St. Nicholas, vol. 6, no. 5

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ST. NICHOLAS.

MARCH, 1879.

[Copyright, x879, by Scribner & Co.]

AN ADVENTURE ON AN ICEBERG.

BY DR. ISAAC I. HAYES.

PETER ALSWIG was the government cooper in
the little Danish colony of Upernavik, on the west
coast of North Greenland. He had gone thither
when a young man, intending to.remain only a
short time, but he married there during the very
first year, and with a' family growing up about
him, it was not strange that he became a perma-
nent colonist. :
His first-born was a son, and he named. him
Carl Emile. Young Carl grew up to be a tall,
bright-eyed, active fellow, and bleak and desolate
as was his native Upernavik he loved.it dearly.
Had he wished, he could have gone to his. father's
old home in Denmark, where for a youth of his age
there were many advantages that a wild Greenland
colony does not possess; but Carl cared for none
of them; he preferred the -perfect freedom of his
life, the cheery shop where. he worked by his
father's side, ard the excitement of the seal-hunt.
Besides, there was Nicholina. Nicholina was the
daughter of the: Governor's assistant, and it was
said that in all that country round about, there
was no one like her; no girl so pretty, no girl so
kind, so generous or so good. Carl. would have
made sorry work of it had he tried to hide his
feelings toward Nicholina; as it was, they seemed
to be known to everybody but Nicholina herself.
When he would fain talk seriously, her merry
laughter forbade it; she would never listen to him.
She seemed never to think of marriage. Some
people said she was too proud, and that she thought
there was nobody good enough for her. She was,
however, never backward in promoting plans for
VOL. VI.-22.

general pleasure. In all dances and festivals she
took a leading part, and possessing a fine taste and
great skill.in needle-work, she was always conspic-
uous.on such occasions, for her cunningly embroid-
ered- dress of clothand seal-skin, trimmed with ten,
der eider-down, andher .,. I .-r r.a jl:I, : ir. e .i.-z
So it came about th.i -,ii.i,,,.oh ,' I was.always
happy he was never, quite contented. But he was
a brave, manly, fellow, who was not ashamed
of his own thoughts, and he worked blithely at the
.barrels and tubs;, with no fears for the -future.
Perhaps all this made Carl care less for the pub-
lic festivals and dances.than the other young men.
At any rate, although the Spring. Festival was at
hand,, he went.off to hunt seals with his father:
Seal-hunting in the Spring.is a great event in
Greenland life. There is one kind of seal that cuts
holes in the ice with its sharp claws, and whefi the
sun shines the-animals come out.of the water and
.sleep. While thus sleeping they are approached
by the hunters, who conceal, themselves..behind
white screens attached to little sleds which they
push noiselessly over the ice.
Peter and Carl decided that they would go to
Peverick, a little rocky uninhabited island about
twenty-five miles to the northward of Upernavik.
The ice, as seen from the hill behind the village,
was firm all the way to:the island; but, outside, it
had been already a good deal broken up and drifted
off by recent gales.
Not much time was needed for preparation.
They would take the whole family, consisting of two
boys and two girls beside Carl Emile and their

VOL. VI.

No. 5.

AN ADVENTURE ON AN ICEBERG.

mother, and they would stay two weeks. Peter
took three of the children and the family tent on
his sledge, while Carl took his mother and one
brother and all the camp fixtures. Each sledge
was drawn by nine strong dogs, and the journey
was quickly made. The tent was pitched on a
level spot overlooking the sea, and, after a hearty
supper and a good night's rest, the two hunters
harnessed their dogs to their sleds, and drove at a
lively pace far out upon the frozen sea.
After some time, they discovered a number of
seals lying beside their holes, and the dogs were
quickly made fast to a stake driven in the snow-
drift, and each hunter was soon behind his white
screen and sled, stealing cautiously upon the game.
But though they moved very slowly for half an hour,
the seals somehow became frightened and plunged
into the water before Peter and Carl got within
shooting-distance from them.
This was an unlucky failure, especially as no
iore seals were to be seen in any direction. A
small iceberg in the distance, however, seemed to
offer a better spot from which to survey the ice-field,
and, having driven to it, the two hunters proceeded
to climb it. They looked out over the great waste,
but a few seals that they perceived far off did
not tempt them, and as a strong wind had sud-
denly sprung up and a storm was threatening, they
felt that there would be no luck on that day and
they might as well go back to the camp at Peverick.
When they had descended the seaward side of
the iceberg, they paused a little while, attracted by
an immense flight of sea-gulls that came sailing
about the icebergs, uttering wild, discordant
screams. While watching the birds, they were start-
led by a noise sudden and appalling as of a tremen-
dous discharge of artillery. A huge iceberg, not
half a mile distant, had split in two, and, as it fell
apart, it set in motion great waves which threat-
ened to shatter the ice in all directions. Already, as
they gazed bewildered, a long crack spread with a
loud splitting noise between them and the shore !
Not a moment was to be lost! The dogs' heads
were turned toward Peverick, the long lashes
whistled in the air, and away they dashed as hard
as they could go over the dark, treacherous ice.
Too late! Too late! As they approached, they
could see the black fissure grow wider and wider,
and, when they reached the edge, the eddying water
between forbade all hope of crossing.
They drove back to the iceberg and climbed it,
hoping to find that to the northward the ice still
held fast to the main-land. They were disappointed.
On every side they saw the water. They were afloat
upon a great raft of ice that was bearing them steadily
away toward the south-west! In this, however,
there was nothing very alarming, since the chances

were that the ice-field on which they stood would
swing around and close in with the land again.
But presently the iceberg grounded, and the shock
caused the field to crack again. A great seam
opened swiftly at their very feet, and before they
could realize their danger a wide channel yawned
between them and their dogs with the laden sleds.
The ice-field adhering to the berg swung around as
upon a pivot, and, as it did so, the berg became
detached from the bottom, and the whole mass
floated off into deep water. The field-ice broke
away bit by bit, and finally the berg itself alone
remained, with Peter and Carl upon it, drifting out
toward the open ocean, utterly powerless to help
themselves !
Their first thoughts were not for themselves, but
for the helpless ones at Peverick.
Carl, my boy," said Peter, that last crack did
the business for us; and unless God wills it other-
wise, we are lost. But it is hard to think that those
on shore must starve."
Peter's voice was husky, and tears trickled down
his face.
Peter had scarcely spoken when a number of
seals appeared upon the edge of the land ice. The
hunters instinctively raised their rifles and fired,
each killing his animal, although the distance was
very great. A moment afterward they saw (for
they were now right opposite the camp at Pever-
ick) the whole family climbing up the hill-side over
the snow as if to look for them.
They see us, and they must see the seals we
shot," exclaimed Carl. "They wont starve now,
though we may drift away, and, if they never see us
again, somebody will find them before the two seals
are eaten."
Up to this time the wind had been blowing quite
fresh, but now it suddenly burst into a gale, with
occasional spurts of snow. The clouds became
dark and heavy, and after a while the snow-fall was
constant. The hunters were in a most wretched
condition. Everything around them was obscured,
and they were drifting they knew not whither, nor
in what direction. Waves broke against the ice-
berg, and the spray wet them to the skin; and, as
it grew colder, they became covered with icicles.
They spoke but little. One could hardly comfort
the other in such an emergency, but both prayed fer-
vently. Peter thought of his wife and children,
Carl of his mother and Nicholina, neither of whom
he ever expected to see again. And thus they drifted
on through the angry sea and the gloomy, cold, and
dreadful night, until at length they felt a heavy
shock. The iceberg had grounded, and, to their
great joy, it held fast. They knew now that they
were in comparatively shallow water, and conse-
quently could not be far out at sea; so, hope once

[MARCH,

AN ADVENTURE ON AN ICEBERG.

more inspired them. If their berg could hold until
the storm should clear away, some means of escape
might be discovered.

PART II.
the storm would but
cease! The outlook,
now, in spite of hope-
fulness, is dreary
enough.
Meanwhile, how very
different is it with
the friends in Uper-
navik! While the an-
gry sounds of the war-
ring elements deafen
Sthe ears of the hunters,
at Upernavik the
lights are glimmering
brightly, and the
cheery fires on the
Village hearths defy
the storm that howls
without. It is the
night of the Hunting
Festival. Although
it is night, it is not
dark, but the heavy
clouds and the thickly
falling snow render
everything obscure.
In the cooper shop, candles are burning above the
merry crowd, and the storm vainly tries to drown
the sounds of their music and laughter. Nicholina
is there in all her glory, and her pretty dress of
warm cloth trimmed with seal fur and delicate eider-
down, her embroidered jacket, her raven tresses
and bright ribbons, make her as pretty a picture as
all Greenland ever looked upon. All are as happy
as happy can be, and the governor and his officials
are present aiding in the general enjoyment.
Some one enters, and says to the governor that
down upon the shore he has heard strange noises
coming in from the sea. Another presently runs
in and says that he, too, has heard the sounds, and
that they resemble the cries of dogs in distress.
But all laugh at the idea and say: "It is the storm
you hear Dogs are not fish that they should take
to the water." But a third running in to confirm
the story, they are alarmed, and hastily make for
the shore. As they run down to the rocks they
hear distinctly a distant wail borne on the fierce
blast. Dogs they are, undoubtedly; but whose
dogs can they be ?
They go down near the beach and peer into the
gloom. They have not long to wait before the air
lightens up a little, and vaguely they see a broad

ice-field, and upon it are the dogs. Nicholina is
the first to discover them, and, quickly pushing
her way through the crowd, she stands almost at the
water's edge. The spray touches her, but she
does not seem to heed it, and, for once, at least,
does not appear to think of her fine clothes. Being
lower down, she can see more plainly than the rest.
Come back, Nicholina, or you '11 be drowned!"
cried her father. Come back, Nicholina!" cried
everybody; but she stood there motionless, looking
from beneath her hand. There is an intense ear-
nestness about her manner that overcomes all
remonstrance, and her father, forgetting his com-
mand that she shall come back, now eagerly asks:
"What is it, Nicholina?" All the men crowd
forward, and their faces wear a look of pain and
anxiety as the possibility of some great calamity
suggests itself. In a few minutes, they can all see
the dogs and recognize them. They are, beyond
question, Peter and Carl's dogs; but where are
their masters ? where are Peter's wife and his boys
and girls? What has happened to them all?
The dogs, seeing the people on the shore, and
knowing they are safe, whine joyfully, and as the
ice-field comes crashing in and piling great frag-
ments up against the rocks, they scamper gladly
upon the land. There are eighteen of them; not
one is missing; but of their masters the great
ice-field gives no trace.
They are lost!" cries everybody. But Nich-
olina, still standing by the surf, with trembling
voice, says: Oh, no! It cannot be. When it
grows lighter we shall surely see them !"
Two dark objects come into view upon the drift-
ing field, and every eye is strained toward them.
But as they approach each heart sinks again.
They are only the sleds.
The governor shakes his head sadly.
Let a watch be kept and be relieved every hour,
and let me know if anything is seen of them. All
others go home; the morning may need all your
energies."
The governor's order is obeyed, and Nicholina,
distracted with her fears, is by sheer force made to
go with her father.
The first to the beach in the morning is Nichol-
ina. The brave girl is pale, and her bright eyes
are dimmed with tears.
The sun mounts higher from the horizon, and
little by little the clouds lift and the view becomes
less obscured. The snow ceases to fall. By and
by the keen eye of Nicholina detects the shimmer
of a great iceberg as she scans the surface of the
dark waters. She sees the ice clearly and the waves
breaking against its sides. It grows more and
more distinct, and presently its lofty crest is visible.
Other bergs come into view one by one, and a ray

1879.]

AN ADVENTURE ON AN ICEBERG.

of sunlight falls upon Nicholina. She raises her
heart to God in a silent prayer. To her the sun-
.beam is a good omen, and she watches it as it
passes away over the waters. Her eyes follow it
with an intense longing. It silvers the great ice-
berg; it blazes brightly upon the crystal sides of
the group just beyond, and finally illuminates a
low, white mass away out among the reefs and
breakers. Nicholina sees for an instant a dark
object near the summit. Her eyes dilate, her whole
figure trembles with excitement, and she cries forth:
"It is he! It is Carl Emile! The boat !-the
boat!"
The astonished people flock around her and ask,
"Where? where?" for they cannot see. She only
replies, with half-frenzied gestures: "It is Carl
Emile! Come away! The boat! The boat!"
She leads the way to the little harbor, and seiz-
ing the line of the best sea-boat there, begins to
haul it in, while the people stand around and stare
at her in astonishment.
"I will rescue him !" she cries.
Who ?" they ask.
Carl Emile He is out there on the iceberg.
I see him, and I will go to him and save him !"
By this time, Nicholina has sprung into the boat.
She stands at the bow, and, with flashing eyes, she
cries :
"Who will come with me? Who will rescue
Carl Emile!"
In vain they expostulate and say that no boat
can live in that sea. Nicholina is not to be daunted,
and as she repeats her cry, a dozen young fellows
leap forward. In a moment, six of them are in the
boat, and in their places.
"We will go, Nicholina," they say; "but you
must stay here !"
Nicholina's answer is to seize an oar, spring' to
the stern, shove the boat off, and begin to pull.
The young men are quick to follow her irresistible
example, and the boat shoots out of the sheltered
harbor into the angry waves, on whose crests are
tossing sharp fragments of ice, which, by striking
one against the other, add to the tumult of the
winds and waves.
The people on.the shore watch the boat as at one
moment it mounts a sea and again sinks away into
the trough, and, for an instant, is lost to view.
But steadily the distance between it and the shore
widens, though it does not go a length without
danger of being crushed by the tumbling ice.
The men try to persuade Nicholina to abandon
her oar, but she will not.
"I brought you here, and while I share the
danger I will share the labor," is her reply.
An anxious hour passes, and the boat disappears
behind an island. A half hour more and it is seen

dancing between that island and another further up
to windward. Behind this it vanishes again, and
then the people say: The boat is surely lost with
all on board. Nicholina must have been mad."
But the boat is not lost, only it cannot be seen
from shore. Beyond the second island it is headed
toward the little iceberg where Nicholina first saw
the dark object which she took for Carl Emile.
But she does not see any dark object now. Per-
haps it is the motion of the boat which is unfavor-
able to observation.
The water is very angry, and what with the fury
of the wind and waves the boat often makes no
headway for minutes at a time. Give way, men!
give way pull for life !" cries Nicholina. Give
way give way !" they shout in chorus after her, and
the boat creeps on. They come among loose ice
which strikes their oars, and they fall back.
But "Give way !" the brave girl shouts again,
"Give way !" is the responsive echo, and again
the boat moves on.
They are among the boiling surf of the reef and
are almost overwhelmed, but give way" again,
and they are safe from that danger, and nearing
the stiller waters in the lee of the iceberg for which
they steer. They reach that water, and make more
rapid headway; they reach the berg, and are
dashed against it, but the boat is not broken.
Nicholina has dropped her oar, she has stood
up in th'e bow, her long black hair flying in the
winds, she has one foot upon the gunwale, and be-
fore the shock of contact with the berg has come
she has leaped upon the ice.
She looks about her, but does not discover the
object of her search. Her heart sinks within her.
She goes a little to the left, and there lie two
motionless figures locked in each other's arms. The
younger is without a coat. He has taken it off and
wrapped it about the other. They are partly shel-
tered from the wind, but only poorly from the surf.
The girl seizes the younger man's hand, crying,
with a voice of agony: Carl! Carl Emile !"
The eyes of the young man open slightly; he
moves a little, but he cannot speak. It is joy
enough for Nicholina to know that he lives. Peter
gives no sign, but she makes sure that his heart
beats and she is thankful. In the shelter of the
iceberg they are safely carried to the boat, and it
starts on its perilous journey back to Upernavik.
The whole village is assembled on the hill watching
for the re-appearance of the boat, and a great shout
of joy goes up as it is seen once more tossing on
the waves between the islands. It comes along
steadily and safely, and now they can count the
figures of those in it. There are but seven.
Alas !" they cry, "Nicholina was wrong. They
have not found Carl Emile or Peter!"

[MARCH,

A WONDERFUL CANDLE.

Nicholina relieves their minds by crying out:
"We have found them. They are here. They are
alive." And then the people cheer.. The men are
carried to their home ; the doctor comes and finds
that they are not frozen, only numbed. The dan-
ger of reaction is great, but with careful nursing
they both revive, and are found not to have suf-
fered permanent harm.
Within a week, Carl Emile is about as well and
strong as ever; but it is fully a month before Peter
is himself again, and it is doubtful if he will ever be
quite the same strong man he was.
Carl's first thoughts were of his mother and
brothers and sisters at Peverick. But the ice is com-
pletely broken up, and a boat could not for many
days be either pulled through it or dragged over it.
Those were days of agony to Carl. But at length
Peverick was reached, and all was well. Carl's
mother had given him and her husband up for lost
from the moment she saw them being carried out

who first invented
or used artificial
light? and what kind
of light it was ? To
tell you the truth,
I never thought about it at all; but it happened
that one evening not long ago, I was made very
much ashamed of my stupidity.
I received an invitation to spend the evening
with a learned professor and his beautiful wife, who
live in a large house on Madison avenue, in New
York, and to witness some electrical experiments.

to sea on the iceberg. It was fortunate that those
two seals, which Carl's brothers brought to camp,
were shot by the two hunters drifting away upon
the iceberg, for otherwise the whole family must
have starved.

All are reunited and happy at Upernavik, and
the pretty Nicholina is the heroine of the village.
The people cannot say too much in praise of her
courage and devotion. At last, Carl is well again
and able to go out, looking not so much the worse
for his adventure.
It is needless to say to whose house he went as
soon as he did get out, or to narrate what he said
to her or what she said to him. It is sufficient that
you should know that not many days elapsed before
there was a grand wedding in Upernavik, and that
a handsomer, happier couple never lived in Green-
land, nor indeed anywhere, than Carl and his brave,
black-eyed Nicholina.

What a delightful and sensible invitation! I
knew I should meet not only the best, but the
most cultivated people; and I anticipated far
greater enjoyment than if it had been an ordinary
evening party. In this pleasant expectation I was
not disappointed.
After the company had assembled, they were
invited to go to the top of the house. We marched
up the stairs in procession, the ladies having taken
the arms of the learned men. We were ushered
into a large room, from which all the furniture had

309

A WONDERFUL CANDLE.

been removed. Camp-chairs were arranged in
rows, and were quickly filled. This room opened
into another, which also was filled with camp-chairs.
Between the rooms was a high table, on which
were mysterious scientific-looking jars, out of
which came small copper wires in fine coils. The
tops of these seemed to be connected together by
finer wires. On the table, besides these, were a gas

boat containing oil, with a wick at one end, a
rather shabby-looking dark candlestick, or what
looked like one, and some other things, the uses
,of which I did not know.
Fastened against the wall was a large square,
made of three colors of silk, broad stripes of blue,
red, and green, surrounded by a wide yellow bor-
der, and I wondered to myself if it were a banner,
and to what nation it belonged.
After we were seated, there was a momentary
silence of expectation, and I faintly heard some-
thing that sounded like the muffled beating of a
steam-engine. I saw it afterward in. the back
room, a pretty little engine, hard at work,-not
boiling water, to generate or make steam,-but a
petroleum engine, burning petroleum oil, to gen-
erate or make an electric current which was carried
through a pipe to the table between the rooms.
The professor said that this cunning little engine
consumed only one drop of oil a minute, and yet it
was "a horse and a half power." I called it a
horse and a colt power. You all know that the
power of all steam-engines is thus gauged or
measured; that is, each one has the strength and
can do the work of so many horses. The engine
.of an ocean steamer is of many hundred horse-
power,-a giant in strength and resistance against
the mighty winds and waves,- enabling the vessel,
with almost resistless power, to
"Cleave a path majestic through the flood,
As if she were a goddess of the deep."
And now that I have quoted this elegant com-
pliment to the steam-engine, I will tell you what
the professor said about light.
"In very old times," he began, "people went
to bed with the chickens when the sun had set.
When they wanted to sit up a little later, all the
light they knew how to make was from the blaze of
burning wood. After a while, some observing old
fellow noticed that when grease fell into the fire,
the blaze became much brighter; so he dipped a
reed or rush into oil and set one end on fire, and
thus rush-lights came into fashion. Old books and
songs tell about the farthing rush-lights. They
were sold four for a penny, and a.very dismal
illumination they must have made. Then people
began to put oil in cups, preparing a rind of pork

to set in the oil for a wick, and burned that.
The great feasts of the Romans, in the old classical
heathen times, before the birth of our Savior,
must have been most dingy affairs, for all they had
for lighting up their tables were these lamps."
And here the professor put out all the gas-lights,
and applied a match to the wick at one end of the
little bronze Roman boat.
It was highly classical and very elegant in shape;
but the light it gave was so utterly dismal that all
the company uttered a funny little groan, and a
handsome old gentleman, who sat next to me,
said:
"Well, after that specimen of old Roman brill-
iancy, I am quite reconciled to paying my big gas-
bills."
"After this," continued the professor, "candles
were invented. To show you what the first ones
were like, I tried to get as bad a one as possible.
It should evolve or unfurl the traditional 'shroud'
in the light, and be otherwise disagreeable; but
this one, I am afraid, will be far more respectable
and well-behaved than the tallow candles of our
ancestors."
Here he lit the candle, and another dismal groan
saluted the forlorn yellow light. It looked as if it
had lost all its friends. It sputtered and guttered;
tallow tears ran down its greasy sides, and very
soon it became,-if not a broken-hearted, certainly
a broken-backed, tallow candle.
"It was not so many years ago," said the pro-
fessor, "that candles were in general use, though
greatly improved in quality; for the next inven-
tion-the argand burner, or astral lamp-could
only be afforded by well-to-do people. The flame
was fed by the oil made from the blubber of the
sperm whale, which was rather expensive; but the
lamp made a great improvement in artificial light.
Many of us can remember the astral lamp, which
gave a soft, pleasant, steady light under its glass
shade, quite sufficient to render a room of ordinary
size cheerful and cozy. Gas had been discovered,
and utilized in places of business a long time before
it was introduced into our better houses; and then
it was that petroleum or kerosene took the place of
candles in poorer localities, and it is still in univer-
sal use.
You may think that there is nothing better to
be desired than gas ; but if the ladies present would
consider how this light changes and injures many
delicate colors, and how unbecoming it is, they
would rejoice in that restless spirit of invention that
is ever crying 'Excelsior !' and is now using all its
resources to bring the exquisitely beautiful pure
white electric light into common use. Let me show
you the effect of light still more yellow than gas-
light on those colors hanging up. It is a sodium

[MARCH,

A WONDERFUL CANDLE.

light, and sodium is only common salt prepared for
burning."
Here the professor applied a match to one of the
things on the table of which I told you I did not
know the uses. A dull deep yellow flame sprang
up. All the blue, red and green in what we will
call the banner vanished utterly,-nobody knows
where,-leaving three ugly gray and leaden-colored
stripes, while the pale yellow border had an attack
of yellow jaundice immediately, and became orange-
color. The professor held his hand against the
flame, and it changed to a ghastly gray hand, and
as to us, we looked like dressed-up ghosts.
"You see now," said the professor, "how great
an improvement a white light ought to be. I am
told that when ladies purchase silk for an evening
dress, they request to have it shown by gas-light.
Some of the larger stores have a little room lighted
only by gas for this purpose; and it is surprising
to notice how a silk, beautiful in daylight, will alter
and become dingy in color the moment the gas-
light flashes upon it."
And now the professor, putting out the hateful
sodium light, touched a hidden spring. In an
instant-like the winking of an eye-a tiny, but
most glorious, star, or, what it was still more like,
or was really, a bit of imprisoned lightning, flashed
out of the end of a coiled copper wire, with thou-
sands of luminous silver rays emanating from it.
"A-h, how beautiful! how superb !" exclaimed
everybody.
Instantly, all the colors in the banner on the wall
became perfect and true; blue was blue, and
green, green, and you know these colors are often
mistaken one for the other at night. The colors
of the ladies' dresses, soft lavender, blue, pink, and
gray, were in lovely and harmonious contrast, and
diamonds flashed like little electric points. Why,
everybody looked handsomer than ever they had
before. The fine dark eyes of the professor were
sparkling, and his face beaming with pleasure,
because he saw that he had given pleasure to
others, which after all is the best, the purest happi-
ness. Then he put a white porcelain shade over
the electric light, and with the softened brightness,
another delighted exclamation passed like a wave
over the crowd; for you know that light like sound
travels in waves, though light beats sound by an
infinite number of times in speed. I might as well
tell you here that while a sound would be traveling
leisurely about thirteen miles in a minute, a flash
of light can go the distance of four hundred and
eighty times round the whole earth !

The porcelain shade over the electric light made
it seem as if a moon, brighter than a hundred
moons, had floated down upon us; and yet it was
all the time that mere speck of lightning-chained
up, bound down hand and foot by the professor.
Soon, by a mysterious turn of his hand, the light
darted to another copper wire. This other was an
English application of electricity, and has been
used a good deal in England,-in dock-yards, iron-
works, railway stations and manufactories. It was
very bright, but it flickered a little. Then he
made the light dart to the candlestick I mentioned,
which was invented in Paris by a man whose funny
name is Jablochkoff. I had to go to the professor's
the next morning to get this name, for I wrote it
first Bobbleyjock," then Bumpterhausen," and
then Butthurpurttles," and none of them seemed
right. This candlestick made a lovely light. A
large number of them were used at the Paris Ex-
position, which must have been magnificent at
night illuminated by this imprisoned lightning.
The professor said that he had tried to have Mr.
Edison present, and tell us of his amazing inven-
tions; but he was so overwhelmed with business
connected with electric light, that he could not
come. Let us all hope that Mr. Edison will succeed
in making electricity the light that will, like the
sun, "shine for all; for, besides its being so beau-
tiful, and so true, it will be far cheaper than any
light we now have.
After the delightful little lecture was over, we
went into the back room to see the one horse and
colt engine-which was working away merrily-
manufacturing the electric fluid. The professor
was in some alarm lest the ladies, like children,
should want to touch the engine. I did for one,
and very likely would have had my hand chopped
off if I had; so we concluded to leave it alone and
go down-stairs, where-as if this delicious feast of
reason and instruction had not been satisfying
enough-we were regaled with the lightest, and
sweetest, and best of eatable delicacies.
When I bade the professor and his lovely wife
good-night, I thanked them most heartily for rous-
ing me out of my stupidity, and making me think;
for making me conscious that you, and I, and
everybody, have great cause for gratitude that we
live in an age of such wonderful applications of
known powers, and of such amazing new inven-
tions. Before very long we probably shall cease
to wonder at anything in the way of discovery, but
at each advance will say to each other, as a matter
of course: "Well, what next?"

THE OBSTINATE WEATHERCOCK.

THE OBSTINATE WEATHERCOCK.

BY HORACE E. SCUDDER.

I-
Di

is.-Z mv-

That no one could say; but everybody could
see it upon the school-house belfry, and every-
body did see it. "We shall have a storm to-
day, the old ship is sailing east," the people would
say, as they looked at it; or, Fair weather to-day,
the captain 's looking westward." When the bell
in the belfry rang the children into school the
ship trembled, but it kept on its course. And
what was its course ? Always in the teeth of the
wind.
It was a full-rigged ship, all sails set, and the
captain standing on the poop. He always stood
there, rain or shine, fair weather or foul, morning,
noon, and night,-such a faithful captain was he.
His hands were in his pockets, and his tarpaulin was
cocked on the side of his head. Captain Prim, the
children called him. Captain Prim had always
sailed this ship. He could not remember the time

H.'--n I. -i ad :i i.:.:i her. It was a long
nr:m.. t i,., .. li .- c iin had. He could
i! Ii. -.-'l.-r I.. r,,n.: hen ihe lived in the same
0.:.u-.: a. .I. t ; .:.l.1. :...:i and a galloping
i:.r:.: :.i 1...:.: .:.r,'.. W here were they
n.:,. G_-.:.I.. n ,.n.: I;r.:-w where, while the
capr-'',I-C, 'r. ii F';il-- as still sailing his
h, *p. I.-.,i ,-.,v b.I- .:.: that the captain
thlio .l -ir r,... Il..- .-.r:.: ...f him self for that.
r Ci..r PiF' F : .il. i,s ready to put his
hip .i, ..,.r I .: ...: .r : :..' a change of wind
cor'': At l.-' h:1i.r.: i touch on hisbronzed
,:-,:.: !-. I .1 *..i..r : Haul away on the.
.... r .. i l i:- I :i ,.: !" and roundthe ship
.... .! .:.:.,n. -, ,i..1 rHI: .: ptain would look
S:r I ..h l.i .: Il r,.-I I.. ,: ..1 for the next tack.
V,' th.:r I.: I1.. ...i. ? Ah, that's the
.ii :t.' ..i. -,..'. i.ul r,...r itave got it from the
S.::i[:.t Li bur I .,il t..ii [ .ou. Although he
i. ...l.,d ;. Ii .... 1i. ,. :i.. ving, deep down in
St, bi I.irl. i..t i r as his secret,-he
,,r. .. .:r ..r, .. n the open sea. It
vexed him to be always in sight of land. He
could n't get away from the dreadful mountains
all about him, and once in a great while, when
there was a fog, he was terribly anxious lest
his ship should go on the rocks. So it was that
night and day he kept his post and sailed in the
teeth of the wind, for those were his sailing orders.
' Captain," said a man whom he had known in his
early days, "always sail in the teeth of the wind
and you 'll do your duty."
One day he was startled by seeing a head looking
at him over the rail.
I say, there," said the head, "want a passen-
ger?" and before the captain could answer, the
stranger had climbed over the rail and stood on the
deck, where he shook himself.
"Pretty dusty, eh "
Who are you?" growled the captain. Land-
lubber dusty out at sea !"

[MARCH,

THE OBSTINATE

Hear him !" laughed the passenger. Why,
captain, you have n't started yet."
When you are as old as I am, young stran-
ger -" began Captain Prim.
When you've traveled as far as I have," began
the passenger, you '11 know whether it's dusty or
not."
Captain Prim longed to ask him where he had
come from, but his pride prevented.
May be it is n't dusty between here and Colo-
rado. May be these hills are n't pretty rough
climbing. I'm tired of it. I'm ready for a voyage.
Pull up your anchor and weigh it. O, I know a
thing or two about the sea; just weigh your anchor
and tell me how heavy it is, cap'n."
"Who are you, any way ? asked the captain, his
curiosity getting the better of his pride.
"I? Did n't you ever see one of my family
before? Why, I 'm a Potato Bug. I have had
enough of this country. I'm going abroad."
Just then the wind veered a little.
Haul away on the main sheet! cried the cap-
tain, and the Potato Bug, not seeing anybody at
work, put his head down the hatchway and-repeated
the order.
I say, chambermaid, the cap'n wants you;"
but no one answered.'
Well, this is a ghostly ship," said the Potato
Bug. I 'm not going to work my passage."
"Belay there!" cried the captain, as the ship
swung round and was still again.
0, we're going now, are we?" asked the pas-
senger; "this is comfortable," and he crossed his
legs. "But I say, cap'n," he began again, pretty
soon, we don't get ahead. I 've been watching
that meeting-house and it does n't move a particle.
It ought to. It ought to look as if it was moving.
O, I know something about motion."
"Mind your business," said the captain, badly

WEATHERCOCK. 313

frightened. He, too, had always had an eye on
that meeting-house, when the wind was in the west,
and it bothered him that he should never seem to
get by it.
Well, I think I will. I '11 get out of this Flying
Dutchman," said the Potato Bug, getting up and
climbing over the rail again. 'm alive passenger,
I am. I'm used to getting ahead in the world.
You may stay and sail to nowhere, if you want to.
Good-bye !" and he dropped over the side.
He's an ignorant land-lubber," said Captain
Prim, breathing a little more freely, but not daring
yet to look at the meeting-house again. He could
see the Potato Bug, a distant speck out on the end
of the school-house, and then the Potato Bug was
gone. But Captain Prim, now that he was alone
again, kept firmly to his post. His hands were in
his pockets, the tarpaulin was cocked on the side of
his head, and he kept his ship head on to the wind.
Obstinate fellow !
And what became of the Potato Bug? He had
more traveling to do. He thought he would just
look off over the roof of the school-house, and
make up his mind where to go next, but it made
him dizzy, and down he dropped to the ground.
Young McPherson found him there lying on his
back.
That's a fine specimen!" said he. "I '11 send
him home to the old folks."
But the old folks lived in Scotland, and so
Potato Bug had to travel in an envelope across the
ocean. In the darkness of that sealed envelope he
thought of Captain Prim.
"Perhaps he knew what he was about. Per-
haps he was doing his duty," Potato Bug said
faintly to himself. If ever I go to sea again, I'1
go in Captain Prim's ship."
But he never went to sea again. He died of too
much travel.

THE RENAISSANCE.

- _.. -. ^ /- -. _- s

------. .-

RED RIDING-HOOD AND THE WOLF.-DRAWN BY GUSTAVE DORA.

THE RENAISSANCE.

BY MARY LLOYD.

How many young folk-or old folk either for
that matter-when they meet with the word
Renaissance in their reading know exactly what it
means? They have a vague idea, probably, that
it refers to something artistic" or "old time-y ";
perhaps even the pretty head-dress of Anne Boleyn,
or Michael Angelo's battered face, rises dimly
before them ; or perhaps some queer high-backed
piece of furniture ; but that is about all that
they really know about it. Is it not so ?
The Renaissance is a term generally applied to
the period of time embraced in the latter part of
the fifteenth century, and the first quarter of the
sixteenth ; or, to be quite definite, from the fall of
Sthe Greek or Byzantine empire in 1453 to the
sacking of Rome in 1527. But it may, with pro-

priety, be made to apply to the time extending
from the beginning of the fourteenth century to the
middle of the sixteenth. The word "Renaissance"
means a new birth. Another form of the word,
"Renascence," lately used by some English writers,
shows more clearly its Latin origin.
During the long night of the Middle Ages igno-
rance and superstition had lain like an iron weight
upon the human mind; but now some mighty
forces seemed to be at work, and there was a great
awakening in every direction.
Gunpowder, which came into use about the mid-
dle of the fourteenth century, caused a great change
in the art of carrying on war, and put an end
forever to the feudal system, which was one distin-
guishing characteristic of the Middle Ages.

[MARCH,

THE RENAISSANCE.

Then there was the invention of the compass in
1302 by Flavio Gioja, a native of Amalfi, a village
near Naples. By this it was made possible for sail-
ors to venture further out to sea, and it eventually
led to the discoveries in America and the East
Indies. The account of these brilliant achievements
reads almost like a page from a fairy-tale.
The Portuguese were the foremost in all the
grand maritime enterprises of the latter part of the
fifteenth century. They discovered the Madeira
Islands, the Azores, the Cape Verd Islands, and
points on the western coast of Africa. It was in
the service of the Portuguese king that the brave
Bartholomew Dias discovered the southern point
of Africa; and afterward, in 1497, that Vasco di
Gama first rounded this cape, which proved, indeed,
to be one of Good Hope, for it was from here that
he sailed to discover the eastern sea-route to that
land of silks and spices, of gold and diamonds, the
East Indies.
You all know that these bold exploits of the
Portuguese navigators fired the heart of Columbus
with daring to set sail on an unknown sea in order
to find a westward passage to the Indies. But his
story is so well known to you all that I need make
no more than this passing allusion to him.
Not only were there great discoveries made on
this lower world of ours, but more marvelous reve-
lations still were made in the realm above us. It
had long been believed that ":this little round o'
the earth" was the center of all created things;
but Copernicus proved, a short time before his
death, in 1543, that the sun was the center of the
solar system. He was aided in his studies by the
description of the telescope, which Roger Bacon
had written in 1250. It is supposed that some of
these inventions were known at a much earlier date
in Asia. The telescope and gunpowder were known
to the Arabians, and from them, no doubt, had
Friar Bacon derived his knowledge. It is certain,
too, that the compass in some rude shape was
known to the Chinese in very early times. They
attributed the invention to Hong-ti, grandson of
Noah, 1115 B. C.
But still we have to speak of the most wonderful
invention which, more than any other,' helped on
the progress of the Renaissance,-the noble art
of printing. The Dutch claim it for their country-
man, Laurence Koster of Haarlem, while it is geii-
erally agreed that Guttenberg of Mayence rightfully
divides it with his associates, Faust and Schaeffer.
It was the last named who brought metal types into
use about the year 1452.
After the fall of the Greek empire in 1453, num-
bers of Greek scholars left their homes in the

imperial city of Constantine, where the barbarous
Turks had established themselves.
They carried with them all their worldly wealth,-
their precious manuscripts concealed under the folds
of their robes. The poor exiles found a warm wel-
come and a congenial home in Italy, where a taste
for classical literature had lately been awakened.
We cannot help thinking how Petrarch, who had
died three-quarters of a century before, would have
enjoyed the society of these learned Greeks,-he
who had loved learning so intensely, and had done
so much to cultivate a taste for it in others. He
died as he had lived, among his books, for he was
found dead with his head resting upon an open
volume.
Now every one seemed smitten with a passionate
desire for learning, and eagerly embraced the
opportunity of profiting by the instruction of these
"wise men from the east." Princes, ladies and
courtiers were alike enthusiastic. Like a boy with
a new toy, they were filled with delight over some
newly discovered fragment of an old Greek or Latin
author. Now the lately invented art of printing
came into requisition. Paper had been made from
rags since about the year 1300, and, with these new
facilities, copies of the classic authors were rapidly
multiplied and came into the possession of those
who had never dared to hope to own one. Aldus
Manutius set up a printing-press in Venice in
1488, and sent forth edition after edition of those
splendid classics, called, after him, the Aldine edi-
tions, which are to this day the delight and envy
of all lovers of rare and costly books.
It was not' long before the results of this revival
of learning were plainly to be seen. New ways of
thinking had, come into fashion; a more correct
and refined taste had begun to prevail, and thus
was effected a complete revolution in the arts of
painting, sculpture and architecture.
The new learning was called the : Humanities,"
and those who cultivated it were called Human-
ists;" and rightly, too; for the new learning
worked a reform in morals, and so a refinement of
manners. The Greek studies of the Humanists led
to the translation of the Bible into many of the
modern languages, and a purer and more enlight-
ened Christianity was the result.
And so, this movement, the Renaissance, went on.
New ideas of religion, new ideas of politics, and of
government came into being, and prepared the way
for what is called the Modern Epoch. All that is
best and sweetest and noblest; all that is most
worth having in the life of the present day we owe
to it,-the new birth that came in the fifteenth
century.

879.J1

315

THE WASP AND THE BEE.

THE W_

ASP AND T]

BY PALMER COX.

IN a garden sweet and fair,
Once a bright and busy pair
Held a brief conversation on a lily.
" Mr. Wasp," remarked the Bee,
"Your maneuvers puzzle me,
You must either be a lazy rogue, or silly.

" In the school where you were taught,
Was the fact before you brought
That our time is equivalent to money?
*Now for days and days we've met
'Mid the pinks and mignonette,
But you never seem to carry any honey!"

Said the Wasp: "You make me smile
With your blunt, outspoken style,
You have many things to learn, I must declare;
For a thousand sunny hours
You 've been pumping at the flowers,
And you never dreamed of poison being there.

"From the phlox and columbine,
Bleeding-heart and eglantine,
Soon your treasury of honey-comb you fill;

While I, coming in your wake,
From the self-same blossoms take
All the rankest sort of poison by the gill.

" Let me whisper in your ear:
I have found while roaming here
Over garden, over orchard, over field,
That the fairest growth of flowers
Which adorn these haunts of ours,
The most deadly kind of poison often yields."

" Bless my sting !" exclaimed the Bee,
Every day we live to see
Will some wonder carry with it, I suppose.
Who would think a nauseous drug
Could be stored away so snug,
In the heart of such a blossom as a rose?"

And, with that it flew away,
To a field of blooming hay,
On the buttercup and clover to alight;
While the Wasp set out to find
Something suited to his mind,
And was soon in a camelia out of sight.

HE BEE.

[MARCH,

EYEBRIGHT.

EYEBRIGHT.

BY SUSAN COOLIDGE.

CHAPTER III.
MR. JOYCE.
WEALTHY was waiting at the kitchen-door, and
pounced on Eyebright the moment she appeared.
I want you to know Wealthy, so I must tell you
about her. She was very tall and very bony. Her
hair, which was black, streaked with gray, was
combed straight, and twisted round a hair-pin, so
as to make a tight round knot, about the size of a
half-dollar, on the back of her head. Her face was
kind, but such a very queer face that persons who
were not used to it were a good while in finding
out the kindness. It was square and wrinkled,
with small eyes, a wide mouth, and a nose which
was almost flat, as if some one had given it a knock
when Wealthy was a baby, and driven it in. She
always wore dark cotton gowns and aprons, as
clean as clean could be, but made after the pattern
of Mrs. Japhet's in the Noah's arks,-straight up
and straight down, with almost no folds, so as to
use as little material as possible. She had lived in
the house ever since Eyebright was a baby, and
looked upon her almost as her own child,-to be
scolded, petted, ordered about and generally taken
care of.
Eyebright could not remember any time in her
life when her mother had not been ill. She found
it hard to believe that mamma ever was young and
active, and able to go about and walk and do the
things which other people did. Eyebright's very
first recollections of her were of a pale, ailing per-
son, always in bed or on the sofa, complaining of
headache and backache, and general misery,-
coming down-stairs once or twice in a year perhaps,
and even then being the worse for it. The room in
which she spent her life had a close, dull smell
of medicines about it, and Eyebright always went
past its door and down the entry on tiptoe, hushing
her footsteps without being aware that she did so,
so fixed was the habit. She was so well and strong
herself that it was not easy for her to understand
what sickness is, or what it needs; but her sym-
pathies were quick, and though it was not hard to
forget her mother and be happy, when she was
rioting out-of-doors with the other children, she
never saw her without feeling pity and affection,
and a wish that she could do something to please
or to make her feel better.
Tea was so nearly ready that Wealthy would not
let Eyebright go upstairs, but carried her instead

into a small bedroom, opening from the kitchen,
where she herself slept. It was a little place, bare
enough, but very neat and clean, as all things
belonging to Wealthy were sure to be. Then, she
washed Eyebright's face and hands and brushed
her hair, retying the brown bow, crimping with
her fingers the ruffle round Eyebright's neck, and
putting on a fresh white apron to conceal the rav-
ages of play in the school frock. Eyebright was
quite able to wash her own face, but Wealthy was
not willing yet to think so ; she liked to do it her-
self, and Eyebright cared too little about the matter,
and was too fond of Wealthy beside, to make any
resistance.
When the little girl was quite neat and tidy,-
"Go into the sitting-room," said Wealthy, with
a final pat. "Tea will be ready in a few minutes.
Your Pa is in a hurry for it."
So, Eyebright went slowly through the kitchen,-
which looked very bright and attractive with its
crackling fire and the sunlight streaming through
its open door, and which smelt delightfully of ham-
and-eggs and new biscuit,-and down the narrow,
dark passage, on one side of which was the sitting-
room, and on the other a parlor, which was hardly
ever used by anybody. Wealthy dusted it now
and then, and kept her cake in a closet which
opened out of it, and there were a mahogany sofa
and some chairs in it, upon which nobody ever sat,
and some books which nobody ever read, and a
small Franklin stove, with brass knobs on top, in
which a fire was never lighted, and an odor of mice
and varnish, and that was all. The sitting-room
on the other side of the entry was much pleasanter.
It wasa large, square room, wainscoted high with
green-painted wood, and had a south window and
two westerly ones, so that the sun lay on it all day
long. Here and there in the walls, and one on either
side of the chimney-piece, were odd unexpected
little cupboards, with small green wooden handles
in their doors. The doors fitted so closely that it
was hard to tell which was cupboard and which
wall; anybody who did not know the room was
always a long time in finding out just how many
cupboards there were. The one on the left-hand
side of the chimney-piece was Eyebright's special
cupboard. It had been called hers ever since she
was three years old, and had to climb on a chair to
open the door. There she kept her treasures of
all kinds,-paper dolls and garden seeds, and books,
and scraps of silk for patch-work; and the top

317

EYEBRIGHT.

shelf of all was a sort of hospital for broken toys,
too far gone to be played with any longer, but too
dear, for old friendship's sake, to be quite thrown
away. The furniture of the sitting-room was
cherry-wood, dark with age; and between the west
windows stood a cherry-wood desk, with shelves
above and drawers below, where Mr. Bright kept
his papers and did his writing.
He was sitting there now as Eyebright came in,
busy over something, and in the rocking-chair
beside the fire-place was a gentleman whom she
did not recognize at first, but who seemed to know
her, for in a minute he smiled and said:
Oho Here is my friend of this morning. Is
this your little girl, Mr. Bright ?"
"Yes," replied papa, from his desk; "she is
mine-my only one. That is Mr. Joyce, Eye-
bright. Go and shake hands with him, my dear."
Eyebright shook hands, blushing and laughing,
for now she saw that Mr. Joyce was the gentleman
who had interrupted their play at recess. He kept
hold of her hand when the shake was over, and
began to talk in a very pleasant kind voice, Eye-
bright thought.
I did n't know that you were Mr. Bright's little
daughter when I asked the way to his house," he
said. "Why did n't you tell me? And what was
the game you were playing, which you said was so
splendid, but which made you cry so hard? I
could n't imagine, and it made me very curious."
"It was only about Lady Jane Grey," answered
Eyebright. I was Lady Jane, and Bessie, she
was Margaret; and I was just going to be
beheaded when you spoke to us. I always cry when
we get to the executions: they are so dreadful !"
"Why do you have them then? I think that 's
a very sad sort of play for two happy little girls like
you. Why not have a nice merry game about
men and women who never were executed? Would
n't it be pleasanter ?"
"Oh, no It is n't half as much fun playing
about people who don't have things happen to
them," said Eyebright, eagerly. Once we did,
Bessie and I. We played at George and Martha
Washington, and it was n't amusing a bit,-just
commanding armies, and standing on platforms to
receive company, and cutting down one cherry-
tree! We did n't like it at all. Lady Jane Grey
is much nicer than that. And I'll tell you another
splendid one,-' The Children of the Abbey.' We
played it all through from the very beginning
chapter,'and it took us all our recesses for four
weeks. I like long plays so much better than short
ones which are done right off."
Mr. Joyce's eyes twinkled a little, and his lips
twitched, but he would not smile, because Eye-
bright was looking straight into his face.

"I don't believe you are too big to sit on my
knee," he said; and Eyebright, nothing loth,
perched herself on his lap at once. She was such
a fearless little thing, so ready to talk and to make
friends, that he was mightily taken with her, and
she seemed equally attracted by him, and chattered
freely as to an old friend.
She told him all about her school, and the girls,
and what they did in summer, and what they did
in winter, and about Top-knot and the other
chickens, and her dolls,-for Eyebright still played
with dolls by fits and starts, and her grand plan for
making "a cave" in the garden, in which to keep
label-sticks and bits of string and her cherished
trowel.
Wont it be lovely ? she demanded. When-
ever I want anything, you know, I shall just have to
dig a little bit, and take up the shingle which goes
over the top of the cave, and put my hand in.
Nobody will know that it's there but me. Unless I
tell Bessie -" she added, remembering that
almost always she did tell Bessie.
Mr. Joyce privately feared that the trowel would
become very rusty, and Eyebright's cave be apt to
fill with water when the weather was wet; but he
would not spoil her pleasure by making these
objections. Instead, he talked to her about his
home, which was in Vermont, among the Green
Mountains, and his wife, whom he called "mother,"
and his son, Charley, who was a year or two older
than Eyebright, and a great pet with his father,
evidently.
I wish you could know Charley," he said;
"you are just the sort of girl he would like, and
be and you would have great fun together. Perhaps
some day your father 'll bring you up to make us
a visit."
That would be very nice," said Eyebright.
"But"-shaking her head-" I don't believe it 'll
ever happen, because papa never does take me
away. We can't leave poor mamma, you know.
She 'd miss us so much."
Here Wealthy brought in supper,-a hearty one,
in honor of Mr. Joyce, with ham and eggs, cold
beef, warm biscuit, stewed rhubarb, marmalade,
and, by way of a second course, flannel cakes, for
making which Wealthy had a special gift. Mr.
Joyce enjoyed everything, and made an excellent
meal. He was amused to hear Eyebright say:
" Do take some more rhubarb, papa. I stewed
it my own self, and it 's better than it was last
time-- and to see her arranging her mother's
tea neatly on a tray.
What a droll little pussy that is of yours !" he
said to her father, when Eyebright had gone
upstairs with the tray. She seems all imagination,
and yet she has a practical turn, too. It's an odd

[MARCH,

EYEB RIGHT. 319

mixture. We don't often get the two things com-
bined in one child."
No, you don't," replied Mr. Bright. Some-
times I think she has too much imagination.
Her head is stuffed with all sorts of notions picked
up out of books, and you'd think, to hear her talk,
that she had n't an idea beyond a fairy-tale. But
she has plenty of common sense, too, and is more
helpful and considerate than most children of her
age. Wealthy says she is really useful to her, and
has quite an idea of cooking and housekeeping.
I 'm puzzled at her myself sometimes. She seems
two different children rolled into one."
Well, if that is the case, I see no need to regret
her vivid imagination," replied his friend. A
quick fancy helps people along wonderfully. Imag-
ination is like a big sail. When there's nothing
underneath, it 's risky; but with plenty of ballast
to hold the vessel steady, it's an immense advantage
and not a danger."
Eyebright came in just then, and as a matter of
course went back to her perch upon her new
friend's knee.
Do you know a great many stories ?" she asked,
suggestively.
I know a good many. I make them up for
Charley sometimes."
I wish you'd tell me one."
It will have to be a short one then," said Mr.
Joyce, glancing at his watch. Bright, will you
see about having my horse brought round? I must
be off in ten minutes or so." Then, turning to Eye-
bright,-" I '11 tell you about Peter and the Wolves,
if you like. That's the shortest story I know."
Oh, do! I like stories about wolves so much,"
said Eyebright, settling herself comfortably to
listen.
Little Peter lived with his grandmother in a
wood," began Mr. Joyce in a prompt way, as of
one who has a good deal of business to get through
in brief time. They lived all alone. He had n't
any other boys to play with, but once in a great
while his grandmother let him go to the other side
of the wood where some boys lived, and play with
them. Peter was always glad when his grand-
mother said he might go.
One day, in the autumn, he said: 'Grand-
mother, may I go and see William and Jack?'
Those were the names of the other boys.
Yes,' she said, 'you can go, if you will promise
to come home at four o'clock. It gets dark early,
and I am afraid to have you in the wood later than
that.'
So Peter promised. He had a nice time with
William and Jack, and at four o'clock he started to
go home, for he was a boy of his word.
As he went along, suddenly, on the path before

him, he saw a most beautiful gray squirrel with a
long, bushy tail.
Oh, you beauty !' cried Peter. I must catch
you and carry you home to grandmother.'
Now, this was humbug in Peter, because grand-
mother did not care a bit about gray squirrels. But
Peter did.
So, Peter ran to catch the squirrel, and the
squirrel ran, too. He did not go very fast, but
kept just out of reach. More than once, Peter
thought he had laid hold of him, but the cunning
squirrel always slipped through his fingers.
At last, the squirrel darted up into a thick tree
where Peter could not see him any more. Then
Peter began to think of going home. To his sur-
prise, it was almost dark. He had been running so
hard that he had not noticed this before, nor which
way he had come, and when he looked about him,
he saw that he had lost his way.
This was bad enough, but worse happened; for,
pretty soon, as he plodded on, trying to guess
which way he ought to go, he heard a long, low
howl far away in the wood,-the howl of a wolf.
Peter had heard wolves howl before, and he knew
perfectly well what the sound was. He began to
run, and he ran and ran, but the howl grew louder,
and was joined by more howls, and they sounded
nearer every minute, and Peter knew that a whole
pack of wolves was after him. Wolves can run
much faster than little boys, you know. They had
almost caught Peter, when he saw-- "
Mr. Joyce paused to enjoy Eyebright's eyes,
which had grown as round as saucers in her excite-
ment.
Oh, go on she cried, breathlessly.
-when he saw a big hollow tree with a hole in
one side. There was not a moment to spare; the
hole was just big enough for him to get into; and
in one second he had scrambled through and was
inside the tree. There were some large pieces of
bark lying inside, and he picked one up and nailed it
over the hole with a hammer which he happened to
have in his pocket. So there he was, in a safe
little house of his own, and the wolves could not get
at him at all."
"That was splendid," sighed Eyebright, re-
lieved.
"All night the wolves stayed by the tree, and
scratched and howled and tried to get in," con-
tinued Mr. Joyce. "By and by, the moon rose,
and Peter could see them putting their noses
through the knot-holes in the bark, and smelling
at him. But the knot-holes were too small, and, smell
as they might, they could not get at him. At last,
watching his chance, he whipped out his jack-knife
and cut off the tip of the biggest wolf's nose. Then
the wolves howled awfully and ran away, and Peter

EYEBRIGHT.

319

EYEBRIGHT.

put the nose-tip in. his pocket, and lay down and
went to sleep."
"Oh, how funny!" cried Eyebright, delighted.
"What came next?"
"Morning came next, and he got out of the
tree and ran home. His poor grandmother had
been frightened almost to death, and had not slept
a wink all night long; she hugged and kissed Peter
for half an hour, and then hurried to cook him a
hot breakfast. That's all the story,-only, when
Peter grew to be a man, he had the tip of the wolf's
nose set as a breast-pin, and he always wore it."
Here Mr. Joyce set Eyebright down, and rose
from his chair, for he heard his horse's hoofs under
the window.
Oh, do tell me about the breast-pin before you
go," cried Eyebright. "Did he really wear it?
How funny Was it set in gold, or how ?"
I shall have to keep the description of the
breast-pin till we meet again," replied Mr. Joyce.
"My dear," and he stooped and kissed her, I
wish I had a little girl at home just like you.
Charley would like it too. I shall tell him about
you. And if you ever meet, you will be friends, I
am sure."
Eyebright sat on the door-steps and watched him
ride down the street. The sun was just setting,
and all the western sky was flushed with pink, just
the color of a rosy sea-shell.
"Mr. Joyce is the nicest man that ever came
here, I think," she said to Wealthy, who passed
through the hall with her hands full of tea-things.
"He told me a lovely story about wolves. I'11 tell
it to you when you put me to bed, if you like. He's
the nicest man I ever saw."
"Nicer than Mr. Porter?" asked Wealthy,
grimly, walking down the hall.
Eyebright blushed and made no answer. Mr.
Porter was a sore subject, though she was only six
years old when she knew him, and.had never seen
him since.
He was a young man who for one summer had
rented a vacant room in Miss Fitch's school build-
ing. He took a great fancy to Eyebright, who was
a little girl then, and he used to play with her, and
carry her about the green in his arms. Several
times he promised her a doll, which he said he
would fetch when he went home. At last, he went
home and came back, but no doll appeared, and
whenever Eyebright asked after it, he replied that
it was "in his trunk."
One day, he carelessly left open the door of his
room, and Eyebright, spying it, peeped in and saw
that his trunk was unlocked. Now was her chance,
she thought, and, without consulting anybody, she
went in, resolved to find the doll for herself.
Into the trunk she dived. It was full of things,

all of which she pulled out and threw upon the
floor, which had no carpet, and was pretty dusty.
Boots, and.shirts, and books, and blacking-bottles,
and papers,-all were dumped one on top of the
other; but though she went to the very bottom, no
doll was to be found, and she trotted away, almost
crying with disappointment, and leaving the things
just as they lay, on the floor.
Mr. Porter did not like it at all, when he found
his property in this condition, and Miss Fitch
punished Eyebright, and Wealthy scolded hard;
but Eyebright never could be made to see that she
had done anything naughty.
"He's a wicked man, and he did n't tell the
trufe," was all she could say. Wealthy was deeply
shocked at the affair, and would never let Eye-
bright forget it, so that even now, after six years
had passed, the mention of Mr. Porter's name made
her feel uncomfortable. She left the door-step
presently, and went upstairs to her mother's room,
where she usually spent the last half-hour before
going to bed.
It was one of Mrs. Bright's better days, and she
was lying on the sofa. She was a pretty little
woman still, though thin and faded, and had a
gentle, helpless manner, which made people want
to pet her, as they might a child. The room
seemed very warm and close after the fresh door-
step, and Eyebright thought, as she had thought
many times before, How I wish that mother liked
to have her window open!" But she did not say so.
"Was your tea nice, mamma?" she asked, a
little doubtfully, for Mrs. Bright was hard to please
with food, probably because her appetite was so
fickle.
Pretty good," her mother answered; my egg
was too hard, and I don't like quite so much.sugar
in rhubarb, but it did very well. What have you
been about all day, Eyebright?"
"Nothing particular, mamma. School, you
know; and after school, some of the girls came into
our hay-loft and told stories, and we had such a
nice time. Then Mr. Joyce was here to tea. He's a
real nice man, mamma. I wish you had seen him."
How was he nice ? It seems to me you did n't
see enough of him to judge," said her mother.
"Why, mamma, I can always tell right away if
people are nice or not. Can't you ? Could n't
you, when you were well, I mean ? "
I don't think much of that sort of judging,"
said Mrs. Bright, languidly. It takes a long time
to find out what people really are,-years."
"Why, mamma!" cried' Eyebright, with wide
open eyes. I could n't know but just two or three
people in my whole life if I had to take such lots
of time to find out I'd a great deal rather be
quick, even if I changed my mind afterward."

[MARCH,

. EYEBRIGHT. 321

"You'll be wiser when you're older," said her
mother. It's time for my medicine now. Will
you bring it, Eyebright ? It's the third bottle from
the corner of the mantel, and there's a tea-cup
and spoon on the table."
Poor Mrs. Bright Her medicine had grown to
be the chief interest of her life! The doctor who
visited her was one of the old-fashioned kind who
believed in big doses and three pills at a time, and
something new every week or two; but, in addition
to his prescriptions, Mrs. Bright tried all sorts of

Cosmopolitan Febrifuge. It seems to work the
most wonderful cures. Mrs. Mulrary, a lady in
Pike's Gulch, Idaho, got entirely well of consump-
tive cancer by taking only two bottles; and a gentle-
man from Alaska writes that his wife and three
children who were almost dead of cholera collapse
and heart disease recovered entirely after taking
the Febrifuge one month. It's very wonderful."
"I 've noticed that those folks who get well in
the advertisements always live in Idaho and
Alaska and such like places, where folks aint very

"I CAN'T HELP HOPING THAT THIS JS GOING TO DO MDE GOOD."

queer patent physics which people told her of, or
which she read about in the newspapers. She also
took a great deal of herb-tea of different sorts.
There was always a little porringer of something
steaming away on her stove,-camomile, or bone-
set, or wormwood, or snake-root, or tansy, and
always a long row of fat bottles with labels on the
chimney-piece above it.
Eyebright fetched the medicine and the cup, and
her mother measured out the dose.
"I can't help hoping that this is going to do me
good," she said. It's something new which I read
about in the 'Evening Chronicle,'-Dr. Bright's
VOL. VI.-23.

likely to go a-hunting after them," said Wealthy,
who came in just then with a candle.
"Now, Wealthy, how can you say so? Both
these cures are certified to by regular doctors. Let
me see,-yes,-Dr. Ingham and Dr. H. B. Peters,
Here are their names on the bottle."
It's easy enough to make up a name or two if
you want 'em," muttered Wealthy. Then, seeing
that Mrs. Bright looked troubled, she was sorry
she had spoken, and made haste to add, "How-
ever, the medicine may be first-rate medicine, and
if it does you good, Mrs. Bright, we 'II crack it up
everywhere,-that we will."

EYEBRIGHT,

Eyebright's bed-time was come. She kissed her
mother for good-night with the feeling which she
always had, that she must kiss very gently, or some
dreadful thing might happen,-her mother break
in two, perhaps, or something. Wealthy, who was
in rather a severe mood for some reason, undressed
her in a sharp, summary way, declined to listen to
the wolf story, and went away, taking the candle
with her. But there was little need of a candle in
Eyebright's room that night, for the shutters stood
open, and a bright full moon shone in, making
everything as distinct, almost, as it was, in the
day-time. She was not a bit sleepy, but she did n't
mind being sent to bed, at all, for bed-time often
meant to her only a second play-time which she
had all to herself. Getting up very softly, so as to
make no noise, she crept to the closet, and brought
out a big pasteboard box which was full of old rib-
bons and odds and ends of lace and silk. With
these she proceeded to make herself fine; a pink
ribbon went round her head, a blue one round her
neck, a yellow and a purple round either ankle,
and round her waist over her night-gown a broad
red one, very dirty, to serve as a sash. Each wrist
was adorned with a bit of cotton edging, and with
a broken fan in her hand, Eyebright climbed into
bed again, and putting one pillow on top of the
other to make a seat, began to play, telling herself
the story in a low, whispering tone.
I am a, Princess," she said; the most beauti-
ful Princess that ever was. But I did n't know that
I was a Princess at all, because a wicked fairy stole

me when I was little, and put me in a lonely cot-
tage, and I thought I was n't anything but a
shepherdess. But one day as I was feeding my
sheep, a ne-cro-answer he came by and he said:
Princess, why don't you have any crown ?'
"Then I stared, and said, I 'm not a Princess.'
'Oh, but you are,' he said; 'a real Princess.'
"Then I was so surprised you can't think, Bes-
sie.-Oh, I forgot that Bessie was n't here. And
I said, 'I cannot believe such nonsense as that,
sir.'
Then the necroanswer laughed, and he said:
Mount this winged steed, and I will show you
your kingdom which you were stolen away from.'
So I mounted."
Here Eyebright put a pillow over the foot-board
of the bed, and climbed upon it, in the attitude of
a lady on a side-saddle.
"Oh, how beautiful it is!" she murmured.
"How fast we go I do love horseback."
Dear silly little Eyebright Riding there in the
moonlight, with her scraps of ribbon and her bare
feet and her night-gown, she was a fantastic
figure, and looked absurd enough to make any one
laugh. I laugh too, and yet I love the little thing,
and find it delightful that she should be so easily
amused and made happy with small fancies.
Imagination is like a sail, as Mr. Joyce had said
that evening; but sails are good and useful things
sometimes, and carry their owners over deep
waters and dark waves, which else might dampen,
and drench, and drown.

(To be continued.)

[MARCH,

WANTED. 323

BLOOM.

BY B. H.

THE sudden sun shone through the pane,
And lighted both their faces-
A prettier sight just after rain
Ne'er fell in pleasant places.

Two girls. One held a vase of glass,
And one, a ball unsightly,
Ragged and soiled. And this, the lass
Upon the vase laid lightly.

" What lovely flowers we '11 have !" said they,
After it starts a-growing."
The sun delighted slipped away,
And down the west went glowing.

WANTED.

BY SARAH WINTER KELLOGG.

ONE day, Johnny came home from school crying
very hard. His mother thought the teacher must
have whipped him, or expelled him from school,
or that some big boy must have stoned him.
Why, what is the matter, my dear ?" she asked
with concern and compassion.
Johnny returned no answer except to cry harder.
"Why, my sweet," she persisted, drawing him
to her knee, tell me what it is."
There 's no use telling," said Johnny, scarcely
able to speak for tears and sobs. I can't have
it."
Have what? Tell me. Perhaps you can have
it," she answered, in a tone of encouragement.
" Tell me what it is."
No, no, no," said Johnny, in a tone of utter
despondency. "I know I can't have it.", Then
he put his hands to his face, and cried with fresh
vehemence.
But tell me what it is, and, if it's possible, I '1
get it for you."
You can't! you can't! oh, you can't! John-
ny answered in despairing accents.
Is n't there any of it in town ? asked Mamma.

Lots of it," said Johnny, but you can't get
me one."
Why can't I ?"
They all belong to other folks," said Johnny.
But I might buy some from somebody," the
mother suggested.
Oh but you can't," Johnny insisted, shaking
his head, while the tears streamed down his face.
Perhaps I can send out of town for some," said
the mother.
Johnny shook his head in a slow, despairing way.
"You can't get it by sending out of town." Then
he added, passionately: Oh, I want one so bad !
They're so handy. The boys and girls that have
'em do have such good times "
But what are they ? Do stop crying, and tell
me what they are," said the mother, impatiently.
They can just go out every time they want to,
without asking the teacher," he said, pursuing his
train of reflection on the advantages of the what-
ever-it-was. Whenever the drum beats they can
go out and see the band, and when there's an organ
they can get to see the monkey; and they saw the
dancin' bear; and to-morrow the circus is coming'

WANTED.

323

i

ORIENTAL BOTTLES AND WELLS,

by, and the elephant, and all of 'em that has 'em
will get to go out and see 'em, and me that have n't
got 'em will have to stay in, and study the mean
ole lessons. Oh, it's awful!" and Johnny had
another passionate fit of sobbing.
What in the world is it, child, that you're talk-
ing about?" said his mother, utterly perplexed.
But the child, unmindful of the question, cried
out: Oh I want one so bad "
"Want what? If you don't tell me, I'll have
to lock you up, or do something of the kind. What
is it you want?"
Then Johnny answered with a perfect wail of
longing: "It's a whooping-cough,-I want a
whooping-cough."
A whooping-cough !" exclaimed his mamma,
in utter surprise, A whooping-cough!"
Yes," said Johnny, still crying hard. I want

a whooping-cough. The teacher lets the scholars
that have got the whooping-cough go out without
asking whenever they take to coughing; and when
there's a funeral, or anything else nice going by,
they all go to coughing, and just go out so comfort-
able; and we that have n't any cough, don't dare
look off our books. Oh, dear! oh, dear !"
"Never mind," said Mamma, soothing. "We'll
go down to Uncle Charley's room at the Metro-
politan to-morrow, and see the circus come in.
The performers are going to stop at that hotel, and
we '11 have a fine view."
At this point Johnny began to cough.
"I think," said his mother, nervously, "you 're
getting the whooping-cough now. If you are, you
may learn a lesson before you get through with it,-
the lesson that there is no unalloyed good in this
world, even in a whooping-cough."

ORIENTAL BOTTLES AND WELLS, AND HOW THEY
ARE MADE.

By FANNIE ROPER FEUDGE.

S- --- -- the Orientals the
ing of water forms
S -- --- I e part of domes-
i: 'bor. In Eastern
S- .-. andtowns,itisnot
-- yed from street
--" -- -.r eet by means of
-,,--, nor are houses
.,I bath-rooms sup-'
S --- with hydrants.

orn a.-. ... i only in the inte-

pracicab e to reach th ,_-some oing at h re
tw" e dy. fr att a distance from
S ': ater-courses; and,
-. _Asia i asis: ther water in them is
S seldom either whole-
some or agreeable to the taste, the people depend
for a supply mainly upon the rivers, whenever it is
practicable to reach them,-some going a mile or
two, every day, for a supply of water.
In Arabia and in many other countries of
Western Asia, this task is performed always by the
women of the family the mistress or her servants,
or perhaps both unite in the labor. As the Arabs
seldom pitch their tents very near the water, and as,
unless the distance be a mile or more, the men do
not think it necessary to employ their camels, the
women go at evening, with long leather bags

thrown over their shoulders, and bring a sufficient
quantity of water for a day's consumption. If the
distance is very short, so that several easy trips
can be made, smaller bags, and occasionally earthen
jugs, are used.
The women seem always to enjoy this wearying
labor, because it is almost their only opportunity
of seeing and chatting among themselves, and of
displaying any little adornments of dress they may
happen to possess. But in Turkey, Persia, and
all the countries where females are required to go
closely veiled, only those of the lowest rank are
expected to perform the heavy duty of bringing
water; and all well-to-do families obtain their
supply from regular venders. These are men who
make water-carrying a distinct business, and who
go round, from house to house, with their donkeys,
and leave at each door the supply that is needed
for the day,,just as do our ice and milk venders in
this country.
To hold the water, they have strong leather bags,
or, more correctly speaking, well-prepared goat-
skins, like those in the illustration,-two or more
being swung across the donkey's back, like paniers.
Occasionally, a dealer, who does a heavy business,
will substitute a pair of ox-skins, which are hung
in the same panier-fashion across the back of a
horse, and, for the accommodation of thirsty pedes-

[MARCH,

324

AND HOW THEY ARE MADE.

trians, there are other water-dealers, who go about
the streets, each with a goat-skin of water slung to
his back, by a strap or chain. The neck of the
skin, which is usually brought under the arm, and
compressed by the hand, serves as the mouthpiece
of this curious but very useful water-bottle ; and
the grateful beverage is dealt out in a brass or
coarse earthenware cup, secured to the girdle of
the vender. These water-carriers are at once a
blessing and a nuisance,-a sort of necessary evil
that everybody grumbles at, and tries to avoid, in
meeting them, with their dripping bags, at every

Tiflis, the capital of Georgia, and at other places
not under Mohammedan rule, the wine-stores
present an array of skin-bottles, that looks quaint
enough to unaccustomed eyes. Supported above
the floor, upon heavy wooden frames, are huge
ox-hides, perfectly distended with wine, arranged
round the walls, where a European wine-dealer
would place his casks; while skins of goats and kids,
serving the same purpose as barrels and jugs, are
used to supply customers as they come in, or to
send the liquor to their houses. Nowhere in the
East is it common to keep much wine in the house;

SOME ORIENTAL WATER-BOTTLES.

turn of the narrow, crowded streets. Yet nobody
is willing to dispense with their services; and in
times of public calamity, the water-carriers are the
very last to discontinue their labors. Their doing
so is deemed the most intense aggravation of the
evil, especially during the prevalence of the fright-
ful epidemics that so often visit Oriental cities,
when multitudes literally die of thirst, because
they are unable to go far enough to obtain water.
These skin-bottles are used also for keeping and
conveying wine; and not only in the East, but
they have found their way also into some portions
of the wine countries of Southern Europe, proba-
bly introduced by the Moors, into Spain first.
Among Orientals, goat-skins are generally pre-
ferred for wine, for family use, as being more
easily handled; but those who have to store wine
in large quantities, use ox-hides. In all Moham-
medan countries, the sale of wine being illegal, the%
full skins are hidden away out of sight; but at

those who use it preferring to get a little skin
at a time from the wine-store. These bottles
are light and convenient for handling; and, as
things are managed in the East, where people
travel over deserts, and on the backs of camels
'and donkeys, goat-skins are more readily carried
about than glassware, and with far less danger of
leakage or breaking.
In the preparation of the bottles, both cleanli-
ness and strength are to be considered. After the
skin has been stripped from the animal, it is
first thoroughly cleansed by repeated washings and
soaking, until no unpleasant odor remains. Then
the places where the legs had been are sewed tip
securely; and where the neck was is left the open-
ing for receiving and discharging the contents of
the bottle. Care is also taken that the skins do
not become stiff or hard in curing, so as to be
liable to crack; since, by receiving any liquid poured
into it, a skin-bottle is, of course, much distended;

325

ORIENTAL BOTTLES AND WELLS,

THE WATER-CARRIER.
and if the liquid be wine, new wine especially, the
fermentation will tax the strength of the hide to
the uttermost. Hence the Oriental maxim quoted
by the Savior: "New wine must be put into new
bottles; and both are preserved." Old bottles may
answer for old wine, whose fermentation is already
past; but new wine requires the full strength of
the hide in its prime, lest the undue expansion
cause a rent by which the lively wine will ooze out
and be lost.
Skin-bottles have by no means been confined to
Asia, nor to our own day. They were employed
by both the Greeks and Romans. Homer mentions
goat-skins
"Tumid with the vine's all-cheering juice,-"

and paintings at Herculaneum and Pompeii furnish
many examples of the use of skin-bottles among
the Romans. In one picture, there is a girl pour-
ing wine from a kid-skin into a cup; and, in another,
an apt illustration is given of the manner in which
wine was conveyed to the consumer. A large skin
full of liquor appears mounted on a cart that has
been drawn by horses to the door; and the wine is
in the act of being drawn off into amfhore or

earthen pitchers shaped like skin-bot-
tles, to be conveyed into the house.
The manner of drawing off the wine
through the neck or one of the legs
of the skin, is exactly that seen by
every traveler who stops at an Arab's
tent for refreshment, as the hospitable
housewife pours out for him wine,
water, or camel's milk, from her goat-
skin bottle.
In Hindustan, though wells are
more common, we still find the skin-
bottle in general use, both for drawing
the water and for carrying it to the
house. The wells, which are always
located on the public streets, are cir-
S cular in form, and protected by a
wall two or three feet in height, out-
side of which is a plastered chunam
pavement. This plastered floor forms
the public bath of the lower class,
who, returning home after the day's
labor, stop in little knots of two or
three at the well, each person tak-
ing turn in drawing and pouring
water over the others until the ablu-
tions are completed. But they must
be provided, not only with their skin-
-- bottles for carrying water home, but
- also with leather buckets and ropes
for drawing it, as these eastern wells
have no bucket and windlass attached.
Only water is provided gratis, and each consumer
must get it as he can. At whatever hour one
passes these Hindustanee wells, he is almost sure to
meet apfakali, or water-man, with his humped-back,
short-legged Brahminy bullock, loaded with a pair of

*', *. n~=-~'~ -*

A CARAVAN.
skin-bottles that he is filling with water to supply
his customers. The next objects that meet the

326

[MARcH,

* _

-~-~--
~r-----
-~-~-

,I

1x79.] AND HOW THEY ARE MADE. 327

view will probably be a group of women and your : .:iur:r ..-,I
together, laughing, chatting and gossiping, each iI-, r ii .-
goblet, and a rope long enough to lower it to the t.. I- :..ni
portions of Upper India, where veils are not very cl.i: .1 i..:i. ,
of the first rank may be seen at evening congre- r.:..l i..i..-,,- l-
wells, decked in their jauntiest attire, each carrying i- in..il r ii '
china jug, or pitcher, gracefully poised on the ..-I. i. TIr..
method of carrying the pitcher is deemed not onl, .....:.i.:- -''
ment but an indication of high breeding; and it is ..t.. i., i. I- -i
merely, girls of noble blood were very carefully taun r ri, ,,. : '..
women of rank were not always so closely veiled, i.. i::i-r. -i .i-. -
.stric.--

S.- stair: .:. I ri

Cairo, in Egypt, called Joseph's Well (after the .:.. tt h.-

and ruler), has a descent of about one hundred ,i .i1r :r i. -
comes provided with his leather bucket or goate-sr I... bi.Ir i..:

the same material to lower i into the water; a.nd 1..:..h Iit .i -1
S-pitch,

bredbucket are carried off by the owner hen he has ..- .-
In Persia, a well occasionally is seen with a rougr .. -

huge wheel, and these somewhat lessen the labor .. ..l i. ; i.. -
Aong the Arabs, too, these appliances are ..- -i--'_-
but elsewhere in the Orient we look for them in va r .-I-

ocean, however, the traveler meets them again in pr..:l, i. ii..
form, in Mexico,a c called Joseph's Well (after the n ..:,: .... .i .
and ruler), has a descent of about one hundred .....It !!. r .

newer and westaer n world d. S trangely enough, the in ... -I i ii.h.
r esemblances hbetw een Central America and Wperson -t' ri- .:. -

regions widely separated, and among nations geogr.|.l II ii- l..:r r -t
comesat antipodes. There is ethe same cli t or goat-sl:,r ..i .; :,r '...if l
the same material to lowhat is known to e faulty for; al i .:h-t l -..I 'll'I
buciset acknowledge carried to by the sup erior; the same hold roiI..ii: ir... I l -
p lay, in houses, implements,ally seeich and manners ii -I.... i...
the century es g on e by. The solution lessen of the mystabor ,! ..I ..I .
perhaps among the emigration of these applianceMoors alone tsom- .; -t he' ;

shores of the Mediterranean, later into Spain, ., -- r-. 41
and thence with the Spaniard across the Atlantic.
They brought their old proclivities with them, X |
oan they have traveler meets them despite the growth -.,. - .
and improvements of cntry singularly Orientius of -- .:!-.., ..'
nthe and western a orld. Strangely ebrain, ofo , .- "".,.

the Aztec,"-as one has said. But these Oriental .
traces may have been left by a race that landed Wt.-in .t. r:
regions widely separated, and among nations geo r.,!. -, 4:,!,!,,g "i1-, ".

America agntip es before Columbus; ad, clinertainly to heold ; .: ,.'5- -
aversion to change what is known to be faulty for r a h 1I
is acknowledged to he superior; the same old roiut,,,.: ,o ... t. ;,..l --.x
play, in houses, implements, speech and manners rhdtl I...i._.,-.:l I..
the centuries gone by. The solution of the myst.:i...., I-..- f.-.,,,,.' 't,. L

perhapcustoms, myths and legends of the Aztecs along th e
shores of the Mediterranean, later into Spain,
and thence with the Spaniard across the Atlantic.
They brought their old proclivities with them,
and they have retained them despite the growth
and improvements of centuries,--"the genius of
the Arab shaping many a thought for the brain of
the Aztec,"-as one has said. But these Oriental I.-
traces may have been left by a race that landed in --,
America ages before Columbus; arid, certainly, the 7-- -.__- :
customs, myths and legends of the Aztecs give
some support to this supposition.

328 DICK'S SUPPER.

DICK'S SUPPER.

BY MRS. E. T. CORBETT.

But the folks who looked out of their windows
then,
Both women and men,
Cried: Look at the moon !
It has changed too soon,
When did it get so small-oh, WHEN?"
And everybody ran out in a fright
To stare at the bitten moon that night.

Wise men brought out their telescopes too,
Old folks their spectacles,-no one knew
What to say or what to do.
Ask the almanac-makers," cried one,
They know everything under the sun!"
But the almanac-makers were quite perplexed,
So they ran to the clerk of the weather next,-
Ah, you ought to have seen them run !

DICK looked out of the window one night,
The moon shone bright,
The round, full moon, so silvery white;
" See !" cried Dick-" It looks so sweet,
I 'm sure it must be good to eat-
Suppose I take it down to-night,
Just for a treat,
And try one little, little bite!"

Then Dick climbed up on the chimney,-so,-
The moon hung low,
Bright as silver and pure as snow;
He snatched it quickly, and cried: Ho! ho!
It makes me think of my birthday cake,
All covered with sugar,-a bite I '11 take,
Just one, and nobody 'll know!"

But Dicky's mouth was, oh so wide
That the moon had nearly slipped inside;
He took a monstrous bite, as you see;
But it was n't nice,
It was colder than ice,
And it made his tooth ache terribly.

" Oh, dear oh, dear he began to cry:
"I would n't have the thing, not I !"
Quickly he hung it again in the sky,
Slid down the chimney, and went to bed,
Then under the blankets he tucked his head;
" For I know," so he said,
" If any one thought I 'd bitten the moon,
I 'd be whipped very soon !"

Now, the clerk of the weather lived all alone
In a house that was neither of wood nor stone;
It had clouds for curtains, and rainbows bright,
Instead of candles, to make it light,
And the pantry shelves were full of jars

"ii.'!
(I- I:

K

Where he kept the snow, the rain and the stars.
While under the shelves were packed away
Some strong new winds for a stormy day.

The little old man rushed out to see
What on earth could the matter be!

[MARCH,

NANNIE'S LITTLE MUFF.

For the people came with shout and roar,
Thumping and pounding at his door,
Calling loudly: Come out and tell
What ails our moon? You know very well."
And sure enough the moon he saw
Was scooped out like a shell!

The little old man said: "Dear, oh, dear!
I can make your weather stormy or clear,
Get up your breezes, high or low,
Give you plenty of rain and snow,
Make it as hot as you had it last year;

But as for this moon,-why, friends, I fear
You have asked me more than I know."

Now, all this time, poor Dicky was lying
Safe tucked up in his little bed,
And though the toothache kept him crying,
Never a single word he said.
Never told what a monstrous bite
He 'd taken out of the moon that night.
So no one ever guessed or knew
(Excepting Dicky, and me and you)
Who gave the folks such a terrible fright.

NANNIE'S LITTLE MUFF.

BY MARY BOLLES BRANCH.

SHE found it up in the garret, and oh, how glad
she was She found it in an old wooden chest
that had a curious smell when you opened it.
Nannie had never gone "up-garret" alone before,
because she was afraid of mice; but this afternoon
Aunt Ann had a "quilting" in the big front cham-
ber, and there were so many ladies talking, that
when Nannie ran out of the room and began to go
upstairs, she could hear them quite plainly. She
stopped every two or three steps to listen, but still
she heard them; they were talking about "herring-

bone," and they were snapping on the quilt a cord
that had been rubbed with chalk. Nannie could
hear it snap. She kept on, up into the garret, and
to the middle of it-still she could hear the hum
of voices in the room below.
"Ho!" said Nannie, "I'm not afraid!"
She looked around and did not see any mice.
There were old bonnets, and bunches of sage and
catnip hanging from the rafters. There was an old
clock in one corner, and a spinning-wheel and a
pair of bellows were in another. Then there were a

329

NANNIE'S LITTLE MUFF.

great many boxes and barrels all around, and some
feather-beds piled up. But the oddest thing of all,
in Nannie's opinion, was an old chair that stood in
the corner with a torn quilt thrown over it. She
often had heard her aunt, in speaking of this chair,

r- -- *. i '-

-- } 1 -;, : -- ; ;, '

s. ._-
7

THE TWISTED OLD CHAIR.
say that it was as old as the hills, and that really
it was well worth shining up and covering for the
parlor." Nannie, who supposed that old as the
hills could n't possibly be older than Great-grand-
pa Crandall, felt that the chair would need some-
thing more than shining and covering, she was
sure.
She slowly dragged off the quilt while these
thoughts passed through her mind.
There stood the old chair prim and clean, but
with a melancholy, faded look on its once gayly
flowered seat. Its back was awry, too,-at least
Nannie thought it was, and so may you when
you see this picture of it,-but really the stanch old
frame was as good as new and quite in its proper
shape. Indeed, Great-grandfather Crandall had
found it exceedingly comfortable,-it was the only
thing in the house, he had said, that the women-
folks let him enjoy in peace and quiet. But Nan-
nie knew nothing of all this.
"Yes," she murmured thoughtfully, "shining
and covering it is n't all. It would have to have its
seat twisted around, and that would bring the
legs wrong And when you got them all turned,
why where would the back be ? "
Then the little girl fixed her gaze on quite a differ-
ent sort of chair,-a rush-bottomed affair just as
straight and square as could be, but without a sign
of a back !
"Dear me," she said to herself, "what awfully,
dreadfully queer chairs they did have in old times !
I'm glad I did n't live then Like as not, now, the

back of this one is doubled up underneath it some-
how."
With these words, Nannie, exerting all her
strength, laid the backless bit of furniture over on
its side.
What a noise it made,-and what a strange,
musty cloud of dust rose from the seat as it came
down! And what made the old curtain hanging
there on the beam shake so strangely? And--
O-0-Oh What was that ? Nannie almost
fainted. She was so frightened that she sat down
upon the floor with a groan. Her poor little legs
were not of the slightest use, it seemed. In a mo-
ment she laughed a feeble, frightened little laugh
and sprang to her feet.
Why, Pussy Why didn't you tell me it was
you? I wouldn't have been scared a bit. Come
out, you naughty dear Pussy You needn't hide
away now-I saw you run under there. Mercy !
I did n't know there was a single soul up here but
me I "
Nannie did n't say all this, but these thoughts
ran through her mind and, somehow, comforted
the trembling little creature. Pussy could not be
coaxed to show herself again, but she certainly was
there under the old furniture, and Nannie no longer
felt alone. Besides, there could be no fear of mice
now. So the little girl once more proceeded to
enjoy herself, after cautiously listening for the
pleasant snap, snap" of the busy quilters down-
stairs.
First she went up to the old clock, but concluded
that, on the whole, it was best not to open its door
and look in. Then she turned the spinning-wheel
around a few times, made a little round mountain
of some hops that were spread out to dry on a
newspaper, pulled a feather from one of the beds
to stick in the hat of her biggest doll, and then
rummaged a rag-bag, where she found a bit of silk
just big enough to make a dress for her smallest
doll. Finally she noticed that great chest over by
the window, and she went to it and lifted the lid.
It had a queer smell, and was full of things folded
away-some of them wrapped in papers. Half-way
out of one paper lay something dark and soft.
Nannie seized upon it, and pulled it out. It was a
little dark-brown muff,-a real fur muff,-very
small, but not too small to hold Nannie's two small
hands, which went into it at once, and contentedly
folded themselves together.
Oh, how glad I am !" said Nannie to herself.
I s'pose that's been lying here ever since Aunt
Ann and Aunt Em'line were little girls. Now I
can have it, 'cause there aint any little girl here
but me now I never had a muff yet, and I need
one so bad What a pretty lining! It's my lit-
tle muff now."

[MARCH,

33

NANNIE'S LITTLE MUFF.

And without a single misgiving the child hugged
the muff close and walked up and down with her
hands in it, thinking how nice and comfortable it
would be to carry to church when snow came.
She was so glad she had come to the garret, and
she did not feel at all lonesome, for she could still
hear the hum of voices in the chamber below,
although she could not tell what was said. They
had left off talking about "herring-bone" by that
time, and were talking about their winter clothes
instead.
How do you keep your furs from the moths?"
asked one of the ladies of Aunt Ann.
Oh, I have no trouble," said Aunt Ann, com-
placently. "Every spring I put them away in our
old cedar chest up-garret, and nothing ever gets to
them."
Then they all began to talk about cedar-wood
chests and camphor-wood chests and tobacco, but
Nannie did not notice a word of what they were
saying as she crept softly down from the garret,
with her hands still in the little brown muff. She
would have gone into the front chamber to show it
to Aunt Ann at once, only the many strange
ladies in there made her feel shy; so she kept

"Have you?" asked Aunt Emmeline, absently.
She was trying, as she spoke, to count how many
spoons would be wanted, and really could not have
told the next moment what Nannie had said.
So Nannie kept on through the kitchen to the
little bedroom at the end, where she slept. There,
she had a small hair-trunk with her best clothes in
it. She lifted them up, and laid the muff in, down
at the very bottom.
"'Cause I sha' n't want it till snow comes !" she
reasoned, prudently. 'And then, as there was no
one to take much interest in her that afternoon,
she ran off to play with the cat and the two kittens.
Nannie did not take the muff out again after
that; she was keeping it to carry to church when
snow came, and so it happened that Aunt Ann and
Aunt Emmeline did not catch a sight of it, and
when they sometimes heard her make cheerful
mention of her little muff, they thought she only
meant her long red tippet, in whose warm ends she
used to wrap her hands the winter before, and
make believe it was a muff.
The days went by, and with November came
some sharp, cold weather.
I shall get out my furs to wear to-night," said

"OH-0-OH! WHAT WAS THAT?"
on down-stairs, down into the big kitchen where Aunt Ann, decidedly, as she came in, one Sunday
Aunt Emmeline was bustling cheerily about, getting noon, shrugging her shoulders with the cold, "I
supper for the hungry quilters. thought I should almost perish this morning."
"Aunt Em'line," said Nannie's happy little Oh no, Aunt Ann !" said little Nannie. "It
voice, I've got a muff! I've got a muff I" aint time yet for furs. Snow has n't come !"

33I

CALLING THE FLOWERS.

It's too cold to snow," was Aunt Ann's reply;
and Nannie thought that sounded very odd,-like
some of the riddles in her riddle-book.
That afternoon, while her little niece was at
Sunday-school, Aunt Ann went up to the garret to
get her fur collar and cuffs out of the cedar-wood
chest. Then there was a commotion, for, as true
as the world, one of her fur cuffs was gone She
called Aunt Emmeline in great excitement, and
together they searched all through the cedar-wood
chest. There was the collar, and there was one
cuff, but the other cuff was not there. No, it was
not there !
I sha' n't sleep a wink to-night, I 'm so nerv-
ous!" exclaimed Aunt Ann. "Do you suppose
we have had a thief in the house?"
"Or spirits?" suggested Aunt Emmeline, who
was a grain superstitious.
"Nonsense!" said Aunt Ann, rallying. "Let's
look through all the closets and bureaus down-
stairs."
And they did. Nannie found them hunting
when she came home, and followed them about
from room to room, enjoying it all very much, and
not having the slightest idea what Aunt Ann meant
by her "cuff." She thought cuffs were white and
stiff, and wondered why Aunt Ann should feel so
bad when she had so many more.
Aunt Ann had to wear her collar without her

cuffs. All through the week she kept up the
search, but in vain. Saturday night it snowed.
Oh, goody cried Nannie the next morning,
"snow has come, and I'm going to wear my muff
to church !"
When the aunts came out of their room, all
dressed to go, and called Nannie, she joined them
in a flutter of delight. She had on her warm hood
and her red tippet, and her hands were proudly
reposing in-what?
My little brown fur muff," she said, innocently,
as Aunt Ann pounced upon it.
"I should think so cried Aunt Ann. "It's
my cuff, my lost cuff, you little,-little,-little
bunch of posies, you! Where did you get it, Nan-
nie Blair ?"
"Up in the garret, out of that trunk of old
things," replied Nannie, raising her honest blue
eyes. "I knew I could have it, 'cause it was a
little girl's muff, and there aint any little girl here
but me."
"Well, I never! said Aunt Ann, and for that
once she let her carry it. After that, she took it
back, but somebody must have told Santa Claus;
for, when Christmas came, there was the dearest
little muff you ever saw, made of white fur dotted
with black, and lined with lovely blue silk, hanging
right on the nail with Nannie's stocking by the
fire-place!

CALLING THE FLOWERS.

BY M. M. D.

THE wind is shaking the old dried leaves
That will not quit their hold,
The sun slips under the stiffened grass
And drives away the cold.

And Franca says: How the March wind blows!
Is it scolding? How mad it must be!
When I blow my horn, I '11 be tender and sweet,
To show that I love them," says she.

" For the flowers and birds are dear little things,
And must not be frightened at all,
So pray you be quiet, you noisy old wind I--
Perhaps they will come if I call.

" The men on the hill want water, I know,
And soon I will carry them some;

[MARCH,

RUMPTY-DUDGET'S TOWER.

But first I will blow just as kind as I can,
To tell the sweet flowers they can come.

" Blow loud for the blossoms that live in the trees,
And low for the daisies and clover;
But as soft as I can for the violets shy,
Yes softly--and over and over."

-7-

XII
.0l

A 7

iT:

RUMPTY-DUDGET'S TOWER.

BY JULIAN HAWTHORNE.

VI.
Now, after Prince Frank has seen Princess Hilda
and the cat disappear up the trunk of the tall pine-
tree, he had sat down rather disconsolately beside
the fire, which blazed away famously, blue, red,
and yellow. Every once in a while he took a
fagot from the pile and put it in the flame, lest it
should go out; but he was very careful not to step
outside the circle which the cat had drawn with
the tip of his tail. So things went on for a very
long time, and Prince Frank began to get very
sleepy, for never before had he sat up so late; but
still Princess Hilda and the cat did not return, and he
knew that ifhe were to lie down to take a nap, the fire
might go out before he waked up again, and then
Rumpty-Dudget would ,have blackened Henry's
face all over with one of the burnt logs, and he

never could be saved. He kept on putting fresh
fagots in the flame, therefore, though it was all he
could do to keep his eyes open; and the fire kept
on burning red, blue and yellow.
But after another very long time had gone by, and
there were still no Princess Hilda and the cat, Prince
Frank, when lie went to take a fresh fagot from
the pile, found that there was only that one fagot
left of all that he and Hilda had gathered together.
At this he was very much frightened, and knew
not what to do; for when that fagot was burned
up, as it soon would be, what was he to do to keep
the fire going? There were no more sticks inside
the ring, and the cat had told him that if he went
outside of it, all would be lost.
In order to make the fagot last as long as possi-
ble, he took it apart, and only put one stick in the

333

[MARCH,

RUMPTY-DUDGET'S TOWER.

flame at a time; but after a while, all but the last
stick was gone, and when he had put that in,
Prince Frank sat down quite in despair, and cried
with all his might. Just then, however, he heard
a voice calling him, and, looking up, he saw a little
gray man standing just outside the circle, with a
great bundle of fagots in his arms. Prince Frank's
eyes were so full of tears that he did not see that
the little gray man was Rumpty-Dudget.
What are you crying for, my dear little boy ?"
asked the gray dwarf, smiling from ear to ear.
"Because I have used up all my fagots,"
answered Prince Frank; "and if the fire goes out,
my brother Henry cannot be saved."
"That would be too bad, surely," said the
dwarf; "luckily, I have got an armful, and when
these are gone, I will get you some more."
Oh, thank you-how kind you are !" cried
Prince Frank, jumping up in great joy, and go-
ing to the edge of the circle. Give them to me,
quick, for there is no time to be lost; the fire is
just going out."
I can't bring them in," replied the dwarf; I
have carried them already from the other end of
the forest, and that is far enough; surely you can
come the rest of the way yourself."
"Oh, but I must not come outside the circle,"
said Prince Frank;
i '" 'for the cat told
'.-me that if I did, all
S would go wrong."
Pshaw what
i. does the cat know
li about it?" asked
I'I{ -''i the dwarf. "At all
I', r Il ( events, your fire will
S!'!~~, not burn one min-
'l B .i ll ute longer; and you
S, .,.,. ''I know what will hap-
pen then."
SWhen Prince
l .;...... Frank heard this,
S i he knew not what
-' -"i,-. to do; but anything
seemed better than
to let the fire go
out; so he put one
S foot outside of the
S- circle and stretched
out his hand for the
fagots. But immediately the dwarf gave a loud
Laugh, and threw the fagots away as far as he could;
and rushing.into the circle, he began to stamp out
with his feet the little of the fire that was left.
Then Prince Frank remembered what the cat
had told him; he turned and rushed back also into
the circle; and as the last bit of flame flickered at

the end of the stick, he laid himself down upon it
like a bit of fire-wood. And immediately Rumpty-

: K
<* o Mr

"THE IVY CARRIED THEM TO THE TOWER GATES."
Dudget gave a loud cry and disappeared; and the
fire blazed up famously, yellow, blue and red, with
poor little Prince Frank in the midst of it!

VII.
JUST then, and not one moment too soon, there
was a noise of hurrying and scurrying, and along
came Tom the cat through the forest, with Princess
Hilda holding on to his tail. As soon as they were
within the circle, Tom dug a little hole in the
ground with his two fore-paws, throwing up the
dirt behind, and then said: Give me the Golden
Ivy-seed, Princess Hilda; but make haste; for
Frank is burning for Henry's sake "
So she made haste to give him the Seed; and
he planted it quickly in the little hole, and covered
the earth over it, and then said: "Give me the
Diamond Water-drop; but make haste; for Frank
is burning for Henry's sake "
So she made haste to give him the Drop; andhe
poured half of it on the fire, and the other half on
the place where the Seed was planted. And im-
mediately the fire was put out, and there lay Prince
Frank all alive and well; but the mark of Rumpty-
Dudget's mud on his nose was burned away, and
his hair and eyes, which before had been brown
and hazel, were now quite black. So up he jumped,
and he and Princess Hilda and Tom all kissed each
other heartily; and then Prince Frank said:
Why, Hilda the black spot that you had on
your forehead has gone away, too."

1;i

-c; ~

RUMPTY-DUDGET'S TOWER.

Yes," said the cat; "that happened when the
King of the Gnomes kissed her. But now make
yourselves ready, children; for we are going to
take a ride to Rumpty-Dudget's tower!"
The two children were very much surprised when
they heard this, and looked about to see what they
were to ride on. But behold! the Golden Ivy-
seed, watered with the Diamond Water-drop, was
already growing and sprouting, and a strong stem
with bright golden leaves had pushed itself out of
the earth, and was creeping along the ground in
the direction of Rumpty-Dudget's tower. The cat
put Princess Hilda and Prince Frank on the two
largest leaves, and got on the stem himself, and so
away they went merrily, and in a very short time
the Ivy had carried them to the tower gates.
Now jump down," said the cat.
Down they all jumped accordingly; but the
Golden Ivy kept on, and climbed over the gate, and
crept up the stairs, and along the narrow passage-
way, until, in less time than it takes to write it, the
Ivy had reached the room, with the thousand and
one corners, in the midst of which Rumpty-Dudget
was standing; and all around were the poor little
children whom he had caught, standing with their
faces to the wall and their hands behind their backs.
When Rumpty-Dudget saw the Golden Ivy creep-
ing toward him, he was very.much frightened, as
well he might be, and he tried to run away; but the
Ivy caught him, and twined around him, and
squeezed him tighter and tighter and tighter, until
all the mischief was squeezed out of him; but since
Rumpty-Dudget was made of mischief, of course
when all the mischief was squeezed out of him,
there was no Rumpty-Dudget left. He was gone
forever.
Instantly, all the children that he had kept in
the thousand and one corners were free, and came
racing and shouting out of the gray tower, with
Prince Henry at their head. And when he saw his
brother and sister, and they saw him, they all three
hugged and kissed one another as if they were crazy.
At last Princess Hilda said: Why, Henry, the
spot that was on your chin has gone away, too!
And your hair and eyes are brown and hazel instead
of being black."
Yes," said a voice, which Hilda fancied she
had somewhere heard before; while he stood in
the corner his chin rubbed against the wall, until
the spot was gone; so now he no longer wishes to
do what he is told not to do, or not to do what he
is told to do; and when he is spoken to, he answers
sweetly and obediently, as a violin answers to the
bow when it touches the strings."
Then the children looked around, and there stood
a beautiful lady, with a golden crown on her head,

and a loving smile in her eyes. It was their fairy
aunt, whom they had never seen before except in
their dreams.
Oh," said Princess Hilda, "you look like our
mamma, who went away to a distant country, and
left us behind. And your voice is like the voice
of the Queen of the Air-Spirits; and of--"
Yes, my darlings," said the beautiful lady,
taking the three children in her arms; I am the
Queen, your mother, though, by Rumpty-Dudget's
enchantments, I was obliged to leave you, and only
be seen by you at night in your dreams. And I
was the Queen of the Air-Spirits, Hilda, whose
voice you had heard before; and I was the King
of the Gnomes, though I seemed so harsh and stern
at first. But my love has been with you always,
and has followed you everywhere. And now you
shall come with me to our home in Fairy Land.
Are you all ready ? "
Oh, but where is Tom the cat?" cried all the
three children together. We cannot go and be
happy in Fairy Land without him !"
Then the Queen laughed, and kissed them, and
said: I am Tom the cat, too !"
When the children heard this, they were perfectly

"AND NOW YOU SHALL COME WITH ME TO FAIRY LAND !"

contented; and they clung about her neck, and she
folded her arms around them, and flew with them
over the tops of the forest trees to their beautiful
home in Fairy Land; and there they are all living
happily to this very day. But Princess Hilda's
eyes are blue, and her hair is golden, still.

THE END.

THE AMERICAN MARDI-GRAS.

C'-- I

THE AMERICAN MARDI-GRAS.

BY MARY HARTWELL CATHERWOOD.

: .. I'... a w e

f, I1 ' ,, c

S. .

of ..-- J
Am.,,,, : '
Carm .. .:_\
thin; iu i-0.rii-' to i.i,, "-. L to
all of us who live in the Eastern and Middle States.
Carnivals are associated with a degree of merri-
ment and freedom from restraint that we hard-
working Americans have yet hardly learned to
enjoy. Imagine the people of New York, Phila-
delphia, or Boston, throwing sugar-plums and
flowers at each-other from gay balconies, or grave
citizens in startling costumes masquerading through
the public' streets! But for all that there is an
American Carnival every year, in which whole cities
give themselves up to jollity, and the streets are
filled with a fantastic procession of masqueraders,
and the merry-making-though it differs very much

from that of the European festivals and does not
generally last as long-is nevertheless quite as wild,
uproarious, and exciting in its way.
The word "carnival," Italian cantevale, is made
from two Latin words,-caro, flesh, and vale, fare-
well,--and itmeans "farewell to meat." The Car-
nival itself-always a time of merriment and feast-
ing--comes just before the forty days' fast of Lent,
SThe home of the Carnival is in Italy and South-
ern Europe, and the first city in which the festival
was observed in this country is New Orleans,
where many of the citizens are French Creoles, and
so are more like the people of Southern Europe than
those of any other part of the United States. The
festival was introduced more than forty years ago,
and has been gradually growing in popularity ever
since; now, several other Southern cities observe
the Mardi-Gras Carni-
val. The reason why it is
here called the "Mardi- .
Gras" or Fat Tuesday ,..
Carnival, is because it is / .
kept up only for one day,
and that is the Tuesday
before Lent,.when people
are supposed to eat as
much as they can, and get .
fat and comfortable before
they begin to fast. In
Europe, the Carnival con-
tinues through several THE MAGNOLIA COSTUME.
days, and Mardi-Gras is only one of them.
The Carnival in Italy is indeed a very merry

336

[MARCH,

THE AMERICAN MARDI-GRAS.

time. The people throng the streets all day, most
of them masked and wearing curious costumes.
They throw sugar-plums at each other (which used
to be real ones, but which are now made of plaster
of Paris), and they have all kinds of fun. There
are processions and horse-races in which the horses
run without riders, and grand illuminations. This is
kept up for several days and nights, often for a week.
But in New Orleans, Rex," the king of the
Carnival, arrives on
Mardi-Gras morning,
to rule the city for one '
whole day. Generally,
he is represented as a .
handsome old man,
with white hair and .,Ii
beard, androsycheeks,
and no one knows who
he really is. For some
time before he arrives, I
the newspapers an-
nounce his coming,
and placards are post-
ed about, stating what
grand things are to
be done on glorious
"Mardi-Gras." The
great jewels (made of
quartz) which are to
sparkle in his crown,.
are shown in jewelers'
windows; merchants
pin his name to their
richest goods; his col-
ors, black and gold,
flaunt on banners
across the streets, or !
are stretched in great
festoons from house to
house.
Everybody expects
a good time. It seems
as if some real royal
person were coming
to bring all the rich
arid poor together,
and, while he stays, THE G
make them forget their different hardships in joy.
Shrove-Tuesday, or Mardi-Gras," as the
French call it, is a movablee feast" of the Roman
Catholic and Episcopalian churches, occurring in
February or March; but it makes little difference
to the people of New Orleans whether it comes in
one month or the other, for at this season the air
blows soft from the hazy Mississippi, trees are laden
with blossoms, the gardens are full of flowers, and
tropical leaves nod and wave under cloudless skies.
VOL. VI.-24.

Often, on Monday night, but at any rate as soon
as daylight begins on Mardi-Gras morning, mask-
ers gather and commence to enliven the streets
with pranks and fun. They are seldom rude; on
this maddest, merriest day," when no authority
is acknowledged but that of benignant Rex, who
gives to all their own way, the people overflow with
good-will.
Early in the morning you hear the shouts and
merry voices of the
children, and see little
knots of them passing
by your door, dressed
in all manner of fan-
tastic costumes, and
Swearing grotesque
masks. A great many
of then have simply
pink or blue paper-
muslin, ruffled skirts
and sacks, with caps
and masks to match,
so that all you can see
of the children them-
selves is a pair of
bright roguish eyes
looking out at you
from under the mask.
Later in the day you
see all sorts of mask-
ers. Here and there
are groups of mount-
_- ed cavaliers dashing
A through the streets
with jinglingspurs and
plumed hats. Yonder
are five or six courtiers
in Louis, XIV. cos-
tume, with sword and
powdered bag-wig,
bowing and gallantly
kissing the tips of their
.. r fingers to the ladies in
the balconies. Next
comes a band of gray
friars with sandal-
RAFFe. shoon" and shaven
heads, telling their beads and greeting the promen-
aders with "Pax vobisczm z!" Now and then a
huge monkey darts into the middle of the street,
where he goes through a hundred queer antics
amidst the joyous shouts of small boys. Here we
see a monstrous bat speeding along the sidewalk,
spreading and flapping his huge wings in the air.
Close behind, are a brown speckled toad and a
green frog arm-in-arm, hopping along in a very
jovial manner, and -io.,1, sweetly on each other.

I

THE AMERICAN MARDI-GRAS.

Tlo d lit. I I il..., [n r.-: ; inld r.,. r
loye' t' I: -. .. '* l- |il.. -'r . .":".1 'n .lit.:r:. ,d

sefo I '.: l i , [ I , ,: r ,-

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re .i p' -L I ll I ,l' I -. I i i 'l i i r I::l, I ,: r ._ -

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"o ,' -1 id' if- Id" '
-,m +.-+ o+,+,.7 _-_- -- I _-

.. ..1 .T..'"i t ''r " i l ..

S 'l I I i.

Laii y ig, Un velvetL
cushions, his scepter and the keys of his empire,-
in a hollow-square of his royal guard, riding like a
king, and bowing from side to side to his loyal
subjects,-Rex comes, preceded and surrounded
and followed by loud-sounding bands of music.
After more troops, Rex's navy of small ships,
mounted on wheels and manned by gallant tars,
eight and ten years old, sails slowly past, each ves-
sel drawn by half a dozen or a dozen spirited horses.
Next come his civil officers with great pomp. The
air far and near vibrates continually with music.
Beautiful living pictures of scenes in American his-
tory go past on platforms upon wheels. Industry
and trade are represented by scores of ingeniously
decorated wagons or vans, and these evidences of

____________________~ I''"l/1

S,,,, ... .l r L. id .' rhe
i .. :. cI-or

,| .I.:ll,, ,il I ,I. ,- ,, ,,",.-.i
--. l th : FI.' '.I.: r. I p s n,
I,'ll- ,,'l'* [ I t:. I 't i ,,I ivt, -

Slewe nlls a appealed 11 1b57, I epiese ii ig
characters from "Paradise Lost." Next year it

with the chariot of Aurora, and other beautiful
groups. The third year, the courtly pageant" of

American history; its fifth; "'Life," or the ages of
man. Then the war made a great gap, during which
there were no Carnival years; but in y866 the
Krewe appeared once more as the Court of
Comus." Since then, they have not failed to crown
Mardi-Gras with gorgeous living pictures.
One of their most curious spectacles represented
the Feast of Epicurus." First in the proces-
sion came the soup-plates, ladle and tureen, all
walking, and then the fish for the second course.

[MARCH,

1879.] THE AMERICAN MARDI-GRAS. 339

After that were the different meats and vegetables,
all. just as natural as possible, the two legs under-
neath, and the arms, being the only things that
looked like man. Then they had various kinds
of game,-duck, woodcock, quail, etc.,-and the
glasses and bottles. Pies and puddings were fol-
lowed by several different kinds of fruit, and at the
end of the procession were cups of coffee and bunches
of cigars. All these things were prancing along the
streets just as if they were bewitched. Afterward,
at the ball in the evening, it was the most comical
sight in the world to see a young lady, elegantly
dressed, going through the figures of a quadrille
with a huge carrot or sweet-potato, .i1r:i-i,. with a
bunch of celery, or courtesying to a big, black bottle.
Another subject chosen for illustration was the
"Missing Links in Darwin's Origin of Species."
There were some good representations of flowers,
that of a magnolia bud being remarkably ingenious
and beautiful. Then there were, besides, repre-
sentatives of the four great sub-kingdoms of the
animal kingdom,-radiates, mollusks, articulates
and vertebrates,-beginning with the jelly-fish and
sponge, and ending with the ape whom Mr. Dar-
win and others seem trying to introduce to us as our
great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great-
-and a great many more greats-grandfather.
There was the savage alligator, the tall giraffe,
the patient camel, with lots of other beasts;
besides, the locust,-with a policeman's hat and
club,-and a host of butterflies and other in-
sects. Looking at these wonderful objects mov-

I, I I ,

i,~ T
- 1i
.. IT: ("" I,,'

KING REX'S PAGES.
After parade, the Krewe go to
Theater and give tableaux and a ball.

ing about,
some of
them really
beautiful,
and many
absurd, it
was hard to
believe that
they were
only men
and boys
"dressed
up,"- and
puzzling, in
some in-
stances, to
guess where
the wearer's
head could
be or how
hemanaged
to find his
way.
the Variety
The festival

ends with Mardi-Gras night, for, next morning,
Ash Wednesday opens the solemn season of Lent.
On Carnival day, whole
cities breakup theirusual .
gravity, and even forget -
to trespass; there are
fewer arrests; people are A
so busy laughing they

cat of care being away,
old mice and young come '
out to play._.
In Memphis, the Car-
nival is observed with
the same enthusiasm and .
display as in New Or- u.
leans. Maskers, indeed,
are more lively, for the
cool winds blowing down '
the Mississippi over wes-
tern Tennessee are not
as balmy as the Gulf airs.
But the Ulks, instead of ..
Rex, his Majesty proper,
seem to reign here. One 2 l_
Mardi-Gras they paraded b
thirteen floats, represent-
ing ideas which kept all-
the thousands watching h- -
them in a whirl of con-
tinuallaughter.
In the evening, the LOOKING ON.
Memphi, a society as mystic as the Krewe of New
Orleans, came out with a wonderful floating his-
tory of India," which my geography used to say
was the "richest country in the world."
One picture represented a temple, within which
were Manu, the sage of India, Zoroaster of Persia,
and Confucius of China, studying the Aryan phil-
osophy. Another was the birth of Brahma from a
lotus flower, the birds singing over him. A third
showed Hindoo caste, that strict division of the
people into classes: there was a golden kiosk or
summer-house in the valley of Ambir, richly carved,
with four pinnacles; on its steps were four figures,
one of each of the castes; a ruler, who prayed
standing; a Brahmin, who bowed his head; a
farmer, offering up gifts; while a poor Soodra-of
the lowest rank-lay on his face.
There were elephants with howdahs on their
backs, and men and ladies in rich dresses, on cush-
ions of velvet embroidered with precious stones.
The Throne of the Peacock was represented. It
took its name from the two golden peacocks in
front of it, and was once the pride of Delhi, the
ancient Mogul capital of India. Seated upon it, in
the throne-room, which was magnificent with pil-

[MARCH,

THE AMERICAN MARDI-GRAS-.

arch.: ,I-": n..::h l n i. j:h ,.

Tl ,, I : i I1, -' ,... I,,.- ,

lail. i' ri,- .. : i i I.'
in :l i i- I ." :, 1

hi .

LI7

-a --"--

III -. ~i.

r

--~- ----
tF

-7, T

Prunes of Bokhara, and sweetmeats
From the groves of Samarcand,
And Bokhara dates, and apricots,
Seed of the sun, from Iran's land,
With rich conserve of Visna cherries,"
and other nice things, too numerous to
were there.

THE NIGHT PROCESSION.
Last of all, India was shown, bound, and aban-
doned to her enslavers.
The Memphi, also, end their pageant with tab-
leaux and ball, and, like the Krewe, disappear at
mention, midnight, to be seen no more until the next year.
St. Louis, Little Rock, Galveston, and other

--==l-a ~I~;~L~a

THE AMERICAN MARDI-GRAS.

cities, play pranks on Mardi-Gras; but, until tented himself, in great part, with representations
recently, the Carnival has not been observed at the of the various trades and occupations of the country,
North. The climate is unsuitable; but, more than to which even the
that, northern people seem to lack the light and gravest descendant
graceful fancy of southerners; they do not know of old Peter Knick- ,' _
how to "make believe" with perfect enjoyment, erbocker could not 'I
A few years ago, in Cincinnati, watching Rex ride object.
by on a chariot shaped like a boar's head,-his But he had his __
royal cushions being between its ears, his jester sit- fun, too, and the
ting on its snout, his attendants, as forks and knives Khedive of Egypt -'
and spoons, surrounding the great dish, which was and the GrandTurk
drawn by elephants,-I could scarcely recognize dressed themselves
him as that most merry monarch, yet most gentle, up in holiday array,
who trailed the purple over his white charger, and and rode beside .' I
uncovered his courtlyhead to his dear subjects down him. ".'.
by the Gulf. There were droll makers and several As the jovial Rex
pretty historical tableaux on wheeled platforms in rode along Broad- L T.
the Cincinnati festival, but good old Rex was scarcely way, and saw myr-
at home in that dear, hospitable, and smoky city. iads of people pressing close to him, eager for the
In New York the merry monarch made his first reign of mirth, he wondered why they never be-
appearance in 1877. He fore had sent for him! Perhaps he saw, in his
did notcomeontheregular L- .i'- ,.-. nrio d !.il l-ie- r, i.: ,:; -lu.:. ik-
Carnival day, for it is too .i n" 'I I.- Hi ii- 1 i.-.l .:.rin n rn UI
cold in our northern cities, ,.I. L.i th l t ri .ni" lndi
during F ebruary and -.i rn .,r.:h i -, t r.,, .. .. ,-ri-i. -d t,:.
March, for such out-door -r:: ". o- A,. a V:l rt.r. r in- re
sports as he delights in. ... -- mn -i .-:-:
So he deferred his grand .. in.rr inr!- h- .. id
entry until May. There-- ,: . .1 t 'I t.- ...
wasa great deal of curiosity ' 'f r F--v'I. 'n 'll Fr i- n
all over the country to see L, .! .h at,. .1-,r m. li. C th.
how a Carnival in New I. ,. a. ... in.. I h iT
York would succeed. Of in n.. K1 n.i K .
course, the people in our Hi- .ne- i ...:- ri,., n :.'ne
great metropolis like to .."- r d:. I r.
amuse themselves, and T ln ,..-I -. ,., be
nowhere in the country do "i .. ..rI ii r no-
they do it with more taste I n ri,,: I..' kmi n
and judgment, for nearly ---= -- h d-.. i. t-e
everything in the way of 7 _. .h l. i L... ,ill
amusements comes at some l-:r .'11
time to New York; but '-- .r;. t, -uli.., t to
this Carnival procession
was a new thing.
When Rex appeared, TE ALLIGATOR.
crowds and crowds came
out to welcome him, and perhaps he never before his rule, and give themselves up for a day to play
saw so many people gathered together; for when and fun. And when we think of the dreadful
New York undertakes to get up a crowd, she is bet- suffering in New Orleans and other Southern
ter able to do it than is any other city in this hemi- cities from the late visitation of yellow fever, we
sphere. But Rex was not quite sure whether it can:hope most sincerely, now that Mardi-Gras is
would answer in such a practical city, to have, the coming around again, that the people will find
very first time, all the funny and utterly absurd they have not forgotten how to laugh, and that the
things which he was in the habit of showing in kind old Rex may, in some way, help to lift the
his processions in the southern cities. So he con- saddening veil that the pestilence threw over them.

PETS FROM PERSIA.

"k-"i

a.--:

WAITING FOR SPRING.

PETS FROM PERSIA.

BY KATE FOOTE.

THE chief use of a sailor-uncle on shore is to
tell stories," said Mrs. Ayre, opening the door into
her parlor, and addressing her brother-in-law' who
sat there. Frank and Charley are sure to get
into mischief while I am out, unless you will have
pity on them. They can't go with me because they
will give the whooping-cough to every child on the
street. Can they come in ?"
Uncle Will laid down his newspaper with a
smile; and Mrs. Ayre, turning her head, said:
"Come on, boys."
Immediately, two chubby chaps, six and eight
years old, who had been behind her all the time,
swarmed into the room with all the amount of noise
which two boys can get into such a plain proceed-
ing, took their uncle's chair by storm, established

themselves one on each knee, and suddenly became
as silent as before they had been noisy.
Uncle Will looked a little mischievous, and said:
"Would n't you take an old story that you 've
heard before ?"
But the boys were sure there was no occasion for
this, and began to look injured. They knew per-
fectly well that their uncle had more stories in him
than are in the "Arabian Nights." They gave
indignant grunts, and were so very severe with
him that he began at once:
"I am thinking about my cat and her kitten;
perhaps because the cats howled so in the garden
last night that it took all my boot-jacks and hair-
brushes and even one pair of slippers to persuade
them to be quiet.

[MARCH,

PETS FROM PERSIA.

"But my cat and kitten were none of your
thievish prowlers by night. They were of high
degree, and would have despised low conduct.
On my last voyage, when our ship lay in the har-
bor of Genoa, and while I was ashore one day, I
came upon an odd little shop in an odd little corner
of a side street where a dried-up old man sold birds
and dogs, photographs and sponges,-the greatest
jumble of things; and among the rest he had a
very beautiful Persian cat with one kitten. They
were both white and had tails like ostrich feathers.
I was captivated with their beauty at once, and the
old man saw it. He was as sharp at a bargain as
every Italian is, and he made me pay a pretty
price, but I was determined to have them, and
stopped at nothing. Though, when the man, with
many low bows, said that 'the money was too
little, oh much too little !' I laughed in his face,
and he saw I was not a fool, as I meant he should.
He did not say anything more after that, and I
myself carried my prizes in a basket down to the
wharf, and kept looking in to see if they were in
good order while I was being rowed out to my
ship.
Sailors are always fond of pets, and my two
Persian pussies became very popular on board,
among the crew as well as with the officers. We
called the mamma 'Mother White,'-she had not
a dark hair on her; the kitten had one dark gray
spot under her chin, and we called her just 'Kit.'
Mother White was very careful of her daughter,
and at first would not let her climb in the rigging
at all. She herself would go up, and often I used
to see her sitting in the foretop with one of the
men, composedly licking her paws and rubbing
her head, and keeping herself as clean as a whistle.
She was daintily clean always; even when she first
came on board she would not go near a bucket of
tar or 'slush;' she seemed to know that the ship
might take a roll at any time and upset it on her.
"It was great fun, when the kitten grew larger, to
see Mother White begin to train her. On still
days, when there was not much motion to the ship,
Kit would begin to creep up the shrouds,-which,
you know, are the rope ladders that lead up the
mast from the side of a vessel,-sticking her claws
well in, and holding on very hard, but always a
little awkwardly, and acting as if she were half
afraid. Mother White set her a good example,
and would occasionally give a little mew of com-
mand or approval. Kit kept going higher every
day, until finally she got up into the foretop as
well as her mother. But Kit was always particu-
larly awkward about coming down. She would
come part of the way tail foremost, and then screw
about with great difficulty, and try it head foremost,
and it worried the old cat very much. She came

343

down regular fashion, hind feet foremost, hand over
hand, and looking round occasionally to see that she
was all right, fore and aft. One day, Kit stayed in the
rigging a long time, and the wind freshened and the
ship began to roll more and more. Mother White
came down very soon and very carefully; but Kit
was giddy, and would not pay any attention when
her mother called to her in the cat language to
come down or she might have an ugly tumble.
Kit stayed and flirted about with the men until she
saw the cook come out of his caboose and walk aft
with a plateful of bones for Mother White. Of
course she, too, wanted some, so she started down.
But the roll was very great, and about half-way
down she stuck and clung by her claws, mewing,
and not knowing what to do,-head first seemed
just as dangerous as tail first.
Mother White left her bones, came up much
excited and sat down on the deck, cocked her
eyes at the kitten, and mewed all sorts of com-
mands and encouragement and advice. I did not
suppose a cat could have so many different tones,
but it seemed as if she were saying, in cat lingo,
of course :
Stand by now,-don't be afraid; wait for the
le'ward roll,-don't be a lubber,-come on now.'
"One of the men came up to me and said:
Shall I bring her down, Mr. Ayre?'
I was watching them with the greatest interest
to see what they would do. I knew she could not fall
overboard, and if she tumbled on the deck, the dis-
tance was.not great enough to hurt her; so I said:
No; she wants a lesson, and I think this will
teach her something.'
In another minute, Kit got desperate and, turn-
ing half round, let go of the ratlins, and jumped at a
loop of rope that hung from one of the sails near her.
But she was clumsy about this, and was not sailor
enough to allow for the roll of the vessel; so instead
of setting her claws into it and then scrambling into
the slack of the sail, as she might easily have done,
she missed her aim, the rope took her round the
stomach and there she swung, head one side,
tail the other, and her hind feet locked into her
fore feet with a desperate grip. She hung there a
minute or two, and then 'let go all'; and just fell
flat on the deck, without making any effort to save
herself, or even fall on her feet. This seemed to
cap the climax of Mother White's feelings of mor-
tification that she had such a disobedient land-
lubber of a kitten.
She ran up to Kit, the hair on her back erect,
her whiskers twitching with rage, fell on her,
cuffed her with her paws, bit her, growled and spit
at her, and just gave her a regular whipping, as
much as to say : 'There take that and that, for
being so awkward and not paying any atten-

~

PETS FROM PERSIA.

'tion to your mother; if you can't learn to be a
sailor, you 'd better stay on deck.'
Kit felt very small when her mother let her go,
and she crawled under one of the boats, so I had
great difficulty in coaxing her out to eat some
supper. :
But she learned to be a better sailor after a
while, and Mother White became quite proud of
her. They had glorious pranks together, and gave
us many a half hour of laughter. I grew very fond
of them both, and of my cat especially,-she was
such a great, handsome, good-tempered creature,
except occasionally when her kit aggravated her
beyond endurance. She grew so fat that she
weighed eight pounds and four ounces.
One day, we were ordered into the Indian seas,
and away we went out of the Straits of Gibraltar
and down round the Cape and along to'the Malabar
coast of Hindustan. We had to hang around: a
week or two in the open roadstead 'of Madras.
There is no harbor there, and it is a very unpleasant
place to anchor, so we all were glad to get away;
and one fine.day we were towed up the Hooghly
and anchored off Calcutta. There I got a leave of
absence for a few days from my captain, and went
to visit a friend of .mine who was living among the
foot-hills of the Hi-ir i! ,. mountains. I took my
cat and kitten with me, I was so afraid they would
not be properly taken care of while I was gone. I
need not have been such a simpleton; they gave
me no end of trouble, aid I wished a thousand
times I had left them with the cook. Mother
White, finding herself in a strange place, clung to
me as her only friend, and followed me about like
a little dog. One day, I was out hunting, and, when
I was two miles from home, Mother White
came mewing up to me, as if to reproach me for
having left her, and I had to send her back by a
servant. Both she and the kitten had to be shut
up every night to keep them out of my room.
"My friend was a great hunter, and we shot
bustards and wild peacocks, and other game, for a
day or two, and then he said that we would hunt
antelopes the next day with cheetahs. This would
be a new thing to me, and my friend took me round
to the great cage at the back of his bungalow
where the cheetahs were kept. They were beau-
tiful animals, like great cats, about three feet long,
and with tawny yellow skins, spotted here and there
with black. They rubbed their heads against the
bars of the cage and purred, when they saw us, and
my friend put his hand in and stroked one and
scratched his ear; but he did not do this until after
he had asked the keeper and found out that they
had just been fed.
'Pretty creatures,' said he; 'but so ferocious
and blood-thirsty that I never have any feeling of

security when I touch them, unless I know that
their stomachs are full.'
They belong to the feline race, which you
know is the name of the genus, and the lion and
tiger and leopard and cat are all cousins. I won-
dered if Mother White would be willing to get up
an acquaintance with her relatives; but neither
she nor Kit would come near the cage, and when I
tried to carry the cat up close, she showed so much
fear that I had not the heart to insist. And when
the leopards caught sight of her in my arms they
snuffed the air, and ran back and forth in the cage,
and became so excited I was glad to let her go.
We had to start at five o'clock, so I rose very
early the next morning, l6oked in at a little open
closet where Mother White and Kit slept during
the night, saw they were both all right, and then
joined the party who were on the piazza waiting for
the horses to be brought round. There were two
-other gentlemen, our host and myself, a servant or
two, and a boy driving a cart in which was the cage
with the cheetahs and a little kid, lying on its side
with its feet tied.
Our horses were fresh and snuffed the morning
air, but we rode slowly four or five miles, laughing
and talking,-my friend telling us how the old
Indian emperors would go out on a hunting-party
with as many as a hundred of these leopards, and
we tried to imagine the look such a party would
have, with the gay Indian dresses of the men, the
cheetahs with their smooth skins and spotted sides,
and all the confusion and glitter those royal people
liked to keep up about themselves.
"Then one of the servants, who had ridden
ahead, came back and said there were antelopes the
.other side of a high hill which rose a quarter of a
mile from us. This was good news, and our host
said we must ride to the left around the hill, so
that the wind might blow from them toward us.
If it blew from us to them, 4hey would scent us,
and be ten miles off before we could even sight
them, antelopes are so shy.
In a minute or two we flanked the hill, keep-
ing among the thick low trees, making no noise,
and then we saw four or five of the graceful beasts
making their breakfasts from the short dewy grass
of the valley.
The cage was lifted out of the cart and set on
the ground,-the door on the side toward the ante-
lopes. All the wild instincts of the cheetahs were
up at the sight of their prey; they crouched and
quivered and lashed their tails, but moved like vel-
vet, and made not a sound.
"'Mind your horses, now,' said our host, and
the door of the cage was pushed up. The horses
shied and stirred a little, as the beasts crept past,
from an instinctive sense of danger, but the

[MARCH,

PETS FROM PERSIA.

cheetahs were thinking of other game, so we were
safe. They crouched in the high grass, and glided
from one bush to another until they were as near
as possible, and then-whew like a bullet from a
rifle, with a bound into the air of full thirty feet,
each let drive at an antelope. It was cruel and
magnificent to see them. One lighted on the
shoulders of a splendid buck, sunk his claws deeply
into the flesh, and hung there quietly, all the
terrific bounds which the poor creature gave not
disturbing the cheetah in the least.
"That was what one did, and I was watching him

life of one of our party, for the cheetah's blood
was up,-if he could not have the deer, he would
take one of us or a horse. He stood out on the
plain, licking his lips, his eyes blazing redly, his
tail lashing his flanks, and as he turned his head
toward us, it seemed to each man as if the beast were
selecting him to make up for the lost deer. Our
horses knew the danger, and began to plunge
and tear at their bits, and a pistol came out of the
pocket of nearly every man there.
'Wait a moment,' said our host, you must
kill and not merely wound. No slight hurt will

A COMFORTABLE PARTY.

so intently I did not see the other, when suddenly
I heard my friend say, 'Quick, boy the kid.'
Turning my head, I saw that the other leopard
had missed his leap, and the deer he was after had
got away. It was a very unusual thing, but pro-
vision had been made for the emergency. The
boy, who had been watching with the rest of us,
rushed at once to the cart, and the kid-was gone.
Probably it had not been securely tied, and in
struggling it had started the knots, and then
jumped away among the bushes while we were too
engaged to notice it.
It was a serious matter, and might cost the

prevent his jumping among us; shoot at his side,
or hit him behind the ear.'
Two of us were taking aim, when the attention
of the cheetah seemed to be attracted by something
to the right of him; he turned and began to
creep and crouch as he had on first seeing the
antelopes.
Our host drew a long breath, and we lowered
our pistols.
The kid must be there,' said he; 'now I can
save my cheetah.'
By looking carefully we could see the bushes
move in the edge of the woods as if some small

az:- r.
L -

PETS FROM PERSIA. [MARCH,

animal were playing about" there. In a moment
the cheetah gave another of his lightning springs;
there was a rolling and tossing among the leaves
and branches, and then a silence, and we knew
that the second cheetah was safe with his prey.
"We were once more at ease, and put up our

down, and the man walked cautiously over to the
second cheetah. I saw that he gave a start as he
got near, leaned forward to look closer, and then
turned round to us; but as he said nothing, and
we saw him a moment afterward, collar this cheetah
just like the other and put him into the cage, we

* ,- j : //

7/j.
I/fr

pistols. We watched a few minutes longer, and
then the keeper went up to the first cheetah, who
was still on the back of the antelope it had caught,
and threw the collar and chain round his neck,
while the boy brought up the cage. The cheetah
allowed himself to be slipped in, the door was put

supposed that nothing unusual had occurred. But
after the door had been fastened, and the boy
headed toward the cart with the cage, the keeper
stooped down carefully, picked up something from
the bushes, and came toward us with it across his
hand. As he came nearer, my eyes began to

PETS FROM PERSIA.

[MARCH,

/

ELIZABETH'S ROSES.

347

fasten on his burden with some interest. Surely
there was something familiar about it,-that gleam-
ing white fur,-could it be ? Yes, as he came up to
me I saw it was my beautiful Persian cat, and the
cruel cheetah had killed her.
Poor puss she had perhaps saved the life of
one of us, at least saved us from an ugly tussle
with an enraged brute, and I could not openly say
a word of regret, but I wished I was a small boy,
so that I could howl and cry and go to my mother
for comfort.
"They gathered round her as I laid her across
my saddle-bow, and every one admired her and
said something kindly, but I had lost my pretty
pet, and I knew I should never have a chance to
get such another.
"That evening she lay in state on a blue silk
cushion in the dining-room, and the gentlemen of
the party drank to her memory, and then we
buried her by the light of the moon under an

acacia tree in the garden, as far away from the cage
of the cheetahs as might be.
"The next day I went back to my ship with only
Kit, and all the people on board hated me because
I had lost their pet."

Frank and Charley thought and talked of
nothing but Uncle Will's narrative all the rest of
the day. They almost forgot to cough and whoop;
even when night came, the story still went on in
Frank's dreams. He saw dats of every possible
description-tame cats, wild cats, white cats with
tails of ostrich plumes, and cats with long wool like
that of Angola sheep. Even the cat that grinned
upon Alice in Wonderland came and grinned upon
him; and finally he awoke with something very
like a scream, when a huge cat-face seemed to
glare at him out of the darkness-a cat-face that
held in its dreadful expression the look of lion,
tiger, cheetah, lynx and leopard, all in one.

ELIZABETH'S ROSES.*

TRANSLATED BY ANNIE B. PARKER.

UPON a steep hill stands an old castle. It is called
the Wartburg. Do you know who lived there?
Seven hundred years ago it was St. Elizabeth, and
later, in the sixteenth century, the great reformer,
Luther. But to-day I shall tell you of St. Eliz-
abeth only.
She was born in Hungary, a king's daughter,
and when a child was brought in a golden cradle to
Thuringia, where she was given in marriage to a
prince, who himself was but a child and called Lud-
wig. His home was the Wartburg, and all around
belonged wholly to him,-country and people.
Elizabeth grew up not only beautiful and amiable,
but she had also a pious and extremely benevolent
nature and she pitied especially the poor and
needy.
This at first pleased her husband, who loved her
very much. He did not restrain her even when she
went down into the valley to feed, clothe and comfort

the poor with her own hands. But those who were
not pleased by this, were the courtiers of her hus-
band. Moved by envy and malice they caused the
princess to be suspected by the latter, and in a mo-
ment of anger, he forbade her finally to go out
from the castle, and like a servant deal out alms
and relief to the poor.
But she could not consent to'neglect the poor
people in need of help, and when one day her hus-
band had gone down into the city, she stole out
through the gate with a basketful of bread, meat
and eggs under her cloak. She was not yet half-
way down the hill, when suddenly the prince, with
his retinue, came upon her, and he asked her in
a severe tone what she was carrying under her
cloak. Pale with fear she answered:
"They are roses, most gracious lord."
The prince threw aside her cloak, and there lay
in the basket the most beautiful half-blown roses.

*For names of all who sent in good translations of this legend, :1.: : r- .1 of which was printed in our December number,
see "Letter-Box i .:

THE PLAYTHING SKY.

Deeply moved at this sight, the prince embraced his
pious wife, asked her, forgiveness and no longer
forbade her to follow the impulse of her charitable

lord for their base and malicious conduct. But the
best of the story is, that Elizabeth's roses all
changed back into nourishing food as soon as she

heart. arrived in the midst of the expectant poor whose
The courtiers were rebuked severely by their hunger she was now able to appease.

THE PLAYTHING SKY.

By J. W. DE FOREST.

-A

\

WHERE do the children fly
When they are dreaming?
Straight to the Plaything Sky,
Soaring and beaming.

Over the Wonder Sea
Sparkle the darlings,
Clapping their hands with glee,
Singing like starlings.

Wonderful lands appear,
Wonderful cities;
Wonderful talk they hear,
Wonderful ditties.

Squirrels come out to them,
Butterflies sing to them,
Guinea-pigs shout to them,
Tulip-bells ring to them.

Hosts of tin soldier-men
Wave their tin banners;
Sugar-plum aldermen
Make their sweet manners.

Gingerbread riders whack
Gingerbread ponies;
Candy-stick ladies smack
Candy-stick cronies.

Sitting in royal state,
Counting her tea-things,
Giggles the little-great
Queen of the playthings.

Manikin troopers stand
Round her wee palace;
Manikin maidens hand
Cream-pot and chalice.

[MARCH,

A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.

349

Wooden horns clamor out,
"Children are coming !"
Wooden drums hammer out
Welcome becoming.

Down steps her majesty,
Smiling and kissing;
Round about busses she,
Not a child missing.

Then to her regal hall
Swiftly she leads them,
Gives them her playthings all,
Aprons and feeds them.

Gayly the children play,
Chatter and simper;
Then, of a sudden, they
Wake up and whimper.

---

Where is the Plaything Queen?
Where are her treasures?
Gone to the great unseen;
Gone, like earth's pleasures !

A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.

BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.

CHAPTER IX.
THE THREE GRAY BEANS.

CORNY went ashore, but she did not stay there
three minutes. From the edge of the wharf we
could see that Silver Spring was better worth
looking at that anything we should be likely to see
on shore. The little lake seemed deeper than a
three-story house, and yet, even from where we
stood, we could see down to the very bottom.
There were two boys with row-boats at the wharf.
We hired one of the boats fight off, and Corny
gave me such a look, that I told her to get in.
After she was in the boat, she asked her mother,
who was standing on the deck of the steamboat, if
she might go. Mrs. Chipperton said she supposed
so, and away we went. When we had rowed out
to the middle of the spring, I stopped rowing, and
we looked down into the depths. It was almost the
same as looking into air. Far down at the bot-
tom we could see the glittering sand and the green
rocks, and sometimes a fish, as long as my.arm,
would slowly rise and fall, and paddle away beneath
us. We dropped nickels and copper cents down
to the bottom, and we could plainly see them lying
there. In some parts of the bottom there were
"wells," or holes, about two feet in diameter,
which seemed to go down indefinitely. These, we

were told, were the places where the water came
up from below into the spring. We could see the
weeds and grasses that grew on the edges of these
wells, although we could not see very far down into
them.
If I had only known," said Rectus, "what
sort of a place we were coming to, I should have
brought something to lower down into these wells.
I tell you what would have been splendid!-a
heavy bottle filled with sweet oil and some phos-
phorus, and a long cord. If we shook up the
bottle it would shine, so that, when we lowered it
into the wells, we could see it go down to the
very bottom, that is, if the cord should be long
enough."
At this instant, Corny went overboard Rectus
made a grab at her, but it was too late. He
sprang to his feet, and I thought he was going
over after her, but I seized him.
"Sit down!" said I. "Watch her! She'll
come up again. Lean over and be ready for
her!"
We both leaned over the bow as far as was safe.
With one hand I gently paddled the boat, this way
and that, so as to keep ourselves directly over
Corny. It would have been of no use to jump
in. We could see her as plainly as anything.
She was going down, all in a bunch, when I first

A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP. [MARCH,

saw her, and the next instant she touched the bot-
tom. Her feet were under her now, and I saw
her make a little spring. She just pushed out her
feet.
Then she began to come right up. We saw her
slowly rising beneath us. Her face was turned
upward, and her eyes were wide open. .It was a
wonderful sight. I trembled from head to foot.
It seemed as if we were floating in the air, and
Corny was coming up to us from the earth.
Before she quite reached the surface, I caught
her, and had her head out of water in an instant.
Rectus then took hold, and with a mighty jerk we
pulled her into the boat.
Corny sat down hard and opened her mouth.
There !" said she; "I did n't breathe an
inch!"
And then she puffed for about two minutes,
while the water ran off her into the bottom of the
boat. I seized the oars to row to shore.
How did you fall over ?" said Rectus, who still
shook as if he had had a chill.
Don't know," answered Corny. I was lean-
ing far over, when my hand must have slipped,
and the first thing I knew I was into it. It's good
I did n't shut my eyes. If you get into water with
your eyes shut, you can't open them again." She
still puffed a little. "Coming up was the best.
It's the first time I ever saw the bottom of a
boat."
Were n't you frightened ?" I asked.
"Had n't time at first. And when I was coming
up, I saw you reaching out for me."
"Did you think we'd get you?" said Rectus,
his face flushing.
"Yes," said Corny, "but if you'd missed me
that time, I 'd never have trusted you again."
The gentleman-with-a-wife-and-a-young-lady was
in another boat, not very far off, but it was
nearer the upper end of the little lake, and none
of the party knew of our accident until we were
pulling Corny out of the water. Then they rowed
toward us as fast as they could, but they did not
reach us until we were at the wharf. No one on
shore, or on the steamboat, seemed to have noticed
Corny's dive. Indeed, the whole thing was done
so quietly, and was so soon over, that there was not
as much of a show as the occasion demanded.
I never before was in deep water that seemed
so little like real water,"'said Corny, just before
we reached the wharf. "This was cold, and that was
the only thing natural about it."
"Then this is not the first time you've been in
deep water ?" I asked.
"No," said Corny, "not the very first time;"
and she scrambled up on the wharf, where her
mother was standing talking to some ladies.

Why, Cornelia!" exclaimed Mrs. Chipperton,
as soon as she saw the dripping girl, "have you
been in the water again?"
Yes, ma'am," said Corny, drawing her shoul-
ders up to her ears, and I must be rubbed down
and have dry clothes as quick as lightning."
And with this she and her mother hurried on
board the steamboat.
Rectus and I went back on the lake, for we had
not gone half over it when Corny went into it. We
had rowed about for half an hour or so, and were
just coming in, when Corny appeared on the deck
of the steamboat, with a handkerchief tied around
her head.
Are you going to take a walk on shore?" she
called out.
Yes !" we shouted.
"All right," said she; "if you '11 let me, I '11 go
with you, for mother says I must take a good run
in the sun. I look funny, don't I ? but I have n't
any more hats."
We gave her a good run, although it was not
altogether in the sun. The country hereabout was
pretty well wooded, but there were roads cut
through the woods, and there were some open
places, and everywhere, under foot, the sand was
about six inches deep. Rectus took Corny by one
hand, and I took her by the other, and we made
her trot through that sand, in sunshine and shade,
until she declared she was warm enough to last for
a week. The yellow-legged party and some of the
other passengers were wandering about, gathering
the long gray moss,-from limbs where they could
reach it,-and cutting great palmetto leaves which
grew on low bushes all through the woods, and
carrying them about as fans or parasols; but
although Corny wanted to join in this fun, we
would not stop. We just trotted her until she was
tired, and then we ran her on board the boat, where
her mother was waiting for her.
"Now, then," said Mrs. Chipperton, "imme-
diately to bed."
The two disappeared, and we saw no more of
Corny until supper-time. Her mother was cer-
tainly good at cure, if she did n't have much of a
knack at prevention.
Just as the boat was about to start off on her
return trip, and after she had blown her whistle
two or three times, Mr. Chipperton appeared, car-
rying an immense arm-load of gray moss. He
puffed and blew as he threw it down on deck.
When his wife came out and told him of Corny's
disaster, he stopped dusting his clothes, and looked
up for an instant.
"I declare," said he, "Corny must keep out of the
water. It seems to me that I can never leave her
but she gets into some scrape. But I 'm sure our

A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.

[MARCH,

A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.

friends here have proved themselves good fellows,
indeed," and he shook hands with both of us.

I ll' 1 , ; I .'

I" ", i . ', - *

|| ; I.... , ':-... .. i
I ,

I' 1 I '
% :-, I" y,', ___ . '
A ''"," . -Z : -T

"WE SAW HER SLOWLY RISING BENEATH US."
"Now then, my dear," said he to his wife,
" I've enough moss here \ r the parlor and sitting-

room, and the little back-room, upstairs. I did n't
get any for the dining-room, because it might blow
about and get into the food."
"Do you mean to take that moss all the way
home? asked Mrs. Chipperton, in surprise.
" Why, how will you ever carry it?"
Of course I mean to take it home," said he.
" I gathered this with my own hands from the top
of one of the tallest trees on the banks of this
famous Silver Spring."
Mr. Chipperton !" exclaimed his wife.
"To be sure, the tree was cut down, but that
makes no difference in the fact. It is both an
ornament and a trophy of travel. If necessary, I '11
buy a trunk for it. What did you do with Corny
after they got her out?"
Our journey home was very much like our trip
up the river, but there were a few exceptions.
There was not so much firing, for I think the
ammunition got pretty low; we saw more alligators,
and the yellow-legged party, which had joined us
at Pilatka, went all the way to St. Augustine with
us. There was still another difference, and that
was in Rectus. He was a good deal livelier,-
more in the spirit that had hatched out in him in
the cemetery at Savannah. He seemed to be all
right with Corny now, and we had a good time
together. I was going to say to him, once, that
he had changed his mind about girls; but I
thought I would n't. It would be better to let well
enough alone, and he was a ticklish customer.
The day after we returned to St. Augustine, we
were walking on the sea-wall, when we met Corny.
She said she had been looking for us. Her father
had gone out fishing with some gentlemen, and
her mother would not walk in the sun, and, besides,
she had something to say to us.
So we all walked to the fort and sat down on the
wide wall of the water-battery. Rectus bestrode
one of the cannon that stood pointing out to sea,
but Corny told him she wanted him to get down
and sit by her so that she would n't have to shout.
Now then," said she, after pausing a little, as
if she wanted to be sure and get it right, "you two
saved my life, and I want to give you something to
remember me by."
We both exclaimed against this.
You need n't do that," said I, "for I'm sure
that no one who saw you coming up from the bot-
tom, like the fairy-women float up on wires at the
theater, could ever forget you. We'll remember
you, Corny, without your giving us anything."
But that wont do," said she. "The only other
time that I was ever really saved was by a ferry-
man, and father gave him some money, which was
all right for him, but would n't do for you two, you
know; and another time there was n't really any

A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.

danger, and I 'm sorry the man got anything; but
he did.
We brought scarcely anything with us, because
we did n't expect to need things in this way; but
this is my own, and I want to give it to you both.
One of you can't use it by himself, and so it will be
more like a present for both of you, t...i,.:, than
most things would be." And she handed me a box
of dominoes.
I give it to you because you're the oldest, but,
remember, it's for both of you."
Of course we took it, and Corny was much pleased.
She was a good little girl and, somehow or other,
she seemed to be older and more sensible when she

Bermudas, anyway. So does father. We talked of
going to one of those places, when we first thought
of traveling for his lung, but then we thought Flor-
ida would be better. What is there good about
Nassau ? Is it any better than this place ?"
Well," said I, "it's in the West Indies, and
it's semi-tropical, and they have cocoa-nuts and
pine-apples and bananas there; and there are lots
of darkies, and the weather's always just what you
want--"
I guess that's a little stretched," said Corny,
and Rectus agreed with her.
"And it's a new kind of a place," I continued;
" an English colony, such as our ancestors lived in

"WE GAVE CORNY A GOOD RUN."

was with us than when she was bouncing around in
the bosom of her family.
We had a good deal of talk together, and, after
a while, she asked how long we were going to stay
in St. Augustine.
Until next Tuesday," I said, "and then we
shall start for Nassau in the 'Tigris.' "
Nassau!" she exclaimed, where 's that?"
"Right down there," I said, pointing out to
sea with a crook of my finger, to the south. It's
on one of the Bahamas, and they lie off the lower
end of Florida, you know."
No," said she; I don't remember where they
are. I always get the Bahamas mixed up with the

before the Revolution, and we ought to see what
sort of a thing an English colony is, so as to know
whether Washington and the rest of them should
have kicked against it."
Oh, they were all right! said Corny, in a tone
which settled that little matter.
And so you see," I went on, Rectus and I
thought we should like to go out of the country for
a while, and see how it would feel to live under a
queen and a cocoa-nut tree."
Good cried Corny. We '11 go."
"Who?" I asked.
Father and mother and I," said Corny, rising.
I'll tell them all abr ut it; and I 'd better be

352

[MARCH,

A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.

going back to the hotel, for if the steamer leaves
on Tuesday, we'll have lots to do."
As we were walking homeward on the sea-wall,
Rectus looked back and suddenly exclaimed:
"There! Do you see that Crowded Owl fol-
lowing us? He's been hanging round us all the
afternoon. He 's up to something. Don't you
remember the Captain told us he was a bad-tem-
pered fellow ?"
What did he do?" asked Corny, looking back
at the Indian, who now stood in the road, a short
distance from the wall, regarding us very earnestly.
"Well, he never did anything much," I said.
" He seemed to be angry, once, because we would
not buy some of his things, and the Captain said
he'd have him told not to worry us. That may
have made him madder yet."
"He don't look mad," said Corny.
Don't you trust him," said Rectus.
I believe all these Indians are perfectly gentle,
now," said Corny, and father thinks so, too.
He 's been over here a good deal, and talked to
some of them. Let's go ask him what he wants.
Perhaps he 's only sorry."
If he is, we'll never find it out," I remarked,
" for he can only speak one word of English."
I beckoned to Crowded Owl, and he immediately
ran up to the wall, and said How?" in an uncer-
tain tone, as if he was not sure how we should take
it. However, Corny offered him her hand, and
Rectus and I followed suit. After this, he put
his hand into his pocket, and pulled out three sea-
beans.
There!" said Rectus. At it again. Diso-
beying military orders."
But they're pretty ones," said Corny, taking
one of the beans in her hand.
They were pretty. They were not very large,
but were beautifully polished, and of a delicate
gray color, the first we had seen of the kind.
"These must be a rare kind," said Rectus.
"They're almost always brown. Let's forgive
him this once, and buy them."
"Perhaps he wants to make up with you,"
said Corny, and has brought these as a present."
I can soon settle that question," said I, and I
took the three beans and pulled from my pocket
three quarter-dollars which I offered to the
Indian.
Crowded Owl took the money, grinned, gave a
bob of his head, and went home happy.
If he had had any wish to make up with us,
he had shown it by giving us a chance at a choice
lot of goods.
Now," said I, reaching out my hand to Corny,
"here's one for each of us. Take your choice."
"For me?" said Corny. "No, I oughtn't to.
VOL. VI.-25.

Yes, I will, too. I am ever so much obliged.
We have lots of sea-beans, but none like this. I'll
have a ring fastened to it, and wear it, somehow."
That '11 do to remember us by," said I.
Yes." said Rectus, and whenever you 're
in danger, just hold up that bean, and we '11 come
to you."
I 'll do it," said Corny. But how about you ?
What can I do ?"
Oh, I don't suppose we shall want you to help
us much," I said.
Well, hold up your beans, and we 'll see,"
said Corny.
CHAPTER X.
THE QUEEN ON THE DOOR-STEP.
WE found that Corny had not been mistaken
about her influence over her family, for the next
morning, before we were done breakfast, Mr.
Chipperton came around to see us. He was full
of Nassau, and had made up his mind to go with
us on Tuesday. He asked us lots of questions,
but he really knew as much about the place as we
did, although he had been so much in the habit of
mixing his Bahamas and his Bermudas.
My wife is very much pleased at the idea of
having you two with us on the trip over," said he,
" although, to be sure, we may have a very smooth
and comfortable voyage."
I. believe that since the Silver Spring affair, he
regarded Rectus and me as something in the nature
of patent girl-catchers, to be hung over the side of
the vessel in bad weather.
We were sorry to leave St. Augustine, but we
had thoroughly done up the old place, and had
seen everything, I think, except the Spring of
Ponce de Leon, on the other side of the St. Sebas-
tian River. We did n't care about renewing our
youth,-indeed, we should have objected very much
to anything of the kind,-and so we felt no interest
in old Ponce's spring.
On Tuesday morning, the "Tigris" made her
appearance on time, and Mr. Cholott and our
good landlady came down to see us off. The
yellow-legged party also came down, but not to
see us off. They, too, were going to Nassau.
Rectus had gone on board, and I was just about
to follow him, when our old Minorcan stepped up
to me.
Goin' away ? said he.
Yes," said I, we 're off at last."
Other feller goin'?"
Oh yes," I answered, we keep together."
Well, now look here," said he, drawing me a
little on one side. What made him take sich
stock in us Minorcans? Why, he thought we
used to be slaves; what put that in his head, I 'd

353

A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.

like to know? Did he reely think we ever was
niggers?"
Oh no !" I exclaimed. He had merely
heard the early history of the Minorcans in this
country, their troubles and all that, and he "
"But what difference did it make to him?"
interrupted the old man.
I could n't just then explain the peculiarities of
Rectus's disposition to Mr. Menendez, and. so. I
answered that I supposed it was a sort of sympathy.
"I can't see, for the life of me," said the old
man, reflectively, "what difference it,'made to
him."
And he shook hands with me, and bade me
good-bye. I don't believe he has ever found any-
body who could give him the answer to this puzzle.
The trip over to Nassau was a very different
thing from our voyage down the coast from New
York to Savannah. The sea was comparatively
smooth, and .ili.... I1 the vessel rolled a good
deal, in the great swells, we did not mind it much.
The air was delightful, and after we had gone
down the Florida coast, and had turned to cross
the Gulf Stream to our islands, the weather became
positively warm, even out here on the sea, and we
were on deck nearly all the time.
Mr. Chipperton was in high spirits. He enjoyed
the deep blue color of the sea;. he went into
ecstasies over the beautiful little nautiluses, that
sailed along by the ship; he watched with wild
delight the porpoises that followed close by our
side, and fairly shouted when a big fellow would
spring into the air, or shoot along just under the
surface, as if he had a steam-engine in his tail.
But when he saw a school of flying-fish rise up out
of the sea, just a little ahead of us, and go skim-
ming along like birds, and then drop again into
the water, he was so surprised and .delighted,
that he scarcely knew how to express his feelings.
Of course, we younger people enjoyed all these
things, but I was surprised to see that Corny was
more quiet than usual, and spent a good deal of
her time in reading, although she would spring up
and run to the railing, whenever her father
announced some wonderful discovery. Mr. Chip-
perton would have been a splendid man for
Columbus to have taken along with him on his
first trip to these islands. He would have kept up
the spirits of the sailors.
I asked Corny what she was reading, and she
showed me her book. It was a big, fat pamphlet,
about the Bahamas, and she was studying up for
her stay there. She was a queer girl. She had
not been to school very much, her mother said; for
they had been traveling about a good deal of late
years; but she liked to study up special things, in
which she took an interest. Sometimes she was her

own teacher, and sometimes, if they staid in any
one place long enough, she took regular lessons.
I teach her as much as I can," said her mother,
" although I would much rather have her go regu-
larly to school. But her father is so fond of her,
that he will not, have her away from him, and as
Mr. Chipperton's lung requires him to be moving
from place to place, we have to"'g, ;too. But I
am determined that she shall go to a-school next
fall..
"What is the. matter with Mr. Chipperton's
I asked.
'"I wish we-knew;" said Mrs. Chipperton, earn-
estly. The doctors don't seem to be able to find
out the exact trouble,-and besides, it is n't certain
which lung it is. But the only thing that can be
done for it is to travel."
He looks very well," said I.
Oh yes said she. But "-and she looked
around to see where he was-" he does n't like
people totell him so."
After a while, Rectus got interested in Corny's
book, and the two read a good deal i ..: ri,~. I
did not interrupt them, for I felt: quite -sure that
neither of them knew; too much.
The captain and all the, officers on the steamer
were good, sociable men, and made the passengers
feel at home. I had got somewhat acquainted-with
them on our trip from Savannah to St.: Augustine,
and now the captain let me come into-his room and
showed me the ship's course, marked out on a
chart, and pointed out just where we were, besides
telling me a good many things about the islands
and these'waters.
I mentioned to Corny and Rectus, when I went
aft again,-this was the second day out,--that we,
should see one end of the Great Bahama early in
the afternoon.
"I'm glad of :that." said Corny; '"but I sup-
pose we sha' ri't go near enough for.us to see its cal-
careous formation."
Its what? I exclaimed.
Its cal-car-e-ous formation," repeated Corny,
and she went on with her reading..
Oh!" said I, laughing; I guess the calcare-
ous part is all covered up with grass and plants,-
at least it ought to be in a semi-tropical country.
But when we get to Nassau you can dig down and
see what it's like."
Semi-tropical !" exclaimed Mr. Chipperton,
who just came up; there is something about that
word that puts me all in a glow," and he rubbed
his hands as if he smelt dinner.
Each of us wore a gray bean. Rectus and I
had ours fastened to our watch-guards, and Co'rny's
hung to a string of beads she generally wore.- We
formed ourselves into a society-Coriy suggested

[MARCH,

A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.

it-which we called the Association of the Three
Gray Beans," the object of which was to save each
other from drowning, and to perform similar serv-
iceable acts, if circumstances should call for them.
We- agreed to be very faithful, and if Corny had
tumbled overboard, I am sure that Rectus and I
would have jumped in after her; but I am happy
to say that she did nothing of the kind on this trip.
Early the next morning we reached Nassau, the
largest town in the Bahamas, on one of the smallest
islands, and found it semi-tropical enough to suit
even Mr. Chipperton.
Before we landed we could see the white, shining

streets and houses,-just as calcareous as they
could be; the black negroes; the pea-green water
in the harbor; the tall cocoa-nut trees, and about
five million conch-shells, lying at the edges of the
docks. The colored people here live pretty much
on the conch-fish, and when we heard that, it
accounted for the shells. The poorer people on
these islands often go by the name of conchs."
As we went up through the town we found that
the darkies were nearly as thick as the conch-shells,
but they were much more lively. I never saw such
jolly, dont-care-y people as the colored folks that
were scattered about everywhere. Some of the
young ones, as joyful skippers, could have tired out
a shrimp.
There is one big hotel in the town, and pretty
nearly all our passengers went there. The house
is calcareous, and as solid as a rock. Rectus and I
liked it very much, because it reminded us of pict-
ures we had seen of Algiers, or Portugal, or some
country where they have arches instead of doors;
but Mr. Chipperton was n't at all satisfied when he
found that there was not a fire-place in the whole
house.
"This is coming the semi-tropical'a little too

strong," he said to me; but he soon found, I think,
that gathering around the hearth-stone could never
become a popular amusement in this warm little
town.
Every day, for a week, Mr. Chipperton hired a
one-horse barouche, and he and his wife and
daughter rode over the island. Rectus and I
walked, and we saw a good deal more than they
did. Corny told us this the first walk she took with
us. We went down a long, smooth, white road
that led between the queer little cottages of the
negroes, where the cocoa-nut and orange trees and
the bananas and sappadilloes, and lots of other
trees and bushes stood up around
S the houses just as proudly as if they
were growing on ten-thousand-dol-
lar lots. Some of these trees had
the most calcareous foundations
anybody ever saw: They grew
S almost out of the solid rock. This
l is probably one of the most eco-
-nomical places in the world for gar-
=t den mold. You could n't sweep
.. up more than a bucketful out of a
- '--*. whole garden, and yet the things
grow splendidly. Rectus said he
ii supposed the air was earthy.
Corny enjoyed this walk, because
we went right into the houses and
!L talked to the people, and bought
cocoa-nuts off the trees, and ate
the inside custard with a spoon,
and made the little codgers race for pennies, and
tried all the different kinds of fruits. She said she
would like to walk out with us always, but her
mother said she must not be going about too
much with boys.
"But there are no girls on the island," said she;
at least, no white ones,-as far as I have seen."
I suppose there were white children around,
but they escaped notice in the vast majority of
little nigs.
The day after this walk, the shorter "yellow-
legs" asked me to go out fishing with him. He
could n't find anybody else, I suppose, for his friend
did n't like fishing. Neither did Rectus; and so
we went off together in a fishing-smack, with a
fisherman to sail the boat, and hammer conch for
bait. We went outside of Hog Island,-which lies
off Nassau, very much as Anastasia Island lies off
St. Augustine, only it is n't a quarter as big,-and
fished in the open sea. We caught a lot of curious
fish, and the yellow-legs, whose name was Burgan,
turned out to be a very good sort of a fellow. I
should n't have supposed this of a man who had
made such a guy of himself; but there are a great
many different kinds of outsides to people.

355

A JOLLY FELLOWSHIP.

When we got back to the hotel, along came
Rectus and Corny. They had been out walking
together, and looked hot.
"Oh!" cried Corny, as soon as she saw me.
"We have something to talk to you about! Let's
go and sit down. I wish there was some kind of
an umbrella or straw hat that people could wear
under their chins to keep the glare of these white
roads out of their eyes. Let's go up into the silk-
cotton-tree."
I proposed that I should go to my room and
clean up a little first, but Corny could n't wait. As
her father had said, she was n't good at waiting;
and so we all went up into the silk-cotton-tree.
This was an enormous tree, with roots like the
partitions between horse-stalls; it stood at the bot-
tom of the hotel grounds, and had a large platform
built up among the branches, with a flight of steps
leading to it. There were seats up here, and room
enough for a dozen people.
"Well," said I, when we were seated, "what
have you to tell? Anything wonderful? If it is n't,
you'd better let me tell you about my fish."
"Fish !" exclaimed Rectus, not very respect-
fully.
Fish, indeed !" said Corny. "We have seen a
queen!"
Queen of what?" said I.
Queen of Africa," replied Corny.. "At least a
part of it,-she'would be, I mean, if she had stayed
there. We went over that way, out to the very
edge of the town, and there we found a whole col-
ony of real native Africans,-just the kind Living-
stone and Stanley discovered,-only they wear
clothes like us."
"Oh my !" exclaimed Rectus.
"I don't mean exactly that," said Corny; "but
coats and trousers and frocks, awfully old and
patched. And nearly all the grown-up people
there were born in Africa, and rescued by an
English man-of-war from a slave-ship that was
taking them into slavery, and were brought here
and set free. And here they are, and they talk
their own language,-only some of them know
English, for they've been here over thirty years,-
and they all keep together, and have a governor of
their own, with a flag-pole before his house, and
among them is a real queen, of royal blood!"
"How did you find out that?" I asked.
Oh, we heard about the African settlement this
morning at the hotel, and we went down there,
right after dinner. We went into two or three of
the houses and talked to the people, and they all
told us the same thing, and one woman took us to
see the queen."
In her palace?" said I.
No," said Corny, "she don't live in a palace.

She lives in one of the funniest little huts you ever
saw, with only two rooms. And it's too bad; they
all know she's a queen, and yet they don't pay her
one bit of honor. The African governor knows it,
but he lives in his house with his flag-pole in front
of it, and rules her people, while she sits on a stone
in front of her door and sells red peppers and bits
of sugar-cane."
Shameful!" said I; "you don't mean that?"
Yes, she does," put in Rectus. "We saw her,
and bought some sugar-cane. She did n't think
we knew her rank, for she put her things away
when the woman told her, in African, why we came
to see her."
What did she say to you?" I asked, beginning
to be a good deal interested in this royal colored
person.
Nothing at all," said Corny; "she can't talk
a word of English. If she could, she might get
along better. I suppose her people want somebody
over them who can talk English. And so they've
just left her to sell peppers, and get along as well
as she can."
It's a good deal of a come-down, I must say,"
said I. I wonder how she likes it ?"
Judging from her looks," said Rectus, I don't
believe she likes it at all."
"No, indeed!" added Corny. "She looks
woe-begone, and I don't see why she should n't.
To be taken captive with her people-may be she
was trying to save them-and then to have them
almost cut her acquaintance after they all get res-
cued and settled down !"
Perhaps," said I, as they are all living under
Queen Victoria, they don't want any other queen."
That's nothing," said Corny, quickly. "There's
a governor of this whole island, and what do they
want with another governor? If Queen Victoria
and the governor of this island were Africans, of
course they would n't want anybody else. But as
it is, they do, don't you see?"
They don't appear to want another queen," I
said, "for they wont take one that is right under
their noses."
Corny looked provoked, and Rectus asked me
how I knew that.
I tell you," said Corny, "it don't make any
difference whether they want her or not, they
have n't any right to make a born queen sit on a
stone and sell red-peppers. Do you know what
Rectus and I have made up our minds to do?"
What is it?" I asked.
Corny looked around to see that no one was
standing or walking near the tree, and then she
leaned toward me and said:
We are going to seat her on her throne!"
You ?" I exclaimed, and began to laugh.

356

[MARCH,

THE. MECHANICAL PIGEON.

"Yes we are," said Rectus; "at least we're "And are bound to stick to it," said Rectus,
going to try to.". looking at Corny.
You needn't laugh," said Corny. You 're Then both together, as if they had settled it all
to join." beforehand, they held up their gray sea-beans, and
In an insurrection,-a conspiracy," said I. "I said in vigorous tones:
can't go into that business." Obey the bean !"
You must!" cried Corny and Rectus, almost I did n't hesitate a moment. I held up my bean,
in a breath, and we clicked beans all around.
You've made a promise," said Corny. I became a conspirator!
(To be continued.)

THE MECHANICAL PIGEON.

BY CHARLES BARNARD.

very
,..: queer bird. He is made
of paper, but he really
Scan fly, and after a very
queer fashion. Get an
S empty spool, a small
wooden stick, a few pins,
S a piece of fine twine, and
S', a postal-card, and we
will construct the proud
bird and set him a-fly-
ing. The wooden stick
.' must be about a foot
long, and of a convenient
I size to hold in the hand.
With your penknife cut
down one end of the stick
so that it will go into the hole in the spool. Make
a little ledge near the top so that the spool will not
slip down, and can turn freely on the stick. If
any part of the stick projects above the spool, cut
it off smooth. Now get three pins, and cut each
in two in the middle. This will give us three sharp
little nails, and you must drive one into the end of
the stick so that it will stand up above the spool,
and the others into the top of the spool, near the
edge, one on each side, and so that all three pins,
when the spool is on the stick, shall be in one
straight line. Next get a sharp knife and cut an
old postal-card to the pattern shown in the dia-
gram in the next column.
In the square part, where the dots are, make
three small holes. To find exactly where they are
to be, make one hole in the center, and then put
the spool on the stick, and the card on top with the

middle pin sticking through the hole. Then press
the card down on the spool, and the spool-pins will
make marks for the other two holes. When the holes
are made, the card will rest on the spool, and the
pins will stick through the holes. -Now take the
card off, and holding it firmly by the square part
in the middle, twist one wing to the right and the
other to the left-just like the fans of a propeller,
or the wings of a wind-mill. Bend one corner up
and the other down at each end, so that when you
look at the card from end to end, the ends will
appear to cross each other in opposite directions.
This card is our bird, and, to make him fly, you
must tie a piece of string round the spool, and wind
it round and round many times from right to left,
or in the opposite direction to that of the moving
hands of a watch. Now put the spool on the stick,
pins up. Set the paper on top, with the three pins
sticking through the three holes. Hold the stick in
one hand, and give the string a pull with the other,

just as if it was a top, and away the lively bird
springs circling into the air. He rises to the top
of the room, spins round, and then floats down to
the floor: This gay bird is the mechanical pigeon.
If he does not fly off at the first pull, wind up
again, and keep trying till he starts. Perhaps you
have set him on wrong side up; if so, change his
position, or he will merely spin round and round
and stay on his perch. The first picture gives a
good portrait of him, when just ready for flight.

is79.1

FOR VERY LITTLE FOLK.

PINKETY-WINKETY-WEE.

BY E. T. ALDEN.

' PINKETY-WINKETY-WEE !
. Ten pink fingers has she,
S Ten pink toes,
,. One pink nose,
SAnd two eyes that can hardly see;
And they blink and blink, and they wink and wink,
SSo you can't tell whether they 're blue or pink.

Pinkety-blinkety-winkety-wee!
Not much hair on her head has she;
She has no teeth, and she cannot talk;
She is n't strong enough yet to walk;
She cannot even so much as creep;
Most of the time she is fast asleep;
Whenever you ask her how she feels,
She only doubles her fist and squeals.
The queerest bundle you ever did see
Is little Pinkety-winkety-wee.

358

[MARCH,

1U j \

FOR VERY LITTLE FOLK.

359

JOE AND THE SEAL.

BY C. M. DRAKE.

JOE is a little Californian, and he lives close by the Pacific Ocean. His
father often takes him to walk on the beach.
See, papa, see!" cried Joe one day when the two were out together.
"What a nice log to sit on!" and Joe ran along the beach until he
came to a brown object that lay on the warm sand, a little way up

'i` ,,* ,-._:

from the ocean. But just as Joe was sitting down,.the brown "log" began.
to move, and Joe ran back to his papa in fear, crying:
It is a whale, papa, and it was going to eat me up, just as the
one in the Bible ate Jonah."
"No, it is a seal, my boy," replied his father.. "It wont hurt us.
It is a young one. Let me coax it to stay a while."
So saying, he took hold of the little seal, and, by rubbing it on the
back and under the neck, he soon had the little fellow as .quiet as a pet
dog. Joe soon lost his fear of the seal, and, going up to it, began to
rub the soft fur on its back. I think the little seal must have liked this,
for, when Joe turned to go, the seal tried to follow him.

1879.]

FOR VERY LITTLE FOLK.

"How tame it is! How queerly it walks on those funny little legs !"
said Joe. Are they his legs or his arms, papa ?"
A little of both," said his papa, laughing. "They are called flippers;
and he also can use them as our gold-fish use their fins."
"May I -take him home,? See! he would follow me clear to the
house."
He would not be happy, Joe, away from the ocean. We will put
him back into the ocean, where his brothers and sisters are, Joe. I will
take him out to this rock and drop him into the -water."
"Does n't he look like a big dog-fish, papa?" cried Joe, as the seal
swam away, diving under each big wave that tried to shove him back to
the shore.
Good-bye, little seal! I hope you '11 find your mamma again."
Joe and his papa turned to go home. After a little while, Joe said,
very soberly:
"Papa, I guess I don't want the seal-skin hat, that I teased you for.
May be it came off of that nice little seal's brother or sister. I don't see
how folks can shoot such dear little things as that seal is."

ELEVEN LITTLE PUSSY-CATS.

ELEVEN little pussy-cats invited out to tea,
Eleven cups of milk they had-sweet as milk could be,
Eleven little silver spoons to stir the sugar in,
Eleven little napkins white, each tucked beneath a chin;
Eleven little me-ows they gave, eleven little purrs,
Eleven'little sneezes, too, though wrapped up in their furs.
Eleven times they washed their paws when all the milk .was out,
Eleven times they bobbed their, heads and said 't was so, no' doubt.
Eleven. times they thought they heard the .squeaking of a mouse.
Eleven times they courtesied to the lady of the house;
Eleven times they promisedher to drive away.the thieves
That pecked the grapes upon the vines and hid among the leaves.
They kept their word, and one day shook eleven bunches down
To this same girl of 'leven years who caught them in her gowh.

360

[MARCH,

FOR VERY LITTLE FOLK.

361

THESE slate pictures are a little harder to draw than those in the Decem-
ber ST. NICHOLAS, but brother or sister or somebody can copy them for you.

1879-1

FE -10 0

JACK- IN-THE-PULPIT.

i__ I JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT.

MARCH is a word of five letters, says one.
"March" is a military order, says another. March
was once the first month of the year, says another.
March is our fifth number, says ST. NICHOLAS,-
and Jack says :
March is the breeziest, jolliest, freshest, liveliest,
busiest month of all the twelve, and whether it
comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, or
comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion, it's a
good honest month, and Jack likes it.

A LETTER TO ME.
Hartford, Conn.
DEAR JACK: I wonder if all your readers know what a cunning
little cap trimmed with red bees you wear in the fall? I don't
believe many of them have seen it, and I should like to describe it to
them, if you have no objections.
The first time I met you last fall after you had left off your summer
suit was away up in the White Mountains, N. H. I had no idea
you traveled as far as that, and I cannot tell you how delighted I
was to see you.
You were standing close by a small brook, and (may I tell it?)
peeping in over the edge. We all know you too well, dear Jack, to
think.you vain, and can understand your pleasure in beholding, in
this clear brown mirror, your little green spike of a cap, with bright
scarlet berries tipped with black, clustering around it.
And what a lovely little bed of green moss you were standing on i
I saw at a little distance from you a spray of the partridgevine,
with two little twin berries on its stem, but they were not half as red
asyours, and indeed, they seemed to understand it, and hide their
heads in the moss. To my taste you are handsomer in the fall than
at any other time of the year, though others may have a different taste.
Nevertheless, we all love you for your own self, dear Jack, no matter
what your clothes are. Your loving friend, E. A. P.

MACHINES RUN BY AIR.
YOU 'VE heard' of machines for flying in the air,
of course. I told you about one last October. But
now comes word of machines worked by air. These
new engines are used to drag heavy trains, empty
when going into, but filled with broken stone when
coming out of, the great tunnel now being cut
between Switzerland and Italy, under Mount St.
Gothard.
It would be almost impossible to keep the air

fresh in the tunnel, so far underground, if steam-
engines were used for cutting the rock; for they
would make so much heat, gas, and smoke, that
men could not work in there at all.
But these new machines do better, for they are
worked by air instead of steam, and the air that
escapes after being used in them is good to breathe.
It is common air, but it was first forced by water-
power into huge iron reservoirs, until there was a
great deal more in them than there was in the same
space outside. The reservoirs have to be tight and
strong, or the air would burst them and escape.
The squeezed or compressed air is drawn off into
a part of the new machine which looks like a big
steam-boiler, and it is then let into the working
parts, as wanted, rushing out with great force, and
making the machinery move, and drag the cars,
much in the way that steam would.

MOTHER SHIPTON AND HER PROPHECY.
ELLA H., Rita W., and Alfred ask who is the
"Mother Shipton" mentioned in B. P.'s letter
about the "Unfathomable Lake," printed in Feb-
ruary.
Well, your Jack never actually knew the old lady,
but he has heard that she lived about three hundred
years ago in England, and was believed to know
beforehand what was going to happen in the world.
She once made a prophecy which has become very
famous. It was made public first in 1488 and again
in 1641. All the events foretold in it, excepting
the last, have come to pass. Here is the prophecy:

Carriages without horses shall go,
And accidents fill the world with woe.
Around the world thoughts shall fly
In the twinkling of an eye.
Water shall yet more wonders do;
Now strange, yet shall be true-
The world upside shall be,
And gold be found at root of tree.
Through hills man shall ride;
And no horse or ass shall be at his side.
Under water men shall walk,
Shall ride, shall sleep, shall talk.
In the air man shall be seen
In white, in black, in green.
Iron in the water shall float
As easy as a wooden boat;
Gold shall be found, and found
In a land that's not yet known.
Fire and water shall wonders do;
England at last shall admit a Jew;
The world to an end shall come
In Eighteen Hundred and Eighty-One.

A TREE THAT GIVES AND CURES HEADACHE.
ITS name alone, Oreodafine Caifornica, is
almost enough to give one a headache; but if you
rub its leaves for a short time over your face and
hands you will get a headache, surely; and if you
happen to have a headache, why, the same rub-
bing will drive it away, at least, so the natives say.
This obliging tree is a fine-looking evergreen,
with a strong spicy smell, and I'm told that it is
found in California.

FASTER THAN LIGHT.
IT does not do to be too sure of things, nowadays,
not even if they are called well-known scientific

[MARCH,

JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT.

facts," for that which seems true to-day may be
proved wrong by the fuller knowledge that to-
morrow will bring.
For instance: Light is the fastest traveler in the
universe used to be held as a fact well known and
scientific, and I was ready to believe it when I heard
that a ray of light takes
but nine minutes in going -
from the sun to the earth,
traveling more than ten
million miles a minute.
But now I learn that
there is a thing that is even
faster than light. This
scrap, from one of Professor .
Proctor's writings, will tell F,
you about it:
Gravity cannot take so --
much as a second in acting
over the distance separating -
the planet Neptune from
the Sun "-(2,850,o00,000. ----
miles) !
So, my wise young as-
tronomers, Gravity.is faster
than Light-at least,as far ~- ;_
as we know to-day

IS IT "UNCLE SAM"P
GET out your atlases,
boys and girls, turn to the
map of the United States,
and see if you can find in
any part of it an outline ____
like this odd picture, which 'i '
D. E. C. sends. I '
The tip of the man's '
queer cap," says D. E. C.,
"touches Lake Superior;
he is bathing his bare foot
in the Gulf of Mexico; his
nose is formed by a bend i
of the Mississippi River; 7
and his back is straight and
sturdy. .
"A comfortable and 1
good-natured old fellow,
this,-and he might pass
for Uncle Sam squeezed
in among the States of the
Union."

SOME VERY OLD BUTTER-
MILK. .

DEAR JACK: I know a man who '
drank some of the very oldest but-
termilk ever heard of. He lives in
Tennessee. cUt-F OF M
One day, he and some others were
asked in a great hurry to dine at the
house of a neighbor, with a promise
that the company would be treated to one of the rarest drinks ever
tasted in all the ages of the world !
This proved to be buttermilk, brought to table in a jug. It had
been dug out that same morningfrom a well which had caved in thirty
years before. At that time the jug of milk, safely corked, was hang-
mg by a rope far down the well, to be kept cool; and there it had
staid buried for thirty years. All who drank of the buttermilk said
it was delicious.-Truly your friend, S. W. K.

-

363

[

BIRDS AND TELEGRAMS.
Chicago, Ills.
DEAR JACK: I saw in the February number, 1878, something that
you said about Birds and Telegraph Wires," and it reminded me of
an item I read a little while ago in a daily paper. Some bothering
man asked a telegraph operator if a message was stopped when a
bird stood on the wire, and if it hurt the bird. Tlb f t-el:irih
man told him that the birds were a great nuisance, 1-.. ...-. ..)
would perch on the wires, and, when
a message was sent along, they would
pick' out the little words in it; so
That, sometimes, when it got to the
other station, the receiver could not
-_-_. .-j>> understand it at all. He also said
',, that if any of the birds were killed, it
was because they got choked on
'some long word, or else over ate
__ themselves. Now, dear Jack, do
S- you really believe that is so?
C. D. W.
.. I really don't. And I
S'\" | think that telegraph opera-
-- tor must have thought he
I- was talking to a goose.
-- By the way, talking of
--- geese, here 's a paragram
on the subject:

A JAPANESE COMPLIMENT.
-- It is flattering-in Japan
-to compare a person to
,, L a goose. There are no tame
geese in that country, and,
Sas the wild ones are bright
t'l' and graceful, of course no
I- one there feels hurt at being
i,, l ^ / likened to a goose.
Here, just in the nick of
'-.I time, is a letter about

A SEPTUAGENARIAN GOOSE.
i.i ,' Beverley, Mass.
"'lii f n DEAR JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT: A
Family in a town near here had a
'---- goose that died a little while ago at
the age of seventy years. There
f is no joke about this, for the name of
the family is not Goose," there have
been no deaths in it lately, and the
goose was a true "anser,"-web-
feet, feathers and all.
The same family has another goose,
"" Still alive, whose age is kaown to be
more than fifty years. And this
living goose, also, is a" really truly
S. bird goose.--Your friend, MARY.
BY SUCKING? OR HOWP
iHARRY B. writes me that
his pet squirrel "sucks up
Only a very little water once
Sa day, and that is all he
takes to drink."
.Now, I'm pretty sure the
squirrel would take more
water, if he felt it would do
EXICo him good, so that is all
right; but, I 've a notion
that he must be a squirrel of a kind never heard
of before, if he drinks as Harry's letter tells.
What do you say, my youngsters? Does a
squirrel drink by "sucking up," or how? You, too,
have pet squirrels, may be; so find out about this.
with your own eyes, if you can, and let me know.

I, "\

E

THE LETTER-BOX.

[MARCH,

THE LETTER-BOX.

TRANSLATIONS of the German legend, Elisabeth's Rosen," were received from Annie B. Parker-Leonora-Dora Hines-H.-S. J.
Radcliffe-C. A. D-Nelson Partridge-J. Frank Wooley-F. B. Wickerson-Edward Miller-Albert Farjeon-Annie L. Fields-
Arthur S. Barnes-Louis C. Pilat-M. T. A.-Mary L. Otis-D. S.-Maude H. Morris-Bertha E. Keferstein-Bessie Hard-Fannie
Kibbee-Henry C. F. Blickle-H. Constance-E. May Smith--Amalie Wiechmann-H. L.-Dora Sedgwick-Lucia H. Kittle-
Henry C. Kroger-Edith C. Lee-Louis F. Ruf-Johnnie C. Whitcomb-Nettie K. Hartwell-Isabelle V. Seagrave-Alice S. Millard
-A. Leavens-Albert F. Pasquay-Hattie Hyatt-John J. Daesen-C. L. Bates-Frank T. Nevin-Eugene Hoeber-Scudder
Smith and Clarence Young-Minnie L. Benne-Cora McKay-Jennie L. Dickinson-Etha F. Smith-Bertha L. Hafner-T. S. Hardy
-M. Alice Parker-George McLean Harper-Helen Reynolds and John Farnham-Sadie McLong-Hilda Lodeman-Lucy J. Way-
Clare Charlton-Elizabeth King-Louisa M. Hopkins-B. K. L.-Minne Bruere--"Newark, N. J."-Edgar Francis Jordan-Lutie
Thomas-S. de L. Van Rensselaer-Margaret Bugley-Charlie Falkenreck-W. Russell Fearon-Mary E. Whittermore-Aggie
Rhodes-Lallie Teal-Amelia L. Diemar-Ralph Hoffman-J. McClurg Hays-Mason C. Stryker-Bella Wehl-Mary A. Hale-
Nettie Hawkins-Raymond W. Smith-Christine Senger-Maurie B. Stewart-Arthur M. Taylor-Gertrude Tobias-Schiller Richter
-Robert Weld,-Stella Dunlap-F. Bergh Taylor-Anna C. Brastow-Florence H. Watson-Emily Harris-Lewis Jones-Elizabeth
L. Hillegeist-Helen W. Prescott-Hattie D. Pierce-Mary A. Donohue-John Newton Wright-Winnie Summers-Bessie H. Smith
-Corinna Keen-Mabel Z. Bookstaver-Fred Rohloff-Albion M. Kelsea-Wm. A. Benedict-Ida S. Otis-Bessie Watson-L. G.
and H. G.-Fleta Holman-Edward J. Bosworth.

WE have received the following two letters in answer to the ques-
tions at the end of Mr.Warner's story, What shall we do with her"
which appeared in the January number:
Newburgh, N. Y.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Our Friend that had the trouble, with that
half cat, calls for assistance, which I give cheerfully. I should pro-
pose that it be put up at auction, and sold for a Manx Cat of the
Chartreuse breed.-Yours, E. R. H.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have read, in the beautiful January num-
ber of your magazine, the story of a cat named China." I read it
gravely through, and have been thinking seriously about an answer
to the questions at the end, for of course, Mr. Warner expected an
answer. A little boy who had lived some time in China once told me
the natives there thought a devilish spirit was in a cat with a tail-
and so they cut off that waggish part of the cat's body. May be, if
Mr. Warner were to put the devil into his cat (I should think he
could do it!) the tail might grow out again,-and then he could sell
"China" for a real cat.
Or, why does not he go into the retailing business, and so dispose
of t? He might be better employed, I think, than sitting before a
roaring wood fire thinking thoughts to steal away otherpeople's time.
He is my debtor in that way, by I don't know how many hours. He
is in fact shortening my life! C. C.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: In your December number is a poem called
"Can You?" One line of it asks, "Can you see the wind?" To
this I reply, "Yes, I can." And this is how: Take a carpenter's
saw, hold it in a high wind with the back level with your eyes; you
will then perceive a current flowing over the back of the saw. Some-
times, on a warm day, you can see the air twinkling. So there -
Yours truly, B. D. T.

EDITH B.-" Ent. Sta. Hall" means Entered at Stationers' Hall,"
the government copyright office in London, and it shows that a copy
of the print on which the legend appears has been deposited with the
authorities. Then, if anybody should publish an imitation of the
print, the earlier publisher could sue him, in the British dominions,
for compensation.

OLD SUBSCRIBaR.-We cannot answer your letter in the magazine,
nor can we answer any other letter which is not accompanied by the
real name and address of its writer, so that we may reply by mail if
we prefer to do so.

London, Eng.
DEAR Sr. NICHOLAS: We were born in London and have always
lived here, but we are Americans, and don't allow any one to call us
English. We have been twice to America and have just returned
from our second visit there. We like being at sea very much, and
find many things to amuse us. The cook made us some taffy (molasses
candy). The chief officer had a swing put up, on deck, for us, and
the sailors were always ready to give us bits of rope or pieces of wood
with which we could make many things. On the voyage home, my

little brother Norris thought he would try to catch a fish, so he threw
a long line over the side of the ship. After waiting some time "for
a bite," and feeling discouraged, he tied the line to the side railing of
the deck, and went off to play. One of the stewards drew the rope in
through a saloon port-hole and tied a dried herring on it. When
Norris pulled in his line next time, and saw "a real fish," he was so
delighted! He never guessed it had been tied on. But he knows
better now. If you think this little letter worth publishing, we should
be very pleaded to see it in the "Letter-Box" sometime.-Your little
friend, CARL.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Although I am quite a big girl, 1 enjoy
reading you as much as ever. Perhaps you do not care to have a
grown-up girl writing to you; but, although I am quite aged in
regard to years, still I feel as young and enjoy young folks stories as
much as when I was only ten years old. ST. NICHOLAS is real nice
for the poor girls who are too young for grown people to take an
interest in, and yet so old that the real young people don't like to play
with them. E. E. B.

Vicksburg, Miss.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I received your charming self for January
yesterday and read you with a great deal of pleasure. I am very
sorry that the story "Half a Dozen Housekeepers" is ended, as it
was so interesting and funny; and I suppose Belle's father was agree-
ably surprised that the girls did not burn his house up, as he prophesied
that they would.
The people of our city have lately passed through a fearful epidemic,
and there were so many deaths here that one wagon would have to
carry five and six coffins at a time, piled one above the other, to the
grave-yard. The yellow fever spread all through the country, too,
and came very near where I was refugeeing. Fortunately I escaped,
but I lost three cousins with it. There are so many desolated homes
here that we had a very sad Christmas, but I hope you had a merry
one, and remain, your friend, J. P. H.

A DISH-GARDEN.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I want to tell your readers of a successful
experiment of mine for the winter decoration of a room. It is so
simple that a child easily manages it. It was merely a dish of moss
in which were set a fewsmall ferns and vines, covered with a bell-glass.
I like a large dinner-plate best, though some prefer a deep dish. In
the bottom you place a layer of charcoal broken in small pieces, and
mixed with a few bits of broken crockery, to form a drain.
Upon this put some of the earth from the woods, in which plant,
according to taste, what you have .. 1 You might take a fern
for a center-piece and around it .,- i. i.. "wintergreens," with
more partridge-berry vines (mitchella) than anything else, as their
rich green leaves and bright red berries are so cheery in effect. Late
in the winter or early in the spring, my mitchella bloomed, and the
pure white blossoms formed an exquisite contrast, with their snowy
petals looking as if powdered with frosted silver.
The roots must be disturbed as slightly as possible, but press the
earth firmly around them, covering it, wherever it shows, with moss,
dotting in, here and there, lichens taken from old stumps and fences.
When done, sprinkle thoroughly with water and set the dish in a
shady corner for several'days, after which it canbeplaced on a center
or side table, and will need watering but a few times through the
season, if the glass fits tightly. To hide the edge of the dish, as well

THE LETTER-BOX.

as to keep the air out, a piece of brown chenille-as bright colors would
destroy the effect of leaves and berries-can be put around it after the
glass is in place, or it can be hidden by bits of lichen arranged on the
edge.
I found my dish-garden flourished better if I put it on a chair in a
sunny window once in a while, but it stood mostly on a stand in the
middle of the room, and was directly under the gaslight in the evening.
On seeing it, our friends would say: "How woods-y How
lovely! etc.
It is well to accustom the plants gradually to artificial heat and
not put them at once in a very warm room.
Hoping some of your readers may be as successful as I was, I
remain very truly your friend, H. S.

N. AND S.-We know of no book, of the kind you ask for that we
can heartily recommend. You will find good acting plays, acting
ballads, tableaux-vivants, etc., for homeamusement, in ST. NICHOLAS
for January, February, April and November, 1874; in January,
April and December, 1875; in February, April and May, r876; in
January, May and December, 1877; in November, 1878, and in
January, 1879.

Stockton, Cal.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I send you a paragraph which I found inan
old newspaper. I send it because I thought some of your readers
might like to know who "Brother Jonathan" was. Here it is:
"Jonathan Trumbull, who resided in Lebanon,Connecticut, and who
was the friend and counselor of Washington, is the true 'Brother
Jonathan' of American history."
I am eleven years old and my name is EDITH LESLIE.

A FROZEN PUZZLE.
GET a common water-pail, about three feet of iron wire as fine as
the smallest twine, and a lump of ice weighing about two pounds.
Stretch the wire twise across the top of the pail so as to make a kind
of bridge. Set the wires about two inches apart, and lay the ice upon
them, taking care that it does not touch the pail. The ice will begin

-.-
'I I ,
I'l

II I

to melt, and water will drip into the pail. Presently the ice will seem
to sink down as if the wires were cutting it into three pieces. In
about half an hour, if you try to lift the ice, you will find the wires
securely frozen in. The lump of ice will ;:i, i ., A i. wires, but you
cannot take it away from them. You c ... ....: 'h es through the
ice, but the point of the sharpest pen-kmfe cannot hnd where they
entered. There may be a line of silvery bubbles showing where the
wires passed, but the ice will be one solid unbroken piece. At last,
the wires will come out at the top, and the lump of ice, though partly
melted away, will drop into the pail as whole as ever. Who among
our young readers can explain this frozen'puzzle ?
Newburgh, N. Y.
DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: We have a dog named Max. He is a
great, big, pure-blooded English mastiff. We have his pedigree five
or six generations back, and he is rather high-strung; but he is very
good-natured; indeed, so much so as to let me pull him up three
steps at a time, by his tail, of very steep stairs. He has a very pecul-

iar way of howling when he wants to be let loose. He is a dead dog
when mamma tells him to be one, :..-, 1.. .. .i., .:l held
four feet from the ground.-From i .,. I , F. G.

MOTHER:-In our last number we gave some new domino games
that will be found a very pleasant means of passing an evening agree-
ably. The games are interesting and have plenty of life in them.
The last two are not too hard for girls and boys of fourteen or fifteen
years.

SOMEBODY sends this to the "Letter-Box." Who wrote it?

LITTLE LUCY'S STORY ABOUT THE OWL.
An owl, that lived in a hollow tree,
As I went by, looked out at me;
And he rolled his eyes, with a solemn air,
As if to say, this world's a snare.
And life a burden hard to bear,
Take care, little girl, take care!

Said I, Mr. Owl, we don't agree,
I love the world, and the world loves me,
Quit rolling your eyes, and come and see
How happy a child that is good can he.
I learn in the day, I sleep in the night,
I try to obey, I try to do right;
But you love darkness better than light;
Take care, Mr. Owl, take care!

R. L. S.-The Indian name for the Mississippi River was "Mecha-
ceb&," spelled by some writers "Miche Sepe." -It means "Great
River," or "Great Father of Waters," as you suppose.
Shoe-wae-cae-mette" is a word in the Pottawattamie language,
and means "Lightning upon the waters." The word is said to have
been made in a curious way. One day, before the white men came
to the Pottawattamie country, there was a great storm, and some
Indians ran for shelter into a natural grape-arbor by a river. Through
the tangle of vines the storm-bound men saw the beautiful play of the
lightning upon the river, and they called out Shoe-wae-cae-mette! '
Whether the story is true or not, no doubt the meaning of the word
"Lightning upon the-waters," is correct; and it is a very appro-
priate name for a boat-club.

TRIBUTE TO A MOTHER.
A letter came to our circle the other day, writes a friend, which
contained so noble and beautiful a tribute to a mother, that I
asked permission to copy it, without names, in ST. NICHOLAS. It
was written to a man and by a man, but he has the heart of a little
child, and so, I think, all your children will appreciate his words.
Here is the letter, excepting only the parts which have no general
interest:
Plainfield, N. J.
Dear C.: Here is another torrent rain-storm. It has been going
since last night, and is still going unabated. * ****
It is one of the days to justify a body for keeping in-doors, and to
make him feel what a blessed thing home is. It makes me think of
a new grave on the bank of the Susquehanna, where our good mother
was laid to rest more than a week-yes, just a week-ago to-day, in
the fullness of her years. She would have been 86 the coming
October. Yet were her physical powers perfect, her senses acute,
and all her faculties clear and strong. She had no sickness. There
was some mysterious escape of energy, which relaxed her frame and
disinclined her to exertion about a week before her death,-but with-
out affecting her mind in the least. She talked, ate and slept as
usual,--indeed, conversed with more than usual vivacity and humor,
-then, on the morning of her departure, -H1 -.h- f-l 7- 1 --.--she
must go to sleep,-and went to sleep and j i .... 1 .: i i.-.'e was
neither perturbation of mind nor pain of body. She was a child of
Providence from her birth upward, and the Fatherly love in which
she trusted would not suffer his child to be scared by any vision of
death, much less any pangs of death. She was lapped in innocent
sleep, and waked up in other society,-friends and kindred long
lost and much loved, who had not been out of her thoughts a day
since they went. A lovelier character, a more unselfish creature can-
not be conceived. No purer spirit ever lived on earth, or went
unchallenged into heaven. She has left us a perfect image of excel-
lence, such as without the example we could never have framed in
fancy. I am willing to believe anything good of mankind for having
known her. She lived to see her children and her children's children,
and indeed the whole community in which she lived, rise up and call

THE RIDDLE-BOX.

her blessed, and wait on her with tender, reverent love in all her
goings during many years of a happy old age. I cannot imagine a
more perfect character, life or death.

It sounds very odd to hear you talk so old about the boys whom I
remember, excepting W- as such little fellows, and I 'm glad
to hear of them, qualifying so happily for world's work. Often I
wonder how strangely the burden comes on our backs. There's a
part of me not over to or 12 years old, or rather, .., .... .... .
still exists in me, like the sapling inside of the tret,-- ... J.. ....-.
observe with astonishment now and then how old his outside is get-
ting to be and what a forest r: '..'*. ... .. -md him. It seems
unreal,-incredible,-even ..I .. i I.:;,.i ... himself with the
undersigned for a moment,-deal, gray-haired, stoop-shouldered,
glasses, on nose, pipe in mouth, chief engineer, the old man, squire.
governor, -. ... ijor, and what not,-then ..1 I :.I : .*:
his striplir,; I.-. .,. boyish mug,-he laughs ai .. ... J... ..
incongruity, and is ready to declare it all a masque of that old scene-
shifter, Time. And it is, partly: I hope my manlv accidents are but
a thin investiture, and when I go to heaven 't will be pretty much in
the character of a big boy;-one of the children, and the child of my
mother.
0 0 *

JOHN W. C.-We hope that before very long ST. NICHOLAS will
contain an illustrated article that will help to answer your question.
Meanwhile, if you can get some one to let you have an old telescope,
complete, to take to pieces and examine, you may find out a good
deal for yourself. It will be well, also, to study some book upon
"Optics" or the Science of Light," so that you may know not only
how a telescope is made, but also the reasons for putting it together
so curiously.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have been to see the "lions of Boston.
I don't mean Chestnut Hill Reservoir, Mount Auburn, the Old
South, or the Mechanic's Fair; but real live lions, "Willie" and

" Martha," that have been raised from babyhood 1 .. I .1.. Mrs.
Lincoln, who owns them. Perhaps your readers ul. 11.: r hear
something about 1.: -. .... : pets.
In the first plac- "..II.. xnd "Martha" are not common men-
agerie lions, but live in a private house, near the Revere House, and
have a large brick room, which has been built for them since they
have grown up. This room leads out of Mrs. Lincoln's sitting-room,
and visitors whodo notwish to go into the lions' parlor cin h-: - -
view of the noble creatures through the grated door,- ... I 1.:....j
animals they are! They are now two years old, and I suppose nearly
full grown, but as frolicsome as kittens, and devotedly attached to
their kind mistress; yet it made me tremble all over to see her,
with only a small riding-whip in her hand, go into their room, while
they, in their delight at seeing her, leaped round her, putting their
i i, ,1i-- .- .* -. ;..i .. i .r -, ,r i i :, J ,-, ri. ,,
I .:'. l I i. l l ." rll. l I tll. 1 l I ll ..; l L I.'. I
1l lll- I [I,, ,,, i,,Ij ,I ,,,I 1 .1 h- -l1 ,l .rl 1,
quiet as a lamb! Then Martha lay down and rolled over on her back,
her huge paws in the air. "Now, Willie, give me your hand," said
MI Li7-tn ir ri- ht -~t,. s-I rn^-t rtff--tIit'l- hl i h!; greatpaw
i i- -. .- .. . i ... these her
dearly loved pets, and says she has no more fearof them than she has
of a kitten; and no wonder, for she has had the entire charge of them
since they were very small babies. While they were quite young
they always slept on her bed at night; and even now, when there are
no strangers, 1. i....i . 3i i 1...:. room and they sit with her
in her parlor, i. ...1 i ,. ., [ was sitting sewing, when
'Martha came in and spread herself at full length on the sofa for a
nap!" It Itppmen-- to be their dinner-hour, two o'clock, when I
was there, s, i -. -. I 1.. pleasure of seeing them fed, and the way they
devoured the fine ribs of roasting beef that were given to them was
something to see! Morning and evening Mrs. Lincoln gives the
water, and at two o'clock a good meal of fresh beef About sundown
she lets them out into the yard for a run, when they frolic and enjoy
themselves in the open air for an hour, to the great delight of the
neighbors' children.round, who watch from their windows the gam-
bols of these curious household pets. Now, I do hope that if any of
the young readers of ST. NICHOLAS come to Boston they will call on
Mrs. Lincoln, who is always willing to show her lions to those who
wish to see them. B. P.

THE RIDDLE-BOX.

NUMERICAL ENIGMA.
I AM composed of fifteen letters, and am a Divine command.
My 1, 12, 13, 5, 4 is illumination. My 6, 15, 14, io, 7 is a subtle
fluid. My 9, 2, 3, 8, ox is a species of -epre'.rl nt- the leaves of
which are chewed with the Areca nut, by ':. I .'. ISOLA.

TRANSPOSITION COUPLET.
I love thee not (though thou art fair)
For beauty. What! not heed my prayer?"
Transpose the words of the above rhymed couplet, keeping the
same words in each line, so as to make a new couplet with a rhyme
and a meaning different from those of the original. n. H.

DIALOGUE NAME-PUZZLE.
T .- f.11t. :n~ l i .- .. ..r,;,. ,, .,,. nthe names of twelve
wel' I . -... .. .. I.. .... I,..- German, and Italian.
The anagrams are printed in Italics and, besides the anagrams,
there are six hidden names of celebrated personages that are men-
tioned in some of the twelve authors' works :
The speakers in the Dialogue are Henry, Ned, Maric and Ruby
Henry. As you are too sick, Ned, to share in a noisy game,
we 'll seek a shart riddle or two. Are you willing ?
Ned. Indeed, yes Let it be riddles; they do not compel ham-
mering and pounding. I hope to be up and active and eating regular
meals soon. It's a miserable arrangement to be at rice and other
spoon food all the time.
Henry. 1 should think so. You must be tired i,.:,. fl .: ." '
Ruby. You boys are always talking about .. i..... I .
MARIE.] What is the name of that new tune. A .,r .
which you bought from the music man, Friday last?
Mare. "Banks ofDee."
Ned. Oh, never mind the new tune, girls. Shall it be riddles,
Hen, or what?
Henry. Riddles. Now, Ruby; what French poet do I name
when I say "green bar"?
Marie. I know, but I wont tell Ruby Oh, oh, look! There's

Pa in the street on horseback. Can be curb the old Arab safely,
do you think?
Ruby. Yes, he could, if there was n't such a noise in the street.
Do hear the boys on that caryellat each cur they pass!
Henry. Our dog's bark is loudest.
Ned. Oh, dear! Do you call yo .. 1 ii1 Why, youare
as slow as moles. How soon shall -r., i;, .i.:I
Henry. ".'...,. i, you youngster ;1... :.. Here, it's you who
are slow. ...: . I them already. I, i. up your wits, and
solve the riddles, if you can! Y

BIOGRAPHICAL ENIGMA.
I Am composed of nineteen letters, and I am the name of an Amer-
ican writer of world-wide fame.
i. My 3, 5, lo 6, is a beautiful flower. 2. My 1,, 2, r, 9, is what
the flower must do when picked. 3. Myg, 9, 1, is a religious devo-
tee sometimes likened in poetry to my 3, 5, 1o, r6. 4. My 3, 17, 7,
i2, 4, is an Oriental beast of burden. 5. My 14, 6, I5, is found'at the
mouth of a large river. JOSIE H. +

COMPOUND WORD-SQUARE AND INCLOSED
GREEK CROSS.

THE middle letter, S, of the cross is used four times. Every
other letter of the cross, in its own position, is used to end one
word, and to begin another that reads in the same direction;
for the letters of the cross occur at the overlapping of four
word-squares each made on a base of four letters. Thus, reading
across: the upper left-hand square might begin with the word

366

[MARCH,

THE RIDDLE-BOX.

"anon"; and then the upper right-hand square must have for its
first line some four-letter word having "n" as its initial. So, reading
down: the second upright line -f th uIrer I -fi.h nn_ nr, nE.t_-
madewith the word "rove"; ;I,,? .. ,j ..., i ., I,. I
left-hand square must then b. I ,,, .I i, .,, 1 ... i... .
beginning with "e."
The meanings of the words which form the squares are as follows:
UPPER LEFT-HAND SQUARE: I. A family. 2. To exist. 3.
Tc -ln-'l "d d P-. "nt information.
"_' .- . i .- - ,, r x. Fresh '
Intelligence. 2. Wrong. 3. Spacious. | --
4. A winter toy. Ii i '
LOWER LEFT-HAND SQUARE: i. 11 Ill
T I-.r .. 32. A celebrated mountain I
S1i i e.. 3. Togrowless. 4. Avehi- '
dle for winter use. ili.' '|1
LOWER RIGHT-HAND SQUARE: i. A I '.["
Christmas gift popular with boys. 2. A ''
narrowroad. 3. The last parts. 4.Found l
in business offices. j -

DOUBLE DIAGONAL DIAMOND.
DIAGONr'i r-irgz downward from right to left: i. A promon-
tory. 2. I. r I 3. Accustomed. 4. The name of a man men-
tioned in the Bible,-one still given to boys. 5. A conflagration. 6.
The title, at one time, of the governor of Algiers. 7. A god of fields
and shepherds.
Diagonals, reading downward from left to right: i. A light blow.
2. Mournful. 3. A large part of the earth's surface. 4. To turn to
account. 5. A country of South America.
-- 6. A negative. 7. The first garden.
S I UNCLE WILL.

ll, CHARADE.

I~ i DECETr is my first;
, .Pi[ L,'/( V My second, a tree;
'i t f My third is a time
S-*' Named for fasting, we see:
My whole is what honest men
Never will be. H. H. D.

EASY PICTORIAL PUZZLE.
EASY PICTORIAL PUZZLE. EASY SQUARE-WORD.

THE problem is, to find the word which properly describes the
picture at the top.
T : i . i 11..- Write down a word descriptive of each of
the I '.,:...- If the proper words are written, they will
contain no other letters of the alphabet than those of the word which
has to be fo,. .l-. ., .1- the letters of this word are used each more
than once i .. .-;. -, twelve other words. Then pick from the
twelve descriptve words just those letters which form the answer.

EASY CROSS-WORD ENIGMA.
MY first is in saw, but not in blade,
My second is in matron and also in maid.
My third is in watch, but not in clock.
My fourth is in key, but not in lock.
My fifth is in quarter but not in pound.
My whole is found
In St. George's Sound.

EASY DOUBLE DIAMOND.

AcROss: I. A consonant. 2. An enemy. 3. A Jewish doctor. 4.
A nose, or a beak of a bird. A consonant.
Down: i. A consonant. 2. An instrument to cool the face. 3.
Serious. 4. To flow back. 5. A vowel. E. M. I.

i. AN aquatic bird. 2. In contact with an upper surface. 3. A
series of laws. 4. One of the timbers used in building a ship.
GUESSER.

HIDDEN SHAKSPEARIAN SENTENCE.
In the following quotations, find concealed a well-known line from
Julius C'esare; one word of the line is in each quotation, and the
words are hidden in proper order, in the quotations as they stand.
I frown upon him, yet he loves me still.-ila'dsummer'Nighi's Dream.
Hence, villain; never more come in my sight !-King RichardII.
For, love of you, not hate unto my friend,
Hath made me publisher of this pretence.-TwoGentlemen of Verona.
Sing me now asleep ;
Then to your offices and let me rest.--lfidalummer Night's Dream.
O 'give me cord or knife or poison.-Cytmbeline.
And if I die to-morrow, this is hers;
If, whilst I live she will be only mine -Tamting of the Shrew.
Sir, fare yod well;
Hereafter, in a better world than this,
I shall desire more love and knowledge of you.-As lYo Like It.
And as the sun breaks through the darkest cloud
So honor peereth in the meanest habit.-Tamhing of tlte Shrewv.

1879-1

THE RIDDLE-BOX.

PICTURE PUZZLE.

`"- ,5.:
'1'

HERE 's a little girl crying because she can't learn her A, B, C !
The letters are sorry for her, and are trying a new way to get into
her head,-by raining down upon her! See if you can puzzle out
the message they speak to the discouraged little one. o'n.

NAMES OF AUTHORS ENIGMlVATICALLY"
EXPRESSED.
I. AN old name for a weaver. 2. An inhabitant of one of the divi-
sions of Great Britain. 3. Cheerful 4. A Scottish alderman. 5. A
covering for the head. 6. A noted American general. 7. An ant.
8. A domestic animal. 9. Parts of speech and merit. to. An infant.

.Ir A somber color. 12. A crustacean. 13. Averydisagreeable sen-
'ation. 14. A tall person. 15. Antecedent. 16. A small stream.
17. A domestic. i8. A dignitary oftheRoman Catholic church. ig.
The effects of fire. 20. A kind of swallow. 21. A piece of prepared
pork. 22. One of Ne ii.. largestfactory towns. 23. A com-
bustible and the top ( i-1..1 ir .. 24. Part of a boat. 25. A worker
in a precious metal. SEDGWICK.

DOUBLE ACROSTIC ENIGMA.
INITIALS.
I HOLD a subtle influence o'er my last;
Though far away, he follows in my track.
All men admire me, e'en though half concealed,
And on my friends I never turn my back.
FINALs.
Changing, yet changeless, onward 11 T ;
No hand has power to hasten or .I
I wait for none, in high estate oi I
Nor ever do I rest, by night or '
CRoss-WoRDs.
i. This outcast brother do not sourly scan
Howe'er unwelcome may his presence be.
The garb of wretchedness may hide a man,
Once sheltered tenderly and loved like thee.
2. A titled name, which happy marriage gave
To one who in the ocean found her grave;
Whose cultured mind and earnestness of thought,
Amid New England scenes their labor wrought.
3. This watchword starts the : '.',.i m his rest,
And wakes new courage in rl. I.:r :. breast.
4. With noiseless step, and patient, loving face,
Amid the ranks of suffering find my place;
Or pouring floods of melody most rare,
When evening shadows darken all the air. s. .. .

TWENTY-FOUR "CONCEALED" ANIMALS.
I stood by a toy-boat landing, opposite old Oglethorpe's store, and
carelessly threw a pebble into the little murmuring brook. It glanced
into a dark-mouthed burrow, when, lo! rising painfully, I saw a piti-
..1 1 I .-..; creature which soon came limping and staggering onward.
I. .' is not a mole," I thought. It must be a rat, though I
never before set eyes on such a moist and miserable specimen as this.
Still, it walks and seems able to go at a fair crawling pace, although
it appears loth to do even that. I must ha e hit it with that pebble;
or, may be, a land-crab bit the poor thing. I 'I carry it home and
tend it. Yes? No? Shall I? On second thought, I wont. I'll
leave it on the little landing here."
I went home; tried to fly a kite; threw my ball on the half awning
to catch it as it rolled off; planted a stiff ox-goad in the lawn for a
flag-staff; ran off with a caramel K"or hd .--'-en to the baby; and
tried writing poetry,-something LI oe nations of the
teeming East!"
But all was of no avail, and even now I see that poor creature m
.,1l-,. ,1.,.... when I had just turned my back. However,
I .., -, . -, i- ,,. I threw a stone.

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN FEBRUARY NUMBER.

EASYBEHEADINGS.-i. Knight, Night. 2..
Wait, Ait. 3. Turn, Urn. 4. Brow, Row. 5.
Probed, Robed. 6. Peel, Eel. 7. Clog, Log.
8. Dice, Ice. 9. Dash, Ash. to. Snail, Nail.
Ii. Snow, Now. 12. Prussia, Russia. 13.
Morion, Orion. 14. Ai, I. 1r. Broad, Road.
EASY AcaosrTI.-St. Nicholas.
EASY SQUARE. REMAINDERS.-- ."i..
Across: i. Clear; 2. Fears; 3 1 ..
Reading Down: i. Glean. 2. Tears. 3.
Parts. -- RIDDLE.-Seal.
WORD-SQUARE.-T. Gear; 2. Erie; 3.
Aims; 4. Rest.
NUMERICAL ENIGMA.- Full many .
flower is born to blush unseen."
PICTORIAL PUZZLE.-" Improve each mo-
ment as it flies."

ANSWERs TO PUZZLES IN THE JANUARY
NUMiBER were received before January 2o
from Grace Ashton Crosby, who sent correct
answers to all the puzzles-Edward Roome
-"H. M. S. B." and "A. B."-Lizzie
H. D. St. Vrain-Johnnie C. Whitcomb-n

NEW DOMINO PUZZLE.-

Bessie Hard-Mabel-Anna E. Mathew-
son-Will E. Nichols-"Volto Subito"-
"Hard inrl T."' "-- Mary and Alex-
ander ,i - .. ,, i Gemmill-John
V. L. i ... .--'i, i. Otis-Alice N.
Dunn--Bessie C ....:. I .r E. Bramley
-Marion H. ( .- 1 .... E. Martin-
Grace H. Simonson-Anna S. and Kenneth
I T'.. 1 -.. i Leach-Edward F.
i.: .-- i ..... i ..I -- Georgie Noyes'-
Cora Boudinot-A *^. ..-1. . M.
Pullman-Peter L --i ...... ,i.' Cob-
bett-John J.- -i. . .. I Leslie-B. Lawlor
-Jared Lines- I. .. Tolland-M. W.
Scrimshaw-L -. "'.. 1,-T..... T..
end- M martin . i... I.... i :,.._.
-George M. I i i'....- l; ,,.
Chase-Bessie L. Goode-" Little Pearl"
-T. H. Geddes-Laura Lynn-H. D. V.
-M-Lem. G.-George Jay Jencks-Lewis
Mooney-I" Aw Haw "-James Field-" Ye
Burly Two "-Jasper Rhein-Frank Farmer
- Bentinck Forbes Templar Earleigh
Byrde- "Jim Crow "-Nan.

[MARCH.

	Front Cover
	An adventure of an iceberg
	A wonderful candle
	The obstinate weathercock
	The renaissance
	The wasp and the bee
	Eyebright
	Bloom - Wanted
	Oriental bottles and wells, and...
	Dick's supper
	Nannie's little muff
	Calling the flowers
	Rumpty-Dudget's tower
	The American mardi-gras
	Pets from Persia
	Elizabeth's roses
	The plaything sky
	A jolly fellowship
	The mechanical pigeon
	Pinkety-winkety-wee
	Joe and the seal
	Eleven little pussy-cats
	Jack-in-the-pulpit
	The letter-box
	The riddle-box
	Back Cover
	Spine

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0	sobekcm_database.verify_item_lookup_object
0	sobekcm_page_globals.constructor	Navigation Object created from URI query string
0	sobekcm_database.verify_item_lookup_object
0	sobekcm_page_globals.display_item	Retrieving item or group information
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0	item_aggregation_builder.get_item_aggregation	Found 'all' item aggregation in cache
0	system.web.ui.page.page_load (ufdc.page_load)
0	sobekcm_page_globals.constructor.on_page_load
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0	html_echo_mainwriter.add_text_to_page	Reading the text from the file and echoing back to the output stream
65	html_echo_mainwriter.add_text_to_page	Finished reading and writing the file