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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59639 ***
+
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+
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+
+[Illustration: HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+VOL. III.--NO. 153. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
+CENTS.
+
+Tuesday, October 3, 1882. Copyright, 1882, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50
+per Year, in Advance.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "ALL ABOARD!"]
+
+
+
+
+THE SOLDIER'S CHEESE.
+
+BY DAVID KER.
+
+
+Any one who had come down the St. Gothard to the village of Andermatt,
+just at daybreak one cold winter morning in 1799, would have seen a very
+curious sight. All night long the village folks had been busy packing up
+and carrying away in carts or on horse and mule back whatever they could
+most easily remove. The first gleam of dawn saw the hindmost fugitives
+slinking away into the passes of the northern hills, looking fearfully
+back every now and then at the towering crest of the St. Gothard, as if
+expecting the whole mountain to fall upon them at once, or to send forth
+a torrent of fire that would sweep them all away.
+
+The danger from which they were flying was not long behind them.
+Scarcely had the sun peered above the surrounding hill-tops when the
+great white slope of the St. Gothard seemed to grow black all at once,
+like a white cloth swarmed over by flies. Instantly the whole
+mountain-side was alive with bear-skin caps, and glittering bayonets,
+and prancing horses, and bright epaulets, and rumbling wheels, and
+shining cannon.
+
+Down they came, still downward, thousands upon thousands--tall sallow
+grenadiers in long overcoats of gray frieze, sharp-faced, narrow-eyed
+Cossacks with long lances in their hands, black-capped gunners,
+glittering hussars, blue-nosed, shivering staff officers--and high above
+all, fluttering gayly in the keen morning breeze, the bullet-torn
+standard that bore the imperial ensign of Russia.
+
+At sight of the deserted village there was a murmur of satisfaction
+among the Russian soldiers; for it was now forty-eight hours since any
+of them had touched a morsel of food, and they were all as hungry as
+wolves.
+
+"These mountain goats have run away at the very sound of our coming,"
+said a big grenadier; "but so long as they've left some food behind
+them, it's all right."
+
+"Isn't this the place where they said the famous cheese was made?"
+suggested a gaunt, red-bearded Cossack.
+
+"Sure enough!" cried one of his comrades, joyfully. "Hey, brothers!
+won't we have a good feed when we get down there!"
+
+A good feed they certainly _did_ have, a few minutes later. Scarcely had
+the foremost battalion entered the village when a shout of "Cheese!
+cheese!" from the front drew every one in that direction. The little
+shop into which the starving men had rushed was hardly big enough to
+hold twenty of them at a time; but Russian soldiers, after a two days'
+fast, are not the men to be over ceremonious. In a trice the plank front
+of the store was beaten in and torn down, the shining yellow blocks
+which made such a tempting show were tossed into the street by hundreds,
+and there began such a feast as Andermatt had not seen, for many a year,
+even upon a market-day.
+
+But just as they were at the busiest, munching and gnawing away like so
+many rats, a few dropping shots in front, followed by the roll of a full
+volley, made them all spring up and seize their arms.
+
+"Infantry, form!" roared an officer, galloping in among them.
+"Skirmishers, advance! Forward! march!"
+
+And now the work began in earnest. The French had covered their retreat
+by filling the wood beyond the village with sharp-shooters, and as the
+Russians moved on, the pine-clumps around them seemed alive with
+crackling musketry and quick puffs of white smoke, while the gray coats
+of fallen soldiers dotted the snow on every side.
+
+But presently up came three or four light guns at a hard trot, and sent
+a shower of grape-shot rattling into the thickets, stirring the
+crouching marksmen from their covert like rabbits. On pressed the
+Russians; back fell the French; when suddenly a deep, hoarse roar was
+heard above all the din of the firing, and right in front of the
+charging Russians, as they broke from the wood, yawned a chasm as deep
+and narrow as if made by the cut of a sword. A quaint old bridge of
+moss-grown stone spanned the gulf, over which the last of the French
+soldiers were just filing at a run.
+
+No time to lose, evidently. Forward sprang the Russians with a loud
+hurrah, when suddenly there came a report, sharp as a thunder-clap,
+while the whole air was filled with smoke and dust and whizzing masses
+of stone. The bridge had been blown up, leaving an impassable gulf
+between the two armies; and a taunting laugh from the French,
+accompanied by a volley of musketry, answered the yell of rage that
+broke from their pursuers.
+
+What was to be done? Unless they could reach the enemy with the bayonet,
+the superior numbers of the Russians would avail them nothing; and if
+they stayed where they were they would be shot down like sparrows.
+
+"This won't do, lads," cried a tall, handsome man in a rich gold-laced
+uniform, turning to the Cossacks who stood around him. "Follow me."
+
+All obeyed without a word, for the speaker was no other than Prince
+Bagration, one of the best generals in the Russian army. Creeping round
+behind the thickets, that the enemy might not see what they were about,
+they came out again upon the river about half a mile higher up, at a
+point where the edge of the precipice, though quite bare and rocky on
+their side of the gap, was thickly wooded on the other.
+
+"If we had three or four of those trees over here," said the Prince,
+"they'd bridge this gap for us famously. But how are we to get at them?"
+
+"Twist the officers' sashes into a rope, your Highness," suggested a
+Cossack beside him, "knot a stone in the end of it, fling it across so
+as to catch in one of the branches, and send somebody over on it. I once
+robbed a house that way myself at home in Russia."
+
+"_Did_ you?" said the General, with a broad grin. "Well, then, you shall
+make up for it by being the first man to cross. Off with your sashes,
+gentlemen."
+
+The impromptu rope was soon twisted, the stone knotted in it, and flung
+so dexterously across the chasm that it caught in the fork of a tree at
+the first cast. The daring Cossack, with a sapper's axe slung round his
+neck, swung himself nimbly over the fearful gulf, and went to work upon
+the trees with such vigor that it was not long before three of them lay
+right across the gap, bridging it completely.
+
+Then the Prince and his men, stirred to frenzy by the increasing uproar
+of the battle below, scrambled like mad-men across the perilous bridge,
+and rushing up the heights beyond, commenced firing down upon the French
+on the other side. Confounded by this unexpected attack, the enemy broke
+and fled, and the fight was won.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Well done, my children," said Marshal Suvoroff, as he passed along the
+Russian lines after the battle, with a glow of honest admiration on his
+rough old face--"well done, indeed! You have given those French dogs a
+lesson, and shown them that Russian bayonets have points."
+
+"If _you're_ satisfied with us, father, that's all we want," replied a
+grim old grenadier, with a face criss-crossed with scars, like a railway
+map; "but, after all, we might well fight stoutly when we'd just had
+such a big meal of that good cheese."
+
+"Cheese, eh? Where did you get it?"
+
+"In the village yonder. We ate a whole shopful in passing through. I've
+got a bit left yet, if your Excellency would like to taste."
+
+And opening his pouch, the veteran displayed to the old General's
+astounded eyes a half-gnawed piece of _yellow soap_.
+
+A roar of laughter, which even the presence of the Commander-in-Chief
+could not restrain, broke from the staff officers around, and for many a
+day after the "good cheese" of Andermatt was their standing joke.
+
+
+
+
+THE MOON LENDS A HAND.
+
+BY CHARLES BARNARD.
+
+
+If you drop a lump of sugar into a cupful of tea, or stir the tea about
+with a spoon, there will be little bubbles, floating on the surface.
+Watch these bubbles, and you will see that they soon slide off and
+gather along the edge of the cup. Boys in the first class in philosophy
+know what that means. It is the attraction of the cup. It is larger than
+the bubbles, and, as they are free to move about on the tea, they are
+attracted or pulled toward the sides of the cup.
+
+If you lift the tea-cup, you find it is heavy. The great earth, that is
+millions of times larger than the cup, pulls it downward. We call it
+weight. We say the cup is pulled down by the attraction of gravitation.
+
+Out of doors you can see the sun. It too has an attraction for the cup
+and for the whole round world and all it contains. It is bigger than our
+earth, and is pulling it toward itself. So strong is this attraction for
+the sun that everything that is lying loose on the earth would fly away
+if it were not that the world is so much nearer, and is attracting it
+the other way at the same time. There are some things that really start
+to go to the sun every day, but very fortunately they soon come back
+again.
+
+Then there is the moon. She too is trying to pull everything toward
+herself. Poor Mrs. Moon! She is in an unfortunate position. She is
+pulled away toward the sun, and at the same time the earth attracts her
+this way. She wants to fly away and tumble into the sun, and she feels a
+great desire to fall down upon the world. She can't go both ways at
+once, so she contents herself with flying round the world once every
+day, and keeping us company in our journey round the sun.
+
+The moon has her revenge on the earth. It pulls hard on the world all
+the time, and some of the things on the surface, that, like the bubbles
+in the tea-cup, are free to move, try every day to jump up to the moon.
+There is the air and all the water in the sea. They can move about, and
+whenever the moon passes overhead they move up as if to meet it. They
+can't go far, but they make a good start, and never seem tired of
+trying. If we could go up in a balloon to the top of the air we would
+probably find the air at one place piled up in a heap, as if it wanted
+to fly away to the moon if the earth would only give it a chance.
+
+As it is not convenient for us to go up to the top of the air, we will
+go down to the beach to see how the water behaves when the moon goes by.
+No matter what time of the day or night you go to the sea-shore, you
+will find the water either rising up toward the moon or falling back
+again. It never seems to be discouraged, but as soon as it fails it
+starts again. You can not see it move, but if you put a stone at the
+edge of the water, and wait an hour or two, you will find the stone has
+been covered by the water or is left quite high and dry. It seems as if
+the whole of the great sea was forever slowly rising or falling, up and
+down, with a slow and solemn motion.
+
+Any boy who lives by the shore knows that this is the tide. He knows
+that all his fun depends on this regular rising and falling of the tide.
+At high tide the fishing is good. At low tide the flats are bare, and
+the boys can dig clams or watch the long-legged plovers wading about in
+the shallow water. This curious rising and falling of the tide is caused
+by the attraction of the moon. The sun also helps, but in a lesser
+degree. How and why it all happens would take a long time to explain. We
+do not care for that just now, as the strange effects of the tides upon
+the land are more interesting.
+
+I have already told you something of the way in which the sea and the
+waves are at work cutting out, tearing down, or building up the dry land
+on which we live. Perhaps you remember the stories of the walking
+beaches and the fight between the rivers and the sand-bars? We can now
+see what the moon has to do with this business.
+
+The tide is like a wave. It is not very high, but wonderfully wide. It
+is so broad that a single tide-wave will reach half round the world. Out
+at sea it is impossible to tell whether it is high or low tide at any
+time. Near the shore the tides behave in a curious and often wonderful
+manner, and we can walk along the beaches and see how they work. One of
+the best places to do this is the vicinity of New York city.
+
+South of this city is the harbor. Still farther south, past the Narrows,
+is the beautiful bay called New York Bay. Sandy Hook at the south and
+Coney Island at the north mark the broad entrance to this bay from the
+Atlantic Ocean. The Hudson River, that stretches far back into the
+country, runs along the west side of the city. On the east is the narrow
+and crooked arm of the sea called the East River. You know all this, and
+it may seem a trifle like a school-book, but your books never told you
+of half the wonders of this familiar place. The East River opens into
+Long Island Sound, and the Sound opens into the Atlantic at the farther
+end of Long Island. Thus it is possible for ships to start from New York
+and go to sea by the way of the harbor and bay, past Sandy Hook, or they
+may sail up the East River into the Sound, and reach the sea at Block
+Island, more than a hundred miles to the east of Sandy Hook.
+
+In the same way the tide coming in from the sea may reach New York by
+the way of Long Island Sound and the East River, or by the way of Sandy
+Hook and the bay. Suppose it is low tide off Block Island, at the east
+end of Long Island (you should look on your map for all this). The tide
+begins to rise, and enters the Sound. In two hours the wave reaches
+Sand's Point, and begins to enter the East River. Now happens a curious
+thing. The Sound grows narrower, and the river is narrower still, and as
+all the water has to pass at the same time, it rises higher and runs
+faster. At Block Island the tide rises only two feet. At Hallet's Point,
+near the city, it rises more than seven feet. The quiet peaceful tide at
+Block Island becomes here a swiftly flowing stream that surges with foam
+and fury between the rough rocky banks, and making many a dangerous eddy
+and whirl-pool. It is no wonder the sailors used to call this place Hell
+Gate.
+
+Let us look at this place a moment. The East River is open to the sea at
+each end. It is not like a real river, flowing down hill, and with a
+current constantly flowing in one direction. It has no current of its
+own, and were it not for the tides that surge backward and forward
+through the place twice every day, its waters would be dull and stagnant
+as any of the quiet lagoons behind the beaches that we have been
+studying. You can guess what would happen then. The place would soon
+fill up with mud and sand. Oysters and shell-fish would make it their
+home; sea-weeds and mosses would cover the bottom, and before long the
+river would be filled up, and Hell Gate would be closed. This wild
+turmoil of water just here, this swift-flowing current, keeps the place
+clear. The tides scour out the river-bed, and help keep it clean for the
+ships. There are more vessels passing through Hell Gate in a year than
+at any other place on this continent. If it were closed, our commerce
+would be sadly injured. Millions of dollars have been spent to make the
+channel clear, but it is the moon that keeps this great water gate open.
+
+The same tide that first appears off Block Island, and travels through
+the Sound, also travels along the southern shore of Long Island, and
+reaches Sandy Hook. As the water grows more shallow, the tide piles up
+higher, and at Sandy Hook it is more than four feet high. It sweeps on
+into the bay, and past the Narrows into the harbor, growing higher at
+every step. It rushes past the Battery, and into the East River, and now
+it is a swift and powerful current. It rushes onward along both sides of
+Blackwell's Island, and at Hell Gate the two tides meet. This only
+increases the war and turmoil of the waters. One tide seems to be piled
+upon another, and the currents become more furious. In a very little
+while one or the other gives way. The current turns, and rushes as
+swiftly the other way. All this strange performance is the work of the
+moon and the sun.
+
+Everywhere on the sea-coast all round the world the moon lends a hand to
+help the sea carve out the land. At Sandy Hook it also holds the key of
+the bay, and keeps the harbor open, that ships may pass out and come in.
+Were it not for the moon, Sandy Hook would creep slowly out over the
+shallow waters until it nearly reached Coney Island. The friendly tide
+comes sweeping in from the sea, and spreads far and wide over the bay.
+It fills miles and miles of bays and rivers with water, and then when
+the moon passes on, and the water can follow her no farther, it turns in
+a mighty flood, and scours and sweeps out all the channels. The
+outflowing tide is a big broom to brush away the sand and mud, and keep
+the front door of our port open to all the ships of the world. Did not
+the sea every day try to reach after the moon, perhaps there would be no
+tides. Were the tides to stop, our grand front gate would soon be shut,
+and our convenient back way into the Sound would be closed. It is in
+this way a great and wise Creator has commanded even the moon to lend a
+hand in controlling the sea and the land.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+GOLDEN-ROD.
+
+BY M. R. COLQUITT.
+
+
+  Oh, mamma, I've heard such charming news
+    From the Bobolink down in the lane;
+  He knows many beautiful stories,
+    And promised to meet me again.
+
+  He told me about this rich Golden-Rod,
+    And whence came its glowing hue;
+  And I'm sure the bright little gossip
+    Wouldn't care if I should tell you.
+
+  He says when dear little Titania
+    Was proclaimed the fairies' Queen,
+  There was such a splendid banquet
+    As never before was seen,
+
+  And Titania's gorgeous costly robe,
+    All puffed with fold on fold,
+  Was made of a sunset tissue
+    Of shining dazzling gold.
+
+  The Knight of the Topaz Helmet
+    Was chosen to dance with her,
+  And he tore her beautiful court train
+  With the point of his diamond spur.
+
+  The wonderful exquisite fragment
+    Fluttered about in the breeze,
+  Now lighting the spears of the bending grass,
+    Now floating among the trees,
+
+  Till 'twas caught by the old head gardener,
+    Who gazed at it long, and said;
+  "This, fugitive flying sunbeam
+    Has put something new in my head,
+
+  "And our royal lady's accident
+    Has strangely given a hint,
+  And furnished me just what I longed for--
+    An idea of shape, and a tint
+
+  "For the flower that must be ready,
+    As soon as the dancing is done,
+  To present to our lovely sovereign
+    In token of fealty won.
+
+  "I'll take its form from the flashing plume
+    Of the Knight who threw in my way
+  This fleecy fluttering fragment,
+    So delicate, dainty, and gay.
+
+  "And if she accepts the token,
+    And prints with her gracious hand
+  The mystical sign upon it
+    That shows it from Fairy-land,
+
+  "I'll blow its seed to the outer world,
+    And scatter them over the sod,
+  And christen my feathery favorite
+    Queen Titania's _Golden-Rod_."
+
+
+
+
+THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB.[1]
+
+[1] Begun in No. 146, HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE.
+
+BY W. L. ALDEN,
+
+AUTHOR OF "THE MORAL PIRATES," "THE CRUISE OF THE 'GHOST,'" ETC., ETC.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+There is no place more unfit for a sudden and unexpected bath than the
+lock of a canal. The sides and the gates are perpendicular and smooth,
+and present nothing to which a person in the water can cling. Charley
+had no difficulty in supporting himself by throwing one arm over the
+stern of Harry's canoe, but had he been alone in the lock he would have
+been in a very unpleasant position.
+
+As soon as the gates were opened the boys paddled out of the lock, and
+went ashore to devise a plan for raising the sunken canoe. Of course it
+was necessary that some one should dive and bring up the painter, so
+that the canoe could be dragged out of the lock; but as canal-boats were
+constantly passing, it was a full hour before any attempt at diving
+could be made. There were half a dozen small French boys playing near
+the lock, and Charley, who was by no means anxious to do any unnecessary
+diving, hired them to get the canoe ashore, which they managed to do
+easily. It was then found that nearly everything except the spars had
+floated out of her, and the rest of the morning was spent in searching
+for the missing articles in the muddy bottom of the canal. Most of them
+were recovered, but Charley's spare clothes, which were in an
+India-rubber bag, could not be found.
+
+This was the second time that the unfortunate _Midnight_ had foundered,
+and Charley was thoroughly convinced of the necessity of providing some
+means of keeping her afloat in case of capsizing. It was impossible for
+him to put water-tight compartments in her, such as the _Sunshine_ and
+the _Dawn_ possessed, but he resolved to buy a dozen beef bladders at
+the next town, and after blowing them up, to pack them in the bow and
+stern of his canoe. Tom, whose "Rice Lake" canoe was also without
+water-tight compartments, agreed to adopt Charley's plan, and thus avoid
+running the risk of an accident that might result in the loss of the
+canoe and cargo.
+
+When the fleet finally got under way again there was a nice breeze from
+the south, which sent the canoes along at the rate of four or five miles
+an hour. Chambly, the northern end of the canal, was reached before four
+o'clock, the boys having lunched on bread and water while in the canoes
+in order not to lose time by going ashore. They passed safely through
+the three great locks at Chambly; and entering the little lake formed by
+the expansion of the river, and known as Chambly Basin, they skirted its
+northern shore until they reached the ruins of Chambly Castle.
+
+More than one hundred and fifty years ago the Frenchmen built the great
+square fort, with round towers at each angle, which is now called
+Chambly Castle. At that time the only direct way of communication
+between the settlements on the St. Lawrence and those in the valleys of
+the Hudson and the Mohawk was up the Richelieu River, Lake Champlain,
+and Lake George. It was this route that Burgoyne followed when he began
+the campaign that ended so disastrously for him at Saratoga, and it was
+at Chambly Castle that he formally took command of his army. The castle
+was placed just at the foot of the rapids, on a broad, level space,
+where Indians used to assemble in large numbers to trade with the
+French. Its high stone walls, while they could easily have been knocked
+to pieces by cannon, were a complete protection against the arrows and
+rifles of the savages, and could have withstood a long siege by any
+English force not provided with artillery. In the old days when the
+castle was garrisoned by gay young French officers, and parties of
+beautiful ladies came up from Montreal to attend the officers' balls,
+and the gray old walls echoed to music, and brilliant lights flashed
+through the windows, the Indians encamped outside the gates must have
+thought it the most magnificent and brilliant place in the whole world.
+Now there is nothing left of it but the four walls and the crumbling
+towers. The iron bolts on which the great castle gate once swung are
+still imbedded in the stone, but nothing else remains inside the castle
+except grassy mounds, and the wild vines that climb wherever they can
+find an angle or a stone to cling to.
+
+The canoeists made their camp where the Indians had so often camped
+before them, and after supper they rambled through the castle and
+climbed to the top of one of the towers. They had never heard of its
+existence, and were as surprised as they were delighted to find so
+romantic a ruin.
+
+"I haven't the least doubt that the place is full of ghosts," said
+Charley, as the boys were getting into the canoes for the night.
+
+"Do you really believe in ghosts?" asked Tom, in his matter-of-fact way.
+
+"Why," replied Charley, "when you think of what must have happened
+inside of that old castle and outside of it when the Indians tortured
+their prisoners, there can't help but be ghosts here."
+
+"I don't care, provided there are no mosquitoes," said Joe. "Ghosts
+don't bite, and don't sing in a fellow's ears."
+
+Any one who has camped near a rapid knows how strangely the running
+water sounds in the stillness of the night. Joe, who, although there
+were no mosquitoes to trouble him, could not fall asleep, was sure that
+he heard men's voices talking in a low tone, and two or three times
+raised himself up in his canoe to see if there were any persons in
+sight. He became convinced after a while that the sounds which disturbed
+him were made by the water, but, nevertheless, they had made him rather
+nervous. Though he had professed not to be afraid of ghosts, he did not
+like to think about them, but he could not keep them out of his mind.
+Once, when he looked out of his canoe toward the castle, he was startled
+to find it brilliantly lighted up. The light was streaming from the
+case-mates, loop-holes, and windows, and it was some moments before he
+comprehended that it was nothing more ghostly than moonlight.
+
+Toward midnight Joe fell asleep, but he slept uneasily. He woke up
+suddenly to find a dark object with two fiery eyes seated on the deck of
+his canoe, and apparently watching him. He sprang up, with a cry of
+terror, which awakened his comrades. The strange object rushed away
+from the canoe, and stopping near the gate of the castle, seemed to be
+waiting to see what the boys would do.
+
+By this time Joe had recovered his senses, and knew that his strange
+visitor was a wild animal. The boys took their pistols. Tom, who was the
+best shot, fired at the animal. He did not hit it, but as Tom advanced
+slowly toward it the creature went into the castle.
+
+"It's a wild-cat," cried Charley. "I saw it as it crossed that patch of
+moonlight. Come on, boys, and we'll have a hunt."
+
+[Illustration: HUNTING FOR A WILD-CAT IN CHAMBLY CASTLE.]
+
+With their pistols ready for instant service, the canoeists rushed into
+the castle. The wild-cat was seated on a pile of stones in what was once
+the court-yard, and did not show any signs of fear. Three or four
+pistol-shots, however, induced it to spring down from its perch and run
+across the court-yard. The boys followed it eagerly, plunging into a
+thick growth of tall weeds, and shouting at the top of their lungs.
+Suddenly the animal vanished; and though Tom fancied that he saw it
+crouching in the shadow of the wall, and fired at it, as he supposed, he
+soon found that he was firing at a piece of old stove-pipe that had
+probably been brought to the place by a picnic party.
+
+Giving up the hunt with reluctance, the canoeists returned to their
+canoes; at least three of them did, but Joe was not with them. They
+called to him, but received no answer, and becoming anxious about him,
+went back to the castle and shouted his name loudly, but without
+success.
+
+"It's very strange," exclaimed Charley. "He was close behind me when we
+chased the wild-cat into those weeds."
+
+"Has anybody seen him since?" asked Harry.
+
+Nobody had seen him.
+
+"Then," said Harry, "the wild-cat has carried him off or killed him."
+
+"Nonsense!" exclaimed Charley; "a wild-cat isn't a tiger, and couldn't
+carry off a small baby. Joe must be trying to play a trick on us."
+
+"Let's go back, and pay no attention to him," suggested Tom. "I don't
+like such tricks."
+
+"There's no trick about it," said Harry. "Joe isn't that kind of fellow.
+Something has happened to him, and we've got to look for him until we
+find him."
+
+"Harry's right," said Charley. "Go and get the lantern out of my canoe,
+won't you, Tom? I've got matches in my pocket."
+
+When the lantern was lit a careful search was made all over the
+court-yard. Harry was greatly frightened, for he was afraid that Joe
+might have been accidentally shot while the boys were shooting at the
+wild-cat, and he remembered that in his excitement he had fired his
+pistol in a very reckless way. It was horrible to think that he might
+have shot poor Joe; worse even than thinking that the wild-cat might
+have seized him.
+
+The court-yard had been thoroughly searched without finding the least
+trace of Joe, and the boys were becoming more and more alarmed, when
+Charley, whose ears were particularly sharp, cried, "Hush! I hear
+something." They all listened intently, and heard a voice faintly
+calling "Help!" They knew at once that it was Joe's voice, but they
+could not imagine where he was. They shouted in reply to him, and
+Charley, seizing the lantern, carefully pushed aside the tall weeds, and
+presently found himself at the mouth of a well.
+
+"Are you there, Joe?" he cried, lying down on the ground, with his head
+over the mouth of the well.
+
+"I believe I am," replied Joe. "I'm ready to come out, though, if you
+fellows will help me."
+
+The boys gave a great shout of triumph.
+
+"Are you hurt?" asked Charley, eagerly.
+
+"I don't think I am; but I think somebody will be if I have to stay here
+much longer."
+
+It was evident that Joe was not seriously hurt, although he had fallen
+into the well while rushing recklessly after the wild-cat. Tom and Harry
+ran to the canoes, and returned with all four of the canoe painters.
+Tying one of them to the lantern, Charley lowered it down, and was able
+to get a glimpse of Joe. The well was about twenty feet deep, and
+perfectly dry, and Joe was standing, with his hands in his pockets,
+leaning against the side of the well, and apparently entirely unhurt, in
+spite of his fall.
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+"THEIR GIRL."
+
+A STORY IN THREE CHAPTERS.
+
+BY JAMES OTIS,
+
+AUTHOR OF "TOBY TYLER," "TIM AND TIP," "MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER," ETC.
+
+
+I.
+
+"She had on a dress that was silk all over it, an' it was almost as much
+as you could do to see her hands for the lace an' fringe an' ribbons.
+She was a good deal handsomer than them wax images in Smith & Jones's
+store, an' when she bought a paper of pins of me she give five cents,
+without waitin' for the change."
+
+"Wot's five cents when jest as likely as not she had as much as five
+dollars in her pocket?" said Johnny Davis, the newsboy, who was
+sometimes spoken of, and to, by his proper name, but more often as
+"Water-melon Davis," because of his enormous appetite for the watery
+fruit.
+
+Johnny spoke almost contemptuously of that which Katy Morrison, the
+"black-pin girl," considered a piece of good fortune, and if he did not
+actually turn his nose up in disdain, it was because nature had already
+so elevated that rather prominent feature of his face that it was
+impossible for him to get it any higher.
+
+"Well"--and Jimmy Green, Johnny's partner in business, as well as
+particular friend of Katy's, spoke very slowly, as was customary with
+him--"five cents ain't to be sneezed at when a feller's only expectin'
+to get one, an' if Katy could get enough of 'em she'd make three, four
+dollars a day."
+
+"How I wish I could!" said Katy, enviously, as with her stock of pins in
+her lap she sat on the door-step of an unoccupied store, her chin
+resting on one hand as she rattled the pennies in her pocket with the
+other. "If I could make that much, I'd buy me a whole dress, an' real
+shoes without any holes in 'em, an'--an'--an' I'd buy a pair of
+bracelets, that's what I'd do."
+
+"Bracelets!" sneered Johnny, as he folded the paper that was undoubtedly
+fated to remain on his hands as stale goods from his morning's stock.
+"It makes me feel almost like gettin' mad, Katy, to hear you talk about
+buyin' bracelets, when you can get a pair of boxin'-gloves down to
+Levy's for as much as you'd pay for bracelets."
+
+"Well, I don't know 'bout that," said Jimmy, as he rubbed his chin
+reflectively. "P'r'aps they'd do her more good than the gloves would,
+'cause, you see, Katy don't know nothin' 'bout boxin'."
+
+"Then she oughter learn," was the very decided response from Master
+Davis. "Girls could box as well as fellers if they'd get somebody to
+show 'em how."
+
+"But I don't want to learn, an' I do want the bracelets," said Katy,
+thinking that possibly she had the right to say how this prospective
+money of hers should be spent. "That's all you boys think about, how you
+can hurt each other, an' you don't care what you wear nor how you look.
+I'd like to wear dresses that wasn't all torn, an' I'd like to look the
+way girls do what have mothers, an' don't have to live in such a old
+house as we do, an' pay 'most all our money for what Mother Brown calls
+board an' lodgin'. Then when I want bracelets, you tell me to get
+boxin'-gloves."
+
+"Well, if you don't want 'em, don't get 'em," said Johnny,
+philosophically, and looking much as if he fully understood how
+difficult it is to persuade girls as to just what they really need. "Buy
+the bracelets, an' then you'll look fine, won't you? sellin' pins fur a
+cent a paper with a big pair of gold bracelets slippin' down over yer
+hands every time you try to shy a stick at a dog."
+
+"I never throwed a stick at a dog in my life," said Katy, indignantly;
+and then she added, quickly, "'cept once, when Dutch Pete cheated me
+outer two herrin's, an' I hit his dog to get even with him."
+
+"I tell you what it is, fellers," said Jimmy, who had been making mental
+calculations based upon this argument he had unwittingly started, until
+he believed he understood it better than either of his companions did:
+"neither one of you hain't got the money to buy either the bracelets or
+the gloves, so wot's the use of makin' a fuss over it? When I get a
+paper stand of my own, I'm goin' to buy Katy everything she wants, an' I
+ain't goin' to let her sell pins, neither."
+
+"Ain't you kinder tired talkin' 'bout that stand, Jimmy? We've heard
+'bout it ever since you an' I was pardners, an' you hain't got no nearer
+to it now than to owe Mother Brown five cents on last week's board."
+
+Johnny said this in a reproving tone, but it is very probable that he
+did it more to hide his confusion, caused by his partner's first remark,
+than for any other purpose, for he was usually careful not to hurt
+Jimmy's feelings.
+
+"I'll have it jest the same," was the calm reply, and then Jimmy
+relapsed into another fit of chin rubbing, from which he did not arouse
+himself until one of his friends in the same line of business rushed up
+with the startling intelligence that there had been "a big accident on
+the railroad, an' papers are jest goin' to fly to-night."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was not until quite a late hour in the afternoon that the three
+friends, who boarded in the same house, met again after their interview
+was broken in upon by the news of a probable activity in the newspaper
+business, and when they did meet both the boys were in the highest
+possible state of excitement.
+
+The prediction that papers would "fly" had been verified, and more than
+one of Mother Brown's boarders had been made happy. Particularly was
+this happiness apparent in Jimmy's case. Even while the rush of trade
+was at its height he had been thinking of what Katy had said about
+wearing a dress that was not torn, and as his profits accumulated he
+conceived a plan so brilliant that he could hardly wait to meet Katy
+before he explained it.
+
+The stores had been closed, and Katy, finding no customers for her pins,
+was walking slowly toward the not very cheerful place where Mrs. Brown
+kept a boarding-house for those children of the streets who have no idea
+of what home is, save as they see it from the outside, peering curiously
+in at those more fortunate ones who have a father, mother, home, and
+everything which goes to make up happiness and content.
+
+She had walked nearly down town--for, as may be imagined, Mrs. Brown's
+house was not in the most pleasant portion of New York--and she was just
+beginning to wonder where her friends were, when she saw them coming
+toward her, looking quite as important and a great deal more satisfied
+than the most prosperous merchant on the street.
+
+"Say, Katy," shouted Jimmy, while he was yet some distance away, his
+secret having grown so overpowering in the last few moments that he
+could hardly keep it until he saw the girl, "I've made a dollar 'n'
+forty-one cents, an' what d'yer s'pose I'm goin' to do with it?"
+
+"Goin' to start your stand?" and Katy seemed quite as much pleased by
+the good fortune as Jimmy was.
+
+[Illustration: "NO, SIR; I'M GOIN' TO BUY YOU A NEW DRESS."]
+
+"No, sir! I'm goin' to buy you a new dress, after I pay Mother Brown,
+an' give Tom Brady the cent I owe him. That'll leave me a dollar 'n'
+thirty-five cents, an' you shall have the best one we can find in the
+city. I shouldn't wonder if we'd have money enough to get the bracelets
+too," he added, in the tone of one who is certain, but prefers to let
+the matter remain in pleasing doubt for a time.
+
+"Oh, Jimmy," cried Katy, in delight, for the thoughts of what she might
+have if she only had the money had made her very nearly unhappy during
+the remainder of that afternoon, when trade had been dull, "_are_ you
+goin' to spend that money for me?"
+
+"Every cent," was the decided reply, as the money was rattled to give
+greater emphasis to the words.
+
+"But you mustn't, Jimmy," said Katy, as she began to understand that her
+friend needed it quite as much as she did. "You can get your stand with
+that, an' I can wear this dress as well as not."
+
+"But I'm goin' to buy the dress, an' the bracelets, an' a lot of
+things," was the reply, in a tone that admitted of no argument.
+
+"An' ef he hain't got enough, I can put out the balance," said Johnny,
+speaking thus tardily because there had been a great struggle in his
+mind as to whether or no he would not be doing Katy a greater favor by
+buying the boxing-gloves for her.
+
+Never since Katy Morrison could remember had she worn a dress that was
+made of new material. Even before her mother had died, leaving her to
+the anything but tender care of Mrs. Brown, her dresses had been made of
+old ones, and now the mere idea of having one without a hole in it
+seemed almost too good to be true.
+
+She did make another protest against her friends spending their money
+for her, though she admitted that if the pin market remained in its
+present overstocked condition she could never hope to buy one from her
+earnings; but Jimmy had made up his mind, after much rubbing of his
+chin, and nothing she could have said would have caused him to change
+it. He and Johnny discussed the question of what color the dress should
+be--that it was to be of silk was understood, and Katy hardly knew how
+to contain her joy, so impossible had such a thing seemed a few hours
+before.
+
+While they were talking they had passed through City Hall Park, and as
+they started to cross the street they were still eagerly discussing the
+question of color, Johnny being decidedly in favor of red, while Jimmy
+believed a bright green would be more suitable. Katy was just behind
+them, taking no part in the conversation, because one color would please
+her as well as another; the "whole" dress, whatever its shade, was
+sufficient for her.
+
+So heated had the argument become that neither of the boys noticed, amid
+the general bustle of the square, the clatter and rush of a horse
+attached to a light express wagon, nor did they hear the warning cries
+of the driver until it was close upon them.
+
+Then they had only time to escape being knocked down by the horse. As
+they jumped suddenly they heard a cry from Katy, another from those on
+the sidewalk, and they turned just in time to see the poor girl, whose
+thoughts of a new dress had rendered her careless to everything around
+her, lying on the pavement, with a great crimson stain, that grew larger
+and larger, upon her hair.
+
+Before they could reach her a policeman had carried her to the sidewalk,
+and they were obliged to stand on the outside of a large crowd of
+curious ones, who always gather at anything unusual as if by magic,
+while the only being in the world who loved them and whom they loved,
+was perhaps dying, perhaps dead.
+
+Clutching each other's hands tightly, while the great tears of a sorrow
+that had almost stupefied them rolled down their cheeks, the two stood
+there, near the curb-stone, not knowing what to do or say. They did not
+even know how long they remained there; but when the ambulance came, and
+they saw the still, lifeless form of "their girl," as they called her,
+lifted into the black, ominous-looking wagon, there was such a lump in
+the throat of each that it seemed as if he could not breathe.
+
+The ambulance started off at full speed, its bell clanging the warning
+to drivers of other vehicles to clear the way, and without knowing where
+it was going, or anything save the fact that "their girl" was in it, the
+two boys ran after it regardless of fatigue or danger.
+
+On and on the precious load was carried, until finally, when it seemed
+to Jimmy a physical impossibility that he could run any further, the
+ambulance was stopped before a huge building, which both the boys knew
+was the hospital.
+
+One more glimpse they had of Katy as she was carried through the gate,
+and then they waited in painful suspense, as if they expected some word
+would be sent to them.
+
+It was late in the evening when one of the attendants came out of the
+building, and found the boys crouching close by the gate. Before he had
+time to ask them what they were doing there, they overwhelmed him with
+questions as to the fate of Katy, and when he finally understood who
+they were inquiring about, he told them that it was impossible to say
+whether she could recover or not, as her injuries were believed to be
+very severe.
+
+For several moments the boys stood looking at each other in mute fear,
+after the man had passed on, and then Johnny said, solemnly,
+
+"Jimmy, did you ever pray the same as the rich folks do?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Let's do it now, an' p'r'aps Katy'll get well."
+
+"Well, let's," replied Jimmy, earnestly, and there, upon the dusty
+street, two boys whose ragged coats covered true, kindly hearts, prayed,
+after their fashion, to the God of whom they had but seldom heard, for
+the life of "their girl."
+
+[TO BE CONTINUED.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "BREAD-AND-BUTTER DAYS."--FROM A PAINTING BY WEEDON
+GROSSMITH.]
+
+
+
+
+AN UNKNOWN HERO.
+
+
+Deep down in a mine in Wardley Colliery, Newcastle, England, there is a
+brave boy who deserves to be called a hero. In a situation of sudden
+peril he used precautions which prevented a dreadful explosion, simply
+by behaving with courage and presence of mind.
+
+He noticed that his lamp flared up, a sure sign of the presence of
+dangerous gas. Had he hastily rushed away, his light might have burst
+through the wire gauze which surrounds a miner's lamp, and setting fire
+to the gas, caused a heart-rending accident.
+
+The lad did nothing so silly. When questioned by the Superintendent as
+to how he had found out that there was gas in the neighborhood where he
+was at work, he replied, "Because my lamp flared."
+
+"And what did you do then?" asked the gentleman.
+
+"I took my pricker, and pulled down the wick, but the lamp still
+flared."
+
+"Well, my boy, and how did you manage then?"
+
+"Why, I put the lamp inside my jacket, and covered it up tight, and the
+light went out."
+
+Of course, the lamp could not burn without air.
+
+To think of the right thing to do, and then promptly to do it, boys,
+that is what makes the difference between a common man and a hero.
+
+This little fellow, whose name is not mentioned--Mick, or Ted, or
+Jack--has in him the making of a grand man, cool, resolute, and clever.
+
+Fortunately there was an overseer near him, who, when, he heard from the
+lad about his lamp, went bravely through the gas, in total darkness, and
+set open a door, the closing of which had forced the gas into the
+main-ways of the mine.
+
+All honor to them both.
+
+
+
+
+DEACON DODD'S CALF.
+
+BY SYDNEY DAYRE.
+
+
+Three of us boys--Will Harald, his cousin from the nearest city, who was
+visiting him, and myself--went down to Deacon Dodd's farm one Friday
+afternoon, after tea. We found the old gentleman mowing the grass in the
+front yard.
+
+"Come in, boys; set down on the steps there. Hot, isn't it?" He wiped
+his forehead vigorously with his red silk handkerchief.
+
+"Deacon," said Will, "we came to ask you for a peck or so of your pound
+sweets, for our fishing excursion to-morrow."
+
+"Have a drink of cold water? Pound sweets, eh? Well, now, I'm sorry.
+Won't anything else do you? Fact is, every pound sweet I've got's
+promised; there wa'n't many this year, and they're a skurse kind, you
+see. But you can have anything else you can find on the farm, and
+welcome. The bell-flowers are tiptop--help yourselves."
+
+We thanked him, but didn't care for anything else. We had plenty of
+other apples ourselves, and had set our minds on having some of the
+Deacon's great yellow pound sweets. We wandered discontentedly into the
+orchard without finding anything we wanted, peeped at the big
+snapping-turtle by the spring, patted the pretty gentle Jersey cow and
+her half-grown calf, both of which were the pride and delight of the
+Deacon's heart, and then sat down in the open doorway of the great barn.
+
+"He's a mean old skinflint, I say," said George, the boy from town. Will
+and I knew he wasn't any such thing, but we were out of humor at having
+our walk for nothing, and did not take the trouble to argue the matter.
+
+"I don't think he would have missed a peck," I said.
+
+"Wants to sell 'em, I s'pose. Seems to me I'd oblige a few boys even if
+it was a few cents out of my pocket."
+
+"Let's play a trick on the old codger," said George. "Last summer our
+teacher wouldn't give us a holiday when we wanted it, so we shut him up
+in the school till late at night."
+
+"And what came of it?" we inquired, in great interest.
+
+"Oh, well, one or two of us got expelled for awhile, but that just
+suited us."
+
+This did not sound to me like a very successful issue of the trick, but
+George went on:
+
+"Let's run off his calf."
+
+"How do you mean?" asked Will.
+
+"Why, lead it clear off, and tie it up somewhere, so he'll think it's
+lost."
+
+"He thinks about as much of that cow and calf as he does of his
+children," I said, with some misgivings.
+
+"All the better--he'll be in a jolly sputter over it. We won't hurt
+anything; just have a little fun on the old fellow. Nobody'll know. Come
+on."
+
+Somehow I couldn't help feeling that I hated to do anything like playing
+a trick on the Deacon, for as a general thing he was very good to us
+boys. But then, on the other hand, it did seem perfectly unreasonable
+for him to refuse to give us just a few of those apples when we knew he
+had three times as many as he and all his family put together could eat.
+Still, I don't think I would have given in if George hadn't urged the
+matter so. He is one of those fellows who always takes the lead, and the
+rest of us just follow on. He started off, and Will and I went after
+him.
+
+We quietly stole round the back of the barn to the lot in which we had
+seen the cow and calf. No one happened to be about just then. We found a
+rope, tied it to the calf, and led her into a lane. Soon she got tired
+of being handled by so many strangers, and I tell you she gave us a
+lively time. She was a stout, skittish little creature, and we boys had
+no end of exercise getting her along. She would walk quietly enough for
+a few steps, and then make a jump forward, which would nearly jerk us
+off our feet; or she would stop suddenly and turn back, tipping over a
+boy or two, like enough. At last we put our apple-bag over her head, and
+she travelled a little easier, but you'd better believe all our hands
+were sore hanging on to that rope. At last we tied her in a bushy grove
+about half a mile from the far end of the Deacon's farm.
+
+We had thought it great fun as long as we were all together, but when I
+was at home alone it didn't seem half so smart to be putting a joke on
+an old man, and a good kindly old man at that. I woke up several times
+in the night with the stinging and burning in my hands, and thought what
+if anything should happen to the calf. Not a word had been said between
+us as to how it was to be got back again--I don't believe any of us had
+thought so far ahead as that.
+
+It is dreadful hard work to sleep when you've got anything troublesome
+on your mind. I tossed about and thought it over just what the Deacon
+would say when he found the calf was gone; and how Mrs. Dodd would
+worry. Finally I thought of the piles of doughnuts she had given us boys
+at one time and another. I got so wretched that I couldn't stand it any
+longer.
+
+I didn't know how long George intended to keep it hidden, but I made up
+my mind to get up with the first streak of day, and went to see if I
+couldn't get the calf back by myself. Then I meant to leave George and
+Will to bother themselves awhile, wondering what could become of it. It
+was a long walk, but at last I reached the place, and then I tell you I
+stood and stared--that calf was gone!
+
+I hunted and hunted all about there, but it was no use. The faces of
+Will and George grew as blank as my own as I told them, and we joined
+the fishing party of a dozen or so boys with a heavy sinking at our
+hearts, and many doubts as to what might be the outcome of our clever
+joke on the old Deacon.
+
+Early in the afternoon we saw a spring-wagon working its way along under
+the willows where we were fishing. Two men were in it, one of whom, a
+stumpy, freckle-faced Irishman, I recognized as Deacon Dodd's new hired
+man. The other was a neighbor of ours, and it was not until he had
+beckoned George and Will and myself a little apart from the other boys
+that I remembered all of a sudden, with a great addition to the weight
+on my mind, that he was the deputy-sheriff.
+
+"Yis, sor, thim's the very b'ys," said the Irishman, with a very
+positive nod of his head at us.
+
+The deputy-sheriff looked puzzled.
+
+"Why, my man," he said, "you don't mean it's _these_ boys you're after?"
+
+"It's jist these same I'm maning--the very wans me own eyes saw shtalin'
+away the Daacon's calf."
+
+At this we burst out laughing, and gave the deputy-sheriff an account of
+our frolic of the night before. Mike listened unmoved, simply asking, as
+we finished:
+
+"But wheriver is the Daacon's baste, thin?"
+
+This we could not answer. The deputy-sheriff whispered with the
+Irishman, seeming to intercede for us; but Mike only answered, doggedly:
+
+"The Daacon was called away suddint lasht night, and only mesilf to see
+to things. Them b'ys had the calf--wheriver is the calf?"
+
+His stubborn faithfulness was not to be shaken, and the deputy-sheriff
+gave up.
+
+"Well, boys, seeing he's so set, I guess you'd better just jump in and
+go along with me--being such a valuable animal, you see. Of course it
+won't amount to anything, mere matter of form; only a little talk before
+Squire Granger."
+
+We were a crest-fallen three as we mounted that spring-wagon, dimly
+realizing that, spite of the deputy-sheriff's politeness, the plain
+English of all this was that we were under arrest, and on our way to a
+magistrate's office. Our worst fears all the morning had been of our
+being called upon to pay the price of a choice specimen of blooded
+stock, but an indefinite train of horrible possibilities now seemed to
+open out before our imaginations.
+
+How our cheeks burned as we found ourselves before the country justice,
+and perceived the crowd drawn by the excitement of a preliminary
+examination, and heard the astonishment and horror expressed that we
+should be the criminals. How our shame and confusion increased as the
+other members of the picnic, whom we had devoutly hoped would not allow
+their day's sport to be shortened by our leaving the party so early,
+quietly filed in, and added their gaze to the others'.
+
+The justice seemed somewhat embarrassed himself. There did not seem to
+be much of a case, but what little there was was dead against us. The
+only thing about it was Mike's unwavering testimony to having seen us in
+the lane driving away the calf. This we could not deny, and all our
+protestations of its being only a joke were thrown into confusion by his
+stubbornly repeated question:
+
+"Thin, wheriver is the Daacon's baste?"
+
+The thing began to look less and less like a joke to us as we found it
+impossible to bring any witnesses for the defense. The justice and the
+deputy-sheriff whispered solemnly together.
+
+All at once there was a stir in court. Deacon Dodd elbowed his way into
+our neighborhood, and as he looked us over, his genial face expanded
+into a laugh that shook the very rafters.
+
+"Well, boys, have you had enough fun?"
+
+We had nothing to say. The justice seemed cheered by the entrance into
+the case of something lively, and asked the Deacon if he had any
+evidence to offer. We, the prisoners, were not encouraged, feeling very
+sure his testimony could not be in our favor. The justice had some
+trouble in getting things sobered down enough to swear the Deacon
+properly, but when this was accomplished he was allowed to give his
+account in his own way, which went something like this:
+
+"Yes, your honor, I felt bad when the boys wanted them pound sweets, for
+I always do take to giving to boys--used to be a boy myself, you know,
+and it don't seem so very long ago neither, 'though I don't pretend to
+be as young as I was once. Well, when I got into my little tool-room in
+the barn to hang up my scythe, and sat there to cool off a bit, being as
+the evening was warmish, and them poor chaps, after having tired
+themselves all out trying to find something nice in the orchard, and
+couldn't, come to take a rest at the barn door, and says they, 'The
+Deacon's an old skinflint, and wants to put every cent he can in his
+pocket.' Likewise wishing every apple on his place would rot and such
+like--I say, Squire, I could hardly forbear just getting up and going
+out to them boys and saying, 'Boys, just you go 'n' get every pound
+sweet on that tree--_don't you leave one_.' But, you see, my wife, Mis'
+Dodd, had told me how she'd been and promised every individual one of
+them pound sweets to the hospital; for them poor souls lying there sick
+found it hard to get anything real relishing, and liked 'em baked. So I
+couldn't help myself, seeing she'd passed her word for a charity, and
+would 'a felt hard at me, naturally, if I'd gone back on her.
+
+"But when the boys thought they'd like a little fun with the Jersey
+calf, I knew they wouldn't do the pretty creatur' any hurt, for I heard
+'em saying how they knew I set great store by her. The evening was
+getting cooler then, so I just took a walk along behind the hedge, they
+being on t'other side.--You did have a time with her, didn't you, boys?"
+
+What a roar went up from that roomful of listeners!
+
+"'Twas tough; yes, I could see that, a regular tussle to get her along.
+I'd 'a helped you, for she follows me like a lamb, only I was afraid
+'twould spoil your fun if I took hold too. So I just kept along till you
+tied her up safe and comfortable--"
+
+Here Mike broke in, in total disregard of the proprieties of a
+court-room:
+
+"But, Daacon, wheriver's the baste _now_? Be the howly poker she's clane
+gone off the farrum!"
+
+"She's in the northeast corner pasture. I'd been calculating to put her
+there, to be more in the shade, and the boys gave me just so much help
+with her, you see. After I'd put her there and got home, I found a
+letter from my son Isaac, telling how he was sick, and wanted to see me
+and his mother, Mis' Dodd. So I just hitched up, and without waiting to
+see Mike, me and her started off to drive over there--better than four
+miles 'tis--and the calf slipped my mind till I just now got back, and
+heard tell how Mike here was making a bother with the boys. That's all,
+your honor."
+
+His honor, I knew, had been dreadfully worried at not having been able
+to give more dignity to the court, and he now opened his mouth, I
+suppose to dismiss the proceedings in proper form, but the Deacon gave
+him no chance at all. I am not prepared to say that we three are not
+legally under arrest to this day.
+
+"Better go back to your fishing now, boys," he said. "Too bad to have
+your day broke up so; but Mike meant well, you know."
+
+"Three cheers for Mike!" shouted some one, intent on pushing the fun as
+far as possible.
+
+"Three cheers for Deacon Dodd!" came next, and when they had been given
+with a will by the merry crowd, a cry arose:
+
+"Three cheers for the half-grown calf!"
+
+Before they had died away, Mike turned with a most meaning look at us
+three boys, exclaiming:
+
+"Ivery wan of 'em."
+
+And they gave us a tiger.
+
+
+
+
+A SWAN DESIGN FOR FLAT POCKET PIN-CUSHION.
+
+BY MRS. T. W. DEWING.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Mark very exactly on some thin white material of a polished surface and
+fine quality outlines of the pincushion and the design. The best way to
+do this is to make a very careful tracing of the design, and transfer it
+by means of transfer-paper. Any carelessness in following the design
+loses all the style it may possess. This done, outline the swan and all
+the markings of the wing feathers, eyes, etc., with simple stitching in
+a gray silk so pale as to appear white until contrasted with the
+brilliant white cloth. Work the part representing water in simple
+horizontal lines of chain stitch, as shown in the design, with silk of
+light blue across the lower end of the circle. Work the rest of the
+background in darning stitch perpendicularly from the top of the circle
+to the water in a rich deep blue silk, being very careful not to
+interfere with the outline of the swan or of the water.
+
+Cut two pieces of card-board exactly the size and shape of the circle.
+Mount the embroidery upon one of them, and cover the other with blue
+satin. Baste the two circles thus covered together back to back, having
+laid carefully between them three little circles of flannel a very
+little smaller than the outer circles. Then overhand the two edges of
+the pincushion very carefully together.
+
+
+
+
+THE BUILDING OF ST. MARY'S OF THE PEOPLE.
+
+A LEGEND OF CHRISTIAN ROME.
+
+BY E. M. TRAQUAIR.
+
+
+Entering Rome by what was anciently called the Flaminian Gate, but is
+now the Porta del Popolo, or People's Gate, the stranger finds himself
+in a large, beautiful open place called the People's Square. It lies at
+the foot of the Pincian Hill, called by the ancient Romans, in the
+language of the time, the Hill of Gardens. If it deserved this name in
+those days, it does not deserve it less now. The most beautiful gardens
+in Rome, laid out with lovely flower beds, commodious carriage drives,
+and shady walks, are on its summit. A military band plays there in the
+afternoons, and it is the favorite resort of the rank and fashion of
+modern Rome, from the King downward.
+
+Like much else in Rome, the history of the Pincian Gardens is sad and
+terrible. The great Mistress of the World, if she was at times rich in
+virtues, was just as often famed for terrible crimes. These gardens
+belonged at one time to the famous epicure Lucullus. This man, possessor
+of enormous wealth, loved good dinners much, but hated the trouble of
+ordering them as heartily as many a fine lady of the present day. To
+save himself this trouble, then, he had a number of dining-halls in his
+house, each arranged in a different manner. His steward was so well
+trained that he knew to a nicety, on receiving the order as to which
+hall the supper was to be served in, how it was to be arranged, and what
+degree of splendor it was to be of. The banquets of Lucullus became
+proverbial for luxury. It is even told of him that being very fond of a
+certain sort of eel he had a pond made for them in this garden. Their
+favorite food being human flesh, the legend tells us that he
+occasionally ordered a slave to be thrown in to them, to help to make
+them fat and savory for his table.
+
+After the death of Lucullus, these gardens passed into the hands of a
+certain patrician named Valerius Asiaticus. This was during the reign of
+the Emperor Claudius. The Emperor's wicked wife Messalina coveted them
+for herself, so she got up a false accusation against poor Asiaticus,
+who seems, on the whole, to have been a very worthy man. But his
+innocence did not save him. He was condemned to death, and his property
+given to Messalina. The wretched woman's triumph did not last long,
+however. Claudius was told of her wicked life, and she was killed by his
+command on the very place she had obtained for herself by such a horrid
+crime. Word was brought to the Emperor while he was sitting at table
+that his wicked wife was dead. He made no reply, and went on quietly
+eating his supper. They were a queer people, those old heathen Romans.
+
+To return to the People's Square. In the centre is a tall obelisk
+brought from the Temple of the Sun in Egypt during the reign of
+Augustus. It was thousands of years old, perhaps, before Rome was built.
+A beautiful fourfold fountain at its base spouts clear sparkling water
+from the mouths of four antique lions of basalt. It is the most
+picturesque square in Rome.
+
+At the left-hand side of the Porta del Popolo, as you enter, stands the
+ancient Church of St. Mary's of the People, concerning the building of
+which the following story is told:
+
+When the bloody and cruel Emperor Nero, who had wantonly killed so many
+people during his short reign, was killed in his turn, he was so
+execrated by the people that none could be found to give him burial.
+Then his nurse Eclaga, who still went on loving him, as some gentle
+souls will do, in spite of his dreadful crimes, buried him, with the
+help of two other women, compassionate like herself, in a tomb at the
+foot of the Hill of Gardens. On this tomb, for many years, a wreath of
+fresh flowers was found every morning, no one knowing who had placed it
+there. So they watched one night, and just before break of day
+discovered this poor faithful old woman bringing this loving offering to
+the memory of him whom she remembered only as the innocent babe she had
+nursed in her arms.
+
+As time went on, these offerings ceased. Eclaga was dead and gone, and
+with her had passed away every loving remembrance of the wretched man
+who was buried at the foot of the Pincian Hill. Horror and loathing were
+the only sentiments his memory inspired. By-and-by nothing marked the
+spot where his body lay but a gigantic walnut-tree which had grown out
+of his grave. It was so large that it overshadowed all the place and
+covered it with gloom.
+
+This gloom was still further increased by an innumerable quantity of
+large crows that had taken up their abode in this tree. They darkened
+the air all around by their flight. The people inhabiting the
+neighborhood had no rest by night or by day by reason of their hideous,
+unearthly croaking. Every means tried to drive them away proved vain.
+They kept their abode on the tree above Nero's tomb, and defied all
+earthly power to assail them.
+
+Then a great fear fell on all the people, for they thought that it was
+not with natural crows they had to do, but with demons who were keeping
+watch over the grave of the wicked Emperor. Then, as there was no help
+in man, they prayed to God.
+
+Now Paschal the First, who was Bishop of Rome at that time, and a good
+and holy man, had a strange dream one night. In this dream it was
+revealed to him that no earthly power could drive away the demon crows,
+which, if not exorcised, would soon overpower the whole of Rome. The
+only way to do this effectually was to go forth at early morning, at the
+head of all his clergy, singing psalms and hymns and praying fervently.
+Then they were to cut down the tree, and take it out by the roots to the
+very last fibre of it, and build a church on the spot where it had
+stood.
+
+Full of joy at this revelation, Paschal summoned his clergy, and told
+them of his dream. Then he went, as he had been directed, at their head
+in procession through the city, singing psalms and hymns. Arrived at the
+spot, they knelt down and prayed fervently. Then they commenced to hew
+down the tree, the supposed demons all the while uttering wild and
+unearthly croakings. After the tree was cut down, and every root of it
+taken up, the crows flew away with a terrible noise.
+
+A beautiful church was then built on the spot; and as the funds for its
+erection were entirely collected and given by the common people, it
+received the name of St. Mary's of the People. There are some beautiful
+marbles in it, and many fine old paintings, some of them by the most
+famous of the old masters.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+  Oh, such a bunch of posies!
+  We found them on our way,
+  And gathered them for Robin,
+  Who lies abed all day.
+  "You'll soon be well, dear laddie,"
+  The posies sweet will say.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  Oh dear, but he's queer, this wonderful snail,
+  O'er the whole wide world he may travel and sail;
+  But where'er he may go on the longest track,
+  He carries his house on his funny back.
+  What wonder, then, that he likes to roam,
+  When the comical fellow is always at home.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  Wilt thou listen, Jesus dear,
+    To the prayer that I would say;
+  Thou didst promise Thou wouldst hear
+    When the little children pray.
+  I would like, dear Lord, to be
+    Patient, gentle, good, and mild,
+  Ever growing more like Thee,
+    And as Thou wert when a child.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.
+
+
+Just about this time, dears, your mammas are very busy in looking at the
+fall fashions. They wish to dress their girls and boys so neatly and
+comfortably that they shall have no temptation to think too much about
+their clothes. And then, too, they want you to wear pretty things,
+because children should look bright and beautiful, just as flowers and
+birds do.
+
+If you choose, you may ask them to make your own new costumes like some
+of these pictures. We think, too, the little women who write to the
+Post-office Box about their doll families, and who have so much on their
+minds in the way of caring for the Lady Bettys, and Miss Lucys, and
+Mabels, and Isabels, whom they so dearly love, will be glad to see some
+dainty fall fashions for dolls. The little girls in the picture are very
+graceful and sweet.
+
+I wonder if I can help you a little in dressing these same dollies.
+There are two tall girls nearly in the middle. The one on the right we
+will call Alice. Her dress is of fine soft cashmere of an olive tint.
+She has a wide sash of satin a little darker than her gown. Her friend
+Florence has on a petticoat of Indian red, which is a peculiarly rich
+dark shade. If mamma will give you a few bits of velvet or velveteen for
+this petticoat, and also for the shoulder cape, Miss Florence will look
+very charming. Her over-dress may be of fawn-colored silk.
+
+Shall we call the two little ladies on Alice's right Dotty and Dimple?
+Dimple has her face this way, and Dotty's is turned aside. We will dress
+Dimple in lavender and heliotrope, and Dotty shall be a cunning little
+maiden in two shades of brown.
+
+Now for the others. Don't you wish we could see little Marjorie's blue
+eyes and rosy cheeks? But we can only guess at them. Our artist has
+shown us that she knows how to stand up straight, and the way she holds
+her head is delightful. She is wearing, as you see, a pretty gray check,
+and she is a very good match for her little sister in that stylish cadet
+blue, and her cousin Willie in his jaunty suit.
+
+When you shall have succeeded in dressing some of your pets like these
+pictures, you may write and tell me all about the fun you had in cutting
+out the clothes and making them fit. Be sure you write about how you
+contrived the little bonnets and hats. Perhaps you will be trying your
+skill at dressing dolls for a fair this winter, or in making Christmas
+presents, and these illustrations may give you some new ideas.
+
+The boys must not feel that they are left out of this pleasure. They may
+draw these little figures on bits of paper, and then color them
+beautifully with their paints. Or, if they do so very carefully indeed,
+they may color the figures as they stand.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  FOOCHOW, CHINA.
+
+     I was very glad to see my letter printed in one of the February
+     papers. I do not expect to learn to write Chinese, but I learn to
+     talk a little from the servants. Our Amah talks "pidgin English."
+     This is the way she talks, "Amy just now have got too muchee rain,
+     no can go walkee."
+
+     I have a doll that can say Papa and Mamma, but my mamma does not
+     let me play with it, as it is wax. There are a great many roaches
+     here, and one bit a piece of my dolly's cheek out when it was put
+     away in the wardrobe.
+
+     Our only pet is a small cat, which is very lazy, and does nothing
+     but eat and sleep. Sometimes we dress her up in doll's clothes as a
+     baby. We have a very nice aquarium with gold-fish, shrimp, and one
+     other kind of fish in it. The gold-fish have double tails. In the
+     fall we hope to get the aquarium nicely filled with plants and
+     things.
+
+     It is very hot here in the summer, but there is a large island,
+     called Sharp Peak, in the China Sea, thirty miles from here, where
+     the missionaries have houses, and go to spend part of the time.
+     There is a very nice beach, and the bathing is very good. We went
+     down for two weeks in June, and had a nice time. My brothers and I
+     found some pretty shells. Please tell me if the lady whom you heard
+     talk about China has ever been in Foochow. I have 568 stamps in my
+     album now.
+
+  AMY C. J.
+
+Your cat is very accommodating to be willing to wear doll's clothes to
+please you. Ask mamma to let you play with your wax doll, and then she
+will not be in danger of making a dinner for roaches or rats. I think
+the lady I spoke of when replying to your former letter has been in
+Foochow.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.
+
+     All the young people will be writing about their vacations, I
+     suppose, and so I will write about mine. The most interesting part
+     will be, I think, about my visit to Nantucket. Nantucket is a very
+     old town. The houses are all built away from the sea, so when one
+     is walking through the streets one has no view of the water at all.
+     The very old houses all have on their roofs what are called
+     "Lookouts." These are small railed platforms for the people to
+     stand in and look out for the whaling vessels. When one came in
+     sight, whoever was on the lookout gave the signal, and then great
+     preparations were commenced--cooking mostly, I guess, for they
+     didn't illuminate and send up fire-works in those days.
+
+     A splendid view of the town of Nantucket is obtained from the
+     Unitarian church tower. In this tower is a very old bell, with a
+     cross on two of its sides, and a Latin inscription under each
+     cross. This bell was originally intended to form one of twelve
+     chimes in an ancient Catholic church in Spain, but it was stolen,
+     and after changing hands several times, it was landed in Nantucket.
+
+     Whoever goes to Nantucket must be sure and visit the Old Mill,
+     which is a great curiosity. There is only one other like it in
+     America. The curious part about it is that it is so old, and it
+     never has been changed since it was first built, many, many years
+     ago. The town-crier is another ancient institution, and with his
+     bell and tin fish-horn he goes about the streets crying out all the
+     news. When they wish to have an auction in Nantucket, everybody who
+     has anything to sell carries it to the corner of some designated
+     street, and there the things are auctioned off. We did not have
+     time to go over to Siasconsett, but I mean to if I ever go to
+     Nantucket again. The next time I write I will tell you about
+     Plymouth. Good-by.
+
+  A. B.
+
+Well, you have made me feel a strong desire to go to quaint old
+Nantucket. Don't you think the good home cooking must have tasted very
+delicious to hungry sailors who had been used to sea fare during long
+and tedious voyages? And how happy must dear little girls have been
+when, climbing to the lookout, they saw in the distance their fathers'
+ships coming in! How they must have hurried down to tell mother, and
+what a joyful troop must have been at the wharf to welcome the bronzed
+and bearded man when once more he set foot on his native land!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  BRICK CHURCH, NEW JERSEY.
+
+     I am eleven years of age, and have been receiving HARPER'S YOUNG
+     PEOPLE as a present for nearly two years. I think it is one of the
+     nicest Christmas presents I ever had given to me, and I enjoy the
+     stories, puzzles, and Post-office Box very much. As school opened
+     last Monday, I thought I would wind up my holidays by sending you
+     fifty cents of my own for Young People's Cot, and hope it may help
+     a little to do some poor sick child good.
+
+     I had a real good time during vacation, and among other things, my
+     brothers and sisters and I (there are six of us all--steps and
+     stairs, mamma says) made a collection of caterpillars, putting them
+     in boxes with covers of glass, so that we could watch them. We fed
+     them with cabbage leaves and turnip-tops. Did you know some
+     caterpillars were cannibals? We caught some very pretty green ones
+     with black stripes and yellow horns, and they soon attached
+     themselves to the side of the box by two threads, and after a day
+     or so their skins came off, and they turned into cocoons. It was
+     just after they hung themselves up that the other caterpillars
+     attacked them, and kept them company until they had eaten them all
+     up. Wasn't it awful?
+
+     We have lots of butterflies now, but I scarcely think so much of
+     them since I know how they behaved in their youth. But my uncle Jim
+     says they are regenerated, and I suppose that takes the bad out.
+
+     Hoping, dear Postmistress, that you had a pleasant time this
+     summer. I am your little friend,
+
+  EFFIE W. R.
+
+You were well employed in watching the caterpillars. That is the best
+way to study natural history, not depending on books only, but taking
+notice for yourself of the ways and habits of insects and birds.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  SHELTON, NEBRASKA.
+
+     I thought that I must write to you because all the other little
+     girls and boys do. I take HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE and _The Pansy_,
+     and like them both. I have a pet pig, and I call her Peggy. She is
+     an orphan; I raised her on a bottle. I once had a pet kitty. I
+     would put a shawl around her and rock her, and she would go to
+     sleep. Papa has a horse that I can ride. I can ride sideways on a
+     gallop without a saddle. My home is on a farm with my papa and
+     mamma, and I am their only child. We had a hail-storm here in July
+     which destroyed the wheat for many miles around. I attended the
+     Grand Army Reunion at Grand Island, Nebraska.
+
+  LOUIE L.
+
+Take care that the horse does not run away with you one of these merry
+days when you are riding without a saddle.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  DETROIT, MICHIGAN.
+
+     I thought I would write and tell you about my baby brother; he is
+     seven months old. I have a pet hen and a little kitten. My brother
+     had a little rabbit a short time ago, but it ran away and got lost.
+     I like HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE; we have had it every week since it
+     came out, but I would like it better if you would write more about
+     girls.
+
+  CLARA B. K.
+
+If you will look carefully over the last few numbers, Clara, you will
+find some very pretty stories and poems which are about girls. And we
+have some very delightful things all ready for our bright girls this
+autumn.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT.
+
+     I thought I would tell you about some historical reminiscences for
+     which this place is noted. Not quite a mile out of the village is
+     the place where brave General Putnam rode down what is now called
+     "Put's Hill," and escaped from the British soldiers under General
+     Tryon; and General Putnam's old stone house is still standing here,
+     and is occupied.
+
+     We have no pets, but papa has a very valuable bull-terrier named
+     Leo, which is so very gentle that my dear little sister Helen, who
+     is only five years old, has only to speak to him to make him drop a
+     bone, no matter how choice it may be. He never attempts to growl at
+     us when he is eating, as some dogs do. We got him as a pup, when he
+     was two weeks old, and as he was so young, he was sent back to his
+     mother until he was six weeks old. Then we have two of the nicest,
+     gentlest horses that ever were; their names are Charlie and Fannie.
+     We have had them ten years, and we can do anything with them. They
+     are unhitched in the main part of the stable, and they are allowed
+     to go where they will, but they always go in the right stalls.
+     There are four stalls, two day stalls and two night stalls. I have
+     a collection of picture cards, and my brother Gershom and I have a
+     splendid album of stamps. We have quite a large family--twelve in
+     all--and necessarily never lack company.
+
+     I should think that the Postmistress would be very busy with all
+     the letters from young people. I am my parents' sixth child and
+     second son, and I am fourteen years old.
+
+  FRED L. S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  FORT CONCHO, TEXAS.
+
+     My papa is an officer in the army. We live at Fort Concho. I take
+     HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, and get the _St. Nicholas_ from our post
+     library. I suppose you have heard of the great flood we had here. I
+     went to the river every day with papa, and saw a great many things
+     floating down the stream. Mamma saw a big rat on a small piece of
+     wood sailing along, and looking quite comical. I saw hundreds of
+     sheep and pieces of furniture and a piano leg rushing on. But all
+     that did not make me feel so bad as the little girl who lost her
+     mamma and sister. She stood on the bank and saw them float away on
+     the house roof. They were brought back dead.
+
+     If you publish this, I will write again, and tell you about my good
+     times pecan-nutting and Indian-pony-riding, etc. I am ten years
+     old.
+
+  RUTH W. P.
+
+It was, indeed, heart-rending for that poor little girl to see her dear
+mother and sister carried to death before her eyes. I hope you will
+write again, little Ruth.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+YOUNG PEOPLE'S COT.
+
+We are very glad to see that the interest of our dear little readers in
+Young People's Cot does not decline. The letters which we publish in
+connection with the treasurer's report show that the children are
+learning how pleasant it is to work for others.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Contributions received for Young People's Cot, in Holy Innocent's Ward,
+St. Mary's Free Hospital for Children, 407 West Thirty-fourth Street:
+
+     L. Benedict, Jun., New York, $5; Charles, David, Ernest, Wilfred,
+     and Robert Bliss, Kent, Iowa, $5; proceeds of a fair held by Ned
+     and Lulu Rawson, Port Richmond, S. I., $1.77; from Harry, Clarence,
+     Todie, James, and little Florrie, in memoriam of their dear uncle,
+     $1; Susie and Robbie Orton, Darlington, Wis., $4.50: Fannie, Emma,
+     Eddie, Mamie, and Bessie Pearson, $1; "The Willing Workers," Minnie
+     and Mattie Lloyd and Daisy Mason, L'Anse, Mich., $5.25; Fanny G.,
+     6c.; Ernest L. Scott, Kinsman, Ohio, $1; Roy, Aileen, Dicky, and
+     George Guppy, Oakland, Cal., $1; fines for using words "horrid" and
+     "awful," 27c.; Richard P. Appleton, Boonton, N. J., 25c.; total,
+     $26.10; amount previously acknowledged, $1232.05; grand total,
+     September 12, $1258.15.
+
+  E. AUGUSTA FANSHAWE, Treasurer, 43 New St.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.
+
+     We are five little children, and we live in the country. We feel so
+     sorry for the little sick children in the city that we want to send
+     to the Cot some money which we earned by picking blackberries and
+     apples for mamma. We would like very much to send more, but we have
+     no more at present. We will try to save some, and send some again
+     soon. We sent once before; perhaps you remember it. We like the
+     article in YOUNG PEOPLE about Egypt very much. When papa was a
+     young man he was a sailor, and has been to Alexandria, in Egypt,
+     and stood under Pompey's Pillar, and saw the two Needles which have
+     been removed, the one having been sent to England and the other to
+     America. That is why the article interested us so much.
+
+  FANNIE, EMMA, EDDIE, MAMIE,
+  and BESSIE PEARSON.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  L'ANSE, MICHIGAN.
+
+     I am eleven years old. My papa takes HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE for me.
+     I have had it from the first number, and love it very much. I
+     always look forward with pleasure to the day that brings it. "Mr.
+     Stubbs's Brother" is a splendid story, and I am sorry it is ended.
+     Last winter some little girls and myself formed a society, which we
+     named the Willing Workers. We had four meetings at our house, made
+     dolls' clothes, and sold them. Mamma looked over the work, and
+     showed us how to do it right. This summer we had a lawn party, and
+     altogether we made $5.25, which we want sent to Young People's Cot.
+     Please send it for us. I hope my letter is not too long for Our
+     Post-office Box. The names of the little girls of the society are
+     Minnie and Mattie Lloyd and
+
+  DAISY MASON.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.
+
+     Please accept the inclosed contribution of one dollar that Roy,
+     Aileen, Dickie, and George have saved by selling rags, bags, and
+     bottles, and accept our many wishes that the necessary $3000 will
+     soon be contributed. Very truly yours,
+
+  MRS. A. R. GUPPY.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  KINSMAN, OHIO.
+
+     I am a little boy five years old. I send you one dollar from my
+     savings-bank for Young People's Cot. I had a little rabbit, but the
+     cat killed it one night. I have a little blue-eyed sister two years
+     old. Mamma was going to give her a bath one day, and got the water
+     all ready, and went after the brush and sponge, and she got in the
+     tub with her clothes on, and sat right down in the water. Her name
+     is Nellie. I can not write, so I got my papa to write this.
+
+  ERNEST L. SCOTT.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  DARLINGTON, WISCONSIN.
+
+     Please find inclosed draft of $4.50 from Susie and Robbie Orton.
+     The most of the money was earned by them in doing such little
+     things as children can if they will to help. They know what it is
+     to be sick and have the tenderest of care, with a pleasant room,
+     and a soft, nice bed to lie in, and everything to make them
+     comfortable, and they feel they would like to help in making some
+     poor little child, who may not be so highly favored as they are,
+     more comfortable. Their mamma,
+
+  MRS. P. A. ORTON.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT.
+
+     My little friend who lives next door to me and myself have been
+     trying to think of some way to earn some money for Young People's
+     Cot. So we have had a fair, and made most of the things ourselves,
+     but we had a little assistance from our friends. A very kind lady
+     who lives near us sent us a beautiful basket of flowers, which we
+     made into bouquets. We have just five dollars, which we are going
+     to send. We had a very nice tent out in our yard, which our mothers
+     fixed for us. It was made of red, white, and blue cloth, and had
+     flags around the edge, and lanterns hung on it, though we did not
+     light them, because we did not have the fair in the evening. We had
+     candy, lemonade, fruit, and flowers, besides all our fancy things.
+     We had it two afternoons, and sold nearly all our things. We
+     thought we had pretty good success, besides a great deal of
+     pleasure. I found a dandelion to-day, and I thought that was quite
+     late for it. I hope this is not too long to print, because we
+     should like very much to see it in the paper.
+
+  LOUISE H. A. and BEATRICE W.
+
+I am glad to hear that you had so successful a fair, and hope next month
+to see your names in the list of contributors to the fund.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.
+
+No. 1.
+
+THREE ENIGMAS.
+
+1.
+
+  First in urn, not in vase.
+  Second in man, not in face.
+  Third in bell, not in tongue.
+  Fourth in ring, not in song.
+  Fifth in even, not in smooth.
+  Sixth in lessen, not in soothe.
+  Seventh in lady, also in girl.
+  Eighth in antelope, not in squirrel.
+  Whole a thing that John and Jane
+  Never use when it does not rain.
+
+  MOTHER BUNCH.
+
+2.
+
+  First in Charlie, not in Fred.
+  Second in Albert, not in Ned.
+  Third in tick, not in clock.
+  Fourth in boat, not in dock.
+  Fifth in maize, not in corn.
+  Sixth in shave, not in shorn.
+  Seventh in ruin, not in waste.
+  Eighth in rash, also in haste.
+  Ninth in son, not in daughter.
+  Whole is used on the water.
+
+  ALFRED B. (aged 8).
+
+3.
+
+  First in break, not in mend.
+  Second in bow, not in bend.
+  Third in hash, not in meat.
+  Fourth in cold, not in heat.
+  Fifth in ice, hot in snow.
+  Sixth in abuse, not in blow.
+  Seventh in fish, not in fowl.
+  Eighth in kill, not in howl.
+  Ninth in fail, not in try.
+  Whole a mountain in Australia.
+
+  HOPPERGRASS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 2.
+
+NUMERICAL ENIGMA.
+
+  My 1, 2, 3 is to join.
+  My 4, 5 is a preposition.
+  My 6, 7, 8 is a trap.
+  My 15, 16, 9, 18, 11, 13 is abuse.
+  My 19, 14, 10, 12 is a defeat.
+  My 17, 18, 19, 20 is an important body of men.
+  My whole contains 20 letters, and is a familiar proverbial expression.
+
+  V. O. T.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 3.
+
+WORD SQUARE.
+
+1. Not old. 2. A proprietor. 3. A relative. 4. A girl's name. 5. A pair
+of matched horses.
+
+  EDITH M. L.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 4.
+
+OCTAGON.
+
+1. A kind of food. 2. Beaten. 3. A variety of thistle. 4. To untwist. 5.
+A buffoon. 6. The receiver of a gift. 7. A prefix.
+
+  J. M. ILES and C. M. EYERS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No. 5.
+
+THREE EASY DIAMONDS.
+
+1.--1. An aspirate. 2. To marry. 3. A girl's name. 4. Moisture. 5. A
+letter.
+
+  EDITH M. L.
+
+2.--1. A letter. 2. A pronoun. 3. An animal. 4. Not young. 5. A letter.
+
+  EUREKA.
+
+3.--1. A letter. 2. A receptacle. 3. A fierce animal. 4. A snare. 5. A
+letter.
+
+  DAVID H.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN No. 149.
+
+No. 1.
+
+Spur-royal.
+
+No. 2.
+
+P-as-time-s. G-over-no-r. C-harm-ing. B-as-soon-s. F-all-ing. T-he-or-y.
+P-rose-cut-e.
+
+No. 3.
+
+Syracuse. Italy. Greenland.
+
+No. 4.
+
+      S            A
+    T U B        E L M
+  S U G A R    A L B U M
+    B A T        M U D
+      R            M
+
+      A
+    A P E
+  A P R O N
+    E O N
+      N
+
+No. 5
+
+F-able. F-act. H-all. C-ask. P-eel. P-inch.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Correct answers to puzzles have been received from P. Embury, Jun.,
+Alice White, Maggie Ford, Peter Lent, John T. D., Effie R., Phebe
+McBeath, Maggie Dean, Carrie C. Howard, Alice W., Gertrude Ford, "Fuss
+and Feathers," William Armstrong, Charles Haynes, Theodore Hardy, Jack
+Truman, A. M. Bloomingdale, Charlie De Gangue, "Eureka," Fanny Still,
+and T. B. D.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[_For Exchanges, see 3d page of cover._]
+
+
+
+
+A GOOD SHOOTER.
+
+BY A. W. ROBERTS.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+For shooting tin-foil pellets, small stones, etc., one of the simplest
+and most powerful of easily made toys is shown in the accompanying
+drawing.
+
+The barrel of the gun consists of a piece of green elder from four to
+six inches in length, from which the pith has been carefully removed. In
+this empty pith chamber we have an excellent "smooth bore," into which
+the piston (P) works. At one end of the piston is a knob, the purpose of
+which is to prevent the piston from passing into the gun. Over this knob
+passes a rubber band (E) half an inch in width, which fits in a slot cut
+into the top of the knob for the purpose of keeping the elastic in its
+place. The ends of the band are fastened on the outside of the barrel of
+the shooter with strong black thread as shown at T.
+
+When using this shooter the piston is drawn back to nearly its full
+length, and the load follows it. By letting go of the piston the load is
+discharged with all the force produced by the sudden contraction of the
+elastic band. By discarding the elastic band, and using wet pellets of
+paper, and compressed air as a propelling force, a very good air or pop
+gun is the result.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+MUSICAL ANIMALS.
+
+Dogs and other animals are variously affected by musical sounds; some
+manifesting dislike, others enjoyment, when within hearing of music. I
+knew one dog that, when requested to sing, would stand on his hind-legs
+and go on whining and howling for almost any length of time, and while
+the performance was attended to he manifested great enthusiasm. But he
+also enjoyed real music very much, and showed signs of pleasure when the
+piano was played, getting as near to it as possible. Occasionally,
+however, he would take a part without being invited, much to the
+discomfiture of a singer, who would wonder where the extraordinary
+accompaniment came from. I have a lively recollection of his
+volunteering assistance when we were singing a hymn one Sunday evening,
+and of the way in which it was brought to an abrupt conclusion by the
+sight of our doggie on his hind-legs, and the sound of his whines
+ringing out above every human voice.
+
+A black cat belonging to a friend, in whose house I was a guest some
+years ago, had a strong dislike to music in every shape, but especially
+to singing. Having noticed this peculiarity, I am afraid I teased poor
+pussy a good deal by my endeavors to produce a manifestation of her
+feelings with regard to vocal music, and when she was stretched
+comfortably by the fire I used to begin to sing, taking care to shut the
+door first. Puss would jump up, rush to it, and finding the means of
+egress cut off, would run wildly round the room, as if in distress,
+until I ceased. Not to irritate the creature too much, I generally made
+my vocal performance a very short one.
+
+On an exceptional occasion I thought I would try the cat's powers of
+endurance a little longer, and went on singing, when, after vainly
+trying to escape, the creature sprang at me, placed one paw across my
+mouth, and clung to my dress and neck with the rest of her claws in such
+a fashion that I was only too glad to cease my song, and so pacify the
+desperate animal.
+
+When pussy's claws were disengaged I was not a little relieved, and I
+need hardly say that this was the last time I ventured to experiment on
+the cat's patience. My friend was also much alarmed, and I have no doubt
+thought, as I too did, that I had escaped almost better than I deserved,
+under the circumstances, for I had only a few scratches.
+
+A pug-dog, the pet of a lady in this neighborhood, has a favorite tune
+which he distinguishes from all others. Nugget is a musical animal, and
+has a way of putting in occasional notes of his own when his mistress
+plays the piano. But when she commences his tune, Nugget becomes greatly
+excited. He first capers up and down the room, and then, running to the
+side of the player, he stands on his hind-legs and accompanies the music
+in a style peculiar to himself and most amusing in its effect on the
+listeners.
+
+Nugget's mistress or any other performer may play the piano by the hour,
+and the dog manifests only an ordinary amount of interest. But no matter
+how suddenly his tune may be introduced, Nugget shows his appreciation
+of it by going through the performance already described.
+
+The lady attributes the dog's fondness for the tune to the fact that
+when he was a puppy her little niece used to play it upon the piano,
+singing only the word "Nugget" again and again to the music. As,
+however, the pug recognizes the tune itself, when simply played, from
+all others, it is quite evident that he has a musical ear, and is not in
+any way guided by words.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ENIGMA.
+
+  Even when I am a whole I am only a portion,
+  And often my price is a wicked extortion;
+  Sometimes you can buy me without any trouble,
+  You'll perhaps try again, and find me worth double;
+  My value, however, can change in an hour--
+  In fact I'm like April, all sunshine and shower;
+  To depend upon me, then, I should not advise,
+  Still, people run after me, foolish and wise.
+  I may make a man rich if I deign to get up;
+  I go down, and he often drains poverty's cup;
+  My interests frequently lie under-ground,
+  But others have I all about and around.
+  And now I shall leave you my title to guess,
+  Yet in saying farewell I would this fact impress:
+  Remember the clew which I gave at the start--
+  Even when I am whole I am only _a part_.
+
+  F. J. M.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: A GUILTY CONSCIENCE IS A DISAGREEABLE THING TO HAVE
+ROUND.
+
+The conscience-stricken Cat is haunted at her honest Milk by the Ghosts
+of her dead Victims.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, October 3, 1882, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59639 ***