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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59632 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
+[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+VOL. III.--NO. 152. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
+CENTS.
+
+Tuesday, September 26, 1882. Copyright, 1882, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
+$1.50 per Year, in Advance.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: YOUNG HAYDN SINGING BEFORE THE TWO GREAT MUSICIANS.]
+
+"PAPA HAYDN."
+
+BY MRS. JOHN LILLIE.
+
+
+One day nearly a hundred and fifty years ago two elderly gentlemen were
+dining together in an old house in Hamburg, Germany. They were
+music-masters of great note in those days. Herr Franck was the host; the
+guest was Herr Reuter, Capellmeister at Vienna. Their conversation very
+naturally was on music, and the new and old musicians, singers, and
+conductors. Suddenly Franck declared he had in his house a prodigy, a
+boy of nine, whom he had brought from the country. Reuter was delighted.
+The boy was summoned from the kitchen, where he was dining with the
+cook, and no doubt enjoying his Sunday pudding with great relish, for he
+worked hard and did not fare too well.
+
+I like to think of that picture: the old wainscoted dining-room, the
+grave musicians looking up from their dinner as the door opened on a
+small dark-haired, brown-skinned boy, a dainty, delicately modelled
+child, who came in shyly, and stood at a distance from the table, with
+his hands behind him, and his head bent down, until his teacher, Herr
+Franck, bade him sing. And then the boy's voice broke all the bonds of
+restraint. He threw back his little head and sang. It was an
+irrepressible burst of melody, and Reuter, the old master, sprang up,
+exclaiming, "He shall come to my choir; he is just what I want."
+
+It was a wonderful step onward for the child; but Reuter little knew the
+future of the boy whom he took that day, and never dreamed that his
+name, Francis Joseph Haydn, would be famous in every civilized country
+of the world.
+
+Reuter carried young Haydn off to Vienna, where he was placed in the
+cathedral choir, and where his sweet young voice, a marvellous soprano,
+filled all the town with delight. His parents gave him freely in charge
+to old Reuter; but the master was selfish and exacting. The boy longed
+to compose, but Reuter refused to allow him to take lessons in
+composition, and made him give his whole time to choir practice. Haydn
+had very little money, but he hoarded every penny for a long time, and
+when he was thirteen years old he purchased two treatises on music, and
+having studied them diligently, actually composed a mass.
+
+I don't suppose it was very fine music, but at all events it showed a
+great desire for work, and it was too bad that Reuter should have roared
+with laughter over it, and given the eager boy no encouragement. It
+seems as though from that time the old master was determined to thwart
+and annoy his pupil. The lad found choir work a slavery, but did not
+know how to free himself. A piece of idle mischief led to his escape.
+One day in a frolic he cut off the tail of the wig of a singer in the
+choir. Reuter flew into a rage, turned Haydn out then and there,
+actually expelling him from choir, board, and lodging. It was a cruel
+winter's night. The lad wandered about the streets of Vienna, until he
+remembered the one person who had ever encouraged him. This was a barber
+named Keller, and to his humble abode Haydn directed his steps. Keller
+gave him a cordial welcome, though he had but little to offer: a
+loft--in which, however, stood an old harpsichord--and a seat at his
+simple table. In the wig-maker's family Haydn went joyfully to work. He
+had some sonatas of Bach's, he picked up odd bits of music here and
+there, mastered the science of those who had gone before him, and though
+often cold and hungry, was never cheerless. Now and then he went into
+the shop, where Keller and his daughter Anne were at work on wigs, and
+where Haydn's assistance was quite acceptable. Anne Keller was a plain
+dull girl, who knew nothing of the great art of her father's lodger, yet
+Haydn was grateful for her rough sort of kindness to him. He became
+engaged to her, and later, when he was more prosperous, married her.
+
+It was not long before the young musician had made a circle of friends.
+He played on the violin and the organ, sometimes in the churches, and
+occasionally in the salons of some great ladies, but his chief enjoyment
+was a little club of wandering minstrels. They were a band of
+enthusiastic youths who wandered about Vienna on moon-light nights to
+serenade famous musicians.
+
+One night they directed their steps to the house of Herr Curtz, the
+leader of the opera. Under his windows they began one of Haydn's
+compositions, the young musician's violin slowly filling the moon-lit
+garden with melody. No demonstration from old Curtz was expected, but
+suddenly a window was flung open, out came Curtz's head, and his voice
+screamed to know who was playing.
+
+Back came the answer. "Joseph Haydn."
+
+"Whose music is it?"
+
+"Mine."
+
+Down came Curtz, collared the astonished young man, and brought him
+upstairs to a big candle-lit room, where stood a fine piano littered
+with music. There, when the two had regained their breath, Curtz
+explained that he wanted Haydn to compose some music for a new libretto
+he had written. Now this was certainly an important moment. Haydn sat
+down to the piano, banged away, tried various ideas, and at last hit
+upon the right thing. Before daylight he had arranged with Curtz for the
+music, for which he was promised one hundred and thirty florins.
+
+It was his first real success, and from that moment prosperity attended
+him. He wrote his first symphony when he was twenty-eight, in the year
+1759. Soon after he received an appointment in the household of Prince
+Esterhazy, where his duty was a curious one. He was obliged to have a
+piece of music ready to lay on his patron's breakfast table every
+morning. This may seem drudgery, but in reality these years were among
+the happiest of Haydn's life, marred only by his marriage with the
+barber's daughter, Anne Keller, whose wretched temper at last forced him
+to separate from her. He cared for her tenderly, however, and she was
+well content with her lot in life.
+
+Around Haydn in England, France, and Germany gathered a band of younger
+musicians, eager to watch his developments in music, and to whom he was
+familiarly known as "Papa Haydn." It was Mozart, the then youthful
+composer, that gave him the endearing title. Between them existed the
+most touching friendship, broken only by Mozart's early death.
+
+I can not tell you of all of Haydn's works. His greatest were his
+Symphonies. In these he developed instrumental music until he made it
+something far greater than it had ever been before; and for this all
+generations will owe him thanks and praise.
+
+His oratorio, _The Creation_, was composed in 1799, and with its
+performance, nine years later, is associated one of the last scenes in
+Haydn's life.
+
+The public of Vienna wished to pay their honored musician a tribute, and
+so the oratorio was given with every possible brilliancy of effect and
+performance. Haydn was an old man, and very feeble, and he was obliged
+to be carried into the theatre; but there he sat near his dear friend
+Princess Esterhazy, while all eyes turned lovingly and reverently toward
+him.
+
+When the music reached that part in which the words "Let there be light"
+occur, Haydn rose, and pointing heavenward, said, aloud. "It comes from
+thence"; and indeed all knew that the master's work was always a subject
+of prayer and humble supplication that he might be able to do the best
+for the good of all.
+
+After that evening Haydn never left his house. He grew feebler daily,
+but suffered little pain. One day, when he was thought to be past
+consciousness, he suddenly rose from his couch, and by a superhuman
+effort reached the piano.
+
+There, in a voice which yet held the cadences of the boy chorister of
+long ago, he sang the national hymn, and so, his hands drooping on the
+keys, he was carried gently to his bed and to his peaceful death. This
+was in May, 1809. Francis Joseph Haydn, born in 1732, died in his
+seventy-eighth year.
+
+As I told you, his great work was to reform and partially reconstruct
+instrumental music. He followed in the wake of Bach. To him we owe the
+symphony as we have it to-day, and with this little sketch of the dear
+master I want to tell you what a symphony is.
+
+Properly speaking, a _symphony_ is a long and elaborate composition for
+a full orchestra. It contains various movements,[1] and any number of
+instruments may be employed in its execution. Voices are also
+occasionally added. The movements of a symphony are the _allegro_, the
+_andante_ or _adagio_, _minuet_ or _scherzo_, and the _allegro_ or
+_presto_. To the first movement are two themes or subjects (we might say
+ideas), and these are given in two different keys. The andante movement
+is usually in some key related to the original key. When you study
+thorough-bass, you will find what beautiful effects this arrangement can
+produce. It would be an excellent little study to take one of the
+simplest symphonies of "Papa Haydn," and read it carefully--four hands
+are better than two. Study the first movement. See how the theme is
+worked out, back and forth, up and down; find out when and how it all
+returns to the original key, and then observe how the theme is carried
+on throughout the whole work. Above all, remember that the perfection to
+which the symphony has been brought we owe first to Haydn, then to
+Mozart, and finally to Beethoven.
+
+[1] A movement is one definite part of any composition.
+
+
+
+
+THE BUTTERFLY'S FUNERAL.
+
+BY MARY A. BARR.
+
+
+  All July and August, so glad and so gay,
+  The Butterfly's feasts they were crowded each day;
+  But alas for all pleasures, the summer's at end,
+  And the guests of the banquets now mourn for their friend.
+                              Poor Butterfly's dead.
+
+  The Emmets and Flies will no longer advance
+  To join with their wings in the Grasshopper's dance,
+  For see his fine form o'er the favorite bend,
+  The Grasshopper mourns for the loss of his friend.
+                              Poor Butterfly's dead.
+
+  And hark to the funeral song of the Bee,
+  And the Beetle who follows as solemn as he;
+  And see where so mournful the green rushes wave,
+  The Mole is preparing the Butterfly's grave.
+                              Poor Butterfly's dead.
+
+  The Dormouse he came and stood cold and forlorn,
+  And the Gnat he wound slowly his shrill little horn,
+  And the Moth, being grieved at the loss of a sister,
+  Bent over her body and silently kissed her.
+                              Poor Butterfly's dead.
+
+  The corpse was embalmed at the set of the sun,
+  And inclosed in a case which the Silk-worm had spun;
+  By the help of the Hornet the coffin was laid
+  On a bier out of myrtle and jessamine made.
+                              Poor Butterfly's dead.
+
+  In dozens and scores came the Grasshoppers all,
+  And six of their number supported the pall;
+  And the Spider came too, in his mourning so black,
+  But the fire of the Glow-worm soon frightened him back
+                              From Butterfly dead.
+
+  The Grub left his nutshell to join in the throng,
+  And solemnly led the sad Book-worm along,
+  Who wept his poor neighbor's unfortunate doom,
+  And wrote these few lines to be placed on the tomb
+                              Of Butterfly dead:
+
+  "TO THE BUTTERFLY MAID.
+
+  "At this solemn spot where the green rushes wave
+  Is buried fair Butterfly deep in the grave;
+  A friend unto all, she has run her short race:
+  Like a flower on wings with its beauty and grace
+                              Was this Butterfly Maid."
+
+
+
+
+WHY DICK DROVE THE CAR.
+
+BY MATTHEW WHITE, JUN.
+
+
+"I wonder what I _am_ good for, anyway?" muttered Dick Winworth to
+himself as he sucked the finger he had caught in the gate, and gazed
+ruefully at the butter stain on his sleeve.
+
+It was just after dinner on a warm summer's day, and at the table Dick
+had displayed more than usual awkwardness, for he had upset the salt in
+taking his seat, trod on his aunt Phoebe's tenderest foot in getting
+up, scalded his tongue with hot soup, and broken a decorated plate
+belonging to an old set, which his sister appeared to value more highly
+than if it were new. It was in a fit of despair over the latter
+catastrophe that the usually gentle maiden had uttered an exclamation or
+two, which led her brother to ask the above mournful mental question.
+
+The first delicious freshness of vacation had worn off, and now that
+Town Bergen, Dick's great "chum," was away on a visit, young Winworth
+had begun to find time hang rather heavy on his hands, especially as he
+had just finished a very interesting book, and was quite sure he
+couldn't find another as good.
+
+Pondering in his mind as to whether long holidays were such desirable
+things after all, Dick strolled on through the quiet village street,
+which had been lately dignified by being chosen as the thoroughfare of
+the only horse-railroad in the place.
+
+The terminus of the route was not far from the Winworths', at the
+entrance to the little park, and as Dick in his walk came in sight of
+the latter, he suddenly resolved to take a trip into town and back.
+
+"That'll keep me out of mischief for an hour at least, and besides, I've
+been meaning to ride in on the cars all the week," and the boy quickened
+his steps in order to catch the "bobtail" he saw standing there.
+
+However, he need have been in no sort of hurry, as he soon discovered
+that the horse appeared to be asleep, with the lines wound around the
+brake, while there were no signs of the driver anywhere.
+
+There were not more than a dozen cars on the road, and these ran at
+intervals of several minutes, and as here at the outskirts of the
+village there were as yet very few houses, it was not considered
+necessary to have a waiting-room, nor even a starter's box.
+
+"But where can that driver be?" mused Dick, as he gazed admiringly up,
+down, and across the neatly painted vehicle, for the cars were all new
+and of the latest patent. "However, I seem to be the only passenger; but
+no, I guess here's another," as his attention was attracted toward a
+very stout old lady, all decked out in holiday attire, with artificial
+flowers in her bonnet, fresh roses in her belt, and a huge bouquet in
+her hand, who came panting across from the Park gate.
+
+"Hi! hi! wait a minute!" she cried, frantically waving her parasol, and
+evidently under the impression that the car had already started off at a
+gallop.
+
+Dick moved away from the step to allow her plenty of room to get in,
+when she exclaimed, "Oh, boy, can you tell me how long it will be before
+this car leaves?"
+
+"No, ma'am," he replied, much gratified because she had not called him
+"_little_ boy," for he had just entered his teens.
+
+"Oh deary me, I'm in such a hurry! I think I'll speak to the driver. But
+I don't see any--why, where is he?" and the old lady bustled about from
+one side of the car to the other so impatiently that it danced upon its
+springs again.
+
+Then she sat down for a minute, wiped her face with a perfumed
+handkerchief, took a sniff from her smelling-bottle, and began fanning
+herself with a fan which Dick thought she'd never finish opening out.
+
+"I know I shall be too late, after all my promises, too!" and now there
+was more of regret than impatience in the old lady's tones.
+
+Meantime Dick had gone on an exploring expedition, and presently came
+running back with the news that the driver had "a fit or something," and
+was lying on the kitchen floor of a farm-house around the corner.
+
+"How did he get there?" asked the old lady, in her short way.
+
+"He must have felt it coming on and started for the house, for they
+found him just outside the gate," replied Dick. "I didn't see him, but a
+boy who was running for the doctor told me about it."
+
+The lady looked serious for a minute, took another sniff from her
+bottle, and then began: "Look here, boy, if you'll drive this car for me
+down to Clayton Street, I'll give you a crisp, new one-dollar bill, and
+a great many thanks besides. A friend of mine, whom I haven't seen since
+she was a little girl, is going to be married at three o'clock, and I've
+always promised I'd come to her wedding, even if I were three thousand
+miles away, and here I am, less than three, and likely to miss it after
+all!"
+
+"I should think she'd wait till you come, ma'am," Dick ventured to
+suggest, consolingly.
+
+"Oh, bless you," continued the old lady, "she thinks I'm in California.
+She sent the invitation to me out there, and it arrived just as I was
+unexpectedly called back to New York, so I determined not to let them
+know a word about it, but just walk in on them at the wedding. And now,
+if you'll only drive me down to Clayton Street, I think I can do it yet.
+I'm not afraid."
+
+That last sentence nearly spoiled the effect of all the others, for Dick
+didn't like to have anybody think he couldn't drive a car-horse if he
+wanted to; but he graciously overlooked the blunder, promised to do the
+driving if his passenger would be responsible to the company, and then
+stepped out upon the front platform, feeling as if he had been asked to
+ascend the throne of an empire.
+
+As for the old lady, she settled herself comfortably back in a corner,
+and began to button her white kid gloves.
+
+Much impressed by this proof of the confidence reposed in his
+horsemanship, Dick untied the lines, gave the brake a twirl, chirped to
+the lazy nag, and, presto! the bell on the latter's neck commenced to
+jingle as loudly as when the regular official held the ribbons.
+
+What fun it was, to be sure! No steering out of ruts and around puddles,
+the sole duties of the post being to slap the reins on the horse's back
+now and then, and keep a hand on that fascinating brake. Dick's only
+regret was that he had lost the opportunity of using the turn-table, but
+having found the car headed in the right direction, there was no help
+for it.
+
+The street, as has been said, was a quiet one, especially so at that
+time of day, and thus no one saw and wondered at the sight of Dick
+Winworth, only son of the prominent lawyer, driving a "bobtail" car. As
+for Dick himself, he had never imagined so much enjoyment could be had
+by such simple means. The tinkle of the bell and the grating of the
+wheels on the track were as music in his ears, while the task of keeping
+the vehicle from running on to the horse's heels at down grades
+furnished most enchanting occupation for hand and eye.
+
+On a sudden the latter chanced to light on the green tin box fastened to
+the dash-board, and he recollected that his passenger had not yet paid
+her fare. So, with a very broad smile, he rang the "reminder" bell,
+which caused the old lady to look up and smile too, as she handed him a
+dime. Dick having shut the door that he might have the fun of giving
+change through the "flap."
+
+It was while he was thus engaged that he drove past a switch without
+noticing it, and at the next corner a young lady held up her finger as a
+sign for him to stop.
+
+"What shall I do?" he called through the open window; for he felt that
+in a sense the old lady had hired the whole car, and ought therefore to
+be consulted before he admitted anybody else.
+
+"Oh, let her get in, by all means," was his passenger's hospitable
+response; and to Dick's infinite delight, she pulled the bell.
+
+However, when the young lady had taken her seat, and begun gravely
+fishing in her long knit purse for five cents, the serious side of his
+situation rather troubled the boy, and for a while he kept his eyes
+fixed steadily between the horse's ears, as if trying to see how this
+queer sort of an adventure was going to end, when the sharp ring of the
+bell over his head caused him to give a very undriver-like jump as he
+turned to find out what was wanted.
+
+"Here," whispered the old lady, as she slipped the promised crisp bill
+through the flap, "this is Clayton Street. I'm ever so much obliged, and
+please stop just as short as you can, for I've only five minutes to walk
+to the house."
+
+Then she hastened to the rear platform, and almost before the car came
+to a stand-still she had stepped off, and was hurrying up a side street,
+the white ribbons of her flowery bonnet streaming out behind.
+
+And what was Dick to do now? He had completed the task intrusted to him,
+and been paid for it, but he could not very well walk off and leave the
+car standing there.
+
+But if he should keep on, what would they say to him at the dépôt? and
+how could he refer to the old lady, when she had forgotten to give him
+her address? And there was the young lady patiently waiting inside.
+
+Concluding that the finger of duty pointed onward, Dick was about to
+start the horse, when he heard the jingling of a bell down the street
+ahead of him. And then it flashed through his mind about the switch,
+and he realized that here was another car coming on the same track in an
+opposite direction.
+
+What was to be done? For an instant the boy felt a strong inclination to
+jump off and run away, but then that would be cowardly; besides, there
+was the passenger. So he stuck to his post and the brake, and calmly
+awaited the crisis.
+
+[Illustration: VERY NEARLY A COLLISION.]
+
+It arrived in due course, and came near being a collision as well, for
+the other driver, who was behind time, had whipped up. There was a curve
+in the street just there, and as Dick's car was standing still, there
+was no sound of bell to give warning.
+
+However, no harm was done; but how that driver did scold when he saw the
+state of affairs!
+
+Dick's young lady passenger fled in terror at the outbreak of the storm,
+while Dick himself stood up as if under a shower-bath of cold water.
+
+And now, to make matters worse, two more cars arrived from down town,
+where it seemed there had been a blockade.
+
+"The driver had a fit up at the Park," cried Dick, when he could make
+himself heard; and then he told his story of the old lady and the
+wedding, exhibiting the new dollar bill as proof of its truth. The three
+drivers shook their heads over the story, but looked more respectfully
+at the bill, which gave Dick an idea.
+
+"Here," he cried, waving the dollar above his head, "you can divide this
+amongst you to pay for any trouble I've made. Will that do?"
+
+They all exclaimed at once that it would. Then a passenger appeared, who
+knew Mr. Winworth, and who promised to explain matters to his neighbor,
+the superintendent of the road.
+
+Then they-- But Dick didn't wait to see how they got the cars
+straightened out. He walked back home as fast as he could, wondering if
+that dollar wouldn't have bought a pretty plate to replace the one he
+had broken. However, he consoled himself with the thought that it was
+easier to keep from breaking them in future than it was to earn whatever
+they might cost by driving a car.
+
+
+
+
+THE GEESE AND THE CAPITOL.
+
+
+Geese are not remarkable for bravery or for thoughtful care of the
+interests of their owners, yet the Romans firmly believed that geese
+once saved their Capitol from capture.
+
+The Gauls, a savage people coming from the North, once captured the city
+of Rome, and burned it. Some of the Romans fled to Veii, a town not very
+far distant, and others shut themselves up in the Capitol, which was a
+strong building on the top of a steep and rocky hill. The Gauls encamped
+at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, and resolved to wait until the Roman
+garrison should be forced to surrender through hunger. One night a young
+Roman came from Veii, and climbed up to the Capitol to encourage his
+countrymen to resist the Gauls until help should come. In the morning
+the Gauls saw the foot-prints of the young man, and said to themselves
+that they could climb wherever he could. So the next night a strong
+party of Gauls tried to capture the Capitol by climbing up the rocks.
+
+[Illustration: THE GAULS MOUNTING THE WALLS OF THE CAPITOL.]
+
+Now a temple, sacred to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, three of the
+divinities of the Romans, stood on the top of the hill close to the
+place where the Gauls were stealthily climbing. There were some geese in
+the temple that were supposed to belong to Juno, and although the Gauls
+made so little noise, that neither the Romans nor their watch-dogs heard
+them, the geese knew that something was wrong, and they set up a noisy
+cackling. This awoke Marcus Manlius, a brave Roman soldier, who seized
+his sword and shield, and calling to his comrades to follow him, rushed
+upon the Gauls, and hurling one of them backward who had just reached
+the top of the hill, he so alarmed the other Gauls that they hastily
+retreated. Some years afterward the brave Manlius was cruelly put to
+death by the Romans on a false charge of treason, but the Romans always
+professed to feel great gratitude to the geese.
+
+There is good reason for believing that this story is not strictly true,
+and it is probable that it was invented in order to account for the fact
+that among the Romans geese were sacred to Juno. Still, it is so good a
+story that people will always be quite willing to believe it.
+
+
+
+
+MR. THOMPSON AND THE OWLS.
+
+BY ALLAN FORMAN.
+
+
+Mr. Thompson says that he was sitting under an old oak-tree, not far
+from the Long Island Sound; he had been watching the sunset, and was now
+musing, with his eyes wandering from the gold and crimson clouds to the
+blue water and the ground at his feet. Suddenly his attention was
+arrested by a globular object by his side, about the size of a small
+marble. He poked it attentively with his cane, and murmured: "Owls'
+pellets; there must be a nest in the tree. Now those owls must be
+strange birds; they eat a mouse or bird entire, and then spit out the
+bones and skin, or feathers, in a round ball like this. Let me see," he
+continued, turning the pellet over carefully with his knife; "this
+fellow has been eating a mouse, for here is the skull and skin. I wonder
+where the nest is? I'd get the young ones, and--and--" and Mr. Thompson
+began to nod--"and give 'em to--"
+
+"To who-o?" inquired a voice just above his head.
+
+"To--to--to Miss--" continued Mr. Thompson, drowsily.
+
+"To who?" repeated the voice.
+
+"Who-o-o-o?" echoed Mr. Thompson, in strong nasal tones, and his head
+dropped on his breast.
+
+"Now you begin to talk," said the voice. "I have watched you for a long
+time, and I knew you must be a relation of ours from your looks and
+actions, and now it is proved by your voice, though you don't speak
+loud."
+
+Mr. Thompson says that the moment he nodded he was perfectly aware of
+all that was going on, and looked up to see who was speaking. There on a
+branch just above his head sat a large white owl, with his great eyes
+staring directly at him.
+
+"Come up here," said the owl.
+
+"How?" inquired Mr. Thompson.
+
+"Fly, stupid!" replied the owl.
+
+Mr. Thompson flapped his arms obediently, and for a moment was somewhat
+surprised to find that he had become transformed into an owl.
+
+"That was done very quietly," he murmured.
+
+"Of course; owls do everything quietly."
+
+Mr. Thompson settled himself on the branch, and fluffed up his feathers
+as naturally as if he had been used to it all his life.
+
+"So you have had field mice for dinner," he said, after a few moments'
+hesitation.
+
+"Yes," answered the owl, "and very good eating they are, too. Do you
+know," he continued, reflectively, "I can't see why the farmers are so
+opposed to us. We eat up lots of mice and grubs of different kinds."
+
+"And young chickens sometimes," ventured Mr. Thompson.
+
+"Barely," replied the owl; "not when we can get anything else. But come
+down-stairs and see the family;" and leading the way into the hollow
+tree, the owl climbed down to the nest. It was quite at the bottom of
+the tree, and was made of dried grass and feathers. In it were four
+young owls, and comical-looking birds they were, too, with their great
+round eyes and fluffy gray down.
+
+After complimenting the old owl on the beauty of his family, Mr.
+Thompson remarked, "I notice that your feathers are not like other
+birds', but a sort of soft furry down."
+
+"That is in order that we should make as little noise as possible when
+flying, so that we can come upon our game unaware of our presence," said
+the owl, climbing out of the nest. Mr. Thompson followed, and seated
+again on the limb, he seemed for a moment to be lost in thought.
+
+Presently the owl remarked, reflectively: "It seems strange that every
+one should hate us as they do. If I fly near the house in the evening,
+the farmer shouts, 'Shoot the owl! he is after the chickens.' If I sit
+on a tree during the day, all the birds find me, and bother me half to
+death. And some naturalist comes along and tries to take my children
+away."
+
+"I don't see how they can get them at the bottom of that hole," said Mr.
+Thompson.
+
+"Well, you see, everybody don't know how," replied the owl, "but Frank
+Buckland, the great English naturalist, gives the best way. You see, our
+two weapons of defense are our beaks and our claws, so if we can't get
+the better of an enemy with our beaks we turn over on our backs and
+clutch it in our claws, and we don't let go in a hurry either. So you
+see this Buckland lets down a ball of worsted into the nest, and keeps
+it bobbing up and down till we catch hold of it; then he draws it up."
+
+"That makes me think," said Mr. Thompson, aloud, forgetting the presence
+of the owl, "that I wanted one of the young ones to take to Miss--"
+
+"To who?" interrupted the owl, angrily.
+
+"To Miss--"
+
+"To who-o-o-o?"
+
+"To Miss Angelina," answered Mr. Thompson.
+
+The owl puffed his feathers angrily, and the movement so disconcerted
+Mr. Thompson that he lost his balance and fell from the branch. As he
+picked himself up, the owl uttered a derisive "To who," and flew away.
+It was quite late, and as Mr. Thompson walked slowly home, he murmured,
+"I'll try that ball and string method of catching owls to-morrow, but if
+they do more good than harm it seems a shame to disturb them, though I
+do want to give one to--"
+
+"To who?" came the voice of the owl from the depths of the woods.
+
+Mr. Thompson paused. "I guess I'll leave them alone," he muttered, as he
+strode along again.
+
+"Good for you-u-u," shouted the owl, which last reply settled Mr.
+Thompson's resolution, and Miss Angelina had no young owl.
+
+
+
+
+THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB.[2]
+
+[2] 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 VII.
+
+A council was held at the hotel, and a dozen different water routes were
+discussed. As the boys still wanted to carry out their original design
+of making a voyage to Quebec, they decided to take the canoes by rail to
+Rouse's Point, and from thence to descend the Richelieu River to the St.
+Lawrence. The railway journey would take nearly a whole day, but they
+thought it would be a pleasant change from the close confinement of
+canoeing.
+
+As it would have taken three days to send the canoes to Rouse's Point by
+freight, the canoeists were compelled to take them on the same train
+with themselves. They went to the express office on Monday morning, and
+tried to make a bargain with the express company. The agent astonished
+them by the enormous price which he demanded, and Harry, who acted as
+spokesman, told him that it was outrageous to ask such a price for
+carrying four light canoes.
+
+The man turned to a book in which were contained the express company's
+rates of charges, and showed Harry that there was a fixed rate for
+row-boats and shells.
+
+"But," said Harry, "a canoe is not a row-boat nor a shell. What justice
+is there in charging as much for a fourteen-foot canoe as for a
+forty-foot shell?"
+
+"Well," said the agent, "I don't know as it would be fair. But then
+these canoes of yours are pretty near as big as row-boats."
+
+"A canoe loaded as ours are don't weigh over one hundred and ten pounds.
+How much does a row-boat weigh?"
+
+"Well, about two or three hundred pounds."
+
+"Then is it fair to charge as much for a canoe as for a row-boat that
+weighs three times as much?"
+
+The agent found it difficult to answer this argument, and after thinking
+the matter over he agreed to take the canoes at half the rate ordinarily
+charged for row-boats. The boys were pleased with their victory over
+him.
+
+At ten o'clock the train rolled into the Sherbrooke station. To the
+great disappointment of the boys, no express car was attached to it, the
+only place for express packages being a small compartment twelve feet
+long at one end of the smoking-car. It was obvious that canoes fourteen
+feet long could not go into a space only twelve feet long, and it seemed
+as if it would be necessary to wait twelve hours for the night train, to
+which a large express car was always attached. But the conductor of the
+train was a man who could sympathize with boys, and who had ideas of his
+own. He uncoupled the engine, which was immediately in front of the
+smoking-car, and then had the canoes taken in through the door of the
+smoking-car and placed on the backs of the seats. Very little room was
+left for passengers who wanted to smoke; but as there were only four or
+five of these, they made no complaint. The canoes, with blankets under
+them to protect the backs of the seats, rode safely, and when, late in
+the afternoon, Rouse's Point was reached, they were taken out of the car
+without a scratch.
+
+There was just time enough before sunset to paddle a short distance
+below the fort, where a camping ground was found that would have been
+very pleasant had there been fewer mosquitoes. They were the first
+Canadian mosquitoes that had made the acquaintance of the young
+canoeists, and they seemed to be delighted. They sung and buzzed in
+great excitement, and fairly drove the boys from their supper to the
+shelter of their canoes.
+
+Harry had a long piece of mosquito netting, which he threw over the top
+of his canoe tent, and which fell over the openings on each side of the
+tent, thus protecting the occupant of the canoe from mosquitoes without
+depriving him of air. None of the other boys had taken the trouble to
+bring mosquito-netting with him, except Charley, who had a sort of
+mosquito-netting bag, which he drew over his head, and which prevented
+the mosquitoes from getting at his face and neck.
+
+As for Joe and Tom, the mosquitoes fell upon them with great enthusiasm,
+and soon reduced them to a most miserable condition. Tom was compelled
+to cover his head with his India-rubber blanket, and was nearly
+suffocated. Joe managed to tie a handkerchief over his face in such a
+way as to allow himself air enough to breathe, and at the same time to
+keep off the mosquitoes. Instead of covering the rest of his body with
+his blanket, he deliberately exposed a bare arm and part of a bare leg,
+in hopes that he could thus satisfy the mosquitoes, and induce them to
+be merciful. At the end of half an hour both Tom and Joe felt that they
+could endure the attacks of the dreadful insects no longer. They got up,
+and stirring the embers of the fire, soon started a cheerful blaze.
+There were plenty of hemlock-trees close at hand, and the hemlock boughs
+when thrown on the fire gave out a great deal of smoke. The two
+unfortunate boys sat in the lee of the fire and nearly choked themselves
+with smoke; but they could endure the smoke better than the mosquitoes,
+and so they were left alone by the latter.
+
+[Illustration: GETTING BREAKFAST UNDER DIFFICULTIES.]
+
+The wind died down before morning, and the mosquitoes returned. As soon
+as it was light the canoeists made haste to get breakfast and to paddle
+out into the stream. The mosquitoes let them depart without attempting
+to follow them; and the boys, anchoring the canoes by making the ballast
+bags fast to the painters, enjoyed an unmolested bath. As they were
+careful to anchor where the water was not four feet deep, they had no
+difficulty in climbing into the canoes after the bath. Joe's mishap on
+Lake Memphremagog had taught them that getting into a canoe in deep
+water was easier in theory than in practice.
+
+Later in the morning the usual southerly breeze, which is found almost
+every morning on the Richelieu, gave the canoeists the opportunity of
+making sail. The breeze was just fresh enough to make it prudent for the
+canoes to carry their mainsails only, and to give the canoeists plenty
+of employment in watching the gusts that came through the openings in
+the woods that lined the western shore.
+
+About twelve miles below Rouse's Point the fleet reached "Ile aux Noix,"
+a beautiful island in the middle of the stream, with a somewhat
+dilapidated fort at its northern end. The boys landed, and examined the
+fort and the ruined barracks which stood near it. The ditch surrounding
+the fort was half filled with the wooden palisades which had rotted and
+fallen into it, and large trees had sprung up on the grassy slope of the
+outer wall. The interior was, however, in good repair, and in one of the
+granite casemates lived an Irishman and his wife, who were the entire
+garrison. In former years the "Ile aux Noix" fort was one of the most
+important defenses of the Canadian frontier, and even in its present
+forlorn condition it could be defended much longer than could the big
+American fort at Rouse's Point. The boys greatly enjoyed their visit to
+the island, and after lunch set sail, determined to make the most of the
+fair wind, and to reach St. John before night.
+
+The breeze held, and in less than three hours the steeples and the
+railway bridge of St. John came in view. The canoeists landed at the
+upper end of the town, and Harry and Charley, leaving the canoes in
+charge of the other boys, went in search of the Custom-house officer
+whose duty it was to inspect all vessels passing from the United States
+into Canada by way of the Richelieu River. Having found the officer, who
+was a very pleasant man, and who gave the fleet permission to proceed on
+its way without searching the canoes for smuggled goods, Harry and
+Charley walked on to examine the rapids, which begin just below the
+railway bridge. From St. John to Chambly, a distance of twelve miles,
+the river makes a rapid descent, and is entirely unnavigable for
+anything except canoes.
+
+The first rapid was a short but rough one. Still, it was no worse than
+the first of the Magog rapids, and Harry and Charley made up their minds
+that it could be safely run. The men of whom they made inquiries as to
+the rapids farther down said that they were impassable, and that the
+canoes had better pass directly into the canal, without attempting to
+run even the first rapid. Harry was inclined to think that this advice
+was good, but Charley pointed out that it would be possible to drag the
+canoes up the bank of the river, and launch them in the canal at any
+point between St. John and Chambly, and that it would be time enough to
+abandon the river when it should really prove to be impassable.
+
+Returning to the canoes, the Commodore gave the order to prepare to run
+the rapids. In a short time the fleet, with the _Sunshine_ in advance,
+passed under the bridge, and narrowly escaping shipwreck on the remains
+of the wooden piles that once supported a bridge that had been destroyed
+by fire, entered the rapid. There was quite a crowd gathered to watch
+the canoes as they passed, but those people who wanted the excitement
+of seeing the canoes wrecked were disappointed. Not a drop of water
+found its way into the cockpit of a single canoe; and though there was
+an ugly rock near the end of the rapid, against which each canoeist
+fully expected to be driven as he approached it, the run was made
+without the slightest accident.
+
+Drifting down with the current a mile or two below the town, the boys
+landed and encamped for the night. While waiting at St. John, Joe and
+Tom had provided themselves with mosquito netting, but they had little
+use for it, for only a few mosquitoes made the discovery that four
+healthy and attractive boys were within reach. The night was cool and
+quiet, and the canoeists, tired with their long day's work, slept until
+late in the morning.
+
+Everything was prepared the next day for running the rapids, which the
+men at St. John had declared to be impassable. The spars and all the
+stores were lashed fast; the sand-bags were placed in the
+after-compartments; the painters were rove through the stern-posts, and
+the life-belts were placed where they could be buckled on at an
+instant's notice. After making all these preparations it was rather
+disappointing to find no rapids whatever between St. John and Chambly,
+or rather the Chambly railway bridge.
+
+"It just proves what I said yesterday," remarked Charley, turning round
+in his canoe to speak to his comrades, who were a boat's-length behind
+him. "People who live on the banks of a river never know anything about
+it. Now I don't believe there is a rapid in the whole Richelieu River
+except at St. John. Halloo! keep back, boys--"
+
+While he was speaking, Charley and his canoe disappeared as suddenly as
+if the earth, or rather the water, had opened and swallowed them. The
+other boys in great alarm backed water, and then paddling ashore as fast
+as possible, sprung out of their canoes and ran along the shore to
+discover what had become of Charley. They found him at the foot of a
+water-fall of about four feet in height, over which he had been carried.
+The fall was formed by a long ledge of rock running completely across
+the river; and had the boys been more careful, and had the wind been
+blowing in any other direction than directly down the river, they would
+have heard the sound of the falling water in time to be warned of the
+danger into which Charley had carelessly run.
+
+His canoe had sustained little damage, for it had luckily fallen where
+the water was deep enough to keep it from striking the rocky bottom.
+Charley had been thrown out as the canoe went over the fall, but had
+merely bruised himself a little. He towed his canoe ashore, and in
+answer to a mischievous question from Joe, admitted that perhaps the men
+who had said that the Chambly rapids were impassable were right.
+
+Below the fall and as far as the eye could reach stretched a fierce and
+shallow rapid. The water boiled over and among the rocks with which it
+was strewn, and there could not be any doubt that the rapid was one
+which could not be successfully run, unless, perhaps, by some one
+perfectly familiar with the channel. It was agreed that the canoes must
+be carried up to the canal, and after two hours of hard work the fleet
+was launched a short distance above one of the canal locks.
+
+The lock-man did not seem disposed to let the canoes pass through the
+lock, but finally accepted fifty cents, and, grumbling to himself in his
+Canadian French, proceeded to lock the canoes through. He paid no
+attention to the request that he would open the sluices gradually, but
+opened them all at once and to their fullest extent. The result was that
+the water in the lock fell with great rapidity; the canoes were swung
+against one another and against the side of the lock, and Charley's
+canoe, catching against a bolt in one of the upper gates, was capsized
+and sunk to the bottom, leaving her captain clinging to the stern of the
+_Sunshine_.
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "O NANNY, WILT THOU GANG WI' ME?"]
+
+
+
+
+WHAT THE SHOWMAN DID NOT TELL.
+
+BY WILLIAM H. RIDEING.
+
+
+When the showman came to our town, he told the audience a great many
+things as he passed from cage to cage in his combined circus and
+menagerie. He told them of the great wangdoodle, two of which were
+brought from South Africa in three ships, and he told them other
+stories, which made the very little people open their eyes and mouths
+wide, but which the intelligent boys and girls only smiled at.
+
+He was a great humbug--there is no doubt about it. But one day I found
+him alone, and cornered him. Then he told me what he didn't tell to his
+audiences, and that was much more interesting than a great part of his
+lecture. When he found that I did not believe in the immense sums which,
+according to his posters, some of his articles cost, he said:
+
+"But we _do_ pay big prices for good curiosities, and no mistake, though
+our posters and show-bills do tell some pretty big stories. I once paid
+twenty-five thousand dollars for a baby hippopotamus, and if I could get
+another one to-day, I'd pay just as much, or more. A full-grown
+hippopotamus is pretty expensive too. That one over there cost us four
+thousand dollars. Elephants, as a rule, are not dear, and you can
+usually buy a fine specimen for about two thousand dollars. A giraffe
+costs all the way up from one thousand to five thousand; a tiger or a
+lion, about five hundred; a zebra, fifteen hundred; and a polar bear,
+about a thousand dollars. Polar bears," he added, meditatively, "are
+delicate. 'Why don't you dye him black?' said a fellow in the audience
+to me once. 'Because,' said I, 'he'll die quick enough.' They do like a
+good cold snap, with the thermometer away down below zero, the polars
+do.
+
+"'Is the wild-beast trade a reg'lar business?'" he said, repeating a
+question of mine. "I should say it was, and more than one large fortune
+is invested in it. Some of it is done in Hamburg, a good deal in the
+sea-ports of Holland, some in Falmouth, and some in London. Probably
+more of it is done in New York than anywhere in Europe. There's a man in
+Falmouth who boards every ship approaching the English coast off the
+Lizard, and buys most of the curiosities the sailors have brought with
+them from the foreign lands in which they have been. But only a very
+small part of the whole supply comes through sea-captains and sailors.
+Expeditions go out into Africa and South America to hunt and capture the
+wild beasts of those continents, and there is one man whose last camp
+included ninety-two servants, seventy-two camels, twelve mules,
+twenty-seven horses, and three donkeys.
+
+"This dealer is a Maltese, who, when a boy, used to knock about the
+docks, and seeing the strange animals on board some of the ships,
+promised himself that he would make wild-beast-hunting his trade when he
+became a man. He has lost more than one fortune, and is probably poor
+now. It's a wonder that he's alive; the business is full of dangers, and
+there is no certainty of profit in it.
+
+"He usually goes from Alexandria to Suez, and down the Red Sea to
+Khartoum. The natives expect animal buyers, and nearly always have a
+stock to sell. 'Buy my little lion,' they will say, 'and I will throw
+into the bargain a young boy or girl.' The lions are carried in cages
+slung between two camels, and until the camels have become used to the
+growling of their burden they give the greatest trouble. Sometimes the
+natives are not friendly, and between their attacks and the ravages of
+fever, the expedition loses many of its men.
+
+"The cost of such an expedition is not less than thirty thousand
+dollars, and while the buyer may double this sum in selling, he may lose
+all. Leaving Africa with a stock worth one hundred thousand dollars, it
+is not likely to be worth more than half that when it reaches Malta. The
+risk is so great that a monkey which can be bought for five cents in
+Africa is worth twenty dollars in New York, and the increase in the
+value of large animals is proportionate. You can buy a very good lion in
+Africa for the price that you would give for a monkey here."
+
+The showman gossiped on in this way for some time, and had begun to be
+something of a bore, when a little man entered from a side door--to
+speak properly from one of the canvas folds of the tent, in the middle
+of which the showman and I were seated before a brazier of glowing
+coals. He was pale-faced and delicate-looking, but his dress was
+striking, consisting of a jaunty little velvet jacket, yellow corduroy
+breeches, and Hessian boots with enamelled leather tops.
+
+"He," said the showman, "is Señor Delmonio, the Emperor of the Jungle,
+the greatest lion-tamer in the world." I had heard of this celebrity,
+whose name and portrait appeared in gigantic posters of the show, with
+the announcement that his services only had been obtained at an outlay
+of several thousand dollars a week. "Bill," he called out, "here's a
+gentleman interested in the business."
+
+"What did you call him?" I asked.
+
+"Well, you see," was the answer, "he's a Boston man, and his name is
+Bill Smith."
+
+Señor Delmonio, or Bill Smith, came toward us and shook hands, and then
+quietly went to the back of a cage containing a pair of savage and
+uneasy lions. He was out of sight for a moment, but re-appeared entering
+the cage from the rear. The lions did not pounce upon him, as I
+shiveringly feared they would do. They curled themselves against the
+bars, and uttered low growls, as if they were anxious to avoid him; they
+sat on their haunches at his command, and leaped through hoops which he
+had taken into the cage with him; they showed docility, but it was with
+an unwillingness that made itself known in continuous growls.
+
+This was a rehearsal, and when it was finished, the "Emperor of the
+Jungle," as quiet as ever, came back to where we were sitting. He seemed
+low-spirited.
+
+"Yours is dangerous work," I said, not having any liking for those
+exhibitions in which the peril of the performer is what attracts the
+audience.
+
+"Yes," he answered, with a sigh, "I suppose it will end badly for me
+some time; it usually does end badly. You see it's against nature. I
+know that very well. The beasts don't like it, and sooner or later they
+take their revenge on poor fellows who, like me, trifle with them. It's
+the whip alone that keeps them under control. If I dropped my whip while
+I was in the cage with them, they would fancy that I had lost my power,
+and they would attack me in a moment. How do I begin in training them?
+Well, the usual way is to make acquaintance with them from the outside,
+by doing chores around the cage, and getting them familiar with your
+face, and above all with your voice. It's pretty ticklish to enter the
+cage for the first time. I expected to come out bleeding, if not dying.
+But they behaved well, and I've not been afraid since.
+
+"When they are accustomed to you and you to them," he continued, "the
+next thing is to teach them tricks, and this takes a good deal of time
+and a good deal of whipping. The lions are the smartest. You can train a
+lion to do the ordinary tricks, such as jumping through hoops and over
+gates, in about five weeks, and a lioness in about six weeks. The
+leopard is next in intelligence to the lion, and learns almost as
+readily. A tiger would take eight weeks to learn what the leopard learns
+in six, and a tigress would take nine weeks for the same work. The hyena
+is the stupidest, and you can't do anything with him in less than four
+months. The most difficult thing of all is to teach a wild beast to let
+you lie on it without eating you. I do this every night with one of the
+tigresses, but she don't like it one bit; it aggravates her inwardly.
+
+"The great secret of wild-beast taming is to know when to use the whip
+and when not to use it. But as a matter of fact there is no such thing
+as really taming a tiger or a lion. A man may have some influence over
+it, but he is never quite safe with it. No wild beast has ever been
+actually tamed. A lion will tear you merely out of bad temper
+occasionally; but a tiger is more vicious, and will attack you from
+sheer love of blood."
+
+It was now time for the exhibition, and I wished the showman and Señor
+Delmonio good-day. Some time afterward, when I again met the latter, he
+had abandoned the foolish business of trifling with the angry passions
+of wild beasts, and was devoting himself to the more sensible business
+of training horses.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE PIE-PLANT GATHERER.]
+
+
+
+
+THE BARRINGTON TOLL-GATE.
+
+BY ELIOT McCORMICK.
+
+
+Jennie Bartlett's father and mother had been suddenly called away for
+the night to Parnassus Centre, where Mrs. Bartlett's sister had been
+taken very ill, and Jennie was left to keep the toll-gate alone. It was
+not a difficult task, for scarcely any one travelled over the Barrington
+Road after nine o'clock, and those who did passed through the open gate
+without paying toll.
+
+But even if it had been harder, Jennie would have been equal to it. She
+had lived at the toll-gate ever since she was a baby, and knew perfectly
+well what to charge, and how to make the proper change. Indeed, she
+often kept the gate for her father when he was at home, and people
+passing through would be apt to wonder how so bright and pretty a girl
+could grow up in so lonesome a place. Jennie, however, did not mind the
+lonesomeness. Her dearest wish was to go off to boarding-school; but so
+long as she was at home it mattered little to her that Barrington was
+three miles off on the one hand, and Leicester ten miles on the other,
+and that there was scarcely a house between. She even liked the
+solitude, and was almost sorry when the telephone connecting Barrington
+with Leicester made a connection by the way with the toll-gate. Before,
+they seemed to be out of the world, and the people coming through the
+gate were like visitors from another sphere; now, the frequent ringing
+of the call-bell reminded her that civilization was not so far distant,
+after all.
+
+On this particular night there were not likely to be even the usual
+number of passers-by. It was dark and threatening. Looking out of the
+door about nine o'clock, Jennie could hardly see more than a hundred
+feet either up or down the road. It would be a bad night, she thought,
+for the gate to get accidentally shut; anybody coming along might run
+into it without warning; for that matter, people might run into the
+posts on either side. She hung a lantern on one post to prevent this
+accident, and going in the house, locked the doors and went to bed. The
+fact that she was alone in the house did not disturb her in the least,
+and in ten minutes she was fast asleep.
+
+Some time in the night she was suddenly awakened by the ringing of the
+telephone bell. She listened confusedly to hear if it rang three times,
+which was the toll-gate signal, or oftener, to call up some of the other
+people on the same wire. Two of the connections she knew were in
+Leicester, the third was their own, the fourth was in the Barrington
+Bank, the fifth in the tannery, and the sixth in the central office at
+Barrington. In her bewilderment Jennie could not at first determine how
+many times it did ring; but at last she decided it was six--for the
+Barrington central office. That did not mean the toll-gate, and Jennie
+prepared to turn over for another nap, when a sudden thought aroused
+her. It was certainly after midnight, and the central office did not
+keep open later than twelve o'clock. The bank, too, was shut up, and so
+was the tannery; on the whole line she was probably the only person who
+could hear the bell. What if it should be something important! Indeed,
+it would hardly ring at that time of night unless it were important.
+Quickly jumping out of bed, she ran to the instrument, put the receiver
+to her ear, and called through the transmitter, "Hello! hello!"
+
+A voice came back to her, so distinct that it seemed almost in the same
+room, saying, "Hello! is that the central office?" The tone was quick
+and sharp, and Jennie felt sure that something must have happened.
+
+"No, sir," she called; "it's the toll-gate. I'm Jennie Bartlett."
+
+"Tell your father to come here right away," the voice said; "it's very
+important."
+
+Jennie felt a little sinking at her heart. "Father's away," she said,
+"and I'm here alone."
+
+She heard the voice exclaim something in an impatient tone, and then the
+sound of two or three other people talking as though there was some
+doubt as to what could be done.
+
+"Can I do anything?" she inquired, almost hoping that she could not.
+
+Another conversation followed, which Jennie this time overheard; the
+speakers were no doubt nearer the telephone.
+
+"Why do you want to let them get into Barrington at all?" one voice
+asked. "Why not stop them at the toll-gate?"
+
+"To be sure!" said another. "If they get past the gate, like as not
+they'll turn down the Riverton road, and throw Allen off the track. They
+can't turn off before they get to the gate; we're sure of them as far as
+that."
+
+"Tell the girl--" and then the speaker turned away, and Jennie caught
+only a confusion of sounds.
+
+Presently she heard another "Hello!"
+
+"Hello!" she responded.
+
+"The Leicester Bank has been robbed," the voice went on, hurriedly, "by
+two men with a wagon and a white horse. They have driven toward
+Barrington, with Mr. Allen and two constables in pursuit, half an hour
+behind. You must--" Here the voice stopped as suddenly and completely as
+though it had had an extinguisher put over it. Even the hum of the
+electricity was checked, and Jennie knew enough about the telephone to
+be aware that in some way the connection had been abruptly cut off. It
+was in vain that she rang the bell and called "Hello!" No one answered.
+Jennie felt once more the old sense that she was out of the world.
+Leicester seemed all at once removed hundreds of miles away.
+
+But what was it that she must or must not do? Why had not the connection
+lasted only a minute longer, when her instructions would have been
+complete? When were the robbers to be expected? Jennie made a little
+calculation. If they had been gone thirty minutes before any one started
+in pursuit, that would carry them, by fast driving, half-way to the
+toll-gate. If ten minutes had gone by before the telephone bell had
+rung, she might look for them within a quarter of an hour. What was she
+to do? The conversation which she had overheard came to her mind. "Stop
+them at the toll-gate," one of the voices had said. Very likely they
+would have told her to do that if the telephone had kept on. But how
+could a little girl arrest two armed and desperate men?
+
+By this time she began to feel chilly. She could not go back to bed with
+this responsibility upon her, even though she did not know how to meet
+it; so, dressing herself, she opened the front door, and looked and
+listened. The night was darker than ever. A little space around the gate
+was lit up by the warning lantern. It would not help in stopping the
+burglars, she suddenly thought, to illuminate their way; so, going over
+to the light, she blew it out, and left the road in total darkness. That
+was at least one step toward the desired end.
+
+All at once she thought of the gate. "How stupid!" she said to herself.
+"Why didn't I think of that before?" It was fastened back against the
+front of the house, but in a moment she had unhooked it and swung it
+around, until it stretched completely across the road. There was only a
+latch on the gate, but going in the house she brought out of one place a
+padlock, and from another a chain, with which she fastened it so
+securely that no ordinary strength could force it open. "They can't get
+through that," she said to herself; "and there isn't any way of getting
+around it." Then she went in the house, locked and bolted the door,
+rolled a bureau up against it, fastened all the windows, pulled down the
+shades, and waited in the dark for the sound of wheels.
+
+It was not long before they came, but to Jennie every minute seemed an
+hour, while every rustling leaf outside sounded like a man's stealthy
+tread. When at last she heard them coming, far up the road, her heart
+stood still. Nearer and nearer they came. Would they not see the gate?
+she wondered. The horse still kept on; and instantly there was a sudden
+exclamation outside, a crash as though something had come into collision
+with the gate, the sound of splintering wood, and the noise of a
+plunging horse. Jennie did not venture to move; she dared not go to the
+window, but sat in the middle of the room, shaking with fear, and
+listening anxiously for what might happen next. Presently steps sounded
+on the planks outside, and in a moment there was a rap on the door.
+
+Jennie remained perfectly quiet, though her heart beat so loud that she
+thought they must hear it outside. In a moment the knocking ceased.
+
+"Folks asleep," she could hear one of the men say.
+
+"Asleep, or dead, or run away," the other one growled.
+
+"Shall we try the window?"
+
+Jennie trembled all over, but the sash held firm.
+
+"Oh, come on!" exclaimed his companion. "Don't let's waste time here; we
+can splice the shafts with the halter."
+
+They moved off again, and Jennie breathed more freely. If the shafts
+were broken, it would be a work of some minutes to mend them, and the
+pursuing party might yet arrive in time. Mr. Allen, who Jennie knew to
+be the president of the Leicester Bank, had the fastest horses in the
+county, and ought to be able to make up at least ten minutes in ten
+miles. For a while there was quiet outside. The men were evidently
+working at the shafts, and only the stamping of the horse's feet gave
+any signs of life. Jennie began to get nervous, and to listen more
+intently for the pursuers' approach. By this time they could not be far
+off. Finally, unable to sit still any longer, she crept upstairs, and
+sitting down on the floor by the open window of the attic, ventured to
+look out. The white horse was quite distinctly visible as it stood by
+the gate, but the men, bending over the wagon, were hardly more than an
+outline. Presently they seemed to have finished, and backing the horse
+around, proceeded to hitch him in the shafts. Would the others never
+come? The gate was not yet opened, but Jennie began to fear that
+burglars would not find that a serious difficulty. Suddenly through the
+woods came the sound of horses' hoofs galloping as if for life. Did the
+men hear it too?
+
+Apparently they did.
+
+"Open the gate," she heard one of them say.
+
+His companion went to it and vainly tried to pull it open. "It's
+padlocked," he exclaimed, after a minute.
+
+The other muttered an angry oath. "Pick it!" he cried. "They've put up a
+job on us here. I knew we didn't cut that wire quick enough."
+
+It was a minute before the burglar's skill could pick the lock, and by
+that time the pursuing wagon was dangerously near.
+
+"Open the gate!" shouted the first man, pulling back his horse to escape
+its sweep.
+
+The other pushed, and the great bar swung slowly back. But before it had
+opened wide enough to let them through, the other wagon had dashed in
+upon the scene.
+
+"Stand where you are," Jennie heard Mr. Allen's voice call out, "or I'll
+shoot you down!"
+
+What immediately followed Jennie did not see, for leaving the window,
+she rushed down-stairs, lit the lantern, rolled back the bureau,
+unlocked the door, and went out. When she had gained the road, the two
+burglars, captured and tied, were being guarded by the constables, while
+Mr. Allen was investigating the contents of the wagon, and making sure
+as far as he could in the darkness that all was right. At Jennie's
+approach he looked up.
+
+"Ah!" he said. "Are you the toll-gate keeper's daughter? Just ask your
+father to step out here, won't you?"
+
+Jennie smiled. "Father isn't at home, sir," she said.
+
+"Oh, well, your mother, then, or any one who keeps the gate."
+
+"Mother isn't at home either, sir; I am keeping the gate."
+
+The gentleman looked at her in surprise.
+
+"You!" he exclaimed. "What made these fellows stop here?"
+
+"They broke their wagon, sir."
+
+"How did they happen to do that?"
+
+"The horse ran into the gate, sir."
+
+"Was the gate shut?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You don't usually shut the gate nights?"
+
+"No, sir, but I did to-night."
+
+He looked at her for a further explanation, and Jennie, who never liked
+to tell of her own exploits, was obliged to go on.
+
+"They telephoned me about it from Leicester, sir," she said, briefly.
+
+"Did they tell you to shut the gate?"
+
+"No, sir; the telephone stopped before they got as far as that; these
+men cut the wire, and I had to think for myself what I should do."
+
+"And you thought of that?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, sir," she said, modestly.
+
+"Well," he said, "you are a thoughtful little girl. You've saved me a
+great deal of money to-night, and I'll never forget it."
+
+And he never did. The directors of the bank passed a vote of thanks, at
+their next meeting, to Miss Jennie Bartlett "for her prompt and
+efficient services in arresting the burglars who feloniously entered the
+bank building on the evening of September --, and abstracted the
+valuable contents of its vault"; and more than that, sent her a purse of
+money, with which she was able that winter to carry out her
+long-cherished plan of going to school. It was a disagreeable experience
+to go through, but Jennie will always date whatever success she has in
+the world from that night at the Barrington toll-gate.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  Merrily, merrily dancing away,
+  Who is this dancing the long summer day,
+  Over the meadow and through the lane,
+  Then through the orchard, and then back again?
+  Who is this girlie that's dancing away,
+  Who but our own little Edith, I pray.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  Swinging, swinging, swinging,
+    Here I sit and swing,
+  But I'm only resting,
+    Now each weary wing;
+  Very soon you'll see me fly,
+  Upward, upward, oh, so high;
+  Onward, onward through the air,
+  But I'll never tell you where.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  Sleep, my baby, angel forms
+  Are bending now above you,
+  And mother dear is watching here,
+  Who'll always guard and love you.
+  Safe her baby boy she'll keep
+  When the night-fall brings him sleep.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  Cuckoo, dear Cuckoo, has fallen so ill,
+    And here on the ground he is lying.
+  Oh, what shall we do the summer night through,
+    When our own darling cuckoo is dying?
+
+  At the earliest dawn we must send for the mole,
+    And tell him that cuckoo has left us,
+  He'll dig a deep grave where the willow-trees wave,
+    While we mourn the sad fate that bereft us.
+
+  The owl and the eagle, the parrot and dove,
+    Will watch while the nightingale's singing,
+  And solemn and slow, in tones soft and low,
+    The funeral song will be ringing.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+SCHOOL'S BEGUN.
+
+
+  A, B, C, D--oh, what fun!
+  For our baby-school's begun.
+
+  Little head will grow so wise,
+  And how bright the big blue eyes!
+
+  Little fingers soon will learn
+  Pretty letters well to turn.
+
+  A, B, C, D--oh, what fun!
+  For our baby has begun.
+
+
+
+
+OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.
+
+
+  TRINIDAD, COLORADO.
+
+     This is an old Mexican town. Many of the people live in adobe
+     houses. Adobe is made of clay mixed with straw, moulded in frames,
+     turned out on the ground, and sun-dried. Mamma says that the
+     Mexican villages resemble those in Southern India, among the Tamil
+     people. The Mexicans here are a mixed race, descended from
+     Spaniards and Indians. There are families, however, of pure
+     Castilian blood. The Mexicans are very kind, courteous, and
+     hospitable. Some years ago papa and mamma went to Zuñi, and in
+     doing so crossed the entire Territory of New Mexico. At night they
+     encamped either in or near the different villages, and everywhere
+     received nothing but kindness. Many of the women and little girls
+     are very pretty indeed. They are fond of gay colors, and while a
+     few wear hats, most prefer a scarf or a bright shawl, one end of
+     which is thrown over the head, and forms a wrap for the neck and
+     shoulders. Their food is very plain, consisting of mutton, coffee,
+     bread, and beans. Nearly everybody owns a little burro, or donkey,
+     though all do not possess horses. It is droll to see boys riding
+     these docile little burros, with feet on either side almost
+     touching the ground.
+
+  LELA P.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  FINCASTLE, VIRGINIA.
+
+     I am an English boy twelve years old, but I have spent only two
+     years of my life in England. I lived a year on the Isle of Jersey,
+     in the English Channel, and when I was three years old came out to
+     Virginia with my father and mother, two brothers, and two sisters.
+     After we had lived here three years we went over to France. We
+     staid in Rouen, which is a fine old city, with its cathedral and
+     churches. We used to go rowing up and down the Seine, and sometimes
+     took our dinner on an island in the middle of the river up toward
+     Paris. I used to go nearly every morning with my father to the
+     market on the very spot where Joan of Arc was burned by the
+     English. I taught our French bonne to speak in English, but I could
+     not speak plainly myself then, and taught her to count "one, two,
+     free." We staid a year in Rouen, and then came out here again,
+     where we have settled down.
+
+     My eldest brother Hugh is in London, a student at Guy's Hospital.
+     Two years ago he joined the Volunteers, and once he and his corps
+     had luncheon, after a review, at Baron Rothschild's. The last time
+     he wrote he was expecting to go out to Egypt as assistant surgeon.
+     I hope he will go, as he will be able to tell me all about the
+     fighting when he comes home.
+
+     We have a little German Dachs-hund (badger-hound) that came all the
+     way from Germany; his name is Fritz. Once we dug for rats with him,
+     and he killed twenty-five. Wasn't that pretty good sport for one
+     day?
+
+     I like this country very much. I used to go fox-hunting with an
+     English friend, but he has gone to New Zealand now. We fish in the
+     James River, and catch plenty of black bass. I hope this letter is
+     not so long that no room will be found for it in the Post-office
+     Box. If I see it in print, I will write again and tell YOUNG PEOPLE
+     how we camped out up in the mountains last month. Good-by.
+
+  MONTY M.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK.
+
+     I want to tell you of a parrot we used to have. Of course her name
+     was Polly. She would sit on the fence, and if she saw any of the
+     children playing in the water, she would call to them: "Get out of
+     that water! Didn't I tell you not to play in that water? What's the
+     matter with you, Polly? Are you crazy? Ha! take care of yourself
+     now!" Then she would scream and flap her wings. At breakfast she
+     would march into the dining-room, and walking around my chair,
+     would say: "Come along, Harry--come along, get coffee. Did you have
+     any coffee this morning, Polly? Ha! bad people in this house didn't
+     give poor little Polly any coffee this morning." She would let me
+     pull her tail; but if others attempted to do it, she would fly at
+     them and bite them. One day she cut all the buttons off a pair of
+     shoes, and when discovered she screamed, "What you want, ma'am?
+     what you come here for?" She was very fond of swinging on the
+     clothes-line, and would begin to scold herself, saying: "What are
+     you doing on that line, Polly? Don't you hear me, Polly--don't you
+     hear me talking to you? Get off that line this minute." We had an
+     old colored nurse--Auntie we called her--who used to scold Polly in
+     this way, and who would say, when she heard the parrot mocking her,
+     that Polly was taking all the text off her. She could sing "Shoo
+     Fly," and say many other funny things. We think HARPER'S YOUNG
+     PEOPLE is just splendid.
+
+  HARRY A. W.
+
+Polly learned to scold because Auntie scolded her, did she? Some little
+children learn cross words in the same way.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CAPPING VERSES.
+
+Now that the evenings are growing long, some of you may like to hear of
+a pleasant way of passing them. In capping verses, every one at the
+table around which the players sit is supplied with a sheet of paper and
+a pencil, and at the top of the paper is written by each player a line
+of poetry, either original or from memory. The paper must then be folded
+down so as to conceal what has been written, and passed on to the right;
+at the same time the neighbor to whom it is passed must be told what is
+the last word written in the concealed line. Every one must then write
+under the folded paper a line to rhyme with the line above, being
+ignorant, of course, of what it is. Thus the game is carried on until
+the papers have gone once or twice around the circle, when they may be
+opened and read aloud.
+
+DUMB CRAMBO
+
+is another amusing game. After dividing the company into two equal
+parts, one half leave the room. In their absence the remainder fix upon
+a verb to be guessed by those who have gone out when they return. As
+soon as the word is chosen, those outside are told with what word it
+rhymes. They then consult together, and silently act the word they think
+may be the right one. Supposing the verb thought of should have rhymed
+with "sell," the others might come in and begin cutting down imaginary
+trees with imaginary hatchets, but not uttering a single syllable. If
+"fell" were the right word, the spectators would clap their hands, on
+seeing what the actors were doing, as a sign that they were right in
+their guess. But if "tell," or any other word, were chosen, they would
+either hiss or solemnly shake their heads. While this play is going on
+every one must be silent. Whoever speaks must pay a forfeit.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA.
+
+     Brother Charley takes YOUNG PEOPLE, and we like it very much. Even
+     mamma and papa like to read it. I like the letters. I have no pets,
+     as we live near the school-house, and the bad boys either steal or
+     kill them. I have eight dolls. The largest one is thirty-six inches
+     long. Brother and I go to the Baptist Sunday-school, and last
+     Easter the scholars all took playthings to the school as an Easter
+     offering to the little poor children. The Ladies' Aid Society gave
+     them out.
+
+  NELLIE R.
+
+What a pity the boys who attend that school should be so cruel! I just
+wish I could talk to them about their behavior. They need a missionary.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  BRISTOL, TENNESSEE.
+
+     I am a little boy just ten years old, and have been reading your
+     excellent paper for some time. I can hardly wait for it to come.
+     I'm so anxious to read the continued stories. I liked "Mr. Stubbs's
+     Brother" ever so much, and think "The Cruise of the Canoe Club"
+     splendid. I want to tell your readers about what fun we have had
+     lately. My brother and I thought that we would have a circus. We
+     put up an acting pole and trapeze, caught a mud-turtle and a
+     pigeon, and had a spotted cat, which we exhibited for a leopard.
+     This is my first letter, and I hope you will print it.
+
+  WILLIE S.
+
+I would like to have visited your circus, Willie, and especially to have
+seen the spotted cat. If I had been there I should have helped you all I
+could.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some little folks may be glad of a few hints at this season on the
+subject of cultivating house plants:
+
+     Though most persons like to see flowers in a room, comparatively
+     few know exactly how to manage them so as to keep them healthy and
+     fresh. Nothing is so delightful as to see plants in a window, and
+     yet how common it is to discover them in a drooping and sickly
+     condition, and all for the want of a little knowledge and care!
+
+     Where the plants grow from a single stem--as in fuchsias,
+     geraniums, etc.--it is a good plan to cover the mould with fresh
+     green moss, which will hold a good quantity of moisture without
+     injuring the plants. Never water the plants except when they really
+     require it. This you may soon ascertain by simply putting your
+     finger into the soil; when, if it feels moist, no water will be
+     needed; but if the soil be dry, which will not happen more than
+     every other day in autumn, or once a week in winter, then water the
+     plants thoroughly, so that the moisture sinks right through the
+     mould.
+
+     Never allow plants to stand in the water; that is, if your pots
+     stand in saucers, take care to remove all the surplus water which
+     runs through the soil. Never use pump water if you can obtain river
+     or rain water; but if you can get only pump water, let it stand for
+     two or three days in the open air previous to applying it to your
+     flowers.
+
+     The temperature of the room in which you place your plants should
+     be as regular as possible, all extremes of heat and cold being
+     destructive to good flowers. Let the plants stand near the window
+     on mild sunny days, but in cold cloudy weather remove them to the
+     middle of the room. When the day is warm, open the window, so as to
+     give the plants the benefit of the fresh air, or remove them into
+     the garden. Many of the hardier kinds of flowers will bloom well on
+     the outer sill of the window from May to November. In sultry
+     weather you must shade your choicest flowers from the direct rays
+     of the sun, or they will get parched, and their blossoms will fall
+     off. This is especially the case with the more delicate sorts of
+     fuchsias and fancy geraniums; though the hardy plants of this kind
+     stand a wonderful amount of ill usage before they cease to throw up
+     flowers. You must constantly examine your flowers to see that their
+     pots do not get too full of roots. You may easily discover whether
+     this is the case by turning the pot upside down, when a slight tap
+     will loosen the mould, and leave the plant and its soil in your
+     hand in one compact mass. If you find that the roots run in
+     irregular circles over the surface of the mould, it is a sign that
+     the pot is too small, and your flower must be shifted to a larger
+     one.
+
+     It will be well occasionally to sprinkle a little water over the
+     foliage of your plants, which should always be kept fresh and
+     clean. Some of the larger leaves of geraniums and other plants will
+     want now and then to be cleansed of the dust, which will accumulate
+     about them, with a sponge or soft flannel; or you may give them a
+     good wetting by means of a syringe with a fine rose top, taking
+     care to avoid the flowers that are in full bloom. Flower buds,
+     however, thrive well by being constantly refreshed. Twenty drops of
+     liquid manure added to a quart of water will be found useful in
+     hastening the blooming of flowers. This mixture must, however, be
+     applied to the soil, and not to the plant. A good and safe
+     stimulant may be made of four ounces of ammonia, two ounces of
+     nitre, and one ounce of brown sugar, dissolved in a pint of boiling
+     water. This solution, when cold, is to be put in a stoppered
+     bottle, and added to the water you use for your plants in the
+     proportion of a tea-spoonful to a gallon. Generally, however,
+     ordinary rain-water, not too cold, will suffice to keep in-door
+     plants in good condition. If you notice that blossoms fall off
+     before they are fully developed, it is a sure mark that the plant
+     is sickly, and needs removal to a larger pot, or into the open air;
+     but if you attend to the above directions, your favorite flowers
+     can scarcely fail to prosper.
+
+     For the outside of windows nothing is prettier than ornamental
+     boxes of mignonette, with a climbing rose or a canary creeper, or
+     even a few pots of convolvulus or creeping-jenny.
+
+     The best plants for in-door culture are fuchsias, geraniums,
+     calceolarias, begonias, balsams, cinerarias, dwarf roses,
+     heliotropes, campanulas, hydrangeas, stocks, and mignonette; while,
+     if you are fond of bulbs, a choice variety of tulips, crocuses,
+     lilies, jonquils, hyacinths, scillas, etc., may be reared in
+     separate pots, and then transplanted carefully and tastefully into
+     that pretty receptacle for Nature's loveliest children, the
+     ornamental flower-basket.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  FREMONT, NEBRASKA.
+
+     We had a picnic in papa's grove some time ago, and had a nice time.
+     It is seven and a half miles from here. I have just begun taking
+     music lessons, and I think music is very hard. My auntie takes
+     YOUNG PEOPLE for me, and I think it is just splendid. I have no
+     pets but a little sister named Pansy.
+
+  MIRA K. A.
+
+Poor darling! so you find music hard. Never mind, it will be easier
+after a while, and you will have a great deal of pleasure in playing for
+papa when he comes home tired at night. Your exchange will appear with
+the others on the cover.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Complaints reach us from time to time that some of our exchangers act
+very unfairly toward each other. In some instances large and valuable
+articles have been sent, for which the owners have received nothing in
+return. We wish to call attention to our standing notice at the head of
+the exchange columns. In every case, boys and girls, write to the person
+with whom you wish to exchange, and send nothing until you have received
+his reply. Arrange all details fully by correspondence.
+
+Please be very sure that you have sufficiently stamped the articles you
+send through the mail. For want of postage your much-prized treasures
+may be sent to the Dead-letter Office, and you may be blaming a person
+wrongfully for not making the right return.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CONSTANT READER.--A wooden wedding celebrates the fifth anniversary of
+marriage. After ten years comes the tin wedding. The silver wedding is
+kept at the end of twenty-five years, and the fortunate people who are
+spared together for fifty years are entitled to a golden wedding. For
+the anniversaries which fall between these dates any pretty and tasteful
+article you choose will be appropriate.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+C. Y. P. R. U.
+
+THE PRIZE BOY AND GIRL.
+
+BY AMY TALBOT DUNN.
+
+     The officers of the Indiana State Fair last year offered a prize of
+     a ten-dollar suit of clothes to the boy under fourteen years of age
+     who should saw the largest pile of wood in a given time.
+
+     You may be sure that many boys who hated the sight of a wood-pile
+     now began to exercise their muscles, and vigorously set to work to
+     earn the prize. One of the ladies on the committee told me that her
+     own son worked night and morning for a week before the fair, trying
+     to persuade the family that he would stand a chance for the prize.
+     And when the day came round he left his breakfast untasted, so
+     anxious was he to get to the grounds and begin the race.
+
+     At least a dozen boys entered the lists with their saws, but one by
+     one they dropped off, thoroughly exhausted. There were but two
+     others left when the little fellow of whom I told you gave up the
+     race.
+
+     "He went off and lay down," said his mother, "the sorriest
+     spectacle you ever saw."
+
+     The two remaining boys now bent all their energies to conquer each
+     other. The wood fairly flew from under their hands, and their saws
+     kept up a humming noise, and seemed to drive their sharp teeth into
+     the hard wood with a never-say-die spirit.
+
+     Minute after minute went by, and not a word was spoken. Sparks of
+     fire sometimes flew from the heated metal. The boys glanced at each
+     other like lightning flashes.
+
+     Oh, how hard they worked! They forgot the prize; I think they
+     forgot everything except that so many people were looking at them,
+     and it would never do to fail.
+
+     At last the stroke of one saw began to waver. It grew more and more
+     feeble, and looking at the little arm that guided it, they saw that
+     he was yielding. He flung down the saw at last, and closing his
+     lips desperately over his disappointment, walked hurriedly away.
+     The other boy worked the allotted time, and received the prize.
+
+     He was barely twelve years old, but it was no new thing for him to
+     saw wood. His father had been dead for many years, and he had often
+     sawed wood to earn money to help support his mother and his little
+     sister.
+
+     And what do you think happened to this little sister that day? She
+     got a prize too. Yes, she had been taught to do something useful
+     for her mother and brother.
+
+     There was a prize offered for the best _patchwork_ by children
+     under twelve, and this little girl had mended her own poor clothes
+     ever so many times, and put patches upon her brother's, in the long
+     evenings. So when she heard of the offer of the prize, she said to
+     herself, "Brother will saw wood; why may not I take some
+     patchwork?" And with her mother's consent she took a pair of her
+     brother's pants which she had neatly patched and mended, and her
+     work took the premium.
+
+     "A five-dollar hat!" She could hardly believe her senses at first
+     when they told her, but there were few happier children in the
+     world than this little brother and sister, who started down town to
+     "pick out" a hat and a suit of clothes. Mr. Woodsaw walked as
+     proudly as a peacock when he had trimmed himself up in his new
+     suit, and Miss Patchwork, in her beautiful hat, with flower and
+     feather, looked as sweet as a rose. Their feet seemed to have
+     wings, and they flew along the street.
+
+     "Oh, look, mother, look!" they cried, as soon as they were in sight
+     of the door; but the curious people could not see their mother's
+     joy, for she closed the door instantly upon the outside world, and
+     held _her_ prize boy and girl to her happy heart.
+
+I am sure that everybody will read this true story with a feeling of
+satisfaction that the prizes were won by a brother and sister who so
+thoroughly deserved them. But I want you to notice two or three things.
+The little fellows who tried wood-sawing, simply to get the prize, for
+two or three weeks, were distanced by a lad who had made wood-sawing his
+business. He had helped his widowed mother by working in a manly way,
+and so he had a great deal more strength than if he had taken up the
+work for mere amusement. The little sister, too, had done the hardest of
+all patchwork when she mended her brother's old jackets and pants. I
+felt so pleased that she gained the prize, and I am sure the other girls
+who tried were glad to see her sweet face under her pretty hat at
+Sunday-school next Sunday. The boy who started off without his breakfast
+made a mistake. When you have hard work to do, or a journey to go upon,
+or a tough problem to solve, always take a good breakfast if you can.
+Excitement will not take the place of food. Finally, dears, I think the
+boys who honestly tried, and failed, were worthy of a great deal of
+credit. It is no disgrace to be beaten after you have done the very best
+you can.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We would call the attention of the C. Y. P. R. U. to Mrs. John Lillie's
+interesting article entitled "Papa Haydn," and "What the Showman Did not
+Tell," by Mr. William H. Rideing. The latter article contains a great
+deal of information which our boys and girls will probably remember
+better by hearing it from the "Showman" than if they had learned it in
+volumes on Natural History.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
+
+No. 1.
+
+FOUR WORD SQUARES.
+
+1.--1. Danger. 2. A species of hard wood. 3. A pirate. 4. To inoculate,
+as a tree or bud. 5. Certain stringed instruments.
+
+2.--1. A satellite. 2. To join. 3. A salt. 4. Endless. 5. Long-winged
+aquatic fowls.
+
+  JUNE BUG.
+
+3.--1. A very small particle. 2. A river in England. 3. The beginning of
+many old stories. 4. Gentle.
+
+4.--1. A garden. 2. A bird. 3. Duration. 4. A Roman Emperor.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 2.
+
+TWO CHARADES.
+
+1.
+
+  My first a lofty station holds,
+    My second holds a lowly;
+  But each has care enough to share,
+    And earns his living wholly.
+  My whole's a bird with pinions free,
+  You'll see him often near the sea.
+
+  MOTHER BUNCH.
+
+2.
+
+  My first is what you're doing now,
+    My second's made of stone;
+  Within my whole you often gaze,
+    And longest when you are alone.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 3.
+
+TWO DIAMONDS.
+
+1.--1. A letter. 2. Fleshy. 3. Covered in front. 4. Terse. 5. Stretched.
+6. To expire. 7. A letter.
+
+2.--1. A letter. 2. A covering. 3. A city in Egypt. 4. A despicable
+knave. 5. A mark made by impression. 6. Frequently. 7. A letter.
+
+  JUNE BUG.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 4.
+
+THREE HALF-SQUARES.
+
+1.--1. To dazzle. 2. To throw away. 3. To question. 4. A prefix. 5. A
+letter.
+
+2.--1. An incident. 2. A climbing plant. 3. To finish. 4. Not. 5. A
+letter.
+
+3.--1. A prickly shrub. 2. To run swiftly. 3. Something often done to
+cake. 4. Two vowels. 5. A letter.
+
+  J. M. ILES and C. M. EYRES.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 148.
+
+No. 1.
+
+  M O O N   S W A N
+  O H I O   W A N E
+  O I L S   A N N A
+  N O S E   N E A R
+
+  P A P E R
+  A L I V E
+  P I N E S
+  E V E N T
+  R E S T S
+
+No. 2.
+
+Pantry.
+
+No. 3.
+
+Golden-rod. Crocus. Hickory. Aster.
+
+No. 4.
+
+Bunker Hill Monument.
+
+Kite. Number. Home. Mullen. Lent.
+
+No. 5.
+
+Esther. Ida. Hilda. Edith. Mabel. Eliza.
+
+Ella. Ellen.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Correct answers to puzzles have been received from D. T. O., William A.
+Lewis, Eddie S. Hequembourg, Frederica Wortmann, Mabel Keith, Samuel H.
+Molleson, Ada McCoy, Anna Griffith, Fuller Whiting, Jack Tice, Harry
+Johnston, David Sanderson, "Princess Feather," "Eureka," Ernest Frantz,
+"Puss Lester," Helen M., Archie Dixon, Phebe D., "Faithful Readers,"
+"June Bug," Malcolm P. Black, Arthur Bates, Mollie Preston, and W.
+Soldan.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[_For Exchanges, see 2d and 3d pages of cover._]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: SOME ANSWERS TO WIGGLE No. 28, OUR ARTIST'S IDEA, AND NEW
+WIGGLE No. 29.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's Young People, September 26,
+1882, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59632 ***