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diff --git a/59600-0.txt b/59600-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1b40afd --- /dev/null +++ b/59600-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2024 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59600 *** + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE] + + * * * * * + +VOL. III.--NO. 150. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR +CENTS. + +Tuesday, September 12, 1882. Copyright, 1882, by HARPER & BROTHERS. +$1.50 per Year, in Advance. + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: "HE CAUGHT HOLD OF THE ROOT OF A TREE AND KEPT HIS CANOE +STATIONARY."] + +THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB.[1] + +[1] Begun in No. 146, HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. + +BY W. L. ALDEN, + +AUTHOR OF "THE MORAL PIRATES," "THE CRUISE OF THE 'GHOST'" ETC., ETC. + +CHAPTER V. + + +When the boys were compelled to jump overboard, they could see that the +water was only about two feet deep, but they did not know whether they +could stand up against the fierce current. They found that they could, +although they had to move slowly to avoid being swept off their feet. +Harry's canoe was easily pushed off the rock on which it had run, and +the moment it was out of the way the other canoes were free. Each +canoeist seized the stern of his own canoe, and let it drag him down the +rest of the rapid, which fortunately was a short one. While performing +this feat the knees of the canoeists were scraped over the rocks, and +they received several bruises; but they thought it was impossible to get +into their canoes in swift water, and so had no choice except to float +down hanging on to the sterns of the canoes. + +Reaching the smooth water, they swam and pushed the canoes before them +toward the shore. Here they found a great bank of sawdust that had +floated down the river from the mill at Magog, and it was so soft and +elastic that they determined to sleep on it that night instead of +sleeping in their canoes, since the sky was perfectly clear and there +was no danger of rain. + +The canoes were hauled out on the bank, so that the stores could be +readily taken out of them. The canvas canoe did not seem to be in the +least injured either by the rock on which she had struck or by the +collision with the other canoes. Harry's canoe had sustained a little +damage where one of the planks had been ground against the rock on which +she had hung so long, but it was not enough to cause her to leak, and +the injuries of the other canoes were confined to their varnish. + +"All the trouble," remarked Harry, "came from following too close after +one another. To-morrow, if we find any more rapids, we will keep the +canoes far enough apart, so that if one canoe runs aground, the others +can turn out for her." + +"We could have got into the canoes easy enough if we had only thought +so," said Tom. "If I'd stood up on the rock and held the canoe alongside +of it, I could have stepped in without any difficulty." + +"Why didn't you do it, then?" asked Harry. + +"Because I didn't think of it, and because all the rest of you had +started to float down after your canoes." + +"I noticed one thing about a rapid which if I was Commodore it would be +my duty to impress on your faithful but ignorant minds," said Joe. "When +you see a big ripple on the water, the rock that makes it isn't under +the ripple, but is about four or five feet higher up stream." + +"That's Macgregor!" cried Harry; "but I'd forgotten it. To-morrow we'll +run our rapids in real scientific style." + +"Provided there are any more rapids," suggested Tom. + +"What did that Sherbrooke postmaster say about the Magog rapids?" +inquired Joe. + +"Said there weren't any, except one or two which we could easily run," +replied Harry. + +"Then we've probably got through with the rapids," said Charley. "I'm +rather sorry, for it's good fun running them." + +Supper was now over, and the canoeists, spreading their rubber blankets +on the sawdust, prepared to "turn in." They were very tired, and, lulled +by the sound of the rapids, soon dropped asleep. + +The recent rains had dampened the sawdust to the depth of about two +inches, but below this it was dry and inflammable. A fire had been made +with which to cook supper, and the dampness of the sawdust had made the +boys so confident that the fire would not spread, that they had not +taken the trouble to put it out before going to sleep. + +Now it happened that the damp sawdust on which the fire had been kindled +gradually became dry, and finally took fire. It burned very slowly on +the surface, but the dry sawdust immediately below burned like tinder. +About two hours after Harry had closed his eyes he was awakened from a +dream that he had upset a burning spirit-lamp over his legs. To his +horror he saw that the whole bank of sawdust was on fire. Smoke was +everywhere creeping up through the damp top layer, and at a little +distance from the canoes the smouldering fire had burst into roaring +flames. + +Harry instantly called his comrades, and starting up, they rushed to the +canoes, threw their blankets and stores into them, and prepared to +launch them. They had not a moment to spare. The flames were close to +them, and were spreading every moment, and as they shoved the canoes +toward the water their feet repeatedly sank down through the ashes below +the surface, the flames springing up as they drew them back. It did not +take many minutes to get the canoes into the water and to embark, but as +the canoeists pushed out into the river, the part of the bank where they +had been sleeping burst into flames. + +A light breeze had sprung up, which was just enough to fan the fire and +to carry it into an immense pile of dry drift-wood that lay on the shore +below the sawdust bank. The boys waited in the quiet eddy near the bank +and watched the progress of the fire. It licked up the drift-wood in a +very few moments, and then, roaring with exultation over the work it had +done, it swept into the forest. In half an hour's time a forest fire was +burning which threatened to make a terrible destruction of timber, and +the heat had grown so intense that the canoeists were compelled to drop +down the stream to avoid it. + +Canoeing at night is always a ticklish business, but on a swift river, +full of rapids, as is the Magog, it is exceedingly dangerous. The fire +lighted the way for the fleet for a short distance, but before a +landing-place was reached a turn on the river shut out the light, and at +the same time the noise of a rapid close at hand was heard. + +The boys had no desire to entangle themselves in unknown rapids in the +dark, and paddled at once for the shore opposite to that where the fire +was raging. They found when they reached it that it was a perpendicular +bank on which it was impossible to land. They floated down a short +distance, hoping to find a landing-spot, but none could be found. Then +they attempted to cross the stream to the other shore, hoping that the +fire would not spread in that direction. To their dismay they found that +they were already almost within the clutch of the rapid. The current had +become strong and swift, and it was evident before they had got half-way +across the river that nothing but the hardest paddling could keep them +from being drawn into the rapid. It was an occasion when everybody had +to look out for himself, and depend on his own paddles for safety. The +young canoeists struck out manfully. Harry was the first to reach the +shore, where he caught hold of the root of a tree and kept his canoe +stationary. Tom followed closely behind him, and Harry told him to catch +hold of the _Sunshine_ until he could make the _Twilight_'s painter fast +to the root. Joe arrived a little later, for his canoe had run on a +rock, and for a few minutes he was in great danger of a capsize. + +The three canoeists succeeded in tying up to the bank, where they +expected every moment to be joined by Charley. The minutes passed on, +but Charley did not appear. His comrades shouted for him, but there was +no answer. Indeed, the rapid made such a noise, now that they were close +upon it, that they could not have heard Charley's voice had he been a +few yards from them. + +The fear that an accident had happened to Charley made the other boys +very uneasy. Joe cast his canoe loose, and paddled out into the river, +and nearly across it, looking for some signs of the _Midnight_ and her +owner; but he came back unsuccessful, after having narrowly escaped +being carried down the rapid. There could no longer be any doubt that +the current had swept the _Midnight_ away, and that Charley had been +compelled to make the hazardous and almost hopeless attempt of running +the rapid in the dark. + +As soon as Joe returned, Harry said that he would paddle out into the +middle of the river, where Charley was last seen, and would let his +canoe drift down the rapid, but Tom and Joe insisted that he should do +no such thing. Said Joe: "Either Charley is drowned or he isn't. If he +isn't drowned, he is somewhere at the foot of the rapid, where we'll +find him as soon as it gets light. If he is drowned, it won't do him any +good for another of us to get drowned." + +"Joe is right," said Tom. "We must stay here until daylight." + +"And meanwhile Charley may be drowned!" exclaimed Harry. + +"I don't believe he is," replied Tom. "He's the best canoeist of any of +us, and he is too good a sailor to get frightened. Then he is very +cautious, and I'll bet that the first thing he did when he found himself +in the rapid was to buckle his life-belt round him." + +"If he did that it wouldn't hurt him if he were capsized." + +"Not if the rapid is like those we've run, and the chances are that it +is. I feel sure that Charley has got through it all right, and without +losing his canoe. We'll find him waiting for us in the morning." + +What Tom said seemed so reasonable that Harry gave up his wild idea of +running the rapid, and agreed to wait until daylight. It was already +nearly one o'clock, and at that time of year the day began to dawn by +half past three. There was no opportunity for the boys to sleep, but +they occasionally nodded as they sat in their canoes. About two o'clock +Harry poked Tom with his paddle, and in a low voice called his attention +to the crackling of the twigs in the woods a short distance from the +bank. Something was evidently making its way through the forest, and +coming nearer every minute to the canoes. The boys grasped their +pistols, and anxiously waited. They remembered that there were bears in +the woods, and they fully believed that one was on its way down to the +water. "Don't fire," whispered Harry, "till I give the word;" but while +he was speaking a dark form parted the underbrush on the bank above +them, and came out into full view. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +LILY AND VIOLET. + +BY E. M. TRAQUAIR. + + + The lily blooms in gay parterre, the violet in the shade; + But each is sweet and most complete, where'er its lot is laid. + And what is true of plant and flower holds good of lord and churl. + The lady in her palace halls, or lowly village girl. + + Within her lofty castle home grew up fair Lily Vane, + As pure and stately as the flower from which she took her name. + Yet gentle was the maid and good, like gold without alloy; + With every circling year that passed, her parents' pride and joy. + + And modest Violet's mother kept the lodge beside their gate; + She learned betimes to knit and sew, content in humble state. + No gold or gems to deck her hair, no silken robe had she; + A loving heart and true was all the dower of Violet Lee. + + These maiden-flowers grew, and waxed more sweet from day to day; + Each in her place the lesson learned, to love, to work, and pray. + They learned to smile at others' joy, to weep with others' woe, + To cheer the heart, and raise the head with sorrow drooping low. + + Fair Lily in her lordly halls became a baron's bride; + Sweet Violet humbly labored by her peasant-husband's side. + Pure Lily's sway was felt among the great ones of the earth; + Sweet Violet cheered with heart and hand her lowly cottage hearth. + + Their lots were far apart in life, the goal for each the same: + A faithful heart serves God and man in lady as in dame. + So, like the flowers whose name they bore, when past life's summer day, + A fragrance from their lives they left that ne'er shall pass away. + + + + +CORALS. + +BY SARAH COOPER. + + +Most boys and girls like corals. They are so common and easily obtained +that I hope each of you will lay aside your reading just here, and hunt +up a piece, no matter how small, that we may examine it carefully, and +see what we can find out about it. You must find, however, a piece of +the natural coral, just as it was brought up out of the sea, and not an +elegant and polished piece such as is made into ear-rings and brooches +and long strings of beads to adorn the necks of ladies and little folk. + +What makes this bit of natural coral so rough? The first glance will +convince you that those curious pits and little cups on the surface mean +something; and when we remember that all the corals which reach us are +the skeletons of former living animals, they interest us at once. + +Few of us, perhaps, will ever be so fortunate as to see living corals, +since they grow principally in the deep water of warm oceans. The higher +the temperature, the greater the variety and profusion of the coral. +During life the skeleton is covered with soft flesh, the surface of +which is thickly studded with star-like animals called polyps. In this +way millions of polyps are sometimes clustered together in one +community. As they wave their delicate tentacles of white, green, or +rose color, they are said to be very beautiful, especially if seen in +the bright sunlight through water that is clear and still. + +[Illustration: Fig. 1.--BRANCHING CORAL ALIVE, WITH POLYPS EXPANDED.] + +In Fig. 1 is shown a piece of living coral with the polyps expanded. The +flesh has been removed from the upper branch on the left that we may see +the skeleton. Let us suppose that the specimens we have selected for +study are of this kind. Each of the tiny cups on the surface was once +the frame-work of a separate polyp, and we shall find that its interior +is divided by a number of partitions which do not quite reach the +centre. Look into the cups with your microscopes,[2] and you will find +them very beautiful. One set of partition-walls reaches almost to the +centre, and between these walls are shorter ones. These give us a clew +to the kind of animal that has lived here, and they will at once remind +you of the partitions in the sea-anemone, as shown in Fig. 2 in the +article on "Sea-Anemones," published in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 143. Indeed, +the whole structure of a coral polyp is similar to that of an anemone, +and we can now easily imagine the stomach of the polyp hanging down in +the opening left between those delicate partitions. Coral polyps differ +from sea-anemones, however, in three important ways--they have hard +skeletons, they can not move about, and they usually grow in clusters. + +[2] A Coddington lens, which is inexpensive, is a useful thing to +possess. It can be carried in the pocket; and if we have it always with +us, we may find new beauties wherever we go. + +When young, coral polyps are little jelly-like animals which swim about +in the water. After they have chosen a resting-place, and the stomach +and tentacles have grown, hard particles of lime, which they have drawn +in from the sea-water, settle in their flesh to form a circular cup as +well as the partitions inside. In this way the polyps soon acquire a +solid frame, the soft parts being the stomach, the fringe of tentacles, +and the fleshy mass covering the skeleton and the internal partitions. +They can draw the tentacles entirely within the body, as the anemone +does. Like the anemone they also have lasso-cells for capturing their +food. + +Should it be a branching coral whose history we are tracing, it will now +begin to bud from the sides. The buds will grow into branches, throwing +out other buds, somewhat as plants do, until we have an elegantly +branching colony. Each bud is a new polyp, and remains attached to the +branch from which it sprang. Although the polyps in such a community +have separate mouths and stomachs, there is a close connection between +them, and a free circulation of fluids through the soft flesh. + +As in other families one generation passes away and another takes its +place, so in large branches of coral the lower and older portions may be +dead, and living polyps will be found only at the ends of the branches. +Corals seem to be delicate creatures, as they will not flourish under +adverse circumstances. They require water of a certain depth, and they +die immediately if exposed to the sun or to cold weather. + +Besides increasing by budding, corals increase rapidly by eggs. Their +eggs are pear-shaped, transparent bodies, covered with cilia, which are +in constant motion, and which row the jelly-like lumps through the +water. The parents, you remember, are firmly rooted to some object, but +their little ones are gifted for a time with the power of motion. They +may well enjoy the privilege while it lasts, for it is their only chance +of exploring their ocean home. Presently they must settle down like +other sedate corals. But it is in this manner that the young polyps are +distributed through the ocean instead of growing in a crowded colony +around the parent. + +You will often hear coral spoken of as having been built by an insect, +and you will see at once that this is far from correct. Coral polyps are +very different from insects, and their skeletons grow, much as ours do, +inside of the animal; so we can not say they have been built. All such +animals as coral polyps, which have the mouth in the centre, with other +parts radiating from it, are called "Radiates." + +Besides these branching corals which resemble trees and shrubs, some +grow in solid masses without sending off branches. Others assume the +shape of graceful vases; all of these are gayly decked with star-like +polyps of varied colors. Does it not seem to you as if the ocean was one +vast store-house of beautiful things? + +[Illustration: Fig. 2.--MUSHROOM CORAL.] + +The mushroom coral (Fig. 2) looks indeed like a large mushroom, although +you will notice that the leaflets are on the upper surface instead of +being underneath, as they are in the vegetable mushroom. This coral is +the skeleton of one huge polyp, and we see the depression in the centre +corresponding to the little cups on most other corals. + +[Illustration: Fig. 3--ORGAN-PIPE CORAL.] + +The organ-pipe coral consists of lovely crimson tubes standing upright, +and connected at short distances by thin flat plates, which give it the +appearance of being several stories in height. These plates may be +distinctly seen in Fig. 3. When alive, a little polyp protrudes from the +top of each tube, and being of a bright purple color, it makes a +striking contrast with the crimson tube. + +[Illustration: Fig. 4.--FRAGMENT OF RED CORAL WITH POLYPS.] + +Red coral, which is used for jewelry, grows in a bushy form on rocks at +the bottom of the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The fleshy mass of this +coral is colored red by the numerous red spicules it contains, while the +polyps are pure white. The whole resembles a pretty red shrub spotted +over with sparkling white flowers. The spicules in the centre of the +branches form a solid stem, which takes a fine polish. Underneath the +flesh the surface of the coral is marked with deep grooves, which are +canals for the circulation of water. These grooves are shown at both +ends of the branch in Fig. 4. They are always removed in polishing. + +Red coral is generally obtained by fishermen, who drop into the water +heavy wooden crosses to which strong nets are attached. As the boat +moves slowly forward, the crosses are raised and lowered to break off +the coral branches. The apparatus is then lifted from the water, and the +fragments of coral which have become entangled in the net are carefully +removed. There are many shops in Italy where the coral is polished and +cut into various ornaments. Delicate rose-colored corals are considered +very choice and elegant, but the natives of India prefer blood-red ones, +which contrast finely with their dark rich complexions. Corals are their +favorite ornaments, and large quantities are imported every year. + + + + +DOWN CELLAR. + +BY JIMMY BROWN. + + +We have had a dreadful time at our house, and I have done very wrong. +Oh, I always admit it when I've done wrong. There's nothing meaner than +to pretend that you haven't done wrong when everybody knows you have. I +didn't mean anything by it, though, and Sue ought to have stood by me, +when I did it all on her account, and just because I pitied her, if she +was my own sister, and it was more her fault, I really think, than it +was mine. + +Mr. Withers is Sue's new young man, as I have told you already. He comes +to see her every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening, and Mr. Travers +comes all the other evenings, and Mr. Martin is liable to come any time, +and generally does--that is, if he doesn't have the rheumatism. Though +he hasn't but one real leg, he has twice as much rheumatism as father, +with all his legs, and there is something very queer about it; and if I +was he, I'd get a leg of something better than cork, and perhaps he'd +have less pain in it. + +It all happened last Tuesday night. Just as it was getting dark, and Sue +was expecting Mr. Travers every minute, who should come in but Mr. +Martin! Now Mr. Martin is such an old acquaintance, and father thinks so +much of him, that Sue had to ask him in, though she didn't want him to +meet Mr. Travers. So when she heard somebody open the front gate, she +said, "Oh, Mr. Martin I'm so thirsty and the servant has gone out, and +you know just where the milk is for you went down cellar to get some the +last time you were here do you think you would mind getting some for +me?" Mr. Martin had often gone down cellar to help himself to milk, and +I don't see what makes him so fond of it, so he said, "Certainly with +great pleasure," and started down the cellar stairs. + +It wasn't Mr. Travers, but Mr. Withers, who had come on the wrong night. +He had not much more than got into the parlor when Sue came rushing out +to me, for I was swinging in the hammock on the front piazza, and said, +"My goodness gracious Jimmy what shall I do here's Mr. Withers and Mr. +Travers will be here in a few minutes and there's Mr. Martin down cellar +and I feel as if I should fly what shall I do?" + +I was real sorry for her, and thought I'd help her, for girls are not +like us. They never know what to do when they are in a scrape, and they +are full of absence of mind when they ought to have lots of presence of +mind. So I said: "I'll fix it for you, Sue. Just leave it all to me. You +stay here and meet Mr. Travers, who is just coming around the corner, +and I'll manage Mr. Withers." Sue said, "You darling little fellow there +don't muss my hair"; and I went in, and said to Mr. Withers, in an +awfully mysterious way, "Mr. Withers, I hear a noise in the cellar. +Don't tell Sue, for she's dreadfully nervous. Won't you go down and see +what it is?" Of course I knew it was Mr. Martin who was making the +noise, though I didn't say so. + +"Oh, it's nothing but rats, Jimmy," said he, "or else the cat, or maybe +it's the cook." + +"No, it isn't," said I. "If I was you, I'd go and see into it. Sue +thinks you're awfully brave." + +Well, after a little more talk, Mr. Withers said he'd go, and I showed +him the cellar door, and got him started down the stairs, and then I +locked the door, and went back to the hammock, and Sue and Mr. Travers +they sat in the front parlor. + +Pretty soon I heard a heavy crash down cellar, as if something heavy had +dropped, and then there was such a yelling and howling, just as if the +cellar was full of murderers. Mr. Travers jumped up, and was starting +for the cellar, when Sue fainted away, and hung tight to him, and +wouldn't let him go. + +I staid in the hammock, and wouldn't have left it if father hadn't come +down-stairs, but when I saw him going down cellar, I went after him to +see what could possibly be the matter. + +[Illustration: "THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE BOTH BURGLARS."] + +Father had a candle in one hand and a big club in another. You ought to +have been there to see Mr. Martin and Mr. Withers. One of them had run +against the other in the dark, and they thought they were both burglars. +So they got hold of each other, and fell over the milk pans and upset +the soap barrel, and then rolled round the cellar floor, holding on to +each other, and yelling help murder thieves, and when we found them, +they were both in the ash bin, and the ashes were choking them. + +Father would have pounded them with the club if I hadn't told him who +they were. He was awfully astonished, and though he wouldn't say +anything to hurt Mr. Martin's feelings, he didn't seem to care much for +mine or Mr. Withers's, and when Mr. Travers finally came down, father +told him that he was a nice young man, and that the whole house might +have been murdered by burglars while he was enjoying himself in the +front parlor. + +Mr. Martin went home after he got a little of the milk and soap and +ashes and things off of him, but he was too angry to speak. Mr. Withers +said he would never enter the house again, and Mr. Travers didn't even +wait to speak to Sue, he was in such a rage with Mr. Withers. After they +were all gone, Sue told father that it was all my fault, and father said +he would attend to my case in the morning; only, when the morning came, +he told me not to do it again, and that was all. + +I admit that I did do wrong, but I didn't mean it, and my only desire +was to help my dear sister. You won't catch me helping her again very +soon. + + + + +THE LONG STRIKE. + +BY JULIA K. HILDRETH. + + +All along the banks of the Connecticut River are little towns consisting +almost wholly of great cotton factories run by water power or steam, and +the cottages of those who labor in them. Windham is one of these towns, +and though perhaps you might not find it on the map, for it is a very +small place, it turns out thousands of yards of muslin and cotton every +year. All around the tall factory buildings are grouped the little red +and white dwellings of the weavers, like chickens around their mother +hen. + +Usually these small houses are empty during working hours. All day long +the hum and clatter of machinery shake the walls, and dense volumes of +smoke pour from the tall chimneys. + +But one morning everything was changed. The doors of the factories were +closed; no smoke came from the chimneys, and no sound of machinery from +the buildings. Around the cottages men stood in groups, with angry +faces, scowling and talking in low tones. Presently the sound of a drum +was heard. At this the men separated, and forming themselves into a +line, marched off. + +About a quarter of a mile from the village was an open field, where a +tent had been erected for the accommodation of travelling lecturers, who +were in the habit of stopping at Windham in the summer-time. + +To this tent the men were going when Nelly Austin first saw them. Nelly +lived all alone with her mother in a small house near the tent. She knew +very little of factories or factory life, for she seldom went to the +village, and had no companions living there. So when this crowd of men, +with a boy beating a drum before them, came marching along the road, +Nelly was astonished, and ran in the house to tell her mother. + +Mrs. Austin was sitting by the window sewing, and grew very white when +Nelly spoke. + +"Mamma," cried Nelly, "look out of the window at that big army of men! +They are going into the tent." As Nelly approached her mother she saw +that there were tears in her eyes. "Are you frightened, mamma?" she +inquired. "Do you think they will hurt us?" + +"No, Nelly," answered Mrs. Austin; "they are only men from Windham. They +are dissatisfied with something the owners of the factories have done, +and so have come to the tent to talk it over. They do not want to work +until they have their own way. That is what is called 'striking.'" + +"Well, then, mamma," inquired Nelly, "if they only mean to talk, why do +you feel so badly and cry?" + +"Because, dear, years ago, when you were a baby, there was a strike at +Windham that ended in a terrible fight, and your papa, who owned one of +the factories, was killed and our house burned." + +"How dreadful!" said Nelly. "I am so sorry!" Then she kissed her mother +softly, and with a very sober face went to the door and peeped out. + +The orchard wall ran across one side of the inclosure where the tent was +placed. She ran to the wall, and climbing up on top, peeped down upon +the assembled workmen. They did not look at all blood-thirsty. Some were +even laughing; most of them had their pipes in their mouths, smoking. At +a desk on one side of the room stood a man who was talking loudly to +those around him. Every now and then Nelly heard the words "injustice," +"never give up," "masters and men," but she could make nothing of them. + +Week after week the workmen came to the tent, until Nelly grew so +accustomed to their meetings that she scarcely noticed them. But one +day, about ten weeks after their first meeting, when the strikers were +assembled under the tent, they talked so loudly and made so much noise +that Nelly clambered upon the orchard wall again, wondering what was +going to happen. She noticed that there was no pleasant laughing and +talking, as there had been at first; instead of which, the men seemed to +Nelly to be scolding and shaking their fists at one another. She tried +very hard to make out what they were saying, but as they all spoke at +once, she soon found that impossible. But still she sat perched under +the apple-tree, until at last all but two of their number got up and +went away. These two kept their seats until the rest had disappeared +down the road. Then they came just outside of the tent and stood close +to Nelly without observing her. + +"I will not bear it another day," said one, looking very miserable and +angry. "My wife and young ones are starving. Can I stand by and see +that? And yet you tell me to have patience!" + +"It's all Mr. Willard's fault, Bill," said the other, more quietly. "If +he would give in, all the other owners would follow his example. They +always do." + +"Well, then," answered Bill, shaking his fist, "he _shall_, if I have to +kill him myself." + +"Go home, Bill," said the other, in a warning voice, "and don't talk +nonsense. It will all come right in time." + +Then he turned away, and left Bill alone, scowling and muttering, while +Nelly sat on the wall trembling with fear lest she might be discovered. + +When Bill thought himself alone, he drew out a heavy pistol from his +pocket, and Nelly saw him load it and thrust it into the breast of his +red shirt. He then went back to the tent, and throwing himself upon one +of the benches, appeared to fall asleep. + +Nelly's fright increased. "I wonder," she said to herself, "if he really +means to kill old Mr. Willard?" Then she determined to be very brave. +What was best to do she could not tell. Finally she said to herself, +"I'll just stay where I am and watch." + +Nelly sat with her eyes fixed on Bill for a long time, but he did not +stir until the clock in the Windham church struck six; then he stood up, +and after looking all around, crossed the road and climbed the wall that +inclosed Mr. Willard's wood. + +"There!" said Nelly; "now I _know_ he means to shoot Mr. Willard." + +Nelly and every one living near knew that Mr. Willard, the richest +factory owner in Windham, walked through these woods alone every +evening, about half past six, to the post-office. Mr. Willard chose this +way to the village, because it was the shortest and pleasantest. + +When Nelly saw Bill climb the wall, she knew it must be for the purpose +of meeting Mr. Willard, as the man's home was quite in an opposite +direction; so she jumped down and followed him quickly. As she reached +the upper stone of the wall inclosing the wood, she caught a glimpse of +him hurrying toward the road that led to the post-office. But by the +time she had reached the ground he was gone. So Nelly flew along without +even glancing at the pretty golden-rod and squawberries that gleamed +yellow and red between the trees. + +At last Nelly gained the wide road, and looked around. Something red +lying upon the ground attracted her attention. After a moment she +perceived that it was Bill's red shirt, and that Bill himself was +stretched upon the ground behind a large sycamore-tree, and he was +almost hidden in the long grass and weeds. + +Nelly stood in the path some time, fearing to pass him, he looked so +angry and wicked. But she had determined to try and see Mr. Willard +before Bill, and so perhaps save his life. At last she heard something +that sounded like a footstep. This made her forget her dread of Bill, +and she sprang past his hiding-place like a frightened hare, and never +stopped until she reached a small rustic gate that separated the woods +from the smooth green lawn surrounding Mr. Willard's home. + +From where she stood Nelly could see the wide porch of the brown-stone +house, and presently Mr. Willard himself appeared hurrying across the +grass. When his hand was on the gate, Nelly drew back, for she felt very +timid at what she was about to do. + +When Mr. Willard saw Nelly, he put on his gold-rimmed eyeglass and +examined her closely, as though astonished at seeing such a small girl +all alone in the woods, with a very worried expression in her eyes. + +"Well," said he, "who are you, little girl?" + +"Nelly Austin," she answered, without moving. + +"Austin! Austin!" repeated Mr. Willard. "Are you the daughter of Mr. +James Austin that was killed by the mob at Windham some years ago?" + +"Yes, sir," answered Nelly, "and I want to tell you something." + +"Very well," said Mr. Willard, patting her on the head. "I am listening. +But speak quickly, for it is late, and I must post my letters before the +mail goes out." + +"Oh, Mr. Willard," cried Nelly, excitedly seizing his hand and pulling +him toward the gate, "don't go through the woods to the post-office +to-night!" + +"Why not?" questioned the old gentleman in surprise. + +"Because there's a dreadful man waiting behind the sycamore-tree to kill +you with a big pistol, just as they did my poor father." + +"How did you learn this, Nelly?" asked Mr. Willard, wonderingly, and +looking closely at her. + +Then Nelly related all she had seen and heard from her hiding-place upon +the orchard wall. + +Mr. Willard stood in silence for some moments after Nelly had finished +her story; then he lifted her upon his arm, and said: + +"You are a good kind girl, little Nelly, and I thank you. Do you know +that a man values his life more than anything else he possesses, and +that you have saved mine? Now, Nelly, ask me for something you would +like to have for yourself. No matter what it is, you shall have it. +Remember, I am a very rich man." + +"Would you really give me anything I ask for?" said Nelly, looking +inquiringly into Mr. Willard's face. + +"Yes, my dear, anything in my power. Now would you like a carriage with +two beautiful little cream-colored ponies to drive yourself? Or what +would you like? Speak out, Nelly, and don't be afraid." + +"No," said Nelly, shaking her head. "Ponies would be very nice. But +that's not it. What I want would cost ever so much more, I suppose. I +want you," said she, hesitatingly, while she stroked his white beard +softly with one hand, "to please give in to the poor people at Windham." + +"What a strange child!" said Mr. Willard, slowly. "And is that all, +Nelly?" + +"Not quite," answered Nelly. "There's something more that I feel bad +about." + +"Speak, dear, what is it?" + +"You know the wicked man in the woods waiting to kill you? Well, he said +his wife and babies were starving. Please don't put him in prison." + +"But, Nelly," said Mr. Willard, very kindly, "you know this man has done +very wrong. It is he and others like him who stir up discontent among +the factory people and cause these terrible 'strikes,' which only end in +keeping them idle for weeks, until they grow so miserable that dreadful +crimes are committed." + +"Yes, but I want you to forgive them. Some people say they are very +reasonable in what they want this time, and you can do it just this +once. They are so poor and wretched and hungry. Please, please do!" + +Mr. Willard kissed her. "Well, Nelly," he said, "I promise. The +work-people shall have their own way, and Bill shall go unpunished. Now +what shall I give you?" + +"Nothing, thank you," answered Nelly, slipping from his arms. "I must go +home, for mamma doesn't know where I am. Good-by, Mr. Willard; I thank +you ever so much for your promise." + +"Good-by, Nelly. Now kiss me, and take care of yourself until I see you +again." + +Next morning when the factory bells rang out, it was known all over +Windham that the working people were to go to work on their own terms. +Mr. Willard had given in. Once more the doors were flung open, black +smoke rushed from the chimneys, the machinery hummed and buzzed, and +busy, cheerful forms could be seen hurrying to and fro. + +But a day or two later a meeting of the factory people was called, and +then the story was told that Mr. Willard had yielded, not to the demands +of Bill and his fellows, but to the prayer of a little girl who had +forgiven the men who murdered her father, and who could not be content +to see them suffer. + +Not long after, Mr. Willard called on Nelly's mother, and sat talking +with her for a long while. As he took his leave he put a folded paper in +Mrs. Austin's hand, telling her there was something for Nelly. After he +was gone Mrs. Austin opened the paper and called Nelly to her. + +"This," said she, "is what is called a deed, and Mr. Willard has given +you the house we live in and the woods you love so much." + +"For my own?" cried Nelly, opening her eyes very wide. + +"Yes, dear," answered her mother. + +"And the rabbits and squirrels and birds and everything in it?" + +"Yes, dear, all of them." + +I can not tell you all that Nelly said, or how much happiness there was +in the little cottage. After this Nelly and Mr. Willard became close +friends. He called her his "Wood Fairy," and they could be seen almost +every day wandering hand in hand through Nelly's wood. + + + + +[Illustration: LITTLE MOTHER HUBBARD.] + + + + +HOW BILLY WENT UP IN THE WORLD. + +BY ANNETTE NOBLE. + +Part III. + + +One day it happened that the tailor had not been home for twenty-four +hours. Billy's coming into his family had made Peter very negligent. +When he failed to bring food for the old woman and child, he assured +himself that most likely Billy would get some. Peter was sure he ought +to do that much for the shelter of a comfortable home. So every week the +tailor drank more and staid away from that home longer; but Billy, +wholly absorbed in his own plans, hardly noticed the fact, and Ben never +complained of anything that could be endured. As long as the cow had +fresh grass, they had milk and did not suffer. If it happened that Billy +heard granny ask for meat, he got it for her; if not, she went without +and forgot it from one meal-time to another. Indeed, she forgot +everything but her Bible. + +Well, as I have just said, Peter had not been home for twenty-four +hours. Sunset came, and Billy did not return. The minstrel troupe were +getting ready to leave town, and he was probably with them. The cow did +not come home as she had often been accustomed to do of her own accord. + +All these non-appearances made Ben very uneasy. He laid the table with +empty dishes, and then watched on the door-steps. The stars came out and +winked at him; the crickets made lonesome music. Presently granny +tottered across the room, took up an empty cup, and shook her head +musingly. + +"Was the tea strong to-night, dearie?" she asked. "It seems as if it +must have been poor stuff, I feel so weak." + +"You have not had any, granny, but I guess we will s-soo-" began Ben, +and then stopped. It did not seem worth while to stutter long over a +thing so doubtful. But when the old Clock struck eight, Billy took his +torn hat from the peg behind the door and said, "I am going after +Brownie; she must have got into Mr. Ellery's pasture." + +"Yes, child. The green pastures and still waters," answered the old +woman. "And there is the Shepherd, you know. I shall not want." + +"There isn't any shepherd there, and we must go after our own cow when +she strays away, granny." + +Ben shut the door gently then, and went down under the sunflowers along +the road and over a narrow bridge, stopping to look into the rapid +stream where the cattle came to drink at noon-time. Yes, sly Brownie was +in the neighbor's pasture; but she took little Ben's grave rebuke very +meekly, as became a good cow, and started away home. She reached the +bridge and clattered over it, her hoofs shaking the unsteady planks. + +As soon as he saw her headed in the right direction, Ben lingered to +look longingly up the main road, for it was not so dark that he could +not see if any one should happen to be coming down that road. He was +just turning to go on, when he discovered a man in the distance. As Ben +saw him walking first in the dusty road, then in the dewy may-weed of +the border, now here, now there, he sped briskly toward him to act as a +walking-stick. How often he had performed this sad duty before! Yet +there was no hesitation or delay in the way he sprang forward to help +the unhappy father who had done so little for his child. + +"Humph! I should think you had better be on hand, leaving poor fellow to +find his way home all 'lone this time night." + +Ben did not answer. He had all he could do to keep his small feet out +from under Peter's great boots, and to keep both himself and his unhappy +parent from falling to the ground. At the bridge they made more noise +than even the cow had made in crossing. The old planks creaked and +rattled, while Peter lurched from one side to another. + +"Take care, father! See, oh, s-s-see!" stuttered Ben. "You go too near +the edge!" + +The shrill warning came too late. Peter staggered, pitched, and reeled +over into the brown water. One hand vainly snatching at Ben only tore +the shabby straw hat off his head. The poor child gave a long, loud +shriek for help. Fear loosened his stammering tongue, and the cry, +"Father will drown! Come, oh, come!" rang out wildly over the fields. +Meanwhile, by kneeling, he had seized the drunkard's coat, and was able +to hold him at least a moment. + +It seemed an hour to Ben. Peter struggled madly, and flung both arms +around the frail boy to draw him recklessly down with him to death. Over +he went, without resistance, and the leaping, sparkling stream that was +so beautiful by day swept over them both. The stars twinkled overhead +and the crickets chirruped in the crisp grass, and at that very moment +Brownie was softly lowing at the little red cottage door. Granny waked +up and called out in the silence and shadow, "Bring the good Book, +Bennie, then we will go to rest." + +Two hours later Billy came gayly whistling home and found the cottage +dark, the fire out, and the poor old woman shivering, troubled to +understand the strange stillness around her and her own discomfort. He +lit a candle and looked on the lounge, expecting to find little Ben +curled up there asleep, but the kitten, mewing pitifully when he +disturbed her, was there all alone. + +"Where can he be, gran--" The words were arrested on Billy's lips. +Farmer Ellery entered the room and motioned to him to keep still. A +woman who followed him led granny tenderly into the next room, while +outside the door Billy heard muffled voices and many footsteps. + +A moment later how his blood seemed to freeze with horror! The door +opened, and sad-faced men brought in, on a plank torn from the old +bridge, Peter, the tailor, dead. His pallid face gleamed through the +matted hair, the water dripped from his clothing, and clutched tightly +to his breast was poor little Ben. The child's soft locks streaming back +showed the sweet face that looked to Billy like an angel's, so pure was +it now. The patient little helper! Billy burst into tears. He forgot the +stuttering, the baby pinafore, the copper-toed shoes that used to make +Ben so funny. He all at once remembered how he gave himself so lovingly +to everybody's service--to his, to granny's, to the miserable father's, +even unto death. It seemed as if Billy must get him back, if only to +tell him how much he loved him. But that could not be ever again. + +Farmer Ellery and the other kind neighbors made every effort to restore +the two to consciousness, but all was of no avail. They could only keep +the sad condition of things from the poor old woman until morning, and +then vie with one another in bringing her comforts. + +The next few days were very strange ones to Billy. He never forgot an +hour of that morning when he sat on the door-step in the warm sunshine, +and peeped every now and then into the cottage, where, on the old +lounge, made white with snowy linen, was a child, strewn from head to +foot with apple-blossoms. + +"He was not great, or handsome, or very smart," thought Billy, "but he +will be missed, for he was good, and he loved everybody. He was always +ready and willing to help, or to do, or to suffer. He was worth twice as +much as I am. Nothing is left for me but granny. I'll have to make up to +her the loss of both of them." + +Suddenly there came into Billy's mind the thought of his chosen +occupation. Was he not to start out as a minstrel that very week? + +I doubt if Billy had ever thought so much in all his life before as he +did in the days that lay between the time when little Ben was brought +home so cold and white, and the funeral, when the kind neighbors buried +him away out of sight under the green sod. He seemed to be taking a new +view of life altogether. He could not have told the reason why, but the +idea of starting off with the minstrel troup seemed to lose its +fascination. He would have to leave that little green mound behind him, +and he did not want to do it. + +It was two days after the funeral when, as Farmer Ellery was at work in +his field, there appeared quite unexpectedly a red head over the fence +near him, and then a boy with a very earnest face. + +"Good-day, Billy. Going to leave us, I hear." + +"No, sir. I have come to say I want to make a man of myself by being +just a hard-working boy, if you will show me how. And could I work for +enough to keep an old lady, do you think? I am going to keep her, +anyhow. The town shan't have granny. I am sorry I refused your offer. +That minstrel nonsense is no go for me." + +Billy's face grew as red as his hair, but he went on in a minute: + +"Her Book tells what a fellow ought to be, you know, and I think I had +better get into being something worth while. If I turn short around, +maybe I can--" + +"Make the most of yourself, with the help of God." + +"That is it exactly." + +"Come over the fence. Take a hoe and begin," said Farmer Ellery. + + * * * * * + +William Knox attended the last fair in Langham. He did not go up in a +balloon, but his cattle and his farm produce took first prizes. If it +had been becoming for a committee to decide what farmer was universally +beloved and respected, in whose honor the community fully believed, +perhaps there would have been another prize offered to William. If so, +his face would again have been redder than his hair, for the best men +are always modest. + +THE END. + + + + +TOM FAIRWEATHER'S VOYAGE UP THE TIGRIS. + +BY LIEUTENANT E. W. STURDY. + + +The _Blosse Lynch_ is the largest boat on the Tigris, being built +somewhat on the model of the American river steamers, and on the _Blosse +Lynch_ Tom Fairweather was embarked on a trip from Bassorah to Bagdad. + +Bagdad, the City of the Caliphs, is five hundred miles from Bassorah, +first up the Shatt-el-Arab, and then against the swift current of the +Tigris, which runs at the rate of five miles an hour. + +This voyage generally lasts three days, but sometimes, when the river is +low and the nights dark, it is impossible to steam by night at all, or +to go fast even by day. But Tom seemed born to good fortune and the fair +weather which his name bespoke. The steamer sped on her way favored in +all respects. + +Tom's father had been to Bagdad before, and did not care to go again, so +Tom was put under the charge of Lieutenant Jollytarre, who had decided +to make the trip, although he, too, had made it already. + +Such a motley throng on deck! There were keen-eyed swarthy Arabs of the +desert, and black-eyed, russet-hued Arabs of the Gulf (the Persian Gulf, +be it understood); there were Mussulmans from India on a pilgrimage to +Kerbela; Jews of Bagdad returning to their homes after a business visit +to Bassorah; there were Christians of Bagdad and Christians of Mosul. To +be sure, these latter looked as unlike the ordinary Christian of Tom's +acquaintance as possible, in their flowing robes and bright colors. But +then Christianity and trousers and frock-coats are not altogether +inseparable. Besides, there were Arab women, closely veiled, squatted +about the deck. Sometimes the veils fell, and displayed the adornment of +rings in the noses of these fair Arabians, blue lines elegantly tattooed +on their chins and foreheads and across their lips. + +You may fancy that it was a source of endless amusement to Tom to +observe these different groups. Orientals are a tranquil set, and the +quaint figures about the deck of the steamer changed their positions but +seldom throughout the day; they smoked their caldeoous and drank their +coffee seated on carpets and mats, and only stirred at the hour of +prayer. + +"Ain't it queer to see them saying their prayers right out before +everybody?" commented Tom. + +"Yes, it is," agreed the Lieutenant. + +Presently they began to approach Kumah. + +"What's this other river?" demanded Tom. + +"This is the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris, fifty miles above +Bassorah." + +"Why, isn't this the Garden of Eden? I think my father told me that the +Garden of Eden was at Kumah." + +"Well, he was right." Here Mr. Jollytarre hailed an Arab who had just +come on board to peddle his wares, consisting of curiosities and relics. + +The Arab stood in front of Tom, gravely offering him a small branch of a +tree. His English was so bad, however, that Tom was forced to turn to +Mr. Jollytarre for an interpretation. + +"He says that is a branch from the original tree which bore the +forbidden fruit." + +"Good gracious, you don't say so!" And Tom forthwith purchased the +branch, paying two or three prices for it, of course. + +Then the peddler jumped ashore, and they left Kumah behind them. + +Afterward, for hours and hours a monotonous stretch of lowlands was the +only landscape. The river-banks were so low that the wash from the +steamer went over and watered the grass. Here and there were rice fields +cultivated by the Arabs, and where the land was drier green corn waved, +but not a tree broke the dead level of the landscape. + +"What are those?" cried Tom, pointing to some animals playing among the +reeds. "Oh yes, I see now--pigs; wild pigs, I suppose? And those birds +are pelicans, are they not--there, in those pools? How snowy white they +are!" + +"I was a youngster when I made this trip before," said the Lieutenant. +"It was my first cruise. I shall never forget shooting at a lion and two +lionesses which had climbed to the top of a bank, where they lay high +and dry. I hit the lion at the first shot, whereupon he plunged and +reared, and then charged desperately in the direction of the steamer. At +the second shot he rolled over dead into the water. But he showed fight, +I tell you, and the fury of the three animals was something to be +remembered. After the lion was hit, one of the lionesses jumped into the +water and swam for the steamer. She was killed alongside." + +"And the other lioness?" + +"I regret to state she turned tail. I have always supposed she had cubs +at home." + +"Hello!" cried Tom, "what's that? Some one firing on shore. Look!" + +Mr. Jollytarre used his field-glass. The Captain of the _Blosse Lynch_ +sauntered up with his glass. On the banks of the river were two men +firing at each other, one on either side, using the steamer apparently +as a screen. + +"Some of my crew tell me that those are two brothers," said the Captain, +"who are fighting for the supremacy of their tribe. They keep up with us +pretty well, don't they? Now look at that rascal shooting at that other +fellow across the bow of the boat. By Jove! he's hit him. The man's +down. Two or three men are running up to him and carrying him off. It's +a dangerous country," continued the Captain, "and a bad lot of tribes +all along here. They are always giving trouble, robbing grain and cargo +boats at every opportunity." + +Every ten or twenty miles the vessel would steam by an Arab settlement, +or rather encampment, where nothing could be ruder than the huts built +of mats and reeds. + +The Arab boys of these villages would run along the banks shouting to +the passengers, who would throw them apples and onions and cabbages. The +sight of this sport fascinated Tom, who first begged a cabbage of the +steward, and then hurled it toward the shore. It fell midway, however, +into the water, whereupon the boys set up a shout of baffled +expectation. But in the next moment two or three of them had sprung in +after the precious gift, swimming fearlessly, regardless of the swift +current and the wash of the steamer. + +"The grown-ups are at it now," cried Mr. Jollytarre. "Look, Tom, look!" + +As he spoke three men and a woman plunged into the river and exerted all +their energies to seize upon a handful of onions which some of the crew +just then threw overboard. Loaded with their booty they swam ashore +satisfied. + +As they proceeded on their way the aspect of the country improved +greatly. Little towns built of sun-dried bricks replaced the former +villages of reeds and mats. Among the dwellers on the Upper Tigris are +Bedouins who had wandered thither in the dry season to water their +flocks, and had settled there. + +[Illustration: A PARTY OF WANDERING BEDOUINS.] + +Have you all heard of the Bedouins of the desert? At certain seasons the +desert is an arid waste, where flocks would perish of thirst. Many +Bedouins, who had thus found their way to the river-banks, and had staid +on, became farmers there. Some of them in the course of time would +wander off to Bagdad or some other great town in search of employment, +and thus these wanderers would cease to be the Bedouins of the desert. + +Tom became thoroughly interested in all this. He looked with curiosity +at the farmer Bedouins. Presently he saw a party of them mounted upon +camels ("ships of the desert") steering their way along the river-bank. + +"There's one queer thing," Tom said, looking about him on the steamer's +deck. "Did you ever see so many blind people together before, Mr. +Jollytarre? I mean blind of one eye. I never saw anything like it. What +do you suppose is the cause?" + +"Diseases of the eye are very common here on account, I suppose, of the +glare of the sun on these hot plains. They have a way of using tobacco +juice as a remedy for these diseases, which only makes them worse. The +native doctors put out many an eye by this treatment. The patient is +lucky if he escapes with even one good one. The natives have great +confidence in the European doctors, and look upon them as +magicians--that is, unless they propose to cut off an arm or a leg. That +they won't submit to; they would rather die. The loss of an eye is +evidently a trifling matter." + +"That accounts for the Three Calenders," said Tom, "You remember those +Three Calenders in the _Arabian Nights_? They were princes' sons, each +blind of the right eye, who all met at the gates of Bagdad together. Now +I've always thought it so very remarkable--all three blind of the same +eye, all three princes, all meeting at the same place." + +"What you might call a coincidence, or rather three of them. I always +used to think that story hard to swallow myself, but since I've seen +these Eastern folks in the flesh, I find it easier to believe. In fact, +I have been told that it would be a very singular circumstance if three +individuals came together at Bagdad, or any other town in the +neighborhood, who could count six eyes among them." + +So they went on their way, coming nearer and nearer to Bagdad. Five +hours from their destination they came to the ruins of two cities, the +"Twin Cities of the Arabs"--Seleucia and Ctesiphon. + +Seleucia was built on the western bank of the Tigris, by Seleucus, one +of Alexander's generals. After the death of Alexander his vast empire +was divided between four of his generals, and the grand division called +Syria fell to the share of Seleucus. This included part of ancient +Assyria, and therefore the venerable city of Babylon, which was at one +time the greatest city in the world. As Seleucia rose into power it +gradually took the place of Babylon, which fell into decay in its turn. + +Ctesiphon was built opposite Seleucia on the other bank, and was the +capital of the Parthian Empire, its royal palace being one of the +wonders of the ancient world. + +Kingdoms were bowled up and down in those days just as they are now, and +in this way Ctesiphon was sacked by the Arabs, when, a few years after +the death of Mohammed, they prostrated the Persian kingdom. + +The wonderful royal palace was destroyed and its glories scattered. One +marvellous carpet in particular, which covered the Hall of Audience, was +sent to the Caliph Omar as a trophy worthy of him alone. He had it cut +up and divided among the captors, and it was of course ruined. + +Tom and Mr. Jollytarre wandered through the ruins of Ctesiphon, talking +of these things. + +[Illustration: "CÆSAR'S ARCH" AT CTESIPHON.] + +"At one time," said Mr. Jollytarre, "they were rebuilding, or rather +refounding, Bagdad, in the time of a caliph called Almansur. He +determined to use the devastated palace of Ctesiphon as a quarry for +materials. He ordered the famous building to be entirely demolished for +this purpose; but it was found to be impossible to carry out his orders, +the pile was so stupendous. There is 'Cæsar's Arch,' for instance, which +has escaped the destroyer's hand. The height and span of this arch are +said to be unequalled in the world." + +But Tom heaved a sigh. "I should have liked to see that carpet," he +said. + +"Yes, so should I. I hardly think carpet-makers of the East have +improved since that day. They improve slowly out here. I don't believe +things have altered much since Alexander's day." + +"Those round boats, for instance," said Tom. + +"So much for the 'Twin Cities of the Arabs,'" said the Lieutenant, as +they embarked once more on the _Blosse Lynch_. "Tom, I wonder your small +head does not burst with all the sights you have seen and the wonders +you have heard since we left Bassorah." + +"Most of it goes in one ear and out the other," replied Tom, frankly. + +At night-fall of the third day they reached Bagdad, but it was too late +to go on shore. + + + + +FIVE LITTLE ANGELS. + + + Five little angels singing on high; + Five little angels drop from the sky. + + [Illustration] + + The first to blow the fire ran; + + [Illustration] + + The second then put on the pan; + + [Illustration] + + The third poured in the porridge nice; + + [Illustration] + + The fourth put in the salt and spice; + + [Illustration] + + The fifth then brought it in a plate, + And, smiling, said to little Kate: + Your supper's very hot, I fear; + Be careful not to burn you, dear! + + + + +[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.] + + +Two little cousins were going to school the other day, and as they +passed my window I watched their faces. One of the boys, whose name was +Harold, looked very happy. I was as sure as though he had told me so +that he had been helped by a pair of twin fairies who are always very +busy at this time of the year. The two little creatures flit from one +school-room to another, and the boys and girls whom they assist may be +known by several signs. They hold their heads up bravely, they walk with +light steps, and they are never seen to frown or pout. I was sure by +Harold's eyes that he and the fairies I mean were close friends. + +Edgar, the other boy, went to school with an air which gave me pain. I +was not at all surprised to hear him say that he had a cross teacher, +and that he did not like his lessons, and could not learn them. Poor +fellow! A naughty fairy had captured him, and I put on my spectacles and +took my knitting while I thought of a plan to set him free from her +power. + +The fairies who help children at school are bright-eyed creatures, who +teach you two things--the first is how to hold fast, the second is how +to hold on. Fairy Holdfast will not let her friends look at a half-dozen +things at once. She says, "Now, my boys and girls, ten times one is ten. +Think of that, and of nothing else. Look, straight at the teacher if in +the class-room; look straight at the book if it is study hour. I will +hover about, and keep everybody who wants to bother you out of sight." + +Fairy Holdon says, sweetly, "Dear little ones, Rome was not built in a +day. One brick at a time, and the house is completed. One day at a time, +and the century is finished. One lesson at a time, perfectly learned, +and the little boy becomes a great scholar." + +Some people call the Fairy Holdfast Attention, and the Fairy Holdon +Diligence, but I think the other names are prettier and much easier to +remember, don't you? + +As for the wicked fairy who is the foe of all good boys and girls, her +name is Fairy Scatterbrain, though some people call her Idleness. She is +not nearly so strong as the kind fairies I have been talking about, and +if you make an effort to snap the threads she weaves about you, they +will break like spiders' webs. Only, _you_ must make the effort. Nobody +can do it for you. + +I intend to whisper this secret to Edgar on the first opportunity. + + * * * * * + + NEW BRIGHTON, STATEN ISLAND. + + I am nine years old. I live with my papa and mamma in the country. + I have a little pug-dog whose name is Beauty, and I have a + canary-bird and a young rabbit. The canary-bird's name is + Buttercup, and the rabbit's name is Muff. I am going to tell you + about the way in which I caught Muff. I was out walking with my + teacher and my brother and another little boy and girl, and we went + up to the woods, when all of a sudden I caught sight of a little + brown thing in the bushes, and then I saw that it was a young + rabbit, and I called my little friends to try and catch it, and at + last the little boy succeeded in doing so. We took it home and put + it in a box, in which we laid some straw. + + My brother is eight years old. He has a bicycle, and he rides very + well. He began to ride when he was six years old. + + JULIE B. R. + + * * * * * + + FORT BOWIE, ARIZONA TERRITORY. + + This is my second letter to YOUNG PEOPLE. The first was written + some time ago from Fort Apache. Most girls tell of their pets, but + as I have only a pair of pigeons and a little "burro" (which is + Mexican for donkey), I'll tell about our trip from Fort Apache to + this place. We left Apache early on the morning of June 28, and + arrived here on the afternoon of July 9, having travelled in an + ambulance drawn by six stout mules. The road was very rough in some + places, but the scenery was beautiful, especially when crossing the + mountains. We passed by the graves of the men killed by Indians + last May. In one grave there were five bodies. We also saw the + charred remains of a wagon, to which the Indians had tied men and + then burned them. We had a detail of sixteen soldiers, or we should + have been very much afraid. We camped each night, and I thought how + surprised Eastern people would have been had they seen us sitting + outside the tents after supper, singing, in this wild country. I'll + write again some time, and tell about this funny little fort--that + is, if we stay here long enough. + + BESSIE G. + +Your letter would not have been too long, dear, had you told about the +fort before you concluded it. Little correspondents need not fear making +descriptive letters too long. + + * * * * * + + "I want to look wise," said Maud, one day; + "I want to look clever and wise." + "Oho!" said the Owl, as he sat on a spray, + And blinked, as in solemn surprise, + "You had better by far remain as you are, + And learn to _be_ clever and wise." + Then echoed the birds as they sat in a row, + "You hear what he says; you'd better, you know, + Just learn to be clever and wise." + + * * * * * + +AN ALPHABET. + + A is an apple, so rosy and sweet! + B is a butternut dropped at your feet. + C is a crow flying over the hill, + D is a duck in the pond by the mill. + E is an egg that the hen hid away; + F is a fan for a very warm day. + G is a golden-rod lifting a plume, + H is a honey-bee kissing its bloom. + I is an icicle, sharp as a spear; + J is a juniper, green all the year. + K is a katydid, singing at dusk; + L is a lily, much sweeter than musk. + M is a mouse peeping out of her hole; + N is a napkin in tight little roll. + O is an owl, looking solemn and wise; + P is a pussy, with fun in her eyes. + Q is a question that children may ask; + R is a recess when ended your task. + S is a sugar-plum ever so nice; + T is a tooth biting it in a trice. + U is an usher, to find you a place; + V is a violet hiding her face. + W is a wren, with a dear little nest; + X is the gladness that fills her wee breast. + Y is YOUNG PEOPLE you all love so well; + Z is for Zoe, who reads it to Nell. + +Some little folks may think it odd that X stands for gladness. When they +are older, and study algebra, they will find out that X is put for a +quantity that is not known. Nobody can tell just how very glad a little +mother-bird feels over her fledgelings. + + * * * * * + + KNOXVILLE, ILLINOIS. + + I like so well to read the letters from other little boys and girls + that I thought I would like to write you one. I have two dogs: + their names are Prince and Gip. Prince is a shepherd dog, but can + not scent so well as Gip, who is a rat terrier; so Prince coaxes + Gip to go rabbit-hunting with him, and scent and catch the rabbits, + when Prince eats them. Gip does not always like to do the work and + let Prince have all the enjoyment, and sometimes runs back after + they get started, but Prince will rub his nose, pat, and coax until + Gip will finally go. I have two ducks, and they sit on nests close + together, and divide the eggs between them. I have also a cat named + Bessie; she had a kitten, but it died. I have a little sister named + "Tot." I have taken HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE ever since it first + started, and I think "Toby Tyler" was the best story of all. I am + in the country visiting, and my auntie is writing this letter for + me, as I am only six years old, and can not write. I have been + riding on horseback, chasing the cows and pigs, catching chickens + for auntie, drinking all the milk I want, and having a real good + time. I have not seen any letters from the Knoxville girls and + boys; so I hope you will print this, and let me surprise my papa, + who prints papers too. + + STERLING H. C. + +This is a very nice letter, only, dear Sterling, I am sorry those dogs +hunt and eat the poor rabbits, and if I were their little master, I +would stop such work if I could. The ducks are much kinder than the +dogs, in my opinion. + + * * * * * + + ELLENSBURG, OREGON. + + Will you publish a letter from a little girl who lives away off on + the Pacific coast, where no one is ever advised to "go West"? I am + six years old. Papa subscribed for the YOUNG PEOPLE last winter, + and it was so long coming that we began to fear that the money had + been lost, when at last four numbers came all at once, and on my + birthday at that. We live at the mouth of Rogue River. There is a + large salmon cannery here, and a great many men are employed during + the fishing season. A long time ago this place was called Gold + Beach, on account of the very rich mines here. Sometimes we walk on + the beach and gather moss and shells. From the front door we can + see steamers passing up and down the coast, and can watch the + fishing-boats. Last summer papa took me to San Francisco, and I + enjoyed the trip very much. I have two brothers, Bertie and Harry, + and a sister Pearl, and I am the oldest of them all. I have a + number of dolls, and a kitten named Jessie. Bertie's kitten is + named Daisy. We all think ever so much of YOUNG PEOPLE. I have a + little friend named Clarence, who is going to subscribe. I can not + read much myself, but mamma reads to us. Mamma is writing at my + dictation, but she says we must "boil it down," or you will not + even read my letter. I think that of all the subscribers in the + United States, none live so far West as your little Oregonian + friend, + + MAY W. + +The next time I cross the East River and see the busy steamboats going +to and fro, I shall think of May watching the ships and steamers from +her front door. How nice it was to have your first numbers of YOUNG +PEOPLE arrive on your birthday, almost as though it had been planned to +give you them for a birthday present. + + * * * * * + +We think the following letter from a lad of twelve will interest many +other wide-awake boys who have never had the pleasure of seeing what +goes on in a navy-yard. We will be pleased to hear from our young +correspondent again: + + I live in the Boston Navy-Yard. I thought it would be interesting + to the readers of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE to hear something in regard + to navy-yards in general. I have lived in two yards, and have + visited several others. I think the Boston Navy-Yard by far the + most interesting. In it is a rope factory which is 1300 feet long. + All kinds of rope are made here. It is not only interesting but + instructive to watch the process. First the hemp is combed and + twisted into strands, then these strands are twisted into sections + of rope, then three or four sections are twisted together to form a + complete rope. Wire rope is also made here, which is used for + stationary rigging. A manila rope was on exhibition at the + Centennial which was made in this yard, the circumference of which + was 28 inches; this was the largest rope ever made. The dry-dock is + another very interesting feature of this yard. It is a place where + ships float in for repairs. After they are in, gates are closed, + and the water pumped out by a powerful steam-pump, leaving the ship + high and dry, so that even her bottom can be repaired without the + aid of divers. The dimensions of this dry-dock are 403 feet long, + 99 feet wide, and 32 feet deep. It was begun July 10, 1827, and + opened June 24, 1833, and cost $677,000. + + PORTER. + + * * * * * + + ROUND MOUNTAIN, ALABAMA. + + I want to tell you about our nurse's wedding, and I want you to put + my letter in your dear little paper; but before I begin I must tell + you that we live away out in the country in Alabama. We moved here + from Augusta two years ago. Papa has an iron furnace here. There + are about two hundred cabins all around the furnace. Our house is + called the "Big House"; it stands off by itself. + + Well, when Cinda (that is nurse's name) told mamma she was going to + be married, mamma gave her lots of nice things for a wedding + supper, and told Cinda she could be married on our big piazza. + Cinda was so happy, and was not cross a bit that day, and when she + bathed us did not get a bit of soap in our eyes. + + Cinda is nearly forty years old, and mamma says her name is most + appropriate (for she is as black as a cinder). Her husband "to be" + was ten years younger than she, but he did not seem to mind that, + for he had been begging Cinda a long time to marry him. When the + hour came, mamma and some lady visitors went to the piazza. The + friends of the bride and groom were there too. Then Cinda and + Albert came on the piazza. + + Cinda wore a black cashmere dress and white gloves, and flowers in + her hair and at her neck. We children thought she looked so nicely. + When Mr. W---- asked Albert if he took Cinda to be his wife, and + would protect and support her, Albert just hollered out, "You bet I + will, boss"; and then Mr. W---- said they were "man and wife." Then + they went to one of the cabins, and had their supper and a nice + time. + + BOLLING S. + + * * * * * + + DOBB'S FERRY, NEW YORK. + + I send a receipt which I made myself this morning, and I hope you + will print it. Here it is: + + POP-CORN CANDY.--Pop some corn; then fill a patty-pan or some small + tin with the corn, and pour two tea-spoonfuls of molasses over it. + Put it on the range for five minutes, and then let it cool. You + will find it very nice. + + ISABEL N. + + * * * * * + + SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA. + + About two months ago I went to Los Angeles. There were seventeen in + the party, and we had a very nice time. I should like to tell you + about all we saw and did, but as that would take all the room in + the Post-office Box, I will just tell you about something I saw in + Los Angeles. We visited an old Hungarian, whose business was + training mocking-birds and raising flowers for market. He had about + one hundred large birds, and in a box by themselves a dozen or more + young birds. He placed their food on the end of a stick, and put it + through the wires of the cages, and each one would stretch out his + wings to keep the others away while eating it. When he came to the + little ones, they all opened their mouths, and then they did look + funny enough, for their throats are bright yellow, and one could + see little except mouths. He teaches them to whistle tunes very + sweetly. When they can not learn to sing, he turns them out; but + they stay near by, and he feeds them. There was one bird near our + camp that sang all night. The man had eleven dogs, and bought two + sacks of flour and two dollars' worth of meat a month for them. He + said he loved birds, dogs, and flowers better than human beings. We + were gone from home two weeks, and saw a great deal of Southern + California. + + EMILY G. B. + + * * * * * + + BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA. + + I don't know how to write, so mamma is writing this for me. I have + all the HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLEs for last year, and all for this + year. I keep my books and papers in a trunk, and once a week I dust + them all. The colored Odd-Fellows had a procession last week. They + wore black broadcloth suits and tall beaver hats. Some rode on + horseback, and they had on sashes, and looked so nice. They had + some beautiful flags and banners, and one of them had the biggest + axe over his shoulder I ever saw. I like to read the children's + letters in the Post-office Box. We have two pets--a Maltese cat + named Charley, and a big horse named Rex. Good-by. + + ARTHUR B. + +The Odd-Fellows must have looked quite brilliant and imposing with their +sashes and banners. I am glad you save all your papers so carefully. You +may always refer to a number when you wish, which is a great +convenience. + + * * * * * + + BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. + + I am a little girl seven years old, and I asked mamma to write this + for me. + + I have one brother nine years old; he is away in the country, while + I staid at home. + + I have ten dolls I play with. The prettiest one is a French doll + named Edna. I have a baby doll with a long white dress and a cap + on, and I love her ever so much. Then I have a Japanese doll, + called Wingy Wing Foo, like the one in the story in one of your + papers. + + I have one little black kittie, with white feet, and she has a red + ribbon on her neck with a bell on, so I can tell where she is. Her + name is Widdy. + + I like to hear about all the little girls and their pets, so + thought I would write and tell you of mine. I hope you can print + this. I should like it so much. + + * * * * * + + MOTT HAVEN, NEW YORK. + + I am sorry the story about Mr. Stubbs's brother is ended, and still + more sorry that Abner is dead. + + I have been in the country, and climbed the mountains at Highland + Falls, and I brought home with me two lovely sunflowers, the first + I ever saw, though I will be ten years old next month. + + LOTTIE S. S. + + * * * * * + + Around and around a dusty little room + Went a very little maiden with a very big broom. + And she said, "Oh, I could make it so tidy and so trig, + Were I a little bigger and my broom not quite so big!" + + * * * * * + + PASS CHRISTIAN, MISSISSIPPI. + + As I see that you receive letters from all parts of the country, I + thought you would like to have one from this place. I am one of + five boys in a family. We all enjoy reading the paper, even to my + little sister, although she can only look at the pictures. We get + it regularly every week. We have a pair of goats and a wagon. They + resemble Rocky Mountain goats. We have a harness to fit our goats, + so that we are able to drive a double team. Their names are Jack + and Billy. They are snow white. The place I live in is large and + shady. It is situated on a lake, in which we bathe. We are + fifty-eight miles from New Orleans, where my father is in business. + We have also a pony which we ride. Her name is Fate, and she is + very gentle. + + SYDNEY H. + +I would like very much to see your goats, which are, no doubt, as +well-behaved as they are beautiful. I hope you feed them generously, and +never let them work too hard in their pretty harness. + + * * * * * + + SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. + + I live in San Francisco, and often go out to ride to the Cliff + House. It is very funny to watch the sea-lions on the rocks, which + are called Seal Rocks. We were there the other day when a tug-boat + came close to the rocks and blew a whistle. The seals took alarm, + and it was very comical to see them make their way into the sea two + by two. We went to the Persidio, and through the fort. We saw + cannons, of which there are a great many. The walls are about six + feet thick. The cannons are all pointed out of little windows, and + are on tracks so that they can be placed in any position. We went + to the top of the fort, and saw a little boat go through the Golden + Gate. I have read HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE for two years. I look + forward to Thursday with great pleasure, for that is the day when + it comes. + + DAISY H. + + * * * * * + + NETHERWOOD, ILKLEY, ENGLAND. + + I am a little boy ten years old, and my real home is in Wisconsin, + U. S. Mamma and I are staying here with grandmamma. We are to + return in October. We are going to Paris to-morrow, and from there + to London, where I hope to visit the Tower and other places of + importance. I wish I could give you a little of my diary which I + kept at sea, some of which I think would be interesting. I have + taken your paper ever since the first number in 1881, and have + liked it very much. I like "Mr. Stubbs's Brother" especially, and + long each week for the paper which my father sends from America. + + J. E. MCC. + +Perhaps you will keep a diary on the voyage home. If so, you may send me +some quotations from it when you are again at your home in Wisconsin. I +hope you are writing a little every day about the sights which to you +are new and interesting in the Old World. + + * * * * * + +MARIE G. L.--There is no charge for the publication of exchanges. Each +person should pay the postage or expressage upon the articles which he +or she sends. As to which should forward articles first, the +Postmistress can not decide. In every case trouble would be saved, and +misunderstanding and disappointment would be prevented, if exchangers +would follow the advice always given at the head of the columns devoted +to their interest and pleasure. Write first to the person with whom you +wish to exchange your treasures, and await a reply before you send +anything. This should always be done. + + * * * * * + +C. Y. P. R. U. + +A CURIOUS CHINESE CUSTOM.--The people who live in the southern part of +China are said to observe, once a year, a festival to which all look +forward almost as eagerly as Americans do to the Fourth of July. It is +called the Filial Porridge festival. Instead of boiling rice by itself +on that day, sugar, seeds, fruit, dried dates, and other things are +cooked with the rice, making a dish which is almost black in color and +very thick. This porridge is placed in bowls, and is set before the +ancestral tablets and household gods which one finds in every Chinese +house. Here it is left for a time, with incense and candles burning +beside it. After a while, when the souls of the departed ancestors are +supposed to have consumed all they wish, the family are at liberty to +eat the remainder. Children who are married, and away from home, make +and send a dish of this porridge to their parents if they possibly can. +After the filial porridge has been eaten, the boys and girls amuse +themselves by firing off crackers, playing merry games, and having a +pleasant time. + + * * * * * + +This is a pretty story about a terrier, is it not? A hungry boy called +at a house in Rochester, and asked for something to eat. He was told +that there was nothing, but he pleaded with the servant, saying, "Give +me only a piece of bread." + +The dog, who had been standing by the domestic, suddenly ran away, and +in a moment returned, carrying in her mouth a large piece of bread, +which had been given to her for her breakfast. Going straight to the +boy, she laid it down at his feet, looking up at him, and motioning with +her head and paws, as if to bid him take it. + + * * * * * + +Du Chaillu, in his beautiful stories of travel in Scandinavia related in +_The Land of the Midnight Sun_, tells about being driven through the +country by young girls. He says: + + "At every station I had a young girl for a driver, and these + children of the North seemed not in the least afraid of me. My + first driver's name was Ida Catharina. She gave me a silver ring, + and was delighted when she saw it on my finger. I promised to bring + her a gold one the following winter, and I kept my word. She was + glad indeed when, at the end of the drive, I gave her a silver + piece. Another driver, twelve years old, was named Ida Carolina. + The tire of one of our wheels became loose, but she was equal to + the emergency. She alighted, blocked the wheel with a stone, went + to a farm-house and borrowed a few nails and a hammer, and with the + help of a farmer, made everything right in a few minutes. She did + not seem in the least put out by the accident. She chatted with me + all the time though I did not then understand what she said, for I + did not then know the Finnish language. She was a little beauty, + with large blue eyes, thick fair hair, and rosy cheeks. From early + life children are here taught to depend upon themselves." + + * * * * * + +We would call the attention of the C. Y. P. R. U. this week to the very +interesting article on "Corals," by Miss Sarah Cooper, and to Lieutenant +E. W. Sturdy's account of "Tom Fairweather's Voyage up the Tigris." + + * * * * * + +PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS. + +No. 1. + +FOUR WORD SQUARES. + +1.--1. The time to rest. 2. A lounger. 3. A dell. 4. A fence. 5. Very +large plants. + +2.--1. A musical instrument. 2. A false god. 3. To defeat. 4. A girl's +name. + +3.--1. An imaginary monster. 2. Profit. 3. A husk. 4. To challenge. + +4.--1. Air in motion. 2. A thought. 3. Close. 4. To brave. + + A. L. W. + + * * * * * + +No. 2. + +DOUBLE ACROSTIC. + +1. A crawling animal. 2. A chemical substance. 3. A Swiss patriot. 4. A +girl's name. 5. Destructive animals. Primals and finals spell the name +of manufactories which are beautiful objects in a landscape. + + BENJAMIN L. + + * * * * * + +No. 3. + +FIVE DIAMONDS.--(_To Eureka_). + +1.--1. A letter. 2. A meadow. 3. A fruit. 4. A unit. 5. A letter. + +2.--1. A letter. 2. Part of a verb. 3. A color. 4. A fish. 5. A letter. + + COUNT NO ACCOUNT. + +3.--1. A letter. 2. A tavern. 3. To bring on. 4. A fruit. 5. A letter. + +4.--1. A letter. 2. To increase. 3. Peculiar form of expression. 4. A +point. 5. A letter. + +5.--1. A vowel. 2. Permit. 3. A planet. 4. A utensil. 5. A letter. + + CHRISTINE and GRETCHEN. + + * * * * * + +No. 4. + +CHARADE. + + My first is the lightest of things, without doubt. + My second we would not be always without. + My whole you will find as a great prize is reckoned + By people who are a long way from my second. + + * * * * * + +ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 147. + +No. 1. + + D N + F I N P A D + D I G I T N A V A L + N I B D A N + T L + + S T C + G A G P E T O L D + S A P I D T E N O R C L A R E + G I N T O N D R Y + D R E + +No. 2. + + A P E + S H E + T I E + S L Y + M A Y + I D A + R E D + I L L + S P Y + S H Y + L I E + D A Y + +No. 3. + + S la Y + T og A + E conomi C + A ccomplis H + M el T + +No. 4. + +Cowl. + + * * * * * + +Correct answers to puzzles have been received from "Christine and +Gretchen," Naomi Schultz, John Burr, Arthur Folsom, "Eureka," Sydney +Heineman, Benjamin Lowenthal, E. C. DeWitt, "Lodestar," "Sunshade," +Eddie S. Hequembourg, Daisy R., Louise Redwood, Archie McManus, Tom +Rayburn, Elsie Lee, Maggie Murphy, Ella Hurd, Edith Maynard, Mollie +Price, Puss Keeler, Richie Jenkins, Jesse Oppenheimer, Fred Lott, Hugh +McAlister, "Al Bert," Rosa Lennox, W. A. W., Emma Christie, "Ye Owls," +David Heinemann, Frank C. Farrow, G. Ritter, "Gazetta," "C. De Gangue," +Alice W., and John Selim. + + * * * * * + +[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._] + + + + +[Illustration: "A LITTLE TOO MUCH FISH."] + +"MY SHARK." + +BY EESUNG EYLISS. + + +The experience of this comical youth who is struggling so valiantly with +"A little too much fish" reminds me of my adventure with the finny +monster that I always call "my shark." + +"Hold on to him, I say. Don't let him get the better of you. Hold him +tight. There, you have let him run again." + +It was the minister who spoke; but I paid little heed to his advice, for +at that moment I was busy--very busy; and not only that, but I was +satisfied that the present business I understood better than my adviser. + +The way of it was this. We were in Gardiner's Bay; had gone down to fish +for porgees chiefly, though, of course, taking whatever came to hand. It +was my custom to take with me on such occasions a shark line, and not +unfrequently I had fine sport in that way. This day, of which I have +been speaking, I had invited the pastor of the village church to +accompany me, and with him had come a theological student who was +visiting at his house. + +We had a delightful sail down the bay, and commenced our fishing. The +first porgee which I caught, I rapped on the head, and then putting him +on my shark hook as bait I paid out the line (a half-inch rope to which +the hook was attached) until it had run off with the tide about fifty +feet astern of us, and resumed my fishing. + +Our success was good, and we were enjoying it finely when r-a-s-p, +r-a-s-p I heard my heavy shark line dragging out over the gunnel of the +boat. I knew the sound well, and what it meant; a shark was going off +with my baited porgee. + +I caught the rope, gave it a quick and strong pull to hook him, and +found at once that I had my hands full. I had taken many of them, and I +knew on the instant, from the violent strain, that he was one of more +than common size. He had not as yet become much alarmed, and he was +simply swimming off with determination, but without any special +excitement. We were in a large sail-boat, but he was swinging us in the +tideway as though it was only a floating board. All this time I was +gathering in the line, until I brought him up where I could see him; I +judged him to be eight feet long at least. + +When he came thus near the surface, he took fright and turned down. Of +course I could not hold him, and he dragged the rope through my hands +foot after foot, until he was nearly a hundred feet away. I made out to +glance over my shoulder in search of my crew. I found that the party +were mustered forward holding tight to the mast, and looking decidedly +solemn. I could not, however, attend to them, but proceeded to gather in +my shark again. + +By the time that, after a heavy struggle, I had once more brought him to +close quarters, he had become somewhat tired out, and dragging his head +to the surface I dealt him a blow with a club. And it was as I took up +the club that the parson volunteered his advice, as already mentioned. +The blow was not sufficient to stun the shark, and off like a runaway +horse he went again. But when I brought him up the third time it was +manifest that he was becoming exhausted, and that I could hold him. And +hereupon the pastor took heart of grace and came to the rescue. + +"Hold him tight, now. Let me get at him; I want to pay him off for past +scores. The sins of the fathers descend upon the children, you know; and +I believe it was his grandfather that used to frighten me so when I +played truant from school and ran off to Fulton Market to bathe. I will +settle him," and, taking the club, he rapped the poor shark across the +brain until life was extinct, and I could, with the help of my crew, +haul him into the boat. He was a little less than nine feet long, and +his name is Eugomphodus littoralis. He has long, slender teeth, almost +like horseshoe nails, each tooth having a sharp point on each side near +the base. He is the only shark of our coast with such teeth. The species +is found from Cape Cod to Hatteras. + + * * * * * + +ALLITERATION.[3] + +[3] From _New Games for Parlor and Lawn_. By GEORGE B. BARTLETT. New +York: Harper & Brothers. _In Press._ + +Although this game requires close attention, it is much less difficult +than it appears, for very young players succeed well in it after a +little practice. The players are arranged in a circle, and to each a +letter of the alphabet is assigned in order, from which he must produce +a sentence every word of which begins with his letter. + +At the expiration of ten minutes each one must read or say his line, in +the order in which the players are seated. As it is harder to compose +these sentences mentally than to write them, the manner of playing must +be decided beforehand. The former way is better, even if the lines are +shorter or less finished, as memory as well as invention is thus +strengthened. A few examples are given below, which children can easily +follow to the end of the alphabet. + +"An aristocratic artist angrily argued against an ancient art article, +anticipating all antagonistic announcements, and answering all æsthetic +attacks." + +"Busy bees brightly buzz by brilliant bowers, borrowing beneficent +burdens by burrowing brown bodies below beautiful bean blossoms." + +"Careless censure continually condemning can cause careful candor +considerable consternation." + +"Dainty deeds daily done dearly delight dutiful daughters." + +"Each eager enthusiast exults every Easter, eagerly examining each +Easter-egg." + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: AWFUL THIRSTY.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's Young People, September 12, +1882, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59600 *** |