
+afraid of Bolton, or "Mr. Mate," as she called him, and she took hold
+of his hard brown hand as she asked the question,--
+
+"Has that cloud a silver lining?"
+
+Bolton glanced up at a very black, lowering cloud, which seemed to
+blot the sun quite out of that part of the sky.
+
+"Why do you ask me, Kate?" said the sailor.
+
+"Because mother often says that every cloud has a silver lining, and
+that one looks as if it had none."
+
+Tom Bolton gave a short laugh.
+
+"None that we can see," he replied; "for the cloud is right atween us
+and the sun. If we could look at the upper part, where the bright
+beams fall, we should see yon black cloud like a great mass of silvery
+mother-o'-pearl, just like those that you yesterday called shining
+mountains of snow."
+
+Katie turned round, and raising her eyes, watched for some minutes
+the gloomy cloud. It was slowly moving towards the west, and as it did
+so, the sun behind it began to edge all its dark outline with
+brightness.
+
+"See, see!" exclaimed Katie; "it is turning out the edge of its silver
+lining. If I were up there in the sky, I suppose that all would look
+beautiful then. But I don't know why mother should take comfort from
+talking of the clouds and their linings."
+
+The mother, Mrs. Vale, who was standing near, leaning against the
+bulwarks, heard the last words of her child, and made reply,--
+
+"Because we have many clouds of sorrow here to darken our lives, and
+our hearts would often fail us but for the thought, 'There is a bright
+side to every trial sent to the humble believer.'"
+
+And Mrs. Vale repeated the beautiful lines,--
+
+    "Yon clouds, a mass of sable shade
+      To mortals gazing from below,
+    By angels from above surveyed,
+      With universal brightness glow."
+
+Katie did not quite understand the verse, but she knew how patiently
+and meekly her mother had borne sudden poverty, the sale of her goods,
+and the bitter parting from her beloved husband. Bolton also had been
+struck by the pious courage of one who had had a large share of
+earthly trials.
+
+"_Your_ clouds at least seem to be edged with silver," he observed,
+with a smile; and as he spoke, the glorious beams of the sun burst
+from behind the black mass of cloud, making widening streams of light
+up the sky, which, as Katie remarked, looked like paths up to heaven.
+
+The vessel arrived at New York, after rather a rough voyage, and Mrs.
+Vale, to her great delight, found her husband ready at the port to
+receive her. He brought her good tidings also. A fortnight before her
+landing he had procured a good situation, and he was now able to take
+her and their child to a comfortable home. Past sorrows now seemed to
+be almost forgotten.
+
+[Illustration: {Katie and Bolton on the deck of the ship}]
+
+Bolton, who, during a trying voyage, had shown much kindness to Mrs.
+Vale as well as to Katie, was invited during his stay at New York to
+make their house his home. He had much business to do as long as he
+remained in the great city, so saw little of the Vales except in the
+evenings, when he shared their cheerful supper, and then knelt down
+with them at family prayers. The mate learned much of the peace and
+happiness which piety brings while he dwelt under the emigrant's roof.
+
+But ere long the day arrived when Bolton's vessel, the Albion, was to
+start for England. She was to weigh anchor at one o'clock, and at
+midday the mate bade good by to his emigrant friends.
+
+"A pleasant journey to you, and a speedy return; we'll be glad to see
+you back here," said Henry Vale, as he shook the mate by the hand.
+
+Bolton's journey was to be much shorter, and his return much more
+speedy than he wished, or his friends expected. He was hastening down
+to the pier to join his vessel, when he saw hanging up in a shop
+window a curious basket, made of some of the various nuts of the
+country prettily strung together.
+
+"That's just the thing to take my Mary's fancy," said the mate to
+himself. "I've a present for every one at home but for her; it won't
+take two minutes to buy that basket."
+
+Great events often hang upon very small hooks. If Bolton had not
+turned back to buy the basket, he would not have been passing a house
+on which masons were working at the very moment when a ladder,
+carelessly placed against it, happened to fall with a crash. The
+ladder struck Bolton, and he fell on the pavement so much stunned by
+the shock, that he had to be carried in a senseless state into the
+shop of an apothecary.
+
+Happily no bones were broken, but it was nearly an hour before the
+mate recovered the use of his senses. He then opened his eyes, raised
+his head, and stared wildly around him, as if wondering to find
+himself in a strange place, and trying to think how he came to be
+there. Bolton pressed his aching forehead, seeking to recall to his
+memory what had happened, for he felt like one in a dream. Soon his
+glance fell on the clock in the apothecary's shop, and at the same
+instant the clock struck _one_! Bolton started to his feet, as if the
+chime of the little bell had been the roar of a cannon.
+
+"The Albion sails at one!" cried the mate; and without so much as
+stopping to look for his oilskin cap, with bandaged brow and
+bareheaded, Bolton rushed forth into the street, and, dizzy as he
+felt, staggered on towards the pier from which the vessel was to sail.
+
+It was not to be expected that the sailor's course should be a very
+straight one, or that with all his haste he should manage to make good
+speed. The streets of New York seemed to be more full of traffic than
+usual, and twice the mate narrowly escaped being knocked down again by
+some vehicle rapidly driven along the road. At last, breathless and
+faint, and scarcely able to keep his feet, poor Bolton arrived at the
+wharf to which his ship had been moored but an hour before. But the
+Albion was there no longer--the vessel had started without the
+mate--he could see her white sails in the distance; she was already
+on her way back to Old England, and she had left him behind!
+
+This was a greater shock to poor Bolton than the blow from the falling
+ladder had been. He stood for several minutes gazing after the ship
+with a look of despair, then slowly the sailor returned to the house
+of the Vales.
+
+"Nothing more unlucky could possibly have happened," muttered the mate
+to himself. "Here's a pretty scrape that I shall get into with my
+employers; the mate of their vessel absent just at the time when he
+ought to have been at his post! Then I've nothing with me--nothing,
+save the clothes that I stand in! All my luggage is now on the waves,
+and a precious long time it will be before I shall see it again. But I
+don't care so much for the luggage; what I can't bear to think of is
+my wife and my children looking out eagerly for the arrival of the
+good ship Albion, and then, when she reaches port, finding that no Tom
+Bolton is in her! I wish that that stupid basket had been at the
+bottom of the sea before ever I set eyes on it!"
+
+Pale, haggard, and looking--as he was--greatly troubled, Bolton
+entered the house of the Vales, which he so lately had quitted. The
+family were just finishing their dinner; and not a little astonished
+were they to see one whom they had believed to be on the wide sea.
+
+"Here I am again, like a bad half-penny," said the sailor; and sitting
+down wearily on a chair which Katie placed for him directly, Bolton
+gave a short account of what he called the most unlucky mischance that
+had ever happened to him in the course of his life.
+
+The Vales felt much for his trouble, and begged him to remain with
+them until he could get a passage in some other vessel bound for
+England.
+
+[Illustration: THE MAN AT THE WHEEL.]
+
+"And don't take your accident so much to heart," softly whispered
+little Katie; "you know mother's favorite proverb--'Every cloud has a
+silver lining.'"
+
+"Sometimes, even in this life, we can see the silver edge round the
+border," observed Mrs. Vale.
+
+Bolton had too brave a heart and too sensible a mind to give way long
+to fretting, though he did not see how so black a cloud as that which
+hung over his sky could possibly have anything to brighten its gloom.
+He tried to make the best of that which he could not prevent, and
+retired to rest that night with a tolerably cheerful face, though with
+a violent headache, and a heartache which troubled him more.
+
+Bolton slept very little that night, nor indeed did any one else in
+the house; for with the close of day there came on a violent storm
+which raged fiercely until the morning. Katie trembled in her little
+cot to hear how the gale roared and shrieked in the chimneys, and
+rattled the window-frames, and threatened to burst open the doors. The
+child raised her head from the pillow, and thanked the Lord that her
+sailor friend was not tossing then on the waves.
+
+But far more thankful was Katie when tidings reached New York of what
+the storm had done on that terrible night. Bolton was sitting at
+breakfast with his friends on the third day after the tempest, when
+Vale, who was reading the newspaper, turned to the part headed
+"Shipping Intelligence."
+
+"Any news?" inquired Tom Bolton, struck by the expression on the face
+of his friend.
+
+Instead of replying, Vale exclaimed, "How little we can tell in this
+life what is really for our evil or our good! You called that accident
+which prevented your sailing in the Albion an 'unlucky mischance.'"
+
+"Of course I did. My wife and children are impatient to see me--"
+
+"Had you sailed in that ship," interrupted Vale, "they would never
+have seen you again. The Albion went down in that storm!"
+
+What was the regret of Tom Bolton on hearing of the disaster, and what
+was his thankfulness for his own preservation, I leave the reader to
+guess. Often in after days did the little American basket remind him
+in his own home of what others might have called the chance that led
+him to turn back on his way to the ship, and so caused the accident
+which vexed him so much at the time.
+
+
+
+
+GOOD-HUMOR.
+
+
+    I am a first-rate fairy--
+      "Good-Humor" is my name;
+    I use my wand where'er I go,
+      And make the rough ways plain;
+
+    And make the ugly faces shine,
+      The shrillest voices sweet,
+    The coarsest ore a golden mine,
+      The poorest lives complete.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A boy sits reading in an armchair}]
+
+BOOKS AND READING.
+
+
+I really am in doubt whether or not the young folks ought to be
+congratulated in consequence of the great number of juvenile books
+which are being placed before them about this time. An excellent book
+is certainly excellent company; but there is a limit to all things;
+and so we may have too many books, taking it for granted that all are
+good ones.
+
+You all know, that, as a general rule, people in America read too
+much, and think too little. Reading is a benefit to us only when it
+leads to reflection. It is useless when it leaves no lasting
+impression on the mind; it is _worse_ than useless if the lesson it
+conveys be not a really good one.
+
+Suppose you sit down to a well-furnished table at a hotel to eat your
+dinner. The waiter hands you a bill of fare, upon which is printed a
+long list of good and wholesome dishes, and then quietly waits until
+you order what you wish. You are not expected to eat of every one,
+however attractive they may be, but rather to select what you like
+best,--enough to make a modest meal,--and let that suffice.
+
+But the selection is not all. If you expect to gain health and
+strength by your dinner, you must eat it in a proper manner; that is,
+slowly. Otherwise nature's work will be imperfectly done, and your
+food become a source of bodily harm, instead of a benefit.
+
+Now, it is precisely so with the food of the mind, which comes to you
+through books. You are not expected to read everything which comes
+within your reach. You should rather select the best, and, having done
+so, read them slowly and carefully. You may read too much as well as
+eat too much; and while the one will injure your body, the other will
+as certainly harm your mind.
+
+One of the worst evils which too much reading leads to is a habit of
+_reading to forget_. You know what a bad habit is, how it clings to
+us, when once contracted, and how hard it is to be shaken off. Some
+boys and girls read a book entirely through in a single evening, and
+the next day are eagerly at work on another, to be as quickly
+mastered. No mind, however strong, can stand such a strain. You see at
+once that it would be absolutely impossible for them to remember what
+they read. And so they read for a momentary enjoyment, and gradually
+fall into the habit I have spoken of--reading to forget. I need not
+tell you that such a habit is fatal to any very high position in life.
+
+How often we hear parents boast that their children are "great
+readers," just as if their intelligence should, in their opinion, be
+measured by the number of books and papers which they had read! Need I
+say, that, on the contrary, they are objects of pity?
+
+But how much may we read with profit? That is a question not always
+easy to answer. Some can read a great deal more than others. Yet, if
+young people read slowly, and think a great deal about the subject,
+there is very little danger of their reading too much, provided they
+select only good books; because good books are very scarce--much more
+so in proportion to the number printed than they were twenty years
+ago; and there are very few young persons who have too great a supply
+of good works placed within their reach.
+
+I have mentioned one evil which results from too much reading, and
+will only briefly allude to another equally important. Children who
+attend school have no time to devote to worthless books. Their studies
+consume many hours. If, aside from the time which should be devoted to
+play, to their meals, and the various duties of home, they will read a
+useless book every day or two, their health is sure to suffer. The
+evil consequences may not be at once apparent, but in later years the
+penalty will certainly have to be paid. This reflection alone, if
+there were no other reason, should induce the young to discard all
+useless books, and read only such as shall have a tendency to make
+them wiser and better.
+
+
+
+
+THE CORAL-WORKERS.
+
+
+    The little coral-workers,
+      By their slow but constant motion,
+    Have built those pretty islands
+      In the distant dark-blue ocean;
+    And the noblest undertakings
+       Man's wisdom hath conceived
+    By oft-repeated efforts
+       Have been patiently achieved.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Lion carries a baby's basket down some stairs}]
+
+LION THE FIRE DOG.
+
+
+Lion, who was a cross between a Great St. Bernard and a Newfoundland
+dog, came into the possession of the superintendent of the London fire
+brigade when he was but twelve months old. His first retreat was in
+the engine-house, where, on some old hose and sacking, he made himself
+as comfortable as he could, and coiled himself up, like the tubing on
+which he lay. Considering that he was thus placed in charge of the
+engine-house, he resented the first occasion on which a fire occurred
+at night. The fire bell rang, and the firemen crowded to the spot,
+prepared to draw forth the engine, when a decided opposition was made
+on the part of Lion, who showed a determination to fasten himself on
+the first fireman who dared to enter the house. In this way the
+faithful dog kept them all at bay until the arrival of his master,
+whom he instantly recognized and obeyed. As soon as the horses were
+harnessed, and the engine was in motion, Lion bounded along in
+company, and was present at his first fire. After that time, he
+attended no less than three hundred and thirty-two fires, and not
+only attended, but assisted at them, always useful, and sometimes
+doing work and saving life, which, but for him, would have been lost.
+
+His chief friends, the firemen, say it would take a long while to tell
+all his acts of daring and sagacity; but we must, in justice to his
+memory, record some of the most notable.
+
+Whenever the fire bell rang, Lion was immediately on the alert,
+barking loudly, as if to spread the dire alarm. Then, as soon as his
+master had taken his place on the engine, and before the horses were
+off, he led the way, clearing the road and warning every one of the
+approach of the engine, and spreading the news of the fire by his loud
+voice.
+
+On one occasion, when the horses were tearing along the streets as
+fire engine horses alone can, a little child was seen just in front of
+the engine. To stop the horses in time was impossible, though the
+driver did his best. The brave hearts of the firemen sank within them
+as they felt they must drive over the little body. Bystanders raised
+their arms and shrieked as they witnessed an impending catastrophe
+which they could do nothing to avert. No human help could avail, and
+it must needs be that the engine of mercy, on its way to save life,
+must sacrifice the life of an innocent, helpless child!
+
+But stay! Human eyes were not the only ones that took in that sad
+scene, and that saw the impending doom of the little one. Brave,
+sagacious, and fleet, Lion saw at a glance the danger that threatened
+the child, and springing forward, he knocked him down; then seizing
+him firmly in his jaws, he made for the pavement obliquely, and gently
+deposited his charge in the gutter just as the engine went tearing by.
+
+But this was only an incident by the way; Lion's real work began when
+the scene of the fire was reached. As soon as the door was opened, or
+dashing through the window if there was a delay in opening the door,
+the noble animal would run all over the burning house, barking, so as
+to arouse the inmates if they were unaware of the danger; and never
+would he leave the fire until he had either aroused them or had drawn
+the attention of the firemen to them.
+
+Once the firemen could not account for his conduct. Darting into the
+burning house,--the ceilings of which had given way,--and then out
+again to the firemen, he howled and yelled most loudly. It was
+believed that no one was in the house, but Lion's conduct made his
+master feel uneasy.
+
+Still nothing could be done by way of entering the house, as the fire
+was raging fiercely, and the house would soon fall in. Finding that
+his entreaties were not regarded, and suffering from burns and
+injuries, the noble animal discontinued his efforts, but ran uneasily
+round the engine, howling in a piteous manner; nor would he leave the
+spot after the fire was put out until search was made, when beneath
+the still smouldering embers, the firemen discovered the charred body
+of an old man, whom he had done his utmost to save.
+
+Lion's noble efforts, however, were often crowned with success; and
+many a one has to bless the wondrous qualities with which God had
+endowed him.
+
+At one fire, after the inmates had made their escape, a cry was raised
+that "the baby had been left behind in the cradle up stairs," though
+no one seemed to be able to indicate the room. The fire had so far got
+hold of the dwelling, such dense volumes of flame and smoke were
+issuing from every opening, that it was impossible for any fireman to
+enter, and the crowd stood horror-stricken at the thought of the
+perishing babe.
+
+The crisis was a terrible one; an effort was made, an entry was
+effected, and some of the men ventured some distance within the
+burning pile, only to retrace their steps.
+
+At this emergency, Lion dashed past the men, disappeared amid the
+flames, but returned in a minute into the street with the empty cradle
+in his powerful jaws. The consequence of this almost incredible
+feat--which was witnessed by many--may be better imagined than
+described.
+
+The fact that Lion did not re-enter the house--which, though badly
+burned, he would doubtless have done had he left the child behind--was
+sufficient to convince the dullest intellect that the child was
+secure; and it was very soon ascertained that the object of search was
+safe in a neighboring house.
+
+No wonder, then, that this noble animal endeared himself to all who
+knew him; and those who knew him best loved him the most. For fourteen
+years Lion continued his noble and useful career as public benefactor,
+as friend and companion to the firemen, and as mourner at their
+graves; for he attended the funerals of no less than eleven of them.
+
+Death came to him at length; for last year he died from injuries
+received in the discharge of his self-imposed duties.
+
+There are few of our readers who would not have liked to pat that
+brave old dog; there are fewer still who may not learn useful and
+valuable lessons from the speaking testimony of that dumb animal.
+
+                                            BENJAMIN CLARKE.
+
+
+
+
+TO THE CARDINAL FLOWER.
+
+
+    O, my princely flower, shall I never win
+    To your moated citadel within,
+                     To your guarded thought?
+
+    The pansies are proud; but they show to me
+    Their purple velvets from over the sea,
+                     With gold inwrought.
+
+    And they gently smile wherever we meet;
+    They seem to me like proud ladies sweet
+                     From a foreign shore.
+
+    Wild primrose buds in my very hand
+    Their odorous evening stars expand,
+                     And all their lore.
+
+    But your strange eyes gleam as they pass me by,
+    And seem to dream of a warmer sky,
+                     Far over the sea.
+
+                                  M. R. W.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A woman, an elderly man and two children watch
+    butterflies in a garden}]
+
+THE SONG OF THE ROSE.
+
+
+    I come not when the earth is brown, and gray
+    The skies; I am no flower of a day,
+    No crocus I, to bloom and pass away;
+
+    No cowslip bright, or hyacinth that clings
+    Close to the earth, from whence it springs;
+    Nor tulip, gay as song birds' wings.
+
+    I am the royal rose, and all things fair
+    Grow fairer for my sake; the earth, the air,
+    Proclaim the coming of the flower most rare.
+
+    Green is the earth, and beautiful the sky,
+    And soft the breeze, that loves to linger nigh;
+    I am the rose, and who with me shall vie?
+
+    The earth is full of gladness, all in tune
+    With songs of birds; and now I come, O June,
+    To crown thee, month of beauty, with my bloom.
+
+                                  T. E. D.
+
+
+
+
+RICH AND POOR.
+
+
+    My dear little girl, with the flowers in your hair,
+    Stop singing a moment, and look over there;
+    While you are so safe in the sheltering fold,
+    With treasures of silver, and treasures of gold,
+    Just a few steps away, in a dark, narrow street,
+    With no pure, cooling drink, and no morsel to eat,
+    A poor girl is dying, no older than you;
+    Her lips were as red, and her eyes were as blue,
+    Her step was as light, and her song was as sweet,
+    And the heart in her bosom as merrily beat.
+
+    But now she is dying, so lonely and poor,
+    For famine and fever crept in at the door.
+    While you were so gay, in your beautiful dress,
+    With music and laughter, and friends to caress,
+    From the dawn to the end of the weariful day,
+    She was always at work, with no moment for play.
+    She saw you sometimes, but you seemed like a star
+    That gleamed in the distance, so dim and afar.
+    And often she wondered if God up above
+    Remembered the poor girl, in pity and love.
+
+    Ah, yes, _He remembered_, 'mid harpings and hymns,
+    And loud alleluias, and waving of wings,
+    He heard in _His_ heaven the sound of her tears,
+    And called her away while the sun of her years
+    Was yet in the east; now, she never will need
+    From you any more a compassionate deed.
+    Nay, some time, perhaps, from her home in the skies,
+    She will look back to see you with tears in your eyes,
+    For sooner or later we quiver with pain,
+    And down on us all drops the sorrowful rain.
+
+    She never will need you; but many bereft,
+    Hungry, and heart-sore, and homeless are left.
+    You can, if you will, from the place where you stand,
+    Reach downward to help them; the touch of your hand,
+    The price of one jewel, the gift of a flower,
+    May waken within them, with magical power,
+    A hope that was dying. O, don't be afraid
+    The poor and the desolate spirit to aid.
+    The burdens are heavy that some one must bear,
+    You dear little girl with the flowers in your hair.
+
+                        ELLEN M. H. GATES.
+
+[Illustration: RICH AND POOR.]
+
+
+
+
+LACE-MAKING.
+
+
+"See, mamma what is the woman doing? She looks as if she was holding a
+pin-cushion in her lap and was sticking pins in it."
+
+"So she is, my dear," Ellen's mother remarked. "But that is not all
+she is doing. There is a cluster of bobbins hanging down one side of
+the cushion which are wound with threads, and these threads she weaves
+around the pins in such a manner as to make lace."
+
+"I never saw anybody make lace that way. I have seen Aunt Maria knit
+it with a crochet-hook."
+
+"This is a different kind of lace altogether from the crocheted lace.
+They do not make it in the United States. The woman whom you see in
+the picture lives in Belgium in Europe. In that country, and in some
+parts of France and Germany, many of the poorer people earn a living
+at lace-making. The pattern which in making the lace it is intended to
+follow is pricked with a pin on a strip of paper. This paper is
+fastened on the cushion, and then pins are stuck in through all the
+pin-holes, and then the thread from these bobbins is woven around the
+lace."
+
+"Can they work fast?"
+
+"An accomplished lace-maker will make her hands fly as fast as though
+she were playing the piano, always using the right bobbin, no matter
+how many of them there may be. In making the pattern of a piece of
+nice lace from two hundred to eight hundred bobbins are sometimes
+used. In such a case it takes more than one person--sometimes as many
+as seven--at a single cushion."
+
+"It must be hard to do."
+
+"I dare say it would be for you or me. Yet in those countries little
+children work at lace-making. Little children, old women and the least
+skilful of the men make the plainer and coarser laces, while
+experienced women make the nicer sorts."
+
+"What do they do with their lace when it is finished?"
+
+"All the lace-makers in a neighborhood bring in their laces once a
+week to the 'mistress'--for women carry on the business of
+lace-making--then this 'mistress' packs them up and takes them to the
+nearest market-town, where they are peddled about from one
+trading-house to another until they are all sold."
+
+"Do they get much for them?"
+
+"The poor lace-makers get hardly enough to keep them from starvation
+for their fine and delicate work; but the laces, after they have
+passed through the hands of one trader after another, and are at last
+offered to the public, bring enormous prices. A nice library might be
+bought for the price of a set of laces, or a beautiful house built at
+the cost of a single flounce."
+
+"I think I should rather have the house, mamma."
+
+"So should I. But the people who buy these laces probably have houses
+already. There is over four million dollars' worth of lace sold every
+year in Belgium alone."
+
+Ellen thought she should never see a piece of nice lace without
+thinking of these wonderful lace-makers, who produce such delicate
+work and yet are paid so little for it; and while she was thus
+thinking over the matter, mamma went quietly on with her sewing.
+
+[Illustration: LACE-MAKERS.]
+
+
+
+
+HELP YOURSELVES.
+
+
+Many boys and girls make a failure in life because they do not learn
+to help themselves. They depend on father and mother even to hang up
+their hats and to find their playthings. When they become men and
+women, they will depend on husbands and wives to do the same thing. "A
+nail to hang a hat on," said an old man of eighty years, "is worth
+everything to a boy." He had been "through the mill," as people say,
+so that he knew. His mother had a nail for him when he was a boy--"a
+nail to hang his hat on," and nothing else. It was "Henry's nail" from
+January to January, year in and out, and no other member of the family
+was allowed to appropriate it for any purpose whatever. If the broom
+by chance was hung thereon, or an apron or coat, it was soon removed,
+because that nail was "to hang Henry's hat on." And that nail did much
+for Henry; it helped make him what he was in manhood--a careful,
+systematic, orderly man, at home and abroad, on his farm and in his
+house. He never wanted another to do what he could do for himself.
+
+Young folks are apt to think that certain things, good in themselves,
+are not honorable. To be a blacksmith or a bootmaker, to work on a
+farm or drive a team, is beneath their dignity, as compared with being
+a merchant, or practising medicine or law. This is PRIDE, an enemy to
+success and happiness. No _necessary_ labor is discreditable. It is
+never dishonorable to be _useful_. It is beneath no one's dignity to
+earn bread by the sweat of the brow. When boys who have such false
+notions of dignity become men, they are ashamed to help themselves as
+they ought, and for want of this quality they live and die unhonored.
+Trying to save their dignity, they lose it.
+
+Here is a fact we have from a very successful merchant. When he began
+business for himself, he carried his wares from shop to shop. At
+length his business increased to such an extent, that he hired a room
+at the Marlboro' Hotel, in Boston, during the business season, and
+thither the merchants, having been duly notified, would repair to make
+purchases. Among all his customers, there was only one man who would
+carry to his store the goods which he had purchased. The buyers asked
+to have their goods carried, and often this manufacturer would carry
+them himself. But there was one merchant, and the largest buyer of the
+whole number, who was not ashamed to be seen carrying a case of goods
+through the streets. Sometimes he would purchase four cases, and he
+would say, "Now, I will take two, and you take two, and we will carry
+them right over to the store." So the manufacturer and the merchant
+often went through the streets of Boston quite heavily loaded. This
+merchant, of all the number who went to the Marlboro' Hotel for their
+purchases, succeeded in business. He became a wealthy man when all the
+others failed. The manufacturer, who was not ashamed to help himself,
+is now living--one of the wealthy men of Massachusetts, ready to aid,
+by his generous gifts, every good object that comes along, and honored
+by all who know him.
+
+You have often heard and read the maxim, "God helps those who help
+themselves." Is it not true?
+
+                                          WILLIAM M. THAYER.
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF JOHNNY DAWDLE.
+
+
+    Here, little folks, listen; I'll tell you a tale,
+    Though to shock and surprise you I fear it won't fail;
+    Of Master John Dawdle my story must be,
+    Who, I'm sorry to say, is related to me.
+
+    And yet, after all, he's a nice little fellow:
+    His eyes are dark brown and his hair is pale yellow;
+    And though not very clever or tall, it is true
+    He is better than many, if worse than a few.
+
+    But he dawdles at breakfast, he dawdles at tea--
+    He's the greatest small dawdle that ever could be;
+    And when in his bedroom, it is his delight
+    To dawdle in dressing at morning and night.
+
+    And oh! if you saw him sit over a sum,
+    You'd much wish to pinch him with finger and thumb;
+    And then, if you scold him, he looks up so meek;
+    Dear me! one would think that he hardly could speak.
+
+    Each morning the same he comes tumbling down,
+    And often enough is received with a frown,
+    And a terrible warning of something severe
+    Unless on the morrow he sooner appear.
+
+    But where does he live? That I'd rather not say,
+    Though, if truth must be told, I have met him to-day;
+    I meant just to pass him with merely a bow,
+    But he stopped and conversed for a minute or so.
+
+    "Well, where are you going?" politely said I;
+    To which he replied, with a groan and a sigh,
+    "I've been doing my Latin from breakfast till dinner,
+    And pretty hard work that is for a beginner."
+
+    "But now I suppose you are going to play
+    And have pleasure and fun for the rest of the day?"
+    "Indeed, but I'm not--there's that bothering sum;
+    And then there's a tiresome old copy to come."
+
+[Illustration: JOHNNY DAWDLE.]
+
+    "Dear me!" I replied, and I thought it quite sad
+    There should be such hard work for one poor little lad;
+    But just at that moment a lady passed by,
+    And her words soon made clear that mistaken was I:
+
+    "Now, then, Mr. Dawdle, get out of my way!
+    I suppose you intended to stop here all day;
+    The bell has done ringing, and yet, I declare,
+    Your hands are not washed, nor yet brushed is your hair."
+
+    "Ho, ho!" I exclaimed; "Mr. Dawdle, indeed!"
+    And I took myself off with all possible speed,
+    Quite distressed that I should for a moment be seen
+    With one who so lazy and careless had been.
+
+    So now, if you please, we will wish him good-bye;
+    And if you should meet him by chance, as did I,
+    Just bid him good-morning, and say that a friend
+    (Only don't mention names) hopes he soon may amend.
+
+
+
+
+THE MOTHERLESS BOY.
+
+
+One day, about a year ago, the door of my sitting-room was thrown
+suddenly open, and the confident voice of Harvey thus introduced a
+stranger:
+
+"Here's Jim Peters, mother."
+
+I looked up, not a little surprised at the sight of a ragged, barefoot
+child.
+
+Before I had time to say anything, Harvey went on:
+
+"He lives round in Blake's Court and hasn't any mother. I found him on
+a doorstep feeding birds."
+
+My eyes rested on the child's face while my boy said this. It was a
+very sad little face, thin and colorless, not bold and vicious, but
+timid and having a look of patient suffering. Harvey held him firmly
+by the hand with the air of one who bravely protects the weak.
+
+"No mother!" said I, in tones of pity.
+
+"No, ma'am; he hasn't any mother. Have you, Jim?"
+
+"No," answered the child.
+
+"She's been dead ever so long; hasn't she, Jim?"
+
+"Yes, ever since last winter," he said as he fixed his eyes, into
+which I saw the tears coming, upon my face. My heart moved toward him,
+repulsive as he was because of his rags and dirt.
+
+"One of God's little lambs straying on the cold and barren hills of
+life," said a voice in my heart. And then I felt a tender compassion
+for the strange, unlovely child.
+
+"Where do you live?" I asked.
+
+"Round in Blake's Court," he replied.
+
+"Who with?"
+
+"Old Mrs. Flint; but she doesn't want me."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Oh, because I'm nothing to her, she says, and she doesn't want the
+trouble of me." He tried to say this in a brave, don't-care sort of
+way, but his voice faltered and he dropped his eyes to the floor. How
+pitiful he looked!
+
+"Poor child!" I could not help saying aloud.
+
+Light flashed over his pale face. It was something new to him, this
+interest and compassion.
+
+"One of God's little lambs." I heard the voice in my heart saying this
+again. Nobody to love him--nobody to care for him. Poor little boy!
+The hand of my own child, my son who is so very dear to me, had led
+him in through our door and claimed for him the love and care so long
+a stranger to his heart. Could I send him out and shut the door upon
+him, when I knew that he had no mother and no home? If I heeded not
+the cry of this little one precious in God's sight, might I not be
+thought unworthy to be the guardian of another lamb of his fold whom I
+loved as my own life?
+
+"I've got heaps of clothes, mother--a great many more than I want. And
+my bed is wide. There's room enough in the house, and we've plenty to
+eat," said Harvey, pleading for the child. I could not withstand all
+these appeals. Rising, I told the little stranger to follow me. When
+we came back to the sitting-room half an hour afterward, Jim Peters
+would hardly have been known by his old acquaintances, if any of them
+had been there. A bath and clean clothes had made a wonderful change
+in him.
+
+I watched the poor little boy, as he and Harvey played during the
+afternoon, with no little concern of mind. What was I to do with him?
+Clean and neatly dressed, there was a look of refinement about the
+child which had nearly all been hidden by rags and dirt. He played
+gently, and his voice had in it a sweetness of tone, as it fell every
+now and then upon my ears, that was really winning. Send him back to
+Mrs. Flint's in Blake's Court? The change I had wrought upon him made
+this impossible. No, he could not be sent back to Mrs. Flint's, who
+didn't want the trouble of him. What then?
+
+[Illustration: THE MOTHERLESS BOY.]
+
+Do the kind hearts of my little readers repeat the question, "What
+then?" Do they want very much to know what has become of little Jim
+Peters?
+
+It is just a year since my boy led him in from the street, and Jim is
+still in our house. No one came for him. No one inquired about him. No
+one cared for him. I must take that last sentence back. God cared for
+him, and by the hand of my tender-hearted son brought him into my
+comfortable home and said to me, "Here is one of my lambs, astray,
+hungry and cold. He was born into the world that he might become an
+angel in heaven, but is in danger of being lost. I give him into your
+care. Let me find him when I call my sheep by their names."
+
+As I finished writing the last sentence a voice close to my ear said
+"Mother!" I turned and received a loving kiss from the lips of Jim. He
+often does this. I think, in the midst of his happy plays, memory
+takes him back to the suffering past, and then his grateful heart runs
+over and he tries to reward me with a loving kiss. I did not tell him
+to call me "Mother." At first he said it in a timid, hesitating way,
+and with such a pleading, half-scared look that I was touched and
+softened.
+
+"She isn't your real mother," said Harvey, who happened to be near,
+"but then she's good and loves you ever so much."
+
+"And I love her," answered Jim, with a great throb in his throat,
+hiding his face in my lap and clasping and kissing my hand. Since then
+he always calls me "Mother;" and the God and Father of us all has sent
+into my heart a mother's love for him, and I pray that he may be mine
+when I come to make up my jewels in heaven.
+
+
+
+
+THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
+
+
+    Jesus says that we must love him.
+      Helpless as the lambs are we;
+    But He very kindly tells us
+      That our Shepherd He will be.
+
+    Heavenly Shepherd, please to watch us,
+      Guard us both by night and day;
+    Pity show to little children,
+      Who like lambs too often stray.
+
+    We are always prone to wander:
+      Please to keep us from each snare;
+    Teach our infant hearts to praise Thee
+      For Thy kindness and Thy care.
+
+
+
+
+THE ST. BERNARD DOG.
+
+
+By the pass of the Great St. Bernard travellers cross the Pennine
+Alps (Penn, a Celtic word, meaning _height_) along the mountain road
+which leads from Martigny, in Switzerland, to Aosta, in Piedmont. On
+the crest of the pass, eight thousand two hundred feet above the sea
+level, stands the Hospice, tenanted by about a dozen monks.
+
+This is supposed to be the highest spot in Europe inhabited by human
+beings. The climate is necessarily rigorous, the thermometer in winter
+being often twenty-nine degrees below zero, whilst sixty-eight degrees
+Fahrenheit is about the highest range ever attained in summer. From
+the extreme difficulty of respiration, few of the monks ever survive
+the period of their vow, which is fifteen years, commencing at the age
+of eighteen.
+
+This hospice is said to have been first founded in the year 962, by
+Bernard, a Piedmontese nobleman. It will be remembered that it was
+over this pass Napoleon, in May, 1800, led an army of thirty thousand
+men into Italy, having with them heavy artillery and cavalry.
+
+For poor travellers and traders the hospice is really a place of
+refuge. During winter, crossing this pass is a very dangerous affair.
+The snow falls in small particles, and remains as dry as dust.
+Whirlwinds, called "tourmentes," catch up this light snow, and
+carrying it with blinding violence against the traveller, burying
+every landmark, at once put an end to knowledge of position.
+Avalanches, too, are of frequent occurrence.
+
+After violent storms, or the fall of avalanches, or any other unusual
+severity of winter weather, the monks set out in search of travellers
+who may have been overwhelmed by the snow in their ascent of the
+pass. They are generally accompanied in their search by dogs of a
+peculiar breed, commonly known as the St. Bernard's Dog, on account of
+the celebrated monastery where these magnificent animals are taught to
+exercise their wondrous powers, which have gained for them and their
+teachers a world-wide fame. On their neck is a bell, to attract the
+attention of any belated wayfarer; and their deep and powerful bay
+quickly gives notice to the benevolent monks to hurry to the relief of
+any unfortunate traveller they may find.
+
+Some of the dogs carry, attached to their collars, a flask of spirits
+or other restorative. Their wonderfully acute sense of smell enables
+them to detect the bodies of persons buried deeply beneath the surface
+of the snow, and thus direct the searchers where to dig for them. The
+animal's instinct seems to teach it, too, where hidden chasms or
+clefts, filled with loose snow, are; for it carefully avoids them, and
+thus is an all-important guide to the monks themselves.
+
+We have stories without number as to what these dogs accomplish on
+their own account; how they dig out travellers, and bring them,
+sometimes unaided by man, to the hospice.
+
+[Illustration: THE ST. BERNARD DOG.]
+
+A few years ago one of these faithful animals might be seen wearing a
+medal, and regarded with much affection by all. This noble dog had
+well deserved the distinction; for one stormy day he had saved
+twenty-two individuals buried in their snowy envelope. Unfortunately,
+he met, at a subsequent period, the very fate from which he had
+rescued so many persons. At the worst season an Italian courier was
+crossing the pass, attended by two monks, each escorted by a dog
+(one being the wearer of the medal), when suddenly a vast avalanche
+shot down upon them with lightning speed, and they were all lost.
+
+Another of these dogs, named "Barry," had served the St. Bernard
+Convent during twelve years, and had saved the lives of fifteen
+persons during that time. Whenever the pass was obscured by fogs and
+wintry snow-storms, he would go forth in search of lost travellers. It
+was his practice to run barking till he lost his breath, and he would
+venture into the most dangerous places. If, as sometimes happened, he
+did not succeed in drawing out from the snow some traveller stiffened
+with cold or overcome with exhaustion, he would run back to the
+convent and fetch some of the monks.
+
+One day this brave dog found a little child in a half-frozen state. He
+began directly to lick him, and having succeeded first in restoring
+animation, and next in the complete resuscitation of the boy, he
+induced the child, by his caresses, to tie himself on his back. When
+this was effected, he transported the poor child, as if in triumph, to
+the hospice. When overtaken by old age, the glorious dog was pensioned
+off by way of reward, and after his death his body was stuffed and
+placed in the museum at Berne.
+
+It is said that dogs of this variety inherit the faculty of tracking
+footsteps in snow. A gentleman once obtained a pup which had been
+produced in London by a female of the St. Bernard breed. The young
+animal was brought to Scotland, where it was never observed to give
+any particular tokens of a power of tracking footsteps until winter.
+Then, when the ground was covered with snow, it showed the utmost
+inclination to follow footsteps; and such was its power of doing so,
+that though its master might attempt to confuse it by walking in the
+most irregular fashion, and by inducing other persons to cross his
+path in all directions, yet it always followed his course with great
+precision.
+
+Sir Thomas Dick Lander, who for many years resided at Grange House,
+Edinburgh, had a fine dog of the St. Bernard breed presented to him.
+Its bark was so loud that it could be distinguished at the distance of
+a mile. Its bark once led to its recovery, when stolen by some
+carters. "Bass," as the dog was named, had been missing for some time,
+when it was brought back to Grange House by a letter-carrier, who said
+that in going along a certain street, he heard a barking inside a
+yard, and at once recognized the voice of Bass. "He knocked at the
+gate," writes Sir Thomas, "and immediately said to the owner of the
+premises,--
+
+"'You have got Sir Thomas Lander's big dog.'
+
+"The man denied it.
+
+"'But I know you have,' continued the letter-carrier. 'I am certain
+that I heard the bark of Sir Thomas's big dog; for there is no other
+dog in or about all Edinburgh that has such a bark.'
+
+"The man then admitted that he had a large dog, which he had bought
+for a trifle from a couple of coal carters; and at last, with great
+reluctance, he gave up the dog to the letter-carrier, who brought him
+home here."
+
+Sir Thomas, after describing many of Bass's characteristics, then
+proceeds:--
+
+"He took a particular fancy for one of the postmen who delivers
+letters here, though he was not the man whom I have already had
+occasion to mention. It was the duty of this postman I now allude to,
+besides delivering letters, to carry a letter-bag from one receiving
+house to another, and this big bag he used to give Bass to carry. Bass
+always followed that man through all the villas in the neighborhood
+where he had deliveries to make, and he invariably parted with him
+opposite to the gate of the Convent of St. Margaret's, and returned
+home.
+
+"When our gate was shut, to prevent his following the postman, the dog
+always leaped a high wall to get after him. One day, when the postman
+was ill, or detained by some accidental circumstance, he sent a man in
+his place. Bass went up to the man, curiously scanning his face,
+whilst the man retired from the dog, by no means liking his
+appearance, and very anxious to decline all acquaintance with him. But
+as the man left the place, Bass followed him, showing strong symptoms
+that he was determined to have the post-bag. The man did all he could
+to keep the possession of it. But at length Bass, seeing that he had
+no chance of getting possession of the bag by civil entreaty, raised
+himself on his hind legs, and putting a great fore paw on each of the
+man's shoulders, he laid him flat on his back in the road, and quietly
+picking up the bag, he proceeded peaceably on his wonted way. The man,
+much dismayed, arose and followed the dog, making, every now and then,
+an ineffectual attempt to coax him to give it up.
+
+"At the first house he came to he told his fears and the dilemma he
+was in; but the people comforted him by telling him that the dog
+always carried the bag. Bass walked with the man to all the houses at
+which he delivered letters, and along the road till he came to the
+gate of St. Margaret's, where he dropped the bag; and making his bow
+to the man, he returned home."
+
+
+
+
+THE FLIGHT OF THE BIRDS.
+
+
+    O wise little birds! how do you know
+            The way to go
+    Southward and northward, to and fro?
+
+    Far up in the ether piped they:
+            "We but obey
+    One who calleth us far away.
+
+    "He calleth and calleth year by year
+            Now there, now here;
+    Ever He maketh the way appear."
+
+    Dear little birds, He calleth me
+            Who calleth ye:
+    Would that I might as trusting be!
+
+[Illustration: FEEDING THE BIRDS.]
+
+
+
+
+FOR THE CHILDREN.
+
+
+    Come stand by my knee, little children,
+      Too weary for laughter or song;
+    The sports of the daylight are over,
+      And evening is creeping along;
+    The snow-fields are white in the moonlight,
+      The winds of the winter are chill,
+    But under the sheltering roof-tree
+      The fire shineth ruddy and still.
+
+    You sit by the fire, little children,
+      Your cheeks are ruddy and warm;
+    But out in the cold of the winter
+      Is many a shivering form.
+    There are mothers that wander for shelter,
+      And babes that are pining for bread;
+    Oh, thank the dear Lord, little children,
+      From whose tender hand you are fed.
+
+    Come look in my eyes, little children,
+      And tell me, through all the long day,
+    Have you thought of the Father above us,
+      Who guarded from evil our way?
+    He heareth the cry of the sparrow,
+      And careth for great and for small;
+    In life and in death, little children,
+      His love is the truest of all.
+
+    Now come to your rest, little children,
+      And over your innocent sleep,
+    Unseen by your vision, the angels
+      Their watch through the darkness shall keep;
+    Then pray that the Shepherd who guideth
+      The lambs that He loveth so well
+    May lead you, in life's rosy morning,
+      Beside the still waters to dwell.
+
+[Illustration: BED-TIME.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A dog breaks a hole through ice to get a drink}]
+
+REASON AND INSTINCT.
+
+
+Are dogs endowed with reason? As you grow up, you will spend many
+happy hours in the contemplation of this interesting question. It does
+sometimes seem as if there could be no possible doubt that dogs, as
+well as horses, elephants, and some other of the higher animals, are
+gifted with the dawn of reason, so extraordinary are some of their
+acts.
+
+It is but a few days since a dog in Vermont saved a house from
+burning, and possibly the inmates. The dog discovered the fire in the
+kitchen, flew to his master's apartment, leaped upon his bed, and so
+aroused the people to a sense of their danger.
+
+"As I was walking out one frosty morning with a large Newfoundland
+dog," says the Rev. J. C. Atkinson, "I observed the animal's repeated
+disappointment on putting his head down to drink at sundry ice-covered
+pools. After one of these disappointments, I broke the ice with my
+foot for my thirsty companion. The next time Tiger was thirsty, he did
+not wait for me to 'break the ice,' but with his foot, or, if too
+strong, by jumping upon it, he obtained water for himself."
+
+Here seems to be the manifestation of a desire to _learn from
+observation_.
+
+After the battle of Fredericksburg, it fell to my duty to search a
+given district for any dead or wounded soldiers there might be left,
+and to bring relief. Near an old brick dwelling I discovered a soldier
+in gray who seemed to be dead. Lying by his side was a noble dog, with
+his head flat upon his master's neck. As I approached, the dog raised
+his eyes to me good-naturedly, and began wagging his tail; but he did
+not change his position. The fact that the animal did not growl, that
+he did not move, but, more than all, the intelligent, joyful
+expression of his face, convinced me that the man was only wounded,
+which proved to be the case. A bullet had pierced his throat, and
+faint from the loss of blood, he had fallen down where he lay. His dog
+had _actually stopped the bleeding from the wound by laying his head
+across it_. Whether this was casual or not, I cannot say. But the
+shaggy coat of the faithful creature was completely matted with his
+master's blood.
+
+Strange as these facts may appear, we should not confound INSTINCT
+with intelligence which comes from REASON. There is a wide difference
+between them. Before long I propose to discuss this matter to some
+extent, in an article which I have already begun.
+
+
+
+
+TOUCH NOT.
+
+
+    Touch not the tempting cup, my boy,
+      Though urged by friend or foe;
+    Dare, when the tempter urges most,
+      Dare nobly say, No--no!
+    The joyous angel from on high
+    Shall tell your soul the reason why.
+
+    Touch not the tempting cup, my boy;
+      In righteousness be brave;
+    Take not the first, a single step,
+      Towards a drunkard's grave;
+    The widow's groan, the orphan's sigh,
+    Shall tell your soul the reason why.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Two girls, their arms full of flowers and foliage}]
+
+CHILDREN.
+
+
+    What could we without them,
+      Those flowers of life?
+    How bear all the sorrows
+      With which it is rife?
+    As long as they blossom,
+      Whilst brightly they bloom,
+    Our own griefs are nothing,
+      Forgotten our gloom.
+
+    We joy in the sunshine--
+      It sheds on them light;
+    We welcome the shower--
+      It makes them more bright;
+    On our pathway of thorns
+      They are thrown from above,
+    And they twine round about us,
+      And bless us with love.
+
+    Bright, beautiful flowers,
+      So fresh and so pure!
+    How could we without them
+      Life's troubles endure?
+    So guileless and holy,
+      Such soothers of strife,
+    What could we without them,
+      Sweet flowers of life?
+
+
+
+
+THE WHITE BUTTERFLY.
+
+A TALE FOR CHILDREN.
+
+
+Very slowly and wearily over road and hedge flew a white butterfly one
+calm May evening; its wings had been torn and battered in its flight
+from eager pursuers, who little cared that their pleasure was
+another's pain. On, on, went the fugitive, until it came to a little
+garden so sweet and quiet that it rested from its flight and said,
+"Here, at least, I shall find peace; these gentle flowers will give me
+shelter." Then, with eager swiftness, it flew to a stately peony. "Oh,
+give me shelter, thou beautiful flower!" it murmured as it rested for
+a second upon its crimson head--a second only, for, with a jerk and an
+exclamation of disgust, the peony cast the butterfly to the ground.
+With a low sigh it turned to the pansy near. Well, the pansy _wished_
+to be kind, but the butterfly was really very tattered and dirty; and
+then velvet soils so easily that she must beg to be excused. The
+wall-flower, naturally frank and good-natured, had been so tormented
+all day by those troublesome bees that she solemnly vowed she would do
+nothing more for anybody.
+
+The tulips were asleep; and the other flowers, trying to emulate fair
+Lady Rose, held their heads so very high that they, of course, did not
+hear the low, soft cry, "Oh, will no one give me shelter?" At last
+there came an answer, "I will, gladly," in a shy and trembling tone,
+as though fearing to be presumptuous, from a thick thorny bush which
+helped to protect the more dainty beauties from the rough blasts of a
+sometimes too boisterous wind; in consideration of which service the
+flowers considered the briar as a good, useful sort of thing,
+respectable enough in its common way, but not as an equal or
+associate, you understand. With gratitude the forlorn butterfly rested
+all night in the bosom of one of its simple white blossoms.
+
+When night had gone and the bright sun came gliding up from the east,
+calling on Nature to awake, the flowers raised their heads in all the
+pride of renewed beauty and saluted one another. Where was the forlorn
+butterfly? Ah! where? They saw it no more; but over the white blossom
+where it had rested there hovered a tiny fairy in shining, changing
+sheen, her wand sparkling with dewdrops. She looked down on the
+flowers with gentle, reproachful eye, while they bent low in wonder
+and admiration.
+
+"Who is it?" they asked. "How beautiful! how lovely!"
+
+The fairy heard them with a smile, and said, "Fair flowers, I _was_ a
+shabby butterfly; what I _am_, you see. I came to you poor and weary;
+and because I was poor and weary you shut me out from your hearts."
+
+The pansy and the wall-flower bent their heads in sorrow, and Lady
+Rose blushed with shame.
+
+"If I had only known!" muttered the peony; "but who would have thought
+it?"
+
+"Who indeed?" laughed the fairy; "but learn, proud peony, that he who
+thinks always of self loses much of life's sweetness--far more than he
+ever suspects; for goodness is as the dew of the heart, and yieldeth
+refreshment and happiness, even if it win no other recompense. But it
+is meet that it should be rewarded. Behold, all of you!" and the fairy
+touched with her wand the white blossom on which she had rested,
+saying, "For thy sweetness be thou loved for ever!" At these words a
+thrill of happiness stirred the sap of the rough, neglected briar, and
+a soft, lovely blush suffused the petals of its flowers, and from its
+green leaves came forth an exquisite odor, perfuming the whole garden
+and eclipsing the other flowers in their pride.
+
+Then the fairy rose in the air, and hovering over her resting-place
+for a moment ere she vanished said, "Such is the reward of goodness.
+Fare thee well, sweet briar!"
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Tom and Pearson on the deck of the ship in the snow}]
+
+WORKING IS BETTER THAN WISHING.
+
+
+"Now then, Tom, lad, what's up? in trouble again?" asked a
+good-natured sailor of his messmate, one snowy day on the wide
+Atlantic.
+
+The boy was leaning moodily against the bulwarks of the vessel--a
+pleasant, ruddy young fellow of fourteen, but with a cloud on his face
+which looked very like discontent.
+
+Snow was falling heavily, but he did not heed it; he looked up,
+however, at the approach of his friend, and answered,--
+
+"I'm all right, Pearson; it isn't that. I was only wishing and
+wondering why I can't get what I want; it seems a shame, it does!" and
+Tom paused abruptly, half choked by a sob.
+
+"What is it, Tom?" asked Pearson; "have the other lads been plaguing?
+Such a big, hearty fellow as you ought not to fret for that."
+
+"I don't," said Tom, sharply; "it's not that; but they've found out
+that my little brother is in the workhouse at home, and they throw it
+at me. I'd do anything to get him out, too, for he oughtn't to be
+there: we come of a better sort, Pearson," he said, proudly; "but
+father and mother dying of that fever put us all wrong. Uncle got me
+to sea, and then, I suppose, he thought he'd done enough; so there was
+only the workhouse left for Willy. He's the jolliest little chap,
+Pearson, you ever saw, and I'd work day and night to get him out, if I
+could; but where's the use? A poor boy like me can do nothing; so I
+just get in a rage, or don't care about anything, and fight the other
+lads; or I'm had up for neglect of duty, or something."
+
+"And so you lose all chance of getting on, and being able in time to
+help your little brother," said Pearson, as if musing; "but what's
+that you have in your hand, Tom--a picture?"
+
+"It's Willy," said the boy; "yes, you may look, Pearson. Mother had it
+taken just before she fell ill; he's only four, but he's the prettiest
+little chap, with yellow hair all in curls. I dare say they've cut
+them off, though," he added, bitterly. "There's a bit of a sickly
+child on board, belonging to the tall lady in black, that reminds me a
+little of him, only he isn't near as pretty as Willy."
+
+"Yes, he is a pretty little lad," said Pearson, returning the
+photograph; "and now, Tom, mind my word: I am an old fellow compared
+to you, and I'll give you a bit of advice. The little lad is safe, at
+any rate, in the workhouse; he's got food and clothes, and you
+couldn't give him that; so be content, and try to do your own duty. If
+you get a good character, instead of being always had up for sulking
+or fighting, that's the best chance for you, and, after you, for
+Willy. As for the lads' teasing, why, be a bit hard of hearing, and
+before many years, I warrant, you'll be having Willy aboard ship as
+boy, when you're an able-bodied seaman."
+
+Tom laughed. "Thank you, Pearson. Well, I'll try; but I do get wishing
+and bothering of nights."
+
+"Ah, that wishing's a poor trick," said Pearson; "give it up, Tom, and
+work instead."
+
+People don't often take advice, but this time it was followed. A great
+deal of rough weather came on; every one had as much as he could do,
+and Tom worked with the best of them, and to his great joy was noticed
+by the ship's officers as a willing lad.
+
+One bright morning brought all the passengers on deck,--the ship was
+bound for Rio,--and among them came the tall lady in black, with her
+little boy in her arms. Tom's duties took him near her, and he could
+not but steal a glance at the little face like Willy's; but, O, so
+pale and pinched now! The child had suffered dreadfully in the rough
+weather; it was doubtful whether he would see land again, he was so
+weakened. Tom felt sorry for the little fellow, but his work engrossed
+him, and he had nearly forgotten the white-faced child, when, to his
+great surprise, the captain called him. The lady in black was a
+relative of the captain, and it seemed that while Tom had been
+glancing at the sick child, the child had been watching him, and had
+taken a fancy to his clear round face, and active movements.
+
+"Let me see what sort of a head-nurse you can make," said the captain
+to Tom; "this little fellow will have you carry him, he says, and
+teach him to climb the rigging."
+
+Tom smiled, but instantly checked himself, as hardly respectful to the
+captain.
+
+They dressed Carlo up in a suit of sailor clothes. To be sure they
+were rather large for him, but then it was such fun to be a real
+little sailor. Under Tom's care his face soon grew round and fat, and
+his merry laugh rang out on the air. And now he would live to see his
+father and his birthplace again, for he was born in South America, and
+had only left his Portuguese father for a few months, to accompany his
+English mother on a visit to her relatives.
+
+The day before they sighted land, Tom was sent for into the captain's
+cabin, and there a wonderful proposal was made to him--that he should
+give up sea life, and go to Bella Sierra as little Carlo's attendant.
+Carlo's parents were rich people; little Carlo had taken a great fancy
+to him, and he would have good wages.
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE SAILOR.]
+
+It sounded very pleasant; but little Willy! he should never see
+him--it would not do. Tom hesitatingly explained this to Carlo's
+mother, drawing the little photograph out of his pocket the while.
+
+Then came the last and best proposition,--that Willy should come out
+on the _Flying Star's_ next voyage, and live, too, at Bella Sierra.
+Mrs. Costello--the lady in black--promised to pay all expenses, and
+put him in charge of the stewardess. Carlo, her only child, had grown
+so fond of Tom, that she would do anything to keep him.
+
+"Such an active, willing boy," she explained to the captain. "I have
+often watched him at work, and admired the way in which he did it."
+
+"Well, lad," said Pearson, when Tom came to tell him the news, "wasn't
+I right when I told you that the best way you could work for Willy
+was by doing your own duty? If you had gone on in that half-and-half,
+discontented way, no rich lady would have cared to have you about her
+house--would she?"
+
+Tom looked thoughtful. "Yes, you were right, Pearson; you've done it
+all; and now I want you to do one thing more. Please look after Willy
+a bit when he comes out; he's such a daring little chap, he'll always
+be running away from the stewardess."
+
+"Ah, you want me to be nurse now--do you?" said Pearson; "all right,
+lad, and as the song says, 'Don't forget me in the land you're going
+to.' And you can still stick to my old motto, that 'Working is better
+than Wishing.'"
+
+
+
+
+KIND TO EVERYTHING.
+
+
+    Softly, softly, little sister,
+      Touch those gayly-painted wings;
+    Butterflies and moths, remember,
+      Are such very tender things.
+
+    Softly, softly, little sister,
+      Twirl your limber hazel twig;
+    Little hands may harm a nestling
+      Thoughtlessly, as well as big.
+
+    Gently stroke the purring pussy,
+      Kindly pat the friendly dog;
+    Let your unmolesting mercy
+      Even spare the toad or frog.
+
+    Wide is God's great world around you:
+      Let the harmless creatures live;
+    Do not mar their brief enjoyment,
+      Take not what you cannot give.
+
+    Let your heart be warm and tender--
+      For the mute and helpless plead;
+    Pitying leads to prompt relieving,
+      Kindly thought to kindly deed.
+
+[Illustration: SOFTLY, SOFTLY, LITTLE SISTER.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The farmer and the calf}]
+
+THAT CALF!
+
+
+    To the yard, by the barn, came the farmer one morn,
+      And, calling the cattle, he said,
+    While they trembled with fright, "Now, which of you, last night,
+      Shut the barn door, while I was abed?"
+      Each one of them all shook his head.
+
+    Now the little calf Spot, she was down in the lot;
+      And the way the rest talked was a shame;
+    For no one, night before, saw her shut up the door;
+      But they said that she did,--all the same,--
+      For they always made her take the blame.
+
+    Said the horse (dapple gray), "I was not up that way
+      Last night, as I now recollect;"
+    And the bull, passing by, tossed his horns very high,
+      And said, "Let who may here object,
+      I say 'tis that calf I suspect!"
+
+    Then out spoke the cow, "It is terrible, now,
+      To accuse honest folks of such tricks."
+    Said the cock in the tree, "I'm sure 'twasn't me;"
+      And the sheep all cried, "Bah!" (There were six.)
+      "Now that calf's got herself in a fix!"
+
+    "Why, of course, we all knew 'twas the wrong thing to do."
+      Said the chickens. "Of course," said the cat;
+    "I suppose," cried the mule, "some folks think me a fool;
+      But I'm not quite so simple as that;
+      The poor calf never knows what she's at!"
+
+    Just that moment, the calf, who was always the laugh
+      And the jest of the yard, came in sight.
+    "Did you shut my barn door?" asked the farmer once more.
+      "I did, sir; I closed it last night,"
+      Said the calf; "and I thought that was right."
+
+    Then each one shook his head. "She will catch it," they said;
+      "Serve her right for her meddlesome way!"
+    Said the farmer, "Come here, little bossy, my dear!
+      You have done what I cannot repay,
+      And your fortune is made from to-day.
+
+    "For a wonder, last night, I forgot the door, quite;
+      And if you had not shut it so neat,
+    All my colts had slipped in, and gone right to the bin,
+      And got what they ought not to eat--
+      They'd have foundered themselves upon wheat."
+
+    Then each hoof of them all began loudly to bawl;
+      The very mule smiled; the cock crew;
+    "Little Spotty, my dear, you're a favorite here,"
+      They cried. "We all said it was you,
+      We were so glad to give you your due."
+      And the calf answered, knowingly, "Boo!"
+
+                              PHOEBE CARY.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: HELPING MOTHER.]
+
+LITTLE HELPERS.
+
+
+    Planting the corn and potatoes,
+      Helping to scatter the seeds,
+    Feeding the hens and the chickens,
+      Freeing the garden from weeds,
+    Driving the cows to the pasture,
+      Feeding the horse in the stall,--
+    We little children are busy;
+      Sure, there is work for us all.
+
+    Spreading the hay in the sunshine,
+      Raking it up when it's dry,
+    Picking the apples and peaches
+      Down in the orchard hard by,
+    Picking the grapes in the vineyard,
+      Gathering nuts in the fall,--
+    We little children are busy;
+      Yes, there is work for us all.
+
+    Sweeping, and washing the dishes,
+      Bringing the wood from the shed,
+    Ironing, sewing and knitting,
+      Helping to make up the beds,
+    Taking good care of the baby,
+      Watching her lest she should fall,--
+    We little children are busy;
+      Oh, there is work for us all.
+
+    Work makes us cheerful and happy,
+      Makes us both active and strong;
+    Play we enjoy all the better
+      When we have labored so long.
+    Gladly we help our kind parents,
+      Quickly we come to their call;
+    Children should love to be busy;
+      There is much work for us all.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE PUZZLED PUPPIES.]
+
+THE ANIMAL IN ARMOR.
+
+
+This picture of three curious little puppies looking at a tortoise
+reminds me of a story told of a countryman who saw some land-tortoises
+for the first time at a fair held in a market-place of his native
+village. Very much surprised at their queer look, he asked the man who
+was selling them how much they were.
+
+"Eighteenpence a pair," was the answer.
+
+"Eighteenpence!" said the man; "that is a great deal for a thing like
+a frog. What will you take for one _without the box_?"
+
+Little folks would not make such a stupid mistake as this; they would
+know that this strange-looking animal between its two shells was a
+tortoise. There are different sorts--some that live on land, and some
+in water. Those that live in the sea are called turtles, and their
+shells are not so hard as that of the land-tortoise. It is easy to see
+why this is: a turtle would not be able to swim with so thick a shell;
+it would be much as if a man in armor were to try. Their shells are
+not all in one, but joined together by a sort of gristle, which
+enables them to move with greater ease and not so stiffly.
+
+Directly any one hears the name of tortoise, he begins to think of
+tortoise-shell. This ought really to be called turtle-shell, as it is
+made from the shell of the hawk's-bill turtle. Tortoise-shell is made
+by soaking the plates of the shell in warm water until they are soft;
+then they are pressed into the shapes wanted in warm iron moulds, and
+taken out and polished.
+
+Some of the sea-turtles are very fierce; and although they have no
+teeth, their jaws are so strong that they can bite a walking-stick in
+half. Land-tortoises are quite harmless; they only attack the insects
+they feed upon. They go to sleep, like the dormouse, in the winter,
+but they do not make a burrow; they cover themselves with earth by
+scraping it up and throwing it over their bodies. In doing this they
+would find their heads and tails very much in the way if it were not
+that they are able to draw them in between their shells. No one, of
+course, knows how they find their way out again in the spring; but it
+is supposed that they scratch the earth away and throw it underneath
+them, at the same time pushing their way up.
+
+Tortoises live to a very great age. One was given to the Zoological
+Gardens in 1833 which had already lived seventy years in Port Louis,
+in the island of Mauritius. Its shell, from the head to the tail,
+measured four feet four inches and a half, and it weighed two hundred
+and eighty-five pounds.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A Chinese man fishing with birds}]
+
+THE IRON RING.
+
+
+Chang Wang was a Chinaman, and was reputed to be one of the shrewdest
+dealers in the Flowery Land. If making money fast be the test of
+cleverness, there was not a merchant in the province of Kwang Tung who
+had earned a better right to be called clever. Who owned so many
+fields of the tea-plant, who shipped so many bales of its leaves to
+the little island in the west, as did Chang Wang? It was whispered,
+indeed, that many of the bales contained green tea made by chopping up
+spoiled black tea leaves, and coloring them with copper--a process
+likely to turn them into a mild kind of poison; but if the unwholesome
+trash found purchasers, Chang Wang never troubled himself with the
+thought whether any one might suffer in health from drinking his tea.
+So long as the dealer made money, he was content; and plenty of money
+he made.
+
+But knowing how to make money is quite a different thing from knowing
+how to enjoy it. With all his ill-gotten gains, Chang Wang was a
+miserable man; for he had no heart to spend his silver pieces, even on
+his own comfort. The rich dealer lived in a hut which one of his own
+laborers might have despised; he dressed as a poor Tartar shepherd
+might have dressed when driving his flock. Chang Wang grudged himself
+even a hat to keep off the rays of the sun. Men laughed, and said that
+he would have cut off his own pigtail of plaited hair, if he could
+have sold it for the price of a dinner!
+
+Chang Wang was, in fact, a miser, and was rather proud than ashamed of
+the hateful vice of avarice.
+
+Chang Wang had to make a journey to Macao, down the great River
+Yang-se-kiang, for purposes of trade. The question with the Chinaman
+now was, in what way he should travel.
+
+"Shall I hire a palanquin?" thought Chang Wang, stroking his thin
+mustaches; "no, a palanquin would cost too much money. Shall I take my
+passage in a trading vessel?"
+
+The rich trader shook his head, and the pigtail behind it--such a
+passage would have to be paid for.
+
+"I know what I'll do," said the miser to himself; "I'll ask my uncle
+Fing Fang to take me in his fishing-boat down the great river. It is
+true that it will make my journey a long one; but then I shall make it
+for nothing. I'll go to the fisherman Fing Fang, and settle the matter
+at once."
+
+The business was soon arranged, for Fing Fang would not refuse his
+rich nephew a seat in his boat. But he, like every one else, was
+disgusted at Chang Wang's meanness; and as soon as the dealer had left
+his hovel, thus spoke Fing Fang to his sons, Ko and Jung:--
+
+"Here's a fellow who has scraped up money enough to build a second
+Porcelain Tower, and he comes here to beg a free passage in a
+fishing-boat from an uncle whom he has never so much as asked to share
+a dish of his birds'-nests soup!"
+
+"Birds'-nests soup, indeed!" exclaimed Ko; "why, Chang Wang never
+indulges in luxuries such as that. If dogs' flesh were not so cheap,
+he'd grudge himself the paw of a roasted puppy!"
+
+"And what will Chang Wang make of all his money at last?" said Fing
+Fang, more gravely; "he cannot carry it away with him when he dies."
+
+"O, he's gathering it up for some one who will know how to spend it!"
+laughed Jung. "Chang Wang is merely fishing for others; what he
+gathers, they will enjoy."
+
+It was a bright, pleasant day when Chang Wang stepped into the boat of
+his uncle, to drop slowly down the great Yang-se-kiang. Many a civil
+word he said to Fing Fang and his sons, for civil words cost nothing.
+Chang Wang sat in the boat, twisting the ends of his long mustaches,
+and thinking how much money each row of plants in his tea-fields might
+bring him. Presently, having finished his calculations, the miser
+turned to watch his relations, who were pursuing their fishing
+occupation in the way peculiar to China. Instead of rods, lines, or
+nets, the Fing Fang family was provided with trained cormorants, which
+are a kind of bird with a long neck, large appetite, and a particular
+fancy for fish.
+
+It was curious to watch a bird diving down in the sunny water, and
+then suddenly come up again with a struggling fish in his bill. The
+fish was, however, always taken away from the cormorant, and thrown by
+one of the Fing Fangs into a well at the bottom of the boat.
+
+"Cousin Ko," said the miser, leaning forward to speak, "how is it that
+your clever cormorants never devour the fish they catch?"
+
+"Cousin Chang Wang," replied the young man, "dost thou not see that
+each bird has an iron ring round his neck, so that he cannot swallow?
+He only fishes for others."
+
+"Methinks the cormorant has a hard life of it," observed the miser,
+smiling. "He must wish his iron ring at the bottom of the
+Yang-se-kiang."
+
+Fing Fang, who had just let loose two young cormorants from the boat,
+turned round, and from his narrow slits of Chinese eyes looked keenly
+upon his nephew.
+
+"Didst thou ever hear of a creature," said he, "that puts an iron ring
+around his own neck?"
+
+"There is no such creature in all the land that the Great Wall
+borders," replied Chang Wang.
+
+Fing Fang solemnly shook the pigtail which hung down his back. Like
+many of the Chinese, he had read a great deal, and was a kind of
+philosopher in his way.
+
+"Nephew Chang Wang," he observed, "_I_ know of a creature (and he is
+not far off at this moment) who is always fishing for gain--constantly
+catching, but never enjoying. Avarice--the love of hoarding--is the
+iron ring round his neck; and so long as it stays there, he is much
+like one of our trained cormorants--he may be clever, active,
+successful, but he is only fishing for others."
+
+I leave my readers to guess whether the sharp dealer understood his
+uncle's meaning, or whether Chang Wang resolved in future not only to
+catch, but to enjoy. Fing Fang's moral might be good enough for a
+heathen, but it does not go nearly far enough for a Christian. If a
+miser is like a cormorant with an iron ring round his neck, the man or
+the child who lives for his own pleasure only, what is he but a greedy
+cormorant with the iron ring? Who would wish to resemble a cormorant
+at all? The bird knows the enjoyment of _getting_; let us prize the
+richer enjoyment of _giving_. Let me close with an English proverb,
+which I prefer to the Chinaman's parable--"Charity is the truest
+epicure, for she eats with many mouths."
+
+                                                 A. L. O. E.
+
+
+
+
+SUMMER.
+
+
+    I'm coming along with a bounding pace
+      To finish the work that Spring begun;
+    I've left them all with a brighter face,
+      The flowers in the vales through which I've run.
+
+    I have hung festoons from laburnum trees,
+      And clothed the lilac, the birch and broom;
+    I've wakened the sound of humming-bees,
+      And decked all nature in brighter bloom.
+
+    I've roused the laugh of the playful child,
+      And tired it out in the sunny noon;
+    All nature at my approach hath smiled,
+      And I've made fond lovers seek the moon.
+
+    For this is my life, my glorious reign,
+      And I'll queen it well in my leafy bower;
+    All shall be bright in my rich domain;
+      I'm queen of the leaf, the bud and the flower.
+
+    And I'll reign in triumph till autumn-time
+      Shall conquer my green and verdant pride;
+    Then I'll hie me to another clime
+      Till I'm called again as a sunny bride.
+
+
+
+
+CHARLIE'S CHRISTMAS.
+
+
+Oh how cold and miserable everything is! Hardly a thought to be
+uppermost on Christmas eve in the mind of a little school-boy; and yet
+it was that which filled the mind of Charlie Earle on the Christmas
+eve of which I am going to tell you. Only a few hours before, he had
+been as happy as any boy could be. Everybody was going home, and
+everybody was in the highest spirits and full of the most delightful
+hopes of what the holidays would bring them; and now everybody except
+Charlie has gone home, and he is left alone in the dreary school-room,
+knowing that at any rate Christmas day, and maybe many other days, are
+to be spent away from home, and from all the pleasant doings which he
+had pictured to himself and others only the very day before.
+
+The coming of the post-bag had been scarcely noticed in the
+school-room that morning. So when old Bunce, the butler, looked in at
+the door and said, "Master Earle is wanted in the doctor's room," the
+boys all wondered, and Charlie's neighbor whispered to him, "Whatever
+can he want you for, Earle?" The doctor's tale was soon told, and it
+was one which sent Charlie back to the school-room with a very
+different face to the one with which he had left it. A letter had come
+to Doctor West from Charlie's father, and in it a note from his mother
+to Charlie himself, written the night before, and saying that a
+summons had come that very morning calling them to Charlie's
+grandmother, who was very ill, and that they were starting for
+Scotland that night and would be almost at their journey's end when
+Charlie got the news. The note said that Laura, Charlie's sister,
+would go with them, but that they could not wait for Charlie himself,
+so they had written to Mrs. Lamb, Charlie's old nurse, who lived about
+ten miles from Dr. West's, and had asked her to take charge of him for
+a day or two, till more was known of his grandmother's state and some
+better plan could be made for him. It was sad enough for Charlie to
+hear of the illness of his kind old grandmother--sad enough to see the
+merry start of the other boys, while he had to stay behind; but to
+have to think of Christmas day spent away from father and mother, away
+from Laura and home, was excuse enough for a few bitter tears. But
+unpleasant things come to an end as well as pleasant ones, and
+Charlie's lonely waiting in the school-room came to its end, and he
+found himself that afternoon snugly packed into the Blackridge coach,
+and forgetting his own troubles in listening to the cheery chatter of
+the other passengers, and in looking at what was to be seen as the
+coach rolled briskly along the snow-covered road. It was quite dark
+when they reached Blackridge, and Charlie looked out at the people
+gathered round the door of the "Packhorse Inn," and a sudden fear
+filled his mind lest there should be no one there to meet him; but he
+soon saw by the light at the inn door Nurse Lamb herself, with her
+kind face looking so beaming that it seemed a little bit like _really_
+going home.
+
+"Here, father," said Nurse Lamb to her jolly-looking husband; "here's
+Master Charlie, safe and sound! You bring the luggage in the barrow
+while I take him home quick, for I am sure he must be cold."
+
+And so nurse bustled Charlie off down a lane and across a meadow, till
+they came to a wicket-gate, beyond which stood the back of a low,
+deep-thatched cottage half buried in snow. On getting round to the
+front the door was opened by a little girl, and nurse called out,
+"Here, Molly, here we are;" adding, "Molly is my step-daughter, Master
+Charlie--the one I used to tell you about before I was married, when
+we were down at Hastings."
+
+[Illustration: WINTER.]
+
+When they got into the house, there was the kitchen with its rows of
+bright pewter plates, its wide hearth and roaring fire, its hams
+hanging to the beams, all just as they had been described in the days
+when nurse's new home at Blackridge Farm was a subject of never-ending
+interest to the two children in Mrs. Earle's nursery.
+
+After he had had a capital tea, Charlie was allowed to go round with
+the farmer to see that the horses were all right for the night,
+Charlie carrying the lantern and feeling himself quite a man as he
+followed the farmer into the stable. There was much coming and going
+at the farm that evening, for was it not Christmas eve? and nurse was
+busy sending off gifts to neighbors who were not so thriving as
+herself, and busy, too, in making preparations for the morrow. Charlie
+meanwhile sat in the settle and made friends with Molly, who was about
+his own age and knew much more, though she was only a girl, about dogs
+and rabbits and tadpoles than London-bred Charlie. By and by they
+helped to stir the great plum-pudding, and dressed the kitchen and
+parlor with evergreens, till nurse called them to come and hear the
+chimes.
+
+And Charlie thought it very beautiful as he stood at the door and
+listened to the bells. And as they stood there the wind wafted to them
+also the voices of the choir as they went on their round through the
+village, singing their carols; and then Charlie went to bed with
+"Hark, the herald angels sing!" ringing in his ears.
+
+Next morning Charlie, as he ran down stairs, could hardly believe this
+was really Christmas day, all was so unlike any Christmas he had known
+before; but in the kitchen he found one thing like the Christmas
+mornings at home, for he found quite a little pile of parcels beside
+his plate, containing the pretty gifts prepared by father and mother
+and Laura, and sent by them to nurse, so that at any rate the little
+lad should not be robbed of this part of his Christmas pleasures.
+There was a note, too, from mother, saying that she and father and
+Laura were safe in Edinburgh, and that grandmother was better, and
+that she hoped to tell him in her next letter when they and he should
+meet at home in London. Such a bright beginning was enough to make all
+the rest of the day bright; and bright it was. Charlie found plenty to
+do till church-time, as Molly showed him all the nooks and corners
+about the farm.
+
+The old church, with its high pews and country congregation made
+Charlie feel that he must be dreaming. Surely it could not be
+Christmas, but must be the autumn? and he and Laura and everybody had
+come away from London for the holidays?
+
+No; it was no dream. It was really Christmas; for there, round the
+pillars, were the holly-wreaths with their red berries, and there,
+behind the chancel-screen, were the same Christmas texts as in their
+church in London. When service was over, Charlie and Molly hurried
+home to help Martha, the farm-girl, to have all in readiness for the
+Christmas dinner. But after dinner there was not much sitting
+still--at any rate for Charlie; for who could think of sitting still
+indoors, when outside there were a pond covered with ice and a
+farmyard full of horses and dogs?
+
+Nor was the evening after tea without its pleasure. When the snow
+began to fall, and the doors and windows were tightly closed, then a
+huge log was piled on the fire; and while Farmer and Mrs. Lamb sat and
+talked before it in the parlor, Charlie and Molly had a fine game of
+romps in the big kitchen with Martha; and when they were tired of
+that, they sat on the hearth and roasted chestnuts, while nurse read a
+Christmas tale to them.
+
+And here I must leave Charlie finishing his Christmas day, hoping that
+any who read this story of it may agree with Charlie in thinking, when
+he laid his head on the pillow that night, that, though it had been
+spent far from home, it had not been an unhappy day, after all.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Marcellin and the hunter}]
+
+MARCELLIN.
+
+
+Marcellin, a young shepherd boy, who tended his father's flock upon
+the mountains, having penetrated a deep gorge to search for one of his
+sheep which was missing, discovered in the thickest of the forest a
+man lying upon the ground overcome with fatigue, and faint from want
+of food.
+
+"My poor lad," said the man, "I am dying from hunger and thirst. Two
+days ago I came upon this mountain to hunt. I lost my way, and I have
+passed two nights in the woods."
+
+Marcellin drew some bread and cheese from his knapsack, and gave to
+the stranger.
+
+"Eat," he said, "and then follow me. I will conduct you to an old oak
+tree, in the trunk of which we shall find some water."
+
+The food satisfied his hunger; then he followed Marcellin, and drank
+of the water, which he found excellent. Afterwards the boy conducted
+him down the mountain, and pointed out the way to the city.
+
+Then the hunter said to the shepherd boy, "My good lad, you have saved
+my life. If I had remained in the mountain another night, I should
+have died. I will show you my gratitude. Come with me to the city. I
+am rich; and I will treat you as if you were my own son."
+
+"No, sir," said Marcellin; "I cannot go with you to the city. I have a
+father and a mother who are poor, but whom I love with all my heart.
+Were you a king, I would not leave my parents."
+
+"But," said the hunter, "you live here in a miserable cabin with an
+ugly thatched roof; I live in a palace built of marble, and
+surrounded with statues. I will give you drink in glasses like
+crystal, and food upon plates of silver."
+
+"Very likely," responded Marcellin; "but our house is not half as
+miserable as you suppose. If it is not surrounded with statues, it is
+among fruit trees and trellised vines. We drink water which we get
+from a neighboring fountain. It is very clear, though we do not drink
+from crystal cups. We gain by our labor a modest living, but good
+enough. And if we do not have silver ware in our house, we have plenty
+of flowers."
+
+"Nonsense, my boy! Come with me," said the hunter; "we have trees and
+flowers in the city more beautiful than yours. I have magnificent
+grounds, with broad alleys, with a flower garden filled with the most
+precious plants. In the middle of it there is a beautiful fountain,
+the like of which you never saw. The water is thrown upward in small
+streams, and falls back sparkling into the great white marble basin.
+You would be quite happy to live there."
+
+"But I am quite happy _here_," replied Marcellin. "The shade of our
+forests is at least as delicious as that of your superb alleys. Our
+fields are running over with flowers. You can hardly step without
+finding them under your feet. There are flowers around our
+cottage--roses, violets, lilies, pansies. Do you suppose that our
+fountains are less beautiful than your little jets of water? You
+should see the merry brooks bounding down over the rocks, and running
+away through the flowery meadow."
+
+"You don't know what you refuse," rejoined the hunter. "If you go into
+the city, you will be put to school, where you can study all
+departments of art and science. There are theatres, where skilful
+musicians will enchant your ears by harmony. There are rich saloons,
+to which you will be admitted, to enjoy splendid fetes. And since you
+so much love the country, you shall pass your summer vacation with me
+in a superb chateau which I possess."
+
+"Well, I am greatly obliged to you," replied the shepherd boy; "but I
+think I had better stop with father and mother. I can learn everything
+useful in our village school. I am taught to fear God, to honor my
+parents, and to imitate their virtues. I don't wish to learn anything
+beyond that. Then your musicians, which you tell about, do they sing
+any better than the nightingale or the golden robin? Then we have our
+concerts and our fetes. We are right down happy when we are all
+together on Sunday evening under the trees. My sister sings, while I
+accompany her upon my flute. Our chants can be heard a long way off,
+and echo repeats them. And in the evening, when we stay in the house,
+grandfather is with us. We love him so much because he is so good. No,
+I will not leave my parents. I will not renounce their home, if it is
+humble. I cannot go to the city with you."
+
+The hunter saw that it was of no use to argue the point; so he said,--
+
+"What shall I give you, then, to express my gratitude for your
+services? Take this purse, filled with gold."
+
+"What need have I of it? We are poor, but we want nothing. Besides, if
+I accept your money, I should _sell_ the little service I have been
+able to render. That would be wrong; my mother would blame me for such
+conduct. She tells me that we ought always to assist those who are in
+trouble and want without expecting pay for it."
+
+"Generous boy! What shall I give you as a mark of my gratitude? You
+must accept something, or I shall be greatly disappointed."
+
+"Is it so?" asked Marcellin, playfully. "Then give me the cup which
+is suspended at your side--that one on which is engraved a picture of
+some dogs pursuing a stag."
+
+The hunter joyfully gave the cup to the happy shepherd boy, who,
+having once more indicated the way which would lead to the city, bade
+him good day, and went back to his flock.
+
+And the rich man returned to his splendid dwelling, having learned
+that it is the proper use of the means we have, rather than wishing
+for greater, which brings happiness and contentment.
+
+
+
+
+AN ADVENTURE IN THE LIFE OF SALVATOR ROSA.
+
+
+There is in the museum at Florence a celebrated painting, which calls
+to mind a thrilling adventure of Salvator Rosa when quite young.
+
+The scene represents a solitude, very rugged and sublime--mountains
+upon every side, with their tops covered with snow, while through the
+dark clouds in the sky a few straggling sunbeams find their way to the
+valley. Upon the border of an immense cliff stands a group of men
+whose costume denotes them to be brigands of the Apennines. Upon the
+very edge of the precipice, erect and calm, is a young man, surrounded
+by the brigands, who are preparing to throw him into the depths below.
+The chief is a short distance away, and seemingly about to give the
+fatal signal. A few paces in advance stands a female, of strange
+beauty, waving her hand menacingly towards the chief as if commanding
+that the young man's life be spared. Her manner, resolute and
+imperious, the countenance of the chief, the grateful calmness of the
+prisoner, all seem to indicate that the woman's order will be obeyed,
+and that the victim will be saved from the frightful death with which
+he has been menaced.
+
+This picture, as will be readily guessed, is the work of SALVATOR
+ROSA. Born at Arenella, near Naples, in 1615, of poor parents, he was
+so admirably endowed by nature that, even in his boyhood, he became a
+spirited painter, a good musician, and an excellent poet. But his
+tastes led him to give his attention to painting.
+
+Unfortunately, some severe satires which he published in Naples made
+him many enemies in that city, and he was obliged to fly to Rome,
+where he took a position at once as a painter. Leaving that city after
+a while, he went to Florence, and there found a generous encouragement
+and many friends, and there his talent was appreciated by the world of
+art.
+
+The environs of Florence afforded him superior advantages in
+developing his genius. The Apennines, with their dark gorges, their
+picturesque landscapes, and their snow-clad peaks, pleased his wild
+imagination. In their vast recesses he found his best inspirations and
+his most original subjects. Often he wandered for days over the abrupt
+mountains, infested with bandits, to find work for his ambitious
+pencil.
+
+One day he had advanced farther than usual into the profound and
+dangerous solitudes. He sat down near a torrent, and began to sketch a
+wild landscape before him. All of a sudden he saw, at the summit of a
+rock near at hand, a man leaning upon his carbine, and apparently
+watching him with great curiosity. A large hat, with stained and torn
+brim, covered his sun-burnt visage; a leather belt bound his dark sack
+to his body, and gave support to a pistol and hunting-knife,
+invariably carried by the brigands of the mountains. His black beard,
+thick and untidy, concealed a portion of his face; but there could be
+no doubt that his dark glance was fixed upon the stranger who came to
+invade his domain.
+
+For almost any other but our hero, the sudden apparition of that wild
+and menacing figure would have been good cause of terror. But Salvator
+was a painter, and a painter in love with his art; and he had in that
+strange costume, that forbidding look, something so much in harmony
+with the aspect of nature about him, that he at once made the man a
+subject of study.
+
+"I mustn't lose him," he said; "he's an inhabitant of the country. He
+comes just in the nick of time to complete my landscape; and his
+position is quite fine."
+
+And, drawing tranquilly his pencil, he began to transfer the outlines
+of the brigand to his album, when the stranger, coming a few paces
+nearer to him, said, in a rough voice,--
+
+"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
+
+"Well, my good fellow, I come to take your portrait, if you'll hold
+still a bit," responded the painter.
+
+"Ah, you jest with me! Have a care," said the other, coming still
+nearer.
+
+"No," replied Salvator, seriously; "I am a painter; and I wander over
+these mountains with no other purpose but to admire these beautiful
+landscapes, and to sketch the most picturesque objects."
+
+"To sketch!" cried the brigand, with evident anger, hardly knowing
+what the word meant. "Do you not know that these mountains belong to
+us? Why do you come here to spy us out?"
+
+At these words he gave a shrill whistle, and three other men, clothed
+like himself, came towards the spot from different directions.
+
+"Seize this man!" he said to his companions; "he comes to observe us."
+
+All resistance was useless. And so, after having tried in vain to
+prove his innocence, the young man was surrounded and seized.
+
+"March!" cried the man who had first met him. "You must talk with our
+chief."
+
+The leader of these brigands was a man about forty years of age, named
+Pietratesta. His great physical strength, his courage, and, more than
+all the rest, his energy, had made him a favorite among his
+companions, and given him authority over them. Famous among the
+mountains for his audacious crimes, condemned many times to an
+outlaw's death, pursued in vain by the officers of the law, habituated
+for years to a life of adventure, pillage, and murder, he treated his
+prisoners without pity or mercy. All who were unable to purchase their
+liberty by paying whatever ransom he fixed, were put to death. He
+looked upon civilized people not as men, but as prizes.
+
+As he saw the captive approach, he asked the usual question,--
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"Salvator Rosa, a Neapolitan painter, now resident of Florence."
+
+"O, a painter! A poor prize, generally. But you are famous, I hear;
+the prince is your friend. Your pictures sell for very large prices.
+You must pay us ten thousand ducats."
+
+[Illustration: {Sivora, the chief's wife, standing on the cliff edge}]
+
+"Ten thousand ducats, indeed! Where do you suppose I can get so much?"
+
+"Well, as for that, if you haven't got the money, your friends must
+get it for you."
+
+"But my friends are not rich."
+
+"Ah, excuse me!" said the chief, smiling. "When one has a prince for a
+protector, he is always rich."
+
+"It is true that the prince is my patron; but he owes me nothing."
+
+"No matter if he don't. He would not be deprived of such an artist as
+you for a paltry ten thousand ducats."
+
+"He pays me for my pictures; but he will not pay my ransom."
+
+"He _must_," said the robber, emphatically; "so no more words. Ask
+your friends, if you prefer, or whoever you will; but bring me ten
+thousand ducats, and that within a month; otherwise you must die."
+
+As the chief uttered these words, he walked away, leaving Salvator in
+the middle of the ground which formed the camp.
+
+During the short conversation two children came from one of the tents,
+being attracted by the noise. Their little blond heads, curiously
+turned towards the captive, their faces, tanned by the sun, but
+animated by the crimson of health and youth, and their picturesque
+costume had attracted the attention of the painter. When the chief had
+gone away, he approached them, and smiled. The children drew away
+abashed; then, reassured by the air of goodness which the young man
+wore, they came nearer, and permitted him to embrace them.
+
+"Are you going to live with us?" said the eldest, who was about eight
+years of age.
+
+"I don't know, my little friend."
+
+"O, I wish you would! It is so nice to stop in these mountains. There
+are plenty of beautiful flowers, and birds' nests, too. I have three
+already; I will show them to you, and then we will go and find some
+more. But what is that you have got under your arm?"
+
+"It is my sketch-book."
+
+"A sketch-book? What is a sketch-book?"
+
+"It is what I carry my pictures in."
+
+"Pictures? O, do let me see them!"
+
+"Yes, indeed; here they are."
+
+"What pretty pictures! O, mother, come and see! Here are mountains,
+and men, and goats. Did you make them all?"
+
+Attracted by the call of the child, a lady came out of the principal
+tent. She was yet young, tall, and covered with a medley of garments
+from various costumes. Her face sparkled with energy, and might have
+been called beautiful. She threw a sad glance at Salvator, and
+approached him haughtily, as if to give an order. But seeing the two
+children busily looking over the sketch-book, and observing the
+familiar way with which both treated their new acquaintance, she
+appeared to change her manner somewhat, and began to look at the
+pictures herself, and to admire them. At the end of half an hour the
+mother and the children seemed like old friends of Salvator Rosa.
+
+The woman was the wife of the chief. A daughter of an honorable
+family, she married a young man at Pisa, her native city, who proved
+to be captain of this band of robbers. She could not well leave the
+company into which she had been betrayed; and so, with a noble
+self-denial, she became resigned to her hard lot. An unwilling witness
+of the many crimes of her husband and his companions, she suffered
+cruelly in her resignation. Yet her fidelity, her virtue,--things
+rarely known, but sometimes respected among these mountain
+brigands,--had given her a moral power over the men as well as over
+her husband. More than once she had used this means to temper their
+ferocity, and obtain pardon for their unfortunate prisoners.
+
+Just then one of the brigands came and brought to the prisoner the
+order from the chief that he should write to his friends to obtain
+money for his ransom. The man was going, under a disguise, to the city
+of Florence; and he offered to deliver any letters intrusted to his
+care. He indicated the place where the ten thousand ducats must be
+left, so that Salvator might inform his correspondent.
+
+Our hero had many devoted friends; but nearly all were artists like
+himself, and without fortune. Nevertheless, he decided to write to one
+of them. He gave orders that all the pictures in his studio should be
+sold. He hoped that the money which they would bring, together with
+what his friends could advance to him, would amount to the sum
+demanded by the chief.
+
+This done, Salvator easily persuaded himself that he should soon be
+set at liberty, and the artist recovered his unconcern, and almost his
+usual good spirits. The country around him was full of romantic
+studies for his pencil. He had, besides, found in the society of the
+children of Pietratesta two charming companions. He instructed them in
+the elements of his art; and his pupils, to both of whom the study was
+quite new, seemed never to grow tired of their task.
+
+In a moment of good humor, he drew caricatures of each member of the
+band, which created a great deal of amusement. Then he drew, with
+great care, the portraits of the two children. This attention
+profoundly touched the heart of the mother, and her tender sympathy,
+almost wasting among these unfeeling men, found a secret pleasure in
+rendering the captivity of the young painter less unhappy and less
+hard. She conversed with him familiarly, and it gave her great
+pleasure to see the care which he took to instruct her children.
+
+So Salvator Rosa, to whom the band gave quite a considerable degree of
+liberty, never dreamed of taking improper advantage of it. Thanks to
+his fancy and his recklessness as an artist, he almost forgot that he
+was the prisoner of a cruel master, and that his life was in peril.
+
+But the ransom, which he had sent for, came not. Whether the letters
+he had written failed to reach their destination, or whether his
+friends were deaf to his request for assistance, he received no
+answer. He wrote repeatedly, but always with the same result.
+
+And so the months slipped by, and the chief began to grow impatient at
+the long delay. His wife had more than once calmed his anger, and
+prevented any catastrophe. At length several weeks went by, in which
+the expeditions of the band were unfruitful. The provisions were
+running low, and Pietratesta saw in his captive one unprofitable
+mouth. Sivora, his wife, felt her influence to be growing weaker and
+weaker under the increasing destitution and continued delay.
+
+One day Pietratesta encountered his prisoner, and, addressing him in
+an irritated voice,--
+
+"Well?" he said, as if his question needed no other explanation.
+
+"Nothing yet," responded Salvator Rosa, sadly.
+
+"Ah, this is too much!" cried the brigand. "I begin to think you are
+playing with me. But do you know the price Pietratesta makes those pay
+who cross him?"
+
+"Alas! I am far from trying to deceive you. You know that I have done
+all in my power to obtain my ransom. I have written to various
+persons; your own men have taken my letters. You see that it is not
+my fault."
+
+"It is always the fault of prisoners when their ransom is not paid."
+
+"Wait a little longer. I will write again to-day."
+
+"Wait! wait! A whole year, month after month, has gone by, and you
+repeat the same old story. A year--an age for me--I have waited. Do
+you think I have been making unmeaning threats? Do you expect to abuse
+my patience with impunity? It has given out at last--the more so as,"
+added he, now that he felt his anger increasing, "I ought to have
+settled this affair a long while ago. This is your last day, observe
+me."
+
+At a sign from their chief, four bandits seized the young man, and
+bound him. As Salvator was led away, he cast one sad look at the
+dwelling where he had passed many happy hours, and from which he was
+going to his death. For a moment he stopped to say farewell to the
+children, who were standing at the door crying and stretching out
+their little naked brown arms towards him.
+
+A few moments later, Sivora, who had been gathering flowers in the
+mountains, returned home. Observing that her husband, as well as
+Salvator, was absent, and her children in tears, she guessed the
+painful truth.
+
+"Where is Salvator?" she asked of the eldest.
+
+"They have bound him, and carried him away," responded the child,
+still crying.
+
+"Which way?"
+
+"Down yonder," was the reply of the child, pointing with its finger in
+the direction of a rocky cliff already too well known for its horrible
+scenes.
+
+"Alas, wretched man!" exclaimed Sivora, almost frantically, as she
+comprehended the new crime her husband was about to commit. She sat
+down for a moment, covered her face with her hands--a prey to the
+most unspeakable anxiety. Then, rising suddenly, her eyes flashing
+with determination,--
+
+"Come!" she said, resolutely; "come, my children. Perhaps we may yet
+be in time."
+
+And, taking the hands of her little ones, who followed her with
+difficulty, but yet eagerly, she darted away at a rapid pace in the
+direction taken by the brigands.
+
+While the men were hurrying Salvator along, the chief maintained a
+profound silence. His band followed him as dumb as slaves who go to
+execute the will of their master, which they know is law. They soon
+arrived at the summit of a cliff, which overhung a yawning abyss
+beneath. After having taken one look over the precipice, and examined
+the neighborhood rapidly, Pietratesta cried, "Halt!" and the whole
+body came to a rest.
+
+"There is just a quarter of an hour for you to live," he said, turning
+to his prisoner. "You have time to die like a Christian. Make your
+prayer."
+
+The young man hesitated for a moment, threw his agitated eyes around,
+then, kneeling on the rock, he prayed earnestly. The men stood
+unmoved, as if they had been statues cut from stone.
+
+Salvator rose, with a calm demeanor, and said, addressing the chief in
+a firm tone,--
+
+"My life is in your hands, I know. You are going to kill me without
+any cause. I have prayed," he added, with a voice full of authority,
+"for the salvation of my soul, and repentance for thine. God will
+judge us both. I am ready."
+
+Immediately the brigands seized the young man, and hurried him towards
+the precipice. Already they waited but the signal of their chief,
+already Pietratesta had given the fatal command, when a cry was heard
+not many paces distant, which suspended the preparations.
+
+"Stop!" exclaimed a harsh voice.
+
+The bandits, astonished at the interruption, turned to see whence it
+came. A woman ran towards them, her hair in disorder, her countenance
+pale and agitated, her dark eyes flashing with determination. She held
+by their hands two children, who, with weeping eyes, were hastening,
+with all the speed their young limbs could carry them, towards the
+precipice.
+
+It was Sivora.
+
+As she came forward the chief uttered an exclamation of disappointment
+and anger.
+
+"Why do you come here?" he asked, in an irritated voice.
+
+"You know well enough," responded Sivora, without any sign of
+intimidation. "What are you about to do? What is the crime of this
+young man? What is the wrong he has committed? You know he is
+innocent, and that it is not his fault that the price of his ransom
+has not been paid. Why commit a useless crime? You have too many on
+your soul already," she added, in a low, sad voice. "Since it is not
+too late, let the young man go. His ransom is not absolutely
+necessary. If it was, would his death bring it to you? Remember with
+what care and solicitude he has treated your children! with what
+patience he has instructed them in his art! See, they weep, as if
+their hearts would break, at the wrong you would do their friend! It
+is they--it is I--who ask clemency. You will not kill Salvator; you
+will pardon him for the love you bear your children."
+
+As she said these words she pushed the two little blond heads into the
+arms of their father.
+
+The brigands, hesitating, touched, without knowing why, struck with an
+involuntary respect for the woman, remained immovable, with their eyes
+fixed upon their chief, as if waiting to ascertain his wishes. He
+stood, brooding, nervous, his eyes bent upon the ground, hardly daring
+to look upon Sivora, at once his suppliant and accuser, a prey to
+violent emotions. The authority of that respected voice, and the
+irritation at being deprived of his revenge,--the invincible love he
+had for the woman, and the shame of giving way before his men,--all
+these warring considerations, the effects of which were plainly to be
+seen on his swarthy face, spoke of the severe contest going on within.
+
+At length his evil genius got the control.
+
+"What do I care for his solicitude and his tenderness?" he said, in a
+coarse voice. "He would forget all as soon as he should get out of our
+hands; and he would, no doubt, send the police after us if we should
+let him go. I know what the promises of captives are worth. Besides,
+_I_ command here, I alone, and I will be obeyed. Take away these
+children; and you, comrades, despatch your your prisoner."
+
+"Ah! is it so?" exclaimed Sivora, in a piercing voice, throwing
+herself before the bandits, who were pushing their victim towards the
+chasm. "Then I will beg no more; I _command_ now. Listen to me well,
+for these are my last words. You know with what devotion, with what
+resignation, I have supported this bitter life which you brought me to
+among these mountains. The isolation, the sorrow, the shame, I have
+endured for thee. I have never complained. I hoped, after such
+sacrifices, you would at length listen to my words, and renounce your
+bad life. But since you do not care for my devotion, since I am
+nothing to you, listen well to my words, Pietratesta. If you dare to
+commit this odious crime, look for a mother for your children, for,
+with your victim, you will slay your wife!"
+
+So saying, she advanced close to the brink of the cliff, over which
+she could spring at the signal from her husband.
+
+Salvator, motionless and rooted to the spot, in silence, full of
+anxiety, observed this strange scene. The robbers, hardened by crime,
+for the first time hesitated at the command of their chief, and fixed
+their eyes upon the beautiful woman to whom despair added a new charm.
+They quailed before her authority, and stood as motionless as statues.
+
+Pietratesta, overwhelmed by the recollections which the woman's words
+awakened, alarmed at her threats and her resolution, hung his head,
+like a guilty wretch before a just judge, while Sivora, with wild
+countenance, piercing voice, and imperial manner, her long black hair
+loosely falling upon her shoulders, with her arms extended towards the
+abyss, almost resembled an ancient goddess, who suddenly appears at
+the moment of crime, arrests the homicidal arm, and subjects the
+criminal to punishment. There was in her figure an imposing grandeur,
+before which the rude men, for an instant recalled to themselves, felt
+humiliated and condemned.
+
+Astounded by that firmness and devotion, ashamed of his violence
+towards the woman who was living a life of outrage, the chief, after
+some moments of moody silence, said, in an altered voice,--
+
+"You wish it! He is free!"
+
+Salvator threw himself upon his knees before his preserver, covered
+her hand with kisses and tears, and pressed, with transport, the two
+children in his arms. Completely wild with happiness and gratitude, he
+abandoned himself to the buoyancy of his generous nature, when Sivora
+said to him, in a whisper,--
+
+"Go! go quickly! The tiger is only sleeping!"
+
+They put a bandage over the eyes of the young man, so that he might
+not see the path by which he descended from the mountains, and two of
+the brigands then conducted him to the highway which led to the city.
+
+Hardly had he entered Florence, yet sad from the recollection of the
+scene in which he came near being a victim, when the young painter
+hastily sketched the principal details; and, some time after, the
+picture of which we have spoken was composed, and hangs this day in
+the museum at Naples, admired and pointed out to all visitors.
+
+                                                    L. D. L.
+
+
+
+
+WE SHOULD HEAR THE ANGELS SINGING.
+
+
+    If we only sought to brighten
+      Every pathway dark with care,
+    If we only tried to lighten
+      All the burdens others bear,
+    We should hear the angels singing
+      All around us, night and day;
+    We should feel that they were winging
+      At our side their upward way!
+
+    If we only strove to cherish
+      Every pure and holy thought,
+    Till within our hearts should perish
+      All that is with evil fraught,
+    We should hear the angels singing
+      All around us, night and day;
+    We should feel that they were winging
+      At our side their upward way!
+
+    If it were our aim to ponder
+      On the good that we might win,
+    Soon our feet would cease to wander
+      In forbidden paths of sin;
+    We should hear the angels singing
+      All around us, night and day;
+    We should feel that they were winging
+      At our side their upward way!
+
+    If we only did our duty,
+      Thinking not what it might cost,
+    Then the earth would wear new beauty
+      Fair as that in Eden lost;
+    We should hear the angels singing
+      All around us, night and day;
+    We should feel that they were winging
+      At our side their upward way!
+
+                             KATE CAMERON.
+
+
+
+
+MY LITTLE HERO.
+
+
+    "How we wish that we knew a hero!"
+      Say the children, pressing round;
+    "Will you tell us if such a wonder
+      In London streets can be found?"
+
+    I point from my study-window
+      At a lad who is passing by:
+    "My darlings, there goes a hero;
+      You will know his oft-heard cry."
+
+    "'Tis the chimney-sweep, dear father,
+      In his jacket so worn and old;
+    What can _he_ do that is brave and true,
+      Wandering out in the cold?"
+
+    Says Maudie, "I thought that a hero
+      Was a man with a handsome face."
+    "And I pictured him all in velvet dressed,
+      With a sword," whispered little Grace.
+
+    "Mine is only a 'sweeper,' children,
+      His deeds all unnoticed, unknown;
+    Yet I think he is one of the heroes
+      God sees and will mark for his own.
+
+    "Out there he looks eager and cheerful,
+      No matter how poorly he fares;
+    No sign that his young heart is heavy
+      With the weight of unchildish cares.
+
+[Illustration: MY LITTLE HERO.]
+
+    "Home means to him but a dingy room,
+      A father he shudders to see;
+    Alas for the worse than neglected sons
+      Who have such a father as he!
+
+    "And a mother who lies on a ragged bed,
+      So sick and worn and sad;
+    No friend has she but this one pale boy--
+      This poor little sweeper-lad,
+
+    "So rough to others, and all unskilled,
+      Yet to her most tender and true,
+    Oft waking with patient cheerfulness
+      To soothe her the whole night through.
+
+    "He wastes no time on his own scant meals,
+      But goes forth with the morning sun;
+    Never a moment is wasted
+      Till his long day's work is done.
+
+    "Then home to the dreary attic
+      Where his mother lies lonely all day,
+    Unheeding the boys who would tempt him
+      To linger with them and play.
+
+    "Because she is helpless and lonely,
+      He is doing a hero's part;
+    For loving and self-denying
+      Are the tests of a noble heart."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A robin sits on a snowy branch}]
+
+ROBIN REDBREAST.
+
+
+    Robin, Robin Redbreast,
+      O, Robin, dear!
+    And what will this poor Robin do?
+      For pinching days are near.
+
+    The fireside for the cricket,
+      The wheat-stack for the mouse,
+    When trembling night winds whistle,
+      And moan all round the house.
+    The frosty way like iron,
+      The branches plumed with snow--
+    Alas! in winter, dead and dark,
+      Where can poor Robin go?
+      Robin, Robin Redbreast,
+        O, Robin dear!
+      And a crumb of bread for Robin,
+        His little heart to cheer.
+
+
+
+
+HOW SWEETIE'S "SHIP CAME IN."
+
+A CHRISTMAS STORY.
+
+
+It will be a real honest story--of how Christmas came to a poor cold
+home, and made it bright, and warm, and glad. A _very_ poor home it
+was, up three flights of worm-eaten, dirt-stained stairs, in the old
+gray house that stood far up a narrow, crooked alley, where the sun
+never shone except just a while in the middle of the day. He tried
+hard to brighten up the place a little, but the tall houses all about
+prevented him. Still he slanted a few golden beams even into that
+wretched home away up under the eaves; for though the few small panes
+of glass in the narrow windows had been mostly broken out, and their
+places filled with boards nailed tight to keep out the wintry winds,
+and rain, and snow, still there were some left through which a feeble
+ray did sometimes creep and make glad the hearts of the children. Five
+fatherless children lived with their mother in that old garret. Night
+and day the mother sewed, taking scarcely any rest, and yet found it
+hard to keep all the little toes and knees covered, and could get only
+the poorest food for the five hungry mouths. The thought that, work
+never so hard, she could not earn enough to give them one hearty,
+satisfying meal, made her heart ache.
+
+Three boys and two girls, in one old naked room, with only their
+mother to care for them, and she so poor, that for years she had not
+had a new gown, or a new bonnet! Yet she liked pretty new clothes, as
+well as any one ever did, I know.
+
+Of these five little folks, the oldest was Harry, the newsboy; then
+came Katie, and Willie, and Fred, and, last of all, wee Jennie.
+
+Though Harry was the oldest, yet _he_ was not very old. Just
+twelve--a thin, white little fellow, with eyes that always looked as
+if they wanted more. More what? Well, more sunshine; more warm
+clothes, and bright, hot fires, and, O, very much more to eat!
+Sometimes he would make fifty cents in a day, selling newspapers, and
+then he would hurry joyfully home, thinking of the hungry little
+mouths it would help to fill. But some days he would hardly earn ten
+cents the whole long day. Then he would go slowly and sadly along,
+wishing all sorts of things--that he could take home as much meat as
+he could carry to the little ones who had not eaten meat for so long
+they had almost forgotten how it tasted; or that the gentlemen, who
+owned the clothing stores which he was passing, would say to him,
+"Come in, my little fellow, and help yourself to as many warm clothes
+as you want for yourself and your little brothers at home;" or that he
+could find a heap of money--and his mouth would water, thinking of the
+good things which he could buy and take home with some of it.
+
+The other children always knew whether it had been a good or bad day
+with Harry, by the way he came up the stairs. If he came with a hop,
+skip, and a jump, they knew it meant a good day; and a good day for
+Harry was a good evening for them all.
+
+Though Katie was really the name of the second child, she hardly ever
+was called so; for her mother, and the children, and all the
+neighbors, called her Sweetie, she was so good and so thoughtful for
+others, so sweet-tempered and kind. She did everything so gently that
+none of them could ever love her half as much as she deserved. Though
+only ten years old, and very small and pale, she did every bit of the
+housework, and kept the ugly old room and its faded furniture so neat,
+that it seemed almost home-like and pretty to them all. It was
+happiness enough for the little ones to get her first kiss when she
+came back from an errand, to sit by her at table, and, above all, to
+lie closest to her at night. Willie, and Fred, and Jennie, all slept
+with her on a straw bed in the corner; and they used to try to stretch
+her little arms over them all, so that even the one farthest off might
+feel the tips of her fingers, so dearly did they love her.
+
+They had once owned more than one bedstead, and many other comfortable
+things besides; but when their father was killed at the great factory
+where he worked, their mother was obliged to sell almost everything to
+get enough money to pay for his funeral, and to help support her
+little family; so that now she had only a narrow wooden settee for her
+bed, while Harry stretched himself on a couple of chairs, and the rest
+slept all together in the bed on the floor. Poor as they were, they
+were not very unhappy. Almost every night, when their mother took the
+one dim candle all to herself, so that she could see to sew neatly,
+Sweetie would amuse the other children by telling them beautiful
+stories about the little flower people, and the good fairies, and
+about Kriss Kringle--though how she knew about him I can't tell, for
+he never came down their chimney at Christmas.
+
+"And, when my ship comes in," Sweetie used to say, "I'll have the
+tallest and handsomest Christmas tree, filled to the top with candies
+and toys, and lighted all over with different-colored candles, and
+we'll sing and dance round it. Let's begin now, and get our voices in
+tune." Then they would all pipe up as loud as they could, and were as
+happy as if they half believed Sweetie's ship was ready to land.
+
+But there came a hard year for poor needle-women: it was the year I am
+writing about, and Sweetie's mother found it almost impossible to get
+even the necessaries of life. Her children's lips were bluer, their
+faces more pinched, and thin, threadbare clothes more patched than
+ever. Sweetie used to take the two boys, and hunt in the streets for
+bits of coal and wood; but often, the very coldest days, they would
+have no fire. It was very hard to bear, and especially for the poor
+mother, who still had to toil on, though she was so chilled, and her
+hands so numbed, she could hardly draw her needle through her work;
+and for Harry, who trudged through the streets from daylight until the
+street lamps were lighted.
+
+The day before Christmas came. People were so busy cooking Christmas
+dainties that they did not stop to sift their cinders very carefully,
+and Sweetie and the boys had picked up quite a large bag full of
+half-burnt coal in the alleys, and were carrying it home as carefully
+as if it were a great treasure--as, indeed, it was to them. Being very
+tired, they sat down to rest on the curbstone in front of an elegant
+mansion. One of the long windows was open.
+
+"Let's get close up under the window," said Sweetie. "I guess it's too
+warm inside, and may be we shall get some of the heat. O! O! don't it
+smell good?" she cried, as the savory odors of the Christmas cooking
+stole out upon the air.
+
+"What is it, Sweetie?" whispered Willie.
+
+"Coffee," said Sweetie, "and turkeys, and jelly, perhaps."
+
+"I wish I had some," sighed Freddy, "I'm so cold and hungry!"
+
+"Poor little man! he must come and sit in Sweetie's lap; that will
+make him warmer," said his sister, wrapping her shawl around him.
+
+"Yes; that's nice," said the little fellow, hugging her tight.
+
+Mr. Rogers, the owner of this fine house, had lost his wife and two
+dear children within the year. He lived here alone, with his servants,
+and was very desolate. When the children stopped under his window, he
+was lying on a velvet sofa near it, and, lifting himself up, he peeped
+out from behind the curtains just as Fred crept into his sister's
+arms; and he heard all they said.
+
+"When your ship comes in, Sweetie, will it have turkeys and jellies in
+it?" said Willie, leaning against her.
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Sweetie. "There will be turkeys almost as big as
+Jennie, and a great deal fatter."
+
+"But it's so long coming, Sweetie; you tell us every time it _will_
+come, and it never _comes_ at all."
+
+"O, no, Freddy. I don't ever say it _will_ come, but it's nice to
+think what we would do if it should come--isn't it?"
+
+"We'd buy a great white house, like this--wouldn't we, Sweetie?"
+
+"No, Willie. I'd rather buy that nice little store over by the church,
+that's been shut up so long, and has FOR SALE on the door. I'd furnish
+it all nice, and fill the shelves with beautiful goods, and trimmings
+for ladies' dresses, and lovely toys. It shows so far that everybody
+would be sure to buy their Christmas things there. It's just the
+dearest little place, with two cosy rooms back of the shop, and three
+overhead; and I'd put flour and sugar, and tea and coffee, and all
+sorts of goodies, in the kitchen cupboard, and new clothes for all of
+us in the closets up stairs. Then I'd kindle a fire, and light the
+lamps, and lock the door, and go back to the dreary old garret once
+more--poor mother would be sitting there, sad and sober, as she
+always is now, and I would say to her, 'Come, mother, before you light
+the candle, Jennie and I want you to go with us, and look at the
+lovely Christmas gifts in the shop windows.' Then she'd say,
+sorrowfully, 'I don't want to see them, dear; I can't buy any of them
+for you, and I don't want to look at them.' But I'd tease her till I
+made her go; and I'd leave Harry, who would know all about it
+beforehand, to lock up the dismal old room, and bring all the rest of
+you over to the new house. You'd get there long before we did, and the
+light would be streaming out from the little shop windows--O, so
+bright! 'Mother,' I'd say, 'let's go in here, and buy the cotton you
+wanted;' and when I got her in, I'd shut the door quick, and dance up
+and down, and say, 'Dear mother. Sweetie's ship's come in, and brought
+you this new home, and everything comfortable; and Sweetie will tend
+the shop, and you needn't sew any more day and night, for it's going to
+be--' 'A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for us--every one!'
+Harry and all of you would shout, and our dear mother would cry for
+joy."
+
+"Will it come to pass soon, Sweetie?" asked both the boys at once.
+
+"Not very, I'm afraid," answered Sweetie, in a subdued tone; but, when
+she saw their look of disappointment, she brightened up in a moment,
+and added, "It'll be all the better, when it does come, for waiting so
+long--but look here! To-night is Christmas Eve, and we've got coal
+enough here to make a splendid fire. We won't light it till dark, and
+then it will last us all the evening. And I've got a great secret to
+tell you: Harry made a whole dollar yesterday, and mother is going to
+give us each three big slices of fried mush, and bread besides, for
+supper; and, after supper, I'll tell you the prettiest story you ever
+heard, and we'll sing every song we know, and I guess we'll have a
+merry Christmas if nobody else does."
+
+[Illustration: HOW SWEETIE'S SHIP CAME IN.]
+
+"I wish it was Christmas all the time," said Freddy, faintly.
+
+"Christ was born that day," said Sweetie, softly, "and that makes it
+best of all."
+
+"Yes," said Willie; "the dear Lord who came from Heaven and, for our
+sakes, became poor, and had not where to lay his head, not even a
+garret as good as ours--"
+
+"I know," said Freddy; "he was born in a manger, and a beautiful star
+shined right over it. I can sing a hymn about it."
+
+Then they picked up their bag, and started for home, gay as larks over
+the prospect of the treat they were to have that night--fried mush and
+a fire! that was all, you know.
+
+Mr. Rogers, concealed by the heavy silk curtains, had heard every word
+they said, and his eyes were full of tears. He rang for his servant.
+
+"Harris," said he, when the man came in, "follow those children, find
+out where they live, and what their neighbors say of the family."
+
+When he was left alone again, he began to think,--
+
+"Rich as I am, I have never yet done any great good to anybody. Who
+knows but God may have sent those children under my window to teach me
+that, instead of my own lost darlings, he means me to care for these
+and other suffering little ones who live in the lanes and alleys of
+this great city!"
+
+Harris soon came back, and told his master what he had learned about
+the circumstances of the family; and he added,--
+
+"Everybody calls the oldest girl Sweetie, and they do say she's as
+good as gold."
+
+Mr. Rogers went out, and, before night, had bought the little corner
+store, for which Sweetie had longed. Then, calling his servants
+together, he related what he had overheard the children say, and told
+them how anxious he was to grant Sweetie's wish, and let her take her
+mother to her new home on Christmas Day.
+
+"But I cannot do it," said Mr. Rogers, "unless you are willing to help
+me work on Christmas Eve, for there is a great deal to be done."
+
+No one could refuse to aid in so good a cause; and besides, Mr. Rogers
+was always so considerate of his servants that they were glad to
+oblige him. They all went to work with a will, and soon the little
+house and store were put in perfect order.
+
+There were ribbons, laces, buttons, needles, pins, tapes, and, indeed,
+all sorts of useful things in the store. In the cellar were coal and
+wood, two whole hams, a pair of chickens, and a turkey. The kitchen
+pantry was stocked with sugar and flour. There was one barrel of
+potatoes, and another of the reddest apples. Up stairs the closets and
+bureaus were bursting with nice things to wear, not quite made into
+garments, but ready to be made, as soon as Sweetie and her mother got
+time.
+
+So rapidly and so completely was everything arranged, that it seemed
+as if one of those good fairies, of whom Sweetie had so often told the
+children, had been at work.
+
+"The money this has cost me," thought Mr. Rogers, "will make a family
+of six happy, and do them good all the rest of their lives. I am glad
+the thought has come to my heart to celebrate Christ's birthday in so
+pleasant a way."
+
+Late in the afternoon he picked his way through the dull, dirty alley
+to the old gray house where Sweetie lived. As he went up the worn and
+dusty stairway, he heard the children singing their Christmas songs.
+
+"Poor little things!" said he; and the tears stood in his eyes.
+"Happy even in this miserable place, while I know so many surfeited
+with luxuries, and yet pining and discontented!"
+
+Harry jumped to open the door as he knocked; and Mr. Rogers, entering,
+apologized to the children's mother for his intrusion by saying he had
+come to ask a favor.
+
+"It is but little we can do for any one, sir," replied Mrs. Lawson;
+"but anything in our power will be cheerfully done."
+
+"Even if I propose to carry off this little girl of yours for a
+while?" he asked; but, seeing the troubled look in the other
+children's faces, he hastened to explain.
+
+"The truth is," said he, "having no little folks of my own, I thought
+I'd try and make other people's happy to-day; so I set out to get up a
+Christmas tree; but I find I don't know how to go to work exactly, and
+I want Sweetie to help me."
+
+He spoke so sadly when he said he had no children of his own, that
+Sweetie could not refuse to go.
+
+"O, yes, sir," said she; "I'll go; that is, if I may come back this
+evening--for I couldn't disappoint Freddy and all of them, you know!"
+
+"They shan't be disappointed, I promise you," said Mr. Rogers, as he
+took her down stairs.
+
+"Why, I never was in a carriage in all my life," said Sweetie, as he
+lifted her into his beautiful clarence, and sat down beside her.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder if you should ride in a carriage pretty often
+now," said Mr. Rogers, "for your ship's coming in."
+
+Sweetie couldn't tell whether she was in a dream or not. Half crying,
+half laughing, her face flushed with surprise, she asked,--
+
+"How did you know?"
+
+"Know what?" said her friend, enjoying her bewilderment.
+
+"Why," she answered, "about the way I keep up the children's spirits,
+and make them forget they are hungry and cold, while I tell them about
+my ship coming in?"
+
+"A little bird told me," said he, and then was quiet.
+
+Sweetie did not like to ask any more; so she sat quite still, leaning
+back in one corner of the carriage, among the soft, crimson cushions,
+and watched the people in the street, thinking how happy she was, and
+how strange it was that little Katie Lawson should be riding with a
+grand gentleman in a splendid carriage!
+
+Suddenly, with a whirl and a turn, they stopped before a house. Mr.
+Rogers lifted her out, and led her up the broad steps; and she found
+he was taking her into the beautiful white house, under the windows of
+which she had sat with Willie and Fred the day before.
+
+"Now," said Mr. Rogers, rolling a comfortable arm-chair for Sweetie in
+front of a glowing fire, "while you are getting warm, and eating your
+dinner, I am going to tell you about my Christmas tree, and how your
+ship came in."
+
+A little table was brought in, and set between them, filled with so
+many delicacies, that Sweetie's head grew dizzy at the sight. She
+thought of her little hungry brothers and sister, and would rather not
+have eaten, but Mr. Rogers made her.
+
+"My little girl," said he, finally, "never forget this: God always
+rewards a faithful heart. If he seems to be a long time without caring
+for his children, he never forgets or forsakes them."
+
+Then he told her that he had overheard her conversation with her
+brothers under his window, and that God had suddenly put it into his
+heart to take care of some of the poor and fatherless in that great
+city. "And I am going to begin with Sweetie," said he, very tenderly;
+"and this is the way her ship shall come in. She shall have a new home
+to give to her mother for a Christmas present, and the boys shall sing
+their Christmas hymns to-night in the bright little parlor of the
+corner store, instead of the dingy old garret; and here are the deeds
+made out in Katie Lawson's own name, and nobody can take it away from
+her. But come, little woman," he added,--for Sweetie was sobbing for
+joy, and could not thank him,--"go and wash your face, for the horses
+are tired of standing in the cold, and we must go and fetch the boys,
+or I shall never get my Christmas tree set up."
+
+An old lady, with a face beaming with kindness,--it was Mr. Rogers's
+housekeeper,--then took Sweetie, and not only washed her tear-stained
+cheeks, but curled her soft brown hair, and put on her the loveliest
+blue dress, with boots to match. All the time she was dressing her,
+Sweetie, who could not believe her senses, kept murmuring,--
+
+"It's only a dream; it's too good to be true; the boys won't believe
+it, I know; it's just like a fairy story, and, of course, it's only
+pretending."
+
+"No, indeed," said the old lady; "it's really true, my dear, and I
+hope you'll be so grateful and kind to Mr. Rogers that he won't be so
+lonely as he has been without his own dear little children."
+
+Sweetie could hardly realize her own good fortune; and, when she went
+down into the parlor, she burst into tears again, saying,--
+
+"O, sir, I can't believe it. I am so happy!"
+
+"So am I, Sweetie," said Mr. Rogers; and really it was hard to tell
+which was the happier--it is always so much more blessed to give than
+to receive. Together they rode to the new home, and laughed and cried
+together as they went all over it. After they had been up stairs, and
+down stairs, and in my lady's chamber, as Mr. Rogers said, he put her
+into the carriage again.
+
+"James," said he to the coachman, "you are under this young lady's
+orders to-night, and must drive carefully."
+
+Then, kissing Sweetie, he put the key of her new home into her hand,
+and, telling her he should want her help to-morrow about his Christmas
+tree, he bade her good night.
+
+James drove Sweetie home, for the last time, to the dilapidated old
+house. She ran up stairs, Freddy said afterwards, "just as Harry
+always did when he'd had a good day." "Mother and children," said she,
+"Mr. Rogers, the kind gentleman who was here, has sent me back in his
+carriage to take you all to see something beautiful he has been
+showing me. Harry, you be the gentleman of the house, and hand mother
+and Jennie to the carriage, and I'll come right along." She stopped
+long enough--this good child, who, even in her own good fortune, did
+not forget the misfortunes of others--to run into the next room, where
+an old woman lived, who was a cripple, and whose daughter supported
+her by sewing.
+
+"Mrs. Jones," said she, hurriedly, "a kind gentleman has given us a
+new home, and we are going to it to-night, never to come back here to
+live any more. Our old room, with the rent paid for a year, and all
+there is in it, I want you to take as a Christmas present from
+Sweetie; and I wish you a Happy, happy New Year, and please give this
+to Milly;" and, slipping a five-dollar bill, which Mr. Rogers had
+given her, into the old woman's hand, she ran out, and jumped into the
+carriage. The street lamps blinked at them, like so many stars, as
+they rolled along, and the boys and Jennie screamed with delight; but
+Sweetie sat quite still.
+
+James knew where to stop. Sweetie got out first, and ran and unlocked
+the door of the little corner store. When they were all inside, and
+before any one had time to ask a question, Sweetie threw her arms
+about her mother's neck.
+
+"Mother," she cried, "Sweetie's ship's come in; but it never would
+have come if it had not been for Mr. Rogers; and it's brought you this
+pretty house and shop for your own, and, please God, we'll all have--"
+
+"A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" shouted Willie, ending her
+sentence just as she had ended the story the day before.
+
+"And all the better," said Fred, who remembered too, "because Christ
+was born that day."
+
+Mrs. Lawson, overwhelmed with joy, fainted. She soon recovered,
+however, though Sweetie insisted on her lying on the soft lounge
+before the fire, while she set the table. How pretty it looked, with
+its six purple and white plates, and cups and everything to match! How
+they did eat! How happy they were!
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Lawson, when the dishes were washed, and they all sat
+round the fire, "my little Sweetie, whose patience, and courage, and
+cheerfulness have kept up the hearts of the rest of us, and proved the
+ship that has brought us this cargo of comforts, you must tell us your
+Christmas story before we go to bed."
+
+So Sweetie told them all Mr. Rogers had said and done for her. They
+were so excited they sat up very late, and happiness made them sleep
+so soundly, that they did not wake till the sun was shining brightly
+into the little shop. People began to come in very early, to make
+little purchases. One lady bought a whole dollar's worth of toys,
+which made them feel as if they were full of business already.
+
+Later in the forenoon, Mr. Rogers sent for Harry and Sweetie to come
+and help dress his Christmas tree; and Christmas night his parlor was
+filled with poor children, for each of whom some useful gift hung on
+the tree. Milly was there by Sweetie's invitation, and Mr. Rogers sent
+her home in his carriage, with the easiest chair that money could buy
+for her old lame mother. The tears filled his eyes as Milly thanked
+him again and again for all his kindness; and, as he shut the door
+after the last one, he said,--
+
+"Hereafter I will make it always a Merry Christmas for God's needy
+ones."
+
+I am sure he did, for he had Sweetie always near him. He used to call
+her his "Christmas Sweeting;" and then she would laugh, and say he was
+her "Golden Sweeting."
+
+What is better than gold he gave the family: he found patrons for Mrs.
+Lawson, and customers for the shop, and placed Harry in a mercantile
+house, where he soon rose to be head clerk. The other children he put
+at school. Sweetie he never would let go very far out of his sight. He
+had her thoroughly and usefully educated, and no less than her mother,
+and brothers, and sister, did he bless the day when "Sweetie's ship
+came in"--
+
+    A ship which brought for every day
+      A welcome hope, an added joy,
+    A something sweet to do or say,
+      And hosts of pleasures unalloyed,
+
+    Its cargo, made of pleasant cares,
+      Of daily duties to be done,
+    Of smiles and laughter, songs and prayers,
+      The glad, bright life of Happy Ones.
+
+                                             MARGARET FIELD.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: NOTHING TO DO.]
+
+NOTHING TO DO.
+
+
+    I have sailed my boat and spun my top,
+      And handled my last new ball;
+    I trundled my hoop till I had to stop,
+      And I swung till got a fall;
+    I tumbled my books all out of the shelves,
+      And hunted the pictures through;
+    I've flung them where they may sort themselves,
+      And now--I have nothing to do.
+
+    The tower of Babel I built of blocks
+      Came down with a crash to the floor;
+    My train of cars ran over the rocks--
+      I'll warrant they'll run no more;
+    I have raced with Grip till I'm out of breath;
+      My slate is broken in two,
+    So I can't draw monkeys. I'm tired to death
+      Because I have nothing to do.
+
+    I can see where the boys have gone to fish;
+      They bothered me, too, to go,
+    But for fun like that I hadn't a wish,
+      For I think it's mighty "slow"
+    To sit all day at the end of a rod
+      For the sake of a minnow or two,
+    Or to land, at the farthest, an eel on the sod:
+      I'd rather have nothing to do.
+
+    Maria has gone to the woods for flowers,
+      And Lucy and Rose are away
+    After berries. I'm sure they've been out for hours;
+      I wonder what makes them stay?
+    Ned wanted to saddle Brunette for me,
+      But riding is nothing new;
+    "I was thinking you'd relish a canter," said he,
+      "Because you have nothing to do."
+
+    I wish I was poor Jim Foster's son,
+      For he seems so happy and gay,
+    When his wood is chopped and his work all done,
+      With his little half hour of play;
+    He neither has books nor top nor ball,
+      Yet he's singing the whole day through;
+    But then he is never tired at all
+      Because he has nothing to do.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: TWO GENTLEMEN IN FURS.]
+
+TWO "GENTLEMEN IN FUR CLOAKS."
+
+
+This is the name given to the bears in Kamschatka by the Laplanders,
+who think they will be offended if they are called by their real name;
+and we may give the same name to the bears in the picture. They are
+Polar bears, who live in the seas round the North Pole, and fine white
+fur coats they have of their own. They are white on purpose, so that
+they may not be seen easily among all the snow and ice in which they
+live. The head of the Polar bear is very long and flat, the mouth and
+ears are small in comparison with other bears, the neck is long and
+thick, and the sole of the foot very large. Perhaps you will wonder
+how the bear manages to walk on the ice, as nobody is very likely to
+give him skates or snow-boots. To be sure, he has strong, thick claws,
+but they would not be of much use--they would only make him slip on
+the hard ice--but the sole of the foot is covered nearly all over with
+thick, woolly hair, so the bear walks as safely as old ladies do when
+they wrap list round their boots.
+
+The Polar bear likes to eat fish, though he will eat roots and berries
+when he can get no better, and he is a very good swimmer; he can dive,
+too, and make long leaps in the water. If he wants a boat, he has only
+to get on a loose piece of ice, and then he can float about at his
+ease.
+
+This is a full-grown bear, of course. Young bears cannot do all these
+things; they have to stay with their mothers on shore, where they eat
+seals and seaweed; the seaweed is their vegetable, I suppose. When the
+young bears travel and get tired, they get on their mother's back, and
+ride there quite safely, whether in the water or on land.
+
+Bears are very fond of their young, and will do anything to defend
+them. There is a story told of a poor mother-bear and her two cubs
+which is almost too sad to tell, but it will make us think kindly of
+the bear, so I will tell it to you.
+
+Years ago a ship which had gone to the North Pole to make discoveries
+got fixed tight in the ice; one morning, while the ship was still
+unable to get loose, a man at the lookout gave warning that three
+bears were coming across the ice toward the ship. The crew had killed
+a walrus a few days before, and no doubt the bears had smelled it. The
+flesh of the walrus was roasting in a fire on the ice, and two of the
+bears ran eagerly to it, dragged out the bits that were not burnt, and
+began to eat them; they were the cubs, but were almost as large as
+their mother.
+
+The sailors threw some more of the flesh they had on board on to the
+ice. These the old bear fetched; and putting them before her cubs, she
+divided them, giving them each a large piece, and only keeping a small
+bit for herself. When she came to fetch the last piece the sailors
+shot at the cubs, killing them; they also wounded the mother, but not
+mortally; the poor mother never thought of herself, only of her cubs.
+They were not quite dead, only dying, and she crawled to where they
+lay, with the lump of meat she had fetched, and put it down before
+them, as she had done the first time. When she found they did not eat,
+she took hold first of one, then of the other, and tried to lift them
+up, moaning pitifully all the time, as if she thought it would be of
+no use. Then she went a little way off and looked back. But the cubs
+were dead now, and could not move, so she went back to them and began
+to lick their wounds. Once more she crawled away from them, and then
+again came back, and went round and round them, pawing them and
+moaning. At last she seems to have found out that they were dead; and
+turning to the ship, she raised her head and uttered a loud growl of
+anger and despair. The cruel sailors fired at her in reply, and she
+fell between her poor dead cubs, and died licking their wounds.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE FAITHFUL BOY.]
+
+CHARLIE'S ESCAPE.
+
+
+I have some boy-cousins living in the country of whom I think a great
+deal. They write me letters quite often. I can hardly tell whose
+letters give me the most pleasure, the "big boys'," who write me about
+their school, their colts and calves, their good times on the
+holidays, or the little printed letters I get from the "small boys,"
+telling me how many chickens they have and that they love me. I am
+sure I love them _all_, and hope they will grow to be good, true men.
+
+Charlie is one of the "big boys." Not _very_ big, either--just
+thirteen years old, and rather small and slight for his years. A few
+weeks ago a neighbor of his father's was going away, and got Charlie
+to do "the chores" for him during his absence--feed the young cattle,
+milk the cow and keep things in order about the barn. Charlie is an
+obliging boy, so he performed his task faithfully. If I had time,
+boys, I would just like to stop here and give you a little lecture on
+faithfulness, with Charlie for a model, for he _is_ a "faithful boy."
+But I want to tell my story. For two or three days Charlie went each
+morning to his neighbor's barn, and after milking the cow turned all
+the creatures to pasture, and every night drove them home again. One
+morning, as he stood by the bars waiting for them all to pass out, a
+frisky year-old calf--"a yearling" the farmers call them--instead of
+going orderly over the bars, as a well-disposed calf should, just gave
+a side jump and shook her horns at Charlie. "Over with you!" called
+Charlie, and waved his hand at her. Miss Yearling either fancied this
+an insult or an invitation to single combat, for she again lowered her
+head and ran at Charlie, who had no stick, and so thought best to run
+from the enemy. He started for the stable door, but in his hurry and
+fright he could not open it, and while fumbling at the latch the
+creature made another attack. Charlie dodged her again, and one of her
+horns pierced the door nearly an inch. Again she ran at him, and with
+her nose "bunted" him off his feet. Charlie was getting afraid now,
+and called out to the folks in the house, "Oh, come and help me!" and
+right then he bethought him of something he had read in his father's
+"Agriculturist" about a boy in similar danger, who saved himself by
+grasping the cow's horns that had attacked him. So just as the
+yearling was about to try again if she could push him over, he took
+fast hold of each horn. But his situation was getting _very
+unpleasant_, for he was penned up in a corner, with the barn behind
+him, a high fence on one side and the now angry heifer in front. He
+had regained his feet, but was pushed and staggered about, for he was
+fast losing his strength. No wonder his voice had a quiver in it as he
+again shouted as loud as he could, "Oh, do come quick!" The lady in
+the house was busy getting breakfast, and heard no sound. A
+lady-visitor in one of the chambers heard the first call, but thought
+it only boys at play. By and by the distressed shout again smote her
+ears, and this time she heard the words, "Help me!" She ran down
+stairs to the housekeeper, who opened the outside door and listened.
+Charlie's voice was weak and faint now, and the fear came to the lady
+that he had fallen into the barn cellar. She ran quickly to the great
+door of the barn. "Where are you, Charlie?" "Come to the stable door,"
+answered back a faint, trembling voice. She quickly ran through the
+barn to that door, but she could not open it at first, for the heifer
+had pushed herself around till she stood broadside against the door.
+But the lady pushed hard and got the door open a little way, and
+seizing the big stable broom hit the naughty animal two or three heavy
+whacks that made her move around; and as soon as she opened the door
+wide, Charlie let go her horns, and she (the heifer), not liking the
+big broom-handle, turned and ran off as fast as her legs could go. The
+lady helped Charlie up and into the house, for he could hardly stand.
+He was bruised and lame, and the breath had almost left him. But after
+resting a while and taking some good warm drink, he tried to walk
+home; and though the lady helped him, he found it hard work, for he
+was so sore and bruised. Charlie's mother was frightened enough to see
+her boy come home leaning on their neighbor's arm and looking so pale.
+She helped him undress and lie down, and then she did just what your
+mother, little reader-boy, would do if you had such an escape as
+Charlie's. She put her arms around her boy and said, "Let us thank the
+good Lord that you were not killed, my boy." And do you think Charlie
+will ever forget his escape? I don't. And I hope he will always thank
+"the good Lord" not only for the escape, but for his every blessing.
+
+
+
+
+I AM COMING!
+
+
+    I am coming! I am coming! sings the robin on the wing;
+    Soon the gates of spring will open; where you loiter I will sing;
+    Turn your thoughts to merriest music, send it ringing down the vale,
+    Where the yellow-bird is waiting on the old brown meadow-rail.
+
+    I am coming! I am coming! sings the summer from afar;
+    And her voice is like the shining of some silver-mantled star;
+    In it breathes the breath of flowers, in it hides the dawn of day,
+    In it wake the happy showers of the merry, merry May!
+
+
+
+
+DAISY'S TEMPTATION.
+
+
+"I don't think grandma would ever know it. I could just slip them into
+my pocket and put them on after I get there as e-a-sy! I'll do it;"
+and Daisy Dorsey lifted her grandma's gold beads from a box on her
+lap. She clasped them about her chubby neck and stood before the
+mirror, talking softly to herself. "How nice it will be!" she said,
+drawing up her little figure till only the tip of her nose was visible
+in the glass. "And Jimmy Martin will let me fly his kite instead of
+Hetty Lee. Hetty Lee, indeed! I don't believe she ever had any
+grandmother--not such a grandmother as mine, anyway."
+
+Then the proud little Daisy fell to thinking of the verse her mother
+had read to her that morning, about the dear Father in heaven who sees
+us always, and the blessed angels who are so holy and so pure.
+
+"And I promised mamma I would be so good and try so hard to do right
+always. No, no; I can't do it. Lie there, little pretty gold beads.
+Daisy loves you, but she wants to be good too. So good-bye, dear
+little, bright gold beads," laying them softly back in the drawer and
+turning away with her eyes like violets in the rain.
+
+Now, it so happened that good Grandma Ellis had heard every word Daisy
+had said, had seen her take the beads from their box in the drawer,
+knew just how her darling was tempted and how she had conquered pride
+and evil desire in her little heart, for she was in her bath-room,
+adjoining her chamber; and the door being ajar, she could hear and see
+all that Daisy said and did.
+
+How glad she was when she heard her say, "I can't do it. Good-bye,
+pretty gold beads!" and she felt so sorry, too, for the great tears in
+the sweet blue eyes.
+
+Daisy wore the coral beads to the picnic, and no child had a merrier
+day than she, for she had struggled with temptation, had overcome
+through the loving Father's aid, and so was happy, as we all are when
+we do right.
+
+That evening, when the harvest-moon lifted its bright face to the
+bosom of the east, Grandma Ellis sat in her old-fashioned high-backed
+chair thinking.
+
+Such a pretty picture she made, too, with her light shawl draped
+gracefully over her shoulders, her kerchief and cap so snowy, and her
+sweet face so full of God's love and his divinest peace!
+
+In her hands she held the gold beads, and there was something very
+like tears in her gray eyes, for the necklace had a history that only
+grandma knew--she and one other, whose face that night was far away
+where they need no light of the moon, nor of the sun, for God is the
+light of the place.
+
+"Come here, Daisy," she said, presently. "Come to grandma."
+
+The little creature flew like a bird, for she loved the sound of that
+dear old voice; and besides, Daisy was a happy child that night, and
+in her heart the singing-birds of content and joy kept up a merry
+music of their own.
+
+[Illustration: DAISY'S TEMPTATION.]
+
+Grandma Ellis threw the little necklace over Daisy's head as she came
+toward her, and lifting her to her knee and kissing her glad eyes
+said, speaking low and softly,
+
+"That is for my Daisy to keep always, for grandma's sake. It is not
+just the ornament for your little dear neck in these days, but keep it
+always, because grandma loved it and gave it to her darling that would
+not deceive her, even for the sake of flying Jimmy Martin's kite at
+the picnic."
+
+Then Daisy was sure grandma knew all about her sad temptation, and how
+she had coveted the bright gold beads for just one little day. Now
+they were to be hers for ever, and half for shame, half for very joy,
+Daisy hid her curly head in grandma's bosom and sobbed aloud.
+
+"Hush, darling!" grandma said; "we are all tempted to do wrong
+sometimes, and the dear Father in heaven suffers this to be that we
+may grow stronger through resistance. Now, if you had yielded to the
+voice of pride and desire this morning, do you think you could have
+been happy to-day, even with the necklace and flying Jimmy's kite?"
+
+"No, no! Oh, grandma, forgive me!" sobbed the little voice from
+grandma's bosom.
+
+"Yes, dear, as I am sure God does, who saw how you were sorely tried
+and surely conqueror. Kiss me good-night now; and when you have said
+your 'Now I lay me,' add, 'Dear Father, help grandma's Daisy to be
+good and happy always.'"
+
+An hour later, with the gold beads still about her neck, Daisy in her
+little bed was dreaming of the beautiful fields and flowers that are
+for ever fadeless in the land we name eternal; and the blessed angels,
+guarding her slumber and seeing the smile upon her happy lips, were
+glad because of Daisy's temptation, for they knew that the dear child
+would be stronger and purer and better because she had overcome.
+
+
+
+
+ANSWER TO A CHILD'S QUESTION.
+
+
+    Do you ask what the birds say? The sparrow, the dove,
+    The linnet and thrush say "I love and I love!"
+    In the winter they're silent, the wind is so strong;
+    What it says I don't know, but it sings a loud song.
+    But green leaves and blossoms and sunny warm weather,
+    And singing and loving, all come back together.
+    But the lark is so brimful of gladness and love,
+    The green fields below him, the blue sky above,
+    That he sings and he sings, and for ever sings he,
+    "I love my love, and my love loves me."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: NELLY'S GARDEN.]
+
+WHAT NELLY GAVE AWAY.
+
+
+Nelly Ray was a bright, brave-hearted little girl, whom no one could
+help loving.
+
+Singing like a lark in the morning, wearing sweet smiles on her face
+all day, cheerful even when the shadows fell, it would have been
+strange indeed if her humble home had not seemed like a bit of
+paradise, and the ground under her feet had not blossomed like the
+rose.
+
+It was a pleasant day in the early spring, when the grass was just
+lifting itself above the moist earth, when the soft south wind was
+blowing among the tender little leaves of the lilac bushes, when the
+birds were busy building their nests, when the merry little brook was
+beginning its song and the great round world looked glad and bright,
+that Nelly began to make her garden.
+
+Her father had dug the ground and made it ready for her, and so she
+took her little red basket full of seeds of different kinds, each kind
+tied up by itself and labelled, and down in the little beds she
+dropped candy-tuft, and phlox, and lady-slippers.
+
+How happy she was at her work! Her cheeks were the color of ripe
+peaches, her eyes were as sweet as twin violets, and her little mouth
+was like a fresh rosebud, but better and brighter far than the cheeks
+and lips was the light of kindness that shone in her eyes.
+
+Her sister Jennie, who sat sewing by the window, watched her with
+loving interest.
+
+"Mother," she said, at length, looking up from her work, "do you know
+what a generous little girl our Nelly would be if she was only a rich
+man's child?"
+
+"Is she not generous now, Jennie?" asked her mother.
+
+"Oh yes, surely she is. But I was thinking how much good she would do,
+and how much she would give away, if only we were not poor."
+
+She saw that her mother was smiling softly to herself.
+
+"She gives away more now, of course, than some rich children do. Just
+think how faithfully she works in that little garden, so as to have
+flowers to give away! I do not believe there is a house anywhere near
+us into which sickness or poverty comes where her simple flowers will
+not go."
+
+"Did you ever think, dear Jennie, of the other garden which Nelly
+weeds and waters every day?"
+
+"No, mother. What garden do you mean?"
+
+"The garden of her heart, my dear child. You know that the rain which
+the clouds take from the lakes and rivers comes back to refresh and
+beautify our fields and gardens; and so it is with our little Nelly's
+good deeds and kind, loving words. She gives away more than a handful
+of violets, for with them goes a bright smile, which is like sunshine
+to the sick heart. She gives more than a bunch of roses, for with them
+always goes a kind word. And doing these little things, she gets a
+large reward. Her own heart grows richer."
+
+
+
+
+A STRANGE COMBAT.
+
+
+We are told that the old Romans greatly delighted in witnessing the
+combats of wild beasts, as well as gladiators, and that they used to
+ransack their whole broad empire for new and unheard-of
+animals--anything and everything that had fierceness and fight in it.
+Those vast amphitheatres, like the Coliseum, were built to gratify
+these rather sanguinary tastes in that direction.
+
+But I doubt whether even the old Romans, with all their large
+experience, ever beheld so strange and grotesque a "set-to" (I'm
+pretty sure none of our American boys ever did) as the writer once
+stumbled upon, on the shores of one of our Northern Maine lakes--Lake
+Pennesseewassee, if you can pronounce that; it trips up editors
+sometimes.
+
+I had been spending the day in the neighboring forest, hunting for a
+black squirrel I had seen there the evening before, having with me a
+great, red-shirted lumberman, named Ben--Ben Murch. And not finding
+our squirrel, we were making our way, towards evening, down through
+the thick alders which skirted the lake, to the shore, in the hope of
+getting a shot at an otter, or a mink, when all at once a great sound,
+a sort of _quock, quock_, accompanied by a great splashing of the
+water, came to our ears.
+
+"Hush!" ejaculated Ben, clapping his hand to his ear (as his custom
+was), to catch the sound. "Hear that? Some sort of a fracas."
+
+And cautiously pushing through the dense copse, a very singular and
+comical spectacle met our eyes. For out some two or three rods from
+the muddy, grassy shore stood a tall, a very tall bird,--somewhere
+from four to five feet, I judged,--with long, thin, black legs, and
+an awkward body, slovenly clad in dull gray-blue plumage. The neck
+was as long as the legs, and the head small, and nearly bare, with a
+long, yellowish bill. Standing knee deep in the muddied water, it was,
+on the whole, about the most ungainly-looking fowl you can well
+imagine; while on a half-buried tree trunk, running out towards it
+into the water, crouched a wiry, black creature, of about average dog
+size, wriggling a long, restless tail, and apparently in the very act
+of springing at the long-legged biped in the water. Just now they were
+eying each other very intently; but from the splashed and bedraggled
+appearance of both, it was evident there had been recent hostilities,
+which, judging from the attitude of the combatants, were about to be
+renewed.
+
+"Show!" exclaimed Ben, peering over my shoulder from behind. "An old
+_hairn_--ain't it? Regular old _pokey_. Thought I'd heered that
+_quock_ before. And that creatur'? Let's see. Odd-looking chap. Wish
+he'd turn his head this way. Fisher--ain't it? Looks like one. Should
+judge that's a fisher-cat. What in the world got them at loggerheads,
+I wonder?"
+
+By "hairn" Ben meant _heron_, the great blue heron of American
+waters--_Ardea Herodias_ of the naturalists. And fisher, or
+fisher-cat, is the common name among hunters for Pennant's marten, or
+the _Mustela canadensis_, a very fierce carnivorous animal, of the
+weasel family, growing from three to four feet in length, called also
+"the black cat."
+
+The fisher had doubtless been the assailant, though both had now that
+intent, tired-down air which marks a long fray. He had probably crept
+up from behind, while old long-shanks was quietly frogging along the
+shore.
+
+But he had found his intended victim a game one. The heron had a
+character to sustain; and although he might easily have flown away, or
+even waded farther out, yet he seemed to scorn to do either.
+
+Not an inch would it budge, but stood with its long, javelin-like beak
+poised, ready to strike into the fisher's eye, uttering, from moment
+to moment, that menacing, guttural _quock_, which had first attracted
+our attention.
+
+This sound, mingling with the eager snarling and fretting of the cat,
+made the most dismal and incongruous duet I had ever listened to. For
+some moments they stood thus threatening and defying each other; but
+at length, lashing itself up to the proper pitch of fury, the fisher
+jumped at his antagonist with distended jaws, to seize hold of the
+long, slender throat. One bite at the heron's slim neck would settle
+the whole affair. But this attempt was very adroitly balked by the
+plucky old wader's taking a long step aside, when the fisher fell into
+the water with a great splash, and while struggling back to the log,
+received a series of strokes, or, rather, stabs, from the long,
+pointed beak, dealt down with wonderful swiftness, and force, too; for
+we distinctly heard them _prod_ into the cat's tough hide, as he
+scrambled upon the log, and ran spitting up the bank. This defeat,
+however, was but temporary, as any one acquainted with the singular
+persistence and perseverance of the whole weasel family will readily
+guess. The fisher had soon worked his way down the log again, the
+heron retiring to his former position in the water.
+
+Another succession of quocks and growlings, and another spring, with
+even less success, on the side of the cat. For this time the heron's
+bill wounded one of his eyes; and as he again retreated up the log, we
+could see the bloody tears trickling down over his shaggy jowl.
+
+Thus far the battle seemed favorable to the heron; but the fisher
+again rallied, and, now thoroughly maddened, rushed down the log, and
+leaped blindly upon his foe. Again and again his attacks were parried.
+The snarling growls now rose to shrieks, and the croaking quocks to
+loud, dissonant cries.
+
+"Faugh!" muttered Ben. "Smell his breath--fisher's breath--clean here.
+Always let that out somehow when they're mad."
+
+Even at our distance, that strong, fetid odor, sometimes perceptible
+when a cat spits, could plainly be discerned.
+
+"Old _hairn_ seems to be having the best of it," continued Ben. "I bet
+on him. How cool he keeps! Fights like a machine. See that bill come
+down now! Look at the marks it makes, too!" For the blood, oozing out
+through the thick fur of the cat in more than a dozen spots, was
+attesting the prowess of the heron's powerful beak.
+
+But at length, with a sudden bound upward, the fisher fell with his
+whole weight upon the back of his lathy antagonist. Old long-legs was
+upset, and down they both went in the water, where a prodigious
+scuffle ensued. Now one of the heron's big feet would be thrust up
+nearly a yard; then the cat would come to the top, sneezing and
+strangling; and anon the heron's long neck would loop up in sight,
+bending and doubling about in frantic attempts to peck at its foe, its
+cries now resembling those of a hen when seized in the night, save
+that they were louder and harsher. Over and over they floundered and
+rolled. The mud and water flew about. Long legs, shaggy paws, wet,
+wriggling tail, and squawking beak, fur and feathers--all turning and
+squirming in inextricable confusion. It was hard telling which was
+having the best of the _melee_, when, on a sudden, the struggle
+stopped, as if by magic.
+
+[Illustration: {The marten about to attack the heron}]
+
+"One or t'other has given in," muttered Ben.
+
+Looking more closely, we saw that the fisher had succeeded in getting
+the heron's neck into his mouth. One bite had been sufficient. The
+fray was over. And after holding on a while, the victor, up to his
+back in water, began moving towards the shore, dragging along with
+him, by the neck, the body of the heron, whose great feet came
+trailing after at an astonishing distance behind. To see him, wet as a
+drowned rat, tugging up the muddy bank with his ill-omened and
+unsightly prey, was indeed a singular spectacle. Whatever had brought
+on this queer contest, the fisher had won--fairly, too, for aught I
+could see; and I hadn't it in my heart to intercept his retreat. But
+Ben, to whom a "black cat" was particularly obnoxious, from its
+nefarious habit of robbing traps, had no such scruples, and, bringing
+up his rifle with the careless quickness of an old woodsman, fired
+before I could interpose a word. The fisher dropped, and after
+writhing and snapping a few moments, stretched out--dead.
+
+Leaving Ben to take off its skin,--for the fur is worth a trifle,--I
+was strolling along the shore, when upon coming under a drooping
+cedar, some six or seven rods from the scene of the fight, another
+large heron sprang out of a clump of brambles, and stalked off with a
+croak of distrust. It at once occurred to me that there might be a
+nest here; and opening the brambles, lo, there it was, a broad,
+clumsy structure of coarse sticks, some two or three feet from the
+ground, and lined with moss and water grasses. In it, or, rather, on
+it, were two chicks, heron chicks, uncouth little things, with long,
+skinny legs and necks, and sparsely clad with tufts of gray down. And
+happening to glance under the nest, I perceived an egg, lodged down
+among the bramble-stalks. It had probably rolled out of the nest. It
+struck me, however, as being a very small egg from so large a bird;
+and having a rule in my pocket, I found it to be but two and a half
+inches in length by one and a half in width. It was of a dull,
+bluish-white color, without spots, though rather rough and uneven. I
+took it home as a curiosity.
+
+On the edge of the nest I saw several small perch, a frog, and a
+meadow-mouse, all recently brought, though the place had a suspicious
+odor of carrion.
+
+All this while the old heron had stood at a little distance away,
+uttering now and then an ominous croak. I could easily have shot it
+from where I stood, but thought the family had suffered enough for one
+day.
+
+The presence of the nest accounted for the obstinacy with which the
+old male heron had contested the ground with the fisher.
+
+Both old birds are said to sit by turns upon the eggs. But the nests
+are not always placed so near the ground as this one. Last summer,
+while fishing from the "Pappoose's Pond," I discovered one in the very
+top of a lofty Norway pine--a huge bunch of sticks and long grass,
+upon the edge of which one of the old herons was standing on one foot,
+perfectly motionless, with its neck drawn down, and seemingly asleep.
+
+The artist who could have properly sketched that nest and bird would
+have made his fortune then and there.
+
+                                             C. A. STEPHENS.
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE HOME-BODY.
+
+
+    Little Home-body is mother's wee pet,
+    Fairest and sweetest of housekeepers yet;
+    Up when the roses in golden light peep,
+    Helping her mother to sew and to sweep.
+    Tidy and prim in her apron and gown,
+    Brightest of eyes, of the bonniest brown;
+    Tiniest fingers, and needle so fleet,
+    Pattern of womanhood, down at my feet!
+
+    Little Home-body is grave and demure,
+    Weeps when you speak of the wretched and poor,
+    Though she can laugh in the merriest way
+    While you are telling a tale that is gay.
+    Lily that blooms in some lone, leafy nook;
+    Sly little hide-away, moss-sided brook;
+    Fairies are fine, where the silver dews fall;
+    Home fairies--these are the best of them all!
+
+                            GEORGE COOPER.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: NEDDY AND HIS LAMB.]
+
+NEDDY'S HALF HOLIDAY.
+
+
+"We've had a good time, Tony, old fellow, haven't we?" said Neddy
+Harris, who was beginning to feel tired with his half day's ramble in
+the fields. As he said this he sat down on some boards in the barn.
+
+Tony replied to his young master by rubbing his nose against his face,
+and by a soft "baa," which was as near as he could come to saying, "A
+first-rate time, Master Neddy."
+
+"A grand good time," added the boy, putting his arms around the lamb's
+neck and laying his face on its soft wool.
+
+"And now," he continued, "as father says we should always do, I'll
+just go back and think over what I've done this holiday afternoon; and
+if I forgot myself in anything and went wrong, it will be best for me
+to know it, so that I can do better next time.
+
+"I'm sorry about that poor squirrel," said Neddy; "he never did me any
+harm. What a beautiful little creature he was, with his bright black
+eyes and shiny skin!"
+
+And the boy's face grew sad, as well it might, for he had pelted this
+squirrel with stones from tree to tree, and at last knocked him to the
+ground.
+
+"But it was so cruel in me! Now, if I live a hundred years, I'll never
+harm another squirrel. God made these frisky little fellows, and
+they've just as much right to live as I have."
+
+Neddy felt better about the squirrel after this good resolution, which
+he meant to keep.
+
+"That was curious about the spider," he went on, trying to push all
+thoughts of the dead squirrel from his mind. Let me tell you about
+this spider. In the corner of a fence Neddy saw a large circular
+spider's web, shaped like a funnel, down in the centre of which was a
+hole. As he stood looking at the delicate thing, finer than any woven
+silk, a fly struck against it and got his feet tangled, so that he
+could not escape. Instantly a great black spider ran out of the hole
+at the bottom of the web, and seizing the poor fly dragged him out of
+sight and made his dinner off of him.
+
+Neddy dropped a piece of dry bark about the size of his thumb nail
+into the web, and it slipped down and covered the hole through which
+the spider had to come for his prey. Instantly the piece of bark was
+pushed up by the spider, who came out of his den and ran around on the
+slender cords of his web in a troubled kind of way. Then he tried to
+get back into his hidden chamber, but the piece of bark covered the
+entrance like a shut door. And now Mr. Spider was in a terrible
+flurry. He ran wildly up one side of his web and down another; then he
+tugged at the piece of bark, trying to drag it out, but its rough
+edges took hold of the fine silken threads and tore them.
+
+"You'll catch no more flies in that web, old chap," said Neddy as he
+stood watching the spider.
+
+But Neddy was mistaken. Spider did not belong to the give-up class. If
+the thing could not be done in one way, it might in another. He did
+not reason about things like human beings, but then he had instinct,
+as it is called, and that teaches animals how to get their food, how
+to build their houses or make their nests, and how to meet the dangers
+and difficulties that overtake them in life. After sitting still for a
+little while, spider went to work again, and this time in a surprising
+way. He cut a circle close around the piece of bark as neatly as you
+could have done with a pair of sharp scissors, and lo! it dropped to
+the ground, leaving a hole in the web about the size of a ten-cent
+piece.
+
+"Rather hard on the web, Mr. Landpirate," said Neddy, laughing. "Flies
+can go through there as well as chips."
+
+When he called the spider a land-pirate, Neddy was wrong. He was no
+more a pirate--that is, one who robs and murders--than is the
+woodpecker or swallow, for they feed on worms and insects. The spider
+was just as blameless in his work of catching and eating flies as was
+Neddy's white bantam when she went off into the fields after
+grasshoppers.
+
+But Neddy's laugh at the spider was soon cut short. The most difficult
+part of his work was done when he got rid of the piece of bark. As
+soon as that was out of his way he began moving backward and forward
+over the hole he had cut in the web, just as if he were a weaver's
+shuttle, and in about ten minutes it was all covered with gauzy
+lacework finer than ever was worn by a queen.
+
+"I'll give it up, old fellow," exclaimed Neddy, taking a long breath
+as he saw the work completed. "This just beats me out." Spider crept
+down into his den again to wait for another fly, and Neddy, leading
+Tony, went on his way pleased and wondering.
+
+
+
+
+THE SPARROW.
+
+
+    Thou humblest bird that wings the air, the Master cares for thee;
+    And if he cares for one so small, will he not care for me?
+
+    His eye looks on thee from above, he notices thy fall;
+    And if he cares for such as thee, does he not care for all?
+
+    He feeds thee in the sweet spring-time, when skies are bright and
+            blue;
+    He feeds thee in the autumn-time, and in the winter too.
+
+    He leads thee through the pathless air, he guides thee in thy
+            flight;
+    He sees thee in the brightest day, and in the darkest night.
+
+    Oh, if his loving care attends a bird so mean and small,
+    Will he not listen to my voice when unto him I call?
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Mrs. Pike talks to Sarah and Jane}]
+
+MRS. PIKE'S PRISONERS.
+
+A TRUE STORY.
+
+
+Early on a cloudy April afternoon, many years ago, several little
+girls were playing in a village door-yard, not far from the fence
+which separated it from a neighbor's. They were building a play-house
+of boards, and were so busily occupied, that none of them had noticed
+a lady standing at a little four-paned window in the house the other
+side of the fence, who had been intently regarding them for some time.
+The window was so constructed as to swing back like a door, and being
+now open, the lady's face was framed against the dark background of
+the room, producing the effect of a picture. 'Twas a strange face,
+sallow and curiously wrinkled, with a nose like the beak of a hawk,
+and large black eyes, which seemed to be endowed with the power of
+perpetual motion. These roved from one to another of the busy
+builders, till suddenly one of them seemed to be aware that some one
+was looking at her, and turned towards the little window.
+
+"Ah, I know you, Wealthy Robbins! Come here a minute, my little dear,"
+spoke the lady, in a shrill, quavering voice. And she beckoned to her
+with a hooked finger like a claw. But Wealthy shrank back, murmuring,
+"I don't want to," almost under her breath, and nudging with her elbow
+the nearest girl; "Hannah, Mrs. Pike wants something. See!"
+
+"Is that you, Hannah Green? Come over here, and I'll give you a piece
+of my Passover candy." And the lady waved in the air a long candle-rod
+entwined with a strip of scarlet flannel, which made it look like a
+mammoth stick of peppermint candy.
+
+This attracted the attention of all the girls, and going close to the
+fence, they peered through, while she besought them, with enticing
+promises and imploring eyes, to come around under the window, for she
+had something to tell them.
+
+"Don't let's go," whispered Mary Green, the oldest of the group.
+"Mother told me never to go near her window when she's standing there,
+for she's a crazy woman. That stick isn't candy no more than I am."
+
+"Come, Sarah; I always knew you were a kind little girl," said Mrs.
+Pike, in a coaxing tone, to the youngest and smallest of the group;
+"_do_ come here just a minute."
+
+At last, Sarah Holmes and her sister Jane went around, and stood under
+the little window. Jane said it could do no harm just to go and see
+what Mrs. Pike wanted, and if _she_ was shut up in jail, she guessed
+she'd want a good many things.
+
+"Now, you dear little lambs, you see I'm all alone in the house; and
+they've gone away, and forgotten to give me my dinner; and I'm _very_
+hungry. All I want is a little unleavened bread, for this is Passover
+Day, you know. Well, you just climb in through the dining-room window,
+little Sarah,--Jane can help you,--and unlock my door, so I can go to
+the buttery and get some bread. Then I'll bring you out a nice saucer
+mince pie, and come back here, and you can lock me in. They'll never
+know; and I shall starve if you don't take pity on me."
+
+After some whispering together, the little girls did as they were
+bidden, notwithstanding the warnings of their mates the other side of
+the fence. When they had disappeared from view, Mary Green turned
+away, and began to hammer, as though she was driving a nail into Mrs.
+Pike's head, or Jane Holmes's, or somebody's, ejaculating, "I guess
+they'll rue this day."
+
+Which prophetic words came very near being verified at the moment
+they were spoken. For no sooner had Jane unlocked the door of Mrs.
+Pike's room, than out sprang that lady, and clutched one of the little
+girls with either hand, almost shrieking, "Ah, I know you! you belong
+to that wicked and rebellious tribe of Korah. Why didn't you come over
+to the help of the mighty immediately? Now, you shall see how _you_
+like dwelling in the Cave of Machpelah for a day and a night, and a
+month and a year, until He shall come whose right it is to reign."
+
+And she thrust the trembling, awe-struck children into the room that
+had been her prison, and turned the key upon them. Then away she
+strode out of the house and up the street, a noticeable figure, truly,
+in her short yellow nankeen dress, with pantalets of the same, and
+neat white Quaker cap, with long white ribbons crossed under her chin,
+and carrying an immense umbrella over her head. It was strange that
+none of the nearest neighbors should see her pass. The front door was
+on the opposite side of the house from where the little girls were
+playing; so they did not observe her exit; and thus it happened that
+the crazy lady, who had been confined in the house for weeks, escaped
+without any check upon her triumphant progress. Busy women, seeing her
+from their windows, thought Mrs. Pike must be better again, to be out,
+and did wish her friends wouldn't let her walk the streets looking
+like a Dutch woman. Boys paused in their games almost respectfully, as
+she passed by; for notwithstanding her strange appearance and rapid
+movements, there was an air of mysterious command about the woman
+which checked any rudeness.
+
+"There goes Madam Pike," exclaimed one ragged-kneed boy, when she had
+passed out of hearing. "Got on her ascension-robe--hasn't she? Wonder
+if that umberil will help her any? I say, boys, do you suppose all the
+saints that walk the streets of the new Jerusalem look like her?"
+
+While Mrs. Pike walked rapidly on, with a keen appreciation of the
+fresh air and occasional gleams of sunshine, the little prisoners
+drooped like two April violets plucked and thrown upon the ground.
+They were so frightened and awe-struck, that the idea of calling for
+help from the open window did not occur to them; and they crouched
+upon the floor, melancholy and mute. After a while, some odd-looking
+garments, hanging in a row on one side of the room, attracted their
+attention; but they did not dare to go near them at first. Mrs. Pike
+was what was called a Second Adventist, and had read the Bible and
+Apocrypha with a fiery zeal, and an earnest determination to find
+therein proof of what she believed, and had attended Second Advent
+meetings, and exhorted wherever she could get a hearing, until her
+poor brain was crazed. But lately her husband and friends had kept her
+in doors as much as possible; and she spent most of the time knitting
+ascension-robes for the saints of the twelve tribes of the house of
+Judah. These were long garments, coming nearly to the feet, each of a
+single color, royal purple and blue being her favorites. She said that
+she must improve every moment, lest the great and dreadful day of the
+Lord should come, and she should not be ready, i. e., would not have a
+robe prepared for each of the saints to ascend in. When her son, a boy
+of twelve, died, she had him buried by the front doorstep, so, when
+the procession of saints should pass out at the door, Erastus could
+join them immediately, and not have to come from the burying-ground, a
+mile away.
+
+It was after sunset when Mr. Pike passed along the village street, on
+his way home, and was informed by a good woman, standing at her gate,
+that his wife had gone by about one o'clock, and that, not long after,
+Jane and Sarah Holmes were missed. Some little girls they had been
+playing with had seen them get into Mr. Pike's house through the
+dining-room window, and that was the last that had been seen or heard
+of them. Mrs. Holmes was going on dreadfully; for she thought that, as
+likely as not, Madam Pike had thrown them down in the well, or hid
+them where they would never be found, and then run away. The
+bewildered man hurried home to harness his horse, and go in search of
+his wife; for, with a trust in her better nature, worthy of a woman,
+he believed that she would tell him where the children were, if she
+knew. Fortunately, he found her in a tavern about a mile from home,
+preaching, as the children would say. As usual, she was exhorting her
+hearers to prepare for the great and terrible day of the Lord, etc.,
+etc.; but when her husband appeared in the doorway, the thread of her
+discourse was suddenly broken, and she turned and accosted him with,
+"Ah, Mr. Pike, have you seen my prisoners in the Cave of Machpelah?
+They belong to that wicked and rebellious tribe of Korah, you know."
+
+"Well, Mary, let's go home, and see how they are getting along," said
+he, in a confident tone; for he instantly divined who her prisoners
+were, and that the Cave of Machpelah could not be far away.
+
+Mrs. Pike was quite willing to go with him, and worried all the way
+home; for she said prisoners were always in mischief, and there were
+the robes hanging in the cave, which she had forgotten to put out of
+their reach. So when they arrived, her first act was to unlock the
+door of the children's prison. And her next was to pounce upon them
+with even more vigor than when she emerged from it in the afternoon.
+For there they lay asleep on the carpet, Jane in a purple robe, and
+Sarah in a green, their hands and feet invisible by reason of the
+great length of their garments.
+
+"Don't hurt them, Mary," said Mr. Pike. For she was hustling off the
+precious robes before the little girls were fairly awake; and they
+might have fared hardly, had not the kind man been present to see that
+justice was done; to wit, that they were compensated for their
+imprisonment by pockets full of cakes and fruit, and sent home to
+their mother without delay. That happy woman did not send them
+supperless to bed, nor say a word about punishing them, either then or
+afterwards. Perhaps she guessed that their punishment had already been
+sufficiently severe.
+
+"O, mother," said Jane, "at first we didn't dare to stir or speak, for
+fear the crazy lady was listening; and she seemed angry enough to kill
+us. I felt as if my hair was turning gray, and Sarah looked as white
+as the wall. Well, after a great many hours, we began to look about
+the room, and we saw those queer gowns she knits, hanging in a row;
+and we got up and looked at them. By and by we got so tired doing
+nothing, that we took them down and tried them on, and played we were
+the saints. We tried to fly, but the old things were so heavy and
+long, that we couldn't even jump. And after a while we were so tired
+that we lay down and went to sleep, and never woke till Mrs. Pike came
+home. O, but 'twas the lonesomest, longest, dreariest afternoon we
+ever, ever knew--wasn't it, Sarah?"
+
+This was the story, with variations, which the Holmes girls had to
+tell to their mates the next day, and the next, and so on, until it
+ceased to be a novelty.
+
+But Mrs. Pike's prisoners were heroines, in the estimation of the
+village girls and boys, for more than one year, and doubtless still
+remember and tell to their children the story of their afternoon in
+the Cave of Machpelah.
+
+                                                    M. R. W.
+
+
+
+
+WAR AND PEACE.
+
+
+WAR.
+
+    The warrior waves his standard high,
+      His falchion flashes in the fray;
+    He madly shouts his battle-cry,
+      And glories in a well-fought day.
+    But Famine's at the city gate,
+      And Rapine prowls without the walls;
+    The city round lies desolate,
+      While Havoc's blighting footstep falls.
+    By ruined hearths, by homes defiled,
+      In scenes that nature's visage mar,
+    We feel the storm of passions wild,
+      And pluck the bitter fruit of war.
+
+
+PEACE.
+
+    The cobweb hangs on Sword and belt,
+      The charger draws the gliding plow;
+    The cannons in the furnace melt,
+      And change to gentle purpose now;
+    The threshers swing their ponderous flails,
+      The craftsmen toil with cheerful might;
+    The ocean swarms with merchant sails,
+      And busy mills look gay by night;
+    The happy land becomes renowned,
+      As knowledge, arts, and wealth increase,
+    And thus, with plenty smiling round,
+      We cull the blessed fruits of peace.
+
+[Illustration: WAR.]
+
+
+
+
+CHERRY-TIME.
+
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      We children used to say--
+    "The merriest throughout the year,
+      For all is bright and gay."
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      The air is fresh and sweet,
+    And fair flowers in the garden bloom,
+      And daisies 'neath our feet.
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      For hanging on the tree,
+    All round and glistening in the sun,
+      The pretty fruit we see.
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      Up in the tree so high
+    We children climbed, and, laughing, said,
+      "Almost into the sky."
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      The robins thought so too,
+    And helped themselves to "cherries ripe"
+      While wet with morning dew.
+
+    "Oh, cherry-time is a merry time!"
+      The sunshine and the showers
+    Of God's rich mercy fall on us
+      In happy childhood's hours.
+
+[Illustration: CHERRY-TIME.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The boys in the pond, fishing with rods}]
+
+THE DAVY BOYS' FISHING-POND.
+
+
+"Boys," said Mr. Davy, "how would you like to have a fishing-pond?"
+
+The five boys looked at him eagerly, to see if he were in earnest.
+
+"O, splendid, papa!" say they in chorus; "but how _can_ we have a
+fishing-pond?"
+
+"You know that hollow down in the pasture," continued Mr. Davy, "and
+what a blemish it is upon the farm. I have wondered if we could not
+make it useful in some way, and at the same time improve the looks of
+things. I think we might build an embankment upon the open side, make
+the slope steeper all round, bring the water into it from the creek,
+and so have a fishing-pond. We should have to make a race-way from the
+creek to the pond, and cut a channel through the meadow, in which the
+water could flow back to the creek again below the fall. I think it
+could be done," said Mr. Davy, after a pause, "only there would be a
+great deal of work necessary, and we could hardly afford to hire it
+done."
+
+"O, father, _we_ can do the digging," shouted five voices in chorus;
+"we can do it with our spades and wheelbarrows. School doesn't begin
+for a month yet, and we can get it all done in that time."
+
+"Hurrah for a fish-pond!" cried Percy, and in imagination he fairly
+felt the bites of the three-pound trout he was to catch before summer
+was over.
+
+Mr. Davy is a practical farmer. By that I mean that he cultivates the
+land with his own hands. He, with his men, and those of the boys who
+are old enough, are in the fields every morning in summer by five
+o'clock, ploughing, planting, sowing, or milking the cows, and, later
+in the season, haying, harvesting, or threshing. Tommy, the eldest of
+his sons, is thirteen years old; Clarence, the youngest, is five.
+
+Mr. Davy had been thinking of the fishing-pond for some time, and had
+matured the plan in his mind before speaking of it to the boys. The
+morning after the conversation of which I have told you, I saw the
+five boys standing in thoughtful silence upon the bank above the
+hollow in the pasture. I do not believe the engineer who is planning
+the bridge across the British Channel, to connect England and France,
+feels anymore responsibility than did the Davy boys that morning.
+
+"May we begin to-day, father?" said they, eagerly, at breakfast-time.
+
+"Yes; and Patrick can help you," was the reply.
+
+The horses were harnessed to the plough, and driven to the hollow.
+Patrick was instructed how to proceed. He put the reins round his
+neck, and took firm hold of the handles. "Go on wid ye, now!" he cried
+to the horses. A furrow was soon turned, and the fish-pond fairly
+begun.
+
+"Your work," said Mr. Davy to the boys, "will be to wheel away the
+earth which Patrick ploughs out. The first thing is to lay a plank
+for your wheelbarrows to run upon."
+
+Tommy and George soon brought the planks from the tool-house. Blocks
+were laid the proper distance apart to sustain them, and, after two or
+three hours' work, a line of plank, which looked to the boys as grand
+as the new Pacific Railway, stretched across the hollow. The little
+laborers went in to dinner flushed with excitement and hard work, but
+as happy, I dare say, as if they had been to Barnum's Museum, and seen
+the wax figures and wild animals.
+
+Patrick had, during the forenoon, ploughed a good many furrows, and
+now the boys were busy enough carrying away the earth. Each had a
+wheelbarrow of his own--Clarence's a toy, which, with a tiny spade,
+his father had brought from the city with a view to the work now in
+progress. It required a steady hand to keep the wheelbarrows upon the
+plank. They _would_ run off once in a while, and then all hands
+halted, and lifted them upon the track again. The earth was to be
+deposited--"dumped," the boys said--upon the site of the new
+embankment. As the first loads were overturned, Mr. Davy made his
+appearance.
+
+"This fish-pond must have an outlet, you know," said he, "at the point
+where the bottom is lowest. I will measure it off for you, and drive
+three stakes on either side. Here we will have a gate; for our pond
+will need emptying and cleaning occasionally. Fish will not live in
+impure water."
+
+The boys were delighted. All this excavating, laying out of
+earthworks, and planning of gate-way, seemed like real engineering.
+They were reenforced, after a while, by Patrick and the horses; and
+then how suddenly they became tired, his shovelfuls were so large in
+comparison with theirs--his wagon carried away so much more at a load!
+
+Pretty early that evening little Clarence crept into his mother's
+lap, and told her a marvellous story of the amount of earth he had
+wheeled away; but his tired little eyes acted as though some of it had
+blown between their lids; and soon mamma tucked him away for twelve
+hours' sleep.
+
+The hollow in the pasture, I forgot to say, was half an acre in
+extent, and appeared as though Nature had scooped it out on purpose to
+make a place for the Davy boys' fishing-pond. The creek, too, running
+nearly alongside, was there to supply it with water.
+
+"What shall we ever do with that hill?" said Percy, pointing to a rise
+of ground on one side the hollow, as he and his brothers were
+surveying their work; "we never can cart all that away, nor dig up
+those trees, either."
+
+"Let's leave it for an island," said Frank--"a _real_ island--land
+with water all round it" (he had just begun studying geography); "and
+the trees will make a splendid grove, where we can have picnics."
+
+"The island will afford a harbor for the boat, too," said Mr. Davy,
+who had just joined the children. "I suppose you will want a boat on
+your pond--will you not?"
+
+The boys could scarcely believe their ears. A boat of their own, on
+their own pond! They had never dreamed of anything half so nice.
+
+"Time to be at work!" said Mr. Davy.
+
+All the forenoon, as I watched them from my window, I saw the
+embankment growing slowly, but steadily, while the sloping sides of
+the hollow became steeper and steeper. At night a visible step had
+been taken towards a fishing-pond.
+
+I cannot tell you about every one of the days during which the Davy
+boys worked so industriously. At last, however, the excavation was
+completed, the embankment raised to the desired height. The frame for
+the gate-way stood firm between its crowding sides. Gates were in
+progress at the carpenter's, made of solid plank, a door sliding up
+and down over an open space near the bottom. This was easily worked by
+means of a handle at the top.
+
+"And now," said Mr. Davy, "to get the water into the pond. Patrick and
+Michael must build a dam a little way up the creek and the race-way
+from a point just above. We shall need a gate similar to the one at
+the outlet."
+
+The boys were glad to give way to Patrick and Michael, when it came to
+building dams and race-ways. In the mean time they assisted the mason
+who was lining the embankment on either side the gate with stone, to
+protect it against the action of the water. The stone-boat, a little,
+flat vehicle which slides over the ground without wheels, was brought
+out, for piles of stone were to be drawn from a distant part of the
+farm.
+
+"But I shall want one of you to carry the hod for me," said the mason.
+
+It was arranged that they should take turns at this; so one would stay
+and fill with mortar the queer little box which hod-carriers use, and
+bear it on his shoulders to the mason, who was fast laying the curved
+wall.
+
+"Why do you have the wall laid in this rounding shape, papa?" asked
+George. "Why not have it straight?"
+
+"Because the curve makes it stronger to resist the force of the water.
+You notice that the mason chooses stones which are larger at one end
+than at the other. He lays them so that the larger ends form the outer
+side of the curve--the smaller form the inner or shorter side, as you
+see by looking at this wall. The stones, thus wedged against each
+other, could not be as easily forced out of place as if they were
+square in shape, and laid in a straight line. Imagine the water
+pressing upon the inner side of the curve. How readily the wall would
+give way, and the water come pouring through! Have you never observed,
+children," continued Mr. Davy, "that in bridges, culverts, or any
+structure which is to sustain a heavy weight, the foundations are
+always laid in the form of an arch?"
+
+"Yes, papa," answered George; "but I never knew why it was. I see now
+that it is to make them strong."
+
+The boys had quite enough of hod-carrying and stone-quarrying before
+the wall was done. In fact, Patrick was pressed into the service
+repeatedly. The hod became too uneasy a burden for the boys'
+shoulders, even though it was padded with sheep-skin.
+
+A channel to convey the water from the pond was now the only thing
+wanting. This was speedily begun, and the little workmen found
+themselves down in a trench behind a low rampart of earth.
+
+"Let's play we are soldiers," said George. "We'll have Patrick and
+Michael for captain and lieutenant (only they must work, if they _are_
+officers), and papa for general and engineer."
+
+Each little soldier did his best. The officers worked faithfully. The
+engineer came round often, and the dark thread across the bright,
+green meadow spun out rapidly.
+
+"Let's elect Frank quartermaster," said Tommy; "then he'll go to
+headquarters, and make requisition for rations. _I_ think it's time
+for dinner."
+
+"Tell mother to send a big basketful, Frank. Soldiers get awful
+hungry," said Percy.
+
+"Tell mother we want to make coffee in the field, too," said George.
+"Real soldiers do."
+
+I fear that Patrick and Michael did most of the work after this, for
+the department of the commissary seemed to require the attention of
+all the boys.
+
+Mamma was willing to issue rations in the field. "But," said she,
+"soldiers often have only hard tack and coffee. I suppose you will
+want nothing more."
+
+This was a view of the case for which the boys were not prepared. They
+did not wish to seem unsoldierly, but they were very hungry.
+
+"You know, mother," said Percy, "soldiers had bacon sometimes with
+their hard tack."
+
+"And we are only _playing_ soldiers. We ain't _real_ soldiers," said
+matter-of-fact Clarence.
+
+His brothers were quite ashamed that he should give this as a reason
+for wanting a good dinner, yet when they saw the pies and cakes going
+into the basket, they made no remarks.
+
+While the quartermaster was at the house, Tommy and George had built a
+fire, to boil the coffee. Two crotched stakes were driven firmly in
+the ground. A stout rod lay across them, and on this hung the kettle.
+A lively fire was burning underneath, the water boiling. In a few
+moments the coffee was made.
+
+After washing carefully in the creek,--for everything must be done as
+soldiers do,--all sat down in a circle on the ground. The coffee was
+served in tin cups; but shall I confess that our soldiers were so
+unsoldierlike as to drink it with cream and sugar?
+
+Patrick and Michael partook; but as they were absent directly
+afterwards, under pretence of smoking a noon pipe, I fancy they ate
+still further rations in the farm-house kitchen. The boys, however,
+said it was the best dinner they ever ate in their lives.
+
+They were now ready for a visit from the general. "We will have these
+breastworks," said he, "smoothed down in regular shape, and sow
+grass-seed upon them, so that in a few weeks there will be a green
+slope in place of these unsightly clods."
+
+I assure you that as I look from my window while writing this story,
+those slopes appear very pretty, with the merry, sparkling stream
+flowing between.
+
+But I must hasten; for you will be anxious to know that the pond,
+gates, outlet, and all were done at last. Then came the day upon which
+the water was to be let in. A great day it was for the whole
+neighborhood. All the boys for a mile round were there to see.
+
+When everything was ready, Mr. Davy, who was up at the dam, hoisted
+the gate; the water came rushing through; in a few moments it had
+reached the end of its course, and poured over into the pond.
+
+Such a shout as rose from the throats of the forty or fifty boys! It
+must have surprised those placid meadows and the great solemn rocks
+around. And you would have thought the sleepy old hills had actually
+been startled into life, such sounding echoes they sent back in
+answer.
+
+The water spread itself thinly at first over the bottom of the pond.
+Slowly it rose; the little hollows were filled up, the slight
+elevations hidden from sight. Gradually it closed round the tiny green
+island which stood out above its surface like an emerald set in
+shining silver. By night the pond was full. The water began running
+over the top of the gate, making the prettiest little waterfall, and
+over it a light spray rose softly towards the evening sky.
+
+Bright and early the next morning there was commotion at the Davys'.
+The boys were going to Maxwell's Creek, ten miles away, fishing. Mrs.
+Davy was stirring round, preparing their lunch. George and Percy
+hurried to the stable.
+
+"Come, Brown Billy," said Percy to the favorite pony; "time to get up
+and have your breakfast. We are all going fishing to-day;" and he laid
+his hand smartly upon the pony's back.
+
+Brown Billy raised his head, opened his eyes in astonishment to see
+the boys so early in his stall; but hearing their merry voices, he
+seemed to understand the situation at once, and to be in full sympathy
+with them. An extra allowance of oats was put in the manger, and while
+the boys were eating their breakfast in the house, Brown Billy
+leisurely munched his in the stable. Then, after a draught from the
+pump, he was put into the traces. Two casks and a large basket were
+lifted in, the luncheon deposited, and soon they were on their way.
+The sun was just peeping above the horizon, spreading a crimson glory
+over every hill, and tree, and shrub; but this was so familiar a sight
+to the Davy boys, that it caused no remark, though they were not
+insensible to its beauty.
+
+The scene of their day's sport was a beautiful glen among the hills,
+through which the stream, a genuine, untaught child of the woods,
+jumped and tumbled at its own wild will, now leaping from precipices
+in the loveliest cataracts, then fretting noisily over its stony bed,
+and, a little farther on, flowing as smoothly as if it never thought
+of foaming or fretting in all its course.
+
+Tommy tied Brown Billy to a tree, giving him a long tether, that he
+might pick at the fresh grass.
+
+Trout are the most delicate of fishes, and require careful treatment.
+Indeed, they are quite the aristocracy of the finny tribe. Mr. Davy
+had given Patrick directions not to allow them to be caught with a
+hook, as it could not be taken from their mouths without causing much
+pain, and perhaps death.
+
+Patrick chose a place in the stream where the channel was narrow, but
+deep, and waded in.
+
+"Now, boys," said he, "yes all go above a little way, wade out into
+the sthrame, and bate the wather with yer fish-poles. This will drive
+thim down, and I'll see what I can do wid the basket."
+
+The boys pulled off shoes and stockings, and rolled their trousers
+above the knees. Clarence sat on the bank, paddling with his bare feet
+in the stream. Stepping out into the creek, they hopped from one mossy
+stone to another, the water pleasantly laving their feet. Standing in
+a row across the stream, they began beating rather gently, at the same
+time walking slowly forward, hoping to drive the fish before them.
+Presently Patrick brought up the basket, the water streaming from it
+as it did from Simple Simon's sieve, and in the bottom, wriggling and
+squirming, lay four fine trout. Tommy seized the basket, and in an
+instant the fish were within the cask, in their native element again,
+though in rather close quarters. The boys hung over the barrel, gazing
+at the pretty creatures with intense delight. The sun shone down into
+the water, making the bright spots on their sides look like gold.
+
+"Never mind, little trout," said Franky; "you are not going to be
+hurt--only moved to our fish-pond."
+
+Do you not think they enjoyed that day far more because there was no
+cruelty in their sport?
+
+Their amusement was varied by a delicious lunch, and an occasional
+ramble through the woods. Towards evening they drove home, elated with
+their success. The cask contained nearly as many fish as could swim.
+The second cask was filled with fresh water, to replace that in the
+first when it should no longer be fit for the use of the fish. These
+delicate little trout are so sensitive to any impurity, that they
+could not have remained in the same water during the drive home
+without suffering. Indeed, they might have died before reaching the
+pond.
+
+My young readers may not know that fish breathe an element of the
+water which is a part of air also. In fact, the same element which
+sustains us sustains them also, viz., oxygen. Only one ninth part of
+water, however, is oxygen, while of air it is one fifth. I dare say
+you have all seen goldfishes, shut up in crystal prisons, swimming
+their endless round in a quart or two of water. Perhaps you have
+observed them lifting their heads above the surface, mouths wide open,
+gasping for breath. The oxygen is exhausted from the water, and unless
+it be speedily changed their mistress will lose her beautiful pets.
+
+The trout were put into the pond--a small beginning, to be sure; but
+it _was_ a beginning. How lonely they must have been at first! What a
+boundless ocean it must have seemed to them!
+
+We will hope they found some cosy harbor in the grassy-lined sides of
+the island, where they could meet together and talk over their strange
+experience of moving. Plenty of company came soon, however; for all
+the boys in the neighborhood were interested in stocking the pond.
+
+A boat was in progress in Mr. Davy's tool-house. The boys watched
+every inch of its growth, from the shaping of the skeleton frame to
+the last dash of the paint-brush. When it was done, the seats put
+across from side to side, the coatings of white paint laid on, and
+elevated upon four stakes to dry its glistening sides, the boys
+thought nothing was ever half so beautiful; but when they saw it upon
+the pond, gently rocking from side to side, the oars hanging in the
+locks, and lazily swaying to the motion of the water, it seemed to
+them more beautiful still.
+
+This is not all a fancy sketch, dear boys and girls. Perhaps some of
+the farmer children who read it may persuade their papas to make a
+fishing-pond of some unsightly "hollow in the pasture" upon their own
+farms.
+
+                                                    L. M. D.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE SAVOYARD AND HIS DOG.]
+
+STORIES ABOUT DOGS.
+
+
+A Newfoundland dog belonging to a gentleman in Edinburgh was in the
+habit of receiving a penny each day from his master, which he always
+took to a baker's shop and bought a loaf of bread for himself. One day
+a bad penny was given him by a gentleman by way of frolic. Dandie ran
+off with it to the baker's, as usual, but was refused a loaf. The poor
+dog waited a moment, as if considering what to do; he then returned to
+the house of the gentleman who had given him the bad coin; and when
+the servant opened the door, he laid it at her feet and walked away
+with an air of contempt.
+
+Some dogs are fond of music, while others seem not to be affected by
+it in the slightest degree. These two anecdotes are related by the
+author of a recent volume. He is speaking of a friend: "As soon as the
+lamp is lighted and placed on the sitting-room table, a large dog of
+the water-spaniel breed usually jumps up and curls himself around the
+lamp. He never upsets it, but remains perfectly still. Now, my friend
+is very musical, but during the time the piano is being played the dog
+remains perfectly unmoved, until a particular piece is played. He will
+not take the slightest notice of loud or soft pieces, neither
+sentimental nor comic, but instantly the old tune entitled 'Drops of
+Brandy' is played, he invariably raises his head and begins to howl
+most piteously, relapsing into his usual state of lethargy as soon as
+this tune is stopped. My friend cannot account for this action of the
+dog in any way, nor can we learn from any source the reason of its
+dislike.
+
+"Again, the wife of a hotel-keeper, lately deceased, possessed a pet
+lap-dog which delighted in listening to its mistress playing on the
+piano; if the usual hour for her daily practice passed by, the dog
+would grow impatient, snap and bark, and be perfectly uneasy until the
+lady consented to gratify its wishes by sitting down to the instrument
+and playing a few tunes. During this operation the dog would sit
+motionless on a chair by her side; and when the music was ended, he
+would jump down, quite satisfied for that day."
+
+
+
+
+A CHILD'S PRAYER.
+
+
+    Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me;
+      Bless thy little lamb to-night;
+    Through the darkness be thou near me,
+      Keep me safe till morning light.
+
+    Through the day thy hand hath led me,
+      And I thank thee for thy care;
+    Thou hast warmed and fed and clothed me,
+      Listen to my evening prayer.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A man jumps from one steam locomotive to another}]
+
+JOHN STOCKS AND "THE BISON."
+
+
+One winter afternoon, as Archy Douglas sat studying his lessons, Mrs.
+Falkoner, the housekeeper, came to invite him to have tea in her room.
+While they were at the table, they heard the kitchen bell ring, at
+which Mrs. Falkoner seemed surprised, for she said the weather would
+incline few people to leave their own firesides.
+
+It turned out, however, to be a visitor for Mrs. Falkoner herself, for
+in a few minutes one of the servants came to say a person who called
+himself John Stocks wanted to see her, and John presented himself in
+the doorway without further delay.
+
+An active man, with the look, at first sight, of the mate of a ship,
+he stood gently stamping the snow off his boots on the door mat,
+laughing in a low tone, as if he was very much pleased to see the
+worthy Mrs. Falkoner, and was enjoying her stare of astonishment to
+the full.
+
+"Dear bless me, John, is it really you?" said Mrs. Falkoner, almost
+running to meet him. "Whatever wind has blown you here?"
+
+"No wind at all, Mary; nought but the snow," he said, laughing: but
+correcting himself, he added, "Ah, well, there was a wind, after all,
+for we're fairly drifted up a few miles t'other side of the Junction;
+and so I got leave to run over and see you: not often I get the
+chance--is it, now?"
+
+All this time he had been taking off his outer coat; and when he was
+fairly in the room, Archy found he was a young man, certainly not more
+than thirty. He had crisp black hair, a bold, manly face, very red
+with exposure to the weather, and at the same time expressive of great
+determination of character. But one peculiarity about his face was,
+that though so young, his forehead was not only scarred and lined, but
+round his eyes and about his mouth it was puckered and wrinkled to a
+most extraordinary degree. Archy felt a great curiosity about him,
+but was not long left in doubt, for Mrs. Falkoner took care to make
+her visitor known to the young gentleman as her youngest half brother
+and an engine-driver on the main line.
+
+A remarkably quiet man did John Stocks seem in regard to general
+conversation; he said very little about the weather, and less about
+things going on in the great world, and anything he did say on these
+topics had almost to be coaxed out of him. However, he evidently took
+great delight in giving all the family news, even to the most minute
+particular.
+
+"Of course you've heard," he said, warming one hand at the fire, "that
+Bob's come home from America. Then that old Thompson has given up the
+shop."
+
+"Yes; so I heard," said Mrs. Falkoner, pouring out another cup of tea,
+not appearing to take very great interest in them. "No accidents on
+your line lately, I hope."
+
+"Not much," was the answer, and he again went back to the family news.
+"Jenny's got a baby," he said, suddenly, with great glee, as if this
+piece of news was far before any other.
+
+This intelligence at least was news to Mrs. Falkoner, and she listened
+to all he had to say about it with great interest.
+
+But when Mrs. Falkoner was called away for a few minutes, it became
+necessary for Archy to entertain the visitor till her return.
+
+Of course Archy had many questions to put about the railway and the
+engines, and dangers and catastrophes. John was excessively civil, and
+on this subject was full of intelligence; but when he was asked if his
+own engine had broken down in the snow, he became quite horrified, if
+not indignant.
+
+"What, master, broke down?" he said. "Not a bit o't. I'd back the old
+Bison against a drift twice as heavy. But, d'ye see, when you comes
+and finds an engine and seven wagons o' minerals, and another engine,
+and wagons besides that all ahead o' ye, and stuck fast, why, I says,
+ye must give in. There ain't no use expecting yer engine to drive
+_through_ 'em, so must lie by till all's cleared, which won't be for
+five hours at least."
+
+"How is it that the line's blocked up now?" asked Archy. "There has
+been no more snow all day."
+
+"Ay, that's true, master," said the engine-driver. "But d'ye see, a
+mile from the Junction there's a bit of heavy cutting, with a steep
+sloping bank on either side. Now, this afternoon there was a slip;
+most all the snow drifted there, and part of the bank itself fell in,
+and so there is a block-up. As I said afore, the mineral train, she
+comes up first, and she sticks fast, and then we has to follow, as a
+matter in course. But had my old Bison been afront, he'd have done
+differently, I make no doubt."
+
+"Is your engine a much stronger one?" said Archy, greatly amused to
+hear how funny it was to call a train she, while he called the engine
+he, and by an animal's name, too.
+
+"It's not that he's stronger, sir, but he's got more go in him, has
+the Bison. He's an extraordinary plucky engine. I've seen him do
+wonderful things when Mat Whitelaw was driver, and me stoker to 'em.
+I'll just tell you one on 'em, and then ye can judge what sort o'
+stuff the Bison's made o'. It was one day in summer, some two years
+ago; we had just taken in water at the junction, and were about to run
+back to couple on the coaches, when an engine passed us tearing along
+at a tremendous speed on the other line o' rail, but, mark me, without
+a driver or stoker, or aught else on it. I thought my mate was mad,
+when he got up steam, and off in the same direction; but in a moment
+I saw what he was up to. The Bison was going in the chase. 'See to the
+brake, John,' was all Mat said, when off we were after the runaway at
+full speed. It seemed to me nought but a wild-goose chase; for, d'ye
+see, master, we were on another line o' rails altogether. But Mat knew
+what he was about, and it was my place to do his bidding. I was always
+proud o' the old Bison before that morning, but I never knew till then
+what a good engine was, and what was depending on it.
+
+"You would have thought he fairly snorted to his work, going at the
+rate o' forty miles an hour we were, and at last we got abreast o' the
+runaway engine, and could have passed him, but that would have been
+useless. There wasn't another driver on the whole line would have
+thought of the thing so quickly as Mat did, nor could have regulated
+the speed so nicely to a moment. The two different engines were
+running just opposite each other on the two different lines, the
+runaway being a good deal worn out now, and going much slower than at
+first, when Mat he says to me, hoarsely, 'Jump across. It'll be safer
+if I stick here to hold the regulator; but I'll go, if you'd rather
+stay.' I had such confidence in Mat Whitelaw, that I could trust my
+life with him before any mortal man; and the instant he gave the word,
+I jumped, and did it safe. We each put on our brakes, and took breath,
+and desperately hot we both were, I can assure you."
+
+"Were you not terribly afraid?" said Archy, who had been almost
+breathless during the recital.
+
+"I can't say that we were," said John, coolly; "but I'll tell you I
+was frightened enough the next moment, when Mat looked at his watch,
+and sees that the down express was due in a few minutes on his line. I
+believe that Mat thought more o' the passengers that might be
+smashed, and the risk for the Bison, than o' his own safety. He said
+it would never do to reverse the engines now; but if we kept on, he
+thought there might yet be time to run into the siding at the nearest
+station. So on we went once more at increased speed, straight on
+ahead, though it was like running into the very face of the danger.
+The telegraph had been hard at work, and the station people had been
+laying their heads together, and they were at the points. So, when
+they heard the whistle, and saw Mat putting on the brake, they at once
+opened the points,--not a moment too soon, I can tell you,--and in he
+ran into the siding. Now, what Mat did, sir, was what I call about
+equal to most generals in war, and as great a benefit to society."
+
+"He must be a brave fellow," said Archy; "and I hope you were both
+rewarded for it."
+
+"The company behaved very handsome," was the answer. "Mat got on to
+the Great Western line at once; but the worst of it is, he and I are
+parted, and the old Bison; he felt his loss as much, if not more than
+me."
+
+Mrs. Falkoner, who had come in during the latter part of the story,
+now said,--
+
+"But tell the young gentleman what you did your own self, and what the
+company thought of your conduct."
+
+"Tuts, Mary," he answered; "I did nought extraordinary; there ain't a
+man in the service but could have done the same, had they known old
+Bison as well as I did."
+
+"I should like to hear it, John," said Archy, who was standing ready
+to leave the brother and sister alone.
+
+"Well, 'cept it be to tell you how I got to be driver of the Bison
+myself, it's not worth the listening to. When Mat left, Bill Jones got
+to be my mate--the worst driver on the line; at least he couldn't
+manage the Bison. He did not understand that engine one bit, and was
+constantly getting into trouble, till I was driven almost wild. Bill
+would say, 'Bison, indeed! he ought to be called Donkey; it would suit
+his kicking ways better.' It was quite true he kicked, but he never
+did it with Mat on him, and went along the rails as smooth as oil.
+Well, at one part o' the line, there is a gradual long incline, and
+one day we were just putting on more steam to run up, when we sees at
+the top two or three coaches coming tearing down straight upon us. We
+knew there was a heavy excursion train on ahead, and we had been going
+rather slow on that account, and this was some of the coaches that had
+got uncoupled from the rest. Well, Bill, my mate, no sooner saw it
+coming, than says he, 'Jump for your life!' and out he went. But I
+knew what a quick engine the Bison was, and, moreover, I saw our guard
+had noticed the danger, too, and would work with me; so I reversed
+the engine, and ran back, until the coaches came up to us, but did no
+further damage save giving us a bit of a shake as they struck on the
+old Bison; and so we drove them afore us right up to the station. Bill
+was killed, as might have been expected, for he had no faith in the
+Bison whatever; and so the company, they came to see I understood that
+engine, and they made me driver o' him from that time."
+
+Archy now bade the worthy engine-driver good night, saying that he
+should always take a greater interest in engines than ever before, and
+that he should have liked very much to have seen such a famous one as
+the Bison.
+
+John Stocks evidently took this speech as a personal compliment, and,
+in consequence, bade Archy a friendly good by, saying, as he did so,
+"that people nowadays talked of nothing but ships and extraordinary
+guns, and what not, but to his mind a good engine was before them
+all."
+
+                                        MRS. GEORGE CUPPLES.
+
+
+
+
+THE CHILDREN'S SONG.
+
+
+    Merrily sang the children, as their mother softly played;
+    With eager, outstretched faces a pretty group they made;
+    Their clear and bird-like voices ran loudly through the air,
+    Till "Baby" heard the music, and crept from stair to stair,
+    That she might join the singers, and in their gladness share.
+
+    Dear, merry little warblers! I love to hear you, too;
+    Your fresh, unworldly feelings, your hearts so fond and true,
+    Give to your songs a sweetness that no other strains possess;
+    They soothe the harassed spirit when troubles thickly press,
+    And evoke the warm petition, "O GOD, OUR CHILDREN BLESS!"
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS.]
+
+PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS.
+
+
+    How earnest Kate and Constance and Brother Willy look,
+    Counting up varied treasures, ship, bat and doll and book!
+
+    The three are very busy, and very happy too,
+    Trying to mend up old things to look almost like new.
+
+    The book was rather shabby, but Kate with paste and thread
+    Has made it firm and tidy, and rubbed it clean with bread.
+
+    And now, ere she resigns it, she lingers, glancing o'er
+    The pretty picture pages and well-known lines once more.
+
+    Constance has dressed the dolly--you see how nice it looks--
+    And all its things are fastened with little strings or hooks.
+
+    The ship with clean new rigging--Will's work--they eye with pride,
+    And they have quite a drawerful of other things beside--
+
+    Boxes of beads and sweeties, and many a top and ball,
+    Saved for the coming Christmas; and who's to have them all?
+
+    Not their own merry playmates, bright girl and happy lad,
+    Who'll meet for winter pastime like them well fed and clad.
+
+    No; children in close alleys, or the large workhouse near,
+    Our little friends--obeying Christ's words--will please and cheer.
+
+    And their own Christmas pleasures will seem more glad and sweet
+    For knowing such poor neighbors enjoy for once a treat.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A man stands over Que, who is asleep on his mailbag}]
+
+QUE.
+
+
+He was a wee bit of a boy to carry the United States mail on his
+back, seven miles, every day. He was only eleven years old, and as
+long, to an inch, as the mail bag, which was just three feet and
+eleven inches long. When he went along the road, you would sometimes
+see him, and sometimes the bag; that was as you happened to be on this
+or the other side of him. Many persons' hard hearts have been made to
+open a crevice, at sight of the little fellow, to let a little jet of
+pity spirt out for him. But "The Point" ran out three miles and a half
+to the south of the county road and the stage coach, and the nearest
+coach post-office; and because it was only a small point, and sparsely
+settled, it couldn't afford a horse for the short distance; and
+because it was a short distance, no man, or boy, who was able to do a
+full day's work, would break into it to walk the seven miles; and
+because it was seven miles, no one who was not well could walk so far
+every day, and the year round. So it happened that the job was up for
+bids one spring, and the person who would carry the mail from Gingoo
+to the Point for the smallest amount of money, was to have it for a
+year.
+
+One woman offered to carry it for eighty dollars; another for seventy;
+one big boy offered for sixty-five; he'd make the girls at home do the
+work, he said,--they hadn't anything else to do,--and he would give
+them each a new ribbon to pay for it: and between you and me, I am
+very glad that that boy didn't get the job.
+
+Without saying a word to his family about it, Que made up his mind
+that he would carry the mail himself. When the others sent in their
+bids he sent in his, for fifty dollars. _So_ it happened that Que was
+mail-carrier. He was so little and bow-legged, that there were not
+many things that he could do; for instance, he couldn't run. His head
+and feet were very large, and his arms and intermediate body very
+small; therefore he could dream and wonder what he should do when he
+grew up, and walk (with care) as much as he pleased, but was not a
+favorite among the boys in playing games.
+
+Of course he was not baptized into the name Que, but was called, by
+his parents and the christening minister, John Quincy Adams Pond, Jr.;
+named for his father, you see. They began to call him Que before he
+was out of his babyhood; for they had one boy named John Lee, but as
+they always called him Lee, they entirely forgot that fact till after
+the ceremony of Que's christening. And they really weren't much to
+blame, for they had nine other boys, and poor memories; and though
+both are misfortunes, they can't be helped. To avoid mixing their two
+Johns, they called one Lee and the other Que.
+
+Que looked upon seven miles a day as no walk at all, and upon fifty
+dollars a year as a fortune, and upon "United States mail-carrier" as
+a title little below "Hon." or "Esq." He had hoped, all his life, that
+he should, some fine day, have a right to one or the other of these
+titles. Probably the fact that his name already ended with a "Jr."
+excited his ambition in that particular direction. Money and dignity
+seemed to Que the two things most to be desired in life, unless I
+might add a small family.
+
+Now, we will leave Que's antecedents behind, and go on to his life
+while he carried the mail; and a very queer little life it was, as you
+will say when you get to the end of it, though I don't know when that
+will be, for Que isn't there himself yet. The mail contract was from
+July 1, 1860, to July 1, 1861, and if your mathematics are in good
+running order, you will see that that was just a year.
+
+July 1, 1860, was as fine a day in Gingoo as any day in the year; and
+Que was in as high spirits as on any day in the course of his life.
+Unfortunately the mail coach reached Gingoo exactly at forty minutes
+past eleven, unless the driver got drunk or fell asleep, which
+happened about two hundred and forty days in the year. But whether
+sober, drunk, or asleep, the four coach horses always stood before
+Gingoo office door by twelve o'clock at latest.
+
+It makes no difference to you or to me when the coach stood there; but
+it made a great deal of difference to Que, for twelve o'clock on the
+finest day in the year, and that day the first of July, is apt to be
+rather warm; and in the year 1860 it was _very_ warm. Nevertheless, at
+quarter past twelve, Que started with the bag. I, happening to be at
+the right side of him, saw only the bag start with Que.
+
+Perhaps you don't see why Que should have started right in the heat of
+the day; but if you had been Que, and could have heard all the
+Pointers clamoring for their mail, you would have started just when
+Que did. The mail-bag was made of very dark leather, and drew the sun
+tremendously. Now, as Que had on a pair of light linen pants and a
+little gray lined coat, of course he ought to have walked between the
+bag and the sun; but not being a scientific boy, he didn't think of
+that, and slung the bag over his sunny shoulder, and from that height
+it trailed to the ground.
+
+Que walked on as fast as he could, trying not to think too much of the
+heat and the weight; but the peculiar odor that the sun brought from
+the leather bag was blown up his nose, and down his throat, and into
+his ears, by a strong south wind that blew, and before Que had time to
+think whether he had better or better not, he was lying fast asleep by
+the side of the road, on the grass; rather he was lying on the
+mail-bag, and that was lying on the grass. Why didn't he fall on the
+other side? For two reasons; first, he was attracted mail-bag way by
+the sleepy odor before spoken of; and secondly, the weight was all
+that way, and as he began to sleep before he began to drop, of course
+the bag was his natural bed when he did drop.
+
+The Point road was lonesome, and it must have been quite an hour
+before any one came that way. Then a man and two horses, and a cart
+loaded high with laths, were seen coming over the hill; that is, they
+would have been seen, if Que hadn't been asleep just then.
+
+"Hollo! what's all this?" said the driver when he got opposite the bag
+and Que.
+
+"All this" neither stirred nor spoke.
+
+"Whoa! whoa, there!" called the driver to his horses.
+
+Now, if Que had been taking only a light, after-dinner nap, he would
+have been wide awake as soon as the cart stopped; for the hill was a
+long one, and the rumbling had been as long, and merely from lack of
+that lullaby, a well-conditioned boy should have wakened at once. But
+Que didn't.
+
+"I declare," said the driver, "if it ain't that bran new mail-boy!"
+Thereupon he went up and looked at him; but not being of a magnetic
+temperament, he didn't wake Que that way.
+
+"Bless the chick, if he isn't dead asleep," continued the driver,
+talking to himself. This driver had a habit of talking to himself, for
+he said, "then he was always sure of having somebody worth talking
+to."
+
+"Now, won't those Pointers growl for their mail, when it is a couple
+of hours late? The first day, too! Que'll catch it." Then he gave Que
+a little roll, so that he rolled from the bag over into the grass.
+
+"Well, I always _was_ a good-natured fellow. Guess I'll take his bag
+along for him, and save him the scolding."
+
+So the driver threw the bag on top of the load of laths, and left the
+bag-boy to sleep it out.
+
+When Que had slept half an hour longer, he started up, staring wide
+awake.
+
+"I've been asleep," said Que; and so he had.
+
+"My bag's been and gone," continued Que; and so it had.
+
+But he was a bright boy, and all the brighter, perhaps, for having
+just been asleep; so he looked round, which is a very good thing to do
+when you get into trouble, and the very thing that half the people in
+the world never think to do.
+
+"There are tracks in the grass; and there is a cart-track in the dust,
+and it had two horses, and these foot-tracks went back to it. Why, the
+lath man must have taken it;" and so he had.
+
+Que started towards the Point as fast as he could go, and
+consequently, when he got there, which was just fifty minutes after
+the bag got there, he had no breath left to ask any questions about
+it. Still he panted on to the post-office.
+
+"Who are you?" asked the postmaster.
+
+"I'm--a--bag," gasped Que.
+
+"Bag of wind!" said the postmaster, emphatically.
+
+"A--mail--bag!" said Que.
+
+"Humph! So you're the new mail boy--are you? Send your bag down by
+express, and came yourself by accommodation--didn't you?"
+
+"The lath man's got it; where is he?" Que had recovered his breath a
+little by this time.
+
+"I don't know anything about the lath man," growled the postmaster.
+
+But when Que began to cry, which he did at once, the postmaster
+couldn't stand that, for he had no children of his own, and his
+feelings, consequently, weren't hardened; so he dragged the bag from
+a corner, and threw it on Que's back.
+
+"There, take your bag, and go home, and don't be two hours late the
+first day, next time." He didn't stop to think that there cannot be
+two first days to the same thing. Que didn't stop to think of it,
+either, but started homewards as fast as his bow-legs would let him. I
+think he approximated more nearly to running, that day, than he ever
+had done in his life before.
+
+Que's nine brothers treated him with great respect, when he got home.
+The family had been to tea, but each one had saved some part of his
+supper for Que; so, though he had an indigestible mixture, there was
+plenty of it,--while it lasted.
+
+"Did you have a good time, Que?"
+
+"Was it fun?"
+
+"Did you get anything for it?"
+
+"Did you get tired?"
+
+"Going to keep it up?"
+
+"Can't I go next time?"
+
+"Do you like it?"
+
+"Did you see any boys?"
+
+"Anybody give you a lift?"
+
+How all together the questions did come! But the confusion of them
+saved Que from the trouble of answering the nine boys, and as soon as
+there was a lull, his father said,--
+
+"You were gone some time, sir; I hope you didn't stop to play on the
+road?"
+
+"O, no, sir," said Que. "I haven't played at all;" which was very
+true, you know.
+
+"Did there seem to be many letters?" asked his mother; and be it
+understood, that she asked quite as much because Que looked as if the
+bag had been heavy, as from feminine curiosity.
+
+"Didn't notice, ma'am; the bag wasn't very heavy;" and it wasn't,
+except on his conscience, and he knew his mother didn't mean that, at
+all.
+
+For several weeks after that everything went on smoothly enough. Que
+had a pretty good time, and found it some fun, and felt that he was
+getting something for it, and didn't get very tired, and kept it up,
+and never took any of his brothers with him, and liked the business,
+and saw a good many boys, and got a large number of "lifts" from
+hay-carts and wagons, and particularly from the lath man. So, in
+course of time, all the brothers' questions were satisfactorily
+answered.
+
+It is a way that the world has, to let you trip once, and then run on
+smooth ground some time, before it puts another snag in your way; and
+it made no exception in Que's favor. His drab clothes kept clean a
+long time, in spite of the leather bag, and washed well when they were
+not clean. The Gingoo postmaster took a fancy to him, and the Point
+post master refrained from tormenting him. The mails were not
+unbearably heavy nor the month of July remarkably hot after the first.
+Que had a good appetite for his supper, and plenty of supper to show
+it on, and slept long and heavily every night and a part of every
+morning, and thought that the world was a pretty good kind of place,
+after all. But that was only because he hadn't come to the second snag
+yet.
+
+One day, in the first end of August, a wind sprang up. It wasn't a
+very uncommonly high wind, only no one was expecting it, because the
+days had been muggy, and that made every one say, "Why, what a high
+wind there is to-day!"
+
+You and I can't tell why the wind should have gone on rising through
+the forenoon; but we can guess, which will answer our purpose just as
+well; for you know it is but little more than that that your father
+and his friends, and father's father and his friends, do, when they
+meet together and "express opinions."
+
+_I_ guess that the wind rose higher through the forenoon because, as
+soon as it began to play about in the morning, it caught the whisper
+of people's surprise, and thought it would take the hint, and blow
+them up a little.
+
+"What a dickens of a wind!" said Que, when he stood, or tried to
+stand, on top of the hill with his bag.
+
+Que had learned all the easy ways of carrying that bag long ago; of
+strapping it in a little roll over his shoulders when it wasn't very
+full; of carrying it on his head when it had enough inside to balance
+just right, and of strapping it round his body when it had nothing in
+it. But, as the days had been all stormless alike, he had been obliged
+to adapt himself only to the conditions of the bag, and not at all to
+the state of the weather.
+
+As the masculine mind is capable of taking in only one idea at a time,
+as soon as Que put his mind to the state of the weather, it drew
+itself away from the manner of carrying the bag.
+
+"Wish I had something between me and the wind," sighed he.
+
+Just then the wind blew off his hat, to teach him the polite order of
+mentioning two persons, of whom himself was one.
+
+Que followed after it as fast as he could, and let the bag drop beside
+him, and by chance it hung from his neck to the windward side.
+
+The wind blew very strong.
+
+"I do declare," said he, "I shouldn't wonder a bit if the wind blew me
+away."
+
+Que was a truthful boy; but he did wonder very much when he found, two
+seconds afterwards, that the wind _was_ blowing him away. But he
+didn't wonder at all, when he lay, a minute later, against a huge
+apple tree; partly because people generally get through wondering when
+they are at the end of anything, but mostly because the blow stunned
+Que, so that he didn't know anything for an hour.
+
+When he gradually came to himself, he didn't know where he was. Then a
+little wind shook a green apple down on his nose, and he concluded
+that he was under an apple tree; which was quite correct.
+
+Then he looked about to see whether he was in the United States or
+not; he saw the five juniper trees that had been standing in a row,
+half a mile from his father's house, ever since he could remember, and
+concluded that he must be; wherein he was again quite correct.
+
+Then he wondered if any one would come for him, for he felt so stiff
+and sore that he thought he never could go home alone.
+
+"They'll come for me, _I_ know; for if I've had a gale they must have
+had one; and if they have had one they'll know that I've had one. Of
+course they'll come."
+
+Que felt round for his mail-bag, and got his head on it, and waited.
+While he was lying there it occurred to him that the people down in
+the village wouldn't have been walking about with bags broader than
+themselves to windward of them, and mightn't have felt the breeze as
+he did; so his last reasoning wasn't correct at all.
+
+"I'll bet they didn't feel it a bit!" thought Que; and by this time he
+was so fully in possession of his original faculties, that his
+reasoning was quite correct again. No one else had felt the gale.
+
+Que put his head on the bag and thought that his end had come, and so
+cried himself to sleep.
+
+His family had not felt the gale very heavily; but when tea-time came,
+and Que didn't, they felt that; and when darkness came, and Que
+didn't, they felt that; and when a report came, with a growl, from
+the Point that they wanted their mail, Que's father started out with a
+lantern to find it.
+
+Que, having finished his nap, felt better, and tried to get up; but
+his ankle didn't want to move; and when he tried again it actually
+wouldn't move; so he lay down again to wait and watch. When he saw the
+lantern go by, he called, and his father came.
+
+"What are you doing here, sir?"
+
+"Nothing," said Que.
+
+"Get up, then."
+
+"I can't," said Que.
+
+"You've been asleep, sir."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Que.
+
+"What have you done with the mail-bag?"
+
+"It is the mail-bag that's done with me," said Que.
+
+Then his father took him by the collar, and stood him up, and saw at
+once what was the matter. Que had sprained his ankle.
+
+It seemed to Que, during the next four weeks, as if that ankle never
+would heal; but it did at last, and John Lee, who had carried the mail
+in the mean time, was loath to give the job to Que again. He felt for
+Que through his pain, but charged him one twelfth of fifty dollars for
+doing his work a month, and would like to do it a while longer.
+
+There isn't much more to tell of Que as a mail-boy. The end of the
+year found him the possessor of forty-five dollars and five shillings.
+
+The next year the Point afforded a horse, and Que took the mail on the
+horse's back; the year following they had a horse and wagon, and Que
+drove that; when they have a railway I have no doubt Que will be a
+conductor; and when the mail is blown through a tunnel, Que, of
+course, will blow it.
+
+Even the second snag, you see, needn't lay you a dead weight on the
+earth.
+
+                                             MARY B. HARRIS.
+
+
+
+
+WHAT THE CLOCK SAYS.
+
+
+    The clock's loud tick
+    Says, "Time flies quick."
+    "Listen," says the chime;
+    "Make the most of time,
+    For remember, young and old,
+    Minutes are like grains of gold;
+    Spend them wisely, spend them well,
+    For their worth can no man tell."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE SNOW-FALL.]
+
+THE SNOW-FALL.
+
+
+    Old Winter comes forth in his robe of white,
+    He sends the sweet flowers far out of sight,
+    He robs the trees of their green leaves quite,
+        And freezes the pond and the river;
+    He has spoiled the butterfly's pretty nest,
+    And ordered the birds not to build their nest,
+    And banished the frog to a four months' rest,
+        And makes all the children shiver.
+
+    Yet he does some good with his icy tread,
+    For he keeps the corn-seeds warm in their bed,
+    He dries up the damp which the rain had spread,
+        And renders the air more healthy;
+    He taught the boys to slide, and he flung
+    Rich Christmas gifts o'er the old and young,
+    And when cries for food from the poor were wrung,
+        He opened the purse of the wealthy.
+
+    We like the Spring with its fine fresh air;
+    We like the Summer with flowers so fair;
+    We like the fruits we in Autumn share,
+        And we like, too, old Winter's greeting:
+    His touch is cold, but his heart is warm;
+    So, though he brings to us snow and storm,
+    We look with a smile on his well-known form,
+        And ours is a gladsome meeting.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+STITCHING AND TEACHING.
+
+
+Will had had the croup. Then the measles took possession of him, and
+lastly, the whooping-cough, finding him well swept and garnished,
+entered in, and shook and throttled him in a manner quite deplorable.
+
+His convalescence, however, was relieved of its monotony by a headlong
+fall from a step ladder in the library, whereby he sprained his wrist,
+to say nothing of the mischief that he made, in his descent, amid the
+ink, books, and papers.
+
+Treading on a pin in the sewing-room was another diversion in his
+favor, giving him, for a while, a daily looking forward to bandages
+and poultices, and an opportunity to weigh the advantages of obedience
+in case he should ever again wish, and be forbidden, to jump out of
+bed and run barefoot amid the dressmaker's shreds in search of his
+top.
+
+Now, all this is no uncommon experience for a small boy. I simply
+mention it by way of apology for introducing Will in an unamiable
+mood. One regrets to have one's friends make an unfavorable first
+impression.
+
+This was Will's first morning at school since his recovery. He found
+that the boys had gone on in their Latin, had gone on in their French,
+leaving him far behind; they had got into decimals, and he way back
+pages; they had a new writing-master, and wrote with their faces
+turned a new way, to the great disgust of Will. They had had a botany
+excursion to Blue Hills, which he had lost. He was down at the foot of
+the class, and at the end of the morning he had made up his desperate
+mind to remain there forever. It was no use for a fellow to try to put
+through such a pile of back lessons.
+
+He came stamping up stairs, kicked at the nursery door, slung in his
+bag of books, and stood on the threshold, pouting and glaring angrily
+at his sister Emily.
+
+Emily sat in the window opposite, the sunlight sifting through the
+flickering ivy leaves on to her golden hair and fair sweet face. She
+was singing over her sewing as Will made his noisy entrance. She
+looked up at the scowling boy in the doorway, her pale cheeks flushing
+with surprise and then with pity.
+
+"What's the matter?" she asked, gently.
+
+"Matter?" roared Will; "I guess you'd ask, if you knew how old 'Crit'
+had been cramming the fellows, and me nowhere. I'll--run away to sea,
+or somewheres. I'm not going to _stand_ it."
+
+Will bounced his hand down so hard on a tea-poy, two little terra
+cotta shepherdesses bounded up from it, knocked their heads together,
+and fell clattering to the floor.
+
+"O, Will," cried Emily, rising up with a scared face, and dropping her
+pretty work-basket, "don't talk so. You are tired now, and everything
+troubles you, because you have been sick so long. By and by, when you
+are a little stronger, you will feel differently. Don't think about
+the back lessons. Just try to be glad you are well enough to go to
+school again, and be with the boys."
+
+"O, don't preach!" persisted Will, gruffly.
+
+With the cloud still hanging over his handsome face, he shook himself
+away from the caressing hand which was laid upon his shoulder, as if
+to hold him back from running away to the great, pitiless sea.
+
+"Asy! asy, now!"
+
+This was Kathleen, the nurse, calling out in cautioning tones to Will,
+who had jerked against the tray she was carrying causing the two
+saucers of strawberries to click together sharply, and the buttered
+rolls to slip over the edge of the plate.
+
+"You're tired with the school, poor craythur, an' no wonder at that
+same. Larnin's murtherin', bad luck to it! I tried it mysel oncet, a
+moonth or so, avenin's. It's myself was watchin' for ye, Master Will,
+and when ye came round the corner I had this bit sup arl ready for ye.
+'The crame--quick--Bridget!' says I, and then I ran away up the two
+flights with it; and barrin' the joggle you give it, it's in foine,
+tip-top orther an' priservation arl tegither, bless your little sowl!"
+
+Kathleen set out the crisp little rolls and the great crimson berries
+in the most tempting way she could devise, and went off, bobbing her
+head with satisfaction to see the children place themselves at table,
+and partake of her well-timed lunch.
+
+Will, as an atonement for the ungentle way in which he had come in
+upon his sister after school, offered her the nicest plate of berries,
+and insisted that she should take the crispiest roll. He suddenly
+remembered that Emily, too, had had whooping-cough and measles at the
+same time, and quite as badly as himself. But, then, she had not
+sprained her wrist or lamed her foot; so it was no wonder her temper
+had not suffered. Besides, it was expected of girls not to make a
+fuss.
+
+In view of these last circumstances, he suppressed the apology he was
+about to make for his late unpleasant remarks.
+
+"It never will do to give up too much to girls," he reasoned, draining
+the last drop of cream from the pitcher.
+
+"Your grandmamma is coming over from Brookline this afternoon in the
+carriage, to take the two of you home with her to spind the night."
+
+This was Kathleen back again at the nursery door, and wiping her face
+with her apron as she unburdened herself of this forgotten bit of
+news.
+
+"You won't run away to sea now," besought Emily, with imploring eyes.
+
+"Maybe I mightn't," shouted Will, tossing up his cap in glee at this
+unexpected prospect of fun.
+
+It was now only the middle of the long summer day. Such a tiresome
+journey as the sun had to go before it rolled quite away in the west!
+Will longed to give it a push, and to hurry up the clock to strike
+five, the hour when they should be on their way to beautiful
+Brookline.
+
+Impatient little Will! Emily kindly helped him to get through with the
+lagging time. At her suggestion, he played ball a while on the lawn,
+while from time to time she nodded encouragingly to him through the
+open window. By and by the ball bounded up into a spout, cuddling down
+among some soft old maple leaves, where Will could not see it.
+Thereupon Will came into the house in a great pet, storming about till
+he was persuaded to sit on the floor and paste pictures in his
+scrap-book.
+
+This quiet occupation did not amuse him long. His fingers, his chin,
+his cheeks, his curls even soon became stiff with mucilage. Mucilage
+on his trouser knees, mucilage on his jacket elbows--in fact, mucilage
+everywhere on and around him.
+
+Emily, after having, with great painstaking, washed her brother and
+all the surrounding furniture, proposed that he should study a Latin
+lesson. The book soon went down with a bang. "Because," as Will
+sulkily explained to his sighing sister, "it made his head buzz."
+
+Emily gently suggested a French lesson as a corrective of this
+unpleasant "buzz." The remedy soon proved to be a failure. The French
+book came down more noisily than the Latin book.
+
+Emily laid aside her drawing in despair. It was such a relief to hear
+Kathleen's heavy step in the entry, and to remember it was time now
+for Will to be dressed for dinner!
+
+Poor Kathleen had a thankless task before her. Master Will required a
+great deal of preparation. His curls were gummed and tangled; his
+fingers were inky, and suspiciously pitchy.
+
+"You've been climbin' unknownst up that pine tree again, an' you a
+told not to?" questioned Kathleen, examining the fingers keenly.
+
+"Hush up, and go ahead!" was Will's rude answer.
+
+"How _can_ you speak so?" reproved Emily, turning round upon Will,
+while she tied back her hair with a band of blue ribbon.
+
+"Fie, fie, sir!" cried displeased Kathleen, "going ahead" with great
+energy, her mouth pursed up in disapproval of Master Will's manners,
+while she washed, and combed, and curled, and took off and put on his
+apparel.
+
+"Where's your stockings, Master Will,--the blue stripes?"
+
+"Dunno."
+
+Will sat in a low chair, his stubby bare feet stuck out before him,
+and his two hands actively employed as fly-catchers. Suddenly he
+remembered having amused himself the day before in oiling his sled
+runners, using the striped stockings for wipers; but he did not
+trouble Kathleen just then with the tidings. The blue-striped
+stockings were not found. Then came a difficulty with his new boots.
+
+"Aow! they pinch!"
+
+"Where, sir?"
+
+Master Will, not being able to say exactly where, was left to get used
+to the new boots as well as he could.
+
+"Now see, here's your new suit; an' be careful with it, mind--careful
+as iver was. It's me afternoon out; and if ye go tearin' the cloos on
+ye, ye'll jist mind thim yersel, or else go in tatthers wid yer
+grandmamma."
+
+This speech had no more wholesome effect on Will than to cause him to
+stick out his tongue at Emily, while Kathleen, standing behind him,
+arranged his buttons and his drapery generally.
+
+"Now, if you could only be as good as you're purty," exclaimed
+Kathleen, wheeling Will suddenly round before his tongue was quite in
+place again, "you'd do well enough."
+
+With a few finishing touches to Emily's sash ribbon, Kathleen went off
+to make her own gorgeous toilet for her afternoon out.
+
+The dinner was next to be gotten through with. But that was not an
+unpleasant hour to Will. After dinner the children were permitted by
+their mother to amuse themselves under the shadow of the great elm
+behind the house. She knew that with Emily this permission simply
+meant liberty to sit quietly beneath the overhanging branches, gazing
+dreamily over the soft summer landscape, or listening to the sweet
+sounds that stirred the air around and above her. But with Will it
+might be more broadly interpreted into leave for frequent raids over
+fences and through bars for butterflies and beetles, or any luckless
+rover that strayed along. So she explained to her son in this wise:--
+
+"Will, dear, remember that your grandmamma is coming for you, and you
+must not soil or tear your clothes by running about. Play quietly in
+the shade. The time will not be long now."
+
+"Yes, mum."
+
+Such implicit obedience as this "Yes, mum" implied! In fact, there was
+the promise in it of every one of the cardinal virtues.
+
+The two children then went away through the long hall, whose doors
+stood wide open in the warm summer afternoon, and Will, dragging along
+the slower-footed Emily, hurried on to the elm tree.
+
+"Don't pull so, Will; I shall drop my basket, and my spool and
+thimble will roll away."
+
+"What do you want to bother with work for this beautiful afternoon?"
+inquired Will, slackening his pace.
+
+"I promised mamma I would try and finish it this week," said Emily,
+"and I like to keep my word."
+
+"I thought the machine sewed."
+
+"So it does; but mamma says I must learn just the same as if there
+were no machines."
+
+"Well, I'm glad I'm not a girl, to sit pricking my fingers, and
+jabbing needles in and out all day."
+
+Patience was not one of Will's virtues.
+
+How lovely it was out under the elm! The sweet-scented grass was warm
+with the afternoon sun, and musical with the chirp and hum of its
+insect homes. The bees fluttered in and out over mamma's rose garden,
+and all the air was filled with the delicate fragrance of the roses.
+
+Emily, seated on the great gnarled elm roots, drank in all the sweet
+scents and sounds, her forgotten work-basket lying overturned in the
+grass before her. Will spread himself out at full length on the
+ground, and kept his eyes open for chippers and spiders, and all the
+busy little things that crept, or leaped, or flitted around him. Now
+and then the afternoon hush was broken by the faintly tinkling bells
+of a horse-car turning some distant corner, the rumbling of a heavy
+team going over the dusty turnpike, or the voices of the belfry clocks
+calling the hour to each other from the steeples of the neighboring
+city.
+
+Master Will, however, soon became tired of this quiet. He scrambled
+up, and wandering away into the rose garden, lifted caressingly to his
+cheek the beautiful pink blossoms which leaned towards him from amid
+the green leaves. He was looking for a choice little bud to fasten in
+Emily's hair; and when he found it, he came whistling out into the
+clear grassy spaces again, a little bird in a bough overhead tilting,
+and twittering, and eying him askance.
+
+Will rushed up to Emily, and hung the bud in her ear; he rearranged it
+in the blue ribbon of her hair, so that it nodded sleepily over her
+nose; he dropped it, as if it were a tiny pink egg, in the soft golden
+moss of curls which he upturned on his sister's head. Then he threw it
+away, and stamped on it; for Emily had drawn a book from her pocket,
+and deep in some fairy under-world story, was unmindful of his roses
+and his pains.
+
+He ran recklessly away into the rose garden; he caught a bumblebee; he
+pursued a daddy long-leg with the watering-pot, going deeper and
+deeper all the time among the briery branches. The crashing of the
+stems caused Emily to come up from fairy-land a moment.
+
+"Have a care, Will, dear. The roses have thorns. You may tear your
+nice jacket."
+
+Crash, crash! rip, rip! The rose trees are dragging at Will with their
+prickly fingers. With great effort he burst away from them, and rushed
+out, with no worse mischance than a rent in his trousers.
+
+"Aw! aw! aw!"
+
+All the little knolls seemed to take up Will's sorrowful cry, and
+repeat it.
+
+"You must not tear or soil your clothes."
+
+Every cricket in the grass seemed to be screaming these words of his
+mother, and here was her luckless son with two green spots on his
+stockings, and a grievous rent in his new pantaloons.
+
+It was Kathleen's afternoon out; she had warned him, and there was no
+help in that direction. He looked mournfully over his shoulder at the
+damages with a vague idea that he had perhaps some undeveloped
+capacity for mending.
+
+[Illustration: "YOU'LL SEE HOW NICELY I'LL SEW IT."]
+
+"Couldn't you pin it up nicely?" he inquired, in most insinuating
+tones, of Emily, whose eye just then met his.
+
+Emily burst into a merry laugh.
+
+Will was mute with indignation, and tingling to his finger's ends,
+with this untimely mirth. His flashing eyes asked if this were a time
+for jesting.
+
+"Come here, Willy, boy, and you'll see how nicely I'll sew it, not pin
+it. Never fret about it, dear; I will explain to mamma that you were
+really not so much in fault. It was only rather a mistake to get in so
+far among the bushes. If you had been chasing the cat, or turning
+somersets, she might, perhaps, be vexed; but poh! she will excuse
+this."
+
+Will, unseen by Emily, wiped away with his thumb one big tear after
+another out of the corner of his eye.
+
+"She is a good sister, anyhow, and I am a mean fellow ever to get mad
+with her, and say rude things to her," he said to himself, as Emily
+darned, and chatted, and bade him be of good cheer.
+
+"My stockings, too, sister. There's a great green grass stain on both
+of them, and grandmamma expects us to be _so_ nice."
+
+Will coughed to choke down a sob.
+
+"Perhaps you may have time to change them, Will. I will help you. But
+we must get the pantaloons all nicely done first."
+
+So this kind sister stitched, and taught unconsciously as she
+stitched, lessons of love and patience, lessons of cheerful
+helpfulness and sweet unselfishness, which Will never forgot.
+
+More than once, in after life, when, in heedless pursuit of life's
+roses, he had been wounded by its thorns, he remembered that sweet
+face of consolation, those dear hands held out to aid him, and all the
+sunshine and the song of that sweet summer afternoon, and fresh peace
+and hope came to him with the remembrance.
+
+"It's all finished now, the very last stitch; and now for the
+stockings. Let me see the spots."
+
+Will put his two heels firmly together, turned out his toes, pulled up
+his puffy pantaloons, and stooped his head and strained his eyes to
+look for them.
+
+They were but little ones, after all, and a brisk rubbing with the
+handkerchief, and a judicious pulling down of the trouser bindings,
+almost concealed them. They were just in time with their repairs; for
+grandmamma's yellow-wheeled carriage was coming up the avenue.
+
+                                                    E. G. C.
+
+
+
+
+OUR DAILY BREAD.
+
+
+    A little girl knelt down to pray
+      One morn. The mother said,
+    "My love, why do we ever say,
+      Give us our daily bread?
+    Why not ask for a week or more?"
+      The baby bent her head
+    In thoughtful mood towards the floor:
+      "We want it fresh," she said.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: LITTLE WILLIE.]
+
+WILLIE'S PRAYER.
+
+
+    One sweet morning little Willie,
+      Springing from his trundle-bed,
+    Bounded to the vine-wreathed window
+      And put out his sunny head.
+
+    It was in the joyous spring-time,
+      When the sky was soft and fair,
+    And the blue-bird and the robin
+      Warbled sweetly everywhere.
+
+    In the field the lambs were playing,
+      Where the babbling brook ran clear;
+    To and fro, in leafy tree-tops,
+      Squirrels frisked without a fear.
+
+    In his ear his baby-brother
+      Baby-wonders tried to speak,
+    And the kiss of a fond mother
+      Rested on his dimpled cheek.
+
+    Zephyrs from the fragrant lilacs
+      Fanned his little rosy face,
+    And the heart's-ease, gemmed with dewdrops,
+      Smiled at him with gentle grace.
+
+    Gliding back with fairy footsteps,
+      Willie, dropping on his knees,
+    Softly prayed, "Dear God, I love you!
+      Make it always happy, please!"
+
+
+
+
+SQUIRRELS.
+
+
+How pretty little squirrels look perched in the branches of a tree! I
+like to watch them as they nimbly run up the trunk or spring from
+bough to bough. One or two are generally to be seen in a clump of
+great old beeches near a house in the country where I usually spend
+some happy weeks in summer; and I will tell you a story of a little
+squirrel whose acquaintance I made there last summer.
+
+I happened to be up very early one morning, long before breakfast was
+ready or any of the family were down, and I went out into the garden
+to enjoy the fresh, sweet smell of the early day. The cows were
+grazing in the field beyond, and now and then lowing a friendly
+"good-morning" to each other. Some ducks were waddling in procession
+down to the pond, quacking out their wise remarks as they went. The
+little birds were singing lustily their welcome to the new-born day.
+Even the old watch-dog came yawning, stretching, blinking and wagging
+his tail in kindly dog-fashion to bid me "good-day" in the summer
+sunshine.
+
+As I stood under the great beech trees, taking in with greedy eye and
+ear the sights and sounds of country-life so refreshing to a Londoner,
+I heard something fall from one of the trees, then a scuffle, and
+immediately afterward a white Persian cat belonging to the house
+bounded toward me in hot pursuit of a dear little squirrel. I was just
+in time to save the poor little animal by stepping between it and the
+cat. The squirrel passed under the edge of my dress and made off again
+up another tree; so pussy lost her prey.
+
+Soon afterward, when we were at breakfast, the butler told us that one
+of the little boys of the village, who had lost a pet squirrel, had
+asked if he might look for it in the garden of the house. It had first
+escaped into some trees in the park, and he had traced it from them
+into the garden. It at once occurred to me that this must be the
+little creature I had saved from the cat. I remembered how it made
+straight toward me, as if asking me for protection from its enemy,
+which only a tame squirrel would do; and I proposed, when breakfast
+was over, that we should go out and help in the search.
+
+Little Jack Tompkins stood under the beech trees, looking with
+tear-stained face up into the branches. Suddenly I saw his face
+brighten, and he called out, "I see un, ma'am; I see un! If so be no
+one warn't by, I be sure he'd come to I."
+
+I need not say we retreated to a distance; then Jack called up the
+tree in a loud whisper, "Billee, Billee!" and in a minute down came
+the little creature on to his shoulder. I can tell you Jack was a
+happier child than he had been when he came into the garden. And when
+I told him what a narrow escape "Billee" had had from the cat, he
+said, "It would be hard if a cat eat he, for our old puss brought he
+up with her own kits." Then he told us how the squirrel, when a tiny
+thing, had dropped out of its nest and been found by him lying almost
+dead at the foot of a tree, and how he had carried it home and tried
+whether pussy would adopt it as one of her own kittens. The cat was
+kind; the squirrel throve under her motherly care, and became Jack's
+pet and companion.
+
+Now, children, in this instance it was all very well to keep a tame
+squirrel. "Billee" seemed happy leading the life he was accustomed to;
+he had been fed and cared for by human beings from his infancy, and
+might be as incapable of finding food and managing for himself in a
+wild state as a poor canary would be if let loose from its cage. But
+generally it is cruel to imprison little wild birds and animals who
+have known the enjoyment of liberty.
+
+[Illustration: THE SQUIRREL.]
+
+
+
+
+PUPPET.
+
+
+Puppet had two occupations. She had also a guitar and a half-bushel
+basket. These things were her capital--her stock in trade.
+
+The guitar belonged to one of her occupations, the half-bushel basket
+to the other.
+
+In consideration of her first employment, she might have been called a
+street guitarist. In consideration of her second, she might have been
+called a beggar--a broken-bits beggar.
+
+Puppet would have been considered, among lawyers, "shrewd;" or, at a
+mothers' meeting, "cunning;" or, among business men, "sharp." That is
+to say, she knew a thing or two. She knew that being able to sing no
+songs was a disadvantage to her first occupation, as a large hole,
+half way up her basket, was an advantage to her second.
+
+It seems odd that a hole in one's begging basket should be an
+advantage.
+
+But because of the hole, she had always behind her a crowd of dogs,
+that seemed to have been just dropped from the basket, the last one
+never having fairly got his nose out; and because of the dogs she was
+known as "Puppet" all over the city.
+
+To be known by a characteristic name is of great advantage to a
+beggar.
+
+If Biddy, looking from the basement door, says to cook, "Och, an'
+there comes up the street our little Puppet, with her dogs all behind
+her, carrying her basket," cook is much more likely to see the broken
+bits "botherin' roun' on the schalves o' the cubbid," than she would
+be if Biddy should say, "Shure, an' thir cams to us a dirty beggar, it
+is."
+
+But it is with Puppet's first occupation, and not her second, that we
+have to do. If you had not read more descriptions of faces within the
+last year than you can possibly remember in all the years of your life
+put together, I would tell you what sort of face Puppet's was; that it
+was a bright face, with blue eyes, just the color of the blue ribbon
+that went first round the guitar's neck, and then round Puppet's; that
+Puppet's teeth were as white as the mother-of-pearl pegs that held her
+guitar strings at the bottom; that her cheeks were as white as the
+ivory keys; that her hair was long, and yellow--just the shade of the
+guitar's yellow face.
+
+But that would be very much like a dozen other faces that you have
+seen; so I will only say that it was a smiling little face.
+
+It smiled as it bent over the guitar, while the little fingers picked
+their ways in and out among the strings; and it smiled yet more
+sweetly as she looked up to catch the coppers thrown from the fourth
+and fifth story, and sky-parlor windows.
+
+Puppet once lived with a man who said that he was her uncle; and she
+believed him so thoroughly, that she let him box her ears whenever he
+felt like it, till he died. Since then Puppet had lived almost
+friendless and alone.
+
+One hot July day Puppet was wandering through the streets of the great
+city, with her little guitar under her little arm. The city did not
+seem so great to Puppet as it does to some of the rest of us, because
+she was born and brought up there.
+
+"O, dear," sighed Puppet, "_what_ a mean place you are!"
+
+No one had given her a copper since the cool of the morning. People
+seemed to have a fancy for spending their coppers on soda-water and
+ice-cream.
+
+"What shall I do?" moaned Puppet. Whatever should she do? Puppet must
+have coppers, or she could not live.
+
+She sat in a cool, shaded court, close to the busy street; but she
+couldn't get away from the heat, and the noise, and the people
+sighing, like herself, "O dear, O dear!"
+
+"I'll try once more," said Puppet, tuning her guitar.
+
+She played "Home, Sweet Home," with variations. But all the people who
+heard her were suffering, because their homes in the city were rather
+hot than sweet. "Home, Sweet Home" could win no pennies from "city
+folks" in July.
+
+Then Puppet whistled to her guitar accompaniment a little "Bird
+Waltz," and whirled on the pavement in time, till I doubt if she
+herself knew whether the guitar had gone mad, and were waltzing about
+her, or she were waltzing about the guitar.
+
+A boy came dancing into the court, singing,--
+
+    "O, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad!
+    O, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad!"
+
+But he danced out again, without leaving a penny behind him; so it
+would have been just as well if he had never come in. Still, he amused
+himself for a few minutes, which not many people were able to do in
+that hot July midday.
+
+Puppet went from the little court, and wandered on and on. At last she
+left the city far away behind her.
+
+And out and away from the city there were green fields.
+
+Puppet had heard of green fields, but she had never seen any face to
+face before. As she looked at them, she had a dim remembrance that she
+had heard that they were covered with long, waving grass. But all
+these fields were close shaven, like the beautiful mouse-colored
+horses in the city.
+
+It was pleasant, but not very exciting to a city girl. The city girl
+presently grew tired of it.
+
+"There seem to be houses farther along," she said; "I'll go and play
+there."
+
+Puppet slung the little guitar about her little neck, and started off
+again.
+
+Presently she came to a cottage with a little green yard in front of
+it, and in the middle of the little green yard was a great green tree.
+
+Puppet sat down on the grass, leaned against the tree, and felt very
+hungry.
+
+A lady was sitting by an open window, sewing. She was sitting so that
+Puppet could see only a bit of her left cheek, and her dark hair, just
+beginning to turn gray, and her right hand as she brought the needle
+up from her work. From what she did see, Puppet thought that she would
+give her something to eat, if she could but get her attention. Surely,
+she must be often hungry herself, or why should she have so many gray
+hairs?
+
+Puppet, leaning against the tree, ran her fingers over the guitar
+frets in light harmonies; but the lady did not look.
+
+Her thoughts must be far away, in a quiet and happy place, that
+Puppet's harmonies should seem a part of that place.
+
+The guitar broke into a low, mournful minor. Still the lady gave no
+heed to Puppet.
+
+Puppet was feeling very hungry. She would play the Fandango. That
+_must_ rouse any one. She began at the most rattling part.
+
+The gray-haired lady looked round quickly. "Bless me, bless me! what's
+this?" Seeing a little girl out by the tree, she put her sewing on the
+table, and came to the door and into the yard.
+
+"Dear me! a little girl with yellow hair, and I just to have been
+dreaming of a little girl with yellow hair!"
+
+"Is anything the matter with my hair, mum?" Puppet stopped playing,
+and ran her hands through the yellow mass of uncombed locks.
+
+"Ah, no, little girl! there is nothing the matter with your hair.
+Only--" The lady was thinking how soft, and fine, and curly was the
+yellow hair of which she had been dreaming.
+
+"What do you want?" asked the lady.
+
+"I'm very hungry," said Puppet, "because of the walk, and--and--and
+all," concluded Puppet, remembering that the lady could not
+understand.
+
+"Come in, then."
+
+Puppet went in. Up in one corner of the sitting-room were a little
+tip-cart and a doll. Puppet ate her bread and meat, looking hard at
+the tip-cart.
+
+"Where is it, mum?"
+
+"Where is what, child?"
+
+"The child, mum." Puppet pointed to the tip-cart.
+
+"Gone, my dear," said the lady, softly.
+
+"Dead?" Puppet remembered that that was what they said about her uncle
+when he went away. It was the only going away that she had ever known.
+
+"Yes, I suppose so," said the lady, with a little shiver.
+
+"That's bad, mum."
+
+"No, not bad," said the lady, sorrowfully. "It is just right that it
+should be so."
+
+"But it must be lonesome like, unless there were kicks and things."
+Puppet was still thinking of her uncle.
+
+The lady wondered what the child could mean, and not knowing, said,--
+
+"What's your name? How could I have forgotten to ask your name?"
+
+"Puppet."
+
+"That's a funny name. And where do you live?"
+
+"Two or three miles away from here."
+
+"Have you walked here to-day?"
+
+"Yes, mum."
+
+"What should make the child walk so far, I wonder?"
+
+"Money, mum, and things to eat."
+
+"Have you eaten enough?"
+
+"Yes. I must go home now, or I shall be late."
+
+"Are you sure you know the way?" asked the lady, a little anxiously.
+"You're such a little thing!"
+
+"O, yes, mum! Go as I came."
+
+"Well, good by."
+
+"Good by, mum."
+
+But was Puppet _sure_ that she knew the way?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next morning, a man walking on a road that ran by the edge of a
+meadow, was going to his work.
+
+Hark! What did he hear? Was it a cry! was it a child's cry? And what
+was that? It sounded like a fiddle. He stopped to look around.
+
+"I declare, we've had a high tide in the night!" said he, and trudged
+on.
+
+But what was that? _That_ was certainly a child's cry.
+
+The man looked sharply about.
+
+"It can't be she," he said. "Folks from heaven wouldn't cry, even if
+they were let to come--at least, if they were little children."
+
+And so he still looked sharply about. And looking, what did he see?
+
+He saw great haystacks of meadow hay out in the meadow, with the
+tide-water all about them. Then his eyes were fixed on one particular
+haystack. On its top, with her yellow hair and smiling face in sight,
+was--it could not be, though--but it was--a little girl, and dangling
+by the side of the stack was a guitar with a yellow face. The man
+waded through the water that lay between the dry land and the stack.
+
+"Crawl down to my shoulders;" and he stood by the side of the stack
+till she was on his shoulders, with her arms about his neck.
+
+[Illustration: {Puppet, with her guitar, sitting on top of a haystack}]
+
+"How came you there?"
+
+"I went everywhere to try to get home, and it was dark, all but the
+moon; and I saw the stack, and a board went from the ground to the top
+of it."
+
+"Sure enough, the prop."
+
+"And I was so tired!"
+
+"Poor child!"
+
+"And I never saw the water come before, and it was only wet enough to
+wet my feet when I got up."
+
+"Well, well! We'll go home and get something to eat."
+
+The man walked into his kitchen with the little girl and the guitar on
+his shoulders.
+
+"Why, John, are you back? Dear me, if there isn't that same
+child--Puppet!"
+
+John went off to his work again. Puppet ate her breakfast, and told
+her story, and then said,--
+
+"Please, mum, may I play with the cart?"
+
+And because of her yellow hair, she might play with the cart.
+
+"But aren't you sick, and oughtn't you to take some medicine, and go
+to bed?" asked the lady, whose hair had grown gray over sickness and
+medicine.
+
+Puppet meditated. She felt very well. She thought that she had rather
+play with the tip-cart than to take medicine. So she played all day,
+and went to bed at night.
+
+At night John come home from his work, and, as usual, heard of all
+that had happened through the day.
+
+"I wish we could keep the little thing, John, dear. She has yellow
+hair, just like--"
+
+"Yes," said John, "I saw."
+
+"And she'd be _such_ a comfort!"
+
+"If she didn't die by and by," said John.
+
+"But, John, dear, just think of a little thing like her spending the
+night in the middle of a meadow, with the water all about her."
+
+John thought. And he thought that if she could stand that without
+being sick, she could stand their love without dying.
+
+So Puppet and the guitar live with John and the gray-haired lady.
+
+MARY B. HARRIS.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "MIKE ROLLED OVER AND OVER TO THE FOOT OF THE STEPS."
+    See p. 169.]
+
+MERRY CHRISTMAS.
+
+
+All the hill-side was green with maples, and birches, and pines. The
+meadows at its foot were green, too, with the tufted salt grass, and
+glittering with the silver threads of tide braided among its winding
+creeks. Beyond was the city, misty and gray, stretching its wan arms
+to the phantom ships flitting along the horizon.
+
+From the green hill-side you could hear the city's muffled hum and
+roar, and sometimes the far-off clanging of the bells from its hundred
+belfries. But the maples and birches seemed to hear and see nothing
+beyond the sunshine over their heads and the winds which went
+frolicking by. Life was one long dance with them, through the budding
+spring and the leafy summer, and on through the grand gala days of
+autumn, till the frost came down on the hills, and whispered,--
+
+"Your dancing days are all over."
+
+But the pines were quite different. They, the stately ones, stood
+quite aloof, the older and taller ones looking stiffly over the heads
+of the rollicking maples, and making solemn reverences to the great
+gray clouds that swept inland from the ocean. The straight little
+saplings at their feet copied the manners of their elders, and folding
+their fingers primly, and rustling their stiff little green petticoats
+decorously, sat up so silent and proper.
+
+So unlike the small birches and maples that chattered incessantly,
+wagging their giddy heads, and playing tag with the butterflies in the
+sunshine all the day long!
+
+"How tiresome those stupid old pines are! No expression, no animation.
+So lofty and so exclusive, and forever grumbling to each other in
+their hoarse old Scandinavian, which it gives one the croup even to
+listen to! Of what possible use _can_ they be?"
+
+This was what the maple said to the birch one day when the Summer and
+her patience with her sombre neighbor were on the wane--one day when
+there was a gleam of golden pumpkins in the tawny corn stubble beyond
+the wood, and the purpling grapes hung ripening over the old stone
+wall that lay between, and the maple had brightened its summer dress
+with a gay little leaf set here and there in its shining folds.
+
+The birch agreed with the maple about the pines, and the maple went
+glibly on.
+
+"I've ordered my autumn dresses--a different one for each day in the
+week. Just think of those horrid pines never altering the fashion of
+their stiff old plaiting."
+
+"We shall not be obliged to remain in this dull place much longer,"
+said the tall pines loftily to each other, looking quite over the
+heads of the maple and the birch. "We shall soon be crossing the
+ocean, and then our lives will have just begun. We simply vegetate
+here."
+
+"Ho, ho!" laughed the maple and the birch behind their fluttering
+green fans, pretending to be greatly amused at what the west wind was
+saying to them.
+
+Now, though the trees spoke a different language, yet each understood
+perfectly well what the other said; so their rudeness was quite
+inexcusable.
+
+When the summer was ended, the maple began to put on her gorgeous
+autumn dresses; but the pines looked much at the sky, and paid little
+heed to the maple. The other trees on the hill-side, quite faded with
+their summer gayeties, looked on languidly in the still autumn days at
+the maple's brilliant toilets.
+
+Soon the cold rains swept in from the sea, blurring the wood vistas;
+and when they were gone, the frost came in the midnight, with its
+unwelcome message, and later the snow lay white above all the faded
+and fallen crimson and gold of the maple and the tarnished silver of
+the birch.
+
+All the trees, brown and bare now, moaned in the wintry wind--all but
+the tall pines, and they were crossing the ocean; their lives had
+begun. The little saplings remained behind, but with their heads
+perked stiffly up above the snow; they had the air of expecting
+somebody.
+
+They were not disappointed. One sunny morning, a boy and a girl came
+singing through the wood paths, each in a pair of high-topped boots,
+and each in a faded and closely-buttoned coat, the girl with a blue
+hood pulled over her rosy face, and the boy with a fur cap closely
+tied about his ears by a red comforter. The two drew a hand-sled, and
+peered about under the tall trunks as they went stamping through the
+deep snow. How they shouted as they spied the little pine trees
+perking up their heads! How they tossed aside the snow, and worked
+away with their jackknives, hacking at the little pine trees till they
+had cut them all down, all ready to be piled up on their hand-sled.
+
+"Where are you going?" asked the giddy little birch of the pines,
+peeping out from a small window in her snow-house. Her nose was
+purple, and her fingers stiff with cold; but down under the earth her
+feet were warm, and that was pleasant, at any rate.
+
+"It is of no consequence where," said the pines, in their grimmest
+Scandinavian.
+
+The birch simply said, "O!" and drew in her little purple nose, hoping
+heartily they were all going to be burned, as that would be a good end
+and riddance of them.
+
+But the little pines were not going to be burned; they were going away
+to the city that lay misty and still beyond the frozen meadows.
+Stretched out stiffly on the hand-sled, they were jostled along out
+through the wood, over the frozen turnpike, and across the mill-dam to
+Boston.
+
+They alighted at the Boylston Market, and were ranged in a row against
+the dark brick wall.
+
+"How much happens in a very short time!" they said to each other; "all
+those gaudy, chattering trees left without a leaf to cover them, our
+own friends all gone on their travels, and we here in the city,
+wrapped in our warm winter furs."
+
+It was the Christmas week. The shop windows were gay with toys and
+gorgeous Christmas offerings; the shop doors were opening and shutting
+on the crowd that came and went through them. A bustling throng of
+people passed incessantly up and down the narrow sidewalks, and
+carriages of all descriptions blocked the crossings, or drove
+recklessly over the frozen pavement.
+
+The old woman in the quilted black hood and shaggy cape, who had
+charge of the little pine trees, drove a brisk trade that day in her
+wreaths and holly; but though many people stopped to admire the little
+pines, and even to ask their price, no purchaser had yet appeared for
+them.
+
+The old dame was rubbing her mittened hands briskly together, and
+mumbling in a displeased way at the pine trees, when a carriage drew
+suddenly up at the curbstone, and out sprang a little girl.
+
+"See, papa, how lovely! So green, and fresh, and thick!" she said,
+pointing to the row of pines.
+
+A bargain was concluded in a trice. The money was dropped into the
+eager, outstretched mitten of the old woman, and a little Christmas
+tree dragged over the sidewalk, and set up in the buggy.
+
+"We must have some of these lower branches cut off; they are in the
+way," said papa.
+
+"Hev a knife, sir?" shouted a ragged little fellow, whipping a rusty
+old knife out of his pocket.
+
+"Please, sir, lemme cut it for you. Say, where?" he cried, laying hold
+of the pine, as the gentleman in the buggy pointed to him where to
+cut.
+
+The lower branches being trimmed to the gentleman's satisfaction, the
+Christmas tree, leaning comfortably against the crimson afghan, was
+soon on its way to Meadow Home, while its lower branches and some
+jingling small coin remained in the hands of the gaping urchin on the
+curbstone.
+
+"This here's luck--fust-rate luck," remarked the small boy, stamping
+his feet, and staring stupidly after the retreating buggy wheels.
+
+"Out of the way there!" growled a man in a farmer's frock, lifting a
+pile of frozen turkeys from a wagon.
+
+The boy ducked aside, his ragged little trousers fluttering in the
+wind. Then he sat down on the market steps to count his coin.
+
+"Hi! twenty-five cents. There's a mutton stew and onions for you and
+your folks a Christmas, Mike Slattery, and all this jolly green stuff
+thrown in free gratis. That chap was a gen'leman, and no mistake.
+Won't Winnie hop when she sees me a-h'isting of these here over our
+stairs, and she a-blowin' at me for a week to bring her some sich, and
+me niver seein' nary a chance at 'em 'cept stealin's, which is wot
+this here feller ain't up to no ways whatsomever. No, _sir_. Hi!"
+
+Mike waved his Christmas boughs aloft in great glee.
+
+An old gentleman with gold-headed cane and spectacles was going up the
+steps of the market, followed by a beautiful black-and-white setter.
+The playful dog sprang at the green branches. Mike held on to them
+stoutly. The dog suddenly let go of them, and bounded away, while Mike
+rolled over and over to the foot of the steps, clutching tightly the
+pine boughs.
+
+"You'll ketch it," he muttered, setting his teeth hard together behind
+his white lips, and trying in vain to scramble up.
+
+"Yer hurt, bub?" asked a wrinkled old apple woman, turning round on
+her three-legged stool, and thrusting her nose inquiringly out of the
+folds of the old brown shawl, which was wrapped around her head.
+
+"You bet I be!" whimpered Mike, pointing forlornly with his one
+unoccupied finger to his bruised ankle.
+
+"Been playin' pitch-pennies, yer mis'ble young 'un!" grinned a tall
+boy, strolling by with his hands in his pockets, and his ferret eyes
+on the sharp lookout for mischief.
+
+In a twinkling he swooped up Mike's small coin, which had rattled to
+the pavement, and vanished with them in a struggling tangle of horse
+cars and omnibuses before Mike finished his desperate yell of, "Gim me
+'um."
+
+By this time a crowd had gathered about the prostrate Mike, who,
+faint with pain, was at last lifted into the chaise of a kind-hearted
+doctor, who was passing, and carried to his house in Bone Court.
+
+There we will leave Mike for a while, and look after the little pine
+tree on its way to Meadow Home.
+
+Such a group of round, rosy faces as were on the watch for it in the
+great bay window of Meadow Home, peering out in the red sunset,
+straining their eyes in the dim twilight, and peering still more
+persistently as the stars came out through the gathering darkness!
+
+The fire danced in the grate, and the shadows danced on the wall, and
+the four little heads danced more and more impatiently in the window
+pane, as the cold winter night settled down on the world outside of
+Meadow Home.
+
+"They're run away with and threw out. What will you bet, Mab?" shouted
+Will, turning away from the window in disgust, and indulging in a
+double somerset.
+
+"_Thrown_, Will," corrected Mabel, just now more indignant with his
+grammar than his slang.
+
+Mabel began to clear with her sleeve an unblurred peep through the
+pane, and then pressed her nose hard against the glass.
+
+"It's _my_ opinion," she said, with great pompousness, "that the
+Christmas trees are all sold. I told Ely not to put off buying till
+to-day. Don't you remember, Alice? And so papa is just coming home
+without them."
+
+Alice poh-pohed. Alice was sitting up stiffly at a table by the fire,
+stuffing a pin-cushion, assisted, or, more properly, impeded, by her
+small brother Chrissy, who had offered his services, and would not
+listen to Alice's nay. Chrissy was not handsome in any light, but by
+the flickering firelight he looked like a little ogre. He sat
+hunched up in his chair, his knees drawn up to his nose, the sharp end
+of his tongue curling out of the corner of his mouth, and his small
+eyes actually crossed in the earnestness of his work, which consisted
+in snatching chances at the stuffing with a table-spoon and a cup of
+bran.
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE SLATTERYS.]
+
+"I hear them," exclaimed Mabel, springing down from the window, her
+nose a spectacle.
+
+Now away down stairs flew all the four, who had been wriggling for an
+hour in the bay window.
+
+"Shut the door, Chrissy," nodded the dignified Alice to Chrissy, whose
+eyes had marvellously uncrossed, and whose tongue had disappeared at
+Mabel's announcement. Chrissy drew down his knees, and obeyed. "Spoon
+up the bran you spilled, Chrissy," directed Alice, calmly stitching at
+her pin-cushion.
+
+The reluctant Chrissy's obedience was less of a success this time. The
+noise of a great commotion in the hall below reached the quiet
+chamber. Chrissy, with his face twisted inquiringly first over one
+shoulder and then over the other, spooned at random.
+
+The sounds came nearer. Through the hurrying of eager feet and the
+clamor of glad voices was a tap-tapping on the wainscot and a thumping
+on the oaken stairs.
+
+"May be it's St. Nicholas?" questioned Chrissy, spooning very
+unsteadily, his eyes and his ears wide open.
+
+"No; it isn't time for him. He's doing up his pack now, and they are
+harnessing his reindeer."
+
+"Who? Where?"
+
+The door burst open, and in tumbled four children and the little pine
+tree. Chrissy darted forward, shrieking with delight, and fell
+headlong among the family group.
+
+"What a pretty pine!" said Alice, calmly locking up the pin-cushion
+in her work-box.
+
+Now Ely, still in her fur cap and sack, rushed in excitedly among her
+struggling brothers and sisters, and rescued the pine tree.
+
+"Sitting up so piminy there, Alice Eliot, your two hands folded, and
+the beautiful Christmas tree just going to destruction, with those
+four wretched little thunderbolts pitching into it!"
+
+Ely was purple with wrath.
+
+The four little Eliots were on their feet again in a trice, giggling
+and nudging each other behind the excited Ely.
+
+"It's a truly lovely pine," remarked Alice, composedly, shaking some
+bran from her skirt.
+
+"You might have said so, if you had gone round looking for them in the
+freezing cold, as I did, and then couldn't find one fit to be seen,
+except--"
+
+"Alice, didn't I tell her so?" interrupted Mabel, pulling Chrissy's
+fat fingers away from Ely's pocket just as they were about to grasp
+the protruding heels of a little dancing jack.
+
+Alice now lighted the gas, Ely set the pretty pine tree carefully
+against the wall, and the four little Eliots danced hand in hand
+frantically about it.
+
+Then Alice, and Mabel, and Ely went up close to the fender, and
+whispered together about the presents Ely had brought home to put in
+the children's stockings, and Mabel helped Ely empty her great
+stuffed-out pocket; and the fire laughed through the bars of the grate
+to see the parcels that came forth.
+
+By and by Mabel and Ely took the pine tree carefully down stairs into
+a beautiful room, and Alice came close behind them with a great
+covered basket. The four little Eliots followed noisily, striving to
+peep under the basket covers; but Ely thrust them all out again into
+the hall, and locked the door upon them.
+
+Now began the Christmas adorning of the little pine tree. Such
+beautiful things as were hung upon it, and folded about it, and
+festooned around it!
+
+"How charming to be a pine!" murmured the little tree, with its head
+among the frescoed cherubs on the ceiling.
+
+"Where are you, Mabel Eliot? Light up the burners now," commanded Ely
+from the top of a step-ladder.
+
+Ely crept out from under the green baize around the foot of the pine
+tree, two pins in her mouth, a crimson smoking-cap on her dishevelled
+head, and a pair of large-flowered toilet slippers drawn over her
+hands.
+
+"I crawled in behind there to see if there mightn't be a place
+somewhere for these," explained Ely, hastening for the torch, and
+proceeding to light up.
+
+The pine tree now saw itself reflected in the great mirror opposite,
+and echoed the "splendid" of the three girls, who clapped their hands
+at the gorgeous effect. Then the lights were put out. The silver key
+was turned in the door again, and the girls went away, leaving the
+pine tree in darkness indeed.
+
+The four small Eliots, after pinning up their stockings by the
+chimney, seated themselves in their night-gowns on the hearth-rug, and
+talked over St. Nicholas before they got into bed. Each agreed to wake
+the others if he "should just but catch Santa Claus coming down the
+chimney."
+
+Chrissy, squinting up his eyes till nothing but two little lines of
+black lashes were visible, was sure "he should catch him; O, yes, he
+should."
+
+So they all climbed sleepily into bed, pinning their faith on Chrissy.
+
+The night darkened and deepened, the stars moving on in a grand
+procession. Somewhere about midnight St. Nicholas was off on his ride,
+galloping over the roof-tops, and knocking at every chimney-top that
+had a knocker, just getting through at day dawn with the deal he had
+to do. The "eight tiny reindeer" had barely trotted him out of sight,
+when thousands of little children in thousands of homes began hopping
+out of bed to look in their stockings.
+
+The Christmas morning was breaking in joy and gladness, as if the dear
+Christ Child of eighteen hundred years ago were newly born that day.
+Little children, and old men, and maidens waked to give good gifts and
+greetings to each other, remembering whom the good Father in heaven
+had given to them on that first glad Christmas morn.
+
+In an attic in Bone Court, Mike Slattery, wildly staring about him,
+bolted up in bed, waked by big Winnie, and little Pat, and Jimmy
+roaring "Merry Christmas" in his ears.
+
+"Oop, Mike, an' tak' a look at Winnie's Christmas fixin's foreninst
+yer two eyes," piped Jimmy, flapping the little breeches he was too
+excited to put on at the little pine branches stuck up thickly in the
+window.
+
+"Isn't yer fut that better ye might hobble up to see what the good
+gintleman--him as brought ye home--left behind for yees and us
+arl--the Christmas things, ye'll mind?" inquired Winnie, combing her
+tangled auburn locks, and stooping compassionately over Mike.
+
+"There's the big burhd for yees," cackled little Pat, staggering up to
+the bedside with a goose hugged to his bosom.
+
+"Hooray!" cried Mike, swinging his pillow; "that thafe of a chap
+didn't do us out of our Christmas dinner, thin. Here's a go beyant
+mutton and onions."
+
+"Blissid be thim as saysonably remimbers the poor," sniffed Mrs.
+Slattery, who was down on her hands and knees washing up the broken
+bit of hearth under the stove.
+
+"That's so," chimed in the little Slatterys; and then they all fell
+again to admiring the goose.
+
+The sun had climbed a long way up the sky, and was just looking in
+through the pine branches in the Slatterys' window, when a little
+golden head, surmounted by a blue velvet hat, looked in through the
+Slatterys' door.
+
+"Merry Christmas. May I come in?"
+
+Pat looked at Jim, and Jim looked at Mike, and all three,
+open-mouthed, looked at the little golden head in the doorway.
+
+"I just came in to bring you some pretty story books of mine, and a
+cap of brother Jack's, and a nice new pair of shoes for Mike. How do
+you do, Mike, this morning? Papa--he's the doctor who brought you
+home, Mike--is coming soon to see you."
+
+She had emptied her little leathern bag, laid down her gifts on a
+chair, and vanished before Winnie got up the stairs from the
+wood-house, or Mrs. Slattery, in the closet, had finished skewering up
+the goose, or a single little Slattery had found a word to say.
+
+I cannot stay to tell you about the Slatterys' Christmas dinner, and
+Mike perched up at the table, with brother Jack's cap on his head, and
+the new pair of shoes on the floor by his side. I have just time to
+stop a minute at Meadow Home, where a little golden head, with a
+little blue velvet hat tilted atop, flits in before me at the great
+hall door. As I went quickly through the holly and under the wreaths,
+a little voice, in wheedling tones, called from the gallery above,--
+
+"Stay to dine to dinner?"
+
+At the same time a small dancing jack, dangling from somewhere
+overhead, caught by his hands and feet in my chignon, as if striving
+to pull me up. Ah, naughty Chrissy!
+
+Chrissy clapped his hands in delight, and then dropping the string of
+the little jack, ran away swiftly to hide.
+
+"Do stay to dine, aunt Clara," begged Mabel, and Alice, and Ely, all
+three springing forward at once to disengage the jumping jack from my
+hair.
+
+"Ah, do, Miss Clara; I've something to tell you about a little boy I
+saw this morning," pleaded little golden-head, peering through an
+evergreen arch. "Do stay and see the Christmas tree lighted after
+dinner," besought all four, gathering closely around me.
+
+But aunt Clara was engaged to dine at the square old house over the
+way, with the dear old lady who could not see the pine wreaths that
+made her old-fashioned parlor so sweet with their resinous, balmy
+fragrance.
+
+"They remind me of the times when my girls and boys were all about me
+so gay and happy, and the old house resounded with their 'Merry
+Christmas.' 'Tis many a year now, dear Clara, since there was a merry
+Christmas here; but happy Christmases there have been, thank God, not
+a few. A happy Christmas, dear, to you, and thanks for brightening the
+day for me," said the old lady, with a gentle sigh, as I placed her at
+the quiet table.
+
+A merry, merry Christmas to all the little "Merrys" who read this
+story. Do not forget that there are homes where live forlorn little
+Mikes and Jimmys, whom you can make glad in this glad time; and do not
+forget that there are sorrowing homes which the mere sight and sound
+of your bright young faces and voices will brighten and cheer.
+
+                                                    E. G. C.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: ANNIE.]
+
+ANNIE.
+
+
+    I've a sweet little pet; she is up with the lark,
+    And at eve she's asleep when the valleys are dark,
+    And she chatters and dances the blessed day long,
+    Now laughing in gladness, now singing a song.
+    She never is silent; the whole summer day
+    She is off on the green with the blossoms at play;
+    Now seeking a buttercup, plucking a rose,
+    Or laughing aloud at the thistle she blows.
+
+    She never is still; now at some merry elf
+    You'll smile as you watch her, in spite of yourself;
+    You may chide her in vain, for those eyes, full of fun,
+    Are smiling in mirth at the mischief she's done;
+    And whatever you do, that same thing, without doubt,
+    Must the mischievous Annie be busied about;
+    She's as brown as a nut, but a beauty to me,
+    And there's nothing her keen little eyes cannot see.
+
+    She dances and sings, and has many sweet airs;
+    And to infant accomplishments adding her prayers,
+    I have told everything that the darling can do,
+    For 'twas only last summer her years numbered two.
+    She's the picture of health, and a southern-born thing
+    Just as ready to weep as she's ready to sing,
+    And I fain would be foe to lip that hath smiled
+    At this wee bit of song of the _dear little_ child.
+
+
+
+
+IF; OR, BESSIE GREEN'S HOLIDAY.
+
+
+It seems absurd to say so, and at first sight almost impossible, that
+that one little word of only two letters could have so much power, and
+yet there is no doubt that the constant use of "_if_" spoilt Bessie
+Green's holiday and took away from it all the enjoyment and pleasure
+which she imagined a long summer day spent in the country would give.
+How she had thought about it and looked forward to it for weeks
+beforehand! Her parents were poor, hardworking people who rarely left
+home, and so the very idea of a treat like this was delightful, and
+she scarcely slept the night before, so afraid was she of not being
+ready in time. I cannot tell you how often she got up in the course of
+the night, either to see what o'clock it was or to look out of the
+window and wonder whether it was going to be a fine or a wet day, but
+it seemed to her as if morning would never come. However, long before
+six she was up and dressed, and with one last good-bye to her mother
+through the kitchen door was off to the station. And very soon the
+train went speeding away from the smoky streets of the city toward the
+green fields and shady lanes of the country.
+
+Now, if Bessie Green had been as wise as her companions, she would
+have done as they did--looked out of the window and admired all she
+saw passing by, and so have begun the enjoyment of the day; for to
+eyes unaccustomed to such scenes even the cows and sheep grazing in
+the meadows or the horses galloping off across the fields frightened
+by the train were all new and amusing sights. But our foolish little
+friend, instead of doing this, began to look first at her own dress
+and then at her neighbors', and thereby she grew discontented: "_If_ I
+only had a felt hat with a red feather in it, like Mary Jones',
+instead of this straw one with a plain bit of blue ribbon round it,
+how I should like it! and _if_ mother would buy me a smart muslin
+frock, such as Emma Smith wears, how much better it would be than the
+cotton frocks she always gets for me!" And she pouted and frowned and
+looked so miserable that her schoolfellows would have wondered what
+was the matter if they had noticed her, but they were so busy thinking
+of other things that they never saw there was anything amiss. Happy
+children! They had resolved to enjoy themselves, and they did so from
+morning till night, while unhappy little Bessie let discontent creep
+in, and so her holiday--that day she had looked forward to so
+much--was, as I said before, spoilt.
+
+Ah! I fear there are many people in this world, both young and old,
+who do as Bessie did: instead of being contented with the state of
+life in which God has placed them, and doing their best to make
+themselves and others happy, they let this little word "_if_" creep in
+on every occasion, and in too many cases spoil not _one day only_, but
+their _whole lives_.
+
+[Illustration: GOOD-BYE.]
+
+But to return to our story. The train went speeding along, miles and
+miles away from London, with its millions of people and houses and
+hot, dusty streets and courts, where almost the only green leaves were
+the cabbages on the costermongers' trucks, out into the pure, fresh,
+breezy country, where houses were as scarce as trees in the city, and
+the cornfields stretched away and away, till bounded in the far
+distance by sloping heathery hills. And what a shout of pleasure arose
+from the two hundred throats of our little travellers when at length
+they stopped at a roadside station and exchanged the train for a shady
+lane leading to a park, the kind owner of which had placed it at their
+disposal for the day! Now ought not Bessie to have begun at last to
+enjoy herself? No; foolish Bessie had seen a carriage at the station,
+and envied the ladies who got into it: "_If_ I had a carriage and
+horses, how much pleasanter it would be driving up this lane, instead
+of walking as I am obliged to do now!" And so she went along at such a
+slow, sulky pace that she was far behind when the lodge gates were
+reached, and was almost shut out when the children and teachers were
+admitted into the park. And as they had shouted for joy at sight of
+the shady lanes, how much more did they shout when they saw the
+beautiful spot in which for a whole long day they were to amuse
+themselves! There were meadows covered with hay--not such hay as is
+seen in stables, brown and hard and stiff, but soft, green and
+grassy-looking, smelling sweetly, and just the thing to roll about in
+and cover one another up with; then there was a nice level
+cricket-ground, and all ready for the boys to begin a game; there were
+shady trees under which to sit and listen to the birds' songs, and
+woody dells and valleys full of ferns and wild flowers; ponds on which
+swans swam about and came on swiftly and silently through the water in
+hopes of food, and little streams trickling along with a murmuring
+noise between the rushes and yellow flags which grew on their banks.
+Certainly this was a delightful spot to be in; and when in the midst
+of the beautiful park they saw the house and gardens--a house so large
+that it seemed a palace in the eyes of the children, while the gardens
+were filled with flowers of every color--they shouted again, all
+except Bessie, who of course began again to envy: "Oh, what a splendid
+house! _If_ I could only live there, I am sure I should never be
+unhappy again; _if_ I could stay here and not go back to London;
+_if_--"
+
+But at this point her grumbling came to a sudden stop, for at a given
+signal all the children, who had been racing over the grass, formed
+into line and marched straight up to the house to make their bows and
+curtseys to the kind lady and gentleman who lived there, and who had
+come out into the porch with her own little girls and boys to welcome
+the visitors. Of course Bessie found something fresh to be
+discontented at: "_If_ I were one of that lady's little girls, I
+should be dressed as nicely as she is, and then, _if_ I liked to play
+about here all day long, I could do so."
+
+And in this way she went on all the day. After going to the house and
+listening to a few words from the owner, and in return singing one of
+their prettiest songs, the children were sent off to play, and in a
+few minutes they were scattered in all directions, amusing themselves
+in different ways; and though Bessie joined in many games, yet that
+one word "_if_" was in her mind the whole time, and she did not play
+as merrily as usual. Dinner came, and the children, called together by
+a bugle, sat down in a tent; but though the fare provided was better
+than Bessie was accustomed to, even on a Sunday, yet this spirit of
+discontent had so possessed her that it was only because she was very
+hungry that she ate what was given her, all the time wondering what
+the people who lived at the great house were eating for their dinner,
+and thinking over and over again, "_If_ I had the chickens and other
+good things which they are sure to have, I should like it much better
+than this mutton and cherry pie."
+
+Oh, Bessie, Bessie! when you are older and know more of the world, you
+will discover that living in a grand house and having good things to
+eat do not make people happier; they in their turn may be as
+discontented as you are, and be always wishing they had something else
+which does not belong to them, and that word "_if_" may be as
+frequently in _their_ mouths as in _yours_.
+
+But now the dinner is over, and the merry troop have dispersed
+again--the boys eager to return to their game of cricket, and the
+girls to haymaking and swinging under the trees or other modes of
+spending the hours of this pleasant day; and judging by the laughter
+and shouts of joy, all are as happy as it is possible to be--indeed,
+it is a surprise to many when the bugle calls them once more together
+for tea, and they find that even a summer's day must come to an end at
+last, and that within two hours they will all be starting once more on
+their homeward journey. Very quickly did most of the children drink up
+the fragrant tea and the delicious milk, for they wanted to have a
+last look at the places where they had spent the day and picked wild
+flowers or made hay. Bessie was among the foremost of these; for now
+that she was going away so soon from it, she grew yet more
+discontented, and that little word "_if_" was used more than ever as
+she went about, not, as the others did, just to say good-bye to the
+fields and woods, but to look at them again and wish they were hers.
+
+I need not stop to tell you of the evening journey, for it was like
+the morning one, excepting that now the hopes of a pleasant day had
+been fulfilled, and the children talked of what they had done, instead
+of what they intended to do. Bessie Green wondered, as she heard them
+talking, how it was that they all seemed so much happier than she did,
+and how it was that the longed-for holiday had not been altogether a
+day of enjoyment. When she arrived at home, she had very little to say
+about what she had done or seen; but as she has since then been more
+contented, we must suppose that her wondering has had some effect, and
+that she is beginning to see what made the day so different to her and
+to her companions; in which case we may hope that the next time she
+goes into the country she will not spoil her holiday by the too
+frequent use of the word "_if_."
+
+
+
+
+THE FORCED RABBIT.
+
+A FUNNY FACT TOLD IN VERSE.
+
+
+    You have heard of forced potatoes, have you not, dear little folks?
+    Of melons forced, and cucumbers, and grapes in purple cloaks?
+    But I have seen, and handled, too--and oh, the sight was funny!--
+    A rabbit forced, a tiny one, a snow-white little Bunny.
+
+    Two little girls of ten and twelve--I love them very much--
+    Once thought a tenant they would like for their new rabbit-hutch,
+    So off to town they drove one day, and there a rabbit bought,
+    And home the furry tenant in their pony-carriage brought.
+
+    They petted, nursed and fondled it, and showed it every care,
+    And said before it went to bed its sheets of straw they'd air;
+    They also begged it very hard itself at home to make,
+    And hoped, although its bed was strange, it would not lie awake.
+
+    How happy was this Bunny white I really cannot tell,
+    But certainly it happy looked, and was extremely well;
+    Its eyes were bright, its nose was cool, its tongue a lovely pink.
+    And for its pulse--well, that was strong and regular, I think.
+
+    When summer came, the little girls were taken to the sea,
+    And left their rabbit with the groom--a youth of twenty-three.
+    They bathed and dug upon the shore, and played with Cousin Jack;
+    They heard the band upon the sand, and rode on donkey-back.
+
+    Then home they came, and went at once to see their Bunny dear,
+    To stroke his ribs, and pat his head, and feel each wiry ear;
+    But oh! alas! they found him not--the rabbit was not there!
+    His hutch, like Mrs. Hubbard's shelf, was very, very bare.
+
+    Now, where is he? They called the groom, the youth of twenty-three,
+    And said, "Oh, George, where's Bunny gone? Oh where, oh where is
+            he?"
+    "He's in the hot-house," George replied; "the gardener put him
+            there,
+    For he was growing thinner, miss, and losing all his hair."
+
+    They trotted to the garden then, and there the Bunny found,
+    And 'neath a vine beheld their pet reposing on the ground.
+    "Why, what is that?" they both exclaimed; "can that a rabbit be?
+    I never in my life before so strange a thing did see!"
+
+[Illustration: THE RABBIT.]
+
+    They were surprised, and certainly the sight was strange to view,
+    For Bunny looked so very huge, and such a bundle too!
+    Such fat he had, and lots of hair, they longed a bit to pull;
+    He was exactly like a ball of living cotton-wool.
+
+    No tailor ever did produce a coat so superfine,
+    'Twas white as snow, and very thick on stomach, chest and spine--
+    As thick as heads of stupid boys with countenances glum;
+    And oh! the hair was very long--as long as any sum!
+
+    A host of friends and neighbors came the funny sight to see,
+    To one and all a rabbit forced was quite a novelty;
+    And everybody petted him, and loved him very much,
+    And brought him goody-goodies for the larder in his hutch.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    One day--and now my pen and ink the deepest mourning wear--
+    They let him out upon the lawn for exercise and air;
+    They turned their backs, two dogs rushed up, and one, with swelling
+            chest,
+    Seized Bunny by his woolly throat, and--you must guess the rest.
+
+
+
+
+UP AND DOING.
+
+
+    Boys, be up and doing,
+      For the day's begun;
+    Soon will come the noontide,
+      Then the set of sun;
+    At your tasks toil bravely
+      Till your work is done.
+
+    Let your hands be busy
+      In some useful way;
+    Don't neglect your study,
+      Don't forget your play;
+    There is time enough for each
+      Every blessed day.
+
+
+
+
+A DARING FEAT.
+
+
+Remarkable for its spire, the loftiest of St. Petersburg, is the
+church of St. Peter and St. Paul. An anecdote connected with this
+church, and not known, I believe, out of Russia, is worth telling. The
+spire, which rises
+
+    "Lofty, and light, and small,"
+
+and is probably represented in an engraving as fading away almost into
+a point in the sky, is, in reality, terminated by a globe of
+considerable dimensions, on which an angel stands, supporting a large
+cross. This angel was out of repair; and some suspicions were
+entertained that he designed visiting, uninvoked, the surface of the
+earth. The affair caused some uneasiness, and the government at length
+became greatly perplexed. To raise a scaffolding to such a height
+would cost a large sum of money; and in meditating fruitlessly on this
+circumstance, without knowing how to act, some time was suffered to
+elapse.
+
+Among the crowd of gazers below, who daily turned their eyes and their
+thoughts towards the angel, was a mujik called Telouchkine. This man
+was a roofer of houses (a slater, as he would be called in countries
+where slates were used); and his speculations by degrees assumed a
+more practical character than the idle wonders and conjectures of the
+rest of the crowd. The spire was entirely covered with sheets of
+gilded copper, and presented to the eye a surface as smooth as if it
+had been one mass of burnished gold. But Telouchkine knew that the
+sheets of copper were not even uniformly closed upon each other, and,
+above all, that there were large nails used to fasten them, which
+projected from the side of the spire.
+
+Having thought on these circumstances till his mind was made up,
+Telouchkine went to the government and offered to repair the angel
+without scaffolding, and without assistance, on condition of being
+reasonably paid for the time expended in the labor. The offer was
+accepted.
+
+The day fixed for the adventure arrives. Telouchkine, provided with
+nothing more than a coil of ropes, ascends the spire in the interior
+to the last window. Here he looks down at the concourse of the people
+below, and up at the glittering "needle," as it is called, tapering
+far above his head. But his heart does not fail him; and stepping
+gravely out upon the window, he sets about his task.
+
+He cuts a portion of the cord in the form of two large stirrups, with
+a loop at each end. The upper loops he fastens upon two of the
+projecting nails above his head, and places his foot in the others.
+Then digging the fingers of one hand into the interstices of the
+sheets of copper, he raises one of the stirrups with the other hand,
+so as to make it catch a nail higher up. The same operation he
+performs on behalf of the other leg, and so on alternately. And thus
+he climbs, nail by nail, step by step, and stirrup by stirrup, till
+his starting-point is undistinguished from the golden surface, and the
+spire dwindles in his embrace till he can clasp it all round.
+
+So far, so well. But he now reaches the ball--a globe of between nine
+and ten feet in circumference. The angel, the object of this visit, is
+above this ball, and concealed from his view by its smooth, round, and
+glittering expanse. Only fancy the wretch at this moment, turning up
+his grave eyes, and graver beard, to an obstacle that seems to defy
+the daring and intrepidity of man!
+
+[Illustration: THE SEA.]
+
+But Telouchkine is not dismayed. He is prepared for the difficulty;
+and the means he used to surmount it exhibits the same remarkable
+simplicity as the rest of the feat.
+
+Suspending himself in his stirrups, he girds the "needle" with a cord,
+the ends of which he fastens around his waist; and so supported, he
+leans gradually back, till the soles of his feet are planted against
+the spire. In this position, he throws, by a strong effort, a coil of
+cord over the ball; and so coolly and accurately is the aim taken,
+that at the first trial it falls in the required direction, and he
+sees the end hang down on the opposite side.
+
+To draw himself into his original position, to fasten the cord firmly
+around the globe, and with the assistance of this auxiliary to climb
+to the summit, is now an easy part of his task; and in a few minutes
+more Telouchkine stands by the side of the angel, and listens to the
+shout that bursts like sudden thunder from the concourse below, yet
+comes to his ear only like a faint and hollow murmur.
+
+The cord, which he had an opportunity of fastening properly, enabled
+him to descend with comparative facility; and the next day he carried
+up with him a ladder of ropes, by means of which he found it easy to
+effect the necessary repairs.
+
+
+
+
+THE WORLD.
+
+
+    Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful world,
+    With the wonderful water around you curled,
+    And the wonderful grass on your breast--
+    World, you are beautifully dressed.
+
+    The wonderful air is over me,
+    And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree;
+    It walks on the water, and whirls the mills,
+    And talks to itself on the tops of the hills.
+
+    You friendly Earth, how far do you go,
+    With the wheat-fields that nod, and the rivers that flow,
+    With cities, and gardens, and cliffs, and isles,
+    And people upon you for thousands of miles?
+
+    Ah, you are so great, and I am so small,
+    I tremble to think of you, World, at all!
+    And yet, when I said my prayers to-day,
+    A whisper inside me seemed to say,
+    "You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot;
+    You can love and think, and the Earth cannot!"
+
+                      _Lilliput Lectures._
+
+
+
+
+C--A--T.
+
+FOR THE VERY LITTLE ONES.
+
+
+    Be quiet, good Tabby!
+      See how still you can be,
+    For I'm going to teach you
+      To spell C--A--T.
+
+    I'll show you the way
+      Mother reads it to me:
+    She looks very sober,
+      And says C--A--T.
+
+    Fred says you can't learn,
+      But we'll show him that we
+    Can learn, if we please,
+      To spell C--A--T.
+
+    To what little May said
+      Tabby did not agree,
+    And I doubt if she learned
+      To spell C--A--T.
+
+[Illustration: C--A--T.]
+
+
+
+
+THE GIRAFFE.
+
+
+The creature which forms the subject of this paper is the giraffe, or
+camelopard (_Camelopardalis Giraffa_) noted for its wonderful and
+beautiful form and its remarkable habits.
+
+At the first sight of a giraffe, the spectator is struck by its
+enormously long neck, and will naturally ask himself how it is
+supported, and how its mobility is preserved. Every one who has the
+least acquaintance with anatomy is aware that a strong and very
+elastic ligament passes down the back of the neck, and acts as a strap
+by which the head is preserved from falling forward. In the giraffe
+this ligament (popularly called the paxwax) is of great length and
+thickness, and is divided into longitudinal halves, and proceeds, not
+only down the entire neck, but along the back, nearly to the tail. So
+powerful a band requires correspondingly large attachments; and
+accordingly we find that the vertebrae of the shoulders send out
+enormously long perpendicular processes, which give to the shoulder
+that height which is so eminent a characteristic of the animal. To
+these processes the ligament of the neck is fastened by accessory
+bands, which add both to its strength and elasticity.
+
+The natives of Southern Africa make great use of this ligament, which
+is carefully removed and dried. When the native wishes to make a
+kaross, or any other article of apparel, he soaks a piece of the
+ligament in water, and then beats it with a stone. This treatment
+causes it to split into filaments, which can be worked to almost any
+degree of fineness, and with these the native sews his leathern dress.
+I have now before me a piece of this Kaffir thread, as it is called.
+In its dry state, it is shrivelled and contracted, and no one who was
+not acquainted with it could guess the purpose to which it was
+originally devoted.
+
+Although the neck of the giraffe is so enormously long, it only
+consists of seven vertebrae, as is indeed the rule throughout the
+mammalia. It seems very remarkable that in the neck of the elephant
+and of the giraffe there should be precisely the same number of
+vertebrae. Such, however, is the case, and the difference in length is
+caused by the great length of those bones in the giraffe, and their
+shortness and flatness in the elephant.
+
+The giraffe is a swift animal, and even upon level ground will put a
+horse to its utmost mettle; but on rough and rocky ground, especially
+if the chase be directed up hill, the horse has no chance against the
+giraffe, which can hop over the stones with the agility of the goat,
+and even leap ravines which no horse will dare to face. So energetic
+is the animal when chased, and so violently is the tail switched from
+side to side, that the long, stiff hairs hiss sharply as they pass
+through the air.
+
+Sometimes, but very rarely, the giraffe will miss its footing and fall
+to the ground; but it recovers itself immediately, and is on its feet
+before much advantage can be taken of the mishap. When it lies down
+intentionally, it is obliged to pack up its legs in a manner which
+seems extremely awkward, although the animal can lie or rise with
+perfect ease; and, like the camel, it possesses callosities upon the
+knees and breast, on which it rests while reposing.
+
+The height of the giraffe is rather variable, but on an average is
+from twelve to eighteen feet.
+
+[Illustration: THE GIRAFFE.]
+
+
+
+
+THE LION ON THE THRESHOLD.
+
+
+At Rietriverspoort, South Africa, writes Lichtenstein, we came to the
+dwelling of a farmer named Van Wyk. Whilst we were resting our tired
+oxen, and enjoying the cool shade of the porch, Van Wyk told us the
+following story:--
+
+"It was something more than two years ago that here, in this spot
+where we are standing, I had to make a daring shot. My wife was
+sitting in the house near the door, the children were playing about,
+and I was busy doing something to my wagon on the other side of the
+house, when suddenly what should we see, on the doorstep, but the
+shadow of a great lion darkening the bright daylight. My wife, quite
+stunned with terror, and knowing also how dangerous it often is to try
+and run away in such cases, remained in her place, while the children
+took refuge upon her lap. Their cries made me aware of something
+having happened; and my astonishment and consternation may be imagined
+when I discovered what guest was blocking up my entrance to my own
+house.
+
+"The lion had not as yet seen me: but how was I, unarmed as I was, to
+defend my family? Involuntarily I moved along the side of the house
+towards the window, which was open; and, most happily for me, I saw,
+standing in a corner of the room near the window, a loaded gun. I was
+able to reach it with my hand, though the window, as you see, is too
+small for any one to get through. Still more providential was it that
+the room door happened to be open, so that I could see the whole
+terrible scene through the window. The lion had got into the house,
+and was looking steadfastly at my wife and children. He made a
+movement, and seemed about to spring upon them, when, feeling that
+there was no longer any time to waste in deliberating what was to be
+done, I uttered a few encouraging words to my wife, and with God's
+help, shot right across the room into the passage, where I struck the
+lion in the head, so that he could not move again. The ball had passed
+close to the hair of my little boy."
+
+[Illustration: THE LION.]
+
+The same writer, Lichtenstein, says that the lion, like a cat, takes
+its prey by springing upon it, and never attacks a man or animal which
+does not attempt to run away from him without first placing himself at
+a distance of ten or twelve paces off, and measuring his spring. This
+habit of the lion has been turned to account by hunters, who make it
+their practice never to fire at a lion until he has so placed himself:
+long practice enabling them to know exactly where and when to hit it
+with effect while the animal is preparing for his spring. If any one
+is so unfortunate as to meet a lion unarmed, the only hope of escape
+is presence of mind. To run away is certain destruction; if a man has
+the coolness to remain standing where he is, the lion will not attack
+him. He will not attempt the spring if the man stands motionless as a
+statue, and looks quietly into his eyes. The erect figure of the human
+species of itself alarms the lion, and when, in addition to this, he
+sees his antagonist calm and unmoved, the feeling of awe is increased.
+A sudden gesture, indicative of alarm, will of course disturb this
+impression; but if the man continues to show self-possession, the lion
+will at last be as afraid of the man as the man of the lion. After a
+time he slowly raises himself, looks carefully round, retreats a few
+steps, lies down again, makes a further retreat, and ends by taking
+a rapid flight, as if his desire were to get as far out of the
+presence of the human species as he possibly can. Indeed, we are told
+by the settlers at the Cape, that it is not likely that the experiment
+has been very often made. Formerly, when there were more lions to be
+seen there than at present, and when, at the same time, the settlers
+were inexperienced in lion-hunting, large numbers of hunters used to
+go in chase of the lion, whom they would endeavor to entice into the
+plain, and round whom they used to form a circle. They shot at him
+first from one side and then from another, and if the poor animal
+tried to break through the left side of the human wall, they would
+attack him from the right. At present, however, experienced
+lion-hunters generally prefer going alone after their dangerous prey,
+and sometimes pursue him to his den. Such species of sport is always
+dangerous, however, and is often attended with fatal results. We have
+heard from a reliable source that in many sports among the mountains
+near the Elephant River, lions are to be seen in such large numbers,
+that on one occasion our informant saw as many as three and twenty
+together. Most of them were young, and only eight quite full grown. He
+had just loosened his oxen on an open place, and took the rather
+cowardly than humane course of escaping to the tents of some
+Hottentots, and leaving his oxen to the mercy of the lions, without
+firing a shot.
+
+
+
+
+THE SNOW-MAN.
+
+
+    Look! how the clouds are flying south!
+      The wind pipes loud and shrill!
+    And high above the white drifts stands
+      The snow-man on the hill.
+
+    Blow, wild wind from the icy north!
+      Here's one who will not fear
+    To feel thy coldest touch, or shrink
+      Thy loudest blast to hear!
+
+    Proud triumph of the school-boy's skill!
+      Far rather would I be
+    A winter giant, ruling o'er
+      A frosty realm, like thee,
+
+    And stand amidst the drifted snow,
+      Like thee, a thing apart,
+    Than be a man who walks with men,
+      But has a frozen heart!
+
+                           MARIAN DOUGLAS.
+
+[Illustration: THE SNOW-MAN.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A pair of barn swallows bring food to their nestling}]
+
+BARN SWALLOWS.
+
+
+When I was a youngster,--and that, let me tell you, young friends,
+was some time ago,--they used to say that swallows lived in the mud
+all winter, as the eels do. The books made no such stupid blunder;
+only the ignorant people, such as never seem to use their eyes or
+their reason. It was one of the popular errors of the time. Silly as
+the notion seems, it has been held by a great many respectable
+persons.
+
+Possibly the error may have arisen from the fact that the moment the
+swallows appear in any locality, in the spring of the year, they
+immediately search out some muddy place, where they can get materials
+for their nests. First they carry a mouthful of mud, then some threads
+of dry hay or straw, then more mud, and so on. These frequent visits
+to a marshy locality might readily lead an unobserving person to
+imagine that the birds came from the muddy recesses in the banks. But,
+of course, they are on a very different errand.
+
+Having commenced their nests, the swallows rest during the warmest
+part of the day, so that the sun may dry their work, and make it hard
+and strong. Then more mud is plastered on--more threads of straw; and
+so the industrious birds continue until the body of the nest is
+completed. A nice, soft lining of fine grass or hair finishes the
+whole, and makes a summer home for both birds and their young.
+
+Unlike most other birds, swallows often repair old nests, if the
+frosts and storms of winter have injured them, as they generally do;
+and sometimes the birds come back to the same locality for several
+years. They select some unexposed corner, under the eaves of a barn or
+house, if possible pretty high from the ground, and in a very few days
+the entire dwelling, lining and all, will be completed.
+
+If unmolested, barn swallows will form quite a colony in the space of
+a few years. But, if their nests are injured or torn down, or their
+young ones are stolen away or disturbed, the birds forsake the
+locality forever. Where a number of families live together, their
+chattering, when, as the evening comes on, they are catching gnats and
+flies for supper, or feeding their young ones, is very pleasant and
+diverting. And there is music in their language, too--music which a
+thoughtful person is ever glad to hear.
+
+Last summer, when business was dull, I went on a vacation, away up
+into the Granite State. While passing through the town of Unity (my
+little niece insists upon calling it _Utiny_--but she will speak
+plainer one of these years), my attention was called to a small
+village church on the wayside. Around the entire building, under the
+eaves, were brackets, some three inches in width, and perhaps as far
+apart. In the spaces thus formed were hundreds upon hundreds of
+swallows' nests. Hardly a single space was left unoccupied, while many
+contained two, and sometimes three nests. Not content with the eaves,
+the colony had commenced upon the belfry, and far up towards the spire
+every possible nook and corner seemed to be spoken for.
+
+I stopped to contemplate the very interesting spectacle. A villager
+informed me that the colony came regularly every year, and, as near as
+could be judged, the same birds; that for ten years the birds had been
+petted by the inhabitants, and protected by all, old and young. He
+said that the swallows had all disappeared in a body, about a week
+previous to my visit, adding, "You don't know what a lovely spectacle
+it is to witness the evolutions of these birds on a summer evening,
+when they are teaching their young ones to fly. They swarm around the
+building like bees, and their music is most delightful to hear."
+
+I could readily imagine the beauty of the scene, from the great number
+of nests, though I mean to see the colony at their devotions this
+year. "Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for
+herself, where she may lay her young, _even thine altars_, O Lord of
+hosts, my King and my God."
+
+It would be interesting to know where these birds go as winter
+approaches. It is very easy, and perhaps very true, to say that they
+"go south." But to what part of the south? Do they keep in a body
+there, as here? Do they have nests, and rear their young, there, as
+with us? There is a fine field for inquiry, which it is hoped some of
+our boys will go into by and by. For the present, if any of them are
+passing through Unity, let them remember the church which has its
+largest congregation on the outside.
+
+                                                  W. WANDER.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+GRATITUDE OF A COW.
+
+
+A gentleman passing through a field observed a cow showing many
+symptoms of uneasiness, stamping with her feet and looking earnestly
+at him. At first he feared to approach her, but afterward went toward
+her, which seemed to please her much. She then guided him to a ditch
+where her calf was lying helpless; and he was just in time to save it
+from death, to the no small delight of the cow. Some days after, when
+passing through the same field, the cow came up to him as if to thank
+him for his kindness. As among the various animals with which the
+earth abounds none is more necessary to the existence of man than the
+cow, so likewise none appears to be more extensively propagated; in
+every part of the world it is found, large or small, according to the
+quantity and quality of its food. There is no part of Europe where it
+grows to so large a size as in England, whose pastures are admirably
+suited to its nature. The quantity of milk and butter varies according
+to the difference of its pasture; some cows in favorable situations
+yield twenty quarts of milk in a day.
+
+To form a just idea of the value of this animal, we ought to consider
+that there is scarcely any part of it without its utility to man. The
+skin is manufactured into leather; the hair, mixed with lime, is used
+in plastering walls and building houses; the bones serve as a
+substitute for ivory; when calcined, they are used by the refiners of
+silver to separate the baser metals; and when ground and spread over
+the fields, they form a fertilizing manure. Combs, knife-handles and
+many useful articles are made from the horns, which, when softened in
+boiling water, become pliable, so as to be formed into lanterns--an
+invention usually ascribed to King Alfred. We are furnished with
+candles from the tallow, and the feet afford an oil adapted to a
+variety of purposes. Glue is made from the cartilages, gristles and
+parings of the hide boiled in water; calves' skins are manufactured
+into vellum; saddlers and others use a fine thread prepared from the
+sinews, which is much stronger than any other equally fine. The blood,
+gall, etc., are used in many important manufactures.
+
+[Illustration: THE COW AND HER CALF.]
+
+
+
+
+MINUTES.
+
+
+    We are but minutes--little things!
+    Each one furnished with sixty wings,
+    With which we fly on our unseen track,
+    And not a minute ever comes back.
+
+    We are but minutes; use, use us well,
+    For how we are used we must one day tell.
+    Who uses minutes has hours to use;
+    Who loses minutes whole years must lose.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Uncle Godfrey wades through snow, two horses and a
+    dingo nearby}]
+
+GOING FOR THE LETTERS.
+
+AN AUSTRALIAN STORY.
+
+
+It was a bitter cold day in the end of the month of January. The
+morning had been a very unpleasant one--neither frost nor snow, a sort
+of compound of rain and sleet; but now the snow was falling fast, and
+the clear crystals were fast hiding every shrub and plant that had a
+place in the beautiful flower garden, in front of the drawing-room
+windows of Arundel Manor, while inside a roaring fire, that made the
+handsomely-furnished apartment look even more than usually snug and
+comfortable, was surrounded by a family party consisting of Mrs. St.
+Clair, the three children, and uncle Godfrey.
+
+It was the "children's hour," and his niece was trying to coax a tale
+out of "dear uncle," who did not seem much in the humor to comply with
+her request, when mamma looked up and said, "My dear, do not trouble
+your uncle so. I am sure, Godfrey, that Lydia must torment you; and if
+she does, we must send her to the nursery."
+
+Poor Lydia's face fell at once. "I am sure I did not mean to tease
+uncle."
+
+"Never mind, my pet; I know I promised to tell you a story to-night,
+and was just thinking what it was to be, when my fit of musing sent
+memory back many a long day, and revealed a scene distant many a
+thousand miles. Now that I am fairly awake, I will show you the
+picture of my waking dream. So up you jump;" and Lydia, catching hold
+of his hand, was quickly seated on her uncle's knee, her usual place
+at story time, and throwing her arms round his neck, exclaimed,--
+
+"O, you dear old pet!"
+
+"I heard," began uncle Godfrey, "some boys, who shall be nameless,
+grumbling this morning at being kept inside, for fear of catching cold
+on such a raw day, and my thoughts instantly turned to a day similar
+to this, and how I then prayed to be under the shelter of some
+friendly roof; and I also thought how thankful every one ought to be
+who is able to sit at a warm fire, when it freezes hard, or when the
+snow is covering the earth by inches every hour.
+
+"I dare say you think it fine fun to run over to the lodge and bring
+the letters from the post-boy; at least I did when as young as you
+are; but going for letters is not always the pleasantest thing
+imaginable, as I once nearly found out to my cost.
+
+"If you are all so anxious to hear the contents of letters from your
+uncle Wilfred, you may fancy how eagerly he and I used to watch for
+the arrivals of the mails at Sydney, and be sure that one or both of
+us were certain to be at the office in Kiandra on the day it reached
+there, and with what delight we read and re-read the letter which
+never failed to make its appearance monthly to one or other of us.
+
+"Our winter fall of snow generally began about the 12th of May, and
+from that date till the month of October it was a matter of no small
+difficulty to get our letters at the place where we lived, a long nine
+miles from Kiandra of a very mountainous track.
+
+"186- was an extraordinary season. May passed, no snow--June the same,
+only heavy, I may say, nearly constant showers of rain. 'A glorious
+year,' the diggers called it. 'Never such a season for work since the
+diggings broke out. Two months' work at a time when there is never any
+water. O, what a wash-up there will be in November!'
+
+"Such was the substance of the conversation when any two of the
+residents met, varied, perhaps, by remarks as to whether old
+So-and-so, who had been twenty years in the district, would be right
+in saying there was to be nine feet of snow, or whether So-and-so was
+a better judge in saying we were to have none at all?
+
+"I was then living by myself, Wilfred being away in Sydney, and was
+looking out for him every day, and hoping he might be back before the
+winter fairly set in, when it was scarcely possible to travel. As I
+said before, June had passed, and we were getting well into July, when
+I heard that our English mail would be in Kiandra on the following
+Wednesday. It was now Friday.
+
+"We had got a fine week for work, raining gently all the time, which
+is what we diggers like, and no frost, which dries up the water, and
+makes us all idle, when on Sunday the weather completely changed, and
+very suddenly, too, as, indeed, it always did there. The wind, which
+had been from north or east, without any warning chopped right round
+to the south-west, and we had a strong frost. Next day was cloudy, but
+at night frost was harder than ever, and everything with liquid in it,
+even to the tea-pot in a room where there was a fire nearly all night,
+was full of solid ice.
+
+"The thermometer was down to 18 deg. below zero in the same place; and in
+bed, in the next room, with four pairs of new blankets, I thought I
+should have been fairly frozen. We were hard at work all that day,
+which was a drizzly, snowy one, everything betokening a fall of snow;
+so, when Wednesday dawned, though not so deep as I expected, I was
+not surprised to find more than a foot of it all over.
+
+"Down the country the floods had been dreadful; nearly all the bridges
+had been washed away, and the roads turned into bogs, so that our
+mails came in very irregularly, sometimes ten days behind time. You
+may therefore imagine I was in a great worry to hear from Wilfred, my
+last letter being a month old, as well as anxious for _home_ news. So
+I donned my oil-skin over my blanket-coat, put on my thigh gum-boots,
+tied my comforter round my neck and up over my ears, and pulling my
+south-wester on, prepared to face the weather.
+
+"I found the walk into town, though very heavy, not so bad as I
+expected, and arrived safely, without any mishaps, but rather tired
+and uncomfortably moist, it being a sort of drizzle all the way; but a
+letter from Wilfred, saying he would not leave for some time, and so
+would not be caught in this storm, and the perusal of a kind one from
+'the old country' soon made me forget my discomfort, and I spent a
+pleasant evening at a friend's.
+
+"At bed-time it was a beautiful starry night; but I did not altogether
+fancy it. There was a kind of half soft feel through the frost, that
+sounded to me like a change, and the thought of the morrow's walk was
+not a pleasant one; but there was no use forestalling what might never
+be. So to bed and to sleep; but ere my eyes were well closed, the wind
+began to whistle round the corner of the house, and--hallo--what's
+that! Big drops of rain, and lumps of earth and gravel, were pelting
+the panes of glass.
+
+"A few minutes there was a lull--a dead silence--when flash!
+crash!--the room was in a blaze of light, and at the same instant the
+thunder made the very bed shake again, and also made my heart rise to
+my mouth. Listening earnestly for some time, and no further
+disturbances occurring, I began, after thanking a kind Providence for
+his protection, to think over the matter, and came to the conclusion
+that at last we were in for a downright fall, this being the third
+time that, to my knowledge, such had been preceded by a single clap of
+thunder.
+
+"Next day the snow came down in earnest; and as it was drifting in
+every direction, I took the advice of my friends, and quietly stopped
+where I was. Large, feathery flakes fell unceasingly all the
+afternoon, and by night there was fully two feet in the town; but as
+it looked a little better on Friday afternoon, and my dog, cat, and
+fowls could get nothing to eat until my return, I determined to make a
+start, though against the opinions of most of the town's people.
+
+"When I left Kiandra there was a dense fog, which shortly changed,
+first to a light, and then to a heavy snow; and by the time I dragged
+myself the mile to the top of the mountain, it was coming down, and no
+mistake!
+
+"It was impossible to see one yard in any direction, and my legs were
+already beginning to _talk_; but it was too late to think of turning.
+I had had only to fight through one extra deep drift as yet, and knew
+the road hitherto well; but now I had to turn off from where the track
+lay hid, and had not gone far when my difficulties fairly began, and I
+was quickly ploughing my way through some five or six feet of snow.
+
+"Half an hour's hard work found me clear of that, and for a couple of
+miles everything went swimmingly. The snow was here firm enough to
+bear my weight, although now and again, bump! down I went through the
+crust, nearly jerking my joints out. The nearer home the deeper got
+the snow, and, of course, so much the more tired I felt. The main
+creek to be crossed was hidden entirely; and as its exact whereabouts
+was not very easily guessed at, you may depend it was not a pleasant
+sensation to plump down and find myself up to the neck. Luckily, the
+water was no depth, and as my boots were tight and long, a hard
+scramble pulled me out of my first trouble.
+
+"A short rest, and I was again on my way; but it took me a good many
+hours to get the next three or four miles, even though I met no more
+serious difficulty than some very heavy drifts. I was getting very
+tired, and hungry, too, and you may fancy it was no joke wading the
+snow, never less than two feet, lucky if not going past the knees at
+every step; but at last I was in a mess, and how to get out of it I
+knew not. The look of the country, when a lull gave me the chance of
+seeing, showed I was off my road; and when I felt I was lost, my
+thoughts were anything but satisfactory.
+
+"I knew not which way to turn, so sat down to think it over, and was
+looking around as well as the drifting snow would permit, when coming
+along my tracks was a large yellow dog. My heart gave a bound of
+delight, and jumping up, I let a 'cooey,'[A] to tell its master that
+some one was in the same predicament, as I doubted not he was.
+
+"Slowly a minute or two passed, but no reply to my communication.
+Alas! all was silence, and I then saw, by its pointed ears and bushy
+tail, that it was a dingo, or native dog, which was running my
+footsteps. It was no use sitting where I was. So on I started in the
+direction I fancied, every minute feeling more and more fagged, and
+when at last darkness set in, was almost inclined to give up.
+
+"My yellow friend followed me for some time at a respectful distance;
+and though the dingo is a sneaking coward, still, had sleep
+overpowered me, he might have been tempted to try how I tasted, as he
+must have been hungry to come so close to me as he did. So, although I
+never had any fear of such an event actually occurring, I was not at
+all sorry when he trotted off, his tail, as usual, between his legs,
+to join some of his companions, whose unearthly howls he heard at no
+great distance; there must have been five or six.
+
+"I felt really glad they came no nearer, as a mob of them are very
+daring; and I have known them, when well starved for a week or two,
+kill calves, and even colts, when the mothers were weak and could not
+fight for them. But it was not very long before I found that they were
+not after me, as I nearly stumbled against a mare and colt belonging
+to myself, that were standing under a tree, and whinnied as I spoke.
+We had sent all our horses away two months ago but this one, as she
+could not be found, and we thought she was dead. The poor thing could
+not have tasted food for days; but what could I do but pity the pair,
+and feel that their end was to be food for the _warregals_ (native
+dogs).
+
+"As I had now been walking seven or eight hours, and hard at it all
+the time, I could see nothing for it but to yield to necessity, as
+sleep was fast overpowering me, when I distinctly heard the bark of a
+dog, which I felt confident was my old watch, 'Jack.' My spirits rose
+at once, and again I was alive, and pushed in the direction of the
+welcome sound.
+
+"At the same time I caught a glimpse of a cluster of trees, whose
+peculiar shape I had often remarked, which told me where I was; and
+this fact was also quickly proved by my plunging into an old
+prospecting hole--the only one in the neighborhood. It was about six
+feet deep, and full of snow and water. I thought I was lost, as the
+frozen slush went down my back, and that I, who had been picked out of
+the Canton River, in a dark night, when the tide ran six knots an
+hour, was fated to be drowned in a filthy pot-hole.
+
+"But, luckily, such was not my lot on the present occasion, as, after
+many a failure, I managed to pull myself out, my boots full of water,
+and my whole body nearly numb from the cold. Luckily, the house was
+only half a mile off.
+
+"I reached it in safety, and just in time, as my feet were all but
+frost-bitten, when I should have been fortunate to lose only a few of
+my toes, as I knew a man here who had _both_ legs cut off in
+consequence of a severe frost-bite.
+
+"As it was, I was a sorry figure; my clothes were like a board, my
+socks were in a similar state, while icicles hung in festoons from my
+hair and beard. But, when at last I managed to open the door, and get
+a light, one or two rough towels, and some ten minutes' hard rubbing,
+soon put a glow of heat over my whole body; and by the time I turned
+into bed, after a cup of scalding hot coffee (I was too hungry to
+eat), my misfortunes were forgotten, and all I felt was thankfulness
+for having reached my house, which seems to me, even now, to have been
+a very doubtful matter, had 'Jack' not barked when he did.
+
+"See how many things turned out all for my good--the mare and the colt
+in the snow, the dingo running after her through hunger, and my dog
+barking at it, showed me where my house was, when I was fairly lost,
+and thus saved my life, and enabled me to spin you this yarn, which I
+must now finish by saying that since that time I am always glad to
+have a warm house to shelter me in such weather as this, and cannot
+help thinking that if any boys had ever been placed in my predicament,
+they would only be too thankful to remain inside on such a day as
+this, without requiring their mother to order them to do so."
+
+"But what about the poor mare? Did she die? and did the wild dogs eat
+the colt?"
+
+"O, I almost forgot to tell you that, to my astonishment, in two or
+three days, when the snow hardened a bit, the pair found their way
+home, and I, after a deal of trouble, got them to the banks of the
+Tumut River, which, although only a couple of miles away, was so many
+hundred feet lower, that they could paw away the snow, and so got
+grass enough to live till spring when they soon got fat. The little
+colt I named 'Snowdrop,' and when she was old enough, broke her in;
+and many a good gallop we had over the place where she and her mother
+neighed to me on that dark and dismal night."
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[A] A peculiar shout, heard at a great distance, which is common among
+the Australian settlers.
+
+
+
+
+SPRING HAS COME.
+
+
+    Spring has come back to us, beautiful spring!
+    Blue-birds and swallows are out on the wing;
+    Over the meadows a carpet of green
+    Softer and richer than velvet is seen.
+
+    Up come the blossoms so bright and so gay,
+    Giving sweet odors to welcome the May.
+    Sunshine and music are flooding the air,
+    Beauty and brightness are everywhere.
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT "BITTERS."
+
+[Illustration: {Bitters being chased by a rooster}]
+
+
+Charley and Jimmie D. were playing near the barn one day, when along
+came the forlornest looking cur you ever did see. The children
+commenced calling him, and laughed loudly as the animal came towards
+them, he was _such_ an ill-looking thing.
+
+"Good fellow! nice fellow!" said Charley, patting him. "Jim, you run
+in, and get him something to eat--won't you? and don't tell mother
+yet; you know she dislikes dogs so. We'll tie him up to-night, and
+tell her to-morrow, if no one comes for him."
+
+Such another looking dog I think I never saw--scrawny and poor, as
+though he had never been more than half fed; a slit in one ear, tail
+not much to speak of, and color a dirty black and white.
+
+Jimmie soon came back from a successful forage, and gave him a good
+supper. At least doggie seemed to think so, for he gobbled it up in
+about a minute, and then wagged the stump of his tail for more.
+
+"No, sir," said Charley, "no more to-night."
+
+Then they shut him up in a little room in a corner of the barn, and
+ran to find their father, and tell him, well knowing he would not
+care, if their mother was willing.
+
+They found their father, who went with them to see him, and laughed
+long and loud as they led out the ugly beast.
+
+Then all went in to supper; the great secret almost revealing itself
+in their tell-tale looks and occasional whisperings, neither of which
+attracted their mother's attention.
+
+Supper over, they made a final visit to their pet, and then left him
+for the night.
+
+"What shall we name him?" said Jimmie, when they were alone in their
+room at night.
+
+"O, we must have a funny name, he's such a sorry looking feller!
+Wouldn't you call him 'Bitters'?" said Charley.
+
+"Bitters!" said Jim, with a laugh.
+
+"Yes, that's bad enough."
+
+So Bitters he was named; and next morning they won their mother's
+reluctant consent to keep the dog, provided he was kept at the barn,
+or away from the house, at all events.
+
+Then they fed and played with him till school time, and shut him up
+till noon.
+
+Bitters seemed to take to his new admirers, and appeared quite
+satisfied with his quarters, and was getting to look a little more
+like a respectable dog, when one morning, as he was running round a
+corner of the barn, he came suddenly upon the old rooster, who
+bristled up and showed fight. Bitters turned, and ran for dear life,
+as hard as he could go, and never has been seen or heard from, from
+that day to this, much to the boys' regret.
+
+                                                    F. E. S.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: DOG STEPHEN.]
+
+FRED AND DOG STEPHEN.
+
+
+"Now, just one good cuddle," said little six-year-old Freddie, "and
+then I'll be ready for school;" and he curled himself up like a young
+Turk in his mother's lap, and nestled there in a very enjoyable way.
+
+She was sitting by the dining-room window; it was open, and a pitcher
+of wild phlox and pink-and-white wake-robins stood in it. While they
+sat there they saw Uncle Rube, who lives over on the hillside, coming
+along the crooked path with a basket on his arm. His head was down,
+and he was thinking so intently that he did not hear the steps behind
+him of his young dog, Stephen.
+
+Now, Rube means to make the best dog in the world of Stephen--the
+playful little puppy!--and he never permits him to follow him anywhere
+unless by special invitation. About once a week he will say to him,
+"Stevie, would you like to go to your grandfather's with me? Come on,
+then;" and here they will come, the puppy so glad that his gait is
+more awkward than ever, his fat body, twisted out of all shape,
+wriggling along, while his tail will flap about in every direction and
+his ears look like wilted cabbage-leaves.
+
+"He doesn't know Stevie is behind him, does he, ma? and now let's
+watch and see what they will both do when they find out." So they
+snugged down by the window and tittered and watched and anticipated
+rare fun.
+
+Uncle Rube was whispering to himself and nodding his head and making
+gesticulations with his open hand, while Stephen trotted with his
+little soft, careful feet behind him, smelling of the ground, and
+thinking green grass with the dew sparkling on it was just made
+purposely for dogs to admire.
+
+Just as Rube came to the big gate and stopped to unlatch it he heard a
+little whiffy breathing behind him, and then he looked and saw
+Stephen. He was very much surprised; but as he never scolded the dog,
+he simply said, in a very earnest way, "Steve, I am astonished! You go
+right back home immediately. You're a great boy, indeed, to sneak
+along without ever being invited! I didn't want you, sir, or I'd have
+told you so. Now go right back again."
+
+Oh, it was _so_ funny! Stephen just threw his head back and whirled on
+his heels, and ran with all his might down the crooked path.
+
+Then the school-bell rang, and Fred's mother kissed him
+"good-morning," and he started off with his books, and as he turned
+round the corner his white teeth showed prettily as, half laughing, he
+said to himself in wonderment, "_Dear little Stevie dog! he just ran
+back 'zactly as if he wanted to._"
+
+
+
+
+NOW THE SUN IS SINKING.
+
+
+    Now the sun is sinking
+      In the golden west;
+    Birds and bees and children
+      All have gone to rest;
+    And the merry streamlet,
+      As it runs along,
+    With a voice of sweetness
+      Sings its evening song.
+
+    Cowslip, daisy, violet,
+      In their little beds,
+    All among the grasses,
+      Hide their heavy heads;
+    There they'll all, sweet darlings!
+      Lie in happy dreams
+    Till the rosy morning
+      Wakes them with its beams.
+
+
+
+
+A RIGMAROLE ABOUT A TEA-PARTY.
+
+
+    Mrs. Dyer
+    Stirred the fire,
+    Agnes Stout
+    Poked it out,
+    Tommy Voles
+    Fetched the coals,
+    Alice Good
+    Laid the wood,
+    Bertie Patch
+    Struck the match,
+    Charlotte Hays
+    Made it blaze,
+    Mrs. Groom
+    Kept the broom,
+    Katy Moore
+    Swept the floor,
+    Fanny Froth
+    Laid the cloth,
+    Arthur Grey
+    Brought the tray,
+    Betty Bates
+    Washed the plates,
+    Nanny Galt
+    Smoothed the salt,
+    Dicky Street
+    Fetched the meat,
+    Sally Strife
+    Rubbed the knife,
+    Minnie York
+    Found the fork,
+    Sophie Silk
+    Brought the milk,
+    Mrs. Bream
+    Sent some cream,
+    Susan Head
+    Cut the bread,
+    Harry Host
+    Made the toast,
+    Mrs. Dee
+    Poured out tea,
+    And they all were as happy as happy could be.
+
+
+
+
+THE FAIRY BIRD.
+
+
+"I'm so glad to-morrow is Christmas, because I'm going to have lots
+of presents."
+
+"So am I glad, though I don't expect any presents but a pair of
+mittens."
+
+"And so am I; but I shan't have any presents at all."
+
+As the three little girls trudged home from school they said these
+things, and as Tilly spoke, both the others looked at her with pity
+and some surprise; for she spoke cheerfully, and they wondered how she
+could be happy when she was so poor she could have no presents on
+Christmas.
+
+"Don't you wish you could find a purse full of money right here in the
+path?" said Kate, the child who was going to have "lots of presents."
+
+"O, don't I, if I could keep it honestly!" And Tilly's eyes shone at
+the very thought.
+
+"What would you buy?" asked Bessy, rubbing her cold hands, and longing
+for her mittens.
+
+"I'd buy a pair of large, warm blankets, a load of wood, a shawl for
+mother, and a pair of shoes for me; and if there was enough left, I'd
+give Bessy a new hat, and then she needn't wear Ben's old felt one,"
+answered Tilly.
+
+The girls laughed at that; but Bessy pulled the funny hat over her
+ears, and said she was much obliged, but she'd rather have candy.
+
+"Let's look, and may be we _can_ find a purse. People are always going
+about with money at Christmas time, and some one may lose it here,"
+said Kate.
+
+So, as they went along the snowy road, they looked about them, half in
+earnest, half in fun. Suddenly Tilly sprang forward, exclaiming,--
+
+"I see it! I've found it!"
+
+The others followed, but all stopped disappointed, for it wasn't a
+purse; it was only a little bird. It lay upon the snow, with its wings
+spread and feebly fluttering, as if too weak to fly. Its little feet
+were benumbed with cold; its once bright eyes were dull with pain, and
+instead of a blithe song, it could only utter a faint chirp now and
+then, as if crying for help.
+
+"Nothing but a stupid old robin. How provoking!" cried Kate, sitting
+down to rest.
+
+"I shan't touch it; I found one once, and took care of it, and the
+ungrateful thing flew away the minute it was well," said Bessy,
+creeping under Kate's shawl, and putting her hands under her chin to
+warm them.
+
+"Poor little birdie! How pitiful he looks, and how glad he must be to
+see some one coming to help him! I'll take him up gently, and carry
+him home to mother. Don't be frightened, dear; I'm your friend." And
+Tilly knelt down in the snow, stretching her hand to the bird with the
+tenderest pity in her face.
+
+Kate and Bessy laughed.
+
+"Don't stop for that thing; it's getting late and cold. Let's go on,
+and look for the purse," they said, moving away.
+
+"You wouldn't leave it to die!" cried Tilly. "I'd rather have the bird
+than the money; so I shan't look any more. The purse wouldn't be mine,
+and I should only be tempted to keep it; but this poor thing will
+thank and love me, and I'm _so_ glad I came in time!" Gently lifting
+the bird, Tilly felt its tiny cold claws cling to her hand, and saw
+its dim eyes brighten as it nestled down with a grateful chirp.
+
+[Illustration: THE FAIRY BIRD.]
+
+"Now I've got a Christmas present, after all," she said, smiling, as
+they walked on. "I always wanted a bird, and this one will be such a
+pretty pet for me!"
+
+"He'll fly away the first chance he gets, and die, anyhow; so you'd
+better not waste your time over him," said Bessy.
+
+"He can't pay you for taking care of him, and my mother says it isn't
+worth while to help folks that can't help us," added Kate.
+
+"My mother says, 'Do as you'd be done by;' and I'm sure I'd like any
+one to help me, if I was dying of cold and hunger. 'Love your neighbor
+as yourself,' is another of her sayings. This bird is my little
+neighbor, and I'll love him and care for him, as I often wish our rich
+neighbor would love and care for us," answered Tilly, breathing her
+warm breath over the benumbed bird, who looked up at her with
+confiding eyes, quick to feel and know a friend.
+
+"What a funny girl you are!" said Kate, "caring for that silly bird,
+and talking about loving your neighbor in that sober way. Mr. King
+don't care a bit for you, and never will, though he knows how poor you
+are; so I don't think your plan amounts to much."
+
+"I believe it, though, and shall do my part, any way. Good night. I
+hope you'll have a merry Christmas, and lots of pretty things,"
+answered Tilly, as they parted.
+
+Her eyes were full, and she felt _so_ poor as she went on alone
+towards the little old house where she lived! It would have been so
+pleasant to know that she was going to have some of the pretty things
+all children love to find in their full stockings on Christmas
+morning! and pleasanter still to have been able to give her mother
+something nice. So many comforts were needed, and there was no hope of
+getting them; for they could barely get food and fire.
+
+"Never mind, birdie; we'll make the best of what we have, and be merry
+in spite of everything. _You_ shall have a happy Christmas, any way;
+and I know God won't forget us, if every one else does."
+
+She stopped a minute to wipe her eyes, and lean her cheek against the
+bird's soft breast, finding great comfort in the little creature,
+though it could only love her--nothing more.
+
+"See, mother, what a nice present I've found!" she cried, going in
+with a cheery face, that was like sunshine in the dark room.
+
+"I'm glad of that, deary; for I haven't been able to get my little
+girl anything but a rosy apple. Poor bird! Give it some of your warm
+bread and milk."
+
+"Why, mother, what a big bowlful! I'm afraid you gave me all the
+milk," said Tilly, smiling over the nice steaming supper that stood
+ready for her.
+
+"I've had plenty, dear. Sit down and dry your wet feet, and put the
+bird in my basket on this warm flannel."
+
+Tilly peeped into the closet, and saw nothing there but dry bread.
+
+"Mother's given me all the milk, and is going without her tea, 'cause
+she knows I'm hungry. Now I'll surprise her, and she shall have a good
+supper too. She is going to split wood, and I'll fix it while she's
+gone."
+
+So Tilly put down the old teapot, carefully poured out a part of the
+milk, and from her pocket produced a great plummy bunn, that one of
+the school children had given her, and she had saved for her mother. A
+slice of the dry bread was nicely toasted, and the bit of butter set
+by for her to put on it. When her mother came in, there was the table
+drawn up in a warm place, a hot cup of tea ready, and Tilly and birdie
+waiting for her.
+
+Such a poor little supper, and yet such a happy one! for love,
+charity, and contentment were guests there, and that Christmas eve was
+a blither one than that up at the great house, where lights shone,
+fires blazed, a great tree glittered, and music sounded, as the
+children danced and played.
+
+"We must go to bed early; for we've only wood enough to last over
+to-morrow. I shall be paid for my work the day after, and then we can
+get some," said Tilly's mother, as they sat by the fire.
+
+"If my bird was only a fairy bird, and would give us three wishes, how
+nice it would be! Poor dear, he can't give me anything; but it's no
+matter," answered Tilly, looking at the robin, who lay in the basket,
+with his head under his wing, a mere little feathery bunch.
+
+"He can give you one thing, Tilly--the pleasure of doing good. That is
+one of the sweetest things in life; and the poor can enjoy it as well
+as the rich."
+
+As her mother spoke, with her tired hand softly stroking her little
+daughter's hair, Tilly suddenly started, and pointed to the window,
+saying, in a frightened whisper,--
+
+"I saw a face--a man's face--looking in. It's gone now; but I truly
+saw it."
+
+"Some traveller attracted by the light, perhaps; I'll go and see." And
+Tilly's mother went to the door.
+
+No one was there. The wind blew cold, the stars shone, the snow lay
+white on field and wood, and the Christmas moon was glittering in the
+sky.
+
+"What sort of a face was it?" asked Tilly's mother, coming back.
+
+"A pleasant sort of face, I think; but I was so startled, I don't
+quite know what it was like. I wish we had a curtain there," said
+Tilly.
+
+"I like to have our light shine out in the evening; for the road is
+dark and lonely just here, and the twinkle of our lamp is pleasant to
+people's eyes as they go by. We can do so little for our neighbors, I
+am glad to cheer the way for them. Now put these poor old shoes to
+dry, and go to bed, deary; I'll come soon."
+
+Tilly went, taking her bird with her to sleep in his basket near by,
+lest he should be lonely in the night.
+
+Soon the little house was dark and still, and no one saw the Christmas
+spirits at their work that night.
+
+When Tilly opened the door the next morning, she gave a loud cry,
+clapped her hands, and then stood still, quite speechless with wonder
+and delight. There, before the door, lay a great pile of wood, all
+ready to burn, a big bundle and a basket, with a lovely nosegay of
+winter roses, holly, and evergreen tied to the handle.
+
+"O, mother, did the fairies do it?" cried Tilly, pale with her
+happiness, as she seized the basket while her mother took in the
+bundle.
+
+"Yes, dear; the best and dearest fairy in the world, called 'Charity.'
+She walks abroad at Christmas time, does beautiful deeds like this,
+and does not stay to be thanked," answered her mother, with full eyes,
+as she undid the parcel.
+
+There they were, the warm, thick blankets, the comfortable shawl, the
+new shoes, and, best of all, a pretty winter hat for Bessy. The basket
+was full of good things to eat, and on the flowers lay a paper,
+saying,--
+
+"For the little girl who loves her neighbor as herself."
+
+"Mother, I really think my bird is a fairy bird, and all these
+splendid things come out from him," said Tilly, laughing and crying
+with joy.
+
+It really did seem so; for, as she spoke, the robin flew to the table,
+hopped to the nosegay, and perching among the roses, began to chirp
+with all his little might. The sun streamed in on flowers, bird, and
+happy child, and no one saw a shadow glide away from the window. No
+one ever knew that Mr. King had seen and heard the little girls the
+night before, or dreamed that the rich neighbor had learned a lesson
+from the poor neighbor.
+
+And Tilly's bird _was_ a fairy bird; for by her love and tenderness
+to the helpless thing, she brought good gifts to herself, happiness to
+the unknown giver of them, and a faithful little friend, who did not
+fly away, but staid with her till the snow was gone, making summer for
+her in the winter time.
+
+                                           LOUISA M. ALCOTT.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "AS THE NIGHT ADVANCED, THE OLD NEGRO FELT THE COLD
+    PIERCE HIS STIFFENED LIMBS." P. 216.]
+
+SAVED BY A FIDDLE.
+
+
+Among the most rapacious and dangerous animals of North America, is
+the wolf, commonly called the coyote (pronounced ky-_o_-te) in some of
+the Southern and Western States. The wolves--far more numerous in the
+United States than in Europe--are, perhaps, more horrible in aspect
+than those of the old world. Along desert paths, on the prairies or in
+the woods, the wolf, the ghoul of the animal race, presents itself to
+the traveller, with its slavering jaws and flashing eyes, uttering a
+growl, which is the usual sign of cowardice blended with impudence.
+"The coyote," says a recent writer, "is a living, breathing allegory
+of Want. He is always poor, out of luck, and friendless."
+
+It is very difficult to catch coyotes in a trap, but they are
+frequently hunted down with horses and dogs. Their coat is of a dull
+reddish color, mixed with gray and white hairs. Such is their ordinary
+condition, but like other animals they display varieties. Their bushy
+tail, black at the tip, is nearly as long as one third of their body.
+They resemble the dogs which one sees in the Indian wigwams, and which
+are certainly descended from this species. They are found in the
+regions between the Mississippi and the Pacific, and in Southern
+Mexico. They travel in packs like jackals, and pursue deer, buffaloes,
+and other animals which they hope to master. They do not venture to
+attack buffaloes in herds, but they follow the latter in large packs,
+watching till a laggard--a young calf or an old bull, for
+instance--may fall out; then they dart upon it and tear it to pieces.
+They accompany parties of sportsmen or travellers, prowl round
+deserted camps, and devour the fragments they find there. At times
+they will enter a camp during the night, and seize lumps of meat on
+which the emigrants calculated for their morning meal. These robberies
+sometimes exasperate the victims, and, growing less saving of their
+powder and shot, they pursue them till they have rubbed out the
+mess-number of several.
+
+This breed of wolves is the most numerous of all the carnivora in
+North America, and it is for this reason that the coyotes often suffer
+from hunger. Then, but only then, they eat corn, roots, and
+vegetables--in short, anything that will save them from death by
+starvation.
+
+The coyote is ignorant of any feeling of sympathy, and for this reason
+inspires none. Here is an anecdote, however, which proves that this
+quadruped thief of the wood is capable of feeling a certain degree of
+sensibility of the nerves, at any rate, if not of the heart. This
+story was told me under canvas, while we were hunting with the Pawnee
+Indians.
+
+During the first period of the colonization of Kentucky, the coyotes
+were so numerous in the prairie to the south of that state, that the
+inhabitants did not dare to leave their houses unless armed to the
+teeth. The women and children were strictly confined in-doors. The
+coyotes by which the country was infested belonged to the herd whose
+coat is dark gray, a very numerous species in the northern district,
+in the heart of the dense forests and unexplored mountains of the
+Green River.
+
+The village of Henderson, situated at the left bank of the Ohio, near
+its confluence with Green River, was the spot most frequented by these
+depredators.
+
+The pigs, calves, and sheep of the planters paid a heavy tax to these
+voracious animals. Several times in the depth of winter, when the snow
+covered the ground, and the flocks were kept in the stalls, the
+starving coyotes attacked human beings; and more than one belated
+farmer, returning home at night, found himself surrounded by a raging
+pack, from whose teeth he had great difficulty in defending himself.
+
+Among the many startling adventures I have heard narrated, not one
+made a greater impression on me than that of which Richard, the old
+negro fiddler, was the hero, and which I will tell you.
+
+Richard was what is called a "good old good-for-nothing darky." The
+whole district allowed that he had no other merit beyond that of
+sawing the fiddle; and this merit, which is not one in our own eyes,
+was highly valued, however, by all the colored people, and even by the
+whites who lived for a distance of forty miles round. One thing is
+certain--that no festival could be held without Fiddler Dick being
+invited to it.
+
+Marriages, christenings, parties prolonged till dawn, which are called
+"break-downs" in the United States, could not take place without the
+aid of his fiddle; and though the negro minstrel was old, and a good
+deal of his black wool was absent from the place where the wool ought
+to grow, still Richard was no less welcome wherever he presented
+himself, with his instrument wrapped up in a ragged old handkerchief
+under his arm, and a knotted stick in his hand.
+
+Old Richard was the property of one of the Hendersons, a member of the
+family that gave its name to this Kentucky county and village. His
+master had a liking for him, owing to his obedient and original
+character, and the slave, instead of tilling the soil, was at liberty
+to do whatever he thought proper. No one raised any objection to this
+tolerance, for Richard, whom his master was used to call a necessary
+evil, had before all the talent of keeping the negroes of the
+plantation in good humor by means of his fiddle.
+
+Richard, who understood all the importance of his exalted functions,
+knew nothing but his duty, and was remarkably punctual whenever those
+who honored him with their confidence let him know that his services
+were required. In this respect the merest trifle irritated him, and
+any vexation or disturbance rendered him ferocious.
+
+Despite the proverbial timidity attributed to geniuses, old Dick
+displayed a touch of the hyena whenever, at any of the negro festivals
+presided over by him, anything or anybody offended etiquette or the
+proprieties. As for Dick, he never forgot himself in the slightest
+degree, and whenever he was called upon to undertake the duties he
+performed so well, he had never once kept the company waiting. And yet
+one day--poor Dick! The following narrative will show that it was not
+by his own fault that he arrived too late at his appointment.
+
+A wedding of colored people was about to come off on a plantation
+about six miles from the one where the fiddler lived. In order that
+the feast might be perfect, old Dick had been invited, and he was
+unanimously appointed master of the ceremonies. It was during the
+winter; the cold was excessive, and the snow, which had fallen
+incessantly for three days, covered the ground to a depth of several
+feet.
+
+While all Mr. Henderson's negroes, with their master's previous
+permission, hastened to the spot where pleasure called them, the ebony
+Apollo was arranging his toilet with peculiar delight. A white shirt,
+a collar as immoderately long in front as it was high in the neck,--so
+that Dick's head resembled a block of coal in a sheet of white
+paper,--a blue coat with gilt buttons, and long tails that reached to
+his heels,--a present from his master,--a red silk cravat fringed at
+the ends, a green waistcoat ornamented with an orange patch at the
+spot where the watch-pocket formerly was, boots which had seen their
+best days, and a wide-awake hat,--such was the elegant and excessively
+fashionable attire of Dick, the old black fiddler, who, when dressed
+in these rags, believed himself as handsome as Adonis.
+
+After taking a parting glance at the piece of looking-glass held by
+three nails on the wall of his bedroom, and favoring himself with a
+smile that expressed a personal satisfaction, Richard took his fiddle
+under his arm and set out.
+
+The moon was shining over his head, the stars sparkled--to use the
+fiddler's picturesque expression--like "gilt nails driven into the
+ceiling of the firmament by an audacious upholsterer." No sound could
+be heard, save the crackling of the snow beneath Richard's feet, as he
+put them down with the heaviness of old age. The road he had to follow
+was very narrow; its complicated windings passed through a dense
+forest which the axe had not yet assailed, and whose depths were still
+as entirely unknown as at the period when the Redskins were the sole
+owners of the territory. This track could only be followed by a
+pedestrian; no cart road existed for several miles round.
+
+The profound solitude of this road must infallibly produce its
+effect--that of fear or apprehension--on a being belonging to the
+human race; but at this moment the old man was so deeply plunged in
+thought that nothing could make him forget the anxiety he felt at not
+arriving in time at the place where he was expected. He doubled his
+pace as he thought of the furious glances that would be bestowed on
+him by those whose joys his absence retarded, and he regretted the
+time he had spent in giving an extra polish to his coat buttons and in
+pulling up the two splendid points of his shirt collar.
+
+While thinking of the reproaches that menaced him, old Dick looked up,
+and the moon shining above his head proved to him that he was even
+more behindhand than he had supposed. His legs then began moving like
+the wheels of a locomotive, so as to keep him constantly ahead of
+certain black shadows which seemed to be following his every footstep
+on the forest path.
+
+They were coyotes, horrible coyotes, that cast these shadows, and from
+time to time gave a snarl of covetousness or impatience; but old Dick
+paid no attention to them. Ere long, however, he was obliged to devote
+his entire attention to what was going on behind him. He had walked
+half the distance, and already saw through the forest arcades the
+clearing which he must cross to reach the spot where he was expected.
+The angry barks of the wolves had increased during the last quarter of
+an hour, and the sound of their paws making the snow crackle inspired
+the old man with an indescribable terror. The number of animals
+seemed momentarily to be augmented; it resembled an ant-heap seen
+through the magnifying-glass of a gigantic microscope.
+
+Wolves, in all parts of the world, look twice before attacking a man;
+they study the ground, and wait for the propitious moment. This was
+what was now happening, very fortunately for old Dick, who was more
+and more perceiving the greatness of the danger, and doubled his speed
+in proportion as his pursuers grew more daring, brushed past his legs
+with gnashing teeth, and joyously strove to get ahead of each other.
+Dick was thoroughly acquainted with the habits of his enemies, and
+hence carefully avoided running; that would have been giving the
+signal of attack, for coyotes only rush on persons who are frightened.
+
+The only chance of salvation left him was to prolong this dangerous
+walk to the skirt of the forest. There he hoped the coyotes, as they
+do not dare venture into an open plain, would leave him and allow him
+to continue his walk at peace. He also remembered that in the centre
+of the clearing there was a deserted cabin, and the thought of
+reaching this refuge restored him a portion of his courage.
+
+The daring of the coyotes increased with each moment, and the hapless
+negro could not look around without seeing bright eyes moving in all
+directions, like the phosphorescent fireflies in summer. One after the
+other the quadrupeds tried their teeth on old Dick's thin legs, and as
+he had dropped his stick he had recourse to his fiddle to keep his
+foes aloof. At the first blow he dealt the springs produced a sound
+which had the immediate effect of putting to flight the coyotes, which
+were surprised by this unusual music.
+
+Dick, an observer naturally and by necessity, then began strumming his
+fiddle with his fingers; and the carnivorous animals at once
+manifested fresh marks of surprise, as if a charge of shot had
+tickled their ribs. This fortunate diversion, repeated several times,
+brought Dick to the skirt of the forest, and taking advantage of a
+favorable moment, he darted on, still striking the strings, and going
+in the direction of the hut.
+
+The coyotes halted for a moment, with their tails between their legs,
+looking at their prey flying before them; but ere long their ravenous
+instinct gained the upper hand, and with a unanimous bark they all
+rushed in pursuit of the unfortunate negro. Had the wolves caught up
+to old Dick in this moment of fury, he might have appealed in vain to
+his fiddle. By running he had destroyed the charm, and the coyotes
+would not have stopped to listen to him even had he played like
+Orpheus in the olden times, or Ole Bull in ours.
+
+Fortunately, the old man reached the cabin at the moment when the
+coyotes were at his heels. With a hand rendered doubly vigorous by the
+imminence of the danger, he shut the door of the protecting cabin, and
+secured it with a beam he found within reach. Then he hoisted himself,
+not without sundry lacerations of his garments, on the ruined roof,
+the beams of which alone remained, supported on blocks of wood at the
+four corners of the walls.
+
+Old Dick found himself comparatively out of danger; but the coyotes
+displayed a fury which threatened to become terrible. Several of them
+had entered the cabin, and conjointly with those outside they leaped
+at the legs of the minstrel, whom rapid movements and repeated kicks
+scarce protected from numerous bites.
+
+Old Dick, in spite of his agony, had not forgotten his fiddle, which
+had saved his life in the forest. Seizing his bow with a firm hand, he
+drew from the instrument a shrill note, which overpowered the
+deafening barks of the coyotes, and silenced them as if by
+enchantment. This silence henceforth continued, only interrupted by
+the hysterical sounds which the fiddle produced under the
+fear-stiffened fingers of the old negro performer.
+
+This inharmonious music could not satisfy the starving animals for
+long, and from the efforts which they soon made to reach their prey,
+old Dick comprehended that noise was not sufficient to enchant the
+wolves. They dashed forward more furiously than ever to escalade the
+wall. He considered himself lost, especially when he noticed, scarce
+half a yard from his trembling legs, the enormous head of a coyote,
+whose large, open eyes seemed to flash fire and gleam.
+
+"The Lord ha' mussy on all!" he cried; "I am an eaten man!"
+
+And without knowing what he was about, he let his trembling fingers
+stray over the fiddle, and began playing the famous air of "Yankee
+Doodle." It was the chant of the swan singing its requiem in the hour
+of death.
+
+But suddenly--O, miracle of harmony!--a calm set in round the negro
+minstrel. Orpheus was no fable: the animals obeyed this new
+enchantment; and when Dick, on recovering from his terror, was unable
+to understand what was going on around him, he saw himself surrounded
+by an audience a hundred fold more attentive to the charms of music
+than any which had hitherto admired his execution. This was so true
+that so soon as his bow ceased moving, the coyotes dashed forward to
+renew the battle.
+
+Dick now knew what his means of preservation were. He must play the
+fiddle till some help arrived. Ere long, yielding to the fascination
+of the art, the musician completely forgot the danger he incurred.
+Indulging all the fancies of his imagination, he gave his four-footed
+audience a concert in which he surpassed himself. Never had he played
+with more taste, soul, and expression. Hence he forgot, in the
+intoxication of his triumph, the wedding and the brilliant company,
+the whiskey-punch and supper smoking hot on the board, that awaited
+him no great distance off.
+
+But alas! every medal has its reverse in this world, and all days of
+pleasure have their to-morrow of woe. As the night advanced, the old
+negro felt the cold pierce his stiffened limbs. In vain did he try to
+rest; if the bow left the fiddle strings, the coyotes rushed against
+the walls of the cabin; if, on the contrary, he continued to wander
+along the paths of harmony, these _dilettanti_ of a novel sort
+squatted down on their hams, with their tails stretched out on the
+snow, ears pricked up, tongues hanging from their half-opened jaws,
+and they followed, with a regular movement of the head and body, all
+the notes produced by old Dick's fiddle.
+
+While this fantastic scene, illumined by the moonbeams, was taking
+place in the clearing, the negroes, who were awaiting their comrade to
+begin the fun, were growing sadly impatient, and did not know what to
+think of the delay of their musician, who was usually most punctual.
+At last six of them, tired of waiting, left the house to make a voyage
+of discovery; and on reaching the cabin, on the top of which Dick was
+perched, they noticed some thirty coyotes in the position I have
+described. The old player was still continuing his involuntary
+concert, with his eyes fixed on his deadly foes.
+
+At the moment when the six negroes raised a simultaneous shout, the
+whole band of coyotes thought it high time to bolt. In a twinkling
+they disappeared, and the fiddler, frozen and numbed, fell fainting
+into the arms of his rescuers. His woolly hair, which, in spite of his
+great age, was perfectly black at the time when he performed his
+toilet, had turned white in the space of two hours.
+
+                                      SIR LASCELLES WRAXALL.
+
+
+
+
+THE BIRD'S NEST.
+
+
+    Deep in a leafy dell we found,
+      When early Summer wove her crown,
+    A bird's nest on the mossy ground,
+      From blooming bough blown down.
+
+    Five pretty eggs, quite warm and white,
+      Were waiting for the brooding wing,
+    That from each shell there might take flight
+      A bird, to trill and sing.
+
+    The mother sat and grieved apart;
+      Her song had no rejoicing note.
+    The sorrow of her wounded heart
+      Seemed sobbing in her throat.
+
+    She thought of all the summer days,
+      With their sweet sunshine, yet to come;
+    Of fledgelings echoing God's praise,
+      While only hers were dumb.
+
+[Illustration: THE BIRD'S NEST.]
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUNG ARTIST.
+
+
+"Well done, little one! A very pretty tune, and very nicely sung!"
+
+The speaker was a stranger who had just come in sight of the pretty
+cottage where Robbie and Maria Barnes lived with their widowed mother,
+and outside of which the little singer sat nursing the baby, while
+Robbie chopped wood at a little distance.
+
+The widow, hearing a stranger's voice, came to the door, and seeing
+that he appeared to have been walking far invited him to come in and
+take a rest. This he very gladly did; and while she dusted a chair for
+him, Mary brought a mug of fresh milk, and they were soon on very
+friendly terms with him.
+
+He said that he was an artist, and that he had come to that part of
+the country for a time to take sketches of the scenery around; that he
+was at present staying at the village inn, but that he would be very
+glad if they could arrange to let him live with them for a few weeks.
+This was agreed upon, and on the next day Mr. Page--for that was the
+stranger's name--took up his abode in the widow Paul's cottage.
+
+Very pleased Robbie and Maria were with him; and when he came home
+from his rambles and sat under the shade of the large tree by the side
+of the house finishing the sketches he had taken, they would stand
+looking on with wondering interest. Robbie especially, who had never
+seen any other pictures than those in his spelling-book, was rapt in
+amazement as he saw hills, rivers, flowers, trees and animals start up
+into seeming life under the artist's hand. Mr. Page, seeing how
+interested the boy was in what he saw, invited him to accompany him in
+his rambles. Robbie did so, and many valuable things he learned in
+these pleasant wanderings.
+
+When the time came for Mr. Page to leave these simple cottagers, he
+was as sorry to go as they were to part with him; and he promised that
+if he lived and prospered, he would endeavor to do something for his
+favorite, Robbie.
+
+This visit of the artist to their humble abode became the
+turning-point in Robbie's life. An idea had taken possession of the
+boy's mind. Why should he not learn to be an artist like Mr. Page? He
+had watched very carefully the manner in which that gentleman
+proceeded when taking sketches of the objects around him; he had begun
+himself to look upon those objects with very different eyes from what
+he had been accustomed to, and felt sure that with patience and
+perseverance he could master the art of drawing and painting himself.
+
+His first attempt was a rough sketch of grandma on his slate. It was
+done with a few strokes of the pencil, but there was really some
+likeness to the dear old lady in it, and mother felt sure her boy
+would some day be an artist.
+
+[Illustration: THE YOUNG ARTIST.]
+
+Several weeks passed away, and at length he thought he might attempt
+the portrait of his little dog, "Pink," and, if he could succeed to
+his satisfaction, he determined that he would carry it home and
+surprise his mother with it. After much patient labor he finished his
+task, and showed the sketch first of all to his friend Thomas, who
+being much pleased with it, they hastened at once to Robbie's home
+with it. Watching their opportunity, they stood the picture unobserved
+against the wall, and waited to see the effect it would produce.
+Little Maria was the first to notice it. "Oh, mother," she cried,
+"here's a picture of Pinky! Do come and look at it! Isn't it real?"
+
+The widow turned from her work to look.
+
+"Why, so it is," she exclaimed. "Who painted it, Robbie? Where did you
+get it from?"
+
+"Robbie did it himself," cried Thomas, unable to keep the secret any
+longer.
+
+"Robbie did it?" echoed the widow, with a look of bewilderment. "_You_
+painted it, Robbie?"
+
+"Yes, mother," laughed Robbie, enjoying her perplexity; "I did it all
+myself. I have been learning unknown to you. If I can learn to paint
+as well as Mr. Page, mother, eh! Sha'n't I be able to help you then,
+mother?"
+
+She smiled and kissed him. His cleverness was pleasing to her, but his
+loving ambition to be of service to her was still more grateful to her
+mother's heart.
+
+The famous Benjamin West said his mother's kiss made him a painter.
+Robbie Barnes might have said the same thing, for from that moment he
+was more than ever determined to persevere. A few weeks after this,
+Robbie and Thomas were out in the woods together. It was a holiday
+with them both, and Robbie had determined to spend the time in
+sketching a certain landscape he had in view. They had brought their
+dinner with them; and while Robbie was drawing, Thomas laid out the
+provisions. Having got it all ready, he went off to the brook to fetch
+a mug of water, and as he returned called to Robbie to come to dinner.
+But what was his annoyance, as he came near, to see the mischievous
+dog munching the last piece of cheese? In sudden passion he caught up
+a stick and gave chase to Pink, who scampered off with the cheese in
+his mouth. Robbie was so amused at the comical scene that he thought
+he would attempt a painting of it, and this idea set Thomas laughing
+as heartily as himself. It was weeks before he had finished the
+sketch; but when it was completed, it made a striking picture for a
+boy of his age.
+
+Years passed, and Robbie worked faithfully at his painting, and made
+such progress that Mr. Moring urged him to go with him on a visit to
+the neighboring city, where he could see some gentlemen who might be
+able to assist him in his desire of becoming a painter. Robbie was
+unwilling to leave his mother, but she was resolved he should not lose
+the opportunity for her; and shortly afterward Robbie, with Thomas and
+Mr. Moring, was on his way to the great city, which he had never seen
+before. Arrived there, Mr. Moring took him to an exhibition of
+pictures, and there introduced him again to his old friend Mr. Page.
+The artist, to whom Mr. Moring had already showed the painting of the
+dog running off with the dinner, was exceedingly surprised that a boy
+so entirely self-taught should have made such progress, and was
+pleased indeed to see him again. His judgment of the merits of
+Robbie's work was such that Mr. Moring undertook to have the boy
+instructed by one of the best teachers of drawing, and so put him in a
+fair way of attaining that upon which his heart was set--the becoming
+a painter like Mr. Page. Robbie's mother, though sad to part with him,
+gratefully consented to his leaving his home for a time for this
+purpose; and though Robbie was much troubled to think what his mother
+would do without the little help he had been able to render her, he
+was persuaded that the best way to serve her was to improve himself.
+He had not been long away before a message came to his mother telling
+her that he could earn enough by the sale of his little drawings to
+pay one of the village-lads to fetch wood and water, and to do other
+little things for her; that he was improving very fast, and that he
+had good reason to hope that he should one day be able to earn enough
+to keep them all in comfort.
+
+Little Maria was busy braiding straw when this message came.
+
+"I shall not want Robbie to work for me, mother," she said. "I shall
+soon be able to earn my own living, and I will help to support our
+dear mother when she grows old."
+
+"God bless you, my child!" said the happy mother. "With such dutiful
+children as you and your dear brother, no mother need fear to grow
+old."
+
+
+
+
+    You're starting to-day on life's journey,
+      Along on the highway of life;
+    You'll meet with a thousand temptations;
+      Each city with evil is rife.
+    This world is a stage of excitement;
+      There's danger wherever you go;
+    But if you are tempted in weakness,
+      Have courage, my boy, to say NO!
+
+
+
+
+THE RUSTIC MIRROR.
+
+
+    Sadie's boudoir is a meadow,
+      Carpeted with blue-eyed grass;
+    Slender birches, rounded maples,
+      Frame her inlaid looking-glass.
+
+    Curtains woven up in cloud-land
+      Trail their fringes over all,
+    Shifting shadows gray and purple,
+      Which aerial elves let fall.
+
+    Hither Sadie, morn and evening,
+      Comes for water from the spring,
+    Pausing ere she fills her pitcher
+      Where the greenest mosses cling,--
+
+    Pausing where, as in a mirror,
+      She a wistful face beholds;
+    Magic mirror, for within it
+      Many a vision fair unfolds.
+
+    When the April clouds are driven
+      Over depths of azure skies,
+    Windows open into heaven,
+      And she sees her mother's eyes.
+
+    When she binds upon her forehead
+      Wreath of daisies twined with wheat,
+    She is queen, and wears a jewelled
+      Crown, with slippers on her feet.
+
+    When the glories of October,
+      Crimson maple, golden birch,
+    Make her mirror finer, richer,
+      Than stained windows of a church,--
+
+    She of golden-rod and aster
+      Weaves a garland for her hair,
+    Leans above the magic mirror,
+      Murmuring, "Mother called me fair."
+
+    But 'tis best when clouds are flying
+      O'er the clear blue April skies,
+    And through dreamy depths she gazes
+      Into heaven and mother's eyes.
+
+                                  M. R. W.
+
+[Illustration: THE RUSTIC MIRROR.]
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.
+
+
+    Come back, come back together,
+      All ye fancies of the past,
+    Ye days of April weather,
+      Ye shadows that are cast
+        By the haunted hours before!
+    Come back, come back, my childhood;
+      Thou art summoned by a spell
+    From the green leaves of the wildwood,
+      From beside the charmed well,
+      For Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+        The flower of fairy lore.
+
+    The fields were covered over
+      With colors as she went;
+    Daisy, buttercup and clover
+      Below her footsteps bent;
+        Summer shed its shining store;
+    She was happy as she pressed them;
+      Beneath her little feet;
+    She plucked them and caressed them;
+      They were so very sweet;
+      They had never seemed so sweet before
+    To Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+      The flower of fairy lore.
+
+    How the heart of childhood dances
+      Upon a sunny day!
+    It has its own romances,
+      And a wide, wide world have they--
+        A world where Phantasie is king,
+    Made all of eager dreaming;
+      When once grown up and tall--
+    Now is the time for scheming--
+      Then we shall do them all!
+        Do such pleasant fancies spring
+      For Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+        The flower of fairy lore?
+
+[Illustration: LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.]
+
+    She seems like an ideal love,
+      The poetry of childhood shown,
+    And yet loved with a real love,
+      As if she were our own--
+        A younger sister for the heart;
+    Like the woodland pheasant,
+      Her hair is brown and bright;
+    And her smile is pleasant,
+      With its rosy light.
+      Never can the memory part
+    With Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+        The flower of fairy lore.
+
+    Did the painter, dreaming
+      In a morning hour,
+    Catch the fairy seeming
+      Of this fairy flower?
+        Winning it with eager eyes
+    From the old enchanted stories,
+      Lingering with a long delight
+    On the unforgotten glories
+      Of the infant sight?
+        Giving us a sweet surprise
+      In Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+        The flower of fairy lore?
+
+    Too long in the meadow staying,
+      Where the cowslip bends,
+    With the buttercups delaying
+      As with early friends,
+        Did the little maiden stay.
+    Sorrowful the tale for us;
+      We, too, loiter 'mid life's flowers,
+    A little while so glorious,
+      So soon lost in darker hours,
+        All love lingering on their way,
+    Like Red Riding-Hood, the darling,
+      The flower of fairy lore.
+
+                 LAETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Maggie runs to rescue the child from the bull}]
+
+HOW MAGGIE PAID THE RENT.
+
+
+Presence of mind is one of the rarest, as it is one of the most
+enviable of endowments. It is the power of instantaneously forming a
+judgment, and acting upon it, and includes not only moral courage, but
+self-possession. No matter how brave a man may be in the face of
+expected peril,--if he lacks presence of mind, he is helpless in a
+sudden emergency. But, as this quality is an ingredient of the highest
+courage, the bravest men invariably possess it. The presence of mind
+of one man has often saved thousands of lives in sudden peril, on sea
+or land. This is naturally enough regarded as a distinctively
+masculine virtue; but it is one that both sexes may profitably
+cultivate, as is shown by the following story. Girls as well as boys
+should be taught self-reliance--to depend on themselves, to think
+quickly and act promptly. Perhaps no emergency will arise in their
+lives in which the importance of such mental training shall be
+illustrated; but it is well to be prepared "for any fate," and the
+discipline which produces this virtue gives strength and symmetry to
+the whole intellectual organism.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Is supper nearly ready, Maggie? It is time for Jack to return from
+his work."
+
+The speaker was an elderly woman in a widow's garb, and the person she
+addressed was her granddaughter, a pleasant-looking girl, who might
+perhaps have been fourteen years of age.
+
+"Yes, grandmother, it is just ready, such as it is," replied Maggie;
+"but I could wish poor Jack had a better meal after his hard work
+than what we are able to give him."
+
+"Ay, ay, child, I wish it as much as you can; but what is to be done?
+Wishing will never make us rich folk, and we may be thankful if worse
+troubles than a poor supper do not come upon us soon."
+
+So spoke the grandmother, and taking the spectacles from her nose, she
+wiped their dim glasses with her apron.
+
+"Why, grandmother, what do you mean?" cried Maggie, looking up in
+alarm. "What worse troubles can be coming, think you?" And eagerly and
+anxiously she fixed her bright blue eyes upon her grandmother's face.
+
+"Well," replied the old woman, "the truth is just this, Maggie: I hear
+that the new landlord is going to make some changes among his tenants;
+the cottages are all to be repaired, and the folks who can pay higher
+rents will stay, while those who cannot must find lodging elsewhere.
+And how can we ever pay a higher rent, Maggie? Even now, every penny
+of poor Jack's earnings is spent at the end of the week, and yet we
+live as cheaply as ever we can."
+
+For a moment or two the girl's face was as perturbed and downcast as
+that of her grandmother's, and she bent over her knitting in silence;
+but by an evident effort she quickly assumed a more cheerful aspect.
+And advancing to the old lady's side, and placing a gentle hand on her
+shoulder, she said,--
+
+"Don't fret, dear grandmother; God has cared for us so far, and he
+will never suffer us to want, if we put our trust in him. That's what
+father used to say, and what he said up to the very day of his death."
+
+So saying, Maggie stooped and kissed the withered cheek of that
+father's mother, thereby enforcing, as it were, her encouraging words.
+
+"God bless you, my child!" sobbed the old woman, returning the kiss.
+"You remind me of what I am too apt to forget. Yes, Maggie, your
+father's God is our God, and he will never forsake his people. I will
+wipe away these tears, and put faith in him for the future." And the
+grandmother dried her eyes, and rising from her low seat, said
+cheerfully, "Maggie, dear, go to the gate, and watch for your brother
+Jack. When you see him coming across the field, let me know, and I
+will dish up the supper, so as to have it ready."
+
+Maggie put down her work, and passing through the low doorway of the
+cottage, stood presently at the little gate that separated the tiny
+garden from the meadow of a neighboring farmer, who turned his cattle
+out there to graze.
+
+Opening the gate, Maggie leaned against it, while with one hand she
+shaded her eyes from the yet dazzling beams of the sinking sun, which
+bathed with its parting radiance the western horizon, and crimsoned
+the landscape around.
+
+A moment or two she thus stood, but Jack did not appear; and wondering
+why he should be so late, Maggie was about to retrace her steps in
+order to fetch her knitting, when, from that corner of the field which
+by a stile communicated with the landlord's grounds, she saw a little
+child emerge, dressed in a bright red frock and jacket, and running
+heedlessly along, nearer and nearer to the cattle, which hitherto had
+been grazing quietly in the centre of the field.
+
+Now, however, as the little one approached, directing her steps so as
+to pass them closely, they raised their heads, and a huge bull, the
+king and guardian of the herd, attracted doubtless and enraged by the
+color of the scarlet dress, bounded away from his companions, and with
+his savage head bent, and his tail raised, gave chase to the child,
+who, frightened at the bellowing of the angry beast, quickened her
+pace, and fled screaming towards the cottage gate, at which Maggie was
+standing. But the utmost speed of which the little one was capable was
+nothing to the long gallop of the bull, and in the first moment that
+Maggie witnessed the child's danger, her quick presence of mind and
+tender heart resolved to do what many strong men, less self-forgetful,
+would not have dared to attempt.
+
+Tearing from her head a colored kerchief, which she had thrown over it
+before she came out, she sprang through the gateway into the meadow,
+and bounding lightly over the turf, in another minute she had placed
+herself between the fierce animal and the child. On in his headlong
+fury came the gigantic brute, and was about to pass Maggie, seeing
+only the scarlet frock just beyond, when the intrepid girl, springing
+forward, dashed the kerchief across his eyes, and before he had time
+to recover himself and recommence his pursuit, she had turned,
+snatched up the little one, and was running towards the cottage gate.
+Close behind the fugitives followed the bull, now recovered from his
+momentary astonishment; but Maggie's feet were winged, for she felt
+that through God's help she should save the child.
+
+A few more rapid steps, and the gate was reached and barred, while
+Maggie tottered into the house, still carrying the child, and in the
+reaction of the fearful excitement, fell fainting on the floor.
+
+Maggie's fainting fit, however, did not last long; and she was fully
+restored, and had told her grandmother the whole story, before Jack
+arrived, half an hour later.
+
+He, too, had something to recount. On his way home from the landlord's
+grounds, where he had been working, he was overtaken by a young woman,
+who seemed in a great state of alarm. She told Jack that she was the
+nursery maid, and that while that afternoon she was sitting at work
+beneath one of the trees, with the children playing around her, one of
+them--little Gertrude, a child about six years old--must have slipped
+away from her brother and sisters unobserved; and when tea time came,
+and the nurse rose to bring the children home, she was nowhere to be
+found. The nurse had taken the other three little ones home, and had
+now come in search of Gertrude, fearful lest she should fall into
+danger of any kind.
+
+Jack would not stop to eat his supper, after telling his own story and
+hearing Maggie's, but announced his intention of at once carrying the
+little truant lady back to her home.
+
+So the kind-hearted youth took Gertrude in his arms, and soon conveyed
+her safely to the landlord's house, where she astonished every one by
+the childish recital of her own danger and Maggie's courage.
+
+The next morning Gertrude's mother came down to the cottage to thank
+Maggie for the preservation of her darling's life, and to bring a
+message from her husband.
+
+This message consisted of his grateful acknowledgments, and of the
+promise that Jack should be promoted to the office of assistant
+gardener as soon as that post was vacant (which would be in the course
+of a few weeks). But, best of all, the promise included also this,
+namely, that the widow and her grandchildren should hold the cottage
+rent free for the remainder of their lives.
+
+Thus was averted, by means wholly unforeseen, the trial of poverty and
+want so dreaded by the old widow in her thoughts of the future; and
+never again was she heard to repine, or even to express a fear for
+herself or for those whom she loved.
+
+
+
+
+DECLAMATION--FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH;
+
+OR, THE SENTRY OF HERCULANEUM.[B]
+
+
+    "Dark's the night, dun's the sky with smoke;
+      Never more my guard they'll change;
+    Three hours ago I could crack my joke,
+      And now e'en the thought seems strange.
+
+    "Hark! the thunder bellows loud,
+      And the night's come down apace,
+    And the lava flame, through its sulphurous cloud,
+      Is ruddy on my face.
+
+    "With a crash did yon temple fall;
+      But ever, through all the din,
+    Shrill rose a death-wail o'er all,
+      The vestals' screams within.
+
+    "Men are running, away, away,
+      With tight zones up yonder street;
+    But a soldier of Rome must stay
+      At his post, as seems him meet.
+
+    "I remember my levying morn--
+      I remember my sacred vow;
+    And I'd hold it matter of scorn
+      In death's teeth to break it now.
+
+    "Jove! lava is all around--
+      It nears me with scorching breath;
+    It hisses along the ground
+      To my feet, and the hiss means--death.
+
+    "I've fought as a soldier should
+      'Neath many an alien sky,
+    And at home at my post I've stood
+      Amidst cowards, and now, to die.
+
+    "Great Mars, give me heart of grace
+      _Triarii_,[C] over the bowl
+    Say, 'He died with a smile on his face,
+      And glory in his soul'!"
+
+                         W. B. B. STEVENS.
+
+[Illustration: THE FAITHFUL SENTRY.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[B] Overwhelmed, together with Pompeii, by a lava eruption, A. D. 79.
+
+[C] The Roman _Triarii_ were old soldiers, of approved valor, who
+formed the third line in a legion--hence their name.
+
+
+
+
+VACATION.
+
+
+    O, master, no more of your lessons!
+      For a season we bid them good by,
+    And turn to the manifold teachings
+      Of ocean, and forest, and sky.
+    We must plunge into billow and breaker;
+      The fields we must ransack anew;
+    And again must the sombre woods echo
+      The glee of our merry-voiced crew.
+
+    From teacher's and preacher's dictation--
+      From all the dreaded lore of the books--
+    Escaped from the thraldom of study,
+      We turn to the babble of brooks;
+    We hark to the field-minstrels' music,
+      The lowing of herds on the lea,
+    The surge of the winds in the forest,
+      The roar of the storm-angered sea.
+
+    To the tree-tops we'll climb with the squirrels;
+      We will race with the brooks in the glens;
+    The rabbits we'll chase to their burrows;
+      The foxes we'll hunt to their dens;
+    The woodchucks, askulk in their caverns,
+      We'll visit again and again;
+    And we'll peep into every bird's nest
+      The copses and meadows contain.
+
+    For us are the blackberries ripening
+      By many a moss-covered wall;
+    There are bluehats enough in the thickets
+      To furnish a treat for us all;
+    In the swamps there are ground-nuts in plenty;
+      The sea-sands their titbits afford;
+    And, O, most delectable banquet,
+      We will feast at the honey-bee's board!
+
+    O, comrades, the graybeards assure us
+      That life is a burden of cares;
+    That the highways and byways of manhood
+      Are fretted with pitfalls and snares.
+    Well, school-days have _their_ tribulations;
+      Their troubles, as well as their joys.
+    Then give us vacation forever,
+      If we must forever be boys!
+
+                            BEVERLY MOORE.
+
+[Illustration: "ESCAPED FROM THE THRALDOM OF STUDY,
+                 WE TURN TO THE BABBLE OF BROOKS."]
+
+
+
+
+UNCLE JOHN'S SCHOOL-DAYS.
+
+
+This picture reminds me, children, of some funny stories that I have
+heard your uncle John tell, when he and I were boy and girl together,
+of his exploits as a schoolboy. According to his account, not only he,
+but most of his schoolfellows, used to lead merry lives enough at
+school. They had what they called the "Academy Band," and grand music
+it made, with a hat-box for a drum, cricket-bat for violoncello, and
+paper flute and trumpets. You would not recognize Uncle John, whom you
+know only as a man six feet high, in that little lad on the left side
+of the picture with a battledore for a fiddle. They had a great deal
+of what he called excellent fun, though I am afraid it sometimes
+bordered upon mischief or naughtiness. I used to consider that he and
+his schoolfellows were regular heroes as I listened to his stories
+when he came home for the holidays; and even now I must confess I
+cannot help laughing when I think of some of his naughty pranks.
+
+Uncle John first went to a large school when he was eleven years old,
+and I remember now the tremendous hamper of good things he took with
+him. The boys who slept in his bedroom were so pleased with the
+contents of his hamper that they determined to make a great feast. To
+add to their enjoyment, they imagined themselves to be settlers in the
+backwoods of America or Australia. They built a log hut with bolsters,
+and had a sort of picnic. One of them mounted on the top of the log
+hut to look out with his telescope for any approaching savages, while
+the others enjoyed their suppers in and about the hut. When their fun
+was at its height, the door softly opened, and in walked Dr. Birchall,
+spectacles on nose and cane in hand. What followed may be imagined.
+
+You know that Uncle John is an engineer now, and even as a little boy
+he had a great turn for mechanical inventions. Well, he pondered over
+some means by which such a sudden interruption to the enjoyment of
+his schoolfellows might be prevented in future; and I will tell you
+what he did.
+
+It happened that the large room in which he slept formed the upper
+floor of a wing of the house which had been added to it when it became
+a school; and there was no access to this room from the principal
+staircase of the house. You had to pass through the room below and go
+up a little separate staircase to reach to the floor above. The lower
+room was also a bedroom for the boys, and Uncle John's little scheme
+was this:
+
+He made a hole with a gimlet in the frame of one of the windows of his
+bedroom, passed a piece of string through the hole, and carried it
+outside the wall of the house down to a similar hole in a window-frame
+of the room below. To the end of the string in the upper room was
+fastened a small rattle, while the other end of the string--that in
+the room below--was taken into the bed of a boy who slept near the
+window.
+
+This admirable little invention once in order, there was more rioting
+in the upper room than ever; and the master, disturbed by the noise,
+soon went, cane in hand, to stop it. The instant he set foot in the
+lower room the boy there who held the string in bed gave it a little
+pull: the rattle sounded--ting! ting!--in the room above, and in an
+instant every boy was in bed and snoring. Perhaps they had been
+playing at leap-frog the moment before, but as Dr. Birchall entered
+the room--and he crept up the staircase very quietly, that he might
+catch them unawares--he found some twenty boys lying in bed, seemingly
+sound asleep, though snoring unnaturally loud.
+
+The doctor was so disconcerted by this unexpected state of things that
+he retired at once, fancying perhaps that his ears had deceived him
+when he thought he had heard a noise in the room. The same thing
+happened two or three times; the doctor was puzzled, and the
+invention appeared a complete success; but at last all was
+discovered.
+
+[Illustration: THE ACADEMY BAND.]
+
+The boys one evening began imprudently to play at "tossing in the
+blanket" before they were undressed. The rattle sounded, and they had
+just time to hide away the blanket. But the doctor coming in, and
+finding they were only then beginning to undress, knew they must have
+been at some mischief, and began questioning one after another.
+Unluckily, while he was in the room the rattle sounded again by
+accident; perhaps the boy in the room below had pulled the string by
+moving in bed. The doctor looked about, found the rattle hanging just
+below the window, saw the string, opened the window and traced its
+course outside, went down into the room below, and understood the
+whole arrangement. Then he put the rattle in his pocket and went away
+without saying a word. The boys declared he had such difficulty in
+keeping himself from laughing that he was afraid to speak lest he
+should burst out.
+
+However, next day every boy in that room had a slight punishment, and
+so the matter ended.
+
+Now I will tell you another of Uncle John's pranks at school. There
+was a large tree in the playground, the upper branches of which spread
+out very near to the windows of the bedroom I have been describing.
+One evening Uncle John got hold of a large hand-bell which was used
+for ringing the boys up in the morning; and climbing up the tree, he
+fastened it by a piece of string to a branch near the top. Then
+another boy threw him the end of a long string from a window of the
+bedroom into the tree, and he fastened it to the bell in such a way
+that when it was pulled in the bedroom it made the bell ring in the
+tree. Having accomplished this arrangement, he came down from the tree
+and went to bed.
+
+At ten o'clock at night the household was disturbed by the loud
+ringing of this bell. The master, in his dressing-gown, came out into
+the playground, and soon discovered where the sound came from, but of
+course supposed that some boy had climbed up into the tree, and was
+ringing the bell there. It was the middle of summer, and a beautiful
+moonlight night, so the boys could see from the windows all that took
+place. Dr. Birchall stood at the foot of the tree, looking up, and
+exclaimed, angrily,
+
+"Come down, you naughty boy! Come down, I say, directly! Oh, I'll give
+you such a flogging! Stop that horrible noise, I tell you, and come
+down!"
+
+The bell still went on ringing. At last the string--being pulled too
+hard, I suppose, in the excitement of the fun--broke, and the bell
+tumbled down from the top of the tree, falling very near the old
+schoolmaster. This was worse than all.
+
+"What!" he exclaimed; "you throw the bell at me? Why, if it had hit me
+on the head, it might have killed me. Oh, you wicked boy! I'll expel
+you, sir. I'll find out who you are if I stop here till morning."
+
+At last, however, his patience was exhausted, and he went away, but
+left an old butler to watch the tree all night. The boys from the
+windows could see this man settle himself comfortably on a seat which
+was at the foot of the tree. He lighted his pipe, and prepared to
+carry out his master's orders and watch till daylight. By three
+o'clock in the morning the dawn broke; then the man began to look up
+occasionally into the tree. Now and then he walked a little distance
+away, first in one direction, and then in another, to look into parts
+of the tree that he could not see from underneath. He kept this up
+till the sun had risen and it was broad daylight; then at last he
+became convinced that it was impossible there could be a boy in the
+tree. He walked slowly into the house, still smoking his pipe, with a
+puzzled expression on his face.
+
+And I suspect he was not the only person who felt puzzled. The next
+day the boys were going home for the holidays, so that no further
+inquiry could be made. I wonder if Dr. Birchall ever found out how it
+had been managed?
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE ENGLISH MASTIFF.]
+
+FAITHFUL FRIENDS.
+
+
+The dog has sometimes been called the "friend of man." This is
+because, of all animals, it is the one whose attachment to mankind is
+purely personal. It is found in almost every part of the world,
+sharing every variation of climate and outward lot with the human
+race. There are only a few groups of islands in the Southern Pacific
+Ocean where this valuable creature is wanting. Without its aid, how
+could men have procured sustenance among tribes to whom the art of
+tilling the land was not known? or how could they have resisted the
+attacks of the beasts of prey that roamed in the forests around them?
+
+Anecdotes of dogs, when they are well attested, are always welcome;
+and I will therefore relate a few.
+
+There were some time ago two families, one living in London, the other
+at Guildford, seventeen miles distant. These families were very
+friendly with each other, and for several years it was the custom of
+the one residing in London to pass the Christmas with the one at
+Guildford. It was the visitors' uniform practice to arrive to dinner
+the day before Christmas day; and they were accompanied by a large
+spaniel, which was a great favorite with both families.
+
+These visits were thus regularly paid for seven years. At the end of
+that time an unfortunate misunderstanding between the friends caused
+the usual Christmas invitation from the country to be omitted. About
+an hour before dinner, on the day before Christmas day, the Guildford
+gentleman, who was standing at his window, exclaimed to his wife,--
+
+"Well, my dear, the ----s have thought better of it. I declare they
+are coming as usual, though we did not invite them; here comes Caesar
+to announce them."
+
+Sure enough, the dog came trotting up to the door, and was admitted,
+as he had often been before, to the parlor. The lady of the house gave
+orders to prepare beds; dinner waited an hour; but no guests arrived.
+
+Caesar, after staying the exact number of days to which he had been
+accustomed, one morning set off for home, and reached it in safety.
+The correspondence which this visit of the favorite spaniel
+occasioned, had the happy effect of renewing the intercourse of the
+estranged friends. As long as Caesar lived, he paid the annual visit,
+in company with his master and mistress, to Guildford.
+
+"A Frenchman named Chabert, who, from his wonderful performances with
+fire, was known as the 'Fire King,' was the owner of a very beautiful
+Siberian dog, which, when yoked to a light carriage, used to draw him
+twenty miles a day. Chabert sold him for nearly two hundred pounds;
+for the creature was as docile as he was beautiful. Between the sale
+and the delivery, the dog happened to get his leg broken. Chabert, to
+whom the money was of great importance, was almost in despair,
+expecting that the lamed animal would be returned, and the price
+demanded back. He took the dog by night to a veterinary surgeon, and
+formally introduced them to each other.
+
+"'Doctor, my dog; my dog, your doctor.'
+
+"He next talked to the dog, pointed to his own leg, limped around the
+room, and then requested the surgeon to apply bandages to his leg;
+after which he walked about the room sound and well. Chabert then
+patted the dog on the head, who was looking by turns at him and the
+surgeon; desired the surgeon to pat him, and to offer him his hand to
+lick; and lastly, holding up his finger to the dog, and gently shaking
+his head, quitted the room and the house. The dog immediately laid
+himself down, submitted to have the fracture set, and to have a
+bandage put on the limb, without a motion beyond once or twice licking
+the operator's hand. He was afterwards submissive, and lay all but
+motionless day after day, until, at the end of a month, the limb was
+sound and whole once more. So perfect was the cure, that the purchaser
+never knew the dog had sustained any injury."
+
+I will finish my paper with a story of a dog that saved the life of a
+French soldier who was wounded in one of the terrible battles that
+have been lately fought in France:--
+
+"The man had been struck by a ball in the chest, near the village of
+Ham, and lay on the ground for six hours after the fighting was over.
+He had not lost consciousness; but the blood was flowing freely, and
+he was gradually getting weaker and weaker. There were none but the
+dead near him; and his only living companion was an English terrier,
+which ran restlessly about him, with his master's _kepi_, or military
+cap, in his mouth.
+
+"At last the dog set off at a trot; and the wounded soldier made sure
+that now his last friend had deserted him. The night grew dark, the
+cold was intense, and he had not even the strength to touch his
+wounds, which every instant grew more and more painful.
+
+[Illustration: {The terrier, carrying a kepi, tries to get help for
+    his master}]
+
+"At length his limbs grew cold, and, feeling a sickly faintness steal
+upon him, he gave up all hope of life, and recommended himself to
+the mercy of God. Suddenly he heard a bark, which he knew belonged to
+only one little dog in the world, then felt something lick his face,
+and saw the glare of lanterns. The dog had wandered for miles till he
+arrived at a road-side _cabaret_, or country wine-shop. The people had
+heard the cannonading all day, and seeing the _kepi_ in the dog's
+mouth, and noticing his restless movements, decided to follow him. He
+took them straight to the spot--too straight for a little cart they
+had brought with them to cross fields and hedges--but just in time.
+When the friendly help arrived, the man fainted; but he was saved.
+There were honest tears in the man's eyes when he was telling me,"
+says the narrator; "and I fully believed him. The dog, too, had been
+slightly touched in the leg by a ball in the same battle, and has
+since been lame. He got him, when a puppy, from an English sailor at
+Dunkirk, and called him 'Beel;' very probably the French for Bill."
+
+This little terrier showed something more than instinct--some share,
+at least, of common sense. At all events, he deserves to be
+immortalized; so here you have his portrait, with the cap in his
+mouth, begging the people whom he has found in the way-side inn to
+come to the help of his wounded master.
+
+                                                          X.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE ERL-KING.]
+
+[Illustration: {Flowers}]
+
+THE ERL KING.
+
+
+    Who rideth so late through the night-wind wild?
+    It is the father with his child;
+    He has the little one well in his arm,
+    He holds him safe, and he folds him warm.
+
+    "My son, why hidest thy face so shy?"
+    "Seest thou not, father, the Erl King nigh?
+    The Erlen King, with train and crown?"
+    "It is a wreath of mist, my son."
+
+    "Come, lovely boy, come go with me;
+    Such merry plays I will play with thee!
+    Many a bright flower grows on the strand,
+    And my mother has many a gay garment at hand."
+
+    "My father, my father, and dost thou not hear
+    What the Erl King whispers in my ear?"
+    "Be quiet, my darling, be quiet, my child;
+    Through withered leaves the wind howls wild."
+
+    "Come, lovely boy, wilt thou go with me?
+    My daughters fair shall wait on thee,
+    My daughters their nightly revels keep,
+    They'll sing, and they'll dance, and they'll rock thee to sleep."
+
+    "My father, my father, and seest thou not
+    The Erl King's daughters in yon dim spot?"
+    "My son, my son, I see, and I know
+    'Tis the old gray willow that shimmers so."
+
+    "I love thee; thy beauty has ravished my sense;
+    And willing or not, I will carry thee hence."
+    "O, father, the Erl King now puts forth his arm--
+    O, father, the Erl King has done me harm."
+
+    The father shudders, he hurries on;
+    And faster he holds his moaning son;
+    He reaches his home with fear and dread,
+    And lo! in his arms the child was dead.
+
+              _From the German of Goethe._
+
+
+
+
+THE SILLY YOUNG RABBIT.
+
+TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN.
+
+
+        There was a young rabbit
+        Who had a bad habit--
+    Sometimes he would do what his mother forbid.
+        And one frosty day,
+        His mother did say,
+    "My child you must stay in the burrow close hid;
+        For I hear the dread sounds
+        Of huntsmen and hounds,
+    Who are searching around for rabbits like you;
+        Should they see but your head,
+        They would soon shoot you dead,
+    And the dogs would be off with you quicker than boo!"
+
+        But, poor foolish being!
+        When no one was seeing,
+    Looking out from his burrow to take a short play,
+        He hopped o'er the ground
+        With many a bound,
+    And looked around proudly, as if he would say,
+        Do I fear a man?
+        Now catch me who can!
+    So this young rabbit ran to a fine apple tree,
+        Where, gnawing the bark,
+        He thought not to hark
+    The coming of hunters, so careless was he.
+        Now, as rabbits are good
+        When roasted or stewed,
+    A man came along hunting rabbits for dinner;
+        He saw little bun,
+        Then raised his big gun,
+    And there he lay dead, the foolish young sinner.
+
+[Illustration: THE SILLY RABBIT.]
+
+
+
+
+NINO.
+
+
+The rain was just beginning to fall in a thin, chilling drizzle, and
+the cold air nipped sharply any unwary toe that showed itself, as Nino
+played a little air full of thoughts of birds and flowers. His thin
+jacket was no protection, and his dark eyes looked as if a shower
+might drop from them; but the clouds had been over his life too long,
+and there were no tears left to fall. He was not so old that this must
+be the case; but he stood alone in the wide street, and no one spoke
+to or noticed him. One friend he had--his guitar; and now he put that
+under his jacket, lest the rain should hurt it.
+
+"_Ah, carissima!_" he murmured, as he hugged it under his arm; "you
+are never hungry or tired, and you shall not be wet. One of us shall
+be happy."
+
+The guitar gave a little whisper as his jacket rubbed against it, and
+Nino smiled and nodded in answer. Now the rain was falling rapidly,
+and he stepped under an awning, to wait until it held up. There was a
+lady standing there, her skirts held high, and her cloak drawn
+closely, and Nino stood one side; for why should he be near any one?
+He well knew no one wanted him. He watched the water run by in the
+gutter, and looked into the barrel of apples at his side--large, rosy
+apples, that would be so good; and he glanced up to see if any one saw
+him. Why not take one? He could hide it, and eat it afterwards. The
+grocer had so many; he had none, and it was days since he had eaten
+anything but dry bread. He knew it was not right to take what belonged
+to another; but he heard so little of right, and hunger and want
+pressed him every day.
+
+As he stood thinking, not quite resolved to take one, there was a
+patter of little feet, a merry laugh, and a bright vision stood by
+his side.
+
+Was she a fairy? She looked as he always felt his guitar would look if
+it could take a human form--slender, active, fair. A shower of golden
+hair, not pale, but bright, like the summer sun; eyes as deep and blue
+as the distant sky; a face of which one would dream. Nino held his
+breath, and as the blue velvet coat brushed his ragged arm, drew a
+sigh, and stepped back.
+
+"Did I frighten you, little boy?" asked the child. "It was raining so
+hard, and nursey had to run."
+
+"Come, stand in here, where it does not drip," cried the nurse,
+drawing her away.
+
+Nino peeped under his coat, to be sure his guitar had not been
+transformed, and then stepped aside under the eaves. It seemed as if
+he ought to be wet when such a lovely being was obliged to endure the
+discomfort of standing there. As she chattered, he drew near again,
+and wondered whether angels did not look like that. She was certainly
+more beautiful than those in churches. He had forgotten that he was
+cold, and was feeling very happy, when the intentness of his gaze
+attracted the child's attention. She was whispering to her nurse, when
+a harsh voice cried out,--
+
+"Boy, go away from there! I can't watch those apples all the time."
+
+Nino had thoughtlessly laid his hand on the barrel, and when the
+grocer spoke, moved hastily away.
+
+"Here, little boy," cried the silvery tones of the child; "don't go; I
+want to give you an apple." Then she said to the grocer, "A big one,
+please."
+
+"Yes, miss; I did not notice you were there; but those boys are so
+bad!"
+
+Nino's face flushed, and his eyes glittered; but when the child
+handed him the apple, he smiled, touched his hat, and said,--
+
+"Thankee, little lady."
+
+As he walked away, he did not notice the falling drops, but laid his
+cheek against the apple, and smoothed its plump rosiness before he
+tasted its rich juiciness.
+
+Nino had no associates among the rough boys in the streets; he had a
+pride that kept him above their coarse ways. As he played and sang the
+songs he learned in Italy, dim memories of a better life came to him,
+and his music seemed a holy spirit. He would have died but for that,
+his life was so cold, hard, and bare.
+
+He had been brought over by a sea captain, who dealt in boys; and as
+he was very ill on the voyage, the captain let an old woman take him
+for a small sum. She thought his thin, sad face would move the
+passers, and in pity they would give him money. For this reason she
+sent him out day after day, in storm or shine, ill clad and weary,
+giving him but little food. But nature helped him. In spite of this
+treatment, he became stronger, and after a time ran away from her.
+Then he joined himself to a party of boy musicians, and by their help
+got his guitar. But they were unkind to him; for he was yet weak and
+timid, and the leader, a large boy, sometimes beat him if he refused
+to play. One night Nino ran away from them, his precious guitar under
+his arm; and since then he had played and sung through the streets,
+sometimes begging, sometimes in despair, with thoughts of stealing.
+
+His chief delight and comfort was to lie in the sun on a fair day. He
+was always hungry, almost always cold, and when the wind did not blow,
+and the sun was hot, he liked to bask on a step, and dream of good
+dinners, pretty clothes, and a soft bed. The sun was the only thing he
+could find in the cold northern climate which was like his old home.
+In this way he would be nearly happy; but when storms came, he was
+chilled within and without. The world then was gray; he could not even
+play on his guitar, which in sunny days brought him pleasant pictures
+of green fields, dancing water, and leafy vines, loaded with purple
+grapes.
+
+His guitar was his only companion, and he treated it as if it was
+alive; he talked to it, cared for and loved it with a tenderness which
+was of no value to the instrument, but was of service to the
+friendless boy, in giving him an unselfish motive.
+
+The autumn was fast advancing when he met the golden-haired child; and
+as the days became colder, he cherished the thought of her, and it
+made him warm when the sky was cloudy, as if she was a ray of
+sunlight. He had generally slept on steps or any spot where the police
+would leave him unmolested; but now the nights were so chill, that he
+tried hard with a few cents to pay for a lodging.
+
+With this purpose in his mind, he stopped before a house in a private
+street one evening just after dark. The gas was already lighted; but
+the curtains were not drawn, and Nino could see the table bountifully
+spread, and a servant moving about, adding various articles to it. A
+dancing figure passed and repassed the window, now peeping out, and
+again running back. Nino's voice trembled as he saw this light and
+warmth; and as he sang of "love and knightly deeds," he thought of
+himself out in the cold, with nothing to love but his guitar, and he
+felt very sad.
+
+In a moment the door opened, and out sprang the child he had thought
+of so long. The light seemed to follow her, and she cried,--
+
+"Here are some pennies." Nino removed his ragged hat, and held it out,
+and she said, "O, you're the same little boy! Wait a minute, and I'll
+get you a cake."
+
+[Illustration: NINO.]
+
+Nino stood with his hat off until she returned and gave him a cake.
+
+"You play such pretty tunes! and I know you now; for I've seen you
+twice," she said, folding her hands, and looking at him.
+
+Nino murmured,--
+
+"Thankee, pretty lady," and looked at her as if she was a being from
+another world.
+
+"What is your name?" she asked.
+
+"Nino."
+
+"Come, darling; don't stand out there," called her mother from the
+house.
+
+"My name's Viola. Good by," she cried, as she ran in.
+
+Nino sang one more song, and then kissing his hand to the little form
+at the window, went on his way happy. The money brought him a night's
+lodging and permission to leave his guitar. In the morning--for the
+following day was Sunday, and if he carried it with him, the police
+might arrest him for trying to play--he made a light breakfast on a
+roll, and went to the street where Viola lived, to see if he could
+meet her. As the bells were ringing, she came down the steps with her
+parents, and Nino followed at a respectful distance, until they went
+into church. Nino attempted to go in also; but the sombre sexton at
+the door frightened him with a severe look, and he wandered on. After
+a time he came to a mission church, where, by a sign, all were invited
+to enter. Taking a back seat, and trying to understand the preacher,
+he fell asleep. When he awoke, the preacher was gone; but the room was
+full of ragged children, and for the first time Nino found himself in
+a Sunday school.
+
+The teacher nearest to him was a sweet-faced lady, who spoke gently to
+the boys of being kind to others, and patient with those who had not
+the chance to learn that they had; she told them stories, to show them
+how kindness would return to them, and how happy it made them to have
+others gentle with them. Nino listened, and thought of Viola; and when
+all sang some hymns while a lady played the piano, a new life stirred
+in him.
+
+When the services were over, the teacher gave him a paper, and asked
+him to come again. He sat on the steps after all were gone, looking at
+the pictures, and when he returned to his lodging went around by
+Viola's house, and was rewarded by seeing her sitting in the window
+with a book. When he reached the wretched place where he had spent the
+night, and looked for his guitar, he could not find it. Asking the
+woman about it, she said she was cleaning up, and it was somewhere on
+the floor. Nino's heart began to swell, and when he found it in one
+corner, snapped and broken, his grief and anger burst forth in a
+volley of Italian. He hugged it, and sobbed over it, called the woman
+a beast, and pointed to the ruin of his favorite in angry despair.
+
+In the midst of this tumult of feeling the paper he had received
+dropped out of his bosom, and striking his feet, recalled the
+teacher's words and Viola sitting quietly by the window. Nino stopped,
+and for a moment was silent, then saying, "You didn't mean to," picked
+up the paper, folded his jacket over the guitar, and left the house.
+His anger had vanished; but his grief remained. He spent the evening
+in tears and wretchedness, alternately gazing at his guitar, stroking
+it, and then giving way to passionate crying. At last he slept, curled
+up in one corner, and in the morning awoke with a cough which hurt his
+side.
+
+Now he had only his singing to depend on; he had not been taught any
+useful employment, and did not know how to work. He wandered about in
+the most disconsolate manner, his cough getting worse, and his grief
+for his guitar, which he always carried with him, still tormenting
+him. Sometimes, when people saw the poor boy crouching in a corner,
+hugging a broken guitar, and crying bitterly, they would give him a
+few cents. He would not beg; something held him back, and the thought
+of Viola would not let him steal.
+
+On the Saturday after he had been to Sunday school, as he was sitting
+on a step, sadly thinking, he saw Viola and her nurse crossing the
+street towards him. At that moment a carriage with wildly running
+horses turned the corner. Men on the sidewalk shouted and waved their
+arms. Viola, confused by their cries, turned back, and the horses,
+startled, dashed in the same direction. Nino threw aside his guitar,
+and sprang forward, drew Viola out of danger, but fell himself, and
+the carriage passed over his foot, crushing it, while in falling he
+hit his head against the pavement, and lay insensible. Some of the men
+ran after the horses, some helped the nurse carry Viola home,--for she
+was crying and trembling with fright,--and a policeman took Nino away.
+
+When Viola was restored, she began to ask for Nino.
+
+"It was Nino, mamma, and I want to see him," was her constant cry.
+
+Her father and mother were also anxious to reward the brave boy who
+had saved their only child, and made many inquiries to find him. The
+policeman had taken him to the station-house, and there no one
+remembered anything about him.
+
+"There are so many of those children brought in, madam, you have no
+idea. We don't pretend to keep track of them all," was the only
+information they could get.
+
+At last they were obliged to give up their search; but Viola was much
+dissatisfied.
+
+About a week after the accident Viola's mother was invited by a lady
+friend to visit one of the city hospitals. She took Viola with her,
+and as they walked by the white beds, the child held her mother's hand
+tightly, and felt quite subdued at the pale, sick faces about her. But
+suddenly she bounded away, and climbing on a little bed, cried,--
+
+"O, I've found him! here he is--my dear Nino."
+
+Nino--for it was he--shrank back into his pillows, and covering his
+face with his hands, cried aloud. From the station-house he had been
+taken to the hospital, where his foot had to be amputated, and he had
+lain for several days, with a bandaged head, in great pain. His guitar
+was lost, and he had been so lonely, though the nurses were kind, that
+at the sight of Viola his fortitude gave way.
+
+"Don't cry, and don't be frightened," said Viola, kissing him, and
+taking her handkerchief to wipe his tears. "I love you, dear Nino, and
+now I've found you."
+
+"Is this your Nino, Viola?" asked her mother, while the nurses and
+other patients looked on with surprise.
+
+"Yes, mamma; is he not pretty?" and she tried to remove his hands.
+
+When he was a little more composed, Viola's mother thanked and praised
+him for saving her daughter's life, and persuaded him to tell her what
+he knew about himself. And the nurses told how patient he had been,
+and she gave him some fruit, and promised to come again. When Viola
+bade him good by, she put her arms about his neck and kissed him, and
+they left him quite happy.
+
+A few days after they came again, and Viola cried when she saw him.
+
+"You are going to come and live with us, and be my brother."
+
+"If you would like to," said her mother; and Nino's eyes sparkled with
+joy at the thought.
+
+Then he was carefully laid in the carriage, and taken to his beautiful
+new home. More than he had ever dreamed, or fancied, came to
+him--books, pictures, toys, kind care, love, and a fine new guitar,
+with the promise of learning to play it better. An artificial foot was
+to help him walk, and the wonders and delights of his home ever
+multiplied.
+
+Best of all was his sister Viola. He almost worshipped her; and it was
+a long time before he could bring himself to treat her with any
+familiarity. When she caressed him, which was often,--for she loved
+him dearly, and he was a lovable boy,--he always kissed her hands. One
+day she shook her head at this, and said,--
+
+"Nino, that is not the way; kiss me good;" and she turned her face,
+with its rosy mouth, towards him.
+
+With reverence, as if he was saluting a queen, Nino leaned towards
+her, and then with a sudden impulse, caught her in his arms, and
+kissed her heartily. That was the seal of their affection, and from
+that time Nino assumed all a brother's pride, care, and tenderness.
+After he had recovered, they were constantly together, and their
+mother was never so content as when Nino had the charge of Viola. He
+never spared himself to serve her, and she was ever an impulse to
+goodness and truth, shining before him like a star, as she had from
+the first time he saw her. And she clung to him with the same love she
+had first felt, proud of her brother, who developed a noble character;
+and they all learned to thank the accident which had brought them so
+happily together.
+
+                                                SARA CONANT.
+
+
+
+
+COMMON THINGS.
+
+
+    The sunshine is a glorious thing,
+      That comes alike to all,
+    Lighting the peasant's lowly cot,
+      The noble's painted hall.
+
+    The moonlight is a gentle thing;
+      It through the window gleams
+    Upon the snowy pillow where
+      The happy infant dreams;
+
+    It shines upon the fisher's boat
+      Out on the lovely sea,
+    Or where the little lambkins lie
+      Beneath the old oak tree.
+
+    The dewdrops on the summer morn
+      Sparkle upon the grass;
+    The village children brush them off,
+      That through the meadows pass.
+
+    There are no gems in monarchs' crowns
+      More beautiful than they;
+    And yet we scarcely notice them,
+      But tread them off in play.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: SALLY SUNBEAM.]
+
+SALLY SUNBEAM.
+
+
+This is not her real name. Her real name is Sally Brown. Why, then,
+have I called her Sally Sunbeam? Why, because everybody else calls her
+so.
+
+The reason is this: she is such a pleasant, happy, kind,
+sweet-tempered child that wherever she comes she comes like a sunbeam,
+gladdening and brightening all around her. It was her uncle Tom who
+first gave her her new name. He was spending a few days with the
+family for the first time for some years, for he lived a long way off
+and had not seen Sally since she was a baby. Sally became very fond of
+him at once, and so did he of Sally. As soon as he came down of a
+morning, there was Sally with her merry, laughing eyes to greet him.
+Whatever he wanted done, there was Sally with her ready willingness to
+do it for him. Wherever he went, there was Sally with her merry chat
+and her pleased and happy face to keep him company.
+
+And when the evening came, and Sally, with an affectionate kiss, had
+bidden him good-night and gone away to bed, he felt as though a cloud
+had cast its shadow over the house. So one morning, when Uncle Tom was
+going out for a walk and wanted Sally to go with him, he said, "Where
+is my little sunbeam? Sally Sunbeam, where are you? Oh, here you are!"
+laughing as she came skipping in from the garden.
+
+"But my name is not Sally Sunbeam, uncle," she said. "My name is Sally
+Brown."
+
+Her mamma smiled. "It is only your uncle's fun," she said.
+
+"Well, it is only my fun," said Uncle Tom. "But it's a very proper
+name for her, for all that. She is more like a sunbeam than anything
+else. So come along, Sally Sunbeam. Let us go and have a nice walk."
+
+And from that time Uncle Tom never called her by any other name. And
+other people came to call her by it too, and everybody felt that it
+was as true and fitting a name for her as ever a child could have.
+
+Here she is in our picture, hanging up her doll's clothes, that she
+has just washed. How bright and happy she looks! Uncle Tom may well
+call her Sally Sunbeam. But it is not only her cheerfulness and
+playfulness that makes her worthy of her name. This, of itself, would
+not be sufficient to make her loved as she is loved. Oh no! It is the
+kindness of her heart, the gentleness of her disposition, the delight
+she takes in trying to make everybody happy. This is what makes
+everybody love her.
+
+Only the other day a group of several children passed the garden gate
+on their way from school. There was one poor little thing amongst them
+whose dress was so shabby and whose shoes were so bad as to make it
+evident that her parents must be very, very poor.
+
+Sad to say, her schoolfellows were jeering her and teasing her about
+her appearance. One of these especially was taunting her very cruelly,
+and the poor child was crying. Sally ran out to her, and putting her
+arm lovingly round her said,
+
+"What is the matter, dear? What do you cry for?"
+
+"Because they keep on laughing at me so," sobbed the child.
+
+"Well, who can help laughing at her?" cried the girl who had been
+teasing her the most. "Look at her shoes! Do you call those shoes?"
+
+And at this the children all burst out laughing afresh.
+
+"You ought to be ashamed of yourselves," said Sally, "to laugh at the
+poor child and make her cry. It is very cruel of you. Suppose _you_
+could not get good shoes, how would _you_ like to be laughed at?"
+
+And there was something so serious and pitying in her tone that the
+children _were_ ashamed of themselves, and went off without saying
+another word.
+
+"Never mind what they say," said Sally to the child. "Come into my
+garden till they have gone right away. There! sit down on that seat
+for a minute," she said, leading her to one. "I will be back again
+directly."
+
+And she ran to her mamma, and in a great hurry told her all about it,
+and when the story was finished said, "I've got a boxful of money,
+mamma, that I have saved to buy toys with. May I buy the little girl a
+pair of new boots with it?"
+
+"I must go and speak to her first," said her mamma.
+
+So Sally's mamma came to the child and asked her a few questions, and
+found that the little thing had no father, and that her mother was
+ill, and that she had several brothers and sisters, and the good lady
+judged from all this how poor they must be.
+
+Having satisfied herself that the child's mother was not likely to be
+offended by the gift of a pair of boots to her little one, she said,
+"My little daughter here would like to buy you a new pair of boots.
+Would you like to have a pair?"
+
+"Buy _me_ a new pair of boots!" said the child, with a look of
+astonishment. "Oh, but they'll cost a lot of money. Mother has been
+going to buy me some for ever so long, only she hasn't been able to
+get money enough."
+
+"But I've got ever so much money that I was going to buy toys with,"
+said Sally, "only I would rather buy you a pair of boots if you would
+let me. And then those naughty girls won't be able to tease you about
+your shoes any more, you know. So come along, and we'll buy them at
+once. May we, mamma?"
+
+"Yes, if you like." And away they all went together to the
+bootmaker's, and the money that Sally had thought to buy herself all
+sorts of toys with was expended upon a nice warm pair of boots for the
+stranger-child.
+
+Don't you think that Sally must have seemed like a sunbeam to that
+poor little one?
+
+But this is only one of the instances of her kindness and sympathy and
+goodness of heart. She has learned of Him who all his life "went about
+doing good," and every day tries to follow his blessed example. She
+has her faults, of course, like the rest of us, and these she has to
+fight against. But it is her virtues, not her faults, that she is
+known by--her brightness, her good temper, her sweetness of
+disposition, her kindness, her unselfishness; and this is how it is
+that everybody agrees to call her Sally Sunbeam instead of Sally
+Brown.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {A monkey is in the window behind Aunt Thankful}]
+
+AUNT THANKFUL.
+
+
+She was our school teacher, a little bit of a woman, hardly larger
+than a good-sized doll. She had moved into our village years before I
+was born; for so I heard the folks say, I don't know how many times.
+Nobody seemed to know where she came from. She had no relatives--at
+least, none called to see her or to visit her. Once or twice, as I
+grew older, I heard dark hints whispered about Aunt Thankful, about
+her having left her early home to get away from unpleasant memories,
+but no whisper against her character. She was a good woman, a
+Christian woman--only the people called her _odd_.
+
+But everybody loved her. In sickness or health, in trouble or joy, in
+prosperity or adversity, everybody was sure they could depend upon
+assistance and sympathy, if needed, from Aunt Thankful. She was always
+ready to extend her helping hand, always ready to do a generous act.
+She was ever true to herself as well as to her neighbors. Perhaps that
+was the reason why the world called her _odd_. If so, how earnestly I
+wish there were a great many more odd folks!
+
+Aunt Thankful lived many years in the village before she began to keep
+school. I remember how funny she used to look as she came down the
+street towards the school-house. She was so small that I should not
+have been astonished to see her driving a hoop to school.
+
+Then she wore her spectacles in such a funny way! What use they were
+to her, I never could discover. If she looked at the scholars in the
+school-house, she looked _over_ the glasses; if she was reading or
+writing, she looked _under_ them. I have often heard boys, who were
+considered truthful, declare that on no occasion was she ever known to
+look _through_ them.
+
+But what made Aunt Thankful so popular with the children was her kind
+manner and her kinder words. Somehow or other she used to like the
+poor and the friendless children the best. That was quite a puzzle to
+me at first. We usually pay most attention to such as are well off,
+and prosperous, and dressed nicely. But not so was it with Aunt
+Thankful. She took sides always with the weak and the down-trodden. I
+have seen her mend many an apron, many a torn dress worn by a poor
+scholar, during school hours. She did it, too, in such a kind way,
+that it made one forget that they were poor. That was because she was
+ODD, you know.
+
+As I grew up, I began to understand more of this good lady's character
+than I ever dreamed when I went to school. I saw things in a different
+light, as it were. And for her many good acts, from the fact that she
+was about my first school teacher, I do not think I shall ever forget
+her.
+
+There is another reason why I shall never forget Aunt Thankful.
+Perhaps I had better tell you about it. She kept our village school
+one summer; I think it must have been the second or third year I went
+to school. Anyhow, I was in one of the lower classes.
+
+The school-house was a little box of a thing, hardly bigger than a
+decent-sized shed. There was only one room in the building. The
+teacher sat upon a small platform on one side, while the seats for the
+scholars were raised, one above the other, on the opposite side. Over
+the teacher's desk was a little square window, looking out upon the
+horse shed in the rear.
+
+It was a hot summer forenoon, and the windows were all open; the
+morning lessons had been completed. Aunt Thankful sat writing at her
+desk, now and then casting her eyes round the school-room, to see
+that everything was in order. But there was mischief brewing. The
+children were waiting impatiently for noon recess, and more than one
+of them were having a quiet whisper or giggle all by themselves.
+
+All at once some of the children saw the mischievous face of a monkey
+peeping in at the little back window behind the teacher's desk. Of
+course those who saw such an unusual sight laughed outright, greatly
+to the astonishment of Aunt Thankful.
+
+Rap! rap! rap! went her ruler upon the desk, as a signal for quiet. At
+the noise the monkey dodged out of sight in a moment, and soon the
+children were restored to order. Aunt Thankful went on writing.
+
+To explain so unusual a sight, I ought to say that a strolling organ
+man, with a monkey, had been in the village that day. He had stopped
+in the shed behind the school-house to eat his dinner. Accidentally,
+he had fallen asleep; and his monkey, being of an inquisitive turn,
+had got loose, and was exploring on his own account. He carried a part
+of his chain upon his neck all the while, and somehow or other he had
+climbed up to the little square window, as related.
+
+Aunt Thankful went on writing. But soon the monkey appeared again over
+her head, turning his funny little face to one side and the other,
+showing his teeth, grinning, and going through other performances.
+This time the laughing was louder than before, because more children
+saw the show. I must record here that a funnier sight I never have
+witnessed.
+
+The teacher looked up once more, and rapped on her desk quite
+indignantly. "James Collins," she said, with severe authority, "come
+here, this moment. If you cannot sit in your seat without laughing,
+come and stand by me. You, too, Walter, and Solomon. And you, Martha
+Hapgood. I am astonished at your conduct."
+
+The recusant children ranged themselves before the teacher, who seemed
+to think she had now quenched the rebellion. I noticed that they
+managed to stand so they could have a good view of the window, as if
+they expected, or even hoped for, another occasion for laughing.
+
+And they didn't wait long, either. In a minute or two the monkey
+appeared for the third time; and on this occasion he came wholly into
+sight, chain and all, and began to dance up and down in his peculiar
+way, bowing and nodding to the spectators. By this time all the
+children had found out--by the usual school telegraph, I suppose--what
+was going on, and joined in a loud and universal laugh.
+
+"Sakes alive!" exclaimed Aunt Thankful, jumping up and seizing her
+ruler; "what's got into the children?" Whether the monkey thought the
+flourish which the teacher's ruler took was a signal for a fight or
+not, I never knew; but certain it is he began to scream and shake his
+chain. The children laughed louder than ever. Aunt Thankful turned
+round, saw what the trouble was, and raised her hands. The monkey
+construed this as an act of war, and with a single jump landed on the
+desk. Here for a few moments he made the papers fly pretty nimbly. He
+upset the inkstand, scattered the sandbox and pens, screaming all the
+while like mad. After he had experimented long enough, he gave
+another jump out of the window; and that was the last we saw of him.
+
+Aunt Thankful looked as white as a sheet. She was taken by surprise,
+and seemed really frightened.
+
+"Marcy on us," she said, as soon as she could find words, "what a
+dreadful creature! You may go to your seats, children; I guess you can
+be excused for laughing."
+
+The poor lady proceeded to pick up her papers, and set matters to
+rights. It was quite a task. The ink had run over all her papers and
+into her desk. For years after, that ink spot was pointed out by the
+children to the new comers, and the story of the monkey had to be
+related.
+
+Before noon the organ grinder had wakened from his after-dinner sleep,
+and finding out that his monkey had been into mischief, concluded that
+it was best to be off. He was not seen in the village any more.
+
+Aunt Thankful kept school afterwards for several years, and then age
+compelled her to give up her office. About that time, and just when
+she wanted it most, one of the inhabitants of our village left her
+three thousand dollars in his will, as a "mark of his esteem." Surely
+never was charity more properly bestowed, or more gratefully received.
+I don't think there was a person in the world who envied her the gift,
+or thought it undeserved.
+
+                                                       M. H.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The children at the bottom of the basement steps}]
+
+HOW A GOOD DINNER WAS LOST.
+
+
+Ting a ling ling! a ling ling! ling ling! ling! So went the dinner
+bells--first mamma's, then Mrs. Green's, Mrs. Brown's, Mrs. White's,
+and all the other neighbors' with colored names. It was everybody's
+dinner hour; and by the way, is it not funny how everybody gets hungry
+together?
+
+Dinner was to be eaten at the healthy, good old-fashioned hour of
+noon, between the two sessions of school. The children were just fresh
+from slates, with long, crooked rows of hard figures, and heavy
+atlases, with unpronounceable towns and rivers that would not be found
+out. There were chickens and dough-balls for dinner. The smell of them
+made the children ravenous; and they very nearly tripped up Maria and
+her platter in their haste to reach the table.
+
+Mamma looked around to see if they were all there, and counted on her
+fingers,--
+
+"Baby, Jelly, Tiny--Tiny, where's Bunch?"
+
+"Why, I thought she was in the kitchen," said Tiny, looking wistfully
+at the tempting drumsticks. "Papa, won't you please help us little
+folks first--just to-day? 'cause we're so awful hungry."
+
+[Illustration: {A bunch of poppy heads}]
+
+"Tiny, I do believe that Bunch has gone down to the Midgetts'. You
+must go and find her before you eat your dinner; and hurry, now."
+
+"O, dear! can't she hear the dinner bell just as well as I can?" and
+off flew Tiny, with the streamers of her jockey standing straight out
+behind her, and her new buttoned shoes spattering water from every
+mud-puddle in her way.
+
+We were not invited; so we can't stay to dinner; but perhaps we will
+have time to learn something about the little ones while Tiny is
+hunting her tardy sister Bunch.
+
+Her name was not really Bunch; that is, she was not christened so. At
+school she answered "Present" at roll-call to the prettier name of
+Florence; but uncle Tim--he's such a jolly fellow!--said, when he
+first held her in her delicately-embroidered blankets, that she was
+such a bouncer, so red and so dumpy, that she would never be anything
+but a bunch; and so dubbed, she carries the name to this day. But did
+not she disappoint him, though! for, in some unaccountable way, she
+daily stretched long, and flattened out, and became thin and bony. Her
+collar-bone grew to be a perfect shelf, and her stockings got a very
+awkward fashion of wrinkling about her ankles.
+
+Soon after, when Tiny's little red face began to screw and squint at
+uncle Tim, she was such a mite that he was sure to be right this time
+if he nicknamed her Tiny; and she was so little, that an ordinary
+pillow made her a bed of a comfortable size; and all the old cronies
+in the village whispered that the new baby would either die off pretty
+quick, or live to be a second Mrs. Tom Thumb. But Tiny lived, and
+spited them, and waxed fat and bunchy, while Bunch astonished them all
+by waning lean and tiny.
+
+Jelly's name came no one knew how. Some mischievous sprite probably
+whispered it to her; for she persisted that it was her name; and so
+she was indulged in it.
+
+Near their home was a vacant lot--vacant, excepting for a one-story
+shanty, with a cellar, piles of broken crockery, old shoes, dislocated
+hoop skirts, and bushes of rank stramoniums, with their big, poisonous
+blossoms. Cows strayed in the lot, munching the ugly snarls of grass,
+and the neighbors' pigs and fowls made a daily promenade through the
+wilderness of refuse.
+
+Although it seemed a very unattractive place for a neat little girl to
+visit, now especially, since a pipe of the great sewer had overflowed,
+and had deluged parts of the ground. But to that miserable shanty
+mamma believed her little Bunch to have strayed; and there Tiny found
+her, seated on a log of wood in the corner of the largest room, with
+her apron thrown over her face and the Midgett girls--there were two
+of them--first staring at her, and then winking at each other.
+
+"Bunch," said Tiny, "Bunch, mamma says to hurry right straight home;
+and guess what there is for dinner. Chicken pot-pie, and it's my turn
+to have the wish-bone! Why, Bunch, what's the matter with you? What a
+baby! You're always forever a-crying about something or other. Come on
+now. I'm going right home; and you'll get an awful punishing for
+coming here!"
+
+The eyes of the Midgett girls glared at her and the insult.
+
+"O, dear! O, dear!" sobbed Bunch, just peeping from one corner of her
+apron at the outer door.
+
+"O, dear, what?" snapped Tiny, in such a hurry for a drumstick.
+
+"Tiny, did you see anything on the front stoop when you came in?"
+asked Bunch, her eye still peeping at the outer door.
+
+"Any what?"
+
+"O, any--any cats--any wildcats?"
+
+"Wildcats--what are they?"
+
+"O!" said the Midgetts, shouting together; "wildcats! dreffle ones!
+my! yes! green eyes! awful cats, that spit fire out o' their mouths,
+and claws that'll scratch yer to death;" imitating the clawing with
+their long dirty fingers quite in the face of poor Bunch, who
+immediately retired to the seclusion of her apron, and continued her
+frightened sobs.
+
+"O, where? where?" asked Tiny, excitedly, opening wide her big blue
+eyes, and glancing uneasily in every corner.
+
+"Why, jist out o' there, hid under the stoop; an' when yer go out,
+they'll pounce onto yer."
+
+"O," said Tiny, bravely, "'tain't so! I don't believe it. There wasn't
+any there when I came in."
+
+"That's because they was asleep, then," said Ann Matilda. She had red,
+fiery red hair, was freckled, and had tusks for teeth. "They've just
+got woke up now; and they're hungry, too."
+
+"So am I," said Tiny. "Come, Bunch, let's hurry past, and they can't
+touch us; besides, you know no wild animals live about here nowadays."
+
+"O, but these ones are what comes up out of the sewer," instructed
+the Midgetts.
+
+Tiny's courage began quickly to ooze away, and every bit of it
+deserted her when she and Bunch just put their noses outside of the
+door, and heard a most ferocious ya-o-o-ing from--well, they could not
+tell where.
+
+Of the Midgett tribe, there was no one at home but the two girls.
+There was no Mr. Midgett, but there was a Mrs. Midgett, who was out
+washing. The children had seen her plunging her hard, red arms into
+the soap suds, over their mother's wash-tub. She probably had a hard
+time managing a living. They were very poor. Sometimes the girls got
+employment as nurse girls or as extra help in the neighbors' kitchens;
+but no one cared particularly to employ them, they were so vulgar,
+indolent, and slovenly. So they subsisted on the odd bits of broken
+victuals which they begged from door to door in baskets. Some people
+said they always gathered so much, that they must keep a
+boarding-house to get rid of the stuff; but I always regarded this as
+a fine bit of sarcasm. The Midgett mansion was a forbidden haunt of
+the children; but on this day Bunch had gone, for the last time, on
+special business of her own.
+
+On Christmas last, Santa Claus had visited their home, and left for
+each a pretty doll of the regulation pattern, with blue eyes, and
+golden crimpy hair, dressed in billowy tarleton, and the height of
+fashion, the beauty of which dolls quite bewildered the unaccustomed
+eyes of the Midgetts when the children took their young ladyships for
+an airing. And so one day the Midgetts borrowed them for a minute,
+while the children neglected their responsibilities, leaving them on a
+door stone, while they crowded for a closer peep at the mysterious
+dancers in a hand-organ. From that day to this the whereabouts of the
+dollships has remained a solemn secret from the knowledge of all but
+the Midgetts. And it was to them Bunch had gone for a clew to her
+treasure.
+
+"O," said Keziah Jane, "while we was a-standin' a-waitin' for yous two
+to git away from the music, and give us a chance to peek in at the
+dancin', the black feller what lives down the sewer come, and snatches
+'em away; and we chases him like fury, and he run; and we never seed
+those ere dolls agin--nor him nor the dolls."
+
+"Sh! sh!" cautioned Ann Matilda. "Who's that a-knockin' at the door?
+Run quick in the bed-room, and hide under the bed. Maybe it's that ere
+black feller, or those wildcats."
+
+Scramble under the dirty bed went the two little girls while the door
+was opened. Only Jelly; no black man, nor wildcats, either. Jelly, and
+unharmed; Jelly sent from mamma to escort her naughty sisters home,
+but who was readily frightened into remaining with them; and so there
+were three little entertainers for the Midgett ogresses that
+afternoon.
+
+In the course of a half hour came another rapping at the door. What a
+reception the Midgetts were having! Keziah Jane pushed the children
+under the bed, while Ann Matilda opened the door. This time it was the
+grown-up sister Rosa.
+
+O, how the children's hearts throbbed when they heard Rosa's pleasant
+voice! but they dared to speak never a word; for Keziah Jane crawled
+down on the floor close beside the bed, and looked hard at them with
+her wicked black eyes, and said,--
+
+"Wildcats!"
+
+"Are my little sisters here?" asked Rosa.
+
+O, how they wished she was just near enough so they might pull her
+dress!
+
+"O, no, mem!" said red-headed Ann Matilda, with the door opened on a
+most inhospitable crack. "O, no, indeed! they haven't been here in a
+month. I seed 'em a-goin' to school with their books jest as the town
+clock struck'd two."
+
+"How strange!" thought Rosa. "They wouldn't have gone back to school
+without their dinners."
+
+And when she reached home, she told uncle Tim that she half believed
+they were there, though what could entice them to the horrible hut she
+could not imagine.
+
+"O my! how cramped up my neck is!" said Bunch.
+
+"O, O, how hungry I am!" cried Tiny, remembering the drumsticks.
+
+"I don't like it here, and I want to go home," sobbed Jelly.
+
+"Well, get up, then, and le's hev dinner," said the Midgetts.
+
+Dinner! There were old baked potatoes, and a mess of turnips, and a
+bite of fried beefsteak, all mixed in a heap in a rusty tin pan on the
+table; and Tiny whispered to Bunch that there was "a piece of the very
+codfish balls which were on mamma's breakfast table." Her appetite had
+deserted her, Bunch had cried hers away, and Jelly had left hers at
+her own bountiful table. But the Midgetts ate, and enjoyed.
+
+"Now," said they, "if you'll be real good, and mind, we'll give you a
+gay old treat. Want to go a-swimmin'? We dunno as we mind a-givin' yer
+a little pleasure, pervidin' yer'll mind, and not go near the closet
+where the black snake lives."
+
+"O," shouted the children, "we don't want to go near any snakes!"
+
+"Besides, we can't swim," said Tiny.
+
+"Well, we'll show yer how," said Keziah Jane; "besides, yer all look
+jest's if a good bath wouldn't hurt yer--don't they, Ann Matilda?"
+
+Ann Matilda laughed, and said yes, looked down at her own bare feet,
+and bade the children to "be a-takin' off their shoes and stockin's."
+
+"Now, then, foller me," said Keziah Jane, opening the door which led
+to the cellar stairs.
+
+The children looked down into the black hole, and shrank back with
+fear. The stairs ended in a pool of black, muddy water, in much the
+same way that they do in a _bona fide_ swimming-bath. You will
+remember that a pipe of the sewer had burst, and the dirty water had
+overflowed the Midgetts' cellar. To wade about in this had been the
+recreation of the Midgetts for days.
+
+"Come on now," said they; "lift up your dresses, and come along."
+
+The cellar was growing every minute lighter the longer they were in
+it; and soon the children lost their fear, and began to paddle about
+with their naked feet, taking excellent care to steer clear of the
+closet containing the black snake.
+
+"It's getting awful, awful dark," said Jelly.
+
+"That's so," said Bunch, wondering, and looking up to see why the
+small window gave so little light. Something outside moved just then.
+The window was opened, and there were two faces looking down at
+them--two faces full of astonishment. They belonged to Rosy and uncle
+Tim.
+
+"Children, get right out of that filth, and go up stairs," ordered
+Rosy.
+
+Up stairs they went, one hanging behind the other, and entered the
+room from the cellar just as Rosy came in at the front door. Can you
+imagine how they must have looked, drenched and spoiled with the
+impure water from the dainty ruffles at their throats to the very
+nails of their toes? Like drowned rats! Rosy only said, with a
+withering glance at the Midgetts,--
+
+"Never come to our house again for cold pieces."
+
+Then bidding the children gather up their stockings and shoes, she
+marched them off barefooted between herself and uncle Tim. Tiny's new
+buttoned shoes had found a watery grave; for, as the bathers came up
+stairs, one of the Midgett feet pitched them gracefully into the
+cellar.
+
+"Tiny," said Bunch, as they walked mournfully home, amid the
+astonished gaze of the returning school children. "I don't believe
+there was a wildcat there any of the time."
+
+"No, nor a black man in the sewer," said Tiny.
+
+"Nor a black snake in the closet," said Jelly.
+
+But there were a hot bath and clean clothing at home for them, and
+warm beds. Whether there was anything more severe than a good lecture,
+I will leave you to guess; for mamma said they were old enough to know
+better than to believe in any such ridiculous nonsense, all excepting
+little Jelly.
+
+I should be ashamed to finish the conclusion of the affair; for what
+do you think, children? It all actually happened, once upon a time, to
+myself and two of my sisters.
+
+                                            FANNIE BENEDICT.
+
+
+
+
+    Mirth is a medicine of life:
+    It cures its ills, it calms its strife;
+    It softly smooths the brow of care,
+    And writes a thousand graces there.
+
+
+
+
+LAME SUSIE.
+
+
+"Children," said Miss Ware to her little band of scholars, "Susie Dana
+is coming to school next Monday. She is lame, and I want you to be
+kind and thoughtful toward her. She does not show her lameness until
+she commences to walk, and then you can see that one of the fat little
+legs is longer than the other, which makes her limp. So do not watch
+her as she walks. Be sure not to run against her in your plays, and
+don't shut her out from them because she cannot run and jump as you
+do, but choose, some of the time, plays in which she can take part.
+Remember, I make this rule: When you leave the room at recess or after
+school, wait, every one of you, in your places till she has passed
+out; then she will not be jostled or hurt in any way. Her lameness is
+a hard trial for a little girl. She would like to run and dance as
+well as any of you, and I do hope you will feel for her, and at least
+not make her burden heavier. How many, now, will promise to try to
+make her happy?"
+
+Every hand was instantly raised, and the children's clear, honest eyes
+met their teacher's with a look which was a promise.
+
+You have read stories, no doubt, of lame, blind or deformed children,
+and poor ones in patched clothes, who met treatment from others harder
+to endure than their poverty, privation or pain. Sometimes their
+schoolmates have been foolish and cruel enough to shun them, cast them
+out from their plays and pleasures, brush roughly against them, talk
+about, and even ridicule, them. But I hope it is not often so. In this
+case it was by far the reverse.
+
+These children remembered their pledge, and they made Susie so happy
+that she almost forgot her lameness. She was a cheerful, pleasant,
+good little girl, and her schoolmates, who had begun by pitying her
+and trying to help her, soon loved to be with her.
+
+"May I sit with Susie, Miss Ware?" became a frequent request.
+
+"Susie dear, here's a cake I've brought you," one would say at recess.
+
+"Take half my apple, Susie."
+
+[Illustration: NOTHING SHALL HURT YOU.]
+
+One day, as Susie was on her way to school she met a large drove of
+oxen. Poor little girl! she was very much frightened, and the big blue
+eyes were fast filling with tears when Harry Barton, one of the
+school-boys, stepped up before her and said, "Don't cry, Susie. I will
+take care of you. Nothing shall hurt you while I am here." And right
+bravely he stood before her until the last one had passed, and then
+took Susie to school, kindly helping her over the rough places.
+
+So the seasons wore on, and Susie, who, though she ardently desired to
+learn, had dreaded going among other children, was always happy with
+them. She loved her teacher and schoolmates, and made such progress as
+she could not have done had these things been different.
+
+The summer vacation was over. The glorious days of early autumn, with
+sunshine glinting through the crimson foliage, dropping nuts and
+golden harvests, passed swiftly away, and cold weather came.
+
+The school-room was pleasant still with its cheery fire and bright
+faces. One day, when all were busy as usual, a cry rang out,
+
+"Fire! Fire! The school-house is on fire!"
+
+Books and pens dropped from trembling hands, little faces paled, and
+eager, appealing eyes turned instantly to the teacher.
+
+"Run, children!" she said, hurriedly.
+
+Only one moved--lame Susie. She limped along as fast as she could, and
+all the rest, frightened as they were, remained in their places till
+she was safe outside the walls. Then with a rush they cleared the room
+almost in an instant. Even in that time of peril and dread they
+remembered their duty and kindness toward her, and gave her the
+richest proof in their power of their thoughtful love. Not mere
+obedience to a rule could have prompted this unselfish act, and as
+such a proof she must have felt it.
+
+It is a beautiful illustration, as it is a _true_ one, of God's love
+for all living and for all times.
+
+"As ye would they should do to you, do ye to them."
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Pepper the dog is told a secret}]
+
+THE SECRET.
+
+
+    Pepper Baker, don't you tell!
+      If you ever do, I'll-- Well,
+    I'll do something you'll remember
+      Till the last day of December.
+
+    Pepper, look me in the eye!
+      You must be as shy, as shy--
+    Play, you don't know where I'm going,
+      Don't know anything worth knowing!
+
+    When the bell for breakfast rings,
+      I will bring you cakes and things;
+    Don't go down till Ben calls, "Pupper,
+      Pupper; come and 'ave your supper!"
+
+    What I've told you no one knows,
+      Only you, and I, and Rose
+    (Maybe she has told her kitty),
+      No one else in Boston city.
+
+    Pepper, look at me, and say
+      With your eyes,--look straight this way,--
+    With your teeth, and mane so shaggy,
+      With your ears and tail so waggy,--
+
+    "I will never, never tell.
+      They may tie a ding-dong-bell
+    To my little tail so waggy,
+      Singe my ears and coat so shaggy.
+
+    "They may drown me in the well,
+      All because I will not tell."
+    That will do, you grim old Quaker!
+      I can trust you Pepper Baker.
+
+                       MARY R. WHITTLESEY.
+
+
+
+
+SILVER AND GOLD.
+
+
+    Silver or golden, which is the best--
+      Which with God's love is most richly blest?
+    Which is the fairer I cannot tell,
+      Grandfather dear or my baby Bel.
+
+    The soft twilight hour, when shadows fall,
+      To little Bel seems the best of all;
+    Then grandfather lays aside his book;
+      He cannot resist the pleading look.
+
+    There's room for two in the great arm-chair;
+      His arms enfold her with loving care;
+    Upturned is a smiling, rosy face;
+      Two dimpled arms have found their place.
+
+    Sweet eyes of hazel, so clear and bright,
+      Look up with a happy, loving light;
+    The curls are golden that softly stray,
+      While breezes amid their sunshine play.
+
+    Little she dreams of sorrow and care;
+      Life is unknown, and to her seems fair.
+    As years roll by the face may grow old;
+      But the loving heart will never grow cold.
+
+[Illustration: SILVER AND GOLD.]
+
+    When the hand of Time on her head is laid,
+      The lustre of gold must surely fade;
+    But lovely is even a silver frost,
+      If truth and goodness have not been lost.
+
+    Pride and passion have left no trace
+      On the old man's placid, saintly face;
+    The journey so long is almost done--
+      The strife is over, the victory won.
+
+    The voice that speaks is gentle and deep;
+      Surely it means God's grace to keep.
+    Eyes like the heavens so darkly blue;
+      Surely God's love is shining through.
+
+    Forehead so noble, calm, and fair;
+      Surely God's peace is resting there.
+    The snowy locks are a silver crown;
+      Softly the blessing of God came down.
+
+    Silver or golden, which is the best--
+      Which with God's love is most richly blest?
+    Which is the fairer I cannot tell,
+      Grandfather dear or my baby Bel.
+
+                               ELLIS GRAY.
+
+
+
+
+TWO MORNINGS.
+
+
+    Step softly; the baby sleeps;
+      Drop the curtains, and close the door;
+    Baby sleeps, while mother weeps--
+      Sleeps, never to waken more.
+
+    Not a breath disturbs his repose;
+      The blossom he wears has forgotten to blow.
+    Once his two cheeks were red as a rose;
+      Now they are lilies, you know.
+
+    Morning will come, with its sweet surprise,
+      Waken the flowers, and scatter the dew;
+    But never again shall the baby's eyes
+      Watch the sunbeams break through.
+
+    Yet in heaven his morning is growing
+      To fairer dawning than ours has known--
+    A fountain of light forever flowing
+      Forth from the great white throne.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Tim gazes at the goods in the confectioner's window}]
+
+TIM, THE MATCH BOY.
+
+
+Tim had been standing for a long while gazing in at the confectioner's
+window. The evening was drawing in, and ever since morning a thick,
+unbroken cloud had covered the narrow strips of sky lying along the
+line of roofs on each side of the streets, while every now and then
+there came down driving showers of rain, wetting him to the skin.
+
+Not that it took much rain to wet Tim to the skin. The three pieces of
+clothing which formed his dress were all in tatters. His shirt, which
+looked as if it never could have been whole and white, had more than
+half the sleeves torn away, and fell open in front for want of a
+collar, to say nothing of a button and button-hole. The old jacket he
+wore over it had never had any sleeves at all, but consisted of a
+front of calf-skin, with all the hair worn away, and a back made with
+the idea that it would be hidden from sight by a coat, of coarse
+yellow linen, now fallen into lamentable holes. His trousers were
+fringed by long wear, and did not reach to his ankles, which were blue
+with cold, and bare, like his feet, that had been splashing along the
+muddy streets all day, until they were pretty nearly the same color as
+the pavement. His head was covered only by his thick, matted hair,
+which protected him, far better than his ragged clothes, from the rain
+and wind, and made him sometimes dimly envious of the dogs that were
+so far better off, in point of covering, than himself. His hands were
+tucked, for warmth, in the holes where his pockets should have been;
+but they had been worn out long ago, and now he had not even
+accommodation for any little bit of string, or morsel of coal, he
+might come across in the street.
+
+It was by no means Tim's habit to stand and stare in at the windows of
+cake shops. Now and then he glanced at them, and thought how very rich
+and happy those people must be who lived upon such dainty food. But he
+was, generally, too busy in earning his own food--by selling
+matches--to leave him much time for lingering about such tempting
+places. As for buying his dinner, when he had one, he looked out for
+the dried-fish stalls, where he could get a slice of brown fish ready
+cooked, and carry it off to some doorstep, where he could dine upon it
+heartily and contentedly, provided no policeman interfered with his
+enjoyment.
+
+But to-day the weather had been altogether too bad for any person to
+come out of doors, except those who were bent on business; and they
+hurried along the muddy streets, too anxious to get on quickly to pay
+any heed to Tim, trotting alongside of them with some damp boxes of
+matches to sell. The rainy day was hard upon him. His last meal had
+been his supper the night before--a crust his father had given him,
+about half as big as it should have been to satisfy him. When he awoke
+in the morning, he had already a good appetite, and ever since, all
+the long day through, from hour to hour, his hunger had been growing
+keener, until now it made him almost sick and faint to stand and stare
+at the good things displayed in such abundance inside the shop window.
+
+Tim had no idea of going in to beg. It was far too grand a place for
+that; and the customers going in and out were mostly smart young
+maid-servants, who were far too fine for him to speak to.
+
+There were bread shops nearer home, where he might have gone, being
+himself an occasional customer, and asked if they could not find such
+a thing as an old crust to give him; but this shop was a very
+different place from those. There was scarcely a thing he knew the
+name of. At the back of the shop there were some loaves; but even
+those looked different from what he, and folks like him, bought. His
+hungry, eager eyes gazed at them, and his teeth and mouth moved now
+and then, unknown to himself, as if he was eating something
+ravenously; but he did not venture to go in.
+
+At last Tim gave a great start. A customer, whom he knew very well,
+was standing at the counter, eating one of the dainty bunns. It could
+be no one else but his own teacher, who taught him and seven and eight
+other ragged lads like himself, in a night school not far from his
+home. His hunger had made him forgetful of it; but this was one of the
+evenings when the school was open, and he had promised faithfully to
+be there to-night. At any rate, it would be a shelter from the rain,
+which was beginning to fall steadily and heavily, now the sun was set;
+and it was of no use thinking of going home, where he and his father
+had only a corner of a room, and were not welcome to that if they
+turned in too soon of an evening. His teacher had finished the bunn,
+and was having another wrapped up in a neat paper bag, which he put
+carefully into his pocket, and then stepped out into the street, and
+walked along under the shelter of a good umbrella, quite unaware that
+one of his scholars was pattering along noiselessly behind him with
+bare feet.
+
+All Tim's thoughts were fixed upon the bunn in his teacher's pocket.
+He wondered what it would taste like, and whether it would be as
+delicious as that one he had once eaten, when all the ragged school
+had a treat in Epping Grove--going down in vans, and having real
+country milk, and slices of cake to eat, finishing up with a bunn,
+which seemed to him as if it must be like the manna he had heard of at
+school, that used to come down from heaven every morning before the
+sun was up. He had never forgotten that lesson; and scarcely a morning
+came that he did not wish he had lived in those times.
+
+The teacher turned down a dark, narrow street, where the rain had
+gathered in little pools on the worn pavement, through which Tim
+splashed carelessly. They soon reached the school door; and Tim
+watched him take off his great-coat, and hang it up on the nails set
+apart for the teachers' coats.
+
+Their desk was at a little distance; and he took his place at it among
+the other boys, but his head ached, and his eyes felt dim, and there
+was a hungry gnawing within him, which made it impossible to give his
+mind to learning his lessons, as he usually did. He felt so stupefied,
+that the easiest words--words he knew as well as he knew the way to
+the Mansion House, where he sold his matches--swam before his eyes,
+and he called them all wrongly. The other lads laughed and jeered at
+him, and his teacher was displeased; but Tim could do no better. He
+could think of nothing but the dainty bunn in the teacher's pocket.
+
+At last the Scripture lesson came; and it was one that came home to
+Tim's state. The teacher read aloud first, before hearing them read
+the lesson, these verses: "And Jesus, when he came out, saw much
+people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were
+as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many
+things. And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto
+him," etc. Read Mark vi. 34-44.
+
+Tim listened with a swelling heart, and with a feeling of choking in
+his throat. He could see it all plainly in his mind. It was like their
+treat in Epping Grove, where the classes had sat down in ranks upon
+the green grass; and O, how green and soft the grass was! and the
+teachers had come round, like the disciples, giving to each one of
+them a can of milk and great pieces of cake; and they had sung a hymn
+all together before they began to eat and drink. Tim fancied he could
+see our Saviour as once he had seen him in a beautiful picture, with
+his hands outstretched, as if ready to give the children surrounding
+him anything they wanted, or to fold them every one in his loving
+arms. He thought he saw Jesus, with his loving, gentle face, standing
+in the midst of the great crowd of people, and asking the disciples if
+they were sure they had all had enough. Then they would sing, thought
+Tim, and go home as happy as he had been after that treat in Epping
+Grove. All at once his hunger became more than he could bear.
+
+"O, I wish He was here!" he cried, bursting into tears, and laying his
+rough head on the desk before him. "I only wish He was here."
+
+The other lads looked astonished; for Tim was not given to crying; and
+the teacher stopped in his reading, and touched him to call his
+attention.
+
+"Who do you wish was here, Tim?" he asked.
+
+"Him," sobbed the hungry boy; "the Lord Jesus. He'd know how bad I
+feel. I'd look him in the face, and say, 'Master, what are I to do? I
+can't learn nothink when I've got nothink but a griping inside of me.'
+And he'd think how hungry I was, having nothink to eat all day. He'd
+be very sorry--he would, I know."
+
+Tim did not lift up his head; for his tears and sobs were coming too
+fast, and he was afraid the other lads would laugh at him. But they
+looked serious enough as the meaning of his words broke upon them.
+They were sure he was not cheating them. If Tim said he had had
+nothing to eat all day, it must be true; for he never grumbled, and he
+always spoke the truth. One boy drew a carrot out of his pocket, and
+another pulled out a good piece of bread, wrapped in a bit of
+newspaper, while a third ran off to fetch a cup of water, having
+nothing else he could give to Tim. The teacher walked away to where
+his coat was hanging, and came back with the bunn which he had bought
+in the shop.
+
+"Tim," he said, laying his hand kindly on the lad's bowed-down head,
+"I am very sorry for you; but none of us knew you were starving, my
+boy, or I should not have scolded you, and the lads would not have
+laughed at you. Look up, and see what a supper we have found for you."
+
+It looked like a feast to Tim. One of the boys lent him a pocket
+knife to cut the bread and carrot into slices, with which he took off
+the keen edge of his hunger; and then he ate the dainty bunn, which
+seemed to him more delicious than anything he had ever tasted before.
+The rest of the class looked on with delight at his evident enjoyment,
+until the last crumb had disappeared.
+
+"I could learn anything now," said Tim, with a bright face; "but I
+couldn't understand nothink before. Then you began telling about the
+poor folks being famished with hunger, and how Jesus gave them bread
+and fishes, just as if he'd been hungry himself some time, and knew
+all about it. It is bad, it is. And it seemed such a pity he weren't
+here in the city, and I couldn't go to him. But, I dessay, he knows
+how you've all treated me, and I thank you all kindly; and I'll do the
+same by you some day, when you've had the same bad luck as me."
+
+"Yes," said the teacher, "Jesus knew how hungry you were; and he knew
+how to send you the food you wanted. Tim, and you other lads, I want
+you to learn this verse, and think of it often when you are grown-up
+men: 'Whosoever shall give to one of these little ones a cup of cold
+water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, He shall
+in no wise lose his reward.'"
+
+
+
+
+ENVY PUNISHED.
+
+
+A Burmese potter, it is said, became envious of the prosperity of a
+washerman, and to ruin him, induced the king to order him to wash one
+of his black elephants white, that he might be "lord of the white
+elephant," which in the East is a great distinction.
+
+The washerman replied that, by the rules of his art, he must have a
+vessel large enough to wash him in.
+
+The king ordered the potter to make him such a vessel. When made, it
+was crushed by the first step of the elephant in it. Many times was
+this repeated; and the potter was ruined by the very scheme he had
+intended should crush his enemy.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: WINGS.]
+
+WINGS.
+
+
+"If I only had wings like you!" said Addie Lewis, speaking to her pet
+bird as she opened the cage door.
+
+"Chirp, chirp!" answered the bird, flying out and resting on Addie's
+finger.
+
+"Ah, birdie, if I only had your wings!"
+
+"Wings!" spoke out Addie's mother. "You have wings," she said, in a
+quiet way.
+
+Addie looked at her shoulders, and then at her mother's. "I don't see
+them," she said, with a little amused laugh.
+
+"We are using them all the while," said Mrs. Lewis. "Did you never
+hear of the wings of thought?"
+
+"Oh! That's what you mean? Our thoughts are our wings?"
+
+"Yes; and our minds can fly with these wings higher and farther than
+any bird can go. If I read to you about a volcano in Italy, off you go
+on the wings of thought and look down into the fiery crater. If I tell
+you of the frozen North, you are there in an instant, gazing upon icy
+seas and the wonders of a desolate region. The wings of an eagle are
+not half so swift and strong as the wings of your thought. The very
+king of birds would perish in regions where they can take you in
+safety."
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Squanko sitting on a wide window ledge}]
+
+SQUANKO.
+
+
+"What a name for a dog, auntie!"
+
+"_Name!_ Why, Frank, when you hear the whole, like the Queen of Sheba,
+you'll say the half has not been told you."
+
+"Why, didn't you find Squanko quite enough for one dog?"
+
+"His full name," said my aunt, loftily, "is Squanko Guy Edgerly
+Patterson."
+
+She rolled out these resonant titles with due gravity, and Squanko,
+turning his bright eyes from one to the other, solemnly wagged his
+tail, as if to signify approval.
+
+I was a New Hampshire boy, and this was my first visit to the city. My
+experience with dogs previously had been that of a country boy bred up
+among sportsmen. I had known several highly-trained hounds, and famous
+bird dogs, though my ideal of canine perfection was that marvel of
+sagacity, the shepherd dog. Still, my first love among dogs had been a
+noble old hound, who, though sightless from age, would follow a rabbit
+better than any young dog was capable of doing. The scent of powder
+brought back his lost youth. Let him hear the loading of a gun,--or
+the mere rattle of a shot-pouch was enough,--he would break out into
+the wildest gambols, dashing hither and yon, in an ecstasy of delight.
+
+Running headlong against rock or tree, as he was liable to do, only
+tempered his zeal for a moment; the next, he was tearing along more
+madly than ever. Dear old Trim! I had shed a boy's hot tears over his
+grave on the hill-side, and I was not ashamed of it either.
+
+I felt a tenderness for Squanko. The yellow spots which marked his
+white fur reminded me of Trim's. Remembering the accomplishments of my
+lost favorite, I ventured another question.
+
+"What is he good for, aunt Patterson? Can he hunt?"
+
+"Good for!" ejaculated my aunt--"_good for!_ I couldn't keep house
+without him." A certain fine disdain curled her lip; she had utterly
+ignored my second question. Completely quenched, I was fain to accept
+Squanko at once, hunter or no hunter.
+
+And we were, on the whole, pretty good friends, in spite of the
+battles we fought, nearly every evening, for the possession of the
+lounge. It made small difference to Squanko if I was beforehand with
+him. Though quite a large dog, he would creep up behind me, slowly
+insinuating himself between me and the back of the lounge. Then,
+watching his opportunity, he would brace his feet suddenly, and more
+than once the execution of this manoeuvre sent me rolling,
+ignominiously, upon the floor.
+
+The intruder ousted, his majesty would settle himself for a nap, not
+heeding in the least the shouts of laughter which his triumph never
+failed to evoke.
+
+On all occasions (excepting only nights, when he slept tranquilly on a
+rug in my aunt's room) he felt it his duty to keep watch and ward over
+the premises. His favorite perch, in sunny mornings, was in the window
+of my aunt's chamber. If by any chance the white curtain had not been
+looped up, as usual, leaving the window sill exposed, Squanko went
+down for help, and by whining, pulling his mistress's dress and
+similar arts, persuaded her to go up and remove the obnoxious
+curtain. Carefully seating himself upon the sill, which was all too
+narrow for his portly figure, he would fall to work, by barking
+furiously at every person--man, woman, or child--who presumed to pass
+up or down the street. Most fortunately for him, the window he
+occupied overlooked the lawn at the side of the house, instead of the
+pavement in front; for on several occasions his fury became so
+ungovernable, that he barked himself sheer off his foundation.
+
+Catching a glimpse of his whirling figure, my aunt rushed out, armed
+with a bottle of liniment; and while she bathed his imperilled legs,
+she strove also to soothe his outraged feelings. For the time all
+vanity seemed to have been dashed out of him; but comforted by
+sympathy and caresses, he again mounted his perch, and barked with
+undiminished ardor.
+
+At table, my aunt always occupied what is termed an office chair.
+Being quite small in person, a portion of the great leather cushion,
+at the back, was left vacant. Squanko rarely failed to possess himself
+of this vantage-ground, and squatting thereon, peered wisely over his
+mistress's shoulder, as if studying the problem of what portion of the
+goodly meal before him might safely be counted on as a remainder.
+
+Yet Squanko had his grievances. One was, not being allowed the freedom
+of the garden. If he went out, my aunt's careful hand hastened to link
+the long chain, attached to his house, to his collar. She had a
+chronic fear of his running away.
+
+Squanko utterly disdained to occupy the bed of straw which graced his
+dwelling, but climbing to a board which surmounted the ridge of the
+roof, would lie upon that narrow ledge, ready to pounce upon any one
+who ventured near.
+
+Missing him one morning, both here and on the window-sill, one of the
+wee Johnnys of the neighborhood, who stood in wholesome awe of
+Squanko, put his curly head in at the doorway.
+
+"Where's Squanko, Mrs. Patterson?"
+
+"Gone to walk."
+
+"_Gone to walk_," chuckled Johnny, bursting with merriment. "That's
+funny--_a dog gone to walk_!"
+
+Squanko's _walk_ was rarely omitted; generally it was performed under
+my aunt's tutelage, when she went a little way with her husband, whose
+business took him to the city every morning. If, for any reason, Mrs.
+Patterson let her husband go to the cars alone, she sent Squanko off
+by himself, with strict orders to return speedily, which direction he
+had never failed to obey.
+
+Besides his chain, Squanko had one other trial to endure--a thorough
+ablution once a week. Bathing was his aversion; still, he had been
+obliged to submit to it from his puppyhood, and Mrs. Patterson was
+inexorable. A dog who was not faultlessly clean could have no place in
+the arrangements of her household. In and about her dwelling all was
+spotlessly neat. Everything susceptible of polish shone, from the
+window-panes, and the great cooking-stove, to Squanko's white coat. In
+vain were his protests, his indignant snorts and sneezes, his
+incipient growls; into the tub of warm water he had to go, while the
+scrubbing-brush performed its office upon his fat sides. Having been
+duly washed and wiped, he always indulged in a vicious shake or two,
+producing a sort of mist in his immediate vicinity. After being
+wrapped in his own blanket shawl, he was placed on the lounge, to
+repose while drying. His luxurious nap completed, he would emerge
+from his retirement, his short white hair shining like satin,--as
+clean a playfellow as one might desire. His temper,--not usually of
+the best,--after one of these baths, would remain sunny for hours.
+
+But Squanko--like many another spoiled darling,--was not content with
+the home where he was so petted and indulged.
+
+As his master opened the door to go into the garden, one evening,
+Squanko rushed past him, and made for the street. In vain our hurried
+search, up and down, in the dark spring night. In vain his mistress's
+frantic calls. If Squanko was hidden in some nook hard by, and heard
+her entreaties, his heart must have been harder than a stone. That
+hasty exit was the last we ever saw of him. Night after night my
+uncle, coming home from the city, inquired for Squanko, only to
+receive the sad reply,--
+
+"No, Roy! We never--never shall see Squanko again."
+
+Soon a fat, brindled puppy was installed in the vacant place. Day by
+day he grew, both in bulk and in the affections of the family. My aunt
+named him "Trouble." All the devotion which had been Squanko's was
+straightway lavished on him.
+
+When, in process of time, the tidings were borne to my aunt's ears,
+that Squanko, forgetful of former friends, was leading a jolly
+existence in a neighboring town, she only replied, with a toss of her
+head, "Let the ungrateful imp stay there. Trouble is worth a dozen of
+him!"
+
+                                               F. CHESEBORO.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+"THE SWEET ONE FOR POLLY."
+
+
+Polly had expected to be very happy in getting ready for the party;
+but when the time came she was disappointed, for somehow that naughty
+thing called envy took possession of her, and spoiled her pleasure.
+
+Before she left home she thought her new white muslin dress, with its
+fresh blue ribbons, the most elegant and proper costume she could
+have; but now, when she saw Fanny's pink silk, with a white tarlatan
+tunic, and innumerable puffings, bows, and streamers, her own simple
+little toilet lost all its charms in her eyes, and looked very babyish
+and old-fashioned.
+
+Even Maud was much better dressed than herself, and looked very
+splendid in her cherry-colored and white suit, with a sash so big she
+could hardly carry it, and little white boots with red buttons.
+
+They both had necklaces and bracelets, ear-rings and brooches; but
+Polly had no ornament except the plain locket on a bit of blue velvet.
+Her sash was only a wide ribbon, tied in a simple bow, and nothing but
+a blue snood in the pretty brown curls. Her only comfort was the
+knowledge that the modest tucker drawn up round the plump shoulders
+was real lace, and that her bronze boots cost nine dollars.
+
+Poor Polly, with all her efforts to be contented, and not to mind
+looking unlike other people, found it hard work to keep her face
+bright and her voice happy that night. No one dreamed what was going
+on under the muslin frock, till grandma's wise old eyes spied out the
+little shadow on Polly's spirits, and guessed the cause of it. When
+dressed, the three girls went up to show themselves to the elders who
+were in grandma's room, where Tom was being helped into an agonizingly
+stiff collar.
+
+Maud pranced like a small peacock, and Fan made a splendid courtesy,
+as every one turned to survey them; but Polly stood still, and her
+eyes went from face to face with an anxious, wistful air, which seemed
+to say, "I know I'm not right; but I hope I don't look very bad."
+
+Grandma read the look in a minute; and when Fanny said, with a
+satisfied smile, "How do we look?" she answered, drawing Polly toward
+her so kindly, "Very like the fashion-plates you got the patterns of
+your dresses from. But this little costume suits me best."
+
+"Do you really think I look nice?" and Polly's face brightened, for
+she valued the old lady's opinion very much.
+
+"Yes, my dear; you look just as I like to see a child of your age
+look. What particularly pleases me is, that you have kept your promise
+to your mother, and haven't let any one persuade you to wear borrowed
+finery. Young things like you don't need any ornaments but those you
+wear to-night,--youth, health, intelligence, and modesty."
+
+As she spoke, grandma gave a tender kiss that made Polly glow like a
+rose, and for a minute she forgot that there were such things in the
+world as pink silks and coral ear-rings.
+
+[Illustration: "THE SWEET ONE FOR POLLY."]
+
+She only said, "Thank you, ma'am," and heartily returned the kiss;
+but the words did her good, and her plain dress looked charming all of
+a sudden.
+
+"Polly's so pretty, it don't matter what she wears," observed Tom,
+surveying her over his collar with an air of calm approval.
+
+"She hasn't got any bwetelles to her dwess, and I have," said Maud,
+settling her ruffled bands over her shoulders, which looked like
+cherry-colored wings on a stout little cherub.
+
+"I did wish she'd just wear my blue set, ribbon is so very plain; but,
+as Tom says, it don't much matter;" and Fanny gave an effective touch
+to the blue bow above Polly's left temple.
+
+"She might wear flowers; they always suit young girls," said Mrs.
+Shaw, privately thinking that her own daughters looked much the best
+yet, and conscious that blooming Polly had the most attractive face.
+
+"Bless me! I forgot my posies in admiring the belles! Hand them out,
+Tom;" and Mr. Shaw nodded toward an interesting-looking box that stood
+on the table.
+
+Seizing them wrong side up, Tom produced three little bouquets, all
+different in color, size, and construction.
+
+"Why, papa, how very kind of you!" cried Fanny, who had not dared to
+receive even a geranium leaf since the late scrape.
+
+"Your father used to be a very gallant young gentleman once upon a
+time," said Mrs. Shaw, with a simper and sigh.
+
+"Ah, Tom, it's a good sign when you find time to think of giving
+pleasure to your little girls."
+
+And grandma patted her son's bald head as if he wasn't more than
+eighteen.
+
+Thomas, Jr., had given a somewhat scornful sniff at first; but when
+grandma praised his father, the young man thought better of the
+matter, and regarded the flowers with more respect as he asked, "Which
+is for which?"
+
+"Guess," said Mr. Shaw, pleased that his unusual demonstration had
+produced such an effect.
+
+The largest was a regular hot-house bouquet of tea-rosebuds, scentless
+heath, and smilax; the second was just a handful of sweet-peas and
+mignonette, with a few cheerful pansies and one fragrant little rose
+in the middle; the third, a small posy of scarlet verbenas, white
+feverfew, and green leaves.
+
+"Not hard to guess. The smart one for Fan, the sweet one for Polly,
+and the gay one for Pug. Now, then, catch hold, girls;" and Tom
+proceeded to deliver the nosegays with as much grace as could be
+expected from a youth in a new suit of clothes and very tight boots.
+
+"That finishes you off just right, and is a very pretty attention of
+papa. Now run down, for the bell has rung; and remember not to dance
+too often, Fan; be as quiet as you can, Tom; and, Maud, don't eat too
+much supper. Grandma will attend to things, for my poor nerves won't
+allow me to come down."
+
+With that Mrs. Shaw dismissed them, and the four descended to receive
+the first visitors.
+
+                                           LOUISA M. ALCOTT.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+THE ACCIDENT.
+
+
+Tom named his velocipede Black Auster, in memory of the horse in "The
+Battle of Lake Regillus," and came to grief as soon as he began to
+ride his new steed.
+
+"Come out and see me go it," whispered Tom to Polly, after three days'
+practice in the street, for he had already learned to ride in the
+rink.
+
+Polly and Maud willingly went, and watched his struggles with deep
+interest, till he got an upset, which nearly put an end to his
+velocipeding forever.
+
+"Hi, there! Auster's coming!" shouted Tom, as he came rattling down
+the long, steep street outside the park.
+
+They stepped aside, and he whizzed by, arms and legs going like mad,
+and the general appearance of a runaway engine. It would have been a
+triumphant descent, if a big dog had not bounced suddenly through one
+of the openings, and sent the whole concern helter-skelter into the
+gutter. Polly laughed as she ran to view the ruin, for Tom lay flat on
+his back with the velocipede atop of him, while the big dog barked
+wildly, and his master scolded him for his awkwardness. But when she
+saw Tom's face, Polly was frightened, for the color had all gone out
+of it, his eyes looked strange and dizzy, and drops of blood began to
+trickle from a great cut on his forehead. The man saw it, too, and had
+him up in a minute; but Tom couldn't stand, and stared about him in a
+dazed sort of way, as he sat on the curbstone, while Polly held her
+handkerchief to his forehead, and pathetically begged to know if he
+was killed.
+
+"Don't scare mother--I'm all right. Got upset, didn't I?" he asked,
+presently, eying the prostrate velocipede with more anxiety about its
+damages than his own.
+
+"I knew you'd hurt yourself with that horrid thing. Just let it be,
+and come home, for your head bleeds dreadfully, and everybody is
+looking at us," whispered Polly, trying to tie the little handkerchief
+over the ugly cut.
+
+"Come on, then Jove! how queer my head feels! Give us a boost, please.
+Stop howling, Maud, and come home. You bring the machine, and I'll pay
+you, Pat." As he spoke, Tom slowly picked himself up, and steadying
+himself by Polly's shoulder, issued his commands, and the procession
+fell into line. First, the big dog, barking at intervals; then the
+good-natured Irishman, trundling "that divil of a whirligig," as he
+disrespectfully called the idolized velocipede; then the wounded hero,
+supported by the faithful Polly; and Maud brought up the rear in
+tears, bearing Tom's cap.
+
+                                           LOUISA M. ALCOTT.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+[Illustration: "It would have been a triumphant descent, if a big dog
+    had not bounced suddenly through one of the openings."]
+
+
+
+
+[Decoration]
+
+POLLY ARRIVES.
+
+
+The train was just in when Tom reached the station, panting like a
+race-horse and as red as a lobster with the wind and the run.
+
+"Suppose she'll wear a top-knot and a thingumbob, like every one else;
+and how ever shall I know her? Too bad of Fan to make me come alone!"
+thought Tom, as he stood watching the crowd stream through the depot,
+and feeling rather daunted at the array of young ladies who passed. As
+none of them seemed looking for any one, he did not accost them, but
+eyed each new batch with the air of a martyr. "That's her," he said to
+himself, as he presently caught sight of a girl, in gorgeous array,
+standing with her hands folded, and a very small hat perched on top of
+a very large "chig-non," as Tom pronounced it. "I suppose I've got to
+speak to her, so, here goes;" and, nerving himself to the task, Tom
+slowly approached the damsel, who looked as if the wind had blown her
+clothes into rags, such a flapping of sashes, scallops, ruffles,
+curls, and feathers was there.
+
+"I say, if you please, is your name _Polly Milton_?" meekly asked Tom,
+pausing before the breezy stranger.
+
+"No, it isn't," answered the young lady, with a cool stare that
+utterly quenched him.
+
+"Where in thunder is she?" growled Tom, walking off in high dudgeon.
+The quick tap of feet behind him made him turn in time to see a
+fresh-faced little girl running down the long station, and looking as
+if she rather liked it. As she smiled, and waved her bag at him, he
+stopped and waited for her, saying to himself, "Hullo! I wonder if
+that's Polly?"
+
+Up came the little girl, with her hand out, and a half-shy, half-merry
+look in her blue eyes, as she said, inquiringly, "This is Tom, isn't
+it?"
+
+"Yes. How did you know?" and Tom got over the ordeal of hand-shaking
+without thinking of it, he was so surprised.
+
+"Oh, Fan told me you'd got curly hair and a funny nose, and kept
+whistling, and wore a gray cap pulled over your eyes; so I knew you
+directly." And Polly nodded at him in the most friendly manner, having
+politely refrained from calling the hair "red," the nose "a pug," and
+the cap "old."
+
+"Where are your trunks?" asked Tom, as he was reminded of his duty by
+her handing him the bag, which he had not offered to take.
+
+"Father told me not to wait for any one, else I'd lose my chance of a
+hack; so I gave my check to a man, and there he is with my trunk;" and
+Polly walked off after her one modest piece of baggage, followed by
+Tom, who felt a trifle depressed by his own remissness in polite
+attentions.
+
+                                           LOUISA M. ALCOTT.
+
+[Illustration: "THIS IS TOM, ISN'T IT?"]
+
+
+
+
+KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.
+
+
+Last month a gentleman related an incident in his early life, showing
+how kindness to the brute creation makes them entirely subservient to
+our will. Similar experience is familiar to every one of us. This
+volume would not begin to contain the proofs which come under notice
+every day of our lives. Your dog or your cat understands your
+disposition as well as your brother or your sister. Give them a kick
+as you pass by, pull their ears or tail whenever you get an
+opportunity, and they will shun you as they would the plague. On the
+other hand, speak a kind word to them, give them a morsel of food, or
+fondle them kindly, and they will soon treat you as a friend.
+
+I have a cat who waits for my coming home every night as regularly as
+the sun. And if, perchance, I do not come at my usual time in the
+train, she shows her disappointment by mewing. She will roll over as
+obediently as you ever saw a dog, at the word of command. After
+supper, when I put on my slippers and take the evening paper, puss
+takes possession of my lap, and then she seems contented and happy.
+
+Kindness did all this--nothing else. Any cat can be taught to "roll
+over" in a week's time. Any cat will be your friend, and love you, if
+you will treat her well.
+
+It is precisely thus with wild animals. They know who their friends
+are as well as you know yours. They don't need to be told. There is no
+end of stories about the elephant, the horse, the dog; about their
+docility, and the affection they have for those who treat them kindly.
+Even the lion, when brought under the dominion of man, becomes
+strongly attached to those who treat him with kindness. An instance of
+this is related of one that was kept in the menagerie of the Tower of
+London. He had been brought from India, and on the passage was given
+in charge to one of the sailors. Long before the ship arrived at
+London, the lion and Jack had become excellent friends. When Nero--as
+the lion was called--was shut up in his cage in the Tower, he became
+sulky and savage to such an extent that it was dangerous even for his
+keeper, who was not over kind to him, to approach him.
+
+After Nero had been a prisoner for some weeks, a party of sailors,
+Jack being among the number, paid a visit to the menagerie. The keeper
+warned them not to go near the lion, who every now and then turned
+round to growl defiance to the spectators.
+
+"What! old shipmate!" cried Jack, "don't you know me? What cheer, old
+Nero, my lad?"
+
+Instantly the lion left off growling, sprang up to the bars of his
+cage, and put his nose between them. Jack patted it on the head, and
+it rubbed his hand with its whiskers like a cat, showing evident signs
+of pleasure.
+
+"Ah," said Jack, turning to the keeper and spectators who stood
+looking on with astonishment, "Nero and I were shipmates, and you see
+he isn't like some folks; he don't forget an old friend."
+
+[Illustration: {Jack and the lion are reunited}]
+
+But here's a story of another sort. Some weeks ago a caravan was
+exhibiting in Illinois. Among the animals was an elephant, to whom a
+mischievous boy had given an apple with tobacco concealed inside. As
+soon as the animal discovered the trick, the boy began to laugh at
+the joke which he had played on the creature. The elephant, however,
+looked angry, and the keeper, having heard of the affair, told the boy
+to keep out of his reach, unless he wanted to be hurt.
+
+But, although the lad did not come so near that the elephant could get
+hold of him, he hung round in the vicinity. Presently a pail of water
+was brought for the elephant to drink. The insulted creature filled
+his trunk as full as he could, and seeing a good opportunity, blew the
+whole of it upon the boy who had given him tobacco, wetting him from
+head to foot. Verdict of the spectators, and of the readers of this
+book, "Served him right."
+
+                                               ROBERT HANDY.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Children playing around a haystack}]
+
+ALL AMONG THE HAY.
+
+
+    All among the buttercups,
+      All among the hay!
+    Oh that spring would come again,
+      With its merry May!
+
+    Hasten summer's pleasant days,
+      Summer's pleasant hours;
+    Send us back the butterflies
+      And the pretty flowers.
+
+    Yes, bright days will come again,
+      Winter soon will go,
+    And the smiling sun shall melt
+      All this dreary snow.
+
+    Then beside the flowing stream
+      Merrily we'll play,
+    All among the buttercups,
+      All among the hay.
+
+
+
+
+THE MOUSE AND CANARY.
+
+
+A lady, having gone rather early into an apartment in which she had a
+fine canary, whose cage hung on the knob of the window-shutter, was
+much surprised to find the bird sitting asleep in the bottom of the
+cage, side by side with a live mouse, also asleep. On raising the
+window-blind, the mouse squeezed itself through between the wires of
+the cage and fled. The box of seeds, crumbs, etc., intended for the
+canary was found to be cleaned out, doubtless devoured by the strange
+companion. On the following evening, while the lady and her husband
+were sitting quietly by the fireside, they were still further
+astonished at seeing a mouse (no doubt the same one) climbing nimbly
+up the shutter and entering the cage between the wires. Thinking it
+might do harm to the bird, they tried to catch the mouse, but it made
+its escape as before. The cage was then suspended from a nail, so that
+the mouse could not gain access. Strange to say, however, on the
+following morning the canary was found asleep on the floor of the room
+(the cage door having been left open), and a piece of potato beside
+him. Most likely the mouse had spent the whole of the night there.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+THE TWO FRIENDS.
+
+A STORY FOR BOYS.
+
+
+Many years ago two youths, whom we will call only by their Christian
+names,--Walter and Sidney,--were at the same boarding-school, at
+Mount's Bay, in Cornwall. They were each the sons of captains in the
+merchant service; but though they were equals in station, there was a
+great difference in their circumstances, for Walter inherited
+considerable property. Sidney's father had not been a prosperous man,
+and it was as much as he could do to give his boy a good education.
+
+Among the whole school there were no two lads so closely knit in
+friendship as Walter and Sidney; they were within a week of the same
+age (thirteen) at the time our narrative begins. It is always a
+pleasant sight, and also a good example, when two intelligent,
+kind-hearted boys become friends. They show to others what a
+disinterested and noble thing true friendship is. Thus, in their
+lessons and their sports, these boys were helpful to each other. They
+shared together every indulgence that the kindness of friends procured
+them, and if any added study were imposed, Sidney, who learned easily,
+would, after he had swiftly mastered his own lesson, take upon himself
+both the office of teacher and companion, and never rest until Walter
+was as well up in the task as he himself was. Most certainly the
+punishment of one was ever the punishment of both, for, if they were
+sharers in each other's joys, they were not the less so in their
+troubles. Perhaps the vigilance which each exercised over the other
+was the reason why they were comparatively seldom in any very serious
+disgrace, and their characters stood high in the school, both with
+masters and pupils.
+
+But while in the little world within the walls of the school all went
+equally well with the youthful friends, in the great world outside,
+heavy troubles came to Sidney's father. The vessel he commanded was
+lost near the mouth of the River Mersey, and though the crew were
+saved, yet it was judged that some mismanagement caused the disaster,
+and Sidney's father lost his certificate, and no owners would again
+trust him to command a vessel. The poor man took this so much to heart
+that he fell into a bad state of health, and declined so rapidly, that
+the week after Sidney received from Liverpool the first intimation of
+his father's illness, tidings came that he was dead.
+
+It was in the autumnal quarter, about eight weeks before Christmas,
+that the sad letter was received which told Sidney he was now an
+orphan. The only aunt the poor boy had, his father's sister, wrote the
+account, and she was obliged to add the painful fact that, with the
+loss of his father, Sidney would lose the means of further education,
+and must look forward to some humble means of earning his daily bread,
+with as little delay as possible.
+
+[Illustration: "Why, Sid,--what's this? Dear old fellow, what's the
+    matter?"]
+
+In his first great grief at hearing of his father's death, all else
+seemed trivial. Change of circumstances, hard work, any trouble, would
+have been as nothing if his father had been spared to him. But after
+the first shock of his sorrow, Sidney admitted that he must leave
+school; that it would not be honest, either to his aunt or his
+schoolmaster, to remain. Strangely enough, the very week in which
+this trouble came to Sidney, his friend Walter was at home for a few
+days, joining in the celebration of his father's fiftieth birthday. He
+had wanted Sidney to have a holiday also; but the latter, being
+already aware of his father's reverses and illness, though having no
+fear of any greater grief impending over him, had declined his
+friend's kind invitation. So it happened that, while a happy jubilee
+was being celebrated in Walter's home, Sidney was suddenly made a poor
+orphan.
+
+Never, during the three years that they had been school-fellows, had
+the countenances of the two boys showed such a contrast of expression
+as when they met in the playground a few minutes after Walter had
+alighted at the gate, on his return from the pleasant sojourn at his
+home. He was flushed with health and happiness, and ran up, with a
+boyish shout of mirth, to greet his friend. Poor Sidney, pale and
+choking with the effort to restrain his tears, could only grasp the
+proffered hand in silence, and turn away his head, unable to look
+up,--almost unable to bear the pent-up grief that throbbed at his
+heart, and tightened his chest with a sense of suffocation.
+
+"Why, Sid, what's this? Dear old fellow, what's the matter?" was
+Walter's astonished inquiry, when a boy near whispered in his ear the
+brief words,--
+
+"His father's dead!"
+
+That explained all; and Walter, twining his arm round his friend, led
+him away to a quiet spot, where they could weep together. The greater
+grief so completely absorbed Sidney on his first meeting with Walter,
+that it was not until the next day that any mention was made between
+them of how this bereavement would affect the future. Young and
+prosperous as Walter was, he knew well enough how sad it would be for
+his friend to lose the advantages of education just at the time when
+his studies would be needed to fit him for some pursuit in life.
+
+Meanwhile, as Sidney's aunt had not been able to send the money for
+the poor lad to go so long a journey as from West Cornwall to
+Liverpool, to attend his father's funeral, there was no immediate
+hurry at the school in preparing for the youth's departure. Walter,
+therefore, had time to carry out a plan which his affection suggested.
+He wrote an urgent letter to his father, filled with praises of
+Sidney, and accounts of all the help which his cleverness and conduct
+had afforded to him (Walter), and earnestly pleading that he might
+have the gratification of paying for a year or more schooling for his
+orphan friend, adding, as a concluding argument,--
+
+"You know, papa, that I have forty pounds that aunt Margaret put in
+the savings bank for me, to do as I like with; and how could I spend
+it better, or so well, as in helping a good clever fellow like Sidney?
+It would be a real treat to me--the best I could have; and you
+promised to increase my pocket-money: you needn't; I can screw myself
+down famously, if you'll only give it to help Sid, who's always been
+helping me, I can tell you."
+
+Walter was too earnest, it seemed, to pick and choose his words. He
+meant to have corrected and rewritten his letter, but there was no
+time; so he sent it, faults and all. And his father, in reading it,
+felt the heart-throb that beat in his boy's generous words; and though
+a man not at all demonstrative, he was observed to be taken as if with
+a sudden cold in his head, to judge by the vigorous use of his pocket
+handkerchief; but all he said was conveyed in a single nautical
+phrase,--"The youngster is on the right tack."
+
+The day after, the principal of the Mount's Bay School received an
+intimation that Sidney was to continue his studies there as long as
+he proved diligent; but the name of his patron was not to be told him.
+So, to the lad's great satisfaction, he was informed that a friend who
+had known his father would, for the present, help him. Walter knew the
+truth, but though he felt the intense joy that a good action always
+yields to the doer even more than to the receiver, he was careful to
+obey his father, and keep the secret.
+
+If Sidney was studious before, he redoubled his diligence now, and in
+the year made such great progress, that a Dutch gentleman, who visited
+the school, offered him a situation in his office at Rotterdam; and as
+Sidney knew that a residence abroad would be a great improvement to
+him, and also was eager to enter upon some mode of earning his own
+living, he wished earnestly to take the offer. At no time during their
+now four years of mutual school-life and friendship would Walter have
+heard with patience of Sidney leaving. But a parting now came.
+
+Walter's father had become an invalid, and was ordered to a warmer
+climate. The family removed to Florence, in Italy, and, of course,
+Walter went with them; his greatest grief being that Sidney could not
+accompany them.
+
+With the keenest pangs of youthful sorrow, the two friends parted,
+promising to write often, looking forward to meet at no distant
+future, for the world did not seem too wide for them, accustomed as
+they were, by association, to maritime people and travellers.
+
+It was three months after Walter had left, when Sidney took leave of
+his kind master, and the school which had been a home to him, and
+went, in cold spring weather, to the Venice of the north--Rotterdam.
+When he left he made one request, which his tutor thought it not wrong
+to grant. He desired to know the name of the benefactor who had so
+munificently helped him; and though he was not very much surprised
+when he heard the source from whence the aid had come, and was indeed
+glad that his gratitude was due where his friendship had so long been
+given, yet it naturally moved him very deeply when he found how Walter
+had been the means of effecting this. He also remembered vividly some
+acts of self-denial that added to the delicacy of his friend's
+silence, and made the action truly noble.
+
+"I can never repay you, dear Walter, nor your kind father; I shall
+ever be your grateful debtor," he wrote; "but I will try to employ the
+talents you have cultivated, so as not, at all events, to disgrace
+your friendship."
+
+Though railways made the continent open to travellers, and the desire
+to see his friend Walter never languished, yet years went by and it
+was not realized. Some tidings there were of reverse of fortune
+through a lawsuit, and of journeyings to different places. The last
+that Sidney heard of his friend was in a letter from Madeira, where
+his father was lingering on in too weak a state to bear removal.
+
+The desultory, unsettled life that the family had led seemed to have
+prevented Walter from making much progress as a sculptor,--a
+profession he had thought of while in Italy,--and his letters were
+somewhat vague and unsatisfactory as to his future plans.
+
+Then came a long interval with no tidings, and afterwards a returned
+letter with the one word DEAD, written under the name of Walter's
+father on the superscription.
+
+So, like a pleasant morning that ends in clouds and gloom, the
+friendship seemed to end which had so gladdened the youth of Sidney,
+and even blended with all the fondest memories of his boyhood. Many
+were the prayers he breathed, that one who had been as a brother might
+not be entirely lost to him.
+
+As years went on great changes occurred in the firm that Sidney
+served. He had risen in the confidence of his employers. They had a
+business in Australia, under the care of a partner, who was also a
+relative. He died, and as there was a sudden increase of business
+facilities at Melbourne, Sidney was sent out, and a share in the
+concern was given him. His surname did not appear. He was announced,
+as many a junior partner is, by the little word "Co." appended to the
+principal name of the firm.
+
+Sidney had been in the colony some three years, and was now a stalwart
+young man of twenty-seven, when one day, riding on horseback towards a
+suburb of the rapidly growing city of Melbourne, called Brighton, he
+noticed a gang of young men working on the road. He knew that many
+respectable emigrants had come over during the first excitement of the
+gold discoveries. Clerks used only to the pen, students, unsuccessful
+professional men, all in the first delirium fever-fit of the gold
+fever, had come in the expectation that hands unused to hard toil
+could use the pickaxe of the gold-digger, or wash the rubble for the
+precious ore. Ah, it was a wild, a fatal delusion! Many a gentleman
+and scholar pined to death with hardships and disappointments, while
+some, after weeks of sickness, rose to earn their bread by the
+humblest manual labor. Working on the roads, for which government pay
+was given, was often the resource of those who had been worsted in
+every other effort. Unable to help among such numbers of claimants on
+sympathy, Sidney had contented himself with joining in the
+subscriptions raised for the relief of the sick and destitute: but
+now, as he passed along, he felt a desire to speak to the workers in
+this gang. As his eye scanned them he saw only a group of thin,
+toil-worn, weather-beaten men, with rough beards half hiding their
+wasted features. Nothing was more acceptable, as a recreation to the
+emigrants, than books, and Sidney had commenced a lending library of
+books and publications; so, after a cheerful salutation, he now reined
+up his horse, and began to tell them of his plan, and to add, "I have
+opened a room, friends, two nights a week,--it is but a rough shed,
+but I hope to make it better soon,--as a meeting-place, where a
+comfortable, pleasant, and profitable evening may be spent."
+
+"Then," said a man with a strong Irish brogue, "your honor's the great
+Dutch merchant."
+
+"Yes, at the Dutch merchant's store; but I am English; my name is
+Sidney--"
+
+There was a wild panting sort of cry, and a man in the group fell to
+the ground.
+
+"He's in a fit." "He oughtn't to have come." "Poor fellow!" "Fetch
+water!" "Give him air!" These were the cries that were uttered.
+Meanwhile, throwing his horse's bridle over a post, Sidney dismounted,
+and helped to lift in his strong arms the tall but wasted form of a
+man from the ground. He was borne to a bank at the side of the road.
+Sidney put aside the matted hair that fell over his brow, and taking
+the pannikin, which some one had filled with water, he put it to his
+lips, wholly unconscious that he had ever seen that face before, until
+the eyes slowly opened, and the old expression, the soul-gaze, shone
+in them, and the hoarse and altered voice, yet with tones that woke
+old echoes, said, "Sidney! Dear friend! Don't--don't you know
+me--Walter?"
+
+Walter! Yes it was he. The once blooming, prosperous, happy boy was
+this wasted, worn skeleton of a man. O, the tide of feeling that
+rushed through Sidney's every vein, as he recognized his early
+friend--his benefactor! To raise him up, put him on his own horse,
+lead him gently to his own home, and, once there, to send for the best
+medical skill, and tend him through the illness that supervened, with
+a tenderness feminine in its thoughtful gentleness, was Sidney's
+privilege.
+
+In the intervals of his illness Walter related that his father had
+died at Madeira; that, hoping to obtain a settlement of some claims,
+he had visited America; that, waiting to have better news of himself
+to communicate, he put off writing from time to time; that he had gone
+with a company of adventurous young men to California, and there,
+instead of finding gold, spent all his means. Hoping to retrieve his
+position, he had come to Australia, and there his lot, though hard,
+was only that of hundreds, in the first trying time of mad excitement
+and wild adventure. "And I must get to work again. I'm not going to be
+here idle much longer," he said, at the conclusion of a conversation
+on the past.
+
+"As to work, I've plenty for you to do."
+
+"I can't continue to be a burden on you, Sid. I've no claim."
+
+"You've every claim. As to burdens, you remind me how long I was a
+burden on you and your father. Once for all, I say, the help you gave
+me fitted me to get my living, and, by God's blessing, to make my way
+in life. Share with me in my business."
+
+Walter was beginning to interrupt; but Sidney, raising his hand,
+deprecatingly, said,--
+
+"You have still the advantage over me, that you gave me help when I
+had done nothing to deserve it of you. I only make a small
+repayment--a mere instalment of a great debt. Dear Walter, my good
+fellow, let there be no contest between us. Are we not friends? Does
+that not mean helpers?"
+
+And so it was. The tie, never broken, was knit again yet more closely.
+Brothers in friendship, they ultimately became so in relationship; for
+as soon as Walter had a home, he invited a sister to share it with
+him, and she, in a few months after her arrival, became the wife of
+Sidney. And so the bond of brotherhood prospered, for many years.
+
+
+
+
+PUSS.
+
+
+Is it not a little more than surprising that the common domestic cat,
+an animal which we are better acquainted with than the dog, should be
+permitted to grow up with so little instruction? I think so. Almost
+every dog has some tricks; many dogs have a great number. Yet how
+rarely do you see a cat of which anything more is expected than that
+she shall purr when she is petted, play with your ball of yarn, or
+growl when you give her a nice dinner.
+
+[Illustration: MUFFY RINGING THE BELL.]
+
+You teach your dog to bark at the word of command, to roll over, to
+stand upon his hind feet, and hold up his paws, to jump through a
+small hoop, to sing, and a thousand other pretty tricks; but why do
+you neglect your cat? You can teach her all these things,--except to
+bark,--and quite as easily. Any cat, not more than a year old, can be
+taught, in less than fifteen days, to "roll over;" and she learns
+other capers quite as freely. Bear in mind that to do this you have to
+appeal to the creature's love of food. That is her nature. She cares
+nothing for you; it is the dinner she is after. So, when you desire
+to teach puss to turn over, take her when she is hungry. Put your hand
+upon her back, and turn her over; and then give her a small bit of
+meat. Gradually she will require less and less force. She will
+understand what you want, and know what must be done in order to be
+served. Never disappoint her, but let the food immediately follow
+obedience. Other tricks may be taught in the same way. If you wish to
+teach her to go through a hoop, you will be obliged at first to take
+her up bodily, and put her through. But this will not be for a great
+while. She will soon understand what you desire.
+
+I once had a cat which would open any door in the house. She learned
+herself! The latch-doors came pretty easy, but the knobs bothered her
+a good deal. She persevered, however, and became an expert at either.
+
+I have a cat now--a Maltese--which is a marvel of intelligence. There
+seems to be no end to her interesting feats. She is terribly rough at
+play; if you impose upon her, you must look out for her claws. She
+watches for my coming from the city quite regularly; and as soon as I
+sit down to read, she plants herself in my lap. She had some kittens a
+few weeks ago. One evening, soon after, as I sat in the rocking-chair,
+with my newspaper, puss came into the room with one of her kittens in
+her mouth. She placed it carefully in my lap, and immediately went for
+the other one.
+
+A neighbor of mine has a cat which rings a bell when she is hungry.
+The bell is a small one, and hangs about a yard high, so that Miss
+Puss has to exert herself to reach it.
+
+Another cat I heard of recently seems to have discovered a way to get
+into the warm kitchen whenever she is accidentally shut out in the
+cold.
+
+At the side wall of the house there is a small aperture, of about two
+feet square, opening into the kitchen, and intended for the use and
+convenience of butchers, bakers, or grocers, who would otherwise have
+to go round to the back entrance; inside of this aperture is suspended
+a bell, which Miss Muffy must, no doubt, have often seen used by
+butchers, bakers, and grocers, to call the attention of cook. She has,
+therefore, adopted the same plan; and when tired of her prowlings
+about the garden, or hunting for birds in the adjoining wood, she
+springs up to the little door, and, with her paw or head, keeps ring,
+ring, ringing at the bell until the door is opened, and she gets
+admission.
+
+Muffy is not only a very intelligent little cat, but I can tell you
+she is also a very good-natured one, too. She submits to being dressed
+in the doll's clothes, and will sometimes lie quite still in the
+cradle for hours together, and when told to stand upon her hind legs
+and give a kiss, does so with a gracefulness hitherto unknown in the
+annals of cats.
+
+These funny marks of intelligence in dumb creatures are quite
+interesting. As you grow older, you will spend many an hour in trying
+to discover where the dividing line between INSTINCT and REASON is. It
+is SOMEWHERE. If you hatch some chickens by heat, miles away from any
+other fowls, the hens will cackle, and the cocks will crow, all the
+same, although no one has taught them. Why is it?
+
+If you could hatch a robin's egg in the same way, far removed from
+other birds, the bird would, when grown, build its nest precisely as
+other robins do, and of the same material, although it never saw a
+pattern in the world. INSTINCT, or, if you prefer, NATURE, teaches all
+this. But it is not REASON, as you will know as you grow older.
+
+Just exactly so it is the instinct of a dog or a cat to obey you
+whenever you require it. Take notice that you can never teach a dumb
+creature by observation. One cat will never learn to turn over by
+observing that another one gets its food thereby.
+
+But I will not try to mix you up in this discussion now. You will
+reach it soon enough if you live. And when you reach it, you will find
+a very difficult, as well as a very interesting question to solve.
+
+                                               ROBERT HANDY.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The children watch the toy village burning}]
+
+HOLIDAY LUCK.
+
+
+"Mother, mother!" with a prolonged _er_.
+
+"Mary, where's mother?" and the children raced through the house,
+looking into every room on the way.
+
+"Here, Willie; what do you want?"
+
+"O, mother, we are to have a holiday. Miss Mortimer has gone home."
+
+"Isn't it fun!" cried Ada, swinging on her mother's arm.
+
+"That depends upon how you spend it," Mrs. Constant replied.
+
+"Why, a holiday means to have fun, and do just what you please,"
+asserted Willie.
+
+"And not get any lessons," said Dolly, snipping the tape with her
+mother's scissors.
+
+Mrs. Constant took them from her, and smiled on the excited three.
+
+"I hope you will have a pleasant day, and try to be good."
+
+"Not too good, mother," expostulated Willie.
+
+"No, only don't get into mischief."
+
+"What shall we do first?" asked Ada.
+
+"I don't know," replied Dolly. "Isn't it fun to have one whole day
+which is not Christmas or Thanksgiving?"
+
+For a short time the children remained in Mrs. Constant's room,
+upsetting her baskets, tangling her silk, and plying her with
+numberless questions.
+
+"I think you had better take a run in the garden," she finally said.
+"You are so restless and full of holiday, I think the fresh air would
+relieve you."
+
+"What a dear mother!" they cried; and having tumultuously kissed her,
+they repaired to the garden.
+
+They lived in a country town, and had a large plot of ground at the
+back of the house, through the farther end of which flowed a brook.
+Each one had his garden bed, and at one side was a summer-house, where
+they kept their garden tools and many of their playthings, also a pet
+rabbit, named Blackhawk. It was too late in the fall for flowers, only
+a few sturdy asters and hardy verbenas being in blossom, and they
+played tag, hide-and-seek, and chased each other with handfuls of dead
+leaves. While they were thus occupied, their mother called them, and
+told them that aunt Clara had sent for her to come and spend the day;
+she had sprained her ankle, and wanted some one to sit with her.
+
+"Won't you be home to dinner?" they asked in despairing chorus.
+
+"No; but Mary will take care of you, and you can enjoy yourselves; but
+don't do foolish things, or your holiday will be spoiled. Now, you
+must all be mother to each other, that I may find you well and happy
+when I come home."
+
+For a while after she had gone, they amused themselves being mother to
+one another; but Willie made such a failure that they gave it up.
+
+"Let us play with the dolls a little while," suggested Dolly.
+
+The proposition met with favor, and they went to the summer-house. Ada
+had a large family of paper dolls, and Dolly of wooden ones. They
+played tea party, and dinner, and visiting; but Willie could not
+forget that they had a holiday, and he longed to do something unusual.
+
+"You have too many girls, Ada," he cried. "Let us play China, and burn
+some up."
+
+A funeral pyre was soon constructed with splinters of wood, Dolly ran
+to the kitchen for matches, and Willie turned his jacket inside out,
+tied Ada's sack about his neck by the sleeves, put the watering-pot on
+his head, and was ready to personate the priest. Ada selected four
+victims, who were securely bound with thirty cotton, and laid on the
+pile.
+
+"Let us have Blackhawk for the idol," cried Ada.
+
+Blackhawk was brought forth, a string of colored beads put about his
+neck, and he was bolstered up in the arm-chair of the Princess
+Widdlesbee, Dolly's largest doll. But when the match was struck and
+applied with a great flourish, he sprang from his throne, and fled to
+the farthest corner.
+
+"The god is displeased; the sacrifice must cease," cried Ada, who
+began to feel remorse as her dolls crisped and turned to ashes.
+
+"No," shouted Willie, "I am the priest; I know he means burn all;" and
+seizing a brand, he applied it to Dolly's village, which stood near
+by. For a moment it was fun to see the flames bursting from the roofs
+of houses, and lapping about the fences; but Dolly soon gave a cry of
+dismay.
+
+"Susanna and Posy are in the church; I don't want them burned."
+
+"To the rescue!" shouted the heathen priest, snatching the pot from
+his head, and running to fill it with water.
+
+But Dolly could not wait, and had already burned a hole in her apron,
+and singed her hair, trying to save her favorites. Blackhawk cowered
+in the corner, stamping his hind feet, while Ada was pulling apart the
+pyre on which her dolls had perished.
+
+"O, Willie, the floor is burned. Hurry, hurry!" cried Dolly.
+
+Willie ran, deluged the burning village, and Dolly seized Susanna and
+Posy, free from damage, with the exception of Posy's legs, which were
+so long, they lay outside the church door, and were burned off. When
+they cleared away the ruins, there was a round, black spot on the
+floor, where the village had stood, and the children's hands and
+clothes were wet and grimy.
+
+"Do you think mother will care?" asked Dolly, after they had looked
+solemnly at one another.
+
+"I don't believe she will as long as we did not burn any more,"
+replied Willie, stepping back on the rest of the matches.
+
+They were explosive, and lighted with a snap that made him jump. When
+he saw what he had done, he turned the watering-pot over them, and put
+his foot on it.
+
+"Now they are safe," he cried. "Let us bury the pieces of the
+village."
+
+"No," said Ada. "After I get a carrot for Blackhawk, let us make a
+raft of some of them, and put the rest on, and let them float away on
+the brook."
+
+This was speedily done, and when the little craft had passed the
+boundaries of their garden, Willie proposed they should build a dam,
+and some time he would put up a mill. They were hardly fairly at work
+when Mary called them to dinner.
+
+Willie took the head of the table, and was rather offended that Mary
+did not let him cut the meat.
+
+"At any rate, I'll help the pie," he declared.
+
+Mary prudently cut the pieces before she put it on, and while they
+were eating it, Willie very grandly said,--
+
+"You may go now, Mary."
+
+His mother usually dismissed her at dessert, and Willie wished to have
+all the privileges of the place he occupied. Mary retired with a
+smile, and when the first pieces of pie were disposed of, Willie
+offered the girls a second. It was mince pie, very nice and tempting;
+and though Ada knew a second piece was not generally allowed, she
+thought a holiday might make a difference. Dolly was busy feeding
+Prig,--a brisk Scotch terrier, with large, bright eyes, stiff, rough
+hair, and a tail about two inches long,--and refused.
+
+After dinner they returned to their dam, Ada and Dolly bringing the
+material, and Willie building. But Dolly became dissatisfied, and
+insisted on being allowed to work in the water, while Ada deserted
+altogether, and played with Blackhawk, whom they had let out.
+
+"Dolly," cried Willie, "won't you go to my room and get my hammer? and
+be quick, for I've got to hold this while you are gone."
+
+The dam was nearly finished, and both were much excited with the
+success of their work; for the water had collected in quite a pool
+above, and would soon flow over in a fine fall. Dolly ran, leaving the
+doors open behind her. Back she came, and Willie was carefully
+adjusting the last beam, when Ada shouted,--
+
+"Here's Prig, and Blackhawk's out."
+
+All three started, calling Prig, and running after her and Blackhawk
+in wild confusion. Prig misunderstood their anxiety, and supposing
+they were setting her on the rabbit, joined in the hunt. Poor
+Blackhawk tried to escape, but Prig caught him, gave one shake, and
+the pretty rabbit lay dead.
+
+"O, you wicked dog!" cried Ada, while Willie and Dolly stood quite
+overcome by the misfortune.
+
+Prig saw in a moment she had made a mistake, and when Willie rushed at
+her with uplifted hammer, hid behind the summer-house. With loud grief
+and many tears, the children raised their dead pet, and laid it on a
+bench in the out-house. Its blue eyes were half open, its soft
+black-and-white fur wet and rumpled, and they cried and blamed Prig as
+they tenderly arranged it on the bench. Ada fairly howled, and Bridget
+and Mary ran out to see what was the matter.
+
+"Ay," said Bridget, "and it was Dolly herself left the door open,
+though I told her to shut it."
+
+"I didn't know Prig was there," sobbed Dolly.
+
+"It's all Prig's fault," said Willie, "and I'll kill her."
+
+"No, no," pleaded Dolly, with whom Prig was an especial favorite.
+
+A consultation was held over the bench, and it was finally decided
+that the case should be referred to Mrs. Constant on her return,
+though Willie still vowed vengeance. Prig had crept back, and crouched
+in the doorway; but when the children saw her, they drove her away,
+throwing stones and calling her the worst names they could invent. She
+skulked outside very unhappy, until Willie shut her up in the
+summer-house, while the children spent the rest of the long afternoon
+over their dead rabbit. Dolly tied the Princess Widdlesbee's best blue
+sash about his neck, Willie emptied his toolbox to lay him in, and Ada
+spread her best doll's bed-quilt over him. Then they sat and cried
+together until Dolly started up, and said,--
+
+"There's mother."
+
+The first thing Mrs. Constant heard when she entered the house was the
+cry of,--
+
+"Mother, mother!"
+
+Not with the joyous ring it had in the morning, but with an appeal in
+it which told her some trouble had come which mother could best heal.
+All told the story separately and together, laying Blackhawk on her
+knees, and crying on her shoulder.
+
+"And I'm going to hang Prig for a wicked, bad dog," said Willie, to
+conclude. "She is a murderer!" and he fiercely wiped his tears.
+
+"My dear little boy, I don't think poor Prig was to blame at all."
+
+"O, mother!" cried a mournful chorus.
+
+"No; Dolly left the door open, you all excited her, and I begin to
+think you were having too much of what Willie calls a holiday."
+
+"But it wasn't her holiday, and she's killed Blackhawk. O-o-o!" and
+they all cried again.
+
+Mrs. Constant soothed them, and sympathized.
+
+"Don't cry any more. You will be sick. I would not kill Prig, for then
+she would be gone too, and to-morrow you would be sorry. And besides,
+she was only trying to do as you wanted her to, and following out her
+doggish instinct."
+
+But half convinced, the children went to the summer-house and called
+Prig; but she would not come. Then they drove her out, and as she
+stood trembling before them, reproached her, and raising their arms,
+shouted,--
+
+"Go!"
+
+Prig hesitated a moment, looked from one to another, then with her
+tail between her legs, her hair on end, she uttered an unearthly howl,
+and fled at full speed, crowded under the gate, and disappeared.
+
+The children went to bed early, as Mrs. Constant thought the
+excitement was bad for them, and in the night she was called to the
+little girl's room. Dolly was feverish, and ill with a sore throat,
+and Ada in great pain. They were sick all night, and in the morning
+Mrs. Constant heard about the second piece of pie and Dolly's dam
+building. Her sleeves had been wet all the afternoon, and the grief,
+added to the pie and wet, had made them both ill.
+
+They were not able to go out that day, and Willie buried Blackhawk
+alone, while they watched him sadly from the window. They took their
+last farewell of their pet at the kitchen door, and would have given
+all their yesterday's sport to have helped Willie with the funeral. He
+had meant that Prig should have attended as chief mourner, but she was
+nowhere to be found. No one had seen her since her flight, and for
+days they could find no trace of her. This added to their discomfort;
+for they all loved her, and Ada and Dolly were confined to the house
+for some time, and wanted her to play with them.
+
+About a week after, on a rainy night, Bridget found her at the kitchen
+door, and with great difficulty persuaded her to come in. She was very
+thin and unhappy, and hid from the children, when they, already sorry
+for their harshness, were kind to her, and tried to play with her. It
+was a long time before she was the lively Prig she used to be, and was
+always a little lame in her left fore foot. Something had hurt her in
+those days of absence; and though after a while the children forgot
+their holiday and the consequences, I am afraid poor Prig never did.
+
+                                                SARA CONANT.
+
+
+
+
+LET HIM LIVE.
+
+
+    When one sees a harmless snake,
+    Lying torpid, scarce awake,
+          On a chilly morning,
+    Is it well his life to take
+          Without leave or warning?
+
+    Pretty brown and yellow snake,
+    Whom the sun doth gently wake
+          In the lap of nature,
+    Here is room for weed and brake--
+          Room for every creature.
+
+    Teach us, Nature, how to love,
+    Not the flower and bird alone,
+          Gracious man and woman--
+    Not the beautiful alone,
+          Whether brute or human.
+
+    Teach us, that we may not wound
+    Even a striped snake on the ground,
+          Sunshine all around him!
+    We will go without a sound--
+          Leave him as we found him.
+
+                       MARY R. WHITTLESEY.
+
+
+
+
+MONKEYS.
+
+
+Before the advent of man, and with him civilization, monkeys were
+spread over a much larger portion of the earth than at present. They
+lived in the south of Europe, in England, and in France. Except a few
+of the Paviane, those of the present time are found only in warm
+climates, and are very sensitive to cold.
+
+Monkeys belong to the liveliest and most active of the mammalia. As
+everything eatable is acceptable to them, there is always something to
+catch, to dig, to gather--insects, fruits, roots, nuts, succulent
+herbs, buds, leaves, eggs, &c.
+
+Many stories are told about the orang-outang, or pongo, an inhabitant
+of the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. It is the largest of the apes,
+being, in some cases, seven feet high.
+
+Vosmarin, a Hollander, kept a tamed pongo for a long time. He says,
+"My pongo had rather a sad and downcast look, but was gentle and
+affectionate, and very fond of society, preferring those persons who
+busied themselves about it. Once it seized a bottle of Malaga,
+uncorked it, brought the wine to a secure place, recorked the bottle,
+and set it back again. This monkey was very fond of roasted and boiled
+meats, and sucked eggs with great delight; however it preferred fruits
+to all other food. After drinking, it was in the habit of wiping its
+mouth with the back of the hand, as men sometimes do, and it generally
+used a toothpick. It made great preparations before going to sleep,
+shaking the hay for its bed, and making a bundle for a pillow; it
+covered itself with any cloth or garment it could find.
+
+"Seeing me unlock a door, it observed very attentively, then put a
+piece of wood in the keyhole, and tried to turn it round. Having been
+scratched by a cat with which it was playing, it could never be
+induced to touch pussy again. It untied knots easily, and regularly
+practised upon the shoes of those who came near. It could lift very
+heavy burdens, and made as good use of its hind as of its fore legs;
+for example, if it could not reach a thing with the fore hands, it lay
+on its back, and drew the object with the hind ones. It never cried
+except when left alone. At first the crying resembled the howling of a
+dog, then it became rougher, and at last resembled the noise of a
+wood-saw. It died of consumption."
+
+Jeffries tells of an orang-outang which was very neat; it frequently
+washed the floor with a cloth, after carrying away all remnants of
+food. It also washed its face and hands like a man. This animal was
+very affectionate towards all who spoke kindly, and often kissed its
+owner and waiter.
+
+[Illustration: THE MONKEY.]
+
+The chimpanzee is more like man, in shape, than any other animal. It
+is from four to five feet high; is found in the west part of Africa.
+Its strength is astonishing; one chimpanzee can break off branches of
+trees which two men cannot bend. It is kind and amiable, and very
+teachable. Captain Grantpret speaks of a chimpanzee, which he had on
+board ship, as follows: "It worked with the sailors, casting anchor,
+reefing sails, &c., and doing its full share of work faithfully. The
+ship's baker depended upon it to heat the oven, which it did with
+wonderful care and exactness, never letting the coals fall, and ever
+getting the right heat. It made a peculiar motion to show that the
+oven was ready, and the baker, fully confiding in its judgment, was
+not disappointed. The sailors were very fond of it, and treated it as
+a companion; but the pilot, a cruel, heartless man, abused the animal,
+despite its pitiful looks and gestures, as it placed its hand upon its
+heart, and then stretched it towards him, to tell the pain it felt.
+However, it did not resent his continued ill-treatment, but refused
+to take any nourishment; five days after it died of hunger and a
+broken heart. The sailors bemoaned its loss as that of a companion."
+
+We read of another chimpanzee, which sat at table, ate with knife,
+fork, and spoon, drank from a wine-glass, used a napkin, put sugar
+into a cup, poured out tea, stirred it with a spoon, and sipped from
+the cup until cool enough to drink.
+
+A sick monkey is truly a pitiable object; it sits quiet and sad, and
+its look, as it seems to beg for help, in its distress, is almost
+human. The nearer it approaches its end, the gentler and milder it
+becomes; losing in its animal, it seems to gain in its spiritual
+nature. It perceives a benefactor in its attending physician, and
+thankfully acknowledges his kindness. If it has been relieved by
+bleeding, it invariably stretches out its arm at the doctor's
+approach, as if desiring to be bled again.
+
+                                                    L. B. U.
+
+
+
+
+MY MOTHER'S STORIES.
+
+
+I recall a little verse my mother taught me one summer twilight,
+which, she remarked, she had taught the older children when they were
+little like me. It was this:--
+
+"HAVE COMMUNION WITH FEW, BE INTIMATE WITH ONE, DEAL JUSTLY BY ALL,
+AND SPEAK EVIL OF NONE."
+
+And then she added cheerfully, "It took some time to get your brother
+to repeat it correctly; he would say _untimate_ for intimate, and
+_justless_ instead of justly. But he learned it correctly at last,
+and, I may add, has never forgotten it." So with amusement were
+mother's good instructions blended; after the pleasant story about my
+brother's childhood it was impossible to forget the text.
+
+But, alas, I have never taught it to my children; so many papers,
+books, and magazines made expressly for children of this generation,
+hasten the lighting of the evening lamp, and the twilight lessons of
+home become fewer. But in them all, I never read a more comprehensive
+paragraph, and one that would do to put in practice in every
+particular so thoroughly, and I hope if it gets into print, not only
+my children, but those of other households, will commit it to memory,
+imbibe its spirit, and put it in practice through life.
+
+                                                       E. E.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: SAILING THE BOATS.]
+
+SAILING THE BOATS.
+
+
+    Ho! the jolly sailors,
+      Lounging into port!
+    Heave ahead, my hearties--
+      That's your lively sort!
+    Splendid sky above us,
+      Merrily goes the gale.
+    Stand by to launch away
+      Rag and paper sail!
+
+    Archie owns a schooner,
+      Jack a man-o'-war,
+    Joe a clipper A 1
+      Named the Morning Star;
+    Charlie sails a match-box,
+      Dignified a yawl;
+    Breakers on the lee shore--
+      Look out for a squall!
+
+    Now we're bound for China--
+      That's across the pond;
+    When we go a-cruising
+      Many a mile beyond.
+    Man-o'-war is watching
+      A rakish-looking craft--
+    Kerchunk! goes a bullfrog
+      From his rushy raft.
+
+    There's a fleet of lilies
+      We go scudding round,--
+    Bumblebees for sailors,--
+      And they're fast aground.
+    Here's a drowning fly
+      In her satin dress.
+    All hands, about ship!
+      Signals of distress.
+
+    Argosies of childhood,
+      Laden down with joys,
+    Gunwale-deep with treasures!
+      Happy sailor boys,
+    May your merry ventures
+      All their harbors win,
+    And upon life's stormy sea
+      Every ship come in.
+
+                            GEORGE COOPER.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The wasp trying to get to Harry's pudding}]
+
+IT TAKES TWO TO MAKE A QUARREL.
+
+A STORY FOR OUR YOUNGEST READERS.
+
+
+How Harry Marshall had reckoned upon that piece of currant-pudding!
+The farmer's wife, whose name was Jolly (and a very fit name for her
+it was), had promised him a plateful for dinner, because he had taken
+such good care of her pet brood of chickens while she had been away
+from Elm Tree Farm on a visit.
+
+Harry was a farmer's lad, ten years old, tall and stout for his age,
+and able to do a great many more things than some city boys of
+fourteen. He could ride and drive, keep the stable in order, and even
+handle a plough. Nor was he a dunce; for, thanks to an evening school,
+which some of his Sunday teachers had opened in the village, he had
+learned to read and write very fairly. He had a comfortable place at
+farmer Jolly's; but there was plenty of work to do, and the food was
+plain, though he always had enough; so he did not get pudding every
+day. No wonder, then, that he should go to bed and dream about that
+particular currant-pudding of which I am writing. You must not suppose
+that this was made with such "currants" as are put into a _Christmas_
+pudding; they are only small _grapes_. No; it was a real
+currant-pudding, full of nice red fruit and juice, enough to make your
+mouth water.
+
+The long morning's work was at last over, and Harry, nothing loath,
+hastened in and took his place at the side table in the kitchen, where
+he usually sat. His plate of meat and potatoes was soon cleared, for
+the boy's appetite had been sharpened by several hours in the fields.
+
+"And now, Harry," said Martha, the servant, "here's your pudding, and
+a nice piece it is; but you mustn't be long about it, for John and
+Peter will want you back in the field; they have been gone this half
+hour." So saying, Martha placed the longed-for treat before Harry, and
+went out to attend to some work in the farm-yard.
+
+Just at that moment a wasp, who had grown tired of buzzing about the
+peaches in the garden, and trying in vain to get at them (for Peter
+had covered them with network), peeped in at the window with one of
+his many eyes, and, spying Master Harry's pudding, thought, I suppose,
+that he should like a share. So, without waiting to be invited, he
+flew in with a loud hum, and made straight for the table, just as
+Harry had stuck his fork into the first piece of crust.
+
+Now, our farmer's boy, though he liked pudding, did not like wasps,
+which he fancied were always ready to sting; and being himself rather
+hasty in temper, he at once declared war against the little intruder.
+First he hit at it with his knife, but without success; and then with
+his fork, but only with this result--that the pudding, instead of
+going into Harry's mouth, flew under the grate among the ashes, while
+the wasp seemed to be humming a song of defiance.
+
+Harry grew red in the face, and vowed vengeance against "the nasty
+thing;" but "the nasty thing" would not come and be killed. Seizing a
+large wooden pudding spoon, which lay close at hand, Harry jumped on
+one of the wooden chairs and aimed a desperate blow at the poor
+insect. But Yellow-band was too sharp for him, and Harry, losing his
+balance, fell down with a thump on the sanded floor, while his weapon,
+spinning across the kitchen, came in contact with one of Mrs. Jolly's
+basins, and brought it down with a crash. In rushed Martha in a
+fright, and, worse still, farmer Jolly's round, good-natured face
+appeared close behind.
+
+"Bless the boy," cried Martha, "what have you been up to now?"
+
+"Why--why," said Harry, rubbing his shoulder and looking ruefully at
+the broken china, "it was all that horrid wasp."
+
+"And why couldn't you leave the wasp alone?" retorted Martha, angrily,
+as she picked up some of the pieces.
+
+"Ay, boy," said farmer Jolly, "why couldn't you leave the wasp alone,
+eh? Why couldn't you leave it alone?" he repeated, catching Harry by
+the arm with a grip that made him wince.
+
+"Please, sir--please, sir," stammered the boy, "I thought the
+nasty--the wasp I mean--was going to sting me."
+
+"Stuff and nonsense," replied the farmer; "if you don't interfere with
+the wasps, the wasps won't interfere with you. How often have I told
+you that _it takes two to make a quarrel_? Now you have wasted your
+time, spoiled your dinner, and done mischief; so you had better be off
+to your work, and Martha will put the pudding away till to-morrow."
+
+Harry hastened out, looking very foolish, and feeling very much
+disappointed. "I wish I'd left the wasp alone," he said to himself;
+"then I shouldn't have lost the pudding. The farmer says, 'It takes
+two to make a quarrel,' and I suppose it does. At that rate we needn't
+quarrel at all, unless we like. I'll think about that, so I will." And
+so he did; and when he felt inclined to quarrel, not only with wasps,
+but with boys, he checked himself by calling to mind farmer Jolly's
+words.
+
+And I am of opinion that, if the boys and girls who read this story
+would remember it too, they would escape many unpleasant and
+disagreeable things, and be more likely to have a really happy year.
+For a far wiser Teacher than farmer Jolly once said, "Blessed (or
+happy) are the peacemakers."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Suvaroff makes a speech to some of his soldiers}]
+
+A GOOD WORD NOT LOST.
+
+
+Field-marshal Alexander Suvaroff, the commander-in-chief of the
+Russian army during the reigns of Catharine II. and Paul I., was
+especially fond of mixing with the common soldiers, and sharing in
+their sports and conversations, being always highly delighted when his
+men failed to discover him; and this happened pretty often, for,
+thanks to his small stature and ugly face, as well as the extreme
+plainness of his dress, the great marshal looked as little like a
+general as any man could do. In this way he got to understand
+thoroughly the character of his soldiers, and had a greater power over
+them than any Russian general before or after him. His marvellous
+power of enduring fatigue, his insensibility to heat, cold, or hunger,
+and his untiring energy on the field of battle (in all which points he
+surpassed the hardiest of his grenadiers), made him the idol of the
+rough soldiers whom he commanded; and a word of reproof from Father
+Alexander Vasilievitch, as his men affectionately called him, was more
+dreaded than the fire of a battery.
+
+Before one of his Italian campaigns, Suvaroff gathered together a
+number of his best men, and made them one of the short pithy speeches
+for which he was famous, and some of which are remembered among the
+peasantry to this day:--
+
+"My children, we are going to fight the French. Remember, whatever you
+meet, _you must go forward_. If the enemy resist, kill them; but if
+they yield, spare them; and always remember that a Russian soldier is
+not a robber, but a Christian. Now, go and tell your comrades what I
+have said!"
+
+A few days later a great battle took place, in which the day went
+against the French, who began to retreat about sunset; and a soldier
+named Ivan Mitrophanoff, who had distinguished himself by his bravery
+throughout the whole day, captured, with the help of a comrade who was
+with him, a French officer and two of his men. Mitrophanoff bound up
+the officer's wounded arm, and seeing that the prisoners appeared
+faint from want of food, shared with them the coarse rye loaf which
+was to have served him for supper. He had scarcely done so, when up
+came three or four Russian grenadiers, hot with fighting, and raising
+furious cries.
+
+"What," cried they, "three of these French dogs living yet!" and they
+ran upon the prisoners with levelled bayonets.
+
+"Hold, my lads!" cried Mitrophanoff. "I've given them their lives, and
+no one must touch them now!"
+
+But the soldiers would not listen to him, and were rushing forward,
+when a stern voice from behind shouted, "Halt!" and a little,
+pugnosed, dirty-faced man, dressed only in a coarse linen shirt and a
+pair of tattered gray trousers, stepped into the circle. But, ragged
+and dirty as he was, the fierce soldiers could not have looked more
+frightened had he been a giant in full armor.
+
+"The general!" muttered they, slinking off.
+
+"Ay, the general!" roared Suvaroff, "who will have some of you shot
+presently, if you can't learn to obey orders better! And you," he
+added, turning to Mitrophanoff, "who taught you to be so good?"
+
+"Your highness' own self taught me," answered the grenadier. "I
+haven't forgotten what you told us last week--that a Russian soldier
+is not a robber, but a Christian!"
+
+"Right!" exclaimed Suvaroff, with a brightening face. "A good word is
+never lost, you see. Give me your hand, my lad; you shall be a
+sergeant to-morrow, and a right good one you'll make!"
+
+And the next day he made good his word.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+PONTO.
+
+
+Our dog Ponto is a knowing old fellow. It is as good as a show to
+watch him sometimes. He has one quality that most of us might seek
+after with advantage--that is, a will to overcome difficulties that
+scarcely anything can hinder. If Ponto takes it into his head to do
+anything, he is pretty sure to succeed. What helps his dogship is the
+faculty of imitation. He is like a monkey in this, only a great deal
+more sensible than any monkey I ever heard tell of. You never catch
+him venturing upon unknown danger, or making himself ridiculous,
+because his human friends and companions choose to step aside from the
+ways of safety and respectability.
+
+One day, a few years ago, Ponto was missing. He had been about as
+usual during the morning, but all at once disappeared. A neighbor told
+us that he had seen him fighting with the butcher's dog about noon,
+and that he was getting the worst of it. I went over to the butcher's
+during the afternoon, and the butcher's boy confirmed the neighbor's
+story. Ponto had come over there for a fight, as the boy said, and
+"got more than he bargained for."
+
+"He'll not try it again very soon, I'm thinking," added the boy, with
+a malicious pleasure.
+
+"Do you know where he is now?" I asked.
+
+"Home, I suppose. He went off that way, limping," answered the boy.
+
+"Was he much hurt?"
+
+"Considerable, I guess."
+
+I went back home, but no one had seen Ponto. I was beginning to feel
+anxious about the dog, when he was found in one of the third-story
+rooms, snugly covered up in bed, with his head on the pillow. On
+turning down the clothes a sight met our eyes. The sheets were all
+stained with blood, and the poor dog, hurt and exhausted, looked as
+helpless and pitiful as any human being.
+
+[Illustration: PONTO.]
+
+I will not tell you of all the wounds he had received. There were a
+great many of them, and some quite severe. "A good lesson for him," we
+all said. And it proved so, for he was a little more careful after
+that how he got into a fight.
+
+A few months before, I had been thrown from a wagon and badly hurt--so
+much so that I was confined to bed for a week. Ponto was with me at
+the time of the accident, and on my arrival at home followed me into
+the house and up to the chamber where I was taken. He watched every
+movement as I was laid in bed, and then sat down with his eyes on my
+pale face, regarding me with such looks of pity and interest that I
+was touched and surprised.
+
+When Ponto's turn came, he remembered the comfortable way in which I
+had been cared for, and profited by what he had seen. But his
+mistress, while she pitied the poor animal, did not fancy having her
+spare bedroom turned into a dog-hospital; and so we removed him to an
+out-house and made him as comfortable there as possible.
+
+One cold winter evening Ponto was absent from his accustomed place in
+the hall, where he slept on a mat. The wind was high and there was a
+confusion of sounds outside.
+
+"Hark!" said one.
+
+We all listened.
+
+"I thought I heard a knock at the hall door."
+
+"Only the wind," was replied.
+
+"Yes; there it is again."
+
+We all heard two distinct knocks, given quickly one after the other.
+
+I arose, and going into the hall went to the front door and opened it.
+As I did so Ponto bounded in past me, gave two or three short, glad
+barks, and then paid his boisterous respects to the family in the
+sitting-room. I waited a moment, and then stepped out to see who had
+lifted the knocker, but found no one. Ponto had done it himself, as we
+had proof enough afterward; for ever since that time he has used the
+knocker as regularly as any two-legged member of the family.
+
+I could tell you stories for a whole evening about Ponto, but these
+two must answer for the present.
+
+
+
+
+BRUIN AT A MAPLE-SUGAR PARTY.
+
+
+One evening near the first of April, three years ago this spring, I
+was making my way the best I could down from the west branch of the
+Penobscot River towards the plantation of Nikertou. (Up in Maine they
+call an unincorporated town a plantation. Down south the word has a
+different meaning.) How and why I came to be in that wild section, at
+the hour of twilight, may need a word in explanation.
+
+A month previously I had been sent up to the "Head of Chesuncook" from
+Bangor, by the lumbering firm of which my uncle was a member, to pay
+off one of their "gangs," which made the "head" of that lake a sort of
+depot and place of rendezvous.
+
+Both going up and coming back as far as the foot of Lake Pemadumcook,
+I had had with me, as guide and armed protector, an old hunter named
+Hughy Clives. But on getting down to the foot of this lake, and within
+six or eight miles of Nikertou, old Hughy had been seized with a
+sudden desire to leave me and to go to Millinocket Lake in quest of
+otters; and so giving me my "course" for Nikertou, he had bidden me
+"good luck," and again started northward.
+
+It was a warm, spring-like afternoon, though the snow in that region
+still lay to the depth of three or four feet; but on my snow-shoes I
+didn't mind the depth; the main thing was to keep out of the brush and
+the dense hemlock and cedar thickets.
+
+It was about two o'clock when I left the river; and I had expected to
+get down to the little "settlement" by sunset. But the sun went below
+the distant spruce-clad ridges, and dusk fell, with as yet no signs of
+a "clearing." Had I lost my way? My little pocket-compass said I was
+all right--if Hughy had given me a correct course; and I had all
+confidence in the old man too. Still, as the twilight deepened around
+me, with the unbroken forest stretching drearily ahead, I began to
+feel rather uneasy; especially as (since parting with Hughy and his
+rifle) I had no weapon save a jack-knife and a little pocket-pistol I
+had brought along with me from Bangor--not very effective arms in case
+a catamount should take it into his head to drop down upon me from a
+tree-top, or a big black bear to step out from behind one of those low
+hemlocks, or even a cross old "lucivee" to rush out from some of those
+thick cedar clumps. For thoughts of these things had begun to pop into
+my mind. I was but seventeen then, and hadn't quite outgrown my fear
+of the dark. And thus plodding timorously onward, thinking on many
+things injurious to a boy's courage, I had begun to think I should
+have to make a night of it there, somewhere, when the red gleam of a
+fire, from the crest of the ridge before me, suddenly burst out on the
+darkness, banishing all my fears. For a fire, whether in a hunter's
+camp or a farm-house window, is good evidence of man's presence, with
+food and shelter--the two great wants of the belated.
+
+[Illustration: {The bear invades the sugar party camp}]
+
+Hurrying on, I made my way up the slope. The fire seemed to be in the
+open air, among trees--a woodman's camp probably; and, knowing that
+these men are sometimes a little _ticklish_ about having strangers
+come too suddenly into their night camps, I halted, while yet at some
+distance, for a good look ahead.
+
+There seemed to be several large kettles, slung with chains from a
+"lug-pole" supported by strong crotched stakes at each end--a
+circumstance which struck me as a little odd at a hunting-fire. No one
+was in sight, though a sort of half shelter of hemlock might contain
+the campers. Whatever they were, it would be well to hail them. So,
+calling in my breath, I gave a loud "hullo."
+
+Two dusky figures rose from the shelter, and looked out towards me
+into the darkness.
+
+"Hullo!" I repeated; and in response heard a clear boyish voice
+exclaiming,--
+
+"Who's there?"
+
+"Belated tramper."
+
+"Well, walk up, Mr. Tramper, where we can see what you are."
+
+I moved up to be seen, and on my part saw a couple of youngsters, of
+about my own age, who were tending what turned out to be a
+sugar-camp.
+
+"Where from?" demanded the taller of the two.
+
+"Head of Chesuncook. Going to Bangor. Can I stay here to-night?"
+
+"Of course you can. Had any supper?"
+
+"Not a mouthful."
+
+"Something left--wasn't there, Zeke?" said he, turning to his comrade,
+who was now pouring cold sap into the "heater."
+
+"Enough for one, I guess," said Zeke; and, taking a bucket and a
+wooden bowl from under the hemlock, he produced a slab of johnny-cake
+from the former, and, pouring out something like a quart of maple
+sirup into the latter, bade me "go ahead."
+
+I did so without further invitation, and never made a better supper,
+the programme being to dip the bread into the sirup, mouthful by
+mouthful.
+
+The boys were now preparing their night's wood.
+
+There had been, they said, "an excellent run of sap" during the last
+few days. The kettles were kept boiling day and night, steadily. It
+was truly a wild scene. Clouds of steam gushed up from the surging
+kettles; and the fires gleamed brighter as the darkness deepened,
+while all about us seemed a wall of blackness. But my long tramp had
+thoroughly tired me down, and my recollections of the remainder of the
+evening are a little drowsy, though I learned in the course of it that
+the names of the two youthful sugar-makers, upon whose camp I had
+stumbled, were Zeke Murch and Sam Bubar; and I also helped to take off
+a large kettle of hot sirup, which we set in a snow-drift, two or
+three rods from the fire, to cool. This done, I was soon asleep,
+rolled up in an old coverlet, and knew very little till, hearing
+voices, I opened my eyes to the fact that the sun was staring me in
+the face from over the eastward ridge, as if surprised at my sloth.
+
+Hastily unrolling myself, I saw Sam and Zeke out at the kettle we had
+set in the snow, pointing and excitedly discussing something.
+
+"Old scamp!" exclaimed Zeke. "What work he's made here!"
+
+"All this sugar gone--spoiled!" cried Sam.
+
+"What is it?" said I, going out to them. "What's the matter?"
+
+"Why," said Sam, turning and laughing in spite of his vexation,
+"something has _guzzled_ up 'most the whole of this 'honey' we set out
+here last night. Only see there!"
+
+The kettle, which must have held several pailfuls, was nearly empty;
+and what was left hadn't a very inviting look certainly.
+
+"What in the world ate all that?" cried I.
+
+"Well--a bear, we expect," said Zeke. "There's been one hanging round
+here for several nights. We heard him _hoot out_, down in the swamp,
+ever so many times, after you had gone to sleep last night. Didn't
+think he'd come up so near the fire, though. But we both got to sleep
+a little while after midnight. I suppose he must have _lushed_ up the
+sirup then."
+
+"Tremendous fellow, too," said Sam. "Look at those tracks!"
+
+Tracks indeed! There in the snow about the kettle were his broad, deep
+footmarks, long as a man's boot, and much wider, pressed down, too,
+into the snow, as only great weight could have pressed.
+
+"Gracious!" exclaimed I, "you wouldn't have caught me going to sleep
+here if I had known there was such a monster as that round!"
+
+"Rather lucky, I think," said Zeke, "that he didn't take it into his
+head to _top off_ his sirup with some of us."
+
+"And I'm mad, too," continued Zeke. "We were depending on this kittle
+of sirup for our party to-night."
+
+"Your party?"
+
+"Yes; we've invited a lot of the boys--and girls, too--to come up here
+this evening, to make 'sheep-skins.' You'll stay--won't you? We were
+going to ask you."
+
+"Don't know," said I, still thinking of the bear.
+
+"O, I don't think he'll meddle with us," said Sam, guessing at my
+hesitation. "I'm going down to get some _fixins_, and shall bring up a
+gun. If he calls again, he may get a dose of buckshot."
+
+No one is apt to be a great coward after the sun is up. Thus
+reassured, I concluded to stop to the party, for which the boys were
+intending to make a great preparation.
+
+"Let's do the thing up in style now," said Sam.
+
+We went at it. First we cut low, shrubby evergreens, hemlocks mostly,
+and with these made a sort of enclosure, some four rods in diameter,
+around the kettles, by planting them in the snow. Then clipping off an
+immense quantity of smaller boughs, we strewed the snow inside the
+enclosure with these. We thus had a sort of green room (without any
+roof), in the centre of which steamed the boiling kettles; and at the
+entrance, or doorway, we made a grand arch of cedar. For seats we
+rolled in "four-foot" cuts from the trunk of a large poplar they had
+lately felled, first splitting off a slab from the side of each to
+form a seat, which we cushioned with cedar.
+
+Meanwhile another kettle of sirup was boiling down to supply the place
+of that the bear had drank; and filling some fifteen or twenty
+sap-buckets with clean snow, crowded down hard to make the
+"sheep-skins" on, we were ready for our company.
+
+It was nearly night before all this had been completed. Sam had been
+down to the "settlement" and brought up a quantity of bread to go with
+our honey; and I was glad to see that he hadn't forgotten the gun;
+for, as night began to close in again, I couldn't help remembering the
+great tracks out there in the snow-drift. As it grew dark and the fire
+began to shine on the green boughs, our scenery looked even better
+than by daylight; and for beacons to our incoming guests, we fixed
+torches of pitch-wood upon stakes thrust into the snow around our
+camp, and at several points out in the woods, like lamp-posts in a
+town.
+
+"Quite a show," said Sam, surveying the preparation. "How changed and
+odd it makes it look all about!"
+
+Ere long voices began to be heard coming up through the woods,--merry
+shouts and hails,--to which the boys responded, bidding them hurry,
+and promising a big "sheep-skin" to the one who first got up there.
+
+A chorus of merry cries and laughter followed this announcement; and
+in a few moments a racing, panting crowd of a dozen boys and girls
+came up in sight, and poured under the arch--sturdy lads, and lasses
+in red frocks and checked aprons. And here be it said that a girl--a
+certain rosy Nell Ridley--won the sheep-skin by being the first under
+the archway. But the others were not far behind, and in another moment
+our green arena was swarming with the young folks.
+
+Though a stranger, I soon found myself acquainted and on the best of
+terms with everybody. Sheep-skins were now being run by the dozen, the
+process being to pour hot sirup upon the cold, hard-pressed snow in
+the buckets, where it instantly cooled, becoming tough and of the
+color of sheep-skin. And if one has a "sweet tooth," nothing among all
+the "sugars" can compare with a maple sheep-skin.
+
+We all had _sweet teeth_ there, and were in the midst of a furious
+romp around the kettles in chase of Nell, whom some one had accused of
+appropriating "the great one," when somebody suddenly cried,--
+
+"Hark!"
+
+There was an instant hush; when clear on the evening air there came a
+wild cry--a long, quavering "Hoo-oo-oo."
+
+"Bear! A bear!" exclaimed several of the boys, to whom bruin's nightly
+cries were but familiar sounds. But save that a few of the girls
+looked a little startled, no one seemed to be much alarmed. I saw Zeke
+looking to the priming of the old gun, though; and for a while we were
+pretty whist, listening; but the cry, which had seemed at a
+considerable distance, was not repeated. Indeed, in the merriment
+which soon succeeded, the most of us had entirely forgotten it, I
+think. At least we were all in the midst of another scrimmage over the
+"last biscuit," when a loud snort, like that of a startled horse, a
+sort of "woof! woof!" accompanied by a great rustling in our evergreen
+hedge, startled us; and turning, we saw--I shall never forget the
+sight--an enormous black creature coming through our _fence_, with all
+the independence of a sole proprietor! Of course, as Zeke afterwards
+expressed it, "if _he_ was _coming in_, we wanted to _go out_."
+
+The girls were not of the fainting sort; but they did scream some, and
+we all sprang away like cats through the opposite side of the hedge.
+The gun had been left standing near the place where the bear had
+broken in, and was not to be got at, of course. But, catching out my
+pistol, as we scrambled through the hemlock, I discharged it at the
+old fellow, hitting him, I guess; for he growled and came straight
+after me. 'Twas no time to be loitering. Down the slope we all ran
+together, slumping and sprawling full length in the soft snow! Up and
+on again, knocking out spiles and kicking over sap-buckets, bumping
+and grazing ourselves against the rough bark of the maples; for it was
+pitch dark in the woods. But on we went for dear life, expecting every
+moment to feel the bear's teeth or claws from behind. At first I had a
+sort of impression that we boys should have to wait and put ourselves
+between the girls and the bear; but I soon found I had all I could do
+to keep up with them. Such girls to run I never saw before! And we
+never stopped till, at a distance of a mile below, the forest opened
+out into a cleared field.
+
+There we began to discover that the bear was not after us, and
+gradually came to a halt. After getting breath, however, we kept
+on--at a little slower pace, though--down to the "corners," where,
+after seeing the girls to their respective dwellings, guns were
+procured, and, rallying out Mr. Bubar and Mr. Murch, senior, with
+several other men, we all started back to hunt up the bear. Going
+quietly up through the woods, we cautiously approached to a point
+where the gap we had made in rushing out of our enclosure enabled us
+to see what was going on inside; and there by the firelight we beheld
+the bear sitting cosily before the coals, and gazing wistfully into
+the boiling kettles. He had probably found them too hot for his use.
+
+Raising their guns, the men all fired together--a murderous volley of
+bullets and buckshot. Rearing upon his haunches with a sullen growl,
+old bruin glared around a moment, then fell over backwards, and, with
+a few dying kicks and groans, was dead. And this was the end of Bruin
+and the maple-sugar party.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT.]
+
+THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT.
+
+
+There is not the least difficulty in distinguishing the Asiatic from
+the African elephant. The ears of the former are comparatively small,
+only reaching a little below the eyes, while the ears of the African
+species are of enormous dimensions, actually crossing on the back of
+the neck, drooping far below the chin, and extending beyond the
+shoulder-blade. Generally, the ears are laid so flatly against the
+neck, that they seem almost to form part of the skin of the head and
+shoulders; but when the creature is suddenly roused, the ears are
+thrown forward, and stand out so boldly, that they look more like
+wings than ears. Towards the lower part the ears form themselves into
+slight folds, which are not without some degree of elegance.
+
+The end of the trunk also differs from that of the Asiatic species. In
+that animal a kind of finger projects from the upper part of the
+extremity; but in the African species the end of the trunk is split so
+far, that the two lobes act as opposable fingers, and serve to grasp
+any object which the animal desires to hold. This structure can easily
+be seen by offering the animal a piece of biscuit. The forehead, too,
+affords another means of distinction, being convex in the African, and
+flat or slightly concave in the Asiatic.
+
+Another very decided difference lies in the teeth. These enormous
+engines of mastication are made up of a number of flat plates laid
+side by side, and composed of enamel and bone. In the Asiatic species
+these plates are nearly oval in form, and may be imitated by taking a
+piece of cardboard, rolling it into a tube, and then pressing it until
+it is nearly flat. But in the African species these plates are of a
+diamond shape, and may be rudely imitated by taking the same
+cardboard tube, and squeezing it nearly flat at each end, leaving the
+centre to project. In consequence of these distinctions, several
+systematic zooelogists have thought that the African elephant ought to
+be placed in a separate genus, and have therefore called it _Loxodonta
+Africana_, the former of these words signifying "oblique-toothed." I
+think, however, that there are no real grounds for such a change, and
+that the genus Elephas is amply sufficient for both species.
+
+The enormous ears of the African elephant are not without their use to
+the hunter, who finds in them an invaluable aid in repairing damages
+to his wagons and guns. Even if a gun-stock be smashed,--an accident
+which is of no very unfrequent occurrence in South African hunting,--a
+large piece of elephant's ear, put on while fresh and wet, and allowed
+to dry in the sun, sets matters right again, and binds the fragments
+together as if they were enclosed in iron. Sometimes the ear seems to
+be a protection to the animal; for it is so tough and strong, despite
+its pliability, that the hunter will occasionally find several bullets
+lodged in the ear, which have not been able to penetrate through a
+substance at once tough and flexible.
+
+This species is of a thirsty nature, so that wherever elephant paths
+are seen, the hunter knows that he is not very far from water of some
+kind. And as elephants have a fashion of travelling in Indian file, it
+is easy enough to trace their footsteps, and so to find the water. The
+animals go to drink in the evening, as do many other wild beasts, and
+the quantity which they consume is enormous. They go close to the
+water's edge, insert the end of the trunk into the liquid, draw it up
+until the two nostril-tubes are full, turn the end of the trunk into
+the mouth, and then discharge the contents into the stomach. When
+satiated, they amuse themselves for a while by blowing water all over
+their bodies, and then retrace their steps to the forest glades whence
+they came.
+
+The enormous quantity of water which they carry home within them has a
+rather curious effect. At tolerably regular intervals a loud, rumbling
+sound is heard, much resembling the "glug-glug" produced by pouring
+wine out of a bottle, and lasting a few seconds. Were it not for this
+phenomenon, the hunters would meet with far less success than at
+present is the case. When hiding from a foe, the elephant can remain
+motionless, so that not a cracking stick nor a rustling leaf betrays
+its presence. But it cannot prevent this periodical rumbling; and
+accordingly, when a hunter is in the bush after elephants, he sits
+down every few minutes, and waits, in order to catch the sound which
+tells him that elephants are near. Even in the semi-domesticated
+specimens at the London Zooelogical Gardens, this sound is easily to be
+heard.
+
+The African elephant is more hunted than the Asiatic species, and
+affords better sport and greater profit to the hunter. It seems to be
+a fiercer, more active, and probably a more cunning animal, and, owing
+to the character of the country through which it ranges, it seems to
+be of a more nomad disposition. The chase of the African elephant
+appears to exercise a kind of fascination over its votaries, like the
+chase of the chamois among the Swiss mountaineers; and when a hunter
+has fairly settled down to the business, he cannot tear himself away
+from it without exercising great self-denial. Perhaps few sports are
+encompassed with greater difficulties and dangers, or involve greater
+hardships; and yet the wild, free, roving life has such charms, that
+even a highly-educated European can scarcely make up his mind to
+return to civilization.
+
+In the first place, elephant hunting is not, as are many sports, an
+expensive amusement. On the contrary, a hunter who possesses a
+sufficiency of skill, courage, and endurance will be able not only to
+cover his expenses, but to pay himself handsomely for his trouble.
+There is certainly a very large expenditure at the outset; for a
+hunter will need two wagons, with a whole drove of oxen, several good
+and seasoned horses, a small arsenal of guns, with ammunition to
+match, provisions for a lengthened period, and plenty of beads and
+other articles which can be bartered for ivory. Moreover, a number of
+native servants must be kept, and the amount of meat which they
+consume daily is almost appalling.
+
+Then there are always great losses to be counted upon. The cattle get
+among the dread Tzetse flies, and die off in a few hours; the horses
+catch the "paardsikte" (a kind of murrain), or tumble into pitfalls;
+wagons break down, servants run away with guns, native chiefs detain
+the wagons for weeks, together with a host of minor drawbacks. Still,
+if a man is worthy of the name of hunter, and boldly faces these
+difficulties, he will pay himself well, provided that his health holds
+out--there are so many valuable articles to be brought from Southern
+Africa, such as the horns and furs of animals, the skins of birds,
+ostrich feathers, and ivory.
+
+The teeth of the elephant, too, are valuable, and are made into
+various articles of use and ornament. A set of knife-handles made of
+elephant's tooth is sometimes to be seen, and I have now before me an
+excellent specimen of a knife-handle, which shows the alternate rows
+of enamel and bone in a very striking manner, and is certainly a much
+handsomer article than a handle made of simple ivory.
+
+[Illustration: THE ELEPHANT.]
+
+The elephant is, indeed, one of the most eccentric of animals. There
+is no possibility of calculating upon it, and nothing but experience
+can serve a hunter when measuring his own intellect against the
+elephant's cunning. The scent or sight of a human being at the
+distance of a mile will send a herd of powerful male elephants on
+their travels, the huge creatures preferring to travel for many miles
+rather than meet a man. Yet, when assailed, there is scarcely any
+animal which is more to be dreaded. It forgets fear, and, filled with
+blind rage, it will chase an armed man in spite of his rifle, and will
+continue to charge him until it dies.
+
+It will engage in deadly battle with its own species, or with the
+mail-clad rhinoceros, and yet will run away at the barking of a little
+dog. There was a curious instance some years ago, when an elephant
+that was travelling in America went mad, escaped from its keeper
+during the night, and traversed the country for miles, doing great
+damage. It broke carts to pieces, killed the horses, and was trying to
+force its way into a barn where another horse had taken refuge, when
+it was checked by a bull-dog, which flew at the huge animal, bit its
+legs, and worried it so thoroughly, that the elephant, mad as it was,
+fairly ran away. Indeed, nothing seems to cast this gigantic animal
+into such a state of perplexity as the noisy attacks of a little,
+cross-tempered, insolent, yapping terrier. The elephant cannot
+understand it, and gets into such a state of nervous irritation, that
+it never thinks of running away or annihilating its diminutive foe,
+but remains near the same spot, making short and ineffectual charges,
+until the hunter comes up and deliberately chooses his own position
+for attack.
+
+The flesh of the elephant is anything but palatable, and when cut into
+strips and dried in the sun, has been aptly compared to leather
+straps. A well-known hunter said that the character of elephant's
+flesh might easily be imagined by taking the toughest beefsteak ever
+cooked, multiplying the toughness by four, and subtracting all the
+gravy. The natives, however, are possessed of marvellously strong jaws
+and sharp teeth, and to them meat is meat, whether tough or tender.
+There are, however, several parts of the elephant which are always
+good; and these are the heart, the feet, and the trunk. The heart and
+trunk are simply roasted, with the addition of some of the fat from
+the interior of the body; but the feet require a more elaborate mode
+of cookery.
+
+While some of the men are cutting off the feet, others are employed in
+digging a circular hole in the ground some ten feet deep and three
+wide, the earth being heaped round the edge. An enormous heap of dry
+wood and leaves is then piled over the hole, set on fire, and allowed
+to burn itself out. As soon as the last sticks have fallen into the
+hole, the men begin to rake out the glowing embers with long poles.
+This is a laborious and difficult task, the heat being so great, that
+each man can only work for a few consecutive seconds, and then gives
+way to a cooler comrade. However, there are plenty of laborers, and
+the hole is soon cleared. The elephant's foot is then rolled into the
+hole, and covered over with the earth that was heaped round the edge.
+Another pile of wood is then raised, and when it has completely burned
+out, the foot is supposed to be properly baked. Thus prepared, the
+foot is thought to be almost the greatest luxury which South Africa
+can afford, the whole interior being dissolved into a soft, gelatinous
+substance of a most delicate flavor. There is never any lack of fuel;
+for the elephants break down so many branches for food, and in their
+passage through the bush, that abundance of dry boughs can always be
+picked up within a limited area.
+
+
+
+
+THE SONG OF THE BIRD.
+
+
+I.
+
+In those unhappy days when revolution prevailed in France, there were
+a number of noble families who were reduced to extreme poverty. One of
+these was the family of Duke Erlan, who was a noble and
+highly-respected man, while his wife was kind and charitable to such
+an extent that all the poor people in the surrounding country loved
+her with great affection.
+
+They had two children--Carl and Lillie. When a certain revolutionary
+outbreak had occurred, the duke removed from the city where he lived
+to his chateau, in a retired part of the country, where he was
+surrounded by rocks, vineyards, and fields of grain, far removed from
+the bustle and turmoil of city life.
+
+The good man regarded himself as very fortunate in being permitted to
+live here in quiet with his family, and become the teacher of his
+children.
+
+Notwithstanding the great danger prevailing in the country, this was
+indeed a happy family.
+
+The duke was a good musician, and he made it an object to teach his
+children to play on the piano; and though they were quite young, both
+of them knew a number of very beautiful tunes.
+
+On one stormy evening, near the end of winter, all four of them sat
+together near their splendid piano. The duke had composed a little
+song for his two children. It was such a pleasant, lively melody, that
+they had learned it very easily, and each of them could play it. Their
+mother, however, did not know it, and the children now thought it a
+great thing for them to have the privilege of teaching it to her.
+
+"Carl," said the duke, "you play, and we will sing."
+
+And they sang this song:--
+
+          "Take courage, bird;
+          Our Father says,
+          In winter's storms
+          And summer's rays
+          You have no barns,
+          You sow no wheat,
+    But God will give you bread to eat."
+
+While they were singing, they heard some one knock at the door. They
+heard the bell ring, and when the door was opened, five soldiers, clad
+in uniform, demanded Duke Erlan to deliver himself up. They walked
+straight up to him, and told him that he must go immediately to
+prison. His wife cast herself at their feet, and begged them to let
+him live in peace.
+
+"We cannot help it," said they. "We have our orders, and must obey
+them."
+
+Not five minutes elapsed before that good man was taken from the midst
+of his happy family, and hurried to prison. The duchess and her son
+and daughter were overwhelmed with sorrow. They could not sleep that
+night, and the next morning, as they looked out of the window and saw
+how the storm had prevailed in the vineyards and on the fields, they
+felt that the storm in their own hearts had been far more destructive.
+
+The unhappy duchess now determined to use every means to rescue her
+beloved husband. She went to the judges and assured them of her
+husband's innocence; but they did not seem to have any more feeling
+than so many marble statues. She received, in reply to her entreaties,
+this answer:--
+
+"In a few days your husband will be beheaded."
+
+She returned to the castle after three days, and found that it was
+occupied by soldiers. The furniture had all been taken away, and the
+treasures were missing. She was not permitted even to enter the
+castle, and was informed that her children, for whom she was weeping
+in great sorrow, were gone--nobody could tell where.
+
+It was late at night, and she did not know where she would sleep.
+Going out into the castle-yard, she was met by Richard, an old and
+faithful servant, who said,--
+
+"Good mistress, you are in danger every moment of being arrested.
+There is no safety for you unless you flee as quickly as possible. I
+cannot conceal you, for that would be dangerous for all. I cannot save
+your husband, and if you stay here it will be certain death. Your
+children are at my house. Come with me. My brother, the old fisherman,
+who keeps the ferry at the Rhine, is already informed of the matter. I
+will go with you this very night, and he will take you and your
+children safely over the river. Run--let us run for life."
+
+The duchess came to the house of good Richard, where she found her
+children. But Lillie was quite sick, and lay upon Richard's cot,
+suffering from a high fever. She did not even know her mother. How
+could that good lady leave her sick child? She did not wish to do it,
+but the peasant told her that she could be of no assistance, and that
+he would see that she was well provided for.
+
+"Run," said he, "for your life is in danger."
+
+It was a sad moment when Lillie's mother was compelled to leave her
+child lying upon that sick bed; but the good woman, before giving her
+a parting kiss, knelt at her side, and said,--
+
+"O Lord, I commit this dear child to thee for safe keeping. I believe
+thou wilt one day restore her to me."
+
+The duchess was silent for a few moments; then, calmly arising, she
+kissed her child, took Carl by the hand, and hastened through the
+door towards the distant river.
+
+She finally came to the old ferryman's house, and he gave them a great
+deal of welcome, having provided some warm soup and bread to
+strengthen them. They were taken over the river, and the two brothers,
+Solomon and Richard, returned in the boat.
+
+It was a desolate condition in which the duchess and her child were
+placed, and we must follow her in her wanderings. The farther she went
+from the river, the safer it would be for her and Carl. She followed
+the direction which Richard had given her, until she reached
+Switzerland. But her delay there came near costing her her life, for
+she learned that a detective officer was in search of them. With all
+the haste possible, she got across the Swiss boundary into the Tyrol,
+which was Austrian territory. There she was safe. They passed over
+high mountains, and through deep valleys, seeking a place where they
+could settle. At last they came to a certain valley, which, in quiet
+beauty, surpassed anything that they had seen.
+
+"This reminds me more of home," she said, "than any country through
+which we have passed. I have got several hundred louis which good
+Richard saved when our house was plundered, and we can afford to rent
+a little cottage."
+
+The old Tyrolese peasant told her that there was no house for sale in
+all the valley. "But," said he, "you can board in my cottage if you
+choose."
+
+The price was agreed upon, and the duchess and her son became inmates
+of the family. The little room which was to be their home was very
+plainly furnished; but simple as it was, the first thing that she did
+on entering it was to kneel there with her child, and thank God for a
+shelter. She arranged her affairs as well as she could for a
+permanent residence with the Tyrolese peasant, and she began to look
+upon it as home.
+
+One day she told the peasant that she wished to send her little boy
+Carl to school, if there was a good schoolmaster in the neighborhood.
+
+"The pastor in a neighboring village," said the peasant, "will be here
+to-day to catechise my child. He teaches school, and I think you can
+make an arrangement with him."
+
+That day the gray-haired old pastor came, and an arrangement was made
+with him for Carl to go to school to him. Books were provided for him,
+and he went to school with the greatest pleasure. He was a rapid
+student, and repeated his lessons every evening to his mother.
+
+In the Tyrol a great many canary birds are trained, and are sold to
+dealers all through the country. The old Tyrolese peasant with whom
+the duchess and Carl were boarding had a young and beautiful bird,
+which sang very sweetly. Carl asked his mother to buy this bird,
+saying,--
+
+"Mother, this bird is very much like the one that our dear, sweet
+Lillie used to have. Buy it for me, so that it may learn how to sing."
+
+The duchess bought the bird, and soon became very much attached to it.
+Carl took the greatest pleasure in its training, and in due time,
+little Tim--for that was his name--would come to him and peck at his
+fingers, and rub his little head on Carl's hand.
+
+Carl was a natural musician, just as his father was, and would
+sometimes play on a flute which the old Tyrolese peasant had. Little
+Tim would imitate his tunes, and sometimes the concert was well worth
+hearing.
+
+The old pastor provided the duchess with news. One day he gave her a
+French newspaper, and in the first column which she read there was a
+long list of the names of noblemen who had been beheaded. Among them
+she read the name of her husband, Henry Erlan. The newspaper fell from
+her hands, and she swooned away. A severe illness came on, and it was
+a long time doubtful whether she would recover. The old Tyrolese
+despaired of her life, and said,--
+
+"The coming autumn may find her no more with us; but who knows what
+the good Lord will bring out of all this sorrow?"
+
+
+II.
+
+The old servant Richard, having rescued his good mistress from arrest,
+and probably from death, now formed the resolution to save his master
+too. He had not much time to plan, for he learned that the duke was to
+be beheaded the following week. It so happened that the son of his
+brother Solomon, the ferryman, belonged to the National Guard, and was
+stationed at the prison to guard it. If he could only secure him to
+engage in the enterprise, he felt that he could succeed. It was a
+difficult thing to get a word to say to any member of the National
+Guard. But old Richard had done many kind things for his nephew, and
+he succeeded in getting a note to him through the post office,
+appointing a time, when he was off duty, to meet him. Richard opened
+the whole enterprise freely to his nephew, and told him all the great
+injustice that had been done a noble family, and the sufferings
+through which the different members had passed.
+
+The duke was informed that he was to be beheaded next day, and his
+door was marked by the prison-keeper as the room of a man who was to
+be executed the following morning. The good man knelt in prayer after
+the intelligence had been conveyed to him, and said,--
+
+"To whom shall I go for help and courage, this last night of my life,
+but to thee, O Lord? Thou knowest best what will happen to me. If it
+be in accordance with thy will, permit me to see my wife and children
+again. If thou seest that it is not best for thy glory that I should
+live, then I will obey willingly. Thy will, not mine, be done."
+
+[Illustration: "FATHER, FATHER! THAT IS THE VERY TUNE WHICH WE WERE
+    SINGING TOGETHER THE NIGHT THAT YOU WERE ARRESTED." See page 327.]
+
+That was a noble prayer. Scarcely had the last word fallen from his
+lips, when he heard somebody gently lifting the latch of his door, and
+inserting the key.
+
+"Save yourself," whispered the person who entered, who was none other
+than old Solomon's son, to whom Richard had confided his enterprise.
+It was two o'clock in the morning, the very best time to accomplish
+his purpose.
+
+"Put on these clothes," said he, as he unfolded a soldier's uniform;
+"take this hat, and here is a gun. As quickly as you possibly can,
+transform yourself into a soldier."
+
+They escaped in safety from the prison, accompanied by the faithful
+Richard, and went as rapidly as they could towards the Rhine. They
+reached old Solomon's ferry house. The young man knocked gently at the
+window, and asked his father to come out as soon as possible and take
+the duke over the river.
+
+"Are you not going to take your little girl with you?" said the old
+ferryman.
+
+"What little girl?" asked the duke.
+
+"Your little daughter, whom my brother has brought here this very day;
+and she is as sweet a child as I ever saw in my life. She lies asleep
+now in the corner of the room."
+
+This was news which the nobleman did not expect to hear, and he was
+almost overcome with joy. But he had no time to spend in greeting,
+except to give his dear Lillie a kiss. Soon they were over the Rhine;
+but before reaching the bank on the opposite side, they were fired at
+by soldiers who had come in search of them. A bullet passed through
+the top of the duke's high soldier hat, but he was not harmed, and
+escaped in safety.
+
+The great task for him to accomplish now was to find his wife and boy,
+though he had but little hope of ever finding them. Old Richard had
+enough money to buy the duke a horse; so the father mounted the horse,
+and took his little daughter on the saddle with him. They travelled
+over the mountains and through the vales, asking, whenever they met
+any person, to tell them if they knew of any strangers in that section
+of the country. But nobody gave any information.
+
+Old Richard was yet with them, for he had still enough money left to
+buy a mule, and he rode beside his good master and Lillie until the
+17th of July arrived, and that was Lillie's birthday. The duke
+determined that they three should stop and celebrate it by taking a
+little rest and a good meal in a cottage by the wayside. Having
+finished their dinner, they went out of doors and looked about the
+beautiful yard, which was all blooming with flowers. A bird cage was
+hanging by the side of the door, and the bird was singing the tune to
+these words:--
+
+          "Take courage, bird;
+          Our Father says,
+          In winter's storms
+          And summer's rays
+          You have no barns,
+          You sow no wheat,
+    But God will give you bread to eat."
+
+Lillie was astounded at again hearing that sweet melody, and she
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Father, father! that is the very tune which we were singing together
+the night that you were arrested."
+
+The little bird went over it two or three times, and the father
+said,--
+
+"You are right, my dear child. That is the melody--not a note is
+wanting. This is truly wonderful. I do believe that this bird has been
+taught to sing that song by Carl and your good mother. O, Richard, can
+you not find out how this bird came here?"
+
+Richard said in reply,--
+
+"I will do all I can, but I am afraid that it will be very difficult."
+
+He made inquiries of the man who owned the bird, and who had furnished
+them with the dinner, as to where the bird came from. The Tyrolese
+replied,--
+
+"I don't know where it came from, except that a young man who passed
+along the road, and who lives about three miles from here, sold it to
+me for a trifling sum one day. I was pleased with its appearance,
+because it was a beautiful bird, and the price was very low."
+
+Then Richard said,--
+
+"Can you not see that young man, and find out where he got it from?"
+
+"I will do so if you wish," he answered.
+
+Richard then told him to report as soon as possible what he had
+learned.
+
+That afternoon, about five o'clock, the young man was brought to
+Richard and the duke, and inquiries were made as to where he got the
+bird. He said that he did not know where it came from exactly, except
+that it was found one day after it had escaped from somebody's cage.
+He did not know who owned it, or else he would have taken it to its
+owner.
+
+"Where was it you found it?" said the duke.
+
+"About ten miles from here, when I was going to see my mother, who
+lives a great many miles away."
+
+"Do you know whether any strangers are in that neighborhood?" asked
+the duke.
+
+"I heard my mother say that there were a lady and a little boy living
+some three miles the other side of her house, and that she was a very
+good woman."
+
+"Did you ever see the boy yourself?" inquired the duke.
+
+"Yes, I saw the boy going to school."
+
+The duke, on making further inquiries as to his appearance, came to
+the conclusion that the boy whom he had seen was probably none other
+than Carl. He accordingly made his arrangements to go to the place of
+which the young man had spoken.
+
+That night he reached the house where this good lady and her son were
+boarding. True enough, the duke and little Lillie were in the presence
+of the duchess and Carl. It was a happy meeting, far beyond my power
+to describe. Their gratitude to their heavenly Father for preserving
+them to each other knew no bounds. It was an hour of such happiness as
+is seldom permitted any one to enjoy.
+
+They sat up late that night and recounted their experiences to each
+other, and then the duke revealed the secret of his coming to that
+house; that it was a canary bird which had been the instrument of his
+finding her and Carl. They spent a few days in great happiness there,
+and made a bargain with the man who owned the canary bird which had
+escaped from Carl's cage to get it back again.
+
+Two years passed on, and peace and quiet were again restored to
+France. The duke and his family were permitted to return to his
+castle, and the government made him ample reparation for all the
+losses that he had incurred. They took with them their little canary
+bird, which had lost none of its sweet notes by the lapse of time.
+
+One day a magnificent new piano arrived from Paris, and after tea the
+duke said,--
+
+"Now we will try the piano in our own quiet home. What shall we sing?"
+asked he.
+
+The duchess, and Carl, and Lillie all answered with one voice,--
+
+"We must sing our bird song."
+
+          "Take courage, bird;
+          Our Father says,
+          In winter's storms
+          And summer's rays
+          You have no barns,
+          You sow no wheat,
+    But God will give you bread to eat."
+
+
+
+
+THE SHEEP AND THE GOAT.
+
+
+    Not all the streets that London builds
+      Can hide the sky and sun,
+    Shut out the winds from o'er the fields,
+    Or quench the scent the hay swath yields
+      All night, when work is done.
+
+    And here and there an open spot
+      Lies bare to light and dark,
+    Where grass receives the wanderer hot,
+    Where trees are growing, houses not;
+      One is the Regent's Park.
+
+[Illustration: THE GOATS.]
+
+    Soft creatures, with ungentle guides,
+      God's sheep from hill and plain,
+    Are gathered here in living tides,
+    Lie wearily on woolly sides,
+      Or crop the grass amain.
+
+    And from the lane, and court, and den,
+      In ragged skirts and coats,
+    Come hither tiny sons of men,
+    Wild things, untaught of book or pen,
+      The little human goats.
+
+    One hot and cloudless summer day,
+      An overdriven sheep
+    Had come a long and dusty way;
+    Throbbing with thirst the creature lay,
+      A panting, woollen heap.
+
+    But help is nearer than we know
+      For ills of every name;
+    Ragged enough to scare the crow,
+    But with a heart to pity woe,
+      A quick-eyed urchin came.
+
+    Little he knew of field or fold,
+      Yet knew enough; his cap
+    Was just the cap for water cold--
+    He knew what it could do of old;
+      Its rents were few, good hap!
+
+    Shaping the brim and crown he went,
+      Till crown from brim was deep.
+    The water ran from brim and rent;
+    Before he came the half was spent--
+      The half, it saved the sheep.
+
+    O, little goat, born, bred in ill,
+      Unwashed, ill-fed, unshorn!
+    Thou meet'st the sheep from breezy hill,
+    Apostle of thy Saviour's will,
+      In London wastes forlorn.
+
+    Let others say the thing they please,
+      My faith, though very dim,
+    Thinks He will say who always sees,
+    In doing it to one of these
+      Thou didst it unto him.
+
+
+
+
+FROM BAD TO WORSE.
+
+
+    Come, children, leave your playing,
+      And gather round my knee,
+    And I'll tell you a little story:
+      Away across the sea,
+    In a meadow where the mosses
+      And the grass were frozen brown,
+    Three little maids sat milking
+      One day as the sun went down--
+    Not cows, but goats of the mountain;
+      And before their pails were full,
+    The winds, they pierced like needles
+      Through their gowns of heavy wool.
+    And as one hand, then the other,
+      They tried to warm in their laps,
+    The bitter weather froze their breath
+      Like fur about their caps.
+    And so, as they sat at their milking,
+      They grew as still as mice,
+    Save when the stiff shoes on their feet
+      Rattled like shoes of ice.
+
+    At last out spoke the youngest
+      As she blew on her finger-nails:
+    I have planned a plan, sweet sisters:
+      Let us take our milking-pails,
+    And go to the side of the mountain
+      As fast as we can go,
+    And heap them up to the very top
+      From the whitest drifts of snow;
+    And let us build in the meadow
+      Where we will milk our goats at night
+    A house to keep us from the cold,
+      With walls all silver white.
+
+    We will set the door away from the wind.
+      The floor we will heap with moss,
+    And gather little strips of ice
+      And shingle the roof across.
+
+    Then all the foolish maidens,
+      They emptied their pails on the ground,
+    And bounded up the mountain-side
+      As fast as they could bound,
+    And came again to the meadow
+      With pails heaped high with snow,
+    And so, through half the night, the moon
+      Beheld them come and go.
+
+    But when with the daybreak roses
+      The silver walls shone red,
+    The three little foolish maidens
+      Were lying cold and dead.
+    The needles of the frost had sewed
+      Into shrouds their woollen coats,
+    And with cheeks as white as the ice they lay
+      Among their mountain goats.
+
+                               ALICE CARY.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: GRACIE AND HER FATHER.]
+
+MY STORY.
+
+
+Many years ago, when the sky was as clear, the flowers as fragrant,
+and the birds as musical as now, I stood by a little mahogany table,
+with pencil and paper in hand, vainly trying to add a short column of
+figures. My small tin box, with the word _Bank_ in large letters upon
+it, had just been opened, and the carefully hoarded treasure of six
+months was spread out before me. Scrip had not come into use then; and
+there were one tiny gold piece, two silver dollars, and many quarters,
+dimes, half-dimes, and pennies. For a full half hour I had been
+counting my fingers and trying to reckon up how much it all amounted
+to; but the problem was too hard for me. At last I took pencil and
+paper, and sought to work it out by figures.
+
+"What are you doing, Gracie?" pleasantly inquired my father, entering
+the room with an open letter in his hand.
+
+"O, papa! is that you?" I cried, eagerly turning towards him. "Just
+look--see how much money I've got! John has just opened my bank. It is
+six months to-day since I began to save, and I've more than I
+expected."
+
+"Yes, you are quite rich."
+
+"So much that I can't even count it. I've done harder sums in addition
+at school; but somehow, now, every time I add, I get a different
+answer. I can't make it come out twice alike."
+
+"Where did you get that gold piece?"
+
+"Why, don't you know? _You_ gave it to me for letting Dr. Strong pull
+out my big back tooth."
+
+Father laughed.
+
+"Did I?" said he; "I had forgotten it. But where did you get those two
+silver dollars?" he inquired.
+
+"O, grandmother gave me this one. It's _chicken_ money. She gave it to
+me for feeding the chickens every morning all the while I staid there;
+and the other is _hat_ money. Aunt Ellen told me if I'd wear my hat
+always when I went out in the sun, and so keep from getting
+sun-burned, that she would give me another dollar; and she did."
+
+"Where did the remainder come from?"
+
+"Mostly from you, papa. You are always giving me money. These two
+bright, new quarters you gave me when you looked over my writing-book,
+and saw it hadn't a blot. How much is there in all?" I earnestly
+asked.
+
+Father glanced at the little pile, and smilingly said,--
+
+"Seven dollars and ten cents. That's a good deal of money for a little
+girl only nine years old to spend."
+
+"And may I spend it just as I please?"
+
+"Certainly, my dear; just as you please. It's a great thing for little
+people to learn to spend money wisely."
+
+Saying this, he seated himself by the window, and drawing me towards
+him, placed me upon one knee.
+
+"Gracie, dear, I have just received a letter from grandmother. She
+proposes that I come to Vermont and bring you; that I remain as long
+as business will admit, and leave you to pass the summer just as you
+did last year. How would that suit?" fixing his kind dark eyes full
+upon my upturned face to read my changing thoughts.
+
+"O, I should like it very much!" I quickly exclaimed, clapping my
+hands with delight. Then I reflected a moment, and a shadow fell over
+my prospective happiness.
+
+"On the whole, papa," I said, earnestly, "I think I had better go, and
+not stay any longer than you can stay. I am all the little girl _you_
+have, and you are all the parent _I_ have, and we should be very
+lonely without each other."
+
+I felt his warm, loving kiss upon my cheek as he folded me to his
+heart, and a tear fell on my forehead. For two years I had been
+motherless; but a double portion of pity and tenderness had been
+lavished upon me by my indulgent father. He was a New York merchant of
+ample means. Our home was elegant and tasteful.
+
+The home of my father's only surviving parent, my doting grandmother,
+whom we were designing to visit, was a plain, unpretending farm-house,
+snuggly nestled up among the hills of Vermont. There were tall poplar
+trees and a flower-garden in front, a little orchard and a whole row
+of nice looking out-buildings in the rear. There was no place on earth
+so full of joy for me. The swallows' nests on the barn; the turkeys,
+geese, and chickens; the colt, lambs, and little pigs; in short,
+everything had an ever-increasing attraction, far exceeding any
+pleasures to be found within the limits of the crowded city.
+
+The prospect of another visit to Woodville filled my heart with
+intense delight.
+
+A week passed, and on one of the sunniest and freshest of June
+mornings we started for Vermont. I was exceedingly fond of travelling
+in the cars, and it seemed as if a thousand sunbeams had suddenly
+fallen upon my young life. The train left New York, and we found
+ourselves rapidly whirling past hills, forests, towns, and villages.
+Sometimes we were flying through dark, deep cuts, then crossing
+streams and rich green fields and meadows.
+
+We expected to reach grandmother's that evening. I had written to
+inform her of our coming. One hour after another passed. The day was
+declining, and the sun was slowly sinking in the west.
+
+"How much longer have we to go?" was the question I had asked for the
+fiftieth time at least.
+
+"About another hour's ride, Gracie," smilingly answered my father. "I
+think we shall reach Woodville about eight."
+
+The cars continued to hurry on till we were within a few rods of the
+station.
+
+The bell was ringing its usual warning, and the bell from a train from
+behind was beginning to be heard. We had commenced to switch off, to
+allow the express train to pass. But by some carelessness or
+miscalculation our train was a minute too late. Father and I were
+comfortably occupying one of the front seats of the rear car; and I
+was in a state of impatient excitement to reach our destination. But
+there came, in an instant, a stunning, frightful crash; and I was
+thrown violently forward. What followed for the next ten minutes I do
+not know.
+
+I think I must have been in a semi-unconscious state, for I have a dim
+recollection of strange sounds, confusion, anxiety, and terror. Strong
+hands seemed to pull me out from under a heavy weight, and gently lay
+me down. I felt dizzy and faint. I opened my eyes, and light came
+gradually to my darkened vision. A gentleman stood over me with his
+fingers upon my wrist. A kind, sunny-faced old lady was wetting my
+head.
+
+"Are you much hurt?" she tenderly inquired, gazing upon me in
+undisguised anxiety.
+
+"What's the matter? Where am I?" I cried, springing up and gazing
+wildly around.
+
+In a moment my eye caught sight of the broken rear car. There were
+several wounded and bleeding people about me. I saw the front cars
+emptied of passengers, who were actively employed in caring for the
+injured. I comprehended in an instant that there had been an accident.
+
+"My father! my father!" I cried.
+
+"You shall see him soon," soothingly answered the gentleman by my
+side. "Drink this;" and he held to my mouth a glass of something
+pleasant and pungent. I drank its entire contents. I think it helped
+to quite restore me. I ran wildly about in search of my missing
+parent. There was a little group of men and women a short distance
+off. I hurried towards it, and recognized Peter, my grandmother's man,
+who had come to meet us at the station.
+
+"Where is my father?" I said in a voice hardly audible from terror,
+seizing Peter's arm.
+
+Before he could reply, I saw father, white and motionless, upon the
+ground.
+
+"He is dead!" I shrieked, springing towards him, and convulsively
+throwing my arms about him.
+
+"He is stunned, _not_ dead, my child," said the physician, kindly
+drawing me away, to minister to him. "We hope he will soon be better."
+
+In spite of his soothing words and tones, I read the truth in his
+face; that he feared life was almost extinct.
+
+"O, what can I do? Save him! save him! You must _not_ let him die! you
+must _not_!"
+
+"My poor child, I will do all I can," replied the physician, touched
+by my distress.
+
+But no efforts to restore my father to consciousness availed anything.
+There was a deep, ugly cut on one side of his head. No other external
+injury could be found; yet he had not spoken or moved since he was
+taken out from the broken car.
+
+The accident had occurred but a few rods from the station; and as
+grandmother's house was scarcely a mile distant, Peter strongly urged
+that he should be taken there at once. Accordingly a wagon was
+procured. The seats were taken out, and a mattress placed upon the
+bottom, and father was carefully laid upon it; and Peter drove rapidly
+home, while I followed with the doctor in his buggy. A man had been
+sent in advance of us to inform grandmother of our coming. She met us
+at the door with a pallid face, but was so outwardly calm, that I took
+courage from beholding her.
+
+Father was laid upon a nice, white bed, in a little room on the ground
+floor; and again every means for restoring him was resorted to. Still
+he remained unconscious.
+
+The hours went on. The old family clock had just struck two, and we
+were watching and working in an agony of suspense.
+
+I had not left my father's bedside, till the low, indistinct
+conversation between the doctor and grandmother, in the next room,
+fell upon my ear.
+
+"There is life yet," said he. "I thought once he had ceased to
+breathe."
+
+"And you are quite sure he does?" she inquired.
+
+"Yes. I held a small mirror over his face; and the mist that gathered
+upon it proves there is still faint breathing."
+
+I shuddered and ran out to them.
+
+"You think he will die!" I cried, seizing grandmother's hand with
+desperate energy.
+
+"I cannot tell, dear Gracie. His life, like yours and mine, is in the
+hands of God. We cannot foresee his purposes. We can only submit to
+his will."
+
+Saying this, she returned with the doctor to the sick room, and I was
+left alone.
+
+The prospect of being deprived of my only surviving parent almost
+paralyzed me. I looked out of the open window. It was a calm, clear
+summer night. The moon shone out in all its glory and brilliancy, and
+the stars twinkled as cheerily as though there was no sorrow,
+suffering, or death in the world.
+
+I sprang towards the door and closed it, and then threw myself upon my
+knees, and poured out my great anguish into the pitying ear of the
+heavenly Father.
+
+"O, good, kind Father in heaven, do hear and quickly answer me. Do
+save my own dear papa from death. Mother, Bessie, and little Fred have
+all gone to live with thee; and he is all I have left. Do, I entreat
+thee, help him to get well; I will be more kind, and generous, and
+obedient than I have ever been before, and will try to please thee as
+long as I live."
+
+I arose comforted and strengthened. Returning to my father's room, I
+saw the doctor with his fingers upon his wrist again.
+
+"A faint pulse," he said, turning towards grandmother.
+
+Another hour passed. The breath was perceptible now, and the doctor
+looked more hopefully.
+
+Morning came, and the glad sunlight streamed in through the windows.
+Father remained in a deep stupor, but manifested more signs of life
+than at any time since the accident. He had moved slightly several
+times, and as the hours went on his breathing became more natural and
+regular.
+
+Suddenly he opened his eyes and gazed feebly around.
+
+"Father, dear father, are you better?" I cried in a choking voice.
+
+He smiled faintly, then closed his eyes again, and sank into a sweet,
+refreshing slumber.
+
+Another day came, bringing joy immeasurable to all of us. Father was
+conscious and rallying fast, and before night the doctor assured us
+all danger was past. The weeks went on.
+
+June went out and July came in. We had been nearly a month in
+Woodville; and how different my visit had resulted from the season of
+perfect happiness I had so ardently anticipated!
+
+Father was gradually regaining his former health; and although the
+wound on his head was but partially healed, he was pronounced doing
+admirably by the attentive physician.
+
+He was now able to go out, and we took many long rides together,
+keenly enjoying the beautiful scenery and the pure air. As strength
+increased, the necessity of returning to his business pressed upon my
+father, and the first week in September was appointed for our
+departure.
+
+On the last Sunday of our sojourn in Woodville, grandmother and I went
+in the morning to church. There had just been a fearfully destructive
+fire in one of the neighboring towns, and a large number of people
+were homeless. The minister announced that at the close of the
+afternoon service, a collection would be taken up for the sufferers,
+and he strongly urged a generous contribution from his parishioners.
+
+I had hitherto paid little heed, when in church, to what the minister
+said; but since the dreadful accident and father's almost miraculous
+recovery, I had been far more thoughtful and attentive than formerly.
+My heart went out in deep sympathy and pity for the poor men, women,
+and children who were made houseless in a single night, and I ardently
+longed to do the little in my power to relieve them.
+
+So, during the intermission between the services, I took out the money
+I had brought with me, and which father had told me I was free to
+spend as I pleased. I tied it up in my handkerchief. There was too
+much for my pocket-book to conveniently hold, for it was all of the
+carefully hoarded treasure of my bank. It was my design to put it into
+the contribution-box.
+
+Grandmother did not go to church in the afternoon; but father decided
+to go, and I accompanied him. After the services were over, two men
+arose and began to pass round the boxes to collect money for the
+people whose homes had been burned. As I beheld one of them coming
+slowly up the aisle, stopping at every pew, I was in a flutter of
+excitement. It was a novel thing for me to put money into the
+contribution-box, and my heart beat violently.
+
+I drew out my handkerchief from my pocket, and hurriedly began to
+untie the knot. But my usually nimble fingers were provokingly slow to
+act now; and I pulled and pulled away, but to no purpose. The knot
+obstinately refused to yield. The man with the box had nearly reached
+our pew, and I began to fear I should lose the chance to give.
+
+"Don't let him slip by me," I whispered so loudly to father as to
+cause at least a dozen persons in the adjacent seats to stare
+wonderingly at me. "I've something to put in."
+
+Another prodigious effort, and the knot yielded.
+
+The man passed the box first to father, and he put in a bill. He
+glanced at me, evidently thinking a child would hardly have money to
+give, and was about to go on; but I looked beseechingly towards him,
+and he stopped and extended the box to me. In an instant the entire
+contents of my handkerchief were emptied into it--as much money as my
+two chubby hands could hold.
+
+Father looked down upon me, and a half-amused smile flitted over his
+face, as he beheld my unexpected act.
+
+After we had returned home, father sat down by the window in an easy
+chair, and calling me to him, placed me upon his knee.
+
+"Gracie, dear," said he, smilingly, "tell me how it happened you put
+so much money into the contribution-box. It must have taken nearly all
+you had."
+
+"It _was_ all I had, papa. It was the money I saved in my bank, and
+you told me I could spend it just as I pleased."
+
+"O, yes, dear; I am glad to have you; only it was a good deal for a
+little girl."
+
+"I gave it because I wanted to please God," I replied with earnest
+solemnity. "That dreadful night, when we all thought you would die,
+dear papa, I promised God I would be a better girl than I have ever
+been before. I would be more kind, generous, and obedient, and would
+try and please him all my life, if he would only let _you_ get well;
+and I gave my money to-day because I am so glad and grateful to him."
+
+"Precious child," said he tenderly and with much emotion, drawing me
+close to him, "and I am glad, and grateful too, for the rich gift of
+my dear little daughter."
+
+                                           SARAH P. BRIGHAM.
+
+
+
+
+THE WAY TO WALK.
+
+
+    As I tramped over a stony path,
+      One cloudy morning early,
+    I learned the only way to step,
+      To keep from being surly.
+
+    Don't hurry, and stride, and come down hard
+      Upon the rolling pebbles,
+    But lightly step; and that's the way
+      To charm all kinds of rebels.
+
+    Don't hurry, and stride, and come down hard,
+      Even on troublesome people;
+    But carry your feet, and tread on air,
+      As though you lived on a steeple.
+
+    There are rolling stones in every path,
+      And rocks with jagged edges,
+    Which, if we gently touch, may turn
+      To flowers and bending sedges.
+
+                                  M. R. W.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE CAMEL.]
+
+[Decoration]
+
+CAMELS.
+
+
+The Bactrian camel may be at once known by the two humps upon its
+back, which give the animal a most singular appearance.
+
+This species is a native of Central Asia, China, and Thibet, and is
+generally as useful in those countries as is the dromedary in Arabia,
+being employed for the saddle, for draught, and burden. It is,
+however, chiefly employed for the second of those purposes, and is of
+the greatest service to its owners.
+
+The vehicle to which this camel is generally harnessed is a rude cart
+of wood, ingeniously put together, without a particle of iron, and,
+after the fashion of such structures, shrieking, creaking, and
+groaning as the wheels turn on their roughly-made and ungreased axle.
+The drivers, however, care nothing for the hideous and incessant
+noise, and probably are so accustomed to it, that they would not feel
+at home with a cart whose wheels moved silently. The mode of
+harnessing is precisely that which so simple a vehicle requires. From
+the front of the cart projects a pole, and to this pole are hitched a
+pair of camels by a yoke that passes over their shoulders. In fact,
+the entire harness is nothing more than a wooden yoke and a leathern
+strap.
+
+In spite, however, of the rude machine to which they are attached, and
+the great loss of power by the friction of the badly-fitted wheels,
+the animals can draw very heavy weights for considerable distances. A
+burden of three thousand pounds' weight is an ordinary load for a pair
+of camels, and a peculiarly strong yoke of these animals will draw
+nearly four thousand pounds' weight. This camel is commonly yoked in
+pairs.
+
+For the plough the camel is never employed, not because it is not
+sufficiently strong for the task, but because it does not pull with
+the steadiness needed to drag the ploughshare regularly through the
+ground.
+
+Sometimes, however, the Bactrian camel is employed as a beast of
+burden, the bales being slung at each side, and the water-skins
+suspended below the belly. When the animal is employed for this
+purpose, a kind of pack-saddle is used, somewhat similar in shape to
+that which has already been described in the history of the one-humped
+camel, but necessarily modified in its structure. The owner of the
+camel takes great care not to overload his animal, as he is afraid of
+injuring the humps, and thereby detracting from the value of the
+camel.
+
+[Illustration: CAMEL OF A TARTAR EMIGRANT.]
+
+In Persia the camel is employed for a very singular purpose. There
+was, and may be now, a corps of the army which is called the camel
+artillery. It consisted of a number of camels, each fitted with a
+peculiar saddle, which not only accommodated the rider, but carried
+a swivel-gun of about one pound calibre. These weapons had a greater
+range than the ordinary Persian matchlocks, and, owing to the rapidity
+with which they could be transferred from spot to spot, formed a
+valuable branch of the artillery.
+
+When the enemy saw that a detachment of the camel artillery was about
+to attack them, their usual device was to reach such a position as to
+force the camels to traverse wet and muddy ground, in which they were
+sure to slip about, to lose all command over their limbs, and
+sometimes to lame themselves completely by the hind legs slipping
+apart.
+
+Camels were especially serviceable for this purpose, because they are
+wonderfully sure-footed when the ground is dry, almost rivalling the
+mule in the certainty of the tread. The Arabian camel is notable for
+his sure tread, but the Bactrian species is still more remarkable in
+this respect. Owing, in all probability, to the elongated toe, which
+projects beyond the foot, and forms a kind of claw, the Bactrian camel
+can climb mountain passes with perfect security, and in consequence of
+this ability is sometimes called the mountain camel.
+
+It is as serviceable in winter as in summer. The soft, cushion-like
+feet, which slide about so helplessly in mud, take a firm hold of ice,
+and enable their owner to traverse a frozen surface with easy
+security. In snow, too, the Bactrian camel is equally at home; and the
+Calmucks would rather ride a camel than a horse in the winter, because
+the longer legs of the former animal enable it to wade through the
+deep snow, in which a horse could only plunge about without finding a
+foothold. No greater proof of the extreme utility of this animal can
+be adduced than the fact that a body of two thousand camels were
+employed in conducting a military train over the "snow-clad summits
+of the Indian Caucasus" in winter time, and that throughout the space
+of seven months only one camel died, having been accidentally killed.
+
+Although the camel has so strong an objection to mud, it has none to
+water, and will wade across a river without hesitation. It can even
+swim well when the water is too deep to be forded; but it does not
+appear to have much power of directing its course, or of propelling
+itself through the water with much force. Indeed, it may rather be
+said to float than to swim.
+
+In point of speed it cannot approach the Arabian dromedary, although
+it is little inferior to the ordinary camel of burden. About two and a
+half miles per hour is the average pace at which a pair of Bactrian
+camels will draw a load, varying in weight from three to four thousand
+pounds; and if they travel over a well-made road, they can do their
+thirty miles a day for many successive days. In countries, therefore,
+which are adapted to its habits, the camel is far superior to any
+other beast of burden, whether for draught or carriage.
+
+One great advantage of the camel is, that its feet are so tough, that
+they can pass over rough and stony places without suffering, and that
+therefore the animal does not require the aid of shoes. In an ordinary
+march, the constant attention to the shoeing of horses and cattle
+entails great labor, much watchfulness, and often causes considerable
+delay, so that the peculiar formation of the camel's foot, which
+neither requires nor admits of an iron shoe, is of exceeding value in
+a forced march. In some places a leathern shoe is fixed to the camel's
+foot, but is really of little use.
+
+[Illustration: THE CAMEL.]
+
+The very worst time for the Bactrian camel is the beginning and end of
+winter, when frost and thaw occur alternately. At such times of the
+year the snow falls thickly, is partially melted in the daytime, and
+at night freezes on the surface into a thin cake of ice. Through this
+crust the feet of the camel break, and the animal cuts its legs
+cruelly with the sharp edges of the broken ice.
+
+For the cold weather itself this species of camel cares little,
+passing its whole time in the open air, and feeding on the grass when
+it is caked with the ice formed from the dew. Indeed, it bears a
+severe winter better than either horse, ox, or sheep, and has been
+observed to feed with apparent comfort when the thermometer had sunk
+many degrees below zero. In some places--such as the country about
+Lake Baikal--the camel is partially sheltered from the cold by a thick
+woollen cloth, which is sewn over its body; but even in such cases its
+owners do not trouble themselves to furnish it with food, leaving it
+to forage for itself among shrubs and trees of higher ground, or among
+the reeds and rushes that grow on marshy land and the banks of rivers.
+
+Almost the only disease among the Bactrian camels is an affection of
+the tongue, which is covered with blisters, so that the poor animal
+cannot eat, and dies from starvation.
+
+The fleece of the Bactrian camel ought to weigh about ten pounds, and
+is used for making a coarse and strong cloth. In the summer time the
+hair becomes loose, and is easily plucked off by hand, just as sheep
+used to be "rowed" before shears were employed in removing the wool.
+The camel in the Zooelogical Gardens may be seen in the summer time in
+a very ragged state, its fleece hanging in bunches in some parts of
+the body, while others are quite bare. The price of the wool is about
+six cents a pound.
+
+The skin is used for making straps, ropes, and thongs, and is seldom
+tanned. It is thought to be inferior to that of the ox, and is in
+consequence sold at a comparatively cheap rate, an entire hide only
+fetching about two dollars. The milk is used for food, but is produced
+in very small quantities, the average yield being only half a gallon.
+The flesh is eaten, and when the animal is fat is tolerably tender,
+and is thought to resemble beef. If, however, it be in poor condition,
+the meat is so tough and ill-flavored, that none but hungry men, armed
+with good teeth, can eat it. The price of a good Bactrian camel is
+about fifty dollars.
+
+The weight of a full-grown animal is about one third more than that of
+the average ox--that is to say, about twelve hundred pounds. The
+average height is seven or eight feet, and the animal generally lives
+about thirty-five or forty years.
+
+Dissimilar in external appearance as are the Bactrian and Arabian
+camels, their skeletons are so alike, that none but a skilful
+anatomist can decide upon the species to which a skeleton has
+belonged. The legs of the Bactrian species are rather shorter in
+proportion than those of the Arabian animal, and in them lies the
+chief distinction of the two species. Indeed, many naturalists deny
+that there is any real difference of species, and assert that the two
+animals are simply two varieties of the same species.
+
+The specimen in the Zooelogical Gardens is called "Jenny" by the
+keeper, and has rather a curious history, being associated with one of
+the great events of the present century. During the late Russian war
+her mother was taken from the enemy in the Crimea, and was
+unfortunately killed. The deserted little one ran about among the
+soldiers, and was adopted by the corps of Royal Engineers, who towards
+the end of 1856 presented her to the Zooelogical Society. Both the
+camels are fed upon the same diet, and eat about the same quantity.
+
+                                                 J. G. WOOD.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Two girls looking thoughtful; one of them is sitting
+    on a clothes trunk}]
+
+WHAT SO SWEET?
+
+
+    What so sweet as summer,
+      When the sky is blue,
+    And the sunbeams' arrows
+      Pierce the green earth through?
+
+    What so sweet as birds are,
+      Putting into trills
+    The perfume of the wild-rose,
+      The murmur of the rills?
+
+    What so sweet as flowers,
+      Clovers white and red,
+    Where the brown bee-chemist
+      Finds its daily bread?
+
+    What so sweet as sun-showers,
+      When the big cloud passes,
+    And the fairy rainbow
+      Seems to touch the grasses?
+
+    What so sweet as winds are,
+      Blowing from the woods,
+    Hinting in their music
+      Of dreamy solitudes?
+
+    Rain, and song, and flower,
+      When the summer's shine
+    Makes the green earth's beauty
+      Seem a thing divine.
+
+                         MARY N. PRESCOTT.
+
+
+
+
+COUNTING BABY'S TOES.
+
+
+    Dear little bare feet,
+      Dimpled and white,
+    In your long night-gown
+      Wrapped for the night,
+    Come let me count all
+      Your queer little toes,
+    Pink as the heart
+      Of a shell or a rose.
+
+    One is a lady
+      That sits in the sun;
+    Two is a baby,
+      And three is a nun;
+    Four is a lily
+      With innocent breast,
+    And five is a birdie
+      Asleep on her nest.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE WELL.]
+
+THORNS.
+
+
+"Deepdale is a delightful place to visit." So thought little Nellie
+Harris when she went there to see Cousin Rose. All day long they
+wandered over the farm with Uncle John, first to feed the chickens,
+then to the well so dark and deep Nellie shuddered when she looked
+far, far down into it, and held tight to Rose for fear of falling.
+Uncle John turned the windlass to let Rose and Nellie see the bucket
+rise all dripping from its watery bed.
+
+One morning after Nellie's return to the city, Rose was walking alone
+in the garden.
+
+The flowers were charming, for the dew was not yet off their delicate
+petals; and they were so fragrant that little Rose's nose was put
+close up to a great many, to find which it was that smelled so very
+sweetly. First she was sure it was a great cabbage-rose that nodded at
+her from its stalk, but soon after she was surer that it was a little
+bed of pansies, or "Johnny-jump-ups," which turned all their bright
+little faces to the sun, like a family of newly-washed and
+clean-aproned children just starting for school. Soon, however, she
+was surest that it was a patch of mignonette under the pear tree,
+which, though it looked so plain and humble with its little bits of
+blossoms, was pouring out the richest perfume.
+
+"Oh, it is you, is it?" said little Rose. "Mamma read to us yesterday
+that perfume was the soul of flowers. I guess you have got the biggest
+soul of them all, if you are so little."
+
+Pretty soon Rose began to think of something more substantial than
+bird-songs, sunbeams and flowers. There were very nice raspberries,
+red and ripe, over beyond the currant-bushes, and her mamma allowed
+her to pick them in that part of the garden, for she knew how
+delightful it is for little folks to eat their fruit just where they
+pick it from the bushes.
+
+Little Rose went around into the lower walk, where she could see the
+raspberries. A good many had ripened over-night, and hung on the long,
+waving stems, waiting to be picked.
+
+There was a short way to them, right across between two great
+branching currant-bushes. She saw it was guarded by long briar-stalks
+with sharp thorns all along their sides, but it was so much nearer
+than to go around the long row of currants. "Mamma says we must not be
+afraid of trials and discouragements in our way," Rose said. She was
+very fond of quoting things she heard said or read, and applying them
+to her own experience.
+
+"I guess I can get through. Little girls must be brave!" And she
+pushed boldly into the middle of the space between the bushes. But
+there she caught fast, and could not go a step farther. One great,
+strong branch of thorns was stretched across her foot, the sharp
+points sticking fast in her stocking, and hurting her flesh cruelly if
+she tried to move it. Another one caught hold of her little
+garden-shawl and pulled it away back off her shoulders. She pulled and
+twitched with all her might, but could not get it loose. On the other
+side her little bare elbow was torn and bleeding from a scratch, while
+her dress was held as fast as if a hundred invisible hands were
+pulling at it. There she was. She could not get on nor back. There was
+nothing to be done but to call for her mother. This she did so loudly
+that everybody in the house came rushing to see what was the matter.
+Dolly and Hannah, leaving their dish-washing in the kitchen, got there
+first, and setting to work soon had Rose out, but with scratched
+hands, arms and feet and two great rents in her dress.
+
+"How in the world did you come in there among the briars?" asked
+mamma, after they were in the house again and Rose became comforted a
+little.
+
+"It was the nearest way to the raspberries," she answered.
+
+"The nearest? Yes; but not the best. It would have been far better to
+go around by the path."
+
+"I heard you tell Cousin Lucy the other day that folks must never mind
+if there were thorns in their way," said little Rose, almost sobbing
+again, for she had thought that at least her mother would praise her
+courage and philosophy.
+
+Her mother smiled, but presently looked grave.
+
+"My darling," she said, "it is true we must not mind thorns if they
+are in the path of duty. But when they grow in any other path, we have
+a right--indeed, we ought--to avoid them if we can."
+
+"But wasn't I in the path of duty when I tried to get the raspberries,
+mamma? You said that I might pick all that grew down there."
+
+"You were not doing wrong in trying to get them."
+
+"Isn't that the same as duty?"
+
+"Not exactly. Would it have been wrong for you to do without them? Or
+would you have been to blame for going by the path?"
+
+"Oh no," said Rose; "it would not have been wrong, for nobody said I
+must get them, or that I must go through the currant-bushes."
+
+"Then you see it was not duty."
+
+"Please tell me exactly what is meant by duty, mamma."
+
+"Duty is not only something which we may do, it is something which we
+ought to do, and which it would be wrong to neglect. It is not simply
+permission, but obligation. Is that plain?"
+
+"Yes, mamma. I understand now. I was permitted to pick the berries,
+but I was not obliged to do it or else do wrong. But if you had sent
+me to pick them for you, it would have been duty."
+
+"And do you think that in that case it would be right to go through
+the thorns?"
+
+"No, mamma; I see now. It is right to take the plainest, easiest way
+when we can."
+
+"Yes, my dear. We must not be afraid of thorns if our path leads over
+them. But if we leave the true path and foolishly try to push
+ourselves through unnecessary obstacles, it is not bravery or
+fortitude, but vanity and silly rashness."
+
+
+
+
+UNDER THE PEAR TREES.
+
+
+    Under the pear trees one August day,
+    In the long-ago and the far-away,
+    Four little children rested from play,
+
+    Cheering the hours with childish chat,
+    Now laughing at this or shouting at that,
+    Till a golden pear fell straight in Fred's hat.
+
+    "I'm lucky," he cried as he hastened to eat
+    The mellow pear so juicy and sweet;
+    "If I tried for a week, that couldn't be beat."
+
+    Then Tom and Jenny and Mary spread
+    Their hats and aprons wide, and said,
+    "We can catch pears as well as Fred."
+
+    Then long and patient they sat, and still,
+    Hoping a breeze from over the hill
+    Their laps with the golden fruit would fill.
+
+    Till, weary of waiting, Tom said with a sneer,
+    "I could gather a _bushel_ of pears, 'tis clear,
+    While idly we _wait_ for a _windfall_ here."
+
+    Then up the tree he sprang, and the power
+    Of his sturdy arm soon sent a shower
+    Of yellow fruit as a golden dower.
+
+    It was long ago, that August day
+    When four little children rested from play
+    Under the pear trees far away.
+
+    And the children, older and wiser now,
+    With furrows of care on either brow,
+    Have not forgotten the lesson, I trow--
+
+    The lesson they learned on that August day,
+    That for having our wishes the surest _way_
+    Is to _work_, and in _earnest_, without _delay_.
+
+
+
+
+THE CAVE OF BENTON'S RIDGE.
+
+
+The cave was a large opening in a ledge of rocks, about half a mile
+from the village of M----, and had for years been a favorite resort
+for the boys on the holidays.
+
+'Twas at the close of school, on a bright June day, when, with a rush
+and a shout, out came a bevy of boys from the school-house, and over
+the wall with a bound were half a dozen before the rest had emerged
+from the open door. The first ones took their way across the fields to
+the cave, and had thrown themselves down on the rock at the entrance,
+and were busily talking, when the last comers arrived.
+
+"We've planned to have a time Saturday; if Miss Walters will take the
+botany class for a walk, we'll come here and have supper, and go home
+by moonlight," said Fred Manning. "How does that strike you?"
+
+"Count me in," said Phil Earle. "I second the motion," said Arthur
+Ames. "Where shall we go to walk?" said another; "this is nearly far
+enough for some of the girls."
+
+"Pooh! no! we can get some nice pitcher-plants, if we go to Eaton's
+meadows; we haven't been there for ever so long," said Phil.
+
+All agreed it would be fun, and Phil was deputized to ask Miss
+Walters, and with her complete the arrangements.
+
+"It's Thursday now; and I'll ask father if we can't have some of the
+hay they are making down in the lower field, to put inside the cave;
+for we must fix up a little," said Arthur. Willie Eaton said his
+mother would make them a jug of coffee; and as he lived near, he would
+run round that way at noon, and put it in the spring, so as to have
+it nice and cool. For one of the attractions of this place was a
+lovely spring, that bubbled and sparkled among the ferns, just under
+the rock where the cave was.
+
+Fred and Phil began to lay the stones for the fireplace; for though it
+was not cold on these bright June nights, still a fire was one of the
+grand features of the occasion.
+
+They all worked, some brushing out the cave with bushes, some getting
+old wood in piles to burn, rolling stones for seats, etc., until it
+was time for them to go home, when, with merry shouts, off they ran
+down the rock, and over the fields, home.
+
+Next morning Phil called for Miss Walters, and on the way told her of
+the plans for Saturday, into which she entered heartily, and wanted
+the boys to stay a few moments after the morning session, to perfect
+the arrangements.
+
+At recess she called the girls of the botany class to her, and said,--
+
+"Girls, can you go on Saturday to walk? The boys have invited us to
+take supper at the cave."
+
+"O, yes!" "O, yes!" "Yes, indeed!" "Splendid!" answered half a dozen
+voices.
+
+"We will meet here at two o'clock; and you must dress for the meadows.
+I believe the boys are mostly web-footed, by the way they take to such
+places; however, we do find the best specimens there. Another
+thing--the boys are to furnish eggs and coffee, they say; and each of
+you can bring what is most convenient."
+
+Off went the girls, eager to plan and discuss the welcome project.
+
+Saturday came--a bright, cloudless day. All were at the school-house
+at two, or before, and set forth, looking like strollers, as they
+were.
+
+They did not make many collections on the high land; but when they
+entered the meadows, they soon found a variety of pretty grasses.
+
+"Fudge!" said Ella Barton; "I'm not going to get any of that old
+hay--would you, Miss Walters?"
+
+"No, certainly not, if I did not want the trouble of carrying it; but
+I think them very lovely to put with branches of bayberry, as they
+form such a pretty contrast of color with the delicate pearl-gray
+berries and brown branches; and if you add a few bunches of bright red
+arum berries, you have a pretty, fadeless winter bouquet."
+
+"Where can we get the bayberries?" said Fred, coming up.
+
+"In most places near the salt water. In the town where my home is,
+there are acres and acres of it; and may be at Thanksgiving time I can
+send you some to distribute, or, better still, you might make up a
+party, and come down. I'll promise you a fine tramp, plenty of
+berries, and perhaps my mother will let you taste of her Thanksgiving
+pies."
+
+Off went Fred's hat high in the air. "Hurrah for the pie! I'll
+certainly go, if you'd like to have me."
+
+Miss Walters laughed, and said nothing would give her greater pleasure
+than to welcome the whole party.
+
+"O, Miss Walters, what's this lovely flower?" "Come here, come here!"
+"O, how lovely! here's plenty more!" "And here, and here," were the
+exclamations of several of the advancing stragglers.
+
+All who were with Miss Walters hastened forward; and there, in a wet,
+treacherous-looking place, grew patches of a most delicate
+lilac-colored or light purple flower.
+
+"O, that's Arethusa," said the teacher; "it is very beautiful."
+Rubber boots only can get at them; and two or three boys soon returned
+with hands full, which they distributed. Miss Walters said they could
+not stop to analyze any that day, but some of each kind must be put in
+the botany box, for the class to work with at some future time. As
+they walked along, Miss Walters told them that the flower was named
+after Arethusa of Grecian story, who was changed by Diana into a
+fountain, to escape from the god of the river where she was one day
+surprised by him while bathing.
+
+They had not gone far when Phil and two of the girls came running up
+with hands full of the Sarracenia, or pitcher-plant.
+
+"What fine specimens!" said Miss Walters.
+
+"O, I know where they grow!" said Phil. "I always go for them every
+year, just over that old fence, in a boggy place. I like them better
+than almost any of the plants, they are so curious. But where's a
+basket?"
+
+"Here, Amy!" called Bessie White; "can't you let me put my small lunch
+in your big basket with yours, and let Phil have mine for a specimen
+basket?"
+
+This arrangement being satisfactorily made, they moved along, one of
+the girls telling the new comers of the Arethusa and its name. And it
+was decided that all Miss Walters might tell them concerning the
+flowers should be written down, for the benefit of all, as they were
+often separated, searching for specimens.
+
+In the next meadow they came upon beds of Menyanthes--an ugly name,
+and its common one of buck-bean is not much better. They could find
+but few perfect specimens of the pretty white velvety flowers, with
+their yellow and brown anthers, as it was rather late for them.
+
+They found Pogonias and buds of Calopogon,--pretty pinkish
+flowers,--both of which Miss Walters told them were closely related,
+and, indeed, belonged to the same family as the Arethusa. This was the
+Orchid family, which contained a large number of beautiful but strange
+plants, about a dozen of which were common in New England.
+
+On the edge of an overgrown ditch near by they found very nice
+specimens of Andromeda.
+
+"See," said Miss Walters, "how white and lovely these bells are, in
+spite of the cold wet places where it is compelled to grow. It is
+named after Andromeda, famed in Grecian myths, a victim to her
+mother's pride of beauty. Her mother had dared to compare herself to
+the sea nymphs, for which they, enraged, sent a huge monster to ravage
+the coast. To appease the nymphs, her father thought he must sacrifice
+his daughter; so he chained her to the water's edge; but as the
+monster approached, Perseus, assisted by the gods, killed him,
+delivered Andromeda, and afterwards married her."
+
+The party now turned from the meadows on to higher ground. Houstonias
+and violets, with here and there Potentilla, covered the ground, the
+last so called because it was supposed to be powerful in medicine,
+_potens_, from which it is derived, meaning powerful.
+
+The Saxifrage on the rocks, derived from Latin words, indicating its
+manner of growth.
+
+Anemones, or wind flowers, were not entirely gone; so named because it
+was formerly thought the flowers only opened when the wind blew.
+
+Specimens multiplied. Each little group found something new.
+
+Trilliums, remarkable for having leaves, sepals, petals, and
+seed-vessels in threes; Smilacina, with its clean, green leaves, and
+white flowers, grew plentifully about them; Streptopus, meaning
+twisted foot, called so because its foot, or pedicel, is twisted.
+
+About five o'clock they began their homeward walk, which took them
+round through some grand old pine woods. At last they came to their
+resting-place. All were more or less tired; and glad were they when
+they saw the black mouth of the cave open invitingly before them. Some
+threw themselves on the rock outside, some went in and rested on the
+fragrant hay that Arthur had piled on the floor.
+
+After resting a while in the cool shade, Phil said, "I have a bright
+thought that rhymes with 'light.'"
+
+"Is it the opposite of 'loose'?"
+
+"It is not 'tight.'"
+
+"Is it what you are sometimes?"
+
+"It is not 'bright.'"
+
+"O, I meant a 'fright'!"
+
+"Thank you; it is not 'fright.'"
+
+"Is it what we are all wishing for?"
+
+"It is a 'bite.'"
+
+This was greeted with a shout, and committee number one,
+self-appointed, started for the baskets. Others arranged the table
+with boards and rocks put outside the cave door. The eatables were
+soon temptingly arranged. The jug of coffee and bottle of milk, with
+rubber mugs, were placed under Arthur's care; and he soon had as much
+as he could do to pour the refreshing draughts.
+
+The girls had little to do, the boys doing the honors in fine style.
+Very merry they grew over the good things; and so intent were they
+trying to sell the last at auction, that they never noticed a large
+cloud that had overspread the sky, until a few drops of rain fell upon
+the table.
+
+"Here's a pretty go!" said Fred. "Run, Miss Walters; and, girls, get
+into the cave, and we'll clear the tables."
+
+[Illustration: {The friends' picnic is spoiled by the rain}]
+
+Busy hands quickly disposed of all the articles to be kept dry, and
+the boys were glad to get into the friendly shelter. Down came the
+rain, heavily rolled the thunder, and for a little while the lightning
+was vivid. Soon the rain began to find its way into the cave.
+
+"This will not do. Where's the table, Fred? We must have up a storm
+door," said Phil.
+
+"All ready to slide right up," said Fred. "Arthur, will you get the
+chandelier ready? for it will be rather dark when the door is up."
+
+Arthur crept on his hands and knees to a little crevice in the inner
+part of the cave, and drew out a tin box, with four holes in the
+cover. The girls gathered around, and were much amused to see him take
+out his four candles. These he stuck into the holes of the box; and
+lighting them, he placed them on a shelf prepared expressly for the
+occasion.
+
+Never were boys and girls more happy. They were enjoying excitement
+without danger or discomfort. They sang, played games; and when the
+rain had nearly ceased, some of the boys ran out and lighted the fire.
+They had kept the wood dry. Then turning the table on its side, they
+put out the candles, and had the full benefit of the fire-light. For a
+while conundrums were the order of the day; then they drew lots to
+determine who should tell the first story. It fell to Millie Gray,
+who, with timid modesty, demurred; but the penalty threatened for
+default was so great, that though she had never told a story in her
+life, she thought she had better begin now. Attentively they listened,
+waiting for her to begin. Presently she commenced.
+
+"There was, once upon a time, a beautiful little girl, with blue eyes
+and golden hair."
+
+"O," interrupted Fred, "can't we have this one with black eyes and
+red hair, or brown eyes; I'm tired of blue eyes and yellow hair."
+
+"No, no, no," said Arthur; "I like blue eyes. Go on, Millie." With a
+blush--for her own were blue, and she knew what Arthur meant--she
+continued.
+
+"Well, I like to oblige all parties," replied Millie. "Suppose we say
+her eyes were black and blue; but if any one else interrupts, I'll
+have them committed for contempt of court, and they shall be bound
+over to keep the peace."
+
+"Which piece?" Fred was beginning to say, when Arthur jumped up and
+placed his hand over Fred's mouth, saying, "Consider yourself bound
+over, sir."
+
+"Well, this little girl lived in a deep forest, in a little bit of a
+house, with no one for company but her grandmother and a little yellow
+dog.
+
+"The grandmother was just as cross as she could be, and poor
+little--let's see, what shall I call her?"
+
+"Odahbeetoqua," suggested Fred. "I suppose she was descended from the
+Indians."
+
+"Yes," said Millie, very seriously, "that was her name; but nobody
+called her by it all at one time; they said Daisy, for short.
+
+"Well, one day little Daisy felt so sad and lonely, and her
+grandmother had been so cross, that she said to the little yellow
+dog,--
+
+"'Tip, let's run away. I'm tired of staying here. Granny is so cross,
+I cannot stand it another minute.'
+
+"'Yes, indeed. I'll go with you, Daisy,' said Tip, wagging his tail;
+'for this morning, when I was licking up a bit of butter off the
+floor, she kicked me, and hit me over the head with a broom, and threw
+a stick of wood after me as I indignantly left the premises, and
+wounded my feelings very much.'
+
+"'But then, Tip, suppose we should get lost in the woods, and die of
+starvation, and bears should eat us up.'
+
+"'Trust to me, Daisy,' Tip replied. 'I will lead you safely out of the
+wood, and see that nothing hurts you.'
+
+"Just then a woman came to the door, and said, 'I have heard your
+conversation. Come with me, and you shall both live in a nice house,
+where you can play all day, and have fine clothes, and plenty to eat.'
+
+"'Ah, wouldn't that be pleasant!' said Daisy; and she was just
+preparing to go with the woman, when she stopped suddenly, and said,
+'But who will get wood for granny's fire? and who will pick berries
+for her? She'd die if we should leave her alone. No, I can't leave
+her. She's very cross; but then, she is sick all the time, nearly, and
+I won't go.'
+
+"'O, yes, do!' said the woman. 'I have a lovely white pony, as gentle
+as a kitten, that you shall have to ride, and beautiful dresses. You'd
+better come.'
+
+"'Thank you,' said Daisy; 'I'd like to go with you. You may take Tip.
+Perhaps he'd like to go, but I won't leave grandmother; she'd die if I
+did.'
+
+"No sooner had Daisy finished speaking, than the woman turned into a
+beautiful fairy, the shanty turned into a palace, granny turned into a
+queen, Daisy into a lovely princess, with black and blue--I mean
+heavenly--eyes, and Tip turned into a beautiful prince, all dressed in
+embroidered green velvet; and down on his knees he fell at the
+princess's feet, vowing love and fidelity untold.
+
+"The fairy spread her wings over the young couple, saying, 'Behold the
+reward of unselfishness!' and vanished, leaving them in all their
+bliss."
+
+Millie's story was greeted with shouts of applause and flattering
+comments.
+
+The boys were about renewing the fire, when Miss Walters announced
+that it was seven o'clock.
+
+"O, don't go yet!" shouted Phil from the wood-pile. "We've wood
+enough for an hour yet. Seven o'clock's awful early."
+
+"Don't go, don't go!" came from a chorus of voices; and Miss Walters,
+who only cared for their comfort, said she would stay if that was the
+general wish, or would go with any of the girls that were in haste to
+get home. No one made any movement to go, and she was quietly led back
+to her throne on the hay, at the entrance of the cave.
+
+A song was proposed, and Miss W. led them in the sweet words of "In
+the Beauty of the Lilies," the boys coming out strong with the chorus.
+Then two girls sang a duet very sweetly. Another hour glided swiftly
+away, when Miss Walters said, "Phil, your fire burns low; push the
+blazing ends for a final blaze, so we may get all our things; for we
+must go now."
+
+Everything arranged, they bade good by to the hospitable cave, then
+marched down the hill, the boys whistling "When Johnny comes marching
+Home."
+
+On they trudged, dropping various members of their little party as
+they turned off to go to their homes. All agreed they had had a
+delightful day.
+
+                                                    F. E. S.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The lynx, bear and eagle go after the hunters' buffalo
+    carcass}]
+
+THE HAUNTS OF WILD BEASTS.
+
+
+In crossing the forests which lie about that singular system of ponds
+and lakes that occupy the northern interior of the State of Maine, the
+tourist and hunter will often come upon well-beaten paths, running
+through the woods, trodden hard, as if by the passage of myriads of
+feet; and this in a region rarely, or never, entered by man. They are
+the paths of wild beasts--bears, lynxes, wildcats, the moose, and the
+carribou,--along which they pass from lake to lake, in pursuit of
+their food, or upon hostile forays. When two lakes adjoin each other,
+with no more than a mile or half a mile of forest between them, there
+will nearly always be found, across the narrowest part of the isthmus,
+a path of this sort, more or less worn, according as the locality
+abounds with game, or the lakes with fish.
+
+[Illustration: THE GRIZZLY BEAR.]
+
+One of the widest and most used of these that I have ever seen, led
+from the bank of Moose River up to the low shores of Holeb Pond, in
+one of the not yet numbered townships near the Canada line--so near
+that the high, dingy summit of the "Hog's Back" was plainly visible to
+the north-westward. Starting out from between two large boulders on
+the stream, which at this point is broken by rips, it runs crooking
+and turning amid clumps of hazel and alder, till lost to view in a
+wide flat, covered with "high bush" cranberries, but lost to sight
+only, however; for its tortuous course still continues beneath the
+thick shrubs, until at a distance of two hundred rods it emerges on
+the pond.
+
+Happening to cross it a year ago last autumn, in company with Rod
+Nichols (my comrade on these tramps), the idea suggested itself that a
+good thing might perhaps be done by setting our traps along the path.
+For where there were so many passing feet, some of them might without
+doubt be entrapped.
+
+Rod thought it was the "beat" of some bears, or "lucivees," while I
+inclined to the opinion that otters or "fishers" had made it.
+
+So we brought up our traps,--half a dozen small ones, which we used
+for sable and otter--from the dug-out (canoe) down on the stream, and
+during the following afternoon set them at different points in the
+path, between the border of the cranberry flat and the river. Then
+drawing our canoe up out of the water, we encamped on the stream about
+a mile below the path, and waited for the game.
+
+Our stock of deer meat had got out. We had to content ourselves, both
+for supper and breakfast, the following morning, with a couple of
+hares--lean as usual. Who ever saw a fat hare?
+
+Old hunters are always telling the young sportsman about the
+marvellous properties of shaving-soap made from hare's tallow and
+cedar ashes. The flesh has about as much taste and nutrition in it
+as--so much paper pulp, for want of a better comparison to express its
+utter lack of flavor. But during the forenoon we managed to shoot four
+partridges. These we first parboiled in our camp kettle, then broiled
+on coals. They made us a comfortable dinner; and towards sunset we
+again paddled up the stream, to visit the traps.
+
+Coming near where the path strikes out from the river, we drew up the
+dug-out, and followed in to the place where we had set the first trap.
+It was gone; but the grass about the spot was beaten down, and the
+bushes broken. And on looking around, we discovered a trail leading
+off through the weeds. Following this for ten or a dozen rods, we came
+to a large, rough stone; and near it lay the trap, shattered and bent,
+with the springs broken, and the jaws gaping and powerless. The stone,
+too, looked newly scratched, as if from heavy blows. The trap had
+evidently been beaten upon.
+
+"Some large animal," said I.
+
+"Bear, probably," said Rod. "They will frequently smash up a small
+trap to get it off their feet."
+
+Whatever it was, the creature had freed himself and gone. Rod picked
+up the broken trap, and we went back, and on to the next.
+
+This one was just as we had placed it--not sprung. So we kept on to
+the third, which was sprung, but empty, with little clots of hair
+clinging to the teeth. The hair looked like that of a sable; but he,
+too, had escaped.
+
+The fourth was sprung and drawn out of the path. We crept cautiously
+up, and lo! we had a contemptible little musquash (muskrat)--skin not
+worth a shilling. He was busy as a bee gnawing at his leg. In a few
+minutes more he would have been at liberty--minus a foot. If left any
+length of time after being caught, they will frequently gnaw off the
+leg in the trap. For this reason, those who make a business of
+trapping them set their traps under water, well weighted. They will
+then drown in a few moments, and may thus be secured.
+
+The last two traps were not sprung.
+
+"A big thing this!" muttered Rod. "Had our labor for our pains. Too
+bad."
+
+We were near the edge of the cranberry flat; and just as Rod was
+bemoaning our poor luck, a slight crackling out in the thick cranberry
+bushes came to our ears.
+
+"Hark!" whispered Rod; "something out there. The bear, perhaps."
+
+Standing on tiptoe, we peeped quietly over the tops of the bushes, now
+laden with the green cranberries. Off some seventeen or eighteen rods,
+something was slowly moving. We could see it plainly--something which,
+at first sight, looked like the roots of an old dry pine stump, a
+great mass of stubs and prongs.
+
+"A moose!" exclaimed Rod, in an eager whisper. "A moose browsing the
+cranberries! Quick with your rifle! Together now!"
+
+We both fired. The huge animal, fully nine feet in height beneath his
+antlers, bounded into the air at the reports, with a wild, hoarse cry,
+which I can compare to nothing I have ever heard for hideousness. In a
+frightful way it resembled the neigh of a horse, or, rather, the loud
+squeal of that animal when bitten or otherwise hurt--bounded up, then
+fell, floundering and wallowing amid the cranberries, uttering
+hideous moans.
+
+As quickly as we could for the thick and tangled bushes, we made our
+way out towards the spot. The fearful struggles stilled as we drew
+near. Our aim, at so short a distance, had been thoroughly fatal. A
+great opening in the bushes had been smashed down, in the midst of
+which lay the moose, with its large nostrils dilated, gasping and
+quivering. But its great ox eyes were set, and rapidly glazing. The
+bushes were all besprinkled and drenched with blood. One bullet had
+struck and broken the skull into the brain; that was Rod's. Mine had
+gone into the breast, striking the lungs,--probably, from the profuse
+bleeding.
+
+"A pretty good shot!" exclaimed Rod, looking upon the slaughter from a
+purely business stand-point. "Moosehide is always worth something. So
+are those antlers. A noble set--aren't they? All of four feet broad
+across the top. Pretty heavy to lug; we can put them in the canoe,
+though."
+
+"Then there's the meat," said I.
+
+"That's so," cried Rod, smacking his lips. "No more rabbit's broth for
+us at present. O, won't we have some grand moose steaks! Do you hear
+that, old boy? How does that strike your fancy? Come, let's skin him,
+and cut him up. I long to behold some of that surloin broiling! Rabbit
+meat, indeed!" and Rod whipped out his hunting-knife, and fell upon
+the carcass with the zeal of a hungry bald eagle.
+
+In a few minutes we had stripped off the skin. Rod then wrenched off
+the antlers, cut out the muffle (the end of the nose), and also about
+a hundred weight of what he considered the choicest of the meat. The
+rest of it--nine or ten hundred pounds--we could only leave where it
+had fallen. It would be of no use to us, so far from the settled
+lands.
+
+[Illustration: THE TIGER.]
+
+To carry our spoils down to our canoe, we had to make two trips; for
+the antlers alone were as much as one could take along at once. We had
+gone back after them and the hide.
+
+"Too bad," remarked Rod, "to leave all this flesh here to rot above
+ground."
+
+"I doubt if it be left to rot above ground," said I. "There are too
+many hungry mouths about for that."
+
+"Right there," said Rod; "and that makes me think we might use it to
+lure them, and to bait our traps with. Drag it out to the path, and
+set the traps round it."
+
+The idea seemed a good one. So we cut the remains of the carcass in
+two. Whole it was too heavy to be moved. Then, fastening some stout
+withes into them, we dragged the pieces, one after the other, out to
+the path, and left it at the place where the path entered the
+cranberry bushes. This done, we set the traps about it,--the remaining
+five,--and then went back to the canoe with the antlers and skin.
+
+"Made a very fair thing of it, after all," remarked Rod, as we floated
+with the current down to our camp. "Tell you what, old fellow, these
+steaks are not to be sneezed at. More than ordinary pot luck just at
+this time."
+
+It is needless to say that we fully satisfied our taste for venison
+that night, or that our breakfast next morning was merely a repetition
+of supper. Such things are to be expected in the wilderness. Suffice
+it to add, that we neither overate nor overslept, but were up betimes,
+and off to examine our traps considerably before sunrise. We did not
+go up in the canoe on the river, but walked along the bank through the
+woods.
+
+"We may surprise a bear or a lynx at the carcass," said Rod.
+
+So, as we drew near the place where we had left it in the path the
+evening before, we made our way amid the brush with as little noise
+as possible. A small hollow, overrun with hackmatack, led up towards
+the spot. We crept along the bed of it, in order to approach
+unobserved. Pausing a moment to listen, the clank of a chain came
+faintly to our ears, then a growling, worrying noise, heard when two
+creatures, jealous of each other's rights, eat from the same piece.
+
+"Game!" whispered Rod.
+
+Climbing quietly up the steep side, we peeped out from amid the green
+boughs. We had got up within nine or ten rods; but intervening bushes
+partially hid the carcass. Something was moving about it,
+however--something black. The trap chains were rattling. Then a big
+black head was raised, to growl; and as if in reply came a sharp snarl
+from some animal out of sight. The black creature darted forward; and
+a great uproar arose, growling, grappling, and spitting, at which
+there flew up a whole flock of crows, cawing and hawing; and the noise
+increasing, there sprang into the air, at a single flap, a great
+yellow bird, uttering a savage scream.
+
+"An eagle!" whispered Rod; "and that black creature's a bear, I guess.
+Can't see him just plainly. Growls like one, though. Fighting with
+some other animal--isn't he? Some sort of a cat, by the spitting."
+
+"Shall we fire on them?" said I.
+
+"No; let 'em have it out," said Rod. "One of them will be pretty sure
+to get chewed up, and the other won't leave the carcass. Besides, the
+cat's in the trap, I reckon, by the rattling." For the jingling of the
+chain could still be heard over the howling they were making. But ere
+the fight had lasted many seconds, a suppressed screech, followed by a
+crunching sound, told ill for one or the other of the combatants. "The
+cat's got his death hug," muttered Rod.
+
+Presently the bear--a great, clumsy-looking fellow--came out into
+view, strutted along, scrubbing his feet on the grass, like a dog, and
+went back to the carcass. The eagle and the crows had come back to it.
+They flew before him.
+
+"Keep your eye on the eagle," whispered Rod. "I would like to get him.
+It isn't a 'white head.' Never saw one like it."
+
+The great bird circled slowly several times, then stooped, almost
+touching the bear's shaggy back with its hooked talons. At that the
+bear raised his ugly muzzle, all reeking from his feast, and growled
+menacingly. This was repeated several times, the bear warning him off
+at each stoop, and sometimes striking with his big paw. Finding the
+bear not inclined to divide with him, the eagle, with one mighty flap
+of his wings, rose up to the top of a tall hemlock standing near, and
+perched upon it. We could see the branches bend and sway beneath his
+weight.
+
+"I'll have him now," muttered Rod, poking the muzzle of his rifle out
+through the boughs. "You take the bear. Ready! now!"
+
+We blazed away. With a wild shriek the eagle came tumbling down
+through the hemlock. Rod ran out towards him, and I made up to the
+bear. Old Bruin was merely wounded--an ugly flesh wound; and not
+knowing whence it came, he had flown at the dead lynx,--for such it
+turned out to be,--and was giving him another hugging. Seeing me, he
+started up, to rectify his mistake, probably; but I had put in another
+charge, and instantly gave him a quietus. Just then Rod came up,
+dragging the eagle.
+
+"Never saw one like it," exclaimed he. "I mean to take it down to
+Greenville."
+
+After skinning the bear and the lynx, we gathered up the traps, and
+went down to our camp. Together with the spoils of the moose, we had
+now a full canoe load, and stowing them in, went down the river that
+afternoon. Two days after, we arrived at Greenville, at the foot of
+Moosehead Lake. There we fell in with a party of tourists--from
+Boston, I believe. They pronounced Rod's "big bird" to be a golden
+eagle.
+
+                                             C. A. STEPHENS.
+
+
+
+
+WORSHIP OF NATURE.
+
+
+    The green earth sends her incense up
+      From many a mountain shrine;
+    From folded leaf and dewy cup,
+      She pours her sacred wine.
+
+    The mists above the morning rills
+      Rise white as wings of prayer;
+    The altar curtains of the hills
+      Are sunset's purple air.
+
+
+
+
+A HUNTING ADVENTURE.
+
+
+Tired of the heat and confusion of the city, my friend Clarke and I
+left New York one fine morning for a hunting excursion on the
+prairies.
+
+At Galena, on the Mississippi, we went aboard a steamer which conveyed
+us to St. Paul. Here we fitted out for the trip, and finally, at Sauk
+Rapids set our foot for the first time on the prairie.
+
+From the Mississippi, at Sauk Rapids, we struck about north-west
+across the prairie for Fort Garry, a Hudson Bay Company's fort, at the
+junction of the Assiniboine and Red River, where we replenished some
+of our stores; and thence we travelled through the Sioux, or Da-ko-tah
+country, until we reached Turtle Mountain.
+
+Our party consisted of Clarke and myself, two French Canadians, whom
+we had engaged at St. Paul, and a half-breed, whom we had met on the
+frontier before reaching Fort Garry.
+
+One evening, before camping at the base of Turtle Mountain, Clarke and
+I gave chase to some buffalo, and I killed one, which I proceeded to
+cut up at once by removing the tongue and undercut of the fillet. The
+meat I tied to the thongs of my saddle, placed there especially for
+that purpose, and I rejoined the camp before nightfall. Clarke came
+back shortly afterwards, having killed his buffalo in three or four
+shots, and after a long chase. This had delayed him so much, that he
+lacked time to cut up his animal; so he marked the spot as well as he
+could by its bearings with Turtle Mountain, and he rode homewards to
+the camp, intending to go on the following morning, and get the meat
+for home consumption.
+
+We cooked and ate our dinners, and rolling ourselves up in our buffalo
+robes, we slept most soundly. The following morning, Clarke went out
+and fetched his pony, which was picketed near the camp, saddled it,
+took his rifle and hunting-knife, and then off he started to look for
+the dead buffalo of the previous evening, cut it up, and bring home
+some of the meat.
+
+I remained in camp; and as my wardrobe was rather dilapidated from
+constant hunting, and the limited number of clothes I had with me, I
+proceeded to mend my trousers, which were worn through just where it
+might naturally be expected they would first give way. This I could
+only do by shortening the legs of the garment. However, the end
+justified the means in this case.
+
+These repairs, with other necessary work about our rifles and guns,
+occupied the morning very pleasantly; and about midday I went up the
+hill behind our camp, where a small bluff, or headland, projected from
+it over the vast grassy plain. I took my telescope with me, as every
+traveller in those wild regions should always do, when spying out
+either the fatness of the land or the possible surrounding dangers.
+Far and wide my eye fell over the gentle undulations of the prairie,
+but no deer or buffalo could I see.
+
+No; instead of quietly feeding game, I discovered my friend Clarke,
+some three or four miles from camp, galloping at the top of his
+horse's speed towards us, and five Indians in hot pursuit of him.
+
+Knowing his danger, I of course ran down the bluff as hard as I could
+to the camp, and holloaed to the men to make haste and come to the
+rescue. I then ran for my pony, which was picketed at a short distance
+from our tent; but he was difficult to catch, or had drawn his peg out
+of the ground. At any rate, I could not get hold of him; so I gave
+him up, and seizing my rifle, darted off as hard as I could to meet my
+friend.
+
+[Illustration: {Clarke being pursued by the Indians}]
+
+The men also turned out with their guns; and soon afterwards Clarke
+rode up, both he and his pony looking much distressed. Clarke was as
+white as a sheet, and his pony was completely blown. The Indians
+sheered off on seeing us ready with our rifles. So no shot was fired;
+for they never came within range.
+
+I then asked Clarke what had happened; and I give you his story of the
+affair.
+
+On leaving camp in the morning, he had gone in search of the dead
+buffalo of the previous night. He soon found the carcass; and wishing
+to bring home the meat, he got off his pony, tied the animal to the
+horns of the buffalo,--as you are always taught to do in the Indian
+country,--and straightway began to cut off the pieces of meat which he
+wished to bring back to camp. Whilst so employed, he thought he saw
+another herd of buffalo not far away; so he finished cutting off the
+meat, and rode towards the new herd, on murderous thoughts intent.
+
+He stalked the herd for some distance, until he thought himself
+tolerably near, when he looked round the corner of a hillock, and then
+to his horror found he had been carefully approaching five Indians,
+who were congregated round a dead buffalo, their horses close by, and
+the men occupied in cutting up the beast.
+
+Before he could turn to flee out of sight the Indians discovered him.
+They were Sioux, and at war with the whites. Instantly they jumped on
+their horses and gave chase, fired, no doubt, with the noble zeal to
+hang a white scalp in a Sioux lodge. Off went Clarke as hard as his
+little pony could carry him, the Indians shouting behind, and
+brandishing their guns in the air as they became excited by the chase,
+whilst he was thinking of the probability that existed of his scalp
+returning to camp, or dangling at the saddle-bow of one of these
+bloodthirsty savages.
+
+Clarke supposes that he was five or six miles from camp when the chase
+began; and he recollected well throwing the cover away from his rifle,
+in preparation for a fight should his pony fall, or the Indians catch
+him through the superior speed of their animals.
+
+Imagine the horrible feelings of a young fellow galloping away from
+five wild redskins, who not only desire to kill him then and there,
+but have, further, the sportsman-like anxiety to strip his scalp, and
+hang the dearly-beloved trophy in some filthy lodge, where it will
+gradually dry up, and remain the most valued heirloom in the family of
+the "Big Snake," or the "Screeching Eagle," or some other no less
+happily-named Sioux.
+
+Their horrible shrieks ring in his ears, whilst he anxiously measures
+with his eyes the distance betwixt himself and his bloodthirsty
+pursuers; he endeavors to estimate his chances of escape, and longs
+for the protection of the camp, as Wellington longed for night or
+Blucher, knowing that if he falls he will be shot, or tomahawked and
+scalped, in the course of a couple of minutes.
+
+No wonder, then, that poor Clarke did look as if he had seen a ghost,
+or encountered something even much worse; nor do I believe that during
+his subsequent army service he was ever much nearer a horrible death
+than during the few minutes which that pursuit lasted.
+
+To conclude the account of this adventure, we covered his return to
+camp with our rifles, as I mentioned in the earlier part of this
+story; and you may conceive that we kept a very strict watch in the
+camp during the night, fearing lest the Sioux should either stampede
+us with an increased number of their friends after nightfall, or try
+to carry off our horses, and leave us deserted in the midst of the
+prairie. However, the night passed off quietly; and often since then
+have Clarke and I talked over this memorable adventure.
+
+
+
+
+    One step and then another,
+      And the longest walk is ended;
+    One stitch and then another,
+      And the largest rent is mended.
+    One brick upon another,
+      And the highest wall is made;
+    One flake upon another,
+      And the deepest snow is laid.
+
+
+
+
+NEARLY LOST.
+
+
+"I know what I shall do!" exclaimed Walter Harrison to about a dozen
+other boys, his schoolfellows, who were standing round him. "I shall
+just tell 'old Barnacles' that my father and mother wish me to have a
+holiday this afternoon, and he can't say 'no' to that. It's the
+simplest and best way. If you all agree to it, we shall get a holiday
+all around. Who'll go in for my plan?"
+
+"I will! and I! and I!" responded nearly all the boys.
+
+The facts of the case were simply these: There were taking place in a
+park close by a series of athletic sports, and this afternoon the
+admission was free to any one who chose to go. Of course all the boys
+in Mr. Jackson's school were mad to see the sports; but by the time
+the school was out the best fun would be over, and the majority of the
+boys guessed pretty shrewdly what would be the result of asking their
+parents to let them stay away. The grand idea was to induce the master
+to give a general holiday, but the question was how that desirable end
+was to be brought about. It had been suggested to stay away bodily,
+without so much as saying, "With your leave or by your leave;" but as
+such a course carried a certainty of punishment in its train, it was
+universally rejected. Another idea, which had received some favor, had
+been to trip up the poor half-blind schoolmaster, quite by accident,
+and by rendering him incapable obtain the desired holiday, but there
+had been a majority found to protest against such cruelty; and now
+Walter Harrison had suggested his plan. But although most of them were
+inclined to adopt it, there were two who resolutely refused to do so.
+
+"Why won't you join us?" asked Walter of these two.
+
+"I sha'n't, because I'm not going to tell a pack of lies for the sake
+of a holiday," answered Willie Ford, the younger of the two.
+
+"How good we are!" replied Walter, tauntingly; and then throwing his
+cap up into the air, he sang out:
+
+    "'There was a curly-headed boy
+      Who never told a lie;
+    He knew a trick worth two of that:
+      That was the reason why.'
+
+"Sly fox!" he said, patting Willie on the back. "He does the 'good'
+dodge to perfection, and finds it answers too; don't you, Ford?"
+
+Walter's sallies were received with roars of laughter by the boys.
+Willie took no notice of them, although it was a difficult matter to
+restrain his anger.
+
+"What a milksop the fellow is!" cried out one of the boys.
+
+"A stupid little muff!" cried another.
+
+"Am I?" cried Willie, his temper now fully roused; "I'll show you
+about that. Although I'm not going to tell lies, I'll fight any one of
+you. Come now, Harrison, let's have it out together."
+
+Harrison burst out laughing: "Fancy me fighting with a little
+cock-sparrow like you! I should like to see myself!"
+
+Willie was about to burst out again, but a friendly hand was laid on
+his arm, and his friend Philip said, gently, "Come away, Will; no
+fighting about such a trifle as that, lad."
+
+"What a peppery little chap!" called out Walter as Willie turned away
+with his friend. "Pepper and sop! Ugh! what a nasty mess!"
+
+The boys followed out their plan, and got their holiday, all except
+Willie and Philip and several little fellows who had taken no interest
+in the matter.
+
+School over, the two boys rushed off in the hope that they might be in
+time to see something. They were too late, however, for the
+performances were just coming to an end when they arrived, so they
+started for a stroll through the beautiful park, which was not often
+open to the public.
+
+"Why, there are our fellows!" said Philip as they suddenly came in
+sight of a group of boys on the edge of the magnificent lake.
+
+"What are they up to? They're very busy about something!" exclaimed
+Willie.
+
+"Let's go and see," Philip said, in reply.
+
+As they came nearer they could tell that the boys were gesticulating
+and shouting to something in the water.
+
+"It can't be one of them gone in and lost his depth," said Willie,
+anxiously.
+
+No such thing, as they found when they got close--only a dog that the
+boys were amusing themselves by seeing how long they could keep under
+water. The creature was making frantic efforts to gain a
+landing-place, but as he approached the shore they drove him back with
+sticks and stones.
+
+"We're teaching him to swim," cried one as Philip and Willie came up.
+"A miserable little mongrel! he can't swim a bit!"
+
+"Why, don't you see," cried Willie, eagerly, "that he's as weak as a
+rat? He can scarcely support himself in the water. I should think he's
+been starved."
+
+At this moment the dog, being turned back once more, disappeared,
+quite close to the shore. With a loud cry of pain and anger, Willie
+darted through the boys, and wading into the shallow water succeeded
+in enticing the drowning dog toward him. He came out, holding the
+dripping creature safely in his arms.
+
+"We must carry it home," he said to Philip, after they had vainly
+endeavored to set it upon its feet; and accordingly, they started off
+at a good pace, the poor half-drowned animal safely sheltered in
+Willie's arms.
+
+Well might his mother be alarmed to see him come home to tea in such a
+plight; but when she heard his explanation, she was quite ready to
+sympathize with him, and told him he had done bravely and well to
+rescue the poor animal. As he seemed none the worse for his wetting,
+he was allowed to come down stairs again as soon as he had put on dry
+things. Very tenderly the little half-starved dog was fed with warmed
+milk. He had fallen into good hands. Willie's father and mother were
+kind Christian people, who had taught their children to be gentle and
+considerate to the meanest of God's creatures.
+
+"Why, Willie, he's a fine fellow, and only quite a puppy; he will be a
+splendid dog when he is fully grown," his father said, when the animal
+had recovered sufficiently to be examined.
+
+And so it proved. Bruno, as Willie named him, turned out a splendid
+creature. His devotion to the whole family, but especially to Willie,
+was quite touching to see. He would obey the slightest gesture of his
+young master in every matter except one. As a child once burned dreads
+the fire, so Bruno, once nearly drowned, could never be induced to
+enter the water.
+
+While Bruno was developing into a handsome dog, Willie, you may be
+sure, was not standing still. He had grown into a fine strong lad, and
+got beyond poor old Dr. Jackson's school.
+
+To the last day of his stay there he and Walter Harrison never managed
+to get on very good terms, and a suspected unfairness in the matter of
+obtaining a prize made them part with still greater coldness.
+
+A year or two after he had left school Willie's parents went with
+their family to spend the summer months near the sea. Before they had
+been in their new quarters many weeks, much to Willie's vexation and
+disappointment, he found that Walter and his parents were also staying
+in the same town, and quite close to him.
+
+The two lads frequently met, but they could get on no better now than
+they had done in the old days. Walter still looked upon Willie as a
+contemptible little milksop, and Willie was inclined to consider
+Walter's exploits more the result of foolhardiness than bravery.
+
+One day they met on the beach. Walter had come down with a friend to
+take a boat.
+
+"Rather rough for rowing," Willie called out as he passed, "but I
+suppose you're a good oar."
+
+"What's that to you?" responded Walter, insolently; "I suppose you're
+afraid of a little sea."
+
+"I don't see the pleasure of going out when there's any risk," Willie
+replied, good-humoredly.
+
+"How precious careful you are over yourself!" replied Walter.
+
+The boat pushed off, and away started the two friends. Willie, not
+caring to watch them after the haughty, rude manner in which his
+remark had been received, turned away; but before he had gone far his
+attention was attracted by a succession of shouts and ejaculations.
+
+The tiny boat had come to grief before they had got much more than
+fifty yards from the shore. In the unskilful hands of the two lads the
+little bark was a mere plaything in the angry sea. Carried on with a
+swiftness they were unable to check, they rushed headlong on to one of
+the hidden rocks with which the coast abounded. The boat turned over
+and disappeared, leaving its occupants struggling in the water.
+
+There were but few bystanders, and of these no one did more than talk
+and gesticulate and ask wildly what was to be done.
+
+The same impulse that had prompted Willie to rescue a drowning dog
+now caused him to risk his life in order to save that of the boy who
+had always shown so unfriendly a disposition toward him.
+
+Pulling off his coat, he threw it and his hat down on the shore; and
+giving Bruno an injunction to guard them, he plunged bravely into the
+tempestuous waves. He could swim well, and succeeded with great
+difficulty in reaching the spot where Walter had but a moment ago
+disappeared, and then began the terrible struggle for life.
+
+Bruno sat by his master's clothes and gazed out over the sea with eyes
+which looked almost human in their intelligent anxiety. Presently he
+grew restless, and in another moment the faithful creature dashed into
+the waves, and made resolutely for the spot where his master was
+laboriously engaged in trying to convey one of the drowning lads to
+shore.
+
+By the powerful aid of the noble dog Walter and Willie were saved; and
+a boat having now put off, Walter's friend was picked up after a
+while. What a cheer rent the air when the dog and the two lads gained
+the shore I cannot attempt to describe. Willie was never called a
+milksop any more, and Bruno was more loved and prized than ever.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+CHARLEY.
+
+
+I made the acquaintance of my little friend Charley under very unusual
+and startling circumstances. I saw a lad about fifteen years of age
+clinging desperately for very life to the topmast of a sunken ship. I
+will tell you how it happened.
+
+I must go back nearly twenty years. Indeed, I ought to explain that
+Charley was a little friend of mine a long time ago; now he's a
+grown-up man. Well, twenty years ago I was not very old myself, but my
+sister, who is some years older than I am, was already married, and
+her husband was very fond of yachting. They lived during a great part
+of the year in the Isle of Wight, and there I often used to go to stay
+with them.
+
+The "Swallow"--that was the name of my brother-in-law's yacht--was a
+beautiful boat, and many happy hours have I passed on board her as she
+skimmed merrily over the sparkling water. I delighted to sit on deck,
+watching the fishing-boats as they rode bravely from wave to wave, or
+sometimes wondering at some large ship as it passed by, on which men
+live for weeks and months without ever touching land. We used to sail
+long distances, and occasionally be out for several days and nights
+together. My brother-in-law's skipper could tell me what country
+almost every vessel that we saw was bound for. Some were sailing to
+climates where the heat is so great that our most sultry summer in
+England is comparatively cold; others were off northward, perhaps
+whale-fishing, where they would see huge icebergs and hear the
+growling of the polar bears.
+
+We were taking our last cruise of the season. It was already near the
+end of October, and the weather was becoming stormy. Passing out of
+the Solent into the Channel, we found the sea much rougher than we
+expected, and as night came on it blew a regular gale. The wind and
+sea roared, the rain poured down in torrents, and the night seemed to
+me to be the darkest I had ever known. But on board the "Swallow" we
+had no fear. We trusted to the seamanship of our skipper and the
+goodness of our vessel, and went to bed with minds as free from fear
+as if the sea were smooth and the sky clear.
+
+I awoke just as dawn was breaking, dressed quickly, and throwing a
+water-proof cloak over me popped my head up the companion-ladder to
+see how things looked. The old skipper was on deck; he had not turned
+in during the night. I wished him good-morning, and he remarked, in
+return, that the wind was going down, he thought. Looking at the sea,
+I observed two or three large fragments of wood floating near, and
+they attracted his notice at the same moment.
+
+"Has there been a wreck, captain?" I asked, with a feeling of awe.
+
+"That's about what it is, miss," answered the old seaman.
+
+"Do you think the people are drowned?" I inquired, anxiously.
+
+"Well," replied Captain Bounce, casting, as I thought, rather a
+contemptuous glance at me, "people don't in general live under water,
+miss."
+
+[Illustration: CHARLEY'S WELCOME HOME.]
+
+"Perhaps they may have had boats," I said, meekly. "Do you think
+boats could have reached the shore in such a storm?"
+
+"Well," answered the old captain, "they might have had boats, and they
+mightn't; and the boats, supposing they had 'em, might have lived
+through the storm, and at the same time they mightn't."
+
+This was not giving me much information, and I thought to myself that
+my friend the skipper did not seem so much inclined for a chat as
+usual. I turned to look at the sea in search of more pieces of wreck,
+when I discovered in the distance a dark speck rising out of the
+water. I pointed it out to the skipper at once, who took his glass out
+of his pocket, and after looking through it for a moment exclaimed,
+
+"There's something floating there, and a man clinging to it, as I'm
+alive!"
+
+As he spoke my brother-in-law came on deck, and also took a look
+through the telescope. Then he, the captain and every sailor on board
+became eager and excited. You would have thought it some dear friend
+of each whose life was to be saved. The yacht was headed in the
+direction of the object, the boat was quickly lowered, the captain
+himself, with four sailors, jumping into it, and in another minute
+they caught in their arms a poor little exhausted and fainting boy as
+he dropped from the mast of a large sunken ship. We could now
+distinguish the tops of all the three masts appearing above the waves,
+for the sea was not deep, and the ship had settled down in an upright
+position.
+
+Poor Charley Standish was soon in the cabin of the yacht, and after
+swallowing some champagne he revived sufficiently to tell us his
+story. The sunken ship was the "Melbourne," bound for Australia, and
+this was Charley's first voyage as a midshipman on board. During the
+darkness of the night she had been run into by a large homeward-bound
+merchantman of the same class. She sank within an hour of the
+collision. In the scramble for the boats Charley thought he had but
+little chance for finding a place; and as the ship filled and kept
+sinking deeper in the water, an instinct of self-preservation led him
+to climb into the rigging. Then up he went, higher and higher, even to
+the topmast; and at last, when the vessel went down all at once, he
+found himself, to his inexpressible relief, still above the surface.
+
+What most astonished us all was that a boy so young should have been
+able to hold on for more than an hour to a slippery mast, exposed to
+the fury of the wind, and within reach, even, of the lashing waves. We
+sailed home at once to the Isle of Wight, and wrote to the boy's
+mother, a widow living in London, to tell her of his safety. The boy
+himself stayed with us two or three days, until we bought him new
+clothes, and then went to his mother. Great was her joy when she once
+more clasped him to her loving heart. My brother-in-law took a great
+fancy to him. He has watched his career, and seen him at intervals
+ever since. Charley Standish is now a chief mate on board a great
+merchantman of the same class as the "Melbourne."
+
+
+
+
+THE PARSEES.
+
+
+The Parsees are supposed to be descendants of the ancient Persians,
+who, after the defeat of their King Yezdezerd, the last of the dynasty
+of Sassan, by the followers of Mohammed, fled to the mountains of
+Khorasan. On the death of Yezdezerd, they quitted their native land,
+and putting to sea, were permitted to settle at Sanjan, a place near
+the sea-coast, between Bombay and Surat, about twenty-four miles south
+of Damaun.
+
+The Parsees are now chiefly settled in Bombay, numbering about one
+hundred and fifteen thousand souls, or one fifth of the population.
+
+The most enterprising, in a commercial point of view, of the various
+races of Bombay, are the Parsees, some of whom are even more wealthy
+than the most successful of the European merchants. They bear the very
+highest character for honesty and industry, and are intelligent and
+benevolent. The late Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy was a faultless model of
+a merchant prince, in integrity, enterprise, and munificence. He
+founded a hospital that bears his name, and made himself conspicuous
+for his active benevolence up to the day of his death.
+
+Great numbers of the poorer Parsees are clerks in the government
+offices--a species of service for which they are peculiarly fitted, on
+account of their attention to business, industry, and general
+intelligence. Their inclinations are essentially pacific; and such a
+phenomenon as a Parsee soldier is almost unknown.
+
+The Parsees are alive to the advantage of affording a good education
+to their children; and among the largest seminaries in the city of
+Bombay are those belonging to this community. A Parsee school is an
+interesting sight. The children are decidedly pretty; and as they sit
+in rows, with glittering, many-colored dresses, and caps and jewels,
+they look like a gay parterre of flowers.
+
+On account of their peculiar religious belief, the Parsees are known
+also as "Fire Worshippers;" but however great their awe for fire and
+light, they consider them only as emblems of a higher power. The
+Parsees pay reverence to two kinds of fire--the Adaran, lawful for the
+people to behold; and the Behram, which must be seen by none but the
+chief Dustoor, or priest, and must be screened from the rays of the
+sun. When required for a new temple, a portion of the sacred fire is
+procured in a golden censer from Mount Elbourg, near Yezd, where
+resides the chief pontiff, and where the holy flame is perpetually
+maintained. The Behram fire is said to have had its origin from the
+natural bituminous fires on the shores of the Caspian, and to have
+never been extinguished. It is supposed to be fed with sandal and
+other precious and aromatic woods, and is kept burning on a silver
+grating.
+
+The Parsees are the only Eastern nation who abstain from smoking. They
+do not eat food cooked by a person of another religion, and object to
+beef and pork.
+
+When a Parsee dies, a dog must be present, as it is supposed to drive
+away evil spirits, who are on the alert to seize upon the dying man's
+soul. This precaution is called the _sagdad_, or dog-gaze. One of the
+chief reasons for the great veneration in which dogs are held by
+Parsees arises from the tradition that in their emigration from Persia
+to India their ancestors were, during a dark night, nearly driven upon
+the shores of Guzerat, and that they were aroused and first warned
+of their impending danger by the barking of the dogs on board their
+ships.
+
+[Illustration: PARSEE CHILDREN, BOMBAY.]
+
+When a Parsee dies, the body is dressed in clean, but old clothes, and
+conveyed to its last resting-place on an iron bier; meat and drink are
+placed at hand for three days, as during that time the soul is
+supposed to hover around in the hope of being reunited to its late
+earthly tenement.
+
+[Illustration: A PARSEE.]
+
+The Parsee sepulchres are of so peculiar a character as to merit
+particular notice. Should any of my readers ever go to Bombay, he will
+find two of these _dakhmas_, or Temples of Silence, in a secluded part
+of Malabar Hill, though admittance is denied within the walls
+enclosing the melancholy structures to aught but Parsees. The interior
+is fitted up with stages or stories of stone pavement, slanting down
+to a circular opening, like a well, covered with a grating, into which
+the bones are swept, after the fowls of the air, the dew, and the sun
+have deprived them of every particle of flesh.
+
+The Parsees assign as their reason for not burying their dead, that,
+having received many benefits from the earth during their lifetime,
+they consider it defiled by placing dead bodies in it. Similarly, they
+do not adopt the Hindoo custom of burning their dead, as another
+element, fire, would be rendered impure.
+
+The chief distinctive feature of the Parsee dress is the hat, to which
+the community cling with a pertinacity that would be extraordinary,
+were it not common. Even the Parsee representative of "Young Bombay,"
+dressed from top to toe in European costume, including a pair of shiny
+boots, cannot be induced to discard the abominable _topee_, or hat,
+distinctive of his race; though, perhaps, after all, we who live in
+glass houses should not throw stones; for what can be more hideous
+than the chimney-pot hat of our boasted civilization? The Parsee
+head-dress, which contests the palm of ugliness with its English
+rival, is constructed on a strong but light framework, covered with
+highly-glazed, dark-colored chintz. The priests, who dress like the
+laity, wear a hat of much the same shape as the former, but white,
+instead of a dark color.
+
+On occasions of ceremony, the ordinary tight-fitting narrow garment is
+exchanged for one with very full skirts, like a petticoat; and a shawl
+is usually worn round the waist, which is at other times omitted. The
+costume of the women is a combination of that of the Hindoos and
+Mussulmans, consisting of the short body and _sarree_ of the former,
+with the full trousers of the latter. Both sexes endue themselves, at
+seven years of age, with the sacred shirt, which is worn over the
+trousers; the _sadra_, as it is called, is made of a thin, transparent
+muslin, and is meant to represent the coat-of-mail the men wore when
+they arrived in India, and with which they believe they can resist the
+spiritual assaults of Ahriman, the evil principle. The hair of the
+women is concealed by linen skull-caps, fitting tight to the head.
+
+It is a singular and interesting sight to watch the Parsees assembled
+on the sea-shore, and, as the sun sinks below the horizon, to mark
+them prostrating themselves, and offering up their orisons to the
+great giver of light and heat, which they regard as representing the
+Deity. Their prayers are uttered, it is said, in an unknown tongue;
+and after the fiery face of the orb of day has disappeared in his
+ocean bed, and the wondrous pillars of light shooting aslant the sky,
+proclaim that the "day is done," and the night is at hand, they raise
+themselves from their knees, and turn silently away from the beach,
+which is left once more to twilight and the murmur, or, if in angry
+mood, the roar, of the sea as it breaks on the shore.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The unknown man rescues the girl from the burning
+    building}]
+
+THE CRIPPLED BOY.
+
+FROM THE FRENCH.
+
+
+"Don't cry any more, Genevieve; you must get married again," said a
+man in the working dress of a slater, just returning from his day's
+work, to a poor woman who was sitting at the foot of a camp bed,
+weeping, and rocking her baby at the same time. "Your husband is
+dead; he fell from a ladder, and it killed him. It is a great
+misfortune for you and your family; but crying won't help you."
+
+Saying these words in a rough voice, to hide the emotion caused by the
+poor woman's despair, the workman brushed away a tear with his coat
+sleeve.
+
+"My poor George!" said the woman.
+
+"If your son was only good for anything," added the workman, rudely,
+throwing a glance of disdain upon a poor, pale, weak, and crippled
+boy, who was seated on the floor in a corner of the room; "if that
+child would ever grow into a man, I would take him with me, and teach
+him how to clamber over roofs, and to keep his balance upon the beams,
+and drop from the end of a rope. But no, he grows worse and worse
+every day; and now he can hardly bear his own weight. He is almost
+twelve years old, that son of yours; and if they said he was four, it
+would be a compliment."
+
+"Is it the fault of Jacques that he came crooked into the world, my
+brother?"
+
+"No, certainly not. I don't blame him, poor child, I don't blame him;
+but he will always be a useless mouth in the world. Luckily, he will
+not live long," he whispered in the ear of his sister. Then he rose,
+and went out, calling, "Good by till to-morrow," in a tone of voice
+which betrayed the anxiety he felt at the situation of his sister and
+her children.
+
+"_Luckily_ I shall not live long," was repeated by a sweet, sad voice,
+in an accent which only belongs to those who have suffered deeply.
+
+"What are you saying, Jacques?" inquired Genevieve.
+
+"That I am good for nothing. My uncle was right."
+
+"Take courage, my son. When you are older, you will grow stronger."
+
+"Yes, if--" said the boy.
+
+But he left the sentence unfinished, and his mother was too much
+absorbed in her grief to ask him what he meant. It was late, and in a
+few minutes the poor family retired. It was hardly light when Jacques
+went down into the court-yard to see the grooms curry the horses, wash
+the carriages, and get ready for the day.
+
+It was summer, and very soon a pretty little girl came down into the
+court. Jacques uttered a loud cry when he saw her.
+
+"Without crutches, Mademoiselle Emilie!"
+
+"So you see, Jacques," replied the young girl, with a sweet smile. "I
+shall not use them any more. To be sure, I am a little weak here," she
+added, showing her left arm and foot, which were smaller than the
+right; "and besides," she said, "I am a little crooked."
+
+"And mademoiselle believes that she is entirely cured?"
+
+"Certainly, Jacques. Only think, I was worse than you are! Stop,
+Jacques! I do really believe that _you_ would be cured if you would go
+with me, and take lessons in gymnastics at the house of Colonel
+Amoros."
+
+"I am too poor to do that, mademoiselle. Somebody told my mother that
+these academies of gymnas--gym--I don't know what--are very expensive;
+and besides that, what good would they do me? for my uncle says I
+shall not live long."
+
+"Perhaps your uncle does not know any better than our doctor. But
+really, Jacques, have you not seen sometimes old people crooked and
+deformed? They have lived long, perhaps, those same old people."
+
+"But it is not at all likely that they were obliged to earn their
+living, mademoiselle."
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE CRIPPLE BOY.]
+
+"Poor Jacques!" exclaimed Emilie, in a tone of compassion. "You listen
+to me. When I am married, and have lots of money, I promise you that
+it will give me pleasure to make any sacrifice to pay for your being
+cured."
+
+"Ah, I shall be too old then, or dead--who knows?"
+
+"What can be done?" she exclaimed, tapping the toe of her boot on the
+ground with an air of vexation.
+
+Then seeing an elderly lady come into the court, she ran to meet her,
+exclaiming,--
+
+"My dear friend, allow Jacques to go with us to the Amoros gymnasium.
+You gave me one ticket. Say, will you give me two?"
+
+"It is impossible, mademoiselle. I cannot give away your tickets
+without leave from your father."
+
+"Leave from my father, who is not here!" cried Emilie. "He is in
+Martinique. Before we could get an answer--O, dear! O, dear!"
+
+"Do not distress yourself so, my child," said the governess. "I have
+heard that they receive free pupils in the gymnasium conducted by M.
+Amoros. For many years they have taken those unfortunate children who
+are unable to pay the price of subscription. It is very generous and
+kind in Colonel Amoros, for it must be very expensive to support an
+establishment of this kind in the city."
+
+"It is very good in the colonel; but then I want to pay for Jacques,
+because if every one went without paying, the school would soon come
+to an end."
+
+"But what money have you to pay with?"
+
+"Ah, you shall see, my kind friend.--Jacques," she added, turning to
+the poor boy, whose pale and suffering face expressed all the interest
+he took in this conversation,--"Jacques, you must come with me to the
+gymnasium."
+
+"Never, for I cannot walk so far as that, mademoiselle," said Jacques,
+sadly.
+
+"But you must ride in my carriage."
+
+"Just think of that, mademoiselle! No, I am too poorly clothed," said
+the poor son of the slater, glancing at his worn-out vest and at his
+green trousers patched with gray.
+
+"Haven't you any Sunday clothes?"
+
+"Yes, mademoiselle, but they are very little better."
+
+"They must be cleaner, certainly. Go and put them on. Hurry!"
+
+Jacques obeyed. A few moments later, he came down, looking a little
+better dressed; but it was owing to the careful hands of a good
+workwoman, and not to the quality of the cloth which made his
+garments.
+
+Emilie was obliged to use all her authority before the servants would
+allow the little peasant to enter the coach. At last she placed him on
+the seat before her, and he was much more astonished than delighted at
+finding himself run away with by a pair of frisky young horses.
+
+In a street named Jean-Goujon you can see a large white building, of a
+very elegant style of architecture. On the front of it was printed, in
+large letters, the words GYMNASE CIVIL ORTHOSOMATIQUE, and other
+inscriptions to explain the object of the edifice.
+
+In 1815 Colonel Amoros made the first effort to introduce gymnastics
+into France. Messrs. Jomard and Julien not only seconded him fully,
+but insisted on the importance of these exercises, not alone for
+physical development, but for moral and intellectual strength.
+
+Colonel Amoros was of Spanish origin, and became distinguished in the
+Spanish army. He formed two companies of Zouaves, and achieved the
+most daring exploits with them in Europe and Africa. Then he became
+private secretary to King Charles IV. He formed a large gymnasium in
+Madrid, which was destroyed in the war of 1808. But in devoting, his
+life to the physical training of children in Paris, Colonel Amoros
+performed the greatest service to humanity. Though societies decorated
+him with medals, and France gave him funds for his military gymnasium,
+he will find in grateful hearts his best reward.
+
+But let us return to little Emilie, when the coach stopped at the
+gymnasium.
+
+The exercises had not begun. The professors, who were all young and
+active men, wore the same dress--a white vest and trousers, with a
+tri-colored belt, and a little blue cap on the head. They only waited
+for a signal to begin, as they stood in groups in the centre of the
+court. Very soon a middle-aged gentleman appeared among them. Though
+he was no longer young, he was still strong and active, and seemed to
+have a powerful constitution. He wore a blue coat, and a decoration at
+his button-hole, which was given as a token of bravery. He wore a cap
+upon his head.
+
+He came forward to speak to Emilie, and his eye fell upon poor
+Jacques, who was overcome with emotion at seeing a school where
+children who had been lame from weakness found the use of their limbs
+on recovering their health.
+
+Before the colonel had time to ask who this boy was,--for he knew
+Jacques was not one of his scholars,--Emilie seized his hand, and with
+the coaxing voice that children know how to use so well when they want
+to ask a favor, she said,--
+
+"I can walk without crutches now, colonel."
+
+"I am rejoiced to hear it, my child. You ought to be able to do so."
+
+"And I have grown almost an inch in six months. O, I am so much
+obliged to you, colonel!"
+
+"You mean to my gymnasium, my dear child."
+
+"No, to you, colonel, to you. For really I was much worse than Jacques
+is, and to-day I am better than he is."
+
+"Who is Jacques?"
+
+"This boy that you see here," said Emilie, taking the hand of Jacques,
+who was hiding behind her, and making him come forward before the
+colonel. "He is the son of a slater. His father is dead. He fell from
+a roof. Poor man! His mother is very miserable, for she has another
+child to take care of; so you see yourself, colonel, it is quite
+necessary that he should be able to stand alone."
+
+All the time that M. Amoros was examining Jacques, rolling up the
+sleeves of his jacket to see his arms, turning up his trousers to look
+at his legs, feeling his spine, and making him stretch out his limbs,
+Emilie continued, with a coaxing voice,--
+
+"If you are willing, Colonel Amoros, we can make an arrangement. O,
+you must not refuse me, I beg of you!"
+
+"What?" said the kind man, continuing his examination.
+
+"This boy is very poor--very, very poor. If he is not cured, he will
+never be able to get his living. He has a mother and sister to
+support; and see, colonel, I am very sure my poor Jacques will die
+soon."
+
+"Will you hold your tongue, you little simpleton?" said the colonel,
+suddenly turning round at the word "die."
+
+"He will die soon if you don't take pity on him, dear Colonel Amoros,"
+added the little girl, clasping her small hands eagerly before the
+colonel, who was too much engaged in examining poor Jacques, and
+considering the best way to cure him, to pay much attention to
+Emilie's words.
+
+"Please let Jacques take part in the exercises, and I will pay you out
+of my savings; or if you are willing to wait, I will pay it when I am
+married. And besides that, I will write to my father, and tell him to
+let me come and take lessons here after I am entirely cured."
+
+The colonel could not restrain his mirth at the idea of Emilie
+wishing to pay him for a kind action, which his generous heart
+prompted him to do without any persuasion.
+
+"It does not require so much eloquence to urge me to do a kindness, my
+little friend," he replied. "Do you think I don't enjoy my practice? I
+will receive your protege with pleasure, if he will promise to obey my
+orders, and if he will resemble his protectress in the love of doing
+good."
+
+While speaking these words, the colonel called one of the teachers,
+and pointing to Jacques,--who did not know whether he was dreaming or
+not,--he said,--
+
+"Take this boy, give him a belt, and a knot of scarlet ribbon on the
+left shoulder; that is the side which needs strengthening."
+
+Then he explained which exercises he should take, and those he ought
+to avoid.
+
+He then gave a signal for the bell to ring, and the professors and
+children were soon busy in the centre of the gymnasium.
+
+It was a pretty sight, I can assure you. Such a wonderful combination
+of poles, ropes, posts, and ladders! You might wonder, at first, what
+they all meant. But soon every child came along in his turn, without
+effort, and with such perfect enjoyment, that it explained the
+mystery.
+
+Gymnastic exercises were practised with great care by the ancients.
+They formed part of the education of a gentleman. They give that
+physical beauty and grace which only spring from a fine muscular
+development. Among the Greeks and Romans, men frequented the gymnasium
+and the circus. Philosophers, judges, and soldiers took part in these
+exercises with the citizens, that they might become stronger and more
+athletic, more active and capable of bearing fatigue.
+
+M. Amoros not only gave health and strength to the pupils of his
+gymnasium, but he taught them to call only those deeds _great_ which
+were inspired by bravery, love of humanity, and pure benevolence.
+
+Two years had passed away; spring had arrived at the old chateau on
+the Loire, and M. Martel, the father of little Emilie, had returned
+from his voyage to Martinique. He was busy in making many necessary
+repairs in his family mansion, and many workmen came from Paris for
+that purpose. The night after their arrival, the chateau was
+discovered to be on fire. M. Martel awoke in haste; startled by the
+light of the flames, which suddenly illuminated his room, he ran to
+see where the fire sprang from, and called aloud for his daughter,
+whom he could not see anywhere. The spectacle that met his view quite
+overwhelmed him. The story that was on fire was the place where his
+daughter slept. It could be reached only from a neighboring roof, that
+was almost consumed. A single beam connected one building with the
+other. Notwithstanding his age and the gout, which paralyzed one of
+his limbs, the poor father wished to climb up and save his daughter,
+or to die with her. They held him back; he uttered fearful shrieks,
+when a young man, little more than a boy, was seen on the beam, which
+tottered with his weight. He walked along without fear. A profound
+silence succeeded to the cries of terror. The souls of the spectators
+seemed to look out of their eyes. M. Martel fell upon his knees.
+
+The intrepid youth reached the window, and scaled it. They saw him
+unroll a long rope, or rope-ladder, and fasten it securely to the iron
+balcony which ornamented the window; then he disappeared.
+
+Not a sound betrayed the anxiety of the spectators. The unknown man
+returned; he held a young person supported upon his back. He mounted
+the iron balcony, and suspended himself with his precious burden upon
+it, for she was well secured by a strong belt. This horrible suspense
+was more than M. Martel could bear. He covered his face with his
+hands. But soon the universal shouts of joy told him that his daughter
+was safe.
+
+After the first moments of delight, the young girl turned to her
+deliverer. An exclamation of surprise fell from their lips.
+
+"Jacques!"
+
+"Mademoiselle Emilie!"
+
+Then they gazed at each other in silence by the red light of the fire.
+
+They were no longer two pale, sad children, with haggard little faces,
+already prematurely old. They had been separated ever since Emilie had
+left the gymnasium, and, not living in the same place, they hardly
+recognized each other. Emilie was a tall and beautiful girl, enjoying
+all the delight of perfect health. Jacques almost had become a man.
+
+M. Martel had not heard without emotion about his daughter's generous
+act, and her efforts to have Jacques received as a pupil in the Amoros
+gymnasium.
+
+"Am I not well rewarded?" she exclaimed, extending her hand to the
+young man. "You would not have had any daughter without him, papa. The
+horror of my position, the impossibility of my finding a rope, a
+ladder, or any way of escape, frightened me so, that I lost my senses,
+and I should have been burned alive, if it had not been for Jacques."
+
+"Ah, mademoiselle," said the slater's son, with emotion, "it is not
+life alone that I owe to you; is it not more than life? It is health,
+the use of my limbs, and the happiness of being able to support my
+mother. Yes, mademoiselle," added Jacques, with fervor, "I am a
+workman, and thanks to the lessons of our excellent professor, Colonel
+Amoros, I am more skilful than any of my fellow-laborers. I can
+support my family, and my wages are higher, because I can work harder
+and work longer than the rest."
+
+"Brave boy!" exclaimed M. Martel, pressing Jacques in his arms, who
+was quite overcome at the meeting. "From this day forward you shall be
+my son. I will take charge of your education and your advancement, of
+your mother and your sister. Brave boy! My daughter has done much for
+you, but you deserve it; she understood your heart."
+
+M. Martel kept his word. And some days after, when Jacques and his
+uncle met in the small attic of the poor widow, and were rejoicing
+over the happy change in their fortunes, the poor mother clasped her
+boy's head to her heart, and bathed his curls with tears, and covered
+them with kisses, exclaiming,--
+
+"Now you see, brother, Jacques was not a useless creature. It is owing
+to him that our fortune is made."
+
+"Yes, thanks to Colonel Amoros," said the workman.
+
+"Thanks to Mademoiselle Emilie," said Jacques, heaving a sigh.
+
+                                               S. W. LANDER.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {The girl kisses her father on the forehead}]
+
+A DINNER AND A KISS.
+
+
+    "I have brought your dinner, father,"
+      The blacksmith's daughter said,
+    As she took from her arm the kettle,
+      And lifted its shining lid.
+    "There is not any pie or pudding;
+      So I will give you this;"
+    And upon his toil-worn forehead
+      She left the childish kiss.
+
+    The blacksmith took off his apron,
+      And dined in happy mood,
+    Wondering much at the savor
+      Hid in his humble food,
+    While all about him were visions
+      Full of prophetic bliss;
+    But he never thought of the magic
+      In his little daughter's kiss.
+
+    While she, with her kettle swinging,
+      Merrily trudged away,
+    Stopping at sight of a squirrel,
+      Catching some wild bird's lay,
+    O, I thought, how many a shadow
+      Of life and fate we would miss,
+    If always our frugal dinners
+      Were seasoned with a kiss!
+
+
+
+
+MY MOTHER.
+
+"Honor thy father and thy mother."
+
+
+    Father and mother! sacred names and dear;
+    The sweetest music to the infant ear,
+    And dearer still to those, a joyous band,
+    Who sport in childhood's bright enchanted land.
+
+    And when, as years roll on, night follows day,
+    The young wax old and loved ones pass away,
+    Through mists of time yet holier and more dear,
+    "Father and mother" sound to memory's ear.
+
+    The days, the hours, the moments as they speed,
+    Each crowned by loving thought or word or deed,
+    Oh, heart's long-suffering, self-denying! sure
+    Earth holds no love more true, and none so pure.
+
+    Thou happy child whom a good God hath given
+    A parents' shelt'ring home, that earthly heaven,
+    Where ceaseless care, where tireless love and true,
+    Nurse thy young life as flowers are nursed by dew.
+
+    E'en as the flowers, for the dear debt they owe,
+    Bloom, and sweet odors in rich meed bestow,
+    Let the fair blossoms of thy love and duty
+    Cluster about thy home in fragrant beauty.
+
+    Never from eye or lip be seen or heard
+    The sullen glance or the rebellious word,
+    And never wilfully or heedless pain
+    The tender hearts that cannot wound again.
+
+    But fond caress, sweet smile and loving tone,
+    Obedience prompt and glad, be thine alone,
+    For filial love, like mercy, is twice blest;
+    While to the parent of earth's joys the best,
+    Richer than treasures of the land or sea,
+    It wins God's blessing, O my child, for thee!
+
+[Illustration: MY MOTHER.]
+
+
+
+
+REGINALD'S FIRST SCHOOL-DAYS.
+
+
+One frosty morning in January two delicate-looking children were
+sitting before a blazing fire in a long, low nursery with oak rafters
+running across the ceiling. Between them lay a great shaggy dog.
+
+"You will take good care of Rover whilst I am away?" said the boy,
+winding his fingers in Rover's shaggy hair and leaning his head
+against him.
+
+"Yes; he shall go for a walk with me every day, and in the twilight I
+will talk to him about you," answered Alice. "You might send messages
+to him in your letters," she added.
+
+"Would you understand them, old fellow?" asked Reginald, lifting up
+the dog's head and looking into his eyes.
+
+The dog wistfully returned his master's gaze and gave him his paw.
+
+"I believe he understands," said Reginald, throwing his arms round the
+dog's neck. "Oh, Rover, Rover, if I could only take you with me!"
+
+"It would not be so bad then," sighed Alice.
+
+"It won't be really bad when I get accustomed to it. Just at first it
+may be strange, but I shall be sure to like one, at any rate, out of
+the forty boys. It is going out into the world, and my father says it
+is well for a boy to learn his level early. On the whole, I am glad I
+am going; it is only the first bit of it that one is not sure about."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a large room, with desks and benches on either side, and an
+aisle, as Reginald called it, up the middle. It had four large windows
+looking out on the playground, and a fireplace at each end, round
+which some dozen or two of boys were clustered.
+
+Reginald advanced toward the fireplace at the lower end of the room,
+hoping that some one might speak to him and rid him of the strange,
+uncomfortable feeling that crept over him; but none of the boys spoke,
+though they regarded him critically, as if measuring the sort of being
+he was before committing themselves to any closer acquaintance.
+
+So he sat down on a bench halfway down the school-room, tried to look
+unconscious, and half wished himself at home again.
+
+"Have any of you fellows got a knife? I want to cut this piece of
+string," said a tall boy, addressing the group generally.
+
+In a moment Reginald had taken out his new knife and offered it to the
+speaker.
+
+"Ah!" said Thompson, the tall boy; "a capital knife. Much obliged;
+will borrow it for the present;" and after using it he quietly put it
+into his pocket.
+
+Some of the boys laughed. One of them, however, murmured, in an
+undertone, "What a great shame!"
+
+Reginald's color rose. He walked straight up to Thompson:
+
+"Will you please to give me my knife again?"
+
+Thompson looked surprised:
+
+"No; I shall please to do nothing of the kind. You offered it, and I
+accepted it. An offer's an offer."
+
+"I lent it to you to cut the string."
+
+"You did not say so."
+
+"I do not think it just of you to take my knife in that way," said
+Reginald, thoroughly aroused; "and if you do not return it at once, I
+shall speak to Dr. Field about it."
+
+"Oh!" said Thompson, coolly; "you're a sneak, are you?"
+
+[Illustration: INDUSTRIOUS REGINALD.]
+
+The boys, who had been gathering round Reginald, admiring his spirit
+in confronting the tall boy, now drew back, and the words "tell-tale!"
+"blab!" "sneak!" were distinctly heard. And Reginald found himself
+standing alone, deserted by those who had drawn near in sympathy with
+him, for Thompson was the tyrant of the school.
+
+Presently, when the boys had returned to their places by the fire, and
+Reginald was apparently forgotten, a merry-looking boy a year older
+than himself sat down by him.
+
+"No," said he; "you must not say anything to Dr. Field. You must let
+your knife go, and learn wisdom for the future."
+
+Reginald looked up.
+
+"It's mean and unfair," he said.
+
+"That may be, but the boys would say it was meaner still to complain.
+One has to put up with things of this sort at school, and make the
+best of them."
+
+"What's your name?" asked Reginald, suddenly, for there was something
+about the boy that he liked, and he thought this might be the one who
+was to be his friend.
+
+"Barton. And yours?"
+
+"Reginald Murray."
+
+"Murray's enough, without the other."
+
+"I should like you to be my friend."
+
+Barton glanced at the large dark eyes that were fixed upon him, and at
+the delicate and somewhat mournful face, and felt attracted also.
+
+"I think I shall like you," he returned; "but I must wait and see how
+you go on. I think you've the right spirit; but you must take my
+advice about the knife. Will you?"
+
+There was a struggle in Reginald's mind. It was very hard to give up
+the knife that Alice had saved up her pocket-money to buy for him.
+Still, Barton had been at school for some time, and knew better than
+he what ought to be done, so he answered, "I will."
+
+But Barton was not prepared for his manner of carrying out the
+decision. To his great surprise, Reginald marched straight up to
+Thompson. "I shall not," he said, "speak to Dr. Field about the knife.
+It's unfair and unjust of you to take it, and I sha'n't be friends
+with you as long as you keep it. But Barton says it would be telling
+tales if I made a complaint."
+
+Some of the younger boys stood quite aghast at Reginald's boldness;
+one or two even murmured, "Well done!"
+
+Thompson stared, half in astonishment, half in anger. "You're too
+fast, young sir; you'll have to be put down, I see," said he. But he
+did not give Reginald his knife again.
+
+School was indeed a new world to Reginald. He made friends and found
+enemies; he worked hard--indeed, often sat up by candle-light to
+prepare examples for the next day. He played well, and on the whole
+was tolerably popular. Thompson, however, still kept the knife, using
+it upon all occasions, which caused a thrill of indignation to go
+through Reginald's delicate frame.
+
+"If I can't get it one way, I will another," thought he; and he
+brooded over the knife until he magnified every word that Thompson
+said into a series of insults to himself, and Thompson, pleased with
+the power he possessed over the boy, exercised it on all occasions.
+
+So the spring went by, and the summer came, and the days slipped away,
+and the holidays were close at hand.
+
+"If I were strong enough, I would fight him for it," said Reginald to
+Barton, one day, when Thompson had been more than usually aggravating.
+
+The remark was repeated to Thompson, who was standing by the side of
+the river that ran at the foot of the playground.
+
+At that moment Reginald drew near.
+
+"So you would like to fight me if you were big enough?" said he, with
+a sneer.
+
+"I should!" answered Reginald, warmly.
+
+"Ah! it's a bad state of feeling. If the knife causes such wicked
+thoughts, the best way is to get rid of it. So here it goes, and there
+is an end of it!" And drawing the knife from his pocket, he flung it
+into the river. It fell short of where he intended, and Reginald saw
+his beloved knife through the clear river, lying within what he
+supposed to be an easy reach. Without a moment's thought he jumped in
+after it, regardless of the cry that rose, "The water's deeper than it
+looks!"
+
+His hand had, as if by instinct, grasped the knife, but as he tried to
+struggle back through the swiftly-running water he got confused, for,
+as the boys had called out to him, it was a great deal deeper than it
+looked, and just there the ground shelved suddenly, and Reginald,
+taking a false step, lost his footing.
+
+There was a general outcry, which brought Dr. Field and a visitor who
+had just arrived to the spot:
+
+"Murray's in the river!"
+
+And they pointed to the spot where the poor boy had sunk.
+
+With such a cry as the boys long remembered, the visitor had plunged
+into the water, and had caught the boy, who had risen for the last
+time, by the arm.
+
+And the next thing that the boys knew was that a white, dripping form
+was carried through the playground into the house.
+
+Then a whisper went round, "It was his father."
+
+Then a whispered question, "Is he dead?"
+
+And Thompson shuddered as he heard it.
+
+But Reginald did not die; he opened his eyes to find his father
+clasping his hand. At first he could remember nothing, then he looked
+round anxiously: "Is the knife safe? I went to pick up my knife."
+
+Then he closed his eyes and remained for a long time silent; and when
+he spoke again, it was in the wild ravings of delirium.
+
+The shock had been too much for the delicate boy. Fever came on, and
+it was weeks before he could be moved home. And then he was ordered to
+the South, and Italy was the chosen place in which Mr. and Mrs. Murray
+and their two children should sojourn until Reginald should have
+completely recovered his health.
+
+And this time Rover was to go with his young master.
+
+The day before Reginald left home a carriage drove up to the door, and
+Thompson stepped out of it.
+
+He and Reginald were alone for a quarter of an hour, and they parted
+friends.
+
+"I have my knife now, Thompson," said Reginald, "and so the quarrel is
+over."
+
+And Thompson returned to Dr. Field's a better and a wiser boy. He
+never bullied any one again.
+
+[Decoration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: {Three kittens, two wrestling and one clasping a ball
+    in its front paws}]
+
+CLEOPATRA.
+
+
+    We've called our young puss Cleopatra;
+      'Twas grandpa who named her like that.
+    He says it means "fond of good living"--
+      A queer enough name for a cat!
+
+    She leads the most lovely existence,
+      And one which appears to enchant;
+    Asleep in the sun like a snow-flake
+      That tries to get melted and can't;
+
+    Or now and then languidly strolling
+      Through plots of the garden, to steal
+    On innocent grasshoppers, crunching
+      Her cruel and murderous meal!
+
+    Or lapping from out of her saucer--
+      The dainty and delicate elf!--
+    With appetite spoiled in the garden,
+      New milk that's as white as herself.
+
+    Dear, dear! could we only change places,
+      This do-nothing pussy and I,
+    You'd think it hard work, Cleopatra,
+      To live, as the moments went by.
+
+    Ah! how would you relish, I wonder,
+      To sit in a school-room for hours?
+    You'd find it less pleasant, I fancy,
+      Than murdering bugs in the flowers.
+
+                            EDGAR FAWCETT.
+
+
+
+
+DECLAMATION.
+
+SHAKSPEARE.
+
+
+    She sat in her eternal house,
+      The sovereign mother of mankind;
+    Before her was the peopled world,
+      The hollow night behind.
+
+    "Below my feet the thunders break,
+      Above my head the stars rejoice;
+    But man, although he babbles much,
+      Has never found a voice.
+
+    "Ten thousand years have come and gone,
+      And not an hour of any day
+    But he has dumbly looked to me
+      The things he could not say.
+
+    "It shall be so no more," she said;
+      And then, revolving in her mind,
+    She thought, "I will create a child
+      Shall speak for all his kind."
+
+    It was the spring-time of the year,
+      And, lo! where Avon's waters flow,
+    The child, her darling, came on earth
+      Three hundred years ago.
+
+    There was no portent in the sky,
+      No cry, like Pan's, along the seas,
+    Nor hovered round his baby mouth
+      The swarm of classic bees.
+
+    What other children were he was;
+      If more, 'twas not to mortal ken;
+    The being likest to mankind
+      Made him the man of men.
+
+    Before he came, his like was not,
+      Nor left he heirs to share his powers.
+    The mighty mother sent him here
+      To be her voice and ours;
+
+    To be her oracle to man;
+      To be what man may be to her;
+    Between the Maker and the made
+      The best interpreter.
+
+                      RICHARD H. STODDARD.
+
+
+
+
+SMILES AND TEARS.
+
+
+    Both sword and guns are strong, no doubt,
+      And so are tongue and pen,
+    And so are sheaves of good bank-notes,
+      To sway the souls of men;
+    But guns and swords, and gold and thought,
+      Though mighty in their sphere,
+    Are often poorer than a smile,
+      And weaker than a tear.
+
+
+
+
+NICOLO'S LITTLE FRIEND.
+
+
+"Nicolo, Nicolo, where are you? Where have you hidden yourself? Come
+here; I want you."
+
+It was a very bright-eyed little girl who spoke these words--under a
+bright sky, too--the sunny sky of Italy.
+
+But Nicolo, a boy some years older than herself, looked far from
+bright or happy; he was lying full length on the ground in the
+sunlight; but his face was overcast and melancholy.
+
+"Lazy fellow!" said little Gianetta, laughingly, as she came up to
+him; "I am out of breath calling to you. Come along; I want you.
+Mother has done with me, and we can make some music together."
+
+But Nicolo shook his head, though he smiled at his little friend.
+
+"What is it?" asked Gianetta. "Why can't you come? Is it the father
+again?"
+
+Nicolo sighed. He was a cheerful, happy-tempered boy by nature. And
+yet Gianetta often found him looking very sad.
+
+"Tiresome, bad man!" broke forth the little girl. "He has been
+scolding you again; but no. Stop; I will say no wicked things of him,
+for he is your father; and we must honor our parents, be they bad or
+good, Father Clement says. But tell me, Nicolo, what has he said or
+done?"
+
+"It is nothing," said Nicolo, rousing himself at length--"nothing, my
+little Gianetta; but it wearies me. It is the old tale; he likes not
+my music--thinks it an excuse for idleness. Listen, little one. I make
+my plans now. I cannot bear this life. I must do as he wishes--learn a
+trade or somewhat, and give up my violin."
+
+"That you never shall do," said Gianetta, earnestly. "You think me
+naughty, Nicolo; but I am not. I only see it plainer than you or your
+father. God has given you this talent,--this great one,--and you shall
+not hide it, you shall not bury it." The little girl's face was so
+eager, that Nicolo smiled at her.
+
+But she went on, more excitedly:--
+
+"Get up this moment, Nicolo, and come in with me. We will play
+somewhat together. Your father never scolds you when I am by. And you
+shall not give up your music."
+
+The boy, half in earnest, and half amused, let the child drag him into
+a little house near, put his violin into his arms, and then seat
+herself at the piano, while in the distance sat Nicolo's father,
+gloomily watching the pair.
+
+"Begin," said Gianetta, "and tell me when I play wrongly."
+
+But for such a mere child, Gianetta played with marvellous
+correctness. As for Nicolo, his countenance cleared with every sound
+that he drew from his beloved violin; he forgot his gloomy father; he
+thought no longer of his dull, sad home. He was wrapped in that
+wonderful content which the possession of some great talent gives.
+
+With the last chord the brightness faded, however, out of his face.
+
+"Take me home now," said the little girl.
+
+Home was only across the street; but Gianetta wanted another word in
+private with her friend.
+
+"Nicolo," she said, gravely, "never speak more of giving up the music;
+it is not to be. I am sorry for you, my poor boy; I know it is a hard
+life, but--"
+
+"But I will make a name for myself at last," said Nicolo, catching her
+enthusiasm; "and then, perhaps, my father will have faith in me. Till
+then I will be brave, little one; so good night."
+
+It _was_ a hard life for Nicolo--his mother dead, his father with no
+care for his son's one great passion--music. Many a time the boy's
+spirit failed, and he even grew to doubt his own powers under the cold
+glance and cruel taunts which daily met him.
+
+He was sitting one day, feeling even sadder than usual,--discontented
+even with the sounds he drew from his instrument,--when Gianetta's
+mother stood in the doorway.
+
+"The child is ill," she said, hurriedly--"very ill, and calls ever for
+you. Come."
+
+So Nicolo went, and, though tossed with fever, his little friend
+smiled on him. There was, however, a longing look in her eyes; but her
+parched lips could not form a word.
+
+"Is it the violin?" asked Nicolo, softly.
+
+She smiled again, and Nicolo fetched his treasure.
+
+"A sleeping song?" he questioned.
+
+The little face grew calm and soft at his question. Sweetly the music
+floated through the room, stilling the little sufferer, and comforting
+the watchers. When he had finished, Gianetta stretched out her arms.
+
+"Thank you, dear Nicolo," she said; "that was pleasant. Now I shall
+sleep; but _you_ must never sleep; you have much else to do; you must
+go out into the world, and be famous--go away far, far from here. Do
+you mind my words? Will you remember them?"
+
+And she lay back exhausted on her pillow, never more to ask for music
+in this world. Gianetta was listening even then to the angels' song.
+
+That night Nicolo sat beside the dead body of his little friend.
+Lights burned, flowers were scattered round her, and prayers were said
+without ceasing in all those long hours. It was the custom of the
+country; it did not disturb the dead, and it comforted the living.
+
+And when morning dawned, the friendless boy went back to his little
+room across the road, and there he poured out his heart in a farewell
+strain to his dear companion who had thus suddenly been snatched from
+him.
+
+There was no more now to be done but to fulfil her last command--to
+go out into the world, and to make himself famous.
+
+Did he do so?
+
+Ask those who love music, and hold dear all great names in its roll of
+fame, if they ever heard of Nicolo Paganini; for it is of his boyhood
+that I write.
+
+How far he owed his success in life to a little girl, each reader may
+judge for himself. She certainly inspired him with courage when he was
+very down-hearted; and through all his brilliant career, I think he at
+least must always have remembered her with gratitude.
+
+                                                    H. A. F.
+
+
+
+
+A CHILD'S PETITION.
+
+
+        O thou above,
+        From whose great love
+    The world all good receives,
+        Make me as bright
+        With thy blessed light
+    As a rose with all her leaves.
+
+        Wash me as clean
+        From every sin,
+    O pitiful, pitiful One;
+        And make me shine
+        With thy grace divine,
+    Like a lily with the sun.
+
+        Take pride away,
+        Dear Lord, I pray,
+    And make me pure and true,
+        That I may be fed
+        On thy living bread,
+    As the daisy is fed on the dew.
+
+        Help me still
+        To do thy will
+    Till life has passed away,
+        And in the dark
+        To sing like a lark
+    At the golden gate of the day.
+
+
+
+
+THE TRUANT.
+
+
+"What's the matter with Neddy Oram?" I said as a noise outside drew me
+to the window, and I saw old Mrs. Oram dragging her grandson along the
+street. She looked angry and determined.
+
+"He's played truant, I guess," answered my little girl as she came to
+my side. "He played truant last week, and Mr. Jonas made him stand on
+one foot ever so long a time. And when he got tired and put the other
+one down, he switched him on the leg. Oh dear! I don't want to go this
+morning. I wish Neddy wouldn't play truant, nor be bad in school! He's
+such a nice boy, and I can't bear to see him whipped. Mr. Jonas will
+cut him dreadfully, I know he will, for he said he'd take the skin off
+of him if ever he played truant again."
+
+Neddy was a nice boy, as my little girl said. He was bright and
+active, kind-hearted and generous. I never saw him do a mean or
+selfish thing. But he had a free, rather reckless spirit and a will
+that was stubbornness itself when aroused. Kindness softened, but
+anger hardened, him.
+
+Neddy's father and mother were both dead, and the boy lived with his
+grandmother, who was rather a hard woman, and believed more in the
+power of force than in the power of kindness.
+
+As soon as I understood the case I put on my bonnet hastily and ran
+after Mrs. Oram, hoping to come up with her before she reached the
+school-room. I was a few moments too late for this, but in time to
+have a word with Mr. Jonas, who stood at the door holding the
+struggling boy firmly by the arm.
+
+"I want you to promise me one thing," I said, laying my hand on the
+schoolmaster's. I spoke in as quiet a voice as I could assume, but
+very seriously. My words and manner threw Mr. Jonas off of his guard.
+His hold on the boy relaxed, and in the next instant Neddy was beyond
+his reach and running off as fast as his feet could carry him.
+
+"After him!" cried the schoolmaster, greatly excited. "After him, John
+Wilkins!"
+
+A large, coarse-looking boy started forward, and was about passing
+through the door, when I put my hand on him, and pressing him back
+said,
+
+"Wait a moment, John. Maybe, after I've said a word to Mr. Jonas,
+he'll not want you to go. Tell him to wait, Mr. Jonas; do, now,
+because I want you."
+
+I softened my voice to a persuasive tone, and so made my interference
+effectual. The schoolmaster told John Wilkins to go back to his seat.
+
+Mrs. Oram had started after her troublesome grandson on the instant of
+his escape, and so I was left alone with the excited teacher.
+
+"Now, don't be angry with me," said I, "nor tell me to go away and
+mind my own business. Two heads are sometimes better than one; and
+it's my opinion that if you and I put our heads together, we can save
+this poor boy from being ruined. There is a great deal of good in
+him, but as things go now I'm afraid it will be lost. With natures
+like his, 'love has readier will than fear.' His grandmother doesn't
+know how to manage him. Let us try to show her a better way."
+
+[Illustration: THE TRUANT.]
+
+By the time I had said this the thoughts of Mr. Jonas had become
+clearer and his anger against Neddy much abated. I saw this in his
+face.
+
+"Let the boy go now," I added. "After school come and see me, and
+we'll have a long talk over the matter. But promise me one thing."
+
+"What is that?" he asked.
+
+"If old Mrs. Oram brings Neddy back to-day, don't punish him."
+
+"Very well. It shall be as you say," answered the schoolmaster.
+
+That evening Mr. Jonas called to see me. He was a better man, on the
+whole, than he was a schoolmaster. Out of school he was kind and
+genial, but as a teacher he was not always as wise and as patient as
+he should be. Like Neddy's grandmother, he believed more in the power
+of force than he did in the power of kindness. His rod was always in
+sight, and too often in his hand. He ruled by fear, and not by love.
+
+"Did Neddy come back to school?" I asked.
+
+Mr. Jonas shook his head gravely.
+
+"Oh, mother," cried my little girl, rushing into the room just at this
+moment, "Neddy Oram's lost or run away!"
+
+She stopped on seeing Mr. Jonas; her face, that had been a little
+pale, flushed deeply, and her eyes had an angry flash. "And it's all
+your fault!" she added, with a sudden brave indignation in her tiny
+voice as she turned on the schoolmaster and looked at him steadily.
+
+"My fault!" said the schoolmaster, in a startled voice.
+
+"Yes, sir. It's all your fault. If you hadn't made him stand on one
+leg until he was almost tired to death, and switched him when he put
+the other down, and if you hadn't said you'd cut the skin off of him,
+he wouldn't have run away."
+
+And here little Carrie burst out crying, and buried her face, sobbing,
+in my lap.
+
+"Brave talk for my timid little girl, Mr. Jonas," I said, in an
+undertone, "but all true, I'm afraid."
+
+"What is true?" he asked, looking bewildered.
+
+"All that Carrie has said. This way you have of flogging children does
+more harm than good. A man of your clear mind and kindly nature might
+surely find some better way to govern your scholars."
+
+Mr. Jonas did not answer. There was a look of pained surprise on his
+face.
+
+"Run away, lost!" he exclaimed, after a few moments, rising to his
+feet. His manner had become suddenly agitated. "Poor boy! I must see
+about this;" and he went out hastily.
+
+When Neddy Oram, who was only ten years old, escaped from the
+schoolmaster, he went directly home and hid himself in the garret,
+behind some boxes and old furniture. He ran so much faster than his
+grandmother that she lost sight of him and did not see him go into the
+house. So no search was made for him in the garret. Like some poor
+hunted animal that had gained a place of safety, he crouched panting
+in his hiding-place, enjoying for a time a sweet sense of security.
+But Neddy could not long forget how small and weak and dependent he
+was. It was all very well to hide away from his grandmother, but how
+was he to get anything to eat?
+
+"Run away!" said a voice that spoke inside of him, but so loud and
+clear that he almost started. "Run away!" repeated the voice.
+"Grandmother Oram will find you out up here and take you back to
+school, and Mr. Jonas will switch you half to death."
+
+I wonder who it was that said this, or how a voice could speak inside
+of Neddy Oram? It was a bad spirit, I think, that wished to do him
+harm. We may often hear these bad spirits speaking in our thoughts and
+telling us to do naughty things. Good spirits speak in our thoughts as
+well as bad ones, and they tell us to do what is right, to be kind and
+generous and loving and true.
+
+I am sorry to say that Neddy, who was not only angry with his
+grandmother and the schoolmaster, but on account of his wrong-doings
+and disobedience afraid of them, listened to this voice, and as he
+listened the bad spirit made the voice seem so like his own thoughts
+that he knew not but that all came from himself.
+
+So under this wrong influence he planned an escape from the house,
+which was to be made as soon as his grandmother went out. For an hour
+or two he heard her moving around. At last all was still. Then he
+stole from his hiding-place and listened at the head of the stairs.
+Not the slightest sound broke the deep silence. Grandmother had gone
+away. Then he took a loaf of bread, a large slice of cake and some
+apples, which he tied up in a handkerchief; and stealing out of the
+back door, he ran through the garden and out of a gate that opened
+into a lane. At the end of this lane was a piece of woods, and beyond
+this wood a deep hollow, along which it was easy to go without danger
+of being seen by any one.
+
+How strangely the little boy's heart beat as he hurried along, going
+he knew not whither! It was not long before he reached the hollow
+beyond the woods. After crossing this hollow, he entered another wood
+by a narrow path made by the cattle. The trees in this wood were very
+tall and close together, and the underbrush grew so thick that he
+could see before him only for a short distance.
+
+The silence and darkness of this heavy forest caused a lonely feeling
+to come over Neddy. All at once the thought of bears and wolves came
+into his mind, and with the thought fear crept into his heart. A
+weakness fell upon him, and he stood still with drops of cold sweat
+on his forehead. Then he turned and ran back, but in doing so missed
+the way and took a path that, instead of taking him out of the forest,
+led him farther into it. He ran and ran, panting for breath, until he
+was so tired that he had to sit down to rest.
+
+"What if I am lost?" he said to himself, a cold chill running over him
+at the thought. Lost! How wildly the poor little boy's heart began to
+beat! As he sat there, feeling too weak from weariness and fear to
+arise, he heard not far off the sound of feet cracking the dry sticks
+and rustling the leaves that lay upon the ground. He held his breath
+in terror, for he was sure it was a bear or wolf. Nearer and nearer
+the animal came, passing only a few rods from where he sat motionless.
+
+"Oh, oh!" exclaimed Neddy, in tones of relief, starting to his feet as
+he saw a young heifer which was astray in the woods.
+
+At sight of the boy the heifer, scared by his sudden appearance,
+started off at a run and was soon out of sight, leaving Neddy again
+alone. He tried to follow her, but was not able to get on her track.
+Oh how he did wish himself at home! How sorry he was that he had
+played truant on the day before!
+
+In trying to follow the heifer, Neddy left the narrow path along which
+he had been going, and now he was among the thick undergrowth of the
+forest, his hands and face scratched with briars. The trees stood so
+close together that no sunshine came down through their thick
+branches. All was dim and shadowy.
+
+Poor Neddy! A great fear and loneliness fell on him again; and sitting
+down on the limb of a fallen tree, he began to cry bitterly. But
+crying was of no use. It wouldn't get him out of the woods and safely
+home again. So he dried his tears and started on again, hoping to find
+the path he had left. But he tried in vain. All at once he noticed
+that the light was fading rapidly and the air growing cold. The sun
+had gone down, and night was falling. Neddy's heart began to beat
+wildly; he could feel the throbs all over him; there was a great
+pressure as if a hand were laid on his breast; he could scarcely
+breathe, so strong was the feeling of suffocation that oppressed him.
+He tried to run, but his foot caught in a vine, and he fell upon the
+ground, where he lay for a long time before he had strength enough to
+arise.
+
+In his weakness and exhaustion the poor boy found strength and
+courage. How! Think, my little reader. What would you have done if
+lost in the woods as Neddy was lost? Where would you have looked for
+help? You would have done, I am very sure, just as he did. And what
+did he do? Why, he put his little hands together, and lifting his
+tearful eyes upward prayed that God would take care of him, and not
+let any wild beasts eat him up.
+
+As soon as he had done this the dreadful fear from which he was
+suffering went out of his heart. Just a little way beyond the spot
+where Neddy had fallen was a small clear place in the forest, where
+grew a bed of soft green moss. A few rays of light came down through
+an opening in the trees and showed him this cosy nook. Once in it,
+there seemed to grow all about him a wall of darkness. So he sat down
+upon the moss with a strange feeling of peace and security in his
+heart.
+
+And now, for the first time, Neddy felt hungry. So he opened the
+bundle of bread and cake which he had brought with him, and ate with a
+keen relish. Then he began to feel tired and heavy. The soft moss on
+which he was resting was just the bed for a poor tired boy like him,
+and before he had time to think of his loneliness and danger he was
+fast asleep.
+
+But sleep sometimes gives us frightful dreams, and one of these came
+to Neddy. He still thought himself a poor lost boy in the woods trying
+to find his way out. He heard wolves howling, and saw bears and tigers
+and all kinds of wild beasts. At last a wolf with great red jaws came
+after him, and he started to run, but his terror was so great that he
+could scarcely move his feet. A fearful growl ran through the woods,
+and the dreadful beast came rushing down upon him. At this frightful
+moment he heard his name called; and turning, he saw Mr. Jonas, the
+schoolmaster, running toward him with an axe in his hand, with which
+he struck the wolf just as he was about seizing him. The wolf fell
+dead, and the schoolmaster, catching Neddy up in his arms, said,
+tenderly, "My poor, poor boy!" and hugged him tightly to his breast.
+
+Was all this a dream? No, not all, for Neddy awoke and found himself
+in the schoolmaster's arms, with two or three men around holding
+lanterns in their hands.
+
+"My poor, poor boy!" said the schoolmaster again, laying his hand
+tenderly on his recovered scholar; and this time Neddy heard the words
+in full wakefulness.
+
+He did not stir, but lay with his head close against Mr. Jonas, who,
+guided by the men with lanterns, walked hurriedly through the forest,
+and soon came to the road that led to the village.
+
+I was at Grandmother Oram's, waiting anxiously for news of the lost
+boy, when the schoolmaster came in with Neddy in his arms. I had been
+talking long and seriously with the frightened old lady about her way
+of treating Neddy, and she had promised me not to say a hard or angry
+word to him when he came home, if that ever should be. She was very
+much softened, and her real love for Neddy was having its full course.
+
+It was after ten o'clock when we heard the sound of coming feet. The
+poor old lady started up and stood pale and breathless. The door
+opened and Mr. Jonas came in, carrying Neddy in his arms. His face was
+softer in expression than I had ever seen it. He did not say a word
+until he came close up to Mrs. Oram, when, holding out the boy, he
+said, in a low voice that was broken and tender, "Be kind to the poor
+child, Mrs. Oram. I will see you about him in the morning," then
+merely adding, as he turned to leave, "We found him asleep in the
+woods," went out hastily.
+
+There was a new order of things in the village school after that. The
+rod fell from Mr. Jonas' hand, never to be lifted again, and he soon
+learned that in kindness was greater power than in fear. Neddy was in
+his place on the next day, and from that time onward was one of the
+most obedient and faithful scholars in school. Mr. Jonas' manner
+toward him was kind and gentle, and Neddy felt drawn toward him by a
+strange attraction that gave the schoolmaster the power over him of a
+wise and loving father. No thought of disobedience crossed the boy's
+mind. It was his delight to obey.
+
+All this happened many years ago, and now the boy Neddy has grown to
+be a strong, wise, good man, an honor to the position he holds, and
+one of the best of citizens. He had the opportunity of doing Mr. Jonas
+many kind acts; and when at last the old man grew too feeble to earn
+his living, Mr. Oram made his last days comfortable by placing him
+above the reach of want.
+
+[Illustration: THE END.]
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+Archaic spelling is preserved as printed. Variable spelling and
+inconsistent hyphenation is preserved as printed across different
+pieces, but has been made consistent within pieces if there was a
+prevalence of one form. Punctuation and printer errors (e.g. omitted
+or transposed letters) have been repaired.
+
+The following amendments have also been made:
+
+    Page 133--omitted word 'the' added--""Tell mother we want to
+    make coffee in the field, too" ..."
+
+    Page 341--mud amended to snow, based on the context--"... enable
+    it to wade through the deep snow, ..."
+
+In the story "How a Good Dinner was Lost" the older sister is named as
+both Rosa and Rosy.
+
+Illustrations have been moved where necessary so that they are not in
+the middle of a paragraph.
+
+Illustration captions in {braces} have been added by the transcriber
+for the convenience of the reader.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Happy Days for Boys and Girls, by Various
+
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